Children’s images of beauty: environmental influences on aesthetic preferences

Abstract

This article reports on a recent study that explored children's aesthetic preferences. Authors of previous studies in this area have concluded children have a relatively narrow range of preferences based on judgments about their responses to images. In other contexts, researchers have investigated children's perspectives on their environments and created opportunities for them to take photographs in response to research tasks. This study is the first to draw on both approaches in order to develop a clearer understanding of children's aesthetic preferences. 51 children in two primary schools were asked to find and photograph images to represent their perceptions of beauty. In order to investigate whether or how children's environments influenced their preferences, the schools were located in contrasting urban and rural areas. The article explores several contrasts between the two sets of images and offers explanations for these contrasts. It suggests that previous studies may have underestimated the diversity of children's aesthetic preferences and that social, cultural and environmental factors may explain the differences between children's aesthetic preferences. The article concludes that both researchers and teachers could adopt similar methods to develop our understanding of children's perspectives, identities and experiences.