The construction of knowledge through visual perceptual training in visual arts

Abstract

Visual Art education plays an important and vital role in the holistic development of young children. During the middle childhood phase of their development, children’s pursuit of realistic renderings in their art projects increases. Their frustration and hesitation to create is fuelled by their inability to artistically render what they visually perceive. Children in the middle childhood are between the ages of 10 and 11, and their self-imposed criticism of their own work overshadows their willingness to create in 2D. In many cases, these children cease to value creating in art as an expressive outlet and subsequently lose interest in Visual Art. This decline in their artistic interest and creative output is known as the U-curve/creative slump (Wachowiak & Clements 2010:180).