Teaching Visual Literacy - Some Reflections on the Term

The statutory Order for art in the national curriculum identifies visual literacy as an essential aim of contemporary art education. In the Order visual literacy is located in the second attainment target. This paper suggests that, since the concept of literacy embraces reading and writing, the term visual literacy might be more usefully employed as an overarching concept embracing both attainment targets. This suggestion draws upon some of the extensive work carried out into literacy within the discipline of English. Further, the paper suggests that the ambition of the Order for art must be weighed against the dominant practices of art and design education and asks whether a curriculum which centres on painting and drawing can realistically be considered to be providing an adequate education for visual literacy in the 1990s.     

Technikons and Higher Education Restructuring

The paper examines technikons in South Africa with respect to some of their internal characteristics, and in relation to debates about their place in the system of higher education as a whole, currently being assessed by the new National Commission on Higher Education. Internally it is shown that technikons lag the universities by 1:3 in terms of student enrolments, and nearly half of the 100,000 (in 1991) students were enrolled at the distance learning Technikon RSA. The past decade has seen a shift away from science and technology (S&T) fields of study at technikons, despite their establishment as 'institutes of technology'. African and female students are shown to be especially under-represented in S&T fields; staff are significantly underqualified in comparison with the universities. The profile of technikons poses a number of questions in relation to the restructuring of the higher education system (HES). Issues of national and regional governance of the HES, articulation between universities-technikons-technical colleges, and ways of enhancing S&T fields and establishing staff development programmes are considered.     

Stretching the Boundaries: Schools as Therapeutic Agents in Mental Health. Is it a Realistic Proposition?

It seems self-evident to suggest that our schools should play a part in the identification and the response to school-age pupils with mental health problems/mental illness. Schools have a number of unique advantages as both preventative and curative agents in the mental health discourse. The notion of schools playing an extended role in the health, mental health and safety of children, enshrined in the UK Children Act, 2004, has resulted in further demands on educational professionals to meet a broader care agenda. The school as a site for mental health work appears to be an enlightened rather than radical proposition, yet often there are cultural and systemic barriers to implementation. This article aims to highlight some of the main obstacles to the promotion of therapeutic interventions in schools and proposes that there is a considerable gap between the rhetoric of joint-agency cooperation and the reality of applying mental health strategies in an educational setting. A number of recent UK government programmes have reflected a shift in thinking towards adopting more therapeutic interventions and this is particularly evident in the primary school strategies to improve behaviour and attendance. In tandem, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services have, through training initiatives and the use of primary mental health workers, actively promoted mental health issues in schools. Yet, despite these initiatives, it is arguable that many schools remain ill-equipped to recognize and respond to mental health problems in school-age children. I believe that schools have a pivotal role to play, but there must be fundamental changes before effective change can take place.     

What's Happening to Photography?

This is the first public output of the joint Arts Council/University of Portsmouth research project into photography teaching in GNVQ Art and Design and Media Communications and Production. It reports principally from various contacts and interviews in the first six months of the project and from the results of a questionnaire survey of art and design lecturers involved in GNVQ. The paper suggests that the increasing significance of photography in artistic cultural and social practices is not adequately reflected in formal education. It describes a variety of aims and practices in those institutions involved in GNYQ, although we have found little collaboration between art and design and media courses. In some art and design courses, photography functions mainly as an aid to research and preparatory work, elsewhere we found lecturers willing to describe it as ‘an art form in its own right’ or as a ‘fundamental part’ of the art and design curriculum. We report on the resource implications of offering substantial photography courses. some preliminary findings about the kinds of students studying art and design GNVQ, and the perceived value of official publications. The question of choosing ‘A’ level or GNVQ is raised, as is the issue of progression. We have found expectations that GNVQs will become a regular route into HE although their currency is not yet clear. Although we report difficulties with GNVQs in art and design, and more specifically with photography, we also record comments which indicate some reasons for optimism.     

The Elderly Alcoholic: The Counselor's Dilemma

The Older Americans Act of 1964 generated not only interest and concern but also a myriad of programs directed at a unique and growing population of American citizens—the elderly. The unique features of this population come with a wide range of physiological, sociological, and psychological problems that need to be addressed by the professional counselor and counselor education programs which provide training for the mental health specialist. A major problem of this population, alcoholism, has received little emphasis in counseling literature. In an attempt to bridge this gap, this article presents physiological, sociological, and psychological aspects of alcoholism as they apply to the elderly. The discussion which follows the presentation sets forth conclusions and recommendations for counselor education programming.     

Costing medical libraries: the feasibility of functional cost analysis*

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