download as pdf

This text is based on the results of the discussion during the ENViL meeting in Salzburg, May 2019 and can be seen as the building blocks for a new version of the CEFR-VC.

  1. The term ‘image’ is used to refer to all types of visual (moving) images and visual objects made by human beings to communicate with an observer or a public.
  2. The production of and/or response to imagesis a process-based activity in which a series of (sub)competencies is involved in a temporal and interconnected way. The (sub)competencies can be presented in stages that reflect the essential steps to be taken to arrive at either a production or an understanding of an image.
  3. The new competencies are described in terms of ability, not in terms of (non-subject specific) verbs only, in order to arrive at more specific descriptions of the actual behaviour each competency is supposed to cover.
  4. The sub-competencies as defined in the CEFR-VL (2016) can be seen as aspects or specifications of the new competencies as described in this version. It is possible to add other sub-competencies to clarify or expand each of the new competencies.
  5. The consequences of these new competencies for the use and formulation of the sub-competencies as defined in the CEFR-VL of 2016 have to be elaborated further.

Production

  1. The competencies related to ‘production’ in the domain of Visual Literacy1 have to be understood as stages in an overall process to produce images. These stages can be passed through in any consecutive and/or recursive and/or iterative order. Incidentally stages can be skipped.
  2. There is a main division in two types of activities in the production process: the actual making of an image (‘create’) and the evaluation of the resulting image (‘evaluate’).
  3. There are five main stages in ‘production’. In terms of new competencies:
    • The competency to perceive or envision a situation to generate visual ideas. In this the following sub-competencies of the CEFR-VL (2016) can be included:
      – analyse
      – describe
      – empathise
      – envision
      – experience aesthetically
      – interpret
      – perceive
    • The competency to do visual research.
      – analyse
      – draft
      – experiment
      – interpret
      – use
    • The competency to make images. – create
      – communicate
      – realise
      – use
    • The competency to present one’s images and related visual research.
      – describe
      – judge
      – present
      – realise
      – value
    • The competency to evaluate one’s images and image-making working processes.
      – analyse
      – describe
      – judge
      – value
  1. In scheme:

Production
Create
Evaluate
To perceive or envision a situation to generate visual ideas. To do visual research.
 To make images. To present one’s images and related visual research. To evaluate one’s images and image-making working processes.
analyse analyse create communicate analyse
describe draft realise describe describe
empathise experiment use judge judge
envision interpret communicate present value
experience aesthetically use
realise
interpret

value
perceive



Response

  1. The competencies related to ‘response’ in the domain of Visual Literacy have to be understood as stages in an overall process to give meaning to and/or make meaning of images. These stages can be passed through in any consecutive and/or recursive and/or iterative order. Incidentally stages can be skipped.
  2. There is main division in two types of activity: the actual process of giving to and/or making meaning of an image (‘understand’) and the presentation of the actual result of the related research (‘present’).
  1. There are four main stages in ‘response’. In terms of new competencies:
  1. The competency to perceive images.In this the following sub-competencies can be included:
    – empathise
    – experience aesthetically
    – perceive
  2. The competency to research images. – analyse
    – communicate
    – describe
    – interpret
    – use
  3. The competency to evaluate images. – judge
    – value
  4. The competency to communicate about images. – communicate
    – present
    – use

2. In scheme:


Response
Understand

 Present
To perceive images. To research images. To evaluate images. To communicate about images.
empathise analyse judge communicate
experience aesthetically communicate value present
perceive describe
use

interpret


use

Reflection

  1. As competencies in the domain of Visual Literacy have to be developed and trained, reflection on one’s own working and learning process is an essential aspect of learning in this domain. Reflection is a competency that is relevant for all learning processes, but is specifically prominent in the domain of Visual Literacy in which the dynamics of (artistic) creation are in most cases divergent and, to a certain degree, unpredictable.
  2. Reflection is an inherent part of any of the competencies in the domain of Visual Literacy.
  3. The competency of reflection can be formulated as follows:
  1. The competency to reflect on one’s activities while producing an image (or images).
  2. The competency to reflect on one’s activities after having produced an image (or images).
  3. The competency to reflect on one’s activities while looking at an image (or images).
  1. The competency to reflect on one’s activities after having completed a receptive activity with regard to an image (or images).
  2. The competency to reflect on one’s learning process related to series of tasks or activities within the domain of Visual Literacy.

1 The concept ‘Visual Literacy’ is used by ENViL as a generic and neutral term to cover all school subjects in the visual domain.