Assessing the issue underpinning improving Source Based Questions in History and improving Visual Text in Comprehension

We tend to think in silos when we ponder on improving Source Based Questions in history and improving visual text in comprehension in English. That is entirely understandable, given that we often receive and give different instructions for both sections in each subject.

Teachers in schools, while having arguably more freedom to plan their lessons the longer they work in the department, are still answerable to their HODs. Thus, in terms of instruction, HODs do have the ability to dictate how their teachers in their department carry out the instruction for the particular components of each subject’s papers. Resultantly, that there are different instructions for each subject only reinforce the idea that both the Source Based Question and Visual Text do not have anything to do with one another.

In reality, however, here’s the kicker: both sections actually require the exact same skill. 

Knowing this could prove to be advantageous for students in their revision. So, what exactly do I mean? (Just to be clear, for history and the historical sources that we examine within this article, we are simply looking at visual sources rather than the written ones.)

Unpacking Visual Texts and Historical Pictorial Sources

Here’s the thing. In Visual Texts, we are required to interpret the meanings of images while interpreting the meanings of the words and phrases used when placed in context and side-by-side with the images AND producing the most appropriate explanations of the images. This is done through the use of real-life images, posters and the such that are meant to communicate a particular message.

These images and posters are usually of the variety that are used in public campaigns, non-profit organisations’ calls-to-action to raise awareness or public support, or even for-profit advertisements. When teachers set papers, they could possibly use a real poster and raise questions on them that assess students’ ability to unpack the meaning of the images and words. (In reality, in order to circumvent possible copyright issues, teachers tend to design their own images by emulating those used for commercial purposes.) Consider such a poster below:

 

When teachers set questions on the poster above, they may consider a few things:

1. The message that the image is trying to convey;
2. The information being conveyed within the text;
3. The purpose(s) of conveying said information;
4. Etc.

Placing the image (a hand holding a shower head that is spewing water) and main title of the text (“Saving water is in our hands”) gives us a clear picture of the message that PUB is trying to convey: It is up to the citizens’ discretionary use of water in our daily lives that determines whether or not we save water as a collective society.

From this point, we can then further interrogate the deliberate symbolism on display and delve deeper into the psyche and purpose of PUB in spending time and resources in producing this image in the first place. Subsequently, the questions are set as such that requires students to choose the most suitable captions, unpack the purpose(s) of the image, etc., etc.

In short, the visual text component assesses students’ understanding of the relationship between semiotics and text when deliberately placed in context of one another.

In comparison, in Source Based Questions in History, (specifically pictorial sources) we are required to interpret the meanings of images while interpreting the meanings of the words and phrases used when placed in context and side-by-side with the images AND producing the most appropriate words to explain the images.

Yes, you read it correctly. I deliberately repeated myself.

For historical pictorial sources, the key difference, however, is in the images that are used in the exams. The obvious difference between the images used in Visual Texts and Source Based Questions is in the natures of the media that were produced in vastly different cultural, political and societal contexts. Such different contexts necessarily lend themselves to different art forms. Nevertheless, the skill remains the same. Consider the historical source below:

We see a few things:

1. Images of nuclear warheads, pegged with a warning sign that says “On no account to be used – because the enemy might retaliate”.
2. Images of soldiers firing arrows at one another from both sides of the trenches.
3. The title – “Back to where it all started”.

Of course, in the case of historical sources, we require the additional historical context to fully make sense of this picture. Yet, examining the symbolism used within the image raises a few questions:

1. Why would the soldiers be firing arrows at one another if they had bombs to use?
2. Why can’t they use the bombs?
3. Is the artist bemoaning the barbarity of war with the captioned title? (“Back to where it all started” suggests a return to primitivity; this becomes clear when placed alongside the soldiers’ use of the bow and arrow, a weapon that is considered primitive by 1953 standards.)

So, in asking these questions, we are effectively interrogating the deliberate symbolism on display and delving deeper into the psyche and purpose of Michael Cummings in spending time and resources in producing this image in the first place.

Did we just repeat ourselves again? Yes, yes, we did.

The same skill required to improve Source Based Questions and to improve Visual Text in Comprehension

After a long-winded explanation, (thank you for your patience) what, then, is the exact same skill required to improve Source Based Questions and to improve Visual Text in Comprehension? Well, in short, it is the skill to understand symbols that are being used in the images.

As humans, regardless of societal, cultural or political contexts, we are raised to understand symbols with universal meanings and interpretations. For instance, when we see a symbol of bombs, we think of danger. When we see symbols of hands doing something, we think of manual efforts. When we see a symbol of a drop of water, we think of the life-giving natural resource.

As such, improving Source Based Questions in History and improving Visual Text in Comprehension stems from the same place: as long as we make sense of the meaning of symbols within the text or source that is given to us, we can certainly improve the quality of our answers in Source Based Questions or Visual Text Comprehensions.

This requires us to expose ourselves to various visual texts and/or sources. Of course, there are more skills to consider when we delve deeper into improving visual text in comprehension or improving source based questions in history, but foundationally speaking, improving our grasp of semiotics is crucial.

Taking your first step in improving visual text in comprehension and improving source based questions in history

As luck would have it, at The Discourse Education, we believe in helping students learn these skills. In addition, we take on an interdisciplinary approach given that the subjects we teach encompass both history and english. As such, we employ the same tips and philosophies in our teaching of both subjects.

Learn more about us and take your first step in improving visual text in comprehension and improving source based questions in history today. Do contact us for more information!

Featured image by Aaron Burden on Unsplash