1. artistic practices + development:understanding children’s art in contextedpsy502winter 2010sarahj. ward
2. guiding question Children’s artistic development is significant for a number of reasons including the development of motor and cognitive skills. There is a tendency to objectify creativity. It’s a trait you have or a trait you don’t. The research that follows seems to agree: creative and artistic development has been studied in individual children and their work, but continues to ignore the child governed worlds that are critical to all sorts of growth. how are children’s artistic practices influenced by their social context?
5. abstract through (pictures as symbols)as both fine motor skills and cognitive skills advance together, children move from scribbling identifying shapes in scribbles drawing shapes combining shapes to make objects objects to pictures, with increased realism
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8. Children’s culture is in some ways similar to adult culture but it is wrong to assume that they are exactly the same
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10. It should avoid the trap of an ‘adultist’ top-down approach to the research and the choice of methods and not seek to approximate the child’s world to that of the adult’s. The possible limitations in language and articulation of younger children may, in fact, actually be reinforced by adult attempts to place their own interpretation on the words and drawings of children…. [researchers] need to create the potential for children to have their own ideas and explanations heard and understood Milburn & McKie, 1999, p.397 draw + tell d + t was originally introduced to health education circles in 1989 Grounded in a philosophical position which is concerned with how the social world is interpreted, understood, experienced or produced Methods of data generation are flexible and sensitive to social context Methods of analysis and explanation building involve understandings of complexity, detail and context Drawings have been used to project what is not overt Assist communication b/t children and adults (Milburn & McKie, 1999)
11. a ski trip memory if you had your very own world, what would it look like mom + dad anything you’d like draw + tell topics I chose the draw + tell technique because it enabled me to come up with topics that I knew they were familiar with and also those that would show their individuality. I had them all draw at once, which was a challenge in itself because paying attention to 4 kids and their interactions with one another is a lot. If I were to conduct this research again I would use a video recorder so that I could go back and review the scene from different angles.
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13. Average of ten parts a person including hair, eyes, pupils, ears, arm and fingers, leg and foot
30. Describes in simple terms how different materials, techniques, and processes cause various responses (e.g., says, "The color blue in the picture makes me feel sad.”)
33. Knows how people's experiences (e.g., cultural background, human needs) can influence art
34. Expresses ideas about personal artwork that may or may not refer to the image (e.g., describes a schematic drawing (circle for head, circle for body, lines for legs and arms) as a picture of her dog eating)
53. Increased dexterity fine motor skill development(Kellogg, 1967, p13 & 29; pbs.org, 2010)
54. mom + dad your ski trip your very own world anything you’d like
55. I’m still drawing this because its going to be extra good! … You could see everything on the mountain – but mostly fog - Saxton describing the ski picture Pecky, what are you drawing? - me finishes scribbling looks at picture, looks at me A mirror. - Peck What’s in the mirror? - me Pecky. - Peck My best memory from the ski trip was skiing – Lake Yeah, it was Lake’s first time up the chairlift – Lyla It was really fun, right Lake? – Sax conversation about chairlift and mountain continues. They each end up drawing the chairlift You don’t need to draw everything in that color - Sax to Lake Why did you choose that green Lake? - me Oh I can answer that! Because it’s his favorite – Lyla Yeah, he does everything in that color - Sax Mom, come here, I want to look at you – Lyla as she carefully draws her mom in the outfit that she’s wearing that day (Sax, will go on to draw his mom by looking at Lyla’s picture for guidance) Basically, it’s a world in the sky and the guys who live in it look like this – Dum Dums! And they have fire shoes to fly! - Lyla describing her very own world Hey Lyla, why’d you draw that sunset? – me Because I’m good at it! - Lyla I’m going to guess what daddy’s wearing: a light blue shirt and shorts… just like me! – Lake Lake draws his dad, James, on a plane – Emily, his mom, asks if it’s because daddy’s coming home on a plane the following day. Lake says “yes.”
56. discussions/observations Children used each other to tell stories Lyla and Sax were especially comfortable stepping in and answering questions for the younger kids and also explaining their own and their siblings work Peck knew exactly which colors he wanted to color with. He chose one color/picture Lyla paid meticulous attention to what Emily, her mom, looked like that day – down to shoes and eye color Lake sought affirmation as he worked and after he was finished Lake was able to leave the task at hand, draw something new, and then come back to the task while still incorporating what he wanted to be drawing (an airplane) Lyla labeled her pictures with names There is a definite progression of people and objects becoming more “life-like” While the children didn’t “teach” one another directly this particular day, they used social cues and stories to give meaning and validity to their pictures
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58. prompting from peers as well as adults guides the artistic process
59. children use each other’s pictures as guides to help them draw their own
62. references Backett-Milburn, K. & McKie, L. (1999). A critical appraisal of the draw and write technique. Health Education Research : Theory and Practice. 14(3), 387-398. Berk, L.E. (2002). Infants and children: Prenatal through middle childhood. Boson: Allyn and Bacon Csikszentmihaly, M. (1997). Finding flow: the psychology of engagement with everyday life. New York: Basic Books. Csikszentmihalyi, M., Gardner, H., and Feldman, D.H. (1994). Changing the World: a framework for the study of creativity. Westport: Praeger. Kellogg, R., and O’Dell, S. (1967). The Psychology of Children’s Art. New York, New York: Random House. Merriam S.B. & Associates (2002). Qualitative research in practice: Examples for discussion and analysis. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass PBS Parents. Child Development Tracker. http://www.pbs.org/parents/childdevelopmenttracker/three/creativearts.html (Feb. 12, 2010). Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
