Renee Hobbs. “Sisters, Cousins, Competitors, Friends: Visual Competence and Media Literacy,” Paper presented to the International Communication Association, Montreal Canada, May 25, 2008.

1.
Sisters, Cousins, Competitors or Friends?
Visual Competence and Media Literacy
Renee Hobbs
Temple University
Philadelphia PA
International Communication Association, Montreal, May 24, 2008

2. Multiple Approaches to Studying Visual Culture
Studies of visual culture merge popular and "low" cultural forms
of media and communication with the study of "high" cultural
forms of fine art, design, and architecture.

3. JACOBS UNIVERSITY BREMEN
Visual Competence Symposium
July 6 - 8, 2007
Marion Muller, GERMANY
Steven Eisenman, US
Luc Pauwels, BELGIUM
Gunther Kress, UK
Daniel Glaser, UK
Kenneth Holmqvist, SWEDEN
Alan Kingstone, CANADA
Renee Hobbs, US
Ursula Frohne, GERMANY
Lucia Santaella Braga, BRAZIL
Theo van Leeuwen, AUSTRALIA
Leonardo Boccia, BRAZIL
Arvid Kappas, GERMANY
Matthias Bruhn, GERMANY
Winfried Nöth, GERMANY
Ed Tan, NETHERLANDS
Michael Griffin, US
…and others

4. Visual Competence
1. Perception
2. Decoding and
interpretation
3. Production
4. Intra- and
intercultural action
Informed by perspectives from art history, cognitive neuroscience, semiotics
and communication
Competence is the acquisition of knowledge, skills and abilities at a
level of expertise sufficient to be able to perform in an appropriate
setting

5. Media Literacy
The ability to
1. Access
2. Analyze
3. Evaluate
4. Communicate
…in a wide variety
of forms
Informed by perspectives from education, communication, cultural studies and
youth development
Literacy involves a continuum of learning that enables an individual to
achieve his or her goals, to develop knowledge and potential, and to
participate fully in society.

6. Visual Competence
Media Literacy
Why a New Term?

7. Visual Competence
Media Literacy
Why a New Term?
 Responding to the problematics of “literacy”
Applying insights from perceptual and
cognitive psychology
 Emphasizing cultural specificity of message
construction and interpretation
 A term for academic scholars interested in
interdisciplinary inquiry on processes of
message production and reception

8. Widespread Stakeholder Interest in
“New Literacies”
Information technology providers
Academic scholars in communication and media
studies
Library and information science
K-12 education and school reform
Public health
Fine and performing arts
After school and informal learning
Advocacy and social change
Workplace readiness and the creative economy

9. Visual Competence
ICT Literacy
Critical Literacy New Literacies
Information Literacy
Media Literacy
Visual Literacy
Multiple Models Proliferate

10. Visual CompetenceVisual Competence
PerceptionPerception
Decoding/InterpretationDecoding/Interpretation
ProductionProduction
Intra-intercultural actionIntra-intercultural action
Media LiteracyMedia Literacy
AccessAccess
Analyze/EvaluateAnalyze/Evaluate
CommunicateCommunicate
AdvocateAdvocate
Sisters, Cousins, Competitors or Friends?

11. Characteristics of Visual Competence:
Focus on Perceptual & Cognitive Issues
Alan Kingstone’s cognitive
ethology approach to
studying visual cognition
Eye tracking studies of
people watching movies
show a lot of consistency
Provides insight on the
relationship between
interpretation and
production, since producers
design messages that are
designed to evoke shared
meaning

12. Characteristics of Visual Competence:
Focus on Cultural Specificity
Culture shapes both the processes of message construction and reception.

13. Characteristics of Media Literacy:
Focus on Purpose
The purpose of media literacy education is to help
individuals of all ages develop the habits of inquiry
and skills of expression that they need to be
critical thinkers, effective communicators and
active citizens in today’s world.
--Core Principles of Media Literacy Education, AMLA, St. Louis (2007)

14. DISTRIBUTION &
PARTICIPATION:
A means of sharing
MEDIUM: The
form of expression
and
communication
TECHNOLOGIES: Resources
that help you do or make
things
MEDIA LITERACY
PEDAGOGY: A way of learning and teaching
ACCESS
ANALYZE/
EVALUATE
COMMUNICATE ADVOCATE
CONTENT: The
messages that
matter

15. Characteristics of Media Literacy:
Focus on Key Concepts
1) Understanding that all messages are constructions, created by authors for
specific purposes
2) People use their individual skills, beliefs and experiences to construct meaning
from messages
3) Different forms and genres of communication make use of specific codes,
conventions and symbolic forms
4) Values and ideologies are conveyed in media messages in ways that represent
certain world views
5) Media and media messages can shape people’s perceptions of social reality,
thus influencing beliefs, attitudes, behaviors and the democratic process
6) Media messages, media industries and technologies of communication exist
within a larger aesthetic, cultural, historical, political, economic and
regulatory framework.

16. Characteristics of Media Literacy:
Focus on Core Instructional Practices
 Reflection on media &
technology use
 Inquiry-oriented critical
analysis of multimedia
texts, contexts, and
cultures
 Creative and collaborative
media production for
authentic purposes

17. Visual CompetenceVisual Competence
PerceptionPerception
Decoding/InterpretationDecoding/Interpretation
ProductionProduction
Intra-intercultural actionIntra-intercultural action
Media LiteracyMedia Literacy
Access
Analyze/Evaluate
Communicate
Advocate
Sisters, Cousins, Competitors or Friends?
EDUCATION

18. Issues to Consider
What is the purpose of “visual competence”?
What are the costs and benefits of interdisciplinary
approaches to defining skills, knowledge and
competencies in relation to message reception and
production?

19. Many multimedia forms are not strictly “visual”
Competence suggests a state of mastery, with
implied or explicit hierarchies
Visual competence is highly medium- and genre-
specific
Visual competence is not explicitly linked to
metacognition, learning processes, or “habits of
inquiry”
Analysis is situated within decoding/
interpretation, emphasizing meaning-making but
risking the loss of a “critical” perspective
Visual Competence and Media Literacy:
Sisters, Cousins, Competitors or Friends?

20. Renee Hobbs
Professor
Media Education Lab
Temple University
School of Communications and Theater
Philadelphia PA USA
Email : renee.hobbs@temple.edu