Pedagogy and pictorial evidence: interpreting Post-Reformation English prints in context

Abstract

This article discusses the increasing emphasis on using pictorial sources in teaching, learning and assessment in History and asserts that pedagogies for interpreting visual imagery need to be purposefully aligned in relation to the particular media or production contexts under study. Expecting students to be able to glean meaning from images without a supportive pedagogy generally leads to simplistic interpretations and discussion rarely goes beyond what is literally ‘seen’. Interpretation of pictorial sources is a cross-curricula concern with learning programmes increasingly making use of the widespread availability of visual media. To illustrate the way in which knowledge of context is essential to successful readings of pictorial evidence, this article examines prints produced in the Post-Reformation period in England. Through an illustration of their unique characteristics it can be seen that critical contextual understandings need to be integrated into pedagogical approaches. In the teaching of History in New Zealand, as in many History curricula, the increased recognition of the importance of pictorial evidence is an expression of the necessity that students adopt the historians’ practices of investigating sources. This article provides suggestions of how these expectations can be met through appropriate pedagogies.