Key points:
Many years ago, around 2010, I attended a professional development program in Houston called Literacy Through Photography, at a time when I was searching for practical ways to strengthen comprehension, discussion, and reading fluency, particularly for students who found traditional print-based tasks challenging. As part of the program, artists visited my classroom and shared their work with students. Much of that work was abstract. There were no obvious answers and no single “correct” interpretation.
Instead, students were invited to look closely, talk together, and explain what they noticed.
What struck me was how quickly students, including those who struggled with traditional reading tasks, began to engage. They learned to slow down, describe what they saw, make inferences, and justify their thinking. They weren’t just looking at images; they were reading them. And in doing so, they were rehearsing many of the same strategies we expect when reading written texts.
At the time, this felt innovative. But it also felt deeply intuitive.
Fast forward to today.
Students are surrounded by images and videos, from photographs and diagrams to memes, screenshots, and, increasingly, AI-generated visuals. These images appear everywhere: in learning materials, on social media, and inside the tools students use daily. Many look polished, realistic, and authoritative.
At the same time, AI has made faking easier than ever.
As educators and school leaders, we now face urgent questions around misinformation, academic integrity, and critical thinking. The issue is no longer just whether students can use AI tools, but whether they can interpret, evaluate, and question what they see.
This is where visual literacy becomes a frontline defence.
Teaching students to read images critically, to see them as constructed texts rather than neutral data, strengthens the same skills we rely on for strong reading comprehension: inference, evidence-based reasoning, and metacognitive awareness.
From photography to AI: A conversation grounded in practice
Recently, I found myself returning to those early classroom experiences through ongoing professional dialogue with a former college lecturer and professional photographer, as we explored what it really means to read images in the age of AI.
A conversation that grew out of practice
Nesreen: When I shared the draft with you, you immediately focused on the language, whether I was treating images as data or as signs. Is this important?
Photographer: Yes, because signs belong to reading. Data is output. Signs are meaning. When we talk about reading media texts, we’re talking about how meaning is constructed, not just what information appears.
Nesreen: That distinction feels crucial right now. Students are surrounded by images and videos, but they’re rarely taught to read them with the same care as written texts.
Photographer: Exactly. Once students understand that photographs and AI images are made up of signs, color, framing, scale, and viewpoint, they stop treating images as neutral or factual.
Nesreen: You also asked whether the lesson would lean more towards evaluative assessment or summarizing. That made me realize the reflection mattered just as much as the image itself.
Photographer: Reflection is key. When students explain why a composition works, or what they would change next time, they’re already engaging in higher-level reading skills.
Nesreen: And whether students are analyzing a photograph, generating an AI image, or reading a paragraph, they’re practicing the same habits: slowing down, noticing, justifying, and revising their thinking.
Photographer: And once they see that connection, reading becomes less about the right answer and more about understanding how meaning is made.
One common misconception is that visual literacy sits outside “real” literacy. In practice, the opposite is true.
When students read images carefully, they:
- identify what matters most
- follow structure and sequence
- infer meaning from clues
- justify interpretations with evidence
- revise first impressions
These are the habits of skilled readers.
For emerging readers, multilingual learners, and students who struggle with print, images lower the barrier to participation, without lowering the cognitive demand. Thinking comes first. Language follows.
From composition to comprehension: Mapping image reading to reading strategies
Photography offers a practical way to name what students are already doing intuitively. When teachers explicitly teach compositional elements, familiar reading strategies become visible and transferable.
| What students notice in an image | What they are doing cognitively | Reading strategy practiced |
| Where the eye goes first | Deciding importance | Identifying main ideas |
| How the eye moves | Tracking structure | Understanding sequence |
| What is included or excluded | Considering intention | Analyzing author’s choices |
| Foreground and background | Sorting information | Main vs supporting details |
| Light and shadow | Interpreting mood | Making inferences |
| Symbols and colour | Reading beyond the literal | Figurative language |
| Scale and angle | Judging power | Perspective and viewpoint |
| Repetition or pattern | Spotting themes | Theme identification |
| Contextual clues | Using surrounding detail | Context clues |
| Ambiguity | Holding multiple meanings | Critical reading |
| Evidence from the image | Justifying interpretation | Evidence-based responses |
Once students recognise these moves, teachers can say explicitly:
“You’re doing the same thing you do when you read a paragraph.”
That moment of transfer is powerful.
Making AI image generation teachable (and safe)
In my classroom work pack, students use Perchance AI to generate images. I chose this tool deliberately: It is accessible, age-appropriate, and allows students to iterate, refining prompts based on compositional choices rather than chasing novelty.
Students don’t just generate an image once. They plan, revise, and evaluate.
This shifts AI use away from shortcut behavior and toward intentional design and reflection, supporting academic integrity rather than undermining it.
The progression of a prompt: From surface to depth (WAGOLL)
One of the most effective elements of the work pack is a WAGOLL (What A Good One Looks Like) progression, which shows students how thinking improves with precision.
- Simple: A photorealistic image of a dog sitting in a park.
- Secure: A photorealistic image of a dog positioned using the rule of thirds, warm colour palette, soft natural lighting, blurred background.
- Greater Depth: A photorealistic image of a dog positioned using the rule of thirds, framed by tree branches, low-angle view, strong contrast, sharp focus on the subject, blurred background.
Students can see and explain how photographic language turns an image from output into meaningful signs. That explanation is where literacy lives.
When classroom talk begins to change
Over time, classroom conversations shift.
Instead of “I like it” or “It looks real,” students begin to say:
- “The creator wants us to notice…”
- “This detail suggests…”
- “At first I thought…, but now I think…”
These are reading sentences.
Because images feel accessible, more students participate. The classroom becomes slower, quieter, and more thoughtful–exactly the conditions we want for deep comprehension.
Visual literacy as a bridge, not an add-on
Visual literacy is not an extra subject competing for time. It is a bridge, especially in the age of AI.
By teaching students how to read images, schools strengthen:
- reading comprehension
- inference and evaluation
- evidence-based reasoning
- metacognitive awarenes
Most importantly, students learn that literacy is not about rushing to answers, but about noticing, questioning, and constructing meaning.
In a world saturated with AI-generated images, teaching students how to read visually is no longer optional.
It is literacy.
Author’s note: This article grew out of classroom practice and professional dialogue with a former college lecturer and professional photographer. Their contribution informed the discussion of visual composition, semiotics, and reflective image-reading, without any involvement in publication or authorship.
