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2. Childrens artwork is a reflection of cognitive ability as
well as emotion.Often times this artwork provides children with a
mode of expression not available to them through language.This
study examined the effect of the physical environment as it relates
to a childs ability to successfully convey emotion through their
artwork.For the purpose of this study, a 6 year old boy with
typical abilities was asked to draw four sets of positive &
negative emotion drawings in different environments.These
environments ranged from was perceived as safe & familiar to
new and scary.The conclusion based on the findings is that
environment can play a role in a childs ability to fully realize an
expression of emotion through drawing.These findings can be used to
help teachers create classrooms that are safe spaces to explore
creativity and artistic expression.
3. It is still true that a thousand words scarcely exhaust the
richness of a single image.Bruner
4. Throughout the ages children have used expression through art as
a way to tell a story or articulate emotion.Often times, children
are able to express ideas through art that they are not yet able to
do through spoken or written language.As children gain motor skills
they begin to see art as a means to tell their story, or to create
a visual representation of the tale they imagine in their head.In
times of great crisis such as The Holocaust and the September 11th
attacks, children are able to communicate their grief and fear
through their drawings and paintings. Without the boundaries of
language, expression through the arts is truly a universal form of
communication.
5. In the classroom, teachers have a valuable opportunity to use
this form of communication to better understand their students and
ultimately create an environment that fosters learning and growth
in the student.The question then becomes are certain classroom
environments better suited to helping the student fully realize
their artistic expressions?For instance, how would students work be
effected by changes in the physical environment such as noise,
light, associations, and various forms of distractions.Can teachers
use this information to create the best space for students to
explore their creative potential?
6. Following the model of childrens cognitive development stages as
outlined by Piaget (1952), Lowenfeld (1957) assigned four different
stages of graphic development in children from ages 2 to 11.He
said, As growth progresses, the creative expression, a visible
manifestation of [that] growth, changes. Lowenfeld believed that
childrens graphic expression begins with scribbling, evolving to a
consistent use of their own personal set of schemas which they use
to describe the world around them.
7. The four stages Lowenfeld identified covering ages 2-11 are:
scribbling, preschematic, schematic, and drawing realism or
transitional. Following Lowenfelds stages of graphic
representational development, Lev, the subject in this study, falls
into the schematic stage (ages 6-10).Children in this stage
typically use symbols consistently and organize their drawings
around a baseline.During this stage there is also more use of
detail provided in their visual narrative.Lev has developed a
fairly consistent set of visual schemas that he uses to express
himself.His use of the baseline is inconsistent, suggesting that
his development falls into the early spectrum of the schematic
stage.
8. One of the leading researchers on the connection between
childrens cognitive skills and their ability to represent
conventional benchmarks visually is Rawley Silver.Silver eventually
developed the Silver Test Of Cognitive and Create Skills which has
been used for the past 30 plus years as a visually based cognitive
assessment for children.Based on the findings that , cognitive
skills can be evident in the visual as well as verbal conventions,
and that these skills, traditionally identified, assessed, and
developed through words, can also be identified, assessed, and
developed through drawing, Silver designed a test that would help
teachers assess students who might not be adequately measured by
other forms of cognitive testing.
9. Drawing #1
The first location chosen was the kitchen counter, a place normally
associated with completing homework assignments.Lev was given the
assignment and left to work alone in the room.He once commented
that he had multiple black markers that he did not need, but
otherwise worked in a focused, independent manner.The tester
returned into the room after the five minutes had elapsed, but Lev
continued to work for an additional minute.
10. Drawing #2
Once he completed the best day ever assignment, he was given the
second task.Initially he struggled to come up with an idea for his
drawing, but after a few minutes of consideration he began working
and worked independently for almost nine minutes until his drawing
was completed.
11. Drawing #3
The following day Lev was visiting his grandmother at her apartment
in New York City.It is a place he normally associates with special
occasions and vacations. Lev was given the same assignment as on
the first day and began to work immediately.He began drawing and
quickly asked the tester how to make a certain letter.He was
reminded that using letters in the drawing was not permitted.He
then asked why he could only use five minutes for the drawing.The
tester told him he could work for as long as needed to complete the
exercise, but five minutes was the suggested time frame.
