RESEARCH PAPER
CHILD'S DRAWING ANALYSIS
Katie Cooney
LTC 4240 Art For Children
University of Missouri--Columbia
Spring 2013
In today’s education system, teachers are constantly faced with the challenge of how to properly assess their student’s cognitive abilities. There is a very strong emphasis placed on the assessments of math and literacy in particular. The fine arts are pushed aside more and more as math and literacy take the lead. However, classroom teachers need to take note of the fact that understanding their student’s art work can help them choose age-appropriate teaching strategies that will foster the development of the whole child. According to Luehrman and Unrath (2006), “There is 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 interpret and negotiate the visual culture in which we are immersed. (p. 67) By having an understanding for how our students develop artistically, teachers can alter their teaching and assessment strategies to properly develop the whole child.
Gaining this artistic knowledge is difficult, however. Unlike math, literacy, and all other core subjects, basic art skills are not developed at the primary and secondary level. Many school administrators do not support the art programs due to a lack of understanding of the need for it. According to Erickson and Young (1996), “It is beyond our power to mandate that schools require art as part of general education. Until such time that artistic or visual literacy is valued on the same level as verbal literacy and mathematical numeracy, we have an important task before us…” (p. 37). When other adults in the community begin to understand the importance of art for developing the whole child, their support can be gained and effective strategies to integrate these art skills can implemented.
According to Brittain and Lowenfeld (1970), there are six stages of artistic development, which teachers need to be aware of. For the purposes of this paper, only the second, third, and fourth stages will be explained. The second stage, the Preschematic Stage, begins around four years old and lasts about three years. Most shapes within the drawing are geometric and they lose meaning when removed from the picture. The sizes of objects are disproportionate and they are usually not related to each other. The objects also float around on the page—there is no base for them to sit. Objects are surrounded by empty space. When drawing people in this stage, the child often draws what he or she sees as the most important, such as the head. The head also may be larger than other body parts because the child sees this as the most vital body part. The head is facing the viewer and is usually smiling. Distorted and missing body parts often occur. By the end of this stage, the child should be drawing details, such as hair and clothes. The third stage, the Schematic Stage, begins at age seven and usually lasts around two years. These drawings are bold, direct, and flat. By this point, the child has developed a certain schema for objects and people from his or her environment. Human figures are no longer “stick-like” and they have arms, legs, and other necessary body parts. Objects no longer float on the page—there is a base line on which objects are placed and sometimes a sky line. There is little or no overlapping and the space representation is subjective. The fourth stage, the Gange Age, begins at age nine and ends around age twelve. In this stage, children begin to develop a greater awareness for details and they become self-conscious of their work. They also develop a greater awareness for their physical environment but they still have no understanding of shade or shadow. Children begin to overlap objects and recognize the relationships between objects. They also attempt to show depth and perspective through the size of objects. When drawing human representations, they have a greater awareness for clothing and there is less distortion and omissions of body parts.
In the picture I am analyzing, the child has drawn an image of the Mayflower. The boat consists of a long rectangle that becomes slightly narrower towards the front. The sail is made up of two squares and two triangles, pieced together. A man wearing a top hat is standing at the front of the boat. The size of the man is disproportionate in relation to the boat—he is much too big for the boat. The boat is floating on curving lines, which appears to be the ocean. Beneath the lines, three fish are swimming in the water. The background is a blank space; there is no sign of a plane or skyline. Based on the readings and what he has created with this drawing, this child is in the Schematic stage of development.
This drawing is a flat and direct representation of what this child knows about the Mayflower, which reflects an active knowledge of the child’s environment. The drawing also has an x-ray-like quality and a two-dimensional organization of objects. Instead of having the boat float in midair, it is based on a body of water. The water is made up of curved lines, which represent the waves of the ocean. This child also shows an attention to detail by adding three fish to the ocean water. In addition, the child has drawn a more realistic human figure. Instead of drawing a stick-like figure, the child has given the man on the boat filled out shoulders and arms. The child has also given more attention to his clothing—he is wearing a top hat—most likely something this child has been told was traditional attire in the time of the Mayflower. Furthermore, the man’s head is larger than the rest of his body. The child is unknowingly placing emphasis on the head because of its many functions. He drew the size of the body parts in order of importance. Another thing to note is that the man is not floating in air—he is standing on the base of the boat. The picture of the man is cut off when his chest hits the railing of the boat.
