The aim of this research was to identify the understanding of teachers working in early childhood education about the role of children's drawing, given that this graphic language is very present in the daily life of early childhood schools. The conceptualization of drawing as a language was anchored in authors such as Vygotsky (2000, 2001, 2007), Mukhina (1995), Derdyk (2010), Iavelberg (2010, 2013, 2017) and Vecchi (2017). This is a qualitative study, using the focus group technique with 8 teachers working in a community early childhood education school located in the city of São Luís, State of Maranhão, in the northern region of Brazil. The data was organized and analyzed using Content Analysis (Bardin, 2016). The results showed that the teachers conceive of children's drawings primarily from a psychological perspective, as a way of expressing children's feelings and emotions. On a second level, there is a pedagogical conception in which drawing is conceived as a pedagogical resource (utilitarian), whose function is to be at the service of the topic to be addressed with the children. The results indicate the need for teachers to acquire theoretical and methodological knowledge about drawing, as well as diverse cultural knowledge in order to overcome a limited and stereotyped view of this visual language, whose multiple learning potentials (cognitive, expressive and creative) are not taken into account.

Authors:
Fernando Donizete Alves, Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil
Karla Raquel Lima Pereira, Federal University of São Carlos/University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Brazil

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Fernando Donizete Alves is currently an Associate Professor in the area of Didactics and Early Childhood Education at Department of Physical Education and Human Motricity, Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil

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https://buscatextual.cnpq.br/buscatextual/visualizacv.do

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