Calonne :” My dear administrators, I have brought you here to know with which sauce you would like to eaten.”

Notables: “But we do not want to be eaten at all!”

Calonne: “You are not answering the question!”

Anonymous cartoon from around 1787 which deals with the meeting of the Assembly of Notables in 1787, France.

Overview

A vital element of learning is being able to engage in the process of evaluation and interpretation which, when combined, forms the process of analysis. Analysis of images, visual representations, pictures and photos is something we are required to do on a daily basis and as such it is a thinking process which students of all ages are expected to develop both in and out of the classroom. In essence, this thinking process is akin to an analytical skill which can be developed and fostered through regular practice and directed teaching and learning. Throughout this paper I will refer to this thinking process as an analytical skill.

Background to the story

Martin Luther King once stated: “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically...”; however, most educators would agree that this noble and earnest goal is difficult to achieve in reality. How do we as educators teach our students to ‘think’ at all, much less to think ‘critically’? This is a question which my former colleague, Lesley Ryder, now an educational consultant with Independent Schools of Victoria, and I discussed on many occasions when we taught 20th Century History. She articulated her concerns and ponderings in her learning story article entitled ‘Wondering about Thinking and Seeing: Moving beyond Meta-Cognition’ (http://storiesoflearning.com/Secondary_Stories/Entries/2010/10/10_Wondering_about_Thinking_%26_Seeing__Moving_Beyond_Metacognition.html ). I share her concern, which can be summarised as: “…the problem [students have in] being able to ‘see’ the relevant detail in a visual image” (Ryder, p.31, AGQTP Project 2010). In her article Lesley discusses the value of using the See-Think-Wonder thinking routine (http://pzweb.harvard.edu/vt/VisibleThinking_html_files/VisibleThinking1.html) in developing this skill and focuses on the theories surrounding mindfulness. Both are important learning tools and thinking practices to assist in the development of this analytical skill. Critical thinking is something that I value and want to see my students engage in routinely.

In the following learning story I seek to extend from this theoretical point and have chosen to focus on the student voice and to explore how and why students find this analytical skill so challenging and difficult to grasp. My focus is students in my Unit 3/4 VCE History Revolutions class.

Context of the cartoon

This cartoon was drawn at a time when the French economy was in a dire situation; France was in debt. In 1787 France was governed by King Louis XVI. He was losing popular support due to many factors; however, the financial situation was a major cause for discontent. The peasants were paying exorbitant taxes; the nobility and church paid very few. In 1787 Louis was in a desperate situation and appealed to the nobles, through his financial minister (Calonne), to help him regain the people’s trust and therefore more popularity by reducing their taxes and asking the nobility to pay more taxes. Calonne met with the nobles to discuss this; this event is referred to as the Assembly of Notables of 1787.

In Figure 1 both Calonne and the Notables are being criticised and condemned by the cartoonist as seen through their derogatory representation as animals. The image shows that the Notables (represented by the flock of birds) did not trust Calonne-the French Minister of Finance in 1787 (represented by the monkey), as seen through the caption (“But we do not want to be eaten at all!”).  Using their knowledge of this period in history it would be expected that students would see that this is public criticism of the Notables and Calonne. They should be able to see that it was a reflection of the opinions of some members of the Third Estate who had no confidence in Calonne and the Notables with regard to their ability to agree on making fiscal changes in French society. Furthermore, the students had to be able to interpret the literal and metaphoric meanings in the cartoon. For example, literal meaning is that the fowl think the monkey (Calonne) is going to eat the fowl (Notables). The metaphoric meaning is that there is mistrust and disrespect between the Notables and Calonne.

Where the story begins…

This learning story begins with a French cartoon from around 1787 (refer to Figure 1).

To help students prepare for their first SAC (school assessed coursework) I gave them an unseen visual source related to the French Revolution to evaluate and interpret. They had to answer five questions. As is always the case with such a task, students are required to examine the source closely and the first two questions require them to articulate their understanding of the literal and symbolic (metaphoric) meanings embedded in the visual document. The first two questions for the cartoon under analysis were:

1.Explain the depiction of the Notables.

2.What is revolutionary about this representation?

According to Bloom’s taxonomy the aforementioned questions are lower order questions in that they are comprehension; however, it is these questions for visual sources which students often struggle with and misinterpret. This is because these questions require students to focus on the ‘important’ elements of the image and interpret its meaning before they can respond to the questions. In this way such ‘comprehension’ (remembering and understanding) questions are more challenging then Bloom would have us believe (refer to Appendix 1).

