Circles of context in deciphering meaning to visual art objects: Pedagogical practices in art education.

This article examines pedagogical practices in art education within Zimbabwean teacher's colleges, focusing on how art and design students create and interpret visual metaphors for meaning-making. The study found that while students and lecturers demonstrated a conceptual understanding of visual metaphors, their interpretations and artworks predominantly reflected Western art symbols and formalist analysis models, with limited engagement with African aesthetics or contemporary art practices. Pedagogical strategies included gallery visits, studio demonstrations, and internet research, but there was an over-reliance on Western canonical artworks and digital sources, which constrained creativity and symbolic complexity in student work. The authors recommend integrating postmodern and culturally specific pedagogies that emphasize African visual languages and reflective studio practices to enhance students' interpretive skills and visual literacy.