Innovation in English Teaching Through the Use of Drawing as Multipurpose Tool

• In Event: Roundtable Session 44
  In Roundtable Session: Drawing, Making, and Acting: Arts in Cultural Historical Research

Abstract

This case study examines a middle school English teacher’s integration of visual arts in her curriculum through the use of drawing as a tool for multiple purposes. Framed within a sociocultural perspective, I investigated meanings the teacher constructed about using drawings to teach English. Analysis focused on the situated activity of the teacher’s use of drawing as a tool; personal and professional settings; goals for integrating language and visual arts; and, solutions developed for implementing arts-integrated curriculum. Findings indicated drawings served four purposes: visual cue/illustration tool; multimodal composition tool; planning tool; assessment tool. Careful documentation, opportunistic decision-making for using available resources, and personal connections with knowledgeable colleagues were needed to support this teacher’s use of drawing to teach English.

Author

• Michelle Zoss, Georgia State University