Autobiographical Portraits of Four Female Adolescents: Implications for Teaching Critical Visual Culture

An autobiographical portrait is an artistic representation that shows not only a personʹs physical characteristics, but also his or her personality, knowledge, history, and/or lived experiences. Understanding student autobiographical portraits not only helps art teachers gain insight into their studentsʹ prior knowledge of and experiences with art, but also allows them to use such insight for relevant instruction. Based on constructivist learning theory and with attention to the future implementation of visual culture art education, this study analyzes visual and verbal autobiographical artifacts produced by four adolescent female students to gain insight into their personal interests, knowledge and experiences with art, and artistic development. Conclusions address implications for teaching critical visual culture.