Drawing, meaning-making and construction of identity

Abstract

Aims of the study: Within Maltese early years’ settings, drawing is frequently considered as a time-filler or as a teacher-led activity, that leads to conformity and the attainment of specific learning outcomes (Deguara, 2009). The aim of this study was to contrastingly focus on drawing as a mode of meaning-making, which a four-year old child used as a way communicate his constructs of identity. Relationship to previous research works: This study builds on the work of Hall (2010, 2008), and Ahn and Filipenko (2007), who claim that children’s drawings act as symbolic spaces which allow for a process of “authoring the self” (Edmiston, 2008). Theoretical underpinning: Informed by a participatory approach (Lansdown, 2005), this study embraces a social semiotics theoretical underpinning (Kress, 1997), where drawing is perceived as a “multisemiotic” (Kress, 1997, p.79) process of sign-making and a transformative and agentive activity that occurs between the form of the text and the sign-maker’s ways of making meaning. Methodology: Adopting a case-study approach inspired by ethnographic and participatory research, I took the role of a participant observer, where I collected the child’s drawings and narratives, video-recorded the observations, as well as audio-recorded conversations with his parents and teacher. Ethical Issues: Ethical approval was sought from the respective gatekeepers, where the child’s provisional and continuous informed assent was sought. Main findings and discussion: Through his free drawings, the child intertwined constructions of reality and identity, where he not only to convey who he was but also who he liked to be. His exploration of his relationship with his parents where crucial in helping him form his identity. Implications for policy / practice: This study implies that drawing can be used as a social semiotic tool to help children communicate their thoughts and understandings, while they develop their identity, interests and individualities; crucial information that facilitates the development of relationships and the learning process.