Drawings as spaces for intellectual play

Abstract

The aims of this paper are to explore the links between drawing and playing and to conceptualise drawings as spaces for intellectual play. The empirical research that supports this position (Hall, 2010a) is based on an interpretivist study involving 14 children age 4-6 in a primary school in England. Over a one year period, 882 drawings were collected from home and school contexts, with commentaries and interpretations given by the children, their parents and class teacher. Expanding on the main findings, three themes were identified that link play and drawing: playing at drawing, playing in drawings, and playing with drawings. The study builds on contemporary interpretations of socio-cultural theories in which drawings are theorised as intellectual play (Moyles, 1989) and as authoring spaces for children's identities (Edmiston, 2008). By playing at, in and with their drawings children reveal the complex imaginative and meditational processes that underpin their playful transformations of their social and cultural worlds, in which concepts of power, agency and identity are embedded (Hall, 2010b; Hall and Wood, forthcoming). The findings propose that play and drawing should be seen as mutually constitutive socio-cultural practices of young children, and as private and public spaces for imaginative and intellectual play. This theoretical position also contests narrow policy versions of play and drawing as servants to socially valued developmental and educational goals.

Free choice and free play in early childhood education: troubling the discourse

“…However, when children exercise group agency through pretence, this has different meanings than in non-play contexts. The concept of agency in free choice and free play activities often requires the exercise of an imaginary power, but within particular frames of reference; as evidenced in children's drawings (Wood and Hall 2011), in role play (Broadhead 2004) and in playground games (Jarvis 2007a(Jarvis , 2007b. Henricks (2010, 202) argues that because many aspects of the world are too vast or too powerful to be played with, play usually involves an attempt to place these matters into much narrower situations over which individuals can exercise some measure of control.…”

“…Wood nursery teacher (NT), the qualified nursery teaching assistant (NTA) and other regular assistants (TA). The observations were gradually transformed into texts, which allowed for multiple interpretations of social meanings (Reifel 2007;Blaise 2005), and through which the children's choices, narratives and symbolic representations become visible (Wood and Hall 2011). The texts reflect the flow of activities, conversations and utterances and also the interactions between children, adults and the environment.…”

Creative Little Scientists: exploring pedagogical synergies between inquiry-based and creative approaches in Early Years science

“…Researchers also note children's curiosity and questions may be expressed through modes such as drawing, gestures and actions with materials, illustrating the focus of their investigation and 'intellectual play' (Wood and Hall 2011).…”

Drawing out the value of the visual: children and young people theorizing time through art and narrative

“…In such cases, children are not just mimicking the other, but are acting 'as if' they have imagined characteristics, agency and a range of identities. This allows children to empathetically position themselves in relation to others and to manipulate the feelings, moods and mind states of their drawn characters-real or fictional (Wood & Hall, 2011). In the case of more abstract works, the children use symbols and patterns to represent philosophical concepts.…”