Chapter 1: Young children's meaning-making

Chapter overview:

This introductory chapter begins with a definition of drawing, as a product, a process and an expression of emotions and relationships. It then discusses drawing as a visual language of communication, a multimodal artefact that children use to create and convey their meanings.  We consider drawing as a mode of meaning-making, whereby children include modalities of talk, gesture and play to support their drawing. Finally, we introduce theories that inform the interpretation of children’s drawings including socio-cultural theory, funds of knowledge, and social semiotics.