Skills Development

Visual literacy is a characteristic all human beings inherently possess. Yet because of our cultural and social differences, we interpret visual symbols and representations, such as drawings, pictures, and artefacts, in different ways. How and why people use visual images to represent complex ideas and processes is the focus of How People use Pictures. It is the first comprehensive review of the literature on visual literacy in over a decade, and offers new insights into this complicated issue. Written for practitioners interested in communicating with local people using pictures and visual symbols and for researchers interested in gaining a deeper appreciation of the 'language of the visual' , this book provides detailed annotations of over 100 key references, as well as an extensive list of useful institutions and resources. This book was reprinted in 1997 and contains a new forward written by Bob Linney, outlining recent developments in visual literacy

The Cranfield Trust offers free management consultancy to organisations addressing issues of poverty, disability or disadvantage, using a register of volunteers from the commercial sector.The newsletter contains examples of recent projects; news about grants, funding and supporters; as well as news of internal ongoings.

A Study of 5 community-based arts in health projects in the UK. The field research was carried out between 1999-2001. The projects requesting the evaluation are: the Wrekenton Lantern Project in Gateshead; South Tyneside Arts Studio in South Shields; the West End Health Resource Centre in Newcastle upon Tyne; Looking Well in High Bentham, and the Bromley-by-Bow Centre in East London.The 100-page illustrated publication is a revised and edited version of the full report. It provides detail on the five arts and health projects and their programmes of work. It considers the mechanisms that appeared to be crucial in the practice of arts in health in community settings and its effectiveness in generating health benefits to participants and professionals in their communities.

A report which aims to provide a practical resource for community organisations, communication professionals and social-change activists working in development projects that they can use to assess the progress and the effects of their programs.

Research regarding the role of arts in young children, from birth until the age of 6.Identifing and describing examples of current practice in the arts in eary years, the study also aims to help provide a firm foundation for development work in this area.There are 3 main starnds to the research:1. a national survey of arts education and early years representatives to identify, and collects the views of, key providers of arts and early years activity; and to identify examples of current practice.2. six focus groups of representatives to discuss current practice and fututre priorities.3. ten case studies of current practice.

A detailed guide for organisations and individuals planning to evaluate arts education projects.

Theatr Fforwm Cymru is an educational charity based in Pembrokeshire who use Theatre of the Oppressed and other drama-based techniques to effect change, the Agora Report is a 26 page report accompanied by a DVD to be used to introduce proposals for legislative change that have come about through the legislative theatre event, the Agora. It can also be used to participate in making these proposals a reality. The DVD takes you clearly through the proposals using short documentaries that give each community group involved an opportunity to present the rationale for their proposals, and includes footage from the Legislative theatre pieces from which the proposals have emerged.

This is an international resource pack for practitioners, which pulls together practical ideas and experiences from people using the Reflect approach around the world. The resource is split into 5 sections: the written word, the spoken word, numbers, images and the last section provides some examples of Reflect in action.

This title is designed for people who want to make and use pictures for development. It provides guidelines to enable non-artists to make their own visual aids such as discussion starters, picture cards, flannel boards and community maps. It includes sections on: common pictorial conventions; how to draw and use colour; how to copy and adapt pictures; how to make and use a range of people-centred visual aids; and how to plan and conduct workshops on visual communication. The book looks at ways in which visual aids have been designed and used in the past, and shows how the authoritarian approach to communication has failed to promote a more equal distribution of power among people. The author proposes a different approach to work with educational visual aids - a "people-centred" approach - which goes beyond mere participation towards fuller involvement of local people in their own development. The traditional perspective of research studies of visual literacy among non-literate people is shown to be essentially neo-colonial. In this text, by contrast, visual literacy is viewed as a skill that is easy to acquire, rather than as a handicap to overcome by outsider professionals trying to develop a top-down "pictorial language".