Uncle Arthur’s Posthumous Rejoinder

Abstract

One person sees a vase, another sees two black faces looking at each other. Another image: Is it a fashionable young lady or an old woman? In classic figure / ground visual perception experiments, viewers’ ‘perceptual sets’ and their personal interests, including emphasising some shapes and contours, may strengthen one ‘interpretation’ more than the other, according to psychologists. The article critiquing my Bedtime stories, published in a recent issue of Teach journal of Christian education,2 appears to focus on only one interpretation, an imbalance that I believe needs addressing. I acknowledge the critique’s generosity (however muted) regarding certain aspects of the Bedtime stories series and take note of some of the perceived weaknesses in my children’s texts. Notwithstanding that Nicholls and Reynaud write from the vantage point of the 21st century and with hindsight, there is merit in scrutinising the validity of some of their arguments. Before embarking on this task, however, it seems instructive to provide some general context through reflecting and personal reminiscing.