Communication and Transformation through Collaboration: Rethinking Drawing Activities in Early Childhood

Abstract

This article is a study of the arts in early childhood as a way of learning, for both children and their teachers. The author suggests that drawing can be a powerful tool for collaborative approaches to pedagogy. When teachers draw with children, pathways of communication can be opened, and the collaborative exercise can trigger processes of transformation for both adult and child. In order to present challenges to more traditional, hands-off pedagogical practices in arts education, this article is an account of reflexive arts pedagogies, and how they can work to improve communication and understandings between adults and children. Within the educational contexts of Australian preschooling and primary schooling, the author examines the process of collaborative drawing, and how this can enable a process of transformation. Her analysis, and the accompanying examples of reflexive practices, combine complementary lenses, socio-cultural and postmodern, that she sees as working in harmony to produce new possibilities, in arts education in particular, and, more broadly, in early childhood education.

A new theory on children's drawings: Analyzing the role of emotion and movement in graphical development

“…The sheet of paper becomes a sort of a laboratory, where children experiment with lines. The line's expressiveness at this stage is owed to young children's dynamic perception of reality (Knight, 2008;Werner, 1940) and child animism (Lange-Küttner & Reith, 1995;Piaget, 1964). For children, a line that ends up outside the sheet of paper "Is gone!…”

An 8-year-old’s engagement with preferred music: A case study

“…This discussion about her drawings led to a deeper understanding of the way that her notations were more than a denotive system referring to and communicating information about music. If researchers want to interpret children's drawings, Knight (2008) argues that it is necessary for the researcher/adult to engage in dialogue with the child about the drawing to better understand the child's intentions. This combination of Jack's drawing and talking with him about his drawings was used in the current study.…”

«Μου Το Λέει Και Ο Αδερφός Μου Ότι Κάνω Μουτζούρες Όταν Ζωγραφίζω». Οι ‘Μουτζούρες’ Αλλιώς: Ένα Σχέδιο Εργασίας Με Πολύ Μικρά Παιδιά

“…Αν η ανταπόκριση είναι θετική τότε κατανοούν ότι πέτυχαν μια αναπαράσταση που είναι αποδεκτή, ενώ μια αρνητική αντίδραση συνήθως τα αποθαρρύνει. Οι απόψεις και οι στάσεις των ενηλίκων απέναντι σε αυτή τη δραστηριότητα, οι παιδαγωγικές πρακτικές και ρουτίνες που εφαρμόζονται σε μια τάξη αποτελούν σημαντικούς παράγοντες που μπορούν να ενισχύσουν ή να αναστείλουν αυτή τη δραστηριότητα (Anning & Ring, 2004• Knight, 2008• Ring, 2006• Rose, Jolley, & Burkitt, 2006.…”