Reflecting on Yenawine's article I felt that the image of choice was age, stage, and subject appropriate for my students. According to the article, I believe my students are at a Stage II because they are beginning to deeply understand the VTS process. This image challenged my students to find the meaning and the story behind the photograph. I think that If I were to pick a different image I would change the current image to one that has more of a story. I felt like my students were lost in the image trying to find the meaning and "What is happening?"
My students noticed a lot of the aspects of the artwork. They focused on three main things in the image. They noticed the mannequin, the background building and the man smoking a cigarette. I believe that the mannequin with the smashed face intrigued them because they wanted to know what happened to it. They couldn't find enough evidence to support what actually caused it to break. They were also interested in the background. They wanted to know where this took place, what type of building it was and who is the man in the mid ground.
Students were able to scaffold off of one another. Students heard and saw things that they hadn't before due to other students opinions on what is going on in the image. They were able to change their train of thought and add to the conversation. I was able to add to the conversation by reciting and scaffolding the vocabulary so students have a better understanding of the conversation we are having.
As stated above, I would change the image if I were to do this again with a similar class.
The accessibility criteria seems to have been the problem here. The image seems to have stumped them. The broken mannequin, particularly the smashed nose that implies violence of some type, was pretty powerful and they don't seem to have been able to get beyond it. I wonder if that, in concert with that lingering notion of one right answer inhibited them and kept them from taking interpretive risks? Your assessment that an image change is warranted for the next, similar group is accurate. Action research! That's what I love about VTS! Each discussion is a pilot for future teaching.
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