My decision to focus on this learning issue and this class was instigated by a conversation I had with a student, following a one on one conversation with one of the most dedicated, conscientious and capable students in my Year 12 History Revolutions class. She misinterpreted the main meaning in a cartoon related to the French Revolution (refer to Figure 1) and through conversation I saw it was a plausible mistake. The student in question had hooked onto one element of the image only and did not balance the other elements and ‘see’ the image in its entirety. She thought instead that the criticism was directed at Calonne from the Notables themselves. When I asked her to explain why she thought this was the case, she told me it is because of the sign in the image which reads “Buffet de la Cour” (Court Buffet). She studies French and she was able to translate the sign; she felt a sense of achievement in being able to do so. She hooked onto this element of the cartoon only. While the Notables did not trust Calonne (as demonstrated by this caption) the students were expected to be able to make the judgement that given both Calonne and the Notables were being represented in a disparaging fashion it is unlikely that the criticism is from the Notables’ perspective as it is not plausible for them to represent themselves as clueless and unintelligent fowl.

I found this incident quite disconcerting, as it illuminated for me that even very capable and hardworking students find this analytical skill difficult to acquire and develop. Even very capable students can focus too much on one aspect of the image over another and they can be misdirected or misled by certain aspects of the image. 

The thinking routine See-Think-Wonder can be used to help students through this difficulty. It requires students to purposely slow down the process of ‘looking’ (cursory glance) at an image so that the process becomes more meaningful. They are required to spend time ‘looking closely’ at the various elements of an image and they are asked to write down exactly what they ‘see’. Then they are asked to articulate what they think each of the elements in the image represent. This is an important distinction, for in many cases students jump straight to making assertions about what they ‘think’ the image is ‘saying’ to the viewer without really ‘seeing’ (examining closely) what is before them. In this way ‘looking is not the same as seeing’.

The wonder part of the routine asks students to reflect beyond the image and ponder about the implications of the messages being communicated through the image. Sometimes students become so overwhelmed by all the detail in a visual source that they do not know how to differentiate between the elements. This inability to ‘zoom in’ and zoom out’ (refer to ‘Making Thinking Visible by Ritchhart, Church and Morrison for details of the Zoom-In thinking routine) the visual source and then to make judgments about what is important on balance is what I identified to be the main problem in this situation.

My response to the learning issue

I wanted to know how to support the students more with their learning. Thus, I devised a series of reflection questions in order to elicit direct feedback from students. At the start of the lesson following my conversation with the very capable History student, I explicitly discussed the challenge which many history students have when responding to visual sources. I explained that in order to support them more with their learning I had devised some questions designed to encourage them to reflect on visual analysis. The thinking behind my questions was embedded in the nature of the task but also in my understanding that emotions can impact on learning. Research has revealed that ‘emotion is important in education- it drives attention, which in turn drives learning and memory (Sylwester,1994, p. 60)…short term stress-related elevation of cortisol in the hippocampus can hinder our ability to distinguish between important and unimportant elements of a memorable event’ (Gazzaniga, 1989, cited in Sylwester, 1994, p. 62).

The questions were:

Document analysis reflection and review questions

1.When you look at an unseen (cartoon) source how do you feel when you first see it (for example, what emotions do you notice surfacing)?

2.When you annotate the source what do you look for or examine closely?

3.How do you know what is an important detail to focus on in the (cartoon) source and what is not important?

4.What support strategies help you analyse and evaluate the source (for example, thinking routines – See-Think-Wonder, initial questions which are scaffolded, practice tasks, sample answers, class discussions, self-assessment, peer assessment and teacher feedback)?

5.Is this a skill you feel you are still developing in Unit 3 /4 History?                   

6.Do you find this historical skill (visual document analysis) challenging? Why or why not?

Refer to Appendix 2 for a collection of student responses.

Summary of student responses

•Most students stated that they were nervous or anxious when they first saw the cartoon (connection between ability to think clearly and to their emotional state)

•Most students indicated that the first things they notice about the cartoon are the symbols, characters, basic shapes.

•Some students pointed out that they ‘look for smaller things that may not be easily noticeable but can often hold lots of meaning’. Unfortunately most students were not able to articulate how they were able to distinguish between significant and insignificant elements. These students were obviously differentiating but the way they were distinguishing between the elements was not revealed in their feedback responses. 

•Other students indicated that they considered the ‘symbols and people which [they] know were important or represent important things during the revolution’ to be the significant elements in the cartoon. This demonstrated they were drawing on historical, contextual knowledge to differentiate elements in the cartoon and to make judgements of what was important and not important.

•Some students relied on practice tasks and drew on prior experience to ‘pick up on … elements which [were] similar to cartoons …already analysed in class’

•In addition, some students indicated that they looked at ‘the whole source, but then focus[ed] more closely on the ones that [were] relevant to the questions’.