12. Drawing #4
After being given permission to start the second drawing Lev
immediately put his head down on the paper and began to sigh.He
seemed tired and reluctant to complete the task.He asked why he
couldnt do two best day ever drawings and wanted to know what the
drawings were being used for.He drew for one minute, told the
tester he was done, but continued to draw for another four
minutes.
13. Drawing #5
The next day Lev returned home and was placed inside a bathtub with
shower curtain drawn closed and asked to perform the same tow
drawing tasks.He started laughing when he realized where he was
performing the task and quickly asked the tester to stay in the
bathroom while he was working on the drawings.The tester did leave
the room, but was summoned after two minutes to answer a
question.Lev did not have a questions when tester returned to the
room, but after 30 seconds asked if he could have more than five
minutes to work.Over the next five minutes Lev asked the tester
several times how to spell different words.The tester reminded Lev
that words should not be included in the drawings, but did provide
the proper spelling for the words requested.For a few minutes
tester heard markers being banged against the side of the bathtub,
and was summoned several times to provide spelling guidance.He was
told several times that words should not be included in the
drawing.
14. Drawing #6
After finishing his first bathtub drawing Lev was asked to work on
the scary or sad assignment.He was very frustrated and unable to
come up with an idea for his drawing.When the tester tried to leave
the room she was immediately summoned back in.Once drawing began
Lev asked again how to spell a word.The tester spelled the word but
again reminded Lev that letters were not to be included in the
drawing.After four minutes of working Lev completed the drawing
with the tester in the room.
15. Drawing #7
The final environment used for testing was the garage located in
Levs basement.It is a space that Lev does not frequent, one that he
perceives to be messy and dangerous.The garage door was left open
so there was good light and outdoor sound to make the space
slightly less scary.When he was first taken to the garage he
strongly protested claiming that the space was filled with rats,
black widows and poop.He immediately claimed that he did not have
to right surface to draw on and began whining that he did not know
what to draw.After about one minute of sitting and reflecting he
began working.Although he focused when he did get to work he began
making guttural almost choking sounds while working
16. Drawing #8
Lev completed his final garage drawing in about four minutes.He
worked quietly and independently
17. Working off of these basic assumptions explored by Lowenfeld,
Sliver and others one can conclude that there is a correlation
between childrens drawings and both their cognitive and emotional
stages of development.The next step then, for the purpose of this
study is to examine Levs eight drawings and interpret how the
physical environment they were created in effected the end
product.In an attempt to create somewhat of a baseline for
interpretation of emotional intent as well as a marker for visual
representative ability, the first set of drawings were created in a
familiar, safe, and visually interesting space.
18. Levs first set of drawings were created at the kitchen counter,
a place Lev would normally associate with doing homework and eating
an occasional meal.The light in the room is bright and cheery and
the walls are covered in art by both Lev and his siblings as well
as adult artists.The arts & crafts station is located close by,
and the space in general is used for various creative exercises
both visual and culinary.When examining his first drawing, one sees
the use of bright colors and smiley faces.Although it is difficult
to decipher what the drawing depicts without Levs description, the
audience can clearly interpret a positive expression of emotion.In
Levs second drawing at the kitchen counter, Lev changed his color
palette, relying more heavily on black.Smiling faces have been
replaced by mysterious fanged creaturesthat roam through a dark and
heavy night.The line work is much more chaotic than in the first
drawing, and Lev changed his visual perspective from an plan to an
elevation.Although the depiction is again not immediately obvious,
one clearly reads the story as scary and unsettling.In both the
positive and negative drawings that were created at the kitchen
counter, Lev was able to work independently and follow the
directions given at the start of the task.
