The visual arts as a learning tool within an early childhood setting

Abstract

The guided learning approach ...…………...…………………………………………………. 9 2.3 The significance of the role of the teacher ………………………………………...…….… 10 2.4 The continued dominance of modernist beliefs in early childhood visual arts …………. 10 2.5 Reconcceptualising practicehow do teachers develop pedagogies that value the visual arts as a tool for learning? ………………………………………………………………….... 12 2.6 The pedagogy of Reggio Emilia and the role of the visual arts ………………………….. 14

Landscapes of Identity: Young children and the visual arts | Paysages identitaires : jeunes enfants et arts visuels

“…The literature also reveals that despite the holistic, interwoven position of the visual arts in the New Zealand early childhood curriculum, traditional visual arts activity-based programmes continue to exist (Probine, 2014). An activity-based approach potentially ignores the voices of children and can limit the opportunity for children to make their thinking visible because teacherprescribed visual art experiences may constrain children's creativity, leaving minimal opportunity to share their own ideas.…”

“…This form of data collection is particularly pertinent in early childhood education to enable young children's voices to be heard more prominently, and as a way to "provoke action for social justice" (Weber, 2008, p. 47). Young children's voices often go unheard, although visual imagery and photography are becoming more evident in early childhood research (Probine, 2014). Images serve as a form of advocacy in the way that they can "evoke visceral and emotional responses in ways that are memorable, coupled with their capacity to help us empathise or see another's point of view…" (Weber, 2008, p. 47).…”

Proceedings. Rangahau: Te Mana o te Mahi Kotahitanga / Research: The Power of Collaboration. Unitec/MIT Research Symposium 2022, December 8 and 9

“…The power of these international influences may, however, have overshadowed national imperatives and approaches to inquiry, for example, Māori perspectives of inquiry-based project learning (Alcock & Ritchie, 2018) and the work achieved during the Progressive Education movement by educators such as Elwyn Richardson (MacDonald, 2020). While research has been conducted in Aotearoa New Zealand examining the impact of Reggio Emilia on early childhood education in this context (Bayes, 2005;Haplin 2011;Probine 2015;, little research has examined the approaches and practices of early childhood kaiako in the area of inquiry-based project learning in this country.…”