Teaching With Pictures
Yesterday on NPR a psychologist was talking about why the pictures of abuse from Abu Ghraib prison evoked much more emotion than words. He said that in terms of evolution humans have only recently been able to read words, but pictures have always been able to speak to what we consider reality. Even though photographs are not reality, they appear closer to our world. Even more so moving images with sound, as this mirrors our daily experience. As horrible as the Abu Ghraib incidents are, I see a connection between images evoking verisimilitude and my teaching. I have always thought that instead of reading about Jerusalem, for example, students learn much better by seeing pictures. They are more engaged and the images speak to the student's perception of reality.