In the current climate of state-mandated education standards and assessment that prioritize math and language arts in U.S. schools, drawing, an accessible and/or pleasurable endeavor for a wide variety of children, is undervalued. Although research in art education over the past four decades has shown children's drawing and drawings to be rich…

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 report outlines the cognitive accomplishments of young children involved in graphic dialogue with adults. A token of collaborative drawing is examined exhibiting the degree to which adult informed tutoring enabled children in their drawing development, enhanced their motivation and ability in narration and resulted in drawings meaningful to…

When her director first asked her to teach an art class in the infant room, the author must admit that she thought her director was crazy. She nodded and smiled, pretending confidence, all the while thinking, "Teach art to infants? What does that even mean?" But when a teacher is trying to get a job at one of the best early childhood…

In this article, I present a reexamination of the myth of inherent creativity in early childhood to elucidate how still-dominant discourses of optimization such as child development, individualism, expression, creativity, and visual realism exert limiting pressures on understandings of the art and visual culture that children consume and create.…

This article aims to explore the issues that face primary school teachers when responding to children's drawings. Assessment in art and design is an ongoing concern for teachers with limited experience and confidence in the area and, although children's drawings continue to be a focus of much research, the question of what it is that teachers say…

This article is a practitioner's attempt to resist habitual ways of interpreting and responding to young children's drawings. Early art education as a discipline is shot through with complexities, including wider shifting social discourses. This article specifically explores the continuing and powerful effect that Piaget's developmental approach…

This paper reflects on a collaborative project between Manchester City Art Gallery and Manchester Metropolitan University (2003-2004). The project's aim was to attract very young children and their families to the gallery. This paper will not report directly on the research methods used or the outcomes of the project but, rather, will explore…

Although sociocultural theory challenges educators to embrace the social nature of learning, common practice in early childhood art has varied little from its traditional stance on natural art development, adult non-intervention, and the sacrosanct nature of creativity and artistic expression--outdated relics on hallowed ground. Despite mounting…

This study examines the interrelationships among art, play and "real" life, as perceived by young children. Twenty-one children aged four and five in their first year of formal schooling in Ireland, were observed during art-related play activities and classes over a period of four months in 2004. Research data consisted of art works…

In this paper we examine the place of art in curriculum for young children of refugee families, but not from the relatively common art-as-therapy position. Instead, art is presented as a language that can provide young children with the means to engage with learning, build identity and tell their stories. This approach bypasses the deficit…

Noting that the preschool years provide an optimal time for developing fundamental skills with lifelong implications, this paper examines the role of art in early childhood education, arguing that art improves the quality of life for young children. The paper maintains that art is the basis of early learning and that allowing children to…

This book explores how young children learn to draw and draw to learn, at home and school. It provides support for practitioners in developing a pedagogy of drawing in Art and Design and across the curriculum and provide advice for parents about how to make sense of their children's drawings. This book is enlivened with the real drawings of seven…

This paper discusses research methods used to examine children's art. The first part of the paper presents information on four theoretical approaches to the examination of children's art and discusses the teacher's role within that approach: (1) psychological approach, using art to discover the child's inner conflicts; (2) behavioral psychological…

This article explores the graphic development of a five-year-old girl with autism during Saturday morning art classes. It attempts to uncover what particular methods of consideration are useful in the examination of the art of such a child. Drawing systems and early mathematics are found to be of value in discussing Sung's art making since both…