At a time when the world is increasingly moving beyond a text-based culture to one that is saturated in images it appears there is a growing need to consider students' visual education. The explosion in the use of visual media and technologies in our times has meant there is a greater need for training visually literate individuals who are capable of critical visual analysis. The use of visual media in learning and teaching is supported by research demonstrating that learner preferences and styles might be more effectively addressed, and that enhanced learning and retention can take place through the use of visual material. This paper explores strategies for encouraging children to be more innovative and adventurous in their thinking when responding to visual images. These strategies have emerged from the findings of a qualitative research study (conducted by the author) that focused on critical and creative engagement amongst Australian primary and secondary students involved in visual arts education. The purpose of the paper is to show not only the benefits of including visual communication in multimodal approaches to learning but also to show the strategies currently being applied in schools to teaching children to effectively decode and encode artefacts of their own visual culture. These strategies should enable them to develop skills as critical and aesthetic responders to forms of visual communication as well as effective visual communicators who create their own images and artefacts.

One of the major new developments in higher education is the growth of virtual universities and eLearning. eLearning comprises all forms of electronically supported learning and teaching but typically requires students to access media and communication with the aide of a computer and the Internet. While this development has definite practical benefits, such as, freedom from constraints of time and geography, there are also disparities that arise between real world and virtual technology-led teaching. Some creative ICT solutions in different disciplines or domains have proved to be successful, however, tertiary visual arts educators still face significant challenges in this new learning environment. Removing face-to-face interaction has implications for creating spaces where pre-service teachers can develop their art practice and knowledge of art pedagogies. This paper explores the specific issues that relate to off campus e-learning in the visual arts domain and presents findings from a study that investigated the attitudes of a group of tertiary students (enrolled in a primary creative arts education undergraduate unit) towards e-learning.

This paper discusses the concept of visual literacy and the problems inherent in regarding images as 'texts'. In large part contemporary understanding of visual literacy has emerged through the work of Kress (2003) and Kress and van Leeuwen (2006). These theorists have helped form a system of visual grammar and syntax that can be used to decipher meaning in imagery. While this creates further insight into the ways in which visual communication works, it rarely reveals 'the whole picture'. In this paper it is suggested that a dichotomy exists between a systemic functional approach to reading images as 'text' in English education and what could be described as an aesthetic approach in art education.

At a time when the world is increasingly moving beyond a text-based culture to one that is saturated in images, it appears there is a growing need to consider students' visual education. The explosion in the use of visual media and technologies in our times has meant there is a greater need for training visually literate individuals who are capable of critical visual analysis. The use of visual media in learning and teaching is supported by research demonstrating that learner preferences and styles might be more effectively addressed, and that enhanced learning and retention can take place through the use of visual material. This chapter explores strategies for encouraging children to be more innovative and adventurous in their thinking when responding to visual images. These strategies have emerged from the findings of a qualitative research study (conducted by the author) that focused on critical and creative engagement amongst Australian primary and secondary students involved in visual arts education. The purpose of the chapter is to show not only the benefits of including visual communication in multimodal approaches to learning but also to show the strategies currently being applied in schools to teaching children to effectively decode and encode artefacts of their own visual culture. These strategies should enable them to develop skills as critical and aesthetic responders to forms of visual communication, as well as effective visual communicators who create their own images and artefacts.

This paper illustrates the potential of the visual arts to be an engine that drives creativity and innovation in school settings. It is also reasoned, that the visual arts, as with other creative arts disciplines, will not become important and necessary engines for change in education without a determination to critically review arts pedagogies and to connect curriculum reform to creativity research and innovations occurring in other fields. These themes are explored through a review of literature pertinent to the nature of learning in the visual arts, visual arts and creative pedagogies, and teaching visual arts for creativity. Future directions and considerations are proposed in the final section of the paper.

The complex natures of the visual arts appear to provide an excellent platform to actively engage students in critical and creative thinking - both higher-order cognitive skills. This article presents information about a series of four qualitative ethnographic case studies that were conducted in primary and secondary schools in northern New South Wales, Australia. Developing the four cases allowed the researcher to assemble a set of descriptive portraits that reflected teacher practitioners' theories and the value they ascribed to critical and creative thinking. In addition, they reflected the way these theories and beliefs impacted on education practices and students in the visual arts classroom.

This book is specifically written for primary classroom teachers who are required to develop and teach music in their daily programs. In the Australian context, most primary teachers are responsible for developing and teaching music programs. The authors are particularly aware of the difficulties and constraints teachers face when they have limited musical training in either their secondary or pre-service education. The book aims at providing a logical approach to content and skill-based learning where primary students learn the rudiments of music through thoughtful engagement in singing, creative music making, aural and literacy development. The pedagogical perspective is Kodaly-focused and largely deals with the areas of music teaching and music making, which are considered by most teachers who identify themselves as non-musicians, as the most challenging.