In order to co-construct a better understanding of the nature of children's art experiences at home and in educational settings, I interacted with four young children who photographed and discussed their art experiences over the course of one year. As a result of these research processes, and considering John Dewey's (1934/2005) "Art as…

This article explores the use of children's photography as a method for conducting mathematics education research with young children. Collected as part of a study focusing on the experiences with measurement children have at the start of schooling, the photographs presented here were taken by children aged five and six years, from two Australian…

This paper is based on qualitative research data from a project investigating early childhood boys' constructions of masculinities in relation to sport, health and the body. The focus group data, with 33 boys, has been collected in each of the boys' first three years at school. It is part of the data that will be collected over eight years with…

Australia holds some of the most unique, diverse and vulnerable ecosystems in the world, ranging from marine, coral reefs, to the arid and semi-arid outback, to tropical rainforests. Young children's perceptions of, and attitudes to their environment carry with them into adulthood, determining their capacity to learn about and interact with their…

All too frequently the process of starting school is viewed through the eyes of teachers and parents alone. What is often overlooked is that the children, who live this experience, and their interpretation of events, may be vastly different from that of their parents and teachers. The use of drawings in conjunction with oral retellings is an…

In this paper, the findings of a study investigating four-year-old children's perspectives on the roles that male and female teachers fulfil in a kindergarten setting are presented. The purpose of this study was to discover if the gender of a teacher impacts on children's perspectives of their teachers' roles and whether boys' and girls'…

This arts-based research illustrates how young children engage in "graphic-narrative play"--a personal fantasy-based experience depicted on paper--while representing imaginary worlds centered on the topic, "what the future will be like". The descriptions show how the children not only made representations, but also manipulated…

This article, which is a revised version of a paper presented at the XXIV World Congress of OMEP conference in Melbourne in July 2004, reports on a study that explored young children's (5-9 years) vision of their future environment in South Africa--as temporal dimension, illustrating their conceptual understanding of this concept. A sample of 320…

This project explored the learning interchanges which took place between early childhood student teachers and young children, provoked by three-dimensional installations within a children's art exhibition. The exhibition, comprising both two- and three-dimensional artworks, contained over 280 artworks from 15 early childhood programs in the…

The "Out of the Box" Festival of Early Childhood is a unique public event in Australia designed to enrich the creative and cultural lives of children aged 3-8 years and their communities. The research linked to this festival is based on the premise that parents' participation in, and value of the arts, impacts engagements with, and value…

In light of criticisms that many early childhood programs fail to engage children's minds, this study suggests that children need programs in which they can: (1) explore experience in visual ways; (2) experience aspects of different cultures; (3) extend their thinking; and (4) develop their imagination. That art and play can provide suitable…

This case study of artist/researcher Ursula Kolbe was undertaken in 1998 to extend understanding of the complexity of the process of teaching and learning in respect to children's interactions with visual arts materials. The following questions prompted the research: how does a teacher who is also an artist work with young children? and does a…

Performance in drama, dance, music, puppetry, or combinations of these arts can be an exciting encounter for young children. This case study investigated one 4-year-old's responses to a children's opera. Her responses before, during, and after the performance were systematically observed and analyzed. Data showed that the child had some knowledge…