19. For Levs second set of drawings he worked at his grandmothers
dining room table in her NYC apartment.This is a place he
associates with special occasions and family gatherings.He feels a
general sense of excitement when there, which is usually manifest
in bouncing off the walls types of behavior.While making his first
drawing Lev asked if his letters were correct, and even when told
by the tester that letters should not be included in the drawing,
he continued to label his figures.He also began to question the
reason for the drawing time requirements.When examining the first
drawing done at his grandmothers house, one clearly sees positive
emotions being expressed through the use of bright colors and
smiley faces.Sunny skies, blossoming flowers and best friends
clearly express the authors positive emotions.For Levs second
drawing (sad or scary emotion), Lev once again changed his color
palette to darker colors.Interestingly when he was asked to
describe the picture he claimed it was his third best day when he
was in the school art-room.Although one would probably read the
general emotion in Levs painting as negative, he claimed it was the
depiction of a good experience.His line work seems less focused and
his details are much less complete than in his first drawing that
day.
20. For his third set of drawings Lev was placed in a spare
bathroom bathtub with the shower curtain closed.Although he
initially thought the ideas was pretty funny, the tester quickly
detected apprehension in Levs voice as he requested for the first
time not to be left alone while he was working.In the first drawing
Lev uses a dark color palette, but upon further investigation it is
the main color of the Lego set he is describing.During the drawing
Lev asked many times how to spell words even though the tester
continued to repeat that words and letters should not be included
in the drawing.Although most of the work was done independently,
the continual question asking being done by Lev might have been an
attempt to keep the tester close by and curb anxiety.The second
drawing done in the bathtub shows Lev injuring himself at his
grandmothers apartment.Interestingly he uses fairy bright colors
and a smiley face to describe a negative emotion.Once again he was
unable to follow the rules regarding the use of letters, although
he did not ask for spelling direction from the tester.
21. For the final set of drawings Lev was taken to the garage
located in the basement of his family home.Although the garage door
was open, letting in light and familiar outdoor noises, the space
was clearly unsettling to Lev.He immediately protested, claiming
the garage was filled with , rats, black widows and poop.For the
first time during the testing he was clearly unhappy to be
participating and looked for excuses why he could not work on the
final sets of drawings.After some coaching from the tester Lev
began his first drawing, which he described as his class picnic in
the park.Interestingly the day (which he remembers as a positive
experience) was described as the worst.Although the colors used
were bright the face on the figure looks sad.Once again Lev used
words to label the drawing.For his final drawing Lev drew himself
in the garage drawing.Again there is conflicted information as the
colors are bright and the figure appears to be smiling.There is
very little detail provided, understandable as his drawing time was
the shortest for the whole test.Even after listening to his
description of the drawing it is very difficult to see what he has
represented in his work.
22. After considering the work Lev produced as it relates to the
physical space he was in when he created it, one can see a direct
correlation between environment and the success of the emotions
expressed.Essentially the more secure and familiar he was with the
space, the more he was able to follow direction, clearly express
emotion, and focus.His best work was done in a space he knew well,
one that was associated with focused, independent work.As the
environments became increasingly unfamiliar and unsettling, not
only did Lev loose the ability to follow directions, but he began
to confuse the emotions he believed he was trying to convey though
his work.
23. Due to the fact that this study was brief and only included one
subject, much of the discussion could be expanded upon with further
research.For future studies, children from different backgrounds,
cultures, ages, and abilities could be tested to further understand
how the setting will effect the quality of the work
produced.Additionally, this study mainly used various degrees of
comfort level as perceived by the subject as the basis for
categorizing the environment.In additional studies one could
explore the effects of light, visual stimuli, noise, indoor vs.
outdoor etc. in order to create a more complete picture.
24. How then do these finding have a practical application to what
goes on in the art classroom and how can teachers use this
information to better understand their students and support their
growth and development? As has been described by Silver, childrens
drawing can be used to shed light onto the emotional and cognitive
condition of the student.The teacher then can help scaffold the
student during these types of expressions by creating an
environment in which the student will be able to most fully realize
these expressions. The visual arts, like music and language, are
tools for the student to express their inner thoughts and connect
their personal experience to the rest of the world.Teachers should
be mindful that the spaces they help create for their students can
have a direct impact on these vital communication tools.