2018 Research Journal #1

Dr Margaret Brooks,

University of New England, Armidale NSW Australia

Dr Tshering Wangmo,

Royal University of Bhutan.

Special thanks to:

Mr Michael Brooks, for his wonderful support.

Copy Editor, Naureen Taylor, Armidale, NSW

Formatting, Merran Pearson, University of New England, Armidale, NSW

Editorial

This volume of the International Art in Early Childhood Research Journal has eight articles. The articles are very diverse; from local funds of knowledge to more practical aspects like apps for portfolios. Terrini, Loveridge, Zhou and Denee work closely with preschool teachers and art projects. They provided us with wonderful close ups of research in practice. In this multi cultural project the focus is on Cultural Identity. Lifschitz Grant also works closely with preschools, educators and families. Her paper is an action based study that aims to demonstrate how collaborative art projects with families can enhance home/school partnerships through the arts.

It is wonderful to have contributions from PhD students and their theses. They bring us new perspectives on the arts in early childhood. Sarah Probine shares a few of her findings. Her paper focuses on the contextual factors that influence young children’s values and the use of the visual arts in their learning.  Marg Rogers presents us with an interesting and innovative research method that honours the essence of art processes. Tshering Wangmo’s article draws on the work of Louis Moll to examine the drawings of young children as they transition from home to school.  She explains how an awareness of the zones of possibilities for the child is made visible through the drawings and how they can promote stronger continuity between home and school. Rosemary Richard’s article also focuses on children’s drawings. She explored how drawings can reveal a child’s sense of identity.

A couple of the articles have very practical advice for classroom teachers. Sonter and Jones’ interesting article explains how drawing can support young children’s executive functioning.  And Bird, Grono and Schmude present us with a wonderful organizational tool to manage young children’s art portfolios.

We hope you enjoy these articles. Please join us at the next conference. Art as Dialogue, the 8th International Art in Early Childhood conference (Thursday 24 January – Sunday 27 January, 2019), is an opportunity to share current research about the role that visual art and aesthetics education play in young children’s lives.  The conference will be hosted by Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

Emese Hall, University of Exeter, United Kingdom

Felicity McArdle, Queensland University of Technology, Australia

Linda Knight, University of Canberra, Australia

Lisa Terreni, University of Wellington, New Zealand

Margaret Brooks, University of New England, Australia

Rosemary Richards, Australian Catholic University, Australia

Kathy Danko McGhee, First Encounters, USA

Andre Sava, University of Cyprus

Tshering Wangmo, Royal University of Bhutan

Rebecca Shipe, Rhode Island College, USA