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Running head: A CHILDS DRAING ANALYSIS

A Childs Drawing Analysis Lauren Montgomery University of Missouri, Columbia

A CHILDS DRAWING ANALYSIS A Childs Drawing Analysis

Elementary students need to be able to interpret and emerge themselves in the visual arts at a young age because of the importance of the arts to our culture. These skills can help them with communicating, describing, and critical thinking, and they can also enhance their learning experiences in other subject areas. In order for elementary school teachers to integrate meaningful visual art experiences into their classrooms, they must fully understand how children develop their artistic abilities. Children are predictable in how they develop, and they usually follow a stage pattern. However, teachers should keep in mind that [s]tage theory concepts should not be rigidly interpreted, but rather flexibly referenced as a general guide. It is imperative to remember that they are not prescriptive in terms of what to expect of an individual child at a specific stage (Luehrman & Unrath, 2006, p.8). As teachers, we may have many different stages present in our classrooms even though the students are all the same age. Viktor Lowenfeld and W. L. Brittain believe that children develop in predictable ways, with wide variations within an age norm or stage (Erickson & Young, 1996, p. 41). Students develop at a different rate in all subject areas including art, and different developmental levels are generalized into stages. The first stage is the Scribbling Stage, which shows the beginning of self-expression. This stage usually ranges from two to four years of age. Students in this stage tend to use small marks, repeated motions, and circles. As they progress in this stage, they begin to place their drawing utensil purposefully and expand on their previous marks. Second, children begin to represent objects or people in the Preschematic Stage, which ranges from four to seven years. In this stage, they use geometric shaping, distorted objects, and disproportional spacing. They tend to draw human figures that have eyes looking at the viewer, a smile, arms, legs, hair, and clothes. Omission of parts is to be expected. Third, seven to nine year olds move into the

A CHILDS DRAWING ANALYSIS

schematic stage. At this point, children reflect their environment in their drawings, and they start to include baselines instead of floating objects. Fourth, children, usually nine to twelve years old, begin to draw more realistically in the gang stage. Here they add details, become self-conscious, draw events, overlap objects, and show depth. They still do not understand shade or shadow. Finally, during the pseudo-naturalistic stage, children draw less literally and learn to proportion. They can draw themselves as a participant, and they can also draw facial expressions or other meanings (Lowenfeld & Brittain, 1970). For this assignment, I chose a students drawing, and I thought about what characteristics may help me decide what stage the child was in. In the second portion of my paper below, I will describe and provide analyses on the drawing I have chosen (figure 1). Description and Analysis

Figure 1: An Example of a Childs Drawing in Scribbling Stage

The drawing I have chosen has a large swirl in the center that is surrounded by xs and os. There are also marks that look like vs and a few lines. Two of the lines are parallel, and

A CHILDS DRAWING ANALYSIS others are placed randomly or connected to another marking. As shown in figure 1, very few of

the markings connect to one another, and they are placed in no particular pattern. Aside from the swirl, the other markings are all similar in size. The only complete geometric shape that the student has drawn is a circle. There is an open space on the top left side of the paper that has no markings, and most of the markings are clustered close to one another. The drawing is on construction paper with a blue crayon. Based on what I see, I believe that this student is in the Scribbling Stage (2 to 4 years in age). There are three levels of the scribbling stage: disordered, controlled, and named. Disordered is the first part of the stage the child would move through, and named is the final step before moving into the preschematic stage. I think that this childs drawing shows characteristics of both the controlled and named scribbling. The scribbles are placed purposely on the paper, and some of them build on previous marks. As I said earlier, the child uses circles, lines, loops, and swirls, which are all characteristics of this stage. There are many repeated motions, and the child has started to draw circles. Because I was not watching the child as they drew, I was not able to make observations. However, children in this stage tend to name what they have drawn, and the marks may represent objects. I also believe that this student is showing control of their movements because the markings look purposeful (Lowenfeld & Brittain, 1970). Conclusion Children progress through artistic stages just as they go through stages in all other aspects of their development. As they explore the world around them, they are able to further explore their artistic skills. These stages can be important for teachers and students. Teachers can use this knowledge to develop a better understanding of art that is appropriate for their students age level. They can also judge whether or not students are on track in their artistic abilities (Fussell,

A CHILDS DRAWING ANALYSIS 2011). Just like in other subjects, students need to be appropriately challenged to find interest in

the task at hand. After studying the stages, teachers will be able to better incorporate art into their classrooms to enhance their lessons and engage their students.

A CHILDS DRAWING ANALYSIS References Erickson, M., & Young, B. (1996). What every educator should (but maybe doesnt) know. School Arts, 96(2), 40-42. Fussell, M. (2011, June 20). The stages of artistic development. Retrieved from http://thevirtualinstructor.com/blog/the-stages-of-artistic-development Luehrman, M. & Unrath, K. (2006). Making theories of childrens artisitic development meaningful for pre-service teachers. Art Education, 59(3), 6-12. Lowenfeld, V., & Brittain, W. L. (1970). Creative and mental growth. New York: Macmillan.

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