While I do believe this child is in the schematic stage of development, I think he has qualities matching that of the pre-schematic stage such as his use of geometric shapes and the loss of meaning when removed from the picture. The sizes of the objects are also disproportionate (or distorted to fit the space available) and there is no background to the picture. Although, there are elements of the pre-schematic stage, with guidance, this child could be pushed into the Gang Age. There is a clear concept behind this drawing and the viewer can see that the child has added details to his drawing, such as “Mayflower”, written in cursive and the top hat given to the man. Eisner states in his article What Education Can Learn From the Arts (2009), “It has been said that the devil lives in the details. It can also be said that the aesthetic lives in the nuances that the maker can shape in the courses of creation…all affect the character of the whole…” (p. 6). This child is on the right track to reaching the next stage of development, but he needs a knowledgeable teacher to guide him. This child also understands the concepts of overlapping objects by showing the waves crossing over the boat. One important thing to note is that this child may not have had the proper guidance with his use of motor skills due to his inability to stay within the lines and to completely shade in the objects that should be fully shaded. However, this also could be due to a lack of proper materials.
If teachers do not understand the stages of art development, how can they be expected to properly integrate it into the classroom? Teachers cannot properly guide students in their art development if they have no knowledge of it. Much can be gained through the assessment of student work. Allowing students to creatively express themselves and explore through art will focus on the development of the whole child. While math and literacy assessments are important, school administrations need to acknowledge how much teachers can learn through understanding art development. We can learn so much about our students through their artwork and recognizing this will benefit the child and classroom environment as a whole.
References
Brittain, W.L. & Lowenfeld, V. (1970). Creative and mental growth. New York, NY: Macmillan
Co., 22-25, 474-479.
Eisner, E. What Education Can Learn from the Arts {Lowenfeld Lecture, 2008 NAEA National
Convention New Orleans, Louisiana}. Art Education, 62 (2), 6-9.
Erickson, M. & Young, B. (1996). What every educator should (but maybe doesn’t) know.
School Arts, 40-42.
Luehrman, M. & Unrath, K. (2006). Making Theories of Children’s Artistic Development
Meaningful for Pre-Service Teachers. Art Educaiton, 6-12.
Figure 1
CHILD'S DRAWING ANALYSIS
Katie Cooney
LTC 4240 Art For Children
University of Missouri--Columbia
Spring 2013
In today’s education system, teachers are constantly faced with the challenge of how to properly assess their student’s cognitive abilities. There is a very strong emphasis placed on the assessments of math and literacy in particular. The fine arts are pushed aside more and more as math and literacy take the lead. However, classroom teachers need to take note of the fact that understanding their student’s art work can help them choose age-appropriate teaching strategies that will foster the development of the whole child. According to Luehrman and Unrath (2006), “There is 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 interpret and negotiate the visual culture in which we are immersed. (p. 67) By having an understanding for how our students develop artistically, teachers can alter their teaching and assessment strategies to properly develop the whole child.
Gaining this artistic knowledge is difficult, however. Unlike math, literacy, and all other core subjects, basic art skills are not developed at the primary and secondary level. Many school administrators do not support the art programs due to a lack of understanding of the need for it. According to Erickson and Young (1996), “It is beyond our power to mandate that schools require art as part of general education. Until such time that artistic or visual literacy is valued on the same level as verbal literacy and mathematical numeracy, we have an important task before us…” (p. 37). When other adults in the community begin to understand the importance of art for developing the whole child, their support can be gained and effective strategies to integrate these art skills can implemented.
According to Brittain and Lowenfeld (1970), there are six stages of artistic development, which teachers need to be aware of. For the purposes of this paper, only the second, third, and fourth stages will be explained. The second stage, the Preschematic Stage, begins around four years old and lasts about three years. Most shapes within the drawing are geometric and they lose meaning when removed from the picture. The sizes of objects are disproportionate and they are usually not related to each other. The objects also float around on the page—there is no base for them to sit. Objects are surrounded by empty space. When drawing people in this stage, the child often draws what he or she sees as the most important, such as the head. The head also may be larger than other body parts because the child sees this as the most vital body part. The head is facing the viewer and is usually smiling. Distorted and missing body parts often occur. By the end of this stage, the child should be drawing details, such as hair and clothes. The third stage, the Schematic Stage, begins at age seven and usually lasts around two years. These drawings are bold, direct, and flat. By this point, the child has developed a certain schema for objects and people from his or her environment. Human figures are no longer “stick-like” and they have arms, legs, and other necessary body parts. Objects no longer float on the page—there is a base line on which objects are placed and sometimes a sky line. There is little or no overlapping and the space representation is subjective. The fourth stage, the Gange Age, begins at age nine and ends around age twelve. In this stage, children begin to develop a greater awareness for details and they become self-conscious of their work. They also develop a greater awareness for their physical environment but they still have no understanding of shade or shadow. Children begin to overlap objects and recognize the relationships between objects. They also attempt to show depth and perspective through the size of objects. When drawing human representations, they have a greater awareness for clothing and there is less distortion and omissions of body parts.
