A Discourse Analysis of Elementary School Students' Negotiation of Identity During Art Museum Visits

• In Event: Advances in Arts and Learning Research

Abstract

This intrinsic case study examines art museum learning of elementary school students during a week-long visit at the Mackenzie Art Museum (MAM). This project aims to analyze the discourse around art and understand how young learners utilize discourse as tools to navigate their identity and make meaning during art museum visits. This study includes approximately twelve hours of video-recorded data and student artifacts. The data suggests learners engage and form new meanings through building and negotiating discourses with peers and museum educators. Different discourses and knowledge are valued and reinforced by members