Visual Narratives

A few days in advance, ask students to:

• Complete the Preparatory assignment;
• Fill in the Creative Roles questionnaire to help you create teams ahead of time.

Refer to the Teacher Preparation handout for practical guidance on setting up the space, materials to bring and facilitating the activity.

In class, begin by introducing the creativity challenge. Briefly explain what students will be doing, and why this activity matters. Check whether everyone has brought at least five personal objects as instructed.

Using the Creative Challenge presentation, highlight some basic principles of open thinking, idea generation and embracing constraints. Transition into the theme of visual storytelling and perspective taking, and show a few examples of inspiring installations.

If possible, invite a guest artist or photographer to speak briefly about their creative process. Otherwise, show examples of art installations to inspire the students.

Then, encourage students to shift into a more open mindset in a 20-minute Scent assignment, using the provided handout for instructions.

Group students into teams of four to five, ensuring a mix of creative roles to ensure diverse perspectives. Hand each team a flip-over sheet to work on.

Each team begins by sharing the objects they brought and the short personal stories written during the scent assignment.

Next, instruct the teams to use Various brainstorming techniques or Rules for brainstorming to develop a shared narrative, organising their ideas in the form of a mindmap. Emphasise that not every object or story needs to be included, as it is about generating a cohesive and creative storyline.

Either you, as the teacher, an artist or a photographer supports the groups by guiding the brainstorming process where needed.

Students select a location within the space to create their installation. Emphasise that the final result will be photographed, so perspective and composition matter.

Encourage students to document the process with photos, capturing how their narrative and design take shape. These images can be used later in their reflection. Each team presents their narrative and installation to the photographer, artist and teacher or teachers, who offer formative feedback using the provided Feedback suggestions. While one team receives feedback, other teams continue developing their installations.

After receiving feedback, teams have up to 15 minutes to engage in a short Feedback dialogue and discuss the input. They then refine and finalise their installation accordingly.

Hand each team an envelope containing one of the surprise prompts from the Wildcard assignment. These prompts invite students to rethink and transform their installation in unexpected ways.

Then, instruct the teams to finalise their installation. They have 20 minutes to decide what to keep, modify, or remove, including changes made in response to the wildcard.

Once finalised, each team presents their installation and narrative to the rest of the group. The photographer or a student takes a final photo to document the completed installation.

Allow the group an extended break, such as lunch hour, or reconvene the group on a separate day to give students time to reset and process the experience.

Afterwards, bring the group back together for a moment for Individual reflection.

Finally, refer to the provided handout to facilitate a Collective debrief.

Assessment as learning aims to strengthen the learning process and the development of metacognitive skills. It empowers students to direct their own learning and to become independent, critical self-assessors.

Assessment for learning (formative assessment) aims to gather evidence and ongoing feedback on students’ learning progress during the learning process.

Peer assessment & Teacher-led assessment

Self-regulated learning & Authentic

Feedback suggestions, Individual reflective questions and Individual reflection assignment