Drawing as a Pedagogical Resource for Immigrant Children’s Stories About Belonging

Bateman, Amanda and Mitchell, Linda (2023) Drawing as a Pedagogical Resource for Immigrant Children’s Stories About Belonging. International Journal of Early Childhood, 55 (3). pp. 421-440. ISSN 0020-7187

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Abstract

This article explores how drawing, facilitated by teacher prompts, provides opportunities for children to communicate their new connections in and sense of belonging with Aotearoa New Zealand, whilst sustaining connections with people and experiences from their home country. We use an ethnomethodological framework (Garfinkel, 1967) and a conversation analysis approach (Sacks et al., 1974) to explore spontaneous interactions between children and early childhood teachers around drawing activities. Four children, aged 3 and 4 years and who are from immigrant backgrounds, are the focus for the article. They participated with their families as case studies in research about the role of early childhood education in strengthening belonging for refugee and immigrant families (Mitchell et al., 2018). Families selected for case studies were of differing ethnicities, had come to Aotearoa New Zealand as refugees or immigrants, and wanted to participate in the research. The examples here involve the children restricting their talk to include only the characters they have drawn, demonstrating drawing as a unique resource which restricts possible unintentional ‘hijacking’ (Davis & Peters, 2008). Our findings demonstrate how touch and talk intertwine to co-construct a sequential unfolding of a story where characters are identified prior to the child telling about activities and location. As such, the drawings act as tangible resources which facilitate talk about an abstract concept such as belonging. ‘Slow pedagogies’ and a dedicated space for uninterrupted work with small groups were other facilitating features.

Item Type: Article
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13158-023-00369-8
Dates:
DateEvent
29 September 2023Accepted
8 November 2023Published Online
Uncontrolled Keywords: immigrant children, drawing and storytelling, conversation analysis, design-based research, funds of knowledge, slow pedagogy, belonging
Subjects: CAH22 - education and teaching > CAH22-01 - education and teaching > CAH22-01-01 - education
Divisions: Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences > School of Health Sciences > Dept. Life Sciences
Depositing User: Gemma Tonks
Date Deposited: 02 Apr 2024 14:30
Last Modified: 02 Apr 2024 14:30
URI: https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/15369

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