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Analyzing and Researching a Childs Drawing

Analyzing and Researching a Childs Drawing Shannon Roe University of Missouri-Columbia

1 Analyzing and Researching a Childs Drawing Analyzing and Researching a Childs Drawing Today, we live in a world that has exhausted logical thinking, and has evolved into a world that needs innovative and creative thinkers. According to McManus, quoted in Pink (2005), The left hemisphere knows how to handle logic and the right hemisphere knows about the world. Put the two together and one gets a powerful thinking machine. (p.26). This idea is one that is critical for educators of young people to understand. Visual literacy is important for teachers and students to comprehend in order to understand cognitive abilities. In Johnsons (2008) article on verbal and visual literacy, Johnson states that when teachers are visually literate, the teacher can provide developmentally appropriate activities, materials, and equipment for students that can even be used in left brained activities (p.74). These age appropriate activities will allow students to gain a deeper and integrated understanding of the information he or she takes in. According to Luehrman and Unrath (2006), students go through stages of the artistic developmental process: Mark-Making Stage, Early Symbol Making Stage, Symbol Making Stage, Emerging Expertise Stage, Artistic Challenges Stage, and Artistic Thinking Stage. In comparison, a more descriptive list of stages is given by Lowenfeld and Brittain (1970) that include characteristics of what each stage looks like. Lowenfeld and Brittains stages include The Scribbling Stage, The Preschematic Stage, The Schematic Stage, The Gang Age, The Pseudo-Naturalistic Stage, and The Adolescent Art Stage. These stages move chronologically with age, but students can surpass these age ranges with higher art developmental stages. Leuhrman and Unrath (2008) state that theses stages are only generalizations, and they should not be rigidly intepretated (p.68). These different stages compare with the cognitive abilities of students, and can show educators where their students are at developmentally. Art developmental stages must be nurtured, and taken into consideration in

2 Analyzing and Researching a Childs Drawing order for students to be successful in school to prepare for a world where creativity leads to innovation. Description and Analysis

Figure 1. An example of a childs drawing in the Early Symbol Making Stage/Preschematic Stage

When first analyzing the drawing, in Figure 1, it can be assumed that the student is in an early developmental stage, but there is more that can be implied by this image. Agreeing with Brittain and Lowenfelds (1970) summary on cognitive growth, the student is in the Preschematic Stage of four to seven years of age. An image of an unidentifiable animal, possibly a bee or a cat, seems to be out of proportion to the ground with what appears to be some

3 Analyzing and Researching a Childs Drawing scribbling in the sky and adjacent to the animal. The animal has what appears to be five legs. The sky and the ground are drawn objectively, as if spaced into their own sections of the paper. The shapes lose their meaning when removed from the image, objects appear to float around the page, and the animal appears to be staring at the viewer (p.48). In congruence with Luerhman and Unraths (2008) stages of artistic development, this child would be in the Early Symbol Making Stage. The student is beginning to understand how to communicate space and objects in their image. The teacher of this student would be able to use this knowledge of the students developmental stage, and teach through the ideas of objects. As stated by Wilson (1982), the process of learning to draw can be equated with that of learning to speak.(39). So this student not only is beginning to communicate through drawing, but he or she is in the beginning stages of communicating his or her ideas through developing verbal skills. This students ability to communicate these symbols correlates with their ability to differentiate ideas or objects into categories. The teacher can apply this knowledge and give the student activities that appeal to this stage, like teaching through categories or groups. For example, if the lesson is about animals, the teacher will know that separating different types of animals into groups such as mammals, reptiles, etc. will help the student understand through this grouping system. This realization can help a teacher to know what kinds of activities would be appropriate for this learner. Conclusion As stated by Eisner, in Luehrman and Unrath (2008), There is a growing recognition that developing visual literacy is an important purpose for art education, providing multiple pathways for developing students critical thinking and communication skills and providing the means to

4 Analyzing and Researching a Childs Drawing interpret and negotiate the visual culture in which we are immersed.(p.67).

We prepare our students for a world where being able use both left and right brained qualities are essential for success. We show them this idea through showing that the arts are important through lessons. As a future educator, understanding visual literacy will help me to help my students become successful. By being able to interpret my students visual communications, I will be able to provide them with activities that are mentally appropriate and challenging. It is not only essential to provide students with integrated education, but for teachers to continue to integrate the arts into their own everyday lives. When students think through art, the viewer is able to see the world how the student is seeing things, when the viewer themselves, are visually literate. Teachers can use art work created by their students to assess where the student is cognitively, and how he or she is progressing. By integrating art into lessons, this task can easily be achieved by teachers along with being fun for students. Teachers can connect with their students by seeing what sparks their creativity and imagination at the same time! We show students what is valued and appreciated by what we teach them, so incorporating art and visual literacy in the curriculum creates a successful environment for students and teachers.

5 Analyzing and Researching a Childs Drawing References Johnson, M. H. (2008). Developing verbal and visual literacy through experiences in the visual arts. Young Children, 63(1), 74-79. Lowenfeld, V., & Brittain, W. L. (1970). Creative and mental growth. New York: Macmillan. Luehrman, M., & Unrath, K. (2006). Making theories of childrens artistic development meaningful for pre-service teachers. Art Education, 59(3), 6-12. Pink, D. (2005). A whole new mind. New York: Riverhead Books. Wilson, M., & Wilson, B. (1982). Teaching children to draw. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: PrenticeHall.