The senses have been of great concern in education. Thereby the determination of five senses as well as the division of the senses as associated with the body and rational judgement associated with the mind are produced by [[colonialities]]. Sensuous experience was deemed of a 'lower' kind from which rational, abstract thinking could be developed. As such, the training of the senses as part of governing the child is entangled with [[child development]] and the [[recapitulation theory]]. The turn towards sensorial learning through the contact and interaction with the material world has led to a proliferation of materialities, for example toys and games, within arts education and education at large.
“Contrastes” (Contrasts) is one of the games that make up the “Jogos Visuais” collection, published in 1974 by Edições ASA in Porto. It was designed by the painter Elvira Leite and the architect Manuela Malpique, both teachers in the Portuguese public education system in disciplines related to the arts.
The Visual Games are a collection of materials made up of books, games, book-games, worksheets, modules and equipment, aimed at the visual education of children and young people. They were conceived by the painter Elvira Leite and the architect Manuela Malpique, both arts teachers in Portuguese public education.
First published in 1875/6 in Switzerland, Johannes Staub’s picture book series A instrucção da creança was translated and published in Portugal in 1904/5. Staub was a teacher and author, committed to progressive and reform education. His picture book series was thought as part of the pedagogical method of the object lesson.