Conclusions

Students’ inability to adapt and apply their knowledge to new contexts is a perpetual issue and something which teachers grapple with on a daily basis. Even through the use of the See Think Wonder Thinking Routine, students were still making judgements which were not substantiated and therefore led to erroneous conclusions. Therefore, I chose to ask the aforementioned questions as I wanted the students to be more mindful of their learning and in particular I wanted them to focus on the historical skill of analysis for visual sources. According to Ellen Langer, “We remember information in two ways: mindfully or mindlessly…Mindful learning enables us to be sensitive to context and to notice the present.” (p. 87). The main aim of mindfulness is to be fully aware and attentive to all the details of the task or information you are exposed to in the present: ‘living without awareness is a little like living in a dark room. We can’t see or understand what is in front of us, we can’t move purposefully…’ (Hassed, C., 2008, p.54).

It therefore follows that if a student has learned information in a mindful fashion they are more likely to be aware of how the information may vary according to different contexts. This heightened awareness makes it more probable that the student can adapt their learning to different contexts and tasks. Furthermore, students are more likely to draw distinctions and notice differences in a body of information if the information is relevant to them. According to Langer “distinctions reveal that material is situated in a context and imply that other contexts may be contexts” (page 75). It is therefore important for students to note distinctions and they are likely to be aware of differences when they are engaged in mindful learning and when the information presented to them is relevant to them or when they have made some kind of personal connection to the material.

Furthermore, the idea that the human brain is able to change promotes the notion that students can learn new ways of thinking. One of the key proponents of this theory is Michael Merzenich, who argues that ‘plasticity exists from the cradle to the grave’ (cited in Doidge, 2007, p.46). Doidge discusses how Merzenich ‘claims that when learning occurs in a way consistent with the laws that govern brain plasticity, the mental “machinery” of the brain can be improved so that we learn and perceive with greater precision, speed and retention’ (Doidge, 2007, p.47). Thus according to this theory, reinforcing thinking in the classroom which promotes critical analysis and attention to detail is important as the neuronal connections in the brain will be strengthened and in a sense the student’s brain can be ‘shaped’ to think critically.

It is obvious to me that the students were engaging in mindful learning through their responses. For example, ‘Firstly, I look for anything which is familiar like symbols and clothing. Usually the first things I pick up on are elements which are similar to cartoons we have already analysed in class’. However, they still struggle with is making judgements about what is important in a visual image and what is not noteworthy.

Where to now….

From this story of teaching and learning I have decided to be more directive with my use of the See-Think-Wonder thinking routine. Many students flounder with the THINKING stage of the routine. They are certainly much better at ‘SEEING’ all the elements of the visual source (as evidenced by the student responses- refer to Appendix 2). However, students still seem to find it difficult to differentiate between the most important parts of the cartoon and less significant ones. Thus, they struggle to make judgements. I need to scaffold and support their thinking even further. I have decided to use a variation of the See-Think-Wonder thinking routine as follows:

1.What do you see in the cartoon (symbols, positioning, colour, size, and setting)?

2.What do you think are the most important element(s) in the visual source?

3.Why do you think this to be the case (justify your choice)?

4.On balance what do you think is the message behind the cartoon?

I will focus their attention on the fact that this analytical skill requires them to make better connections and choices about which elements of the cartoon are significant by employing the use of the What Makes you Say that? thinking routine and a variation of the Generate-Sort-, Connect Thinking Routine. The students are essentially making ‘seven mental moves’. I have developed a flow chart which I will use with my students to help them develop their critical thinking and hopefully enhance their ability to analyse historical cartoons. In fact, the flow chart can be adapted and used for the analysis of any visual source.

References:

Doidge, N. (2007) The Brain that Changes Itself, Scribe Publications, Melbourne.

Hassed C. (2008) The Essence of Health: the seven pillars of wellbeing, Random House, Sydney,

Langer, E. (1997) The Power of Mindful Learning, Da Capo Press, USA

Ritchhart, R., Church, M., & Morrison, K. (2011) Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners, Jossey-Bass, USA.

Ryder, L. (2010). Wondering about Thinking and Seeing: Moving beyond Meta-Cognition. In ‘Teaching Thinking, Thinking Teaching Stories of Learning’, AGQTP Project

http://www.larousse.fr/encyclopedie/personnage/Calonne/110919

http://pzweb.harvard.edu/vt/VisibleThinking_html_files/VisibleThinking1.html

Appendix 1

BLOOM’S REVISED TAXONOMY

Resource: http://www.kurwongbss.eq.edu.au/thinking/Bloom/blooms.htm

Creating

Generating new ideas, products, or ways of viewing things

Designing, constructing, planning, producing, inventing.

