Visual Thinking Strategies as Humanistic Education: A Qualitative Study of Teachers Using VTS

Christina Connors; Jody S. Piro

doi:10.47852/bonviewIJCE42022990

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Christina Connors ¹, Jody S. Piro ¹ ^*

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¹ Education and Educational Psychology, Western Connecticut State University, USA^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

Previous research has suggested that Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) practices positively impact student performance and if so they may also affect teacher performance. The purpose of this study was to explore VTS on teachers’ perceptions of their general teaching practice. A qualitative, multiple case study was conducted to investigate the experience of teachers using VTS. Eligible teacher participants were identified through the VTS Organization and the Watershed Collaborative. The two cases – teachers practicing VTS in Kindergarten Grade 12 (K-12) setting and teachers practicing in VTS outside of the K-12 setting – were investigated separately and then compared in a crosscase analysis. An analysis of the data indicated that using VTS in teaching relates to a humanistic teaching style. These findings have implications for educators and educational institutions wishing to implement humanistic teaching practices and raise further questions pertaining to VTS and humanistic education practices that might be explored through future research.

Keywords

Visual Thinking Strategies
humanistic learning education
humanistic teaching
teaching practices
relational teaching
student engagement
safe learning environment

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

International Journal of Changes in Education, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2025, 66-79

https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewIJCE42022990

Publication date: 26 May 2025

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Article Downloads: 3

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How to cite this article

APA

Connors, C., & Piro, J. S. (2025). Visual Thinking Strategies as Humanistic Education: A Qualitative Study of Teachers Using VTS. International Journal of Changes in Education, 2(2), 66-79. https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewIJCE42022990

Vancouver

Connors C, Piro JS. Visual Thinking Strategies as Humanistic Education: A Qualitative Study of Teachers Using VTS. International Journal of Changes in Education. 2025;2(2):66-79. https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewIJCE42022990

AMA

Connors C, Piro JS. Visual Thinking Strategies as Humanistic Education: A Qualitative Study of Teachers Using VTS. International Journal of Changes in Education. 2025;2(2), 66-79. https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewIJCE42022990

Chicago

Connors, Christina, and Jody S. Piro. "Visual Thinking Strategies as Humanistic Education: A Qualitative Study of Teachers Using VTS". International Journal of Changes in Education 2025 2 no. 2 (2025): 66-79. https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewIJCE42022990

Harvard

Connors, C., and Piro, J. S. (2025). Visual Thinking Strategies as Humanistic Education: A Qualitative Study of Teachers Using VTS. International Journal of Changes in Education, 2(2), pp. 66-79. https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewIJCE42022990

MLA

Connors, Christina et al. "Visual Thinking Strategies as Humanistic Education: A Qualitative Study of Teachers Using VTS". International Journal of Changes in Education, vol. 2, no. 2, 2025, pp. 66-79. https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewIJCE42022990