In the picture I am analyzing, the child has drawn an image of the Mayflower. The boat consists of a long rectangle that becomes slightly narrower towards the front. The sail is made up of two squares and two triangles, pieced together. A man wearing a top hat is standing at the front of the boat. The size of the man is disproportionate in relation to the boat—he is much too big for the boat. The boat is floating on curving lines, which appears to be the ocean. Beneath the lines, three fish are swimming in the water. The background is a blank space; there is no sign of a plane or skyline. Based on the readings and what he has created with this drawing, this child is in the Schematic stage of development.
This drawing is a flat and direct representation of what this child knows about the Mayflower, which reflects an active knowledge of the child’s environment. The drawing also has an x-ray-like quality and a two-dimensional organization of objects. Instead of having the boat float in midair, it is based on a body of water. The water is made up of curved lines, which represent the waves of the ocean. This child also shows an attention to detail by adding three fish to the ocean water. In addition, the child has drawn a more realistic human figure. Instead of drawing a stick-like figure, the child has given the man on the boat filled out shoulders and arms. The child has also given more attention to his clothing—he is wearing a top hat—most likely something this child has been told was traditional attire in the time of the Mayflower. Furthermore, the man’s head is larger than the rest of his body. The child is unknowingly placing emphasis on the head because of its many functions. He drew the size of the body parts in order of importance. Another thing to note is that the man is not floating in air—he is standing on the base of the boat. The picture of the man is cut off when his chest hits the railing of the boat.
While I do believe this child is in the schematic stage of development, I think he has qualities matching that of the pre-schematic stage such as his use of geometric shapes and the loss of meaning when removed from the picture. The sizes of the objects are also disproportionate (or distorted to fit the space available) and there is no background to the picture. Although, there are elements of the pre-schematic stage, with guidance, this child could be pushed into the Gang Age. There is a clear concept behind this drawing and the viewer can see that the child has added details to his drawing, such as “Mayflower”, written in cursive and the top hat given to the man. Eisner states in his article What Education Can Learn From the Arts (2009), “It has been said that the devil lives in the details. It can also be said that the aesthetic lives in the nuances that the maker can shape in the courses of creation…all affect the character of the whole…” (p. 6). This child is on the right track to reaching the next stage of development, but he needs a knowledgeable teacher to guide him. This child also understands the concepts of overlapping objects by showing the waves crossing over the boat. One important thing to note is that this child may not have had the proper guidance with his use of motor skills due to his inability to stay within the lines and to completely shade in the objects that should be fully shaded. However, this also could be due to a lack of proper materials.
If teachers do not understand the stages of art development, how can they be expected to properly integrate it into the classroom? Teachers cannot properly guide students in their art development if they have no knowledge of it. Much can be gained through the assessment of student work. Allowing students to creatively express themselves and explore through art will focus on the development of the whole child. While math and literacy assessments are important, school administrations need to acknowledge how much teachers can learn through understanding art development. We can learn so much about our students through their artwork and recognizing this will benefit the child and classroom environment as a whole.
References
Brittain, W.L. & Lowenfeld, V. (1970). Creative and mental growth. New York, NY: Macmillan
Co., 22-25, 474-479.
Eisner, E. What Education Can Learn from the Arts {Lowenfeld Lecture, 2008 NAEA National
Convention New Orleans, Louisiana}. Art Education, 62 (2), 6-9.
Erickson, M. & Young, B. (1996). What every educator should (but maybe doesn’t) know.
School Arts, 40-42.
Luehrman, M. & Unrath, K. (2006). Making Theories of Children’s Artistic Development
Meaningful for Pre-Service Teachers. Art Educaiton, 6-12.
Figure 1