Visual Journaling in Secondary Art Classrooms: A National Survey of Art Teachers

Visual journals are reflective learning journals that engage the active and purposeful exploration and incorporation of art mediums and visual imagery into the journaling process. This paper focused on the ways that visual journals might be enacted in K-12 classrooms. We begin by introducing the four ways New (2005) identified that artists, scientists, and directors use visual journals to attune them to the world: observation, reflection, exploration and creation. We then connect New's categories to research on how visual journals connect K-12 students to these artistic practices. The remainder of the paper presents findings from phase one of our instrumental, collective case study of how visual journals are used by secondary art teachers. Phase one is a national survey of high school art teachers who use visual journals in their classrooms. This paper presents the descriptive survey data from these participants in an effort to define and describe visual journals in practice, discuss the frequency and qualities of student engagement, and explore how teachers are using visual journals to support curricular goals. We will use these findings to guide phase two of the study, which involves interviews with teachers who participated in the survey.