Evaluating

Justifying a decision or course of action

Checking, hypothesising, critiquing, experimenting, judging

Analysing

Breaking information into parts to explore understandings and relationships

Comparing, organising, deconstructing, interrogating, finding

Applying

Using information in another familiar situation

Implementing, carrying out, using, executing

Understanding

Explaining ideas or concepts

Interpreting, summarising, paraphrasing, classifying, explaining

Remembering

Recalling information

Recognising, listing, describing, retrieving, naming, finding

Appendix 2

Document analysis reflection and review questions

Selected student responses

 When you look at an unseen (cartoon) source how do you feel when you first see it (for example, what emotions do you notice surfacing)?

- Nervous and very tense - although not necessarily panicked.

 - First of all a little lost, but after reviewing the cartoon and using the information contained in (e.g. date, title) to recognise the subject of the cartoon and then examining the related questions, I feel a lot calmer and then focussed

- Usually anxious, tense, interested, analytical. Often overwhelmed.

-Nervous at first. I feel a bit overwhelmed because I sometimes struggle to figure out what the cartoon is about. After I get the gist of the cartoon I begin to feel a bit calmer. 

When you annotate the source what do you look for or examine closely?

-If it is a visual source, I look for the main figures and the main elements, and then, once I have established those, move on to the less important ones.

-Symbols

-Characteristics/features I recognise e.g. those on people portrayed in the cartoon

-Firstly I look for anything which is familiar like symbols and clothing. Usually the first things I pick up on are elements which are similar to cartoons we have already analysed in class. Once I have the general idea I look at the publication details to find some more information like the date and author.

-I often first notice the basic shapes and characters within the cartoon and consider what they may be representing and saying about the event at the time. I subconsciously notice the colouring and positioning of things within the source. I look for smaller things that may not be easily noticeable but can often hold loss of meaning, I also examine the date, author and caption (or lack thereof) and its significance.

   How do you know or decide what is an important detail to focus on in the (cartoon) source and what is not important?

-This is usually directed by the questions - I look at the whole source, but then focus more closely on the ones that are relevant to the questions.

 -What the questions are

-What the details of the cartoon are e.g. date, caption

-From my experience, I find the majority of details in the cartoon are of importance in some way

-Those I cannot analyse or interpret based on my own knowledge and the prompts in the questions and cartoon I do not dwell on. 

-To decide what is important I look for symbols and people which I know were important or represent important things during the revolution such as a sword represents nobility. I look for the elements in the cartoon which are in the foreground and which are in clear focus.

-It is usually obvious what the main idea being put forward if we examine the date and author of the source. Then I observe what things in the representation are most prominent or common among artworks of similar nature for example animals representing poor intelligence or chains representing oppression.

  What support strategies help you evaluate and analyse the source (for example, thinking routines – SEE THINK WONDER, initial questions which are scaffolded, practice tasks, sample answers, class discussions, self-assessment, peer assessment and teacher feedback)?

- I found the scaffolding questions and class discussion useful techniques as they lead me to think deeper about my responses and let me think about the same questions in a different light.

-Scaffolding questions help

- General discussion

-Annotating the actual image

-Practice tasks (these are particularly helpful)

-Teacher feedback (this helps direct me to what I need to improve on)

-Pinpointing the focuses of questions, dates and individuals is helpful.

-I usually systematically comb through the cartoon and analyse all the elements that catch my attention and therefore could relate to the task.

Is this a skill you feel you are still developing in Unit 3 /4 History?

-I feel I am still developing my analysis skills.

 -No because I don't think there's been enough practice in this area

-Maybe more homework tasks would help, or historical examples analysed by historians we are focussing on?

-I really like the initial scaffolding questions I find that they are very helpful to organise my thoughts. I also like lots of practice tasks because it eventually becomes easier to understand. I also like teacher feedback because it helps to understand what is expected in the exams/SACs. 

Do you find this historical skill challenging? Why or why not?

-Yes, it is challenging, but once I begin, and I know what I'm writing about, I don't have difficulty continuing with it - it's the initial thinking stage that I find the most challenging.

-Yes I definitely think I am still developing this skill. I already feel as though I have become better at it over the past few weeks but I think I can still develop my skills further.

-Usually depends on the content

-Usually I find analysing the cartoon easy

-But it is putting the analysis into words and sustaining analysis with historiography and external evidence that I find difficult.

-I am definitely still developing this skill, however I feel I can complete this tasks to quite a good degree and I am more confident in visual analysis than in other areas of assessment.

Do you find this historical skill challenging? Why or why not?

-I find it quite challenging because sometimes I really struggle to figure out what the cartoon means.

 - Not particularly as there are lots of things to find and discuss in any visual document. The longer questions also give you a really good chance to elaborate and show off you knowledge of the topic.