Childs Art Analysis Paper

Abby Lewis
March 10, 2015
Red Block

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Elementary school is the time for children to discover how to become
students and life long learners. Schooling teaches students how to think and
create their own opinions. Unfortunately, schooling also tends to dictate what
is important for children to know starting with subjects like; math, science,
and reading. Very low on the list of what is considered important to schools is
art. Art is not tested on the state test, which means not as much time is
devoted to it compared to the other subjects. What the state does not seem
to comprehend is that art is a crucial part of a childs schooling because it
fosters creativity, which is needed throughout a persons life. Art is an
important step in preparing children to become students. As stated in
chapter three, Drawing is one primal way that beginning writers represent
and understand meaning, (88). This investigation will look at what the
choices my participant makes says about her development as a student,
artist, and child. Based on my experiences with my participant and her
drawings I have concluded that she is in the schematic stage.
I decided to ask my cousin to help me with my research. Johanna is six
years old and in first grade. She loves school and was very excited to help
me with my project for school. Jojo lives in Louisiana so I had to do my
research with her over Skype. After she finished the drawing, her mother
mailed me the drawing so that I would have the original copy. During the
Skype call I explained to Jo that I wanted her to either draw a picture of
herself, her family, or a tree. I let her use any medium she wanted and tried

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to stay out of her way creatively. After she finished her drawing, I asked her a
series of questions about her drawing to get a better understanding of why
she made the choices she made. I tried to word my questions in a way that
would not make it sound like I was judging her choices.
Johanna decided to draw a tree scene with her in the picture. The
drawing shows me a lot about Jo as a student. For instance, Jo had several
markers to choose from while drawing and she decided to color the trunk of
the tree light purple. I asked her why she chose to make the trunk purple and
she told me that she knew that in real life trees are not purple but that when
you are drawing you can make things up so that you will think they are
pretty. I was not expecting Jojo to respond like that. I thought she would have
just told me that her favorite color is purple and that it why she picked it.
Instead, she showed me how she has been taught to think about art. Her
parents, teachers, or friends have clearly encouraged her to be creative in
artwork and have taught her to have enthusiasm when thinking about art. I
also noticed how even though my prompt to her was to either draw herself,
her family, or a tree, she decided to draw herself and a tree. I wonder if this
points to the fact that Johanna likes to please and appreciates getting praise.
She tends to be an overachiever and the fact that she did more than was
asked of her does not surprise me at all. Based on my interactions with
Johanna, I would say that she is in the schematic stage of drawing, which is
right around her age seven-nine years old. The schematic stage focuses on

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the achievement of a form concept, (Kellogg 1970, pg. 48). I decided that
she fit this stage because her drawing matched several of the characteristics
of the stage. For one thing, she passes several characteristics of the
preschematic stage such as objects not relating to one another, the size of
objects are not proportionate, and that the objects seem to float around on
the page, (Kellogg 1970, pg. 48). Jos drawing established a base line on
which objects are placed and often a sky line, with the space between
representing the air, had little over lapping of objects, included the
environment, and had arms and legs correctly placed, (Kellogg 1970, pg. 48).
Her next steps as an artist will probably include moving from stick figures to
using geometric shapes to represent humans, (Erickson 1996, pg. 37). It is
important to remember that, stage theory concepts should not be rigidly
interpreted, but rather flexibly referenced as a general guide, (Luehrman
2006, pg. 73). This is important because students may fit certain
characteristics of several different stages, which is okay. Students artwork
also should not be critically judge while trying to find the appropriate stage.
Also, [stages] are not prescriptive in terms of what to expect of an individual
child at a specific age, (Luehrman 2006, pg. 73). Just like any other set of
developmental stages, students will not reach the same stage at the same
time. As a teacher, it will be my job to make sure that I encourage their
development to improve on an individual basis.

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My investigation proves the fact that children need to be able to be
creative and love their artistic ability. Johanna never once related her ability
to a negative or positive. She never said she was good at drawing or that she
was bad at drawing, she said that she liked to draw. I think that is very
important. For any subject, students are told how they are performing. If they
are told that they are bad readers then it is probably hard for them to enjoy
reading. Art should not be valued like that. Students should be able to enjoy
making art just because it is fun and means something to them. The childish
innocence that Jo has in regards to her creativity should be encouraged
throughout her entire educational experience. As Daniel Pink said, right brain
people will eventually rule the world. The most creative among us see
relationships the rest of us never noticedThe next 10 years will require
people to think and work across boundaries into new zones that are totally
different from their areas of expertise, (Pink 2006 pg. 135). Students who
are encouraged to keep their creativity strong and alive will have an
advantage when it comes to problem solving in their careers. Teachers need
to monitor the development of their students because, This kind of
knowledge is essential for choosing age-appropriate teaching strategies and
content for the units and lessons that the [teacher] develops, (Luehrman
2006, pg. 71). After the readings and research I have completed to analyze
Johannas artwork, I realize how important art is, especially to a general
education teacher because it can demonstrate so much about a particular

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student. Many students thrive on being able to be creative and artistic
because it gives them the opportunity to understand the world around them,
which is why it is important that I integrate authentic art opportunities in my
future classroom.

References
Erickson, M & Young, B. (1996) Art Advocacy: What Every Educator Should
(But Maybe Doesnt) Know 40-42. Retrieved from Mizzou Media published
packet for LTC 4240 Art for Children.

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Kellogg, R. (1970). Analyzing Childrens Art. Palo Alto, CA: National Press.
Pgs 15,19,25,78,85,109, and 122. Retrieved from Mizzou Media published
packet for LTC 4240 Art for Children.
Luehrman, M., & Unrath, K. (2006). Making theories of childrens artistic
development meaningful for pre-service teachers. Art Education, 59(3), 6-12.
Retrieved from Mizzou Media published packet for LTC 4240 Art for Children.

Pink,D.(2006).Awholenewmind:Whyrightbrainerswillrulethefuture.New
York,NewYork:RiverheadBooks.