Using Pictures by John Fine

Introduction

Children grow up surrounded by pictures - moving pictures on the TV, still advertisements on hoardings, pictures in newspapers and magazines and comic books. ‘The media' are ever present, and so we assume that our children are visually literate - wise eyed. When we see them flicking through books ‘looking at the pictures' we assume they are taking the easy option, doing something they all can do. Yet when you question children about what they have seen they often enough are unable either to remember what they have seen or to comment on it. The images have passed by, passed on, have never been held still for long enough to take a concentrated, analytical and critical view.