Words matter. But why do we prioritise written over visual literacy?

If we want children to grow into adults who love stories, who think deeply, and who feel seen in their education, we need to rethink what we are prioritising in education and reading is at the heart of that.

Here’s a striking fact:In 2025, only 32.7% of young people aged 8 to 18 said they enjoy reading. That is the lowest figure in two decades. Even fewer, just 18.7%, read daily. Adults are not faring much better, with 40% of Britons reporting they have not read a single book in the past year.

This should make us pause.

We have built an education system that centres the written word. Phonics, grammar, decoding, comprehension. These have been the pillars of literacy. But in a world that is increasingly visual, digital, and fast-paced, we need to ask whether this approach still serves all learners. Is it time to shift our focus from words to images, from decoding to thinking?

Language Is Powerful, But It Can Also Be Limiting

Words carry meaning, but they also create barriers. Traditional literacy rewards those who can decode and memorise. But what about learners who think in pictures, patterns, or movement? What about those who do not fit the mould?

Reading has long been treated as the gateway to learning. But maybe the gate itself is the problem.

Teaching Visual Literacy skills Is Essential, Not Optional

Learners today are fluent in visual media. Memes, infographics, short-form videos, digital storytelling. These are not distractions. They are languages in their own right. Visual literacy is not about looking at pictures. It is about interpreting, analysing, and communicating through visual forms. It is about thinking critically in a language that reflects the world students live in.

Thinking Before Decoding

What if we taught thinking before phonics? When students learn to interpret visuals, identify patterns, and engage with abstract ideas, they are not just learning. They are thinking. And thinking is what education should be about.

Critical thinking is the ability to evaluate information, question assumptions, and form independent ideas. It is more valuable than rote phonics drills. It prepares students for a world that does not come with a textbook.

Technology Is Already Leading the Way

Assistive technology is transforming access to learning. Speech-to-text tools, immersive readers, and AI-powered visual aids are opening up education for students with dyslexia, auditory processing difficulties, and language barriers.

Augmented reality, interactive simulations, and adaptive platforms are showing us what learning can look like when it is multimodal, inclusive, and responsive to individual needs.

Decolonising Literacy

The way we teach language is not neutral. It is shaped by colonial histories. Colonial education systems imposed dominant languages and erased indigenous ones. They privileged written text over oral, symbolic, and visual traditions.

Decolonising education means recognising that literacy is not just about letters. It means reclaiming ways of knowing that have been marginalised. It means valuing storytelling through symbols, oral histories, and visual narratives.

This is not about adding a few diverse books to the curriculum. It is about changing the framework.

Visual Literacy in Action: The Power of Pictures

The Power of Pictures programme, developed by CLPE and evaluated by the EEF, is a leading example of how visual literacy can transform learning. It uses high-quality picturebooks to teach children how to read, interpret, and create meaning through images. Teachers are trained by professional author-illustrators and guide students in crafting their own picturebooks.

This approach supports deeper comprehension, creativity, and confidence in writing. Students who participated made, on average, one month’s additional progress in writing and showed increased engagement and self-belief.

By placing visual storytelling at the heart of literacy, Power of Pictures proves that images are not just decorative,they are essential tools for thinking, learning, and expression.

The Power of Pictures | Centre for Literacy in Primary Education

Another example of visual literacy in action is Scholastic’s Every Picture Tells a Story programme, developed in partnership with Fujifilm. This initiative uses photography as a creative writing stimulus, encouraging children to build narratives around visual prompts. Through activities like crafting storyboards, writing captions, and creating classroom newspapers, students learn to structure stories and express ideas visually and verbally. This approach is particularly effective for learners who find traditional text-based tasks challenging, offering an inclusive and engaging route into literacy that values creativity and personal expression.

What Should We Do Instead?

This is not a call to abandon phonics. It is a call for balance. We need to expand our definition of literacy. We need to integrate visual thinking, assistive technology, and cultural context. We need classrooms where every learner can thrive, regardless of how they process information and isn’t made to feel

Why this matters so much to me

As a visual artist, I naturally process the world through images, patterns, and spatial relationships. Visual literacy aligns with how I think, create, and communicate. As an adult I’ve learnt to see this as a strength.

I have dyslexia. Dyslexia can make decoding written words slow, frustrating, or exhausting, even when you love stories and ideas.

Visual literacy offers a different route in. It allows me to engage with complex ideas without being blocked by the mechanics of reading.

I know that being fully literate doesn’t just mean reading fluently, it means being able to interpret, express, and connect. Whether through drawing, designing, or storytelling with visuals, we need to be able to engage in deep, meaningful literacy on a daily basis.

Children with Speech Language and Communication needs also face struggles to understand instructions, express ideas, or engage in classroom dialogue. Visual literacy offers an alternative route into learning.

For students with SLCN, visuals can:

Support understanding of complex ideasReduce reliance on verbal explanationsProvide a way to express thoughts non-verbally

I’m not just talking about theory, I live this. My dyslexia and visual creativity give me a unique insight into what inclusive education could look like. I understand the emotional and cognitive impact of struggling to navigate word-heavy systems and truly believe that having a bigger focus on visual literacy will really help us rekindle the love of stories in our pupils and adults, too.