Abstract
AbstractThis classroom-based study aims to contribute knowledge about children’s opportunities to make use of drawing to make meaning in science. Employing a social semiotic approach to drawing, we examine what ways of representing science content that are (1) made available by the teacher and (2) adopted in children’s drawings. We analysed observation data from 11 science lessons in early childhood classrooms (children aged 3 to 8 years), including the drawings that children made during those lessons (129 drawings in total). Our findings suggest that the semiotic resources that teachers provide have a large impact on how children represent science content in their drawings. Moreover, we interpret that teachers strive to support children’s ‘emergent disciplinary drawing’ in science, since they predominantly provided semiotic resources where the science content was generalised and decontextualised. Finally, we propose that ‘emergent disciplinary drawing’ is incorporated as an element of science pedagogy in ECE practice and ECE teacher education.
Highlights
There is reason to believe that drawing can play an important role for meaning making in science in early childhood education (ECE)
The current article has the potential to make an important contribution to how teaching influences the choices available to children when they draw in science class, by responding to the following research questions: What ways of representing science content are (1) made available by the teacher and (2) adopted in children’s drawings?
Teachers can make different choices available to children when they draw in science class, by introducing semiotic resources and ways of representing science content
Summary
There is reason to believe that drawing can play an important role for meaning making in science in early childhood education (ECE). According to science education research, drawing may enhance students’ conceptual understanding (Ainsworth et al, 2011), their ability to communicate knowledge (Danish & Phelps, 2011), and their ability to critically use and interpret visual media (García Fernández & Ruiz-Gallardo, 2017). Most research on drawing in ECE science classrooms has focused on the children’s drawings per se or on the cognitive abilities of the children who made the drawings (Danish & Saleh, 2014). The overarching aim of the article is to contribute knowledge about children’s opportunities to make use of drawing to make meaning in science in ECE classrooms. We aim to contribute knowledge on if and how the resources provided by teachers influence how children draw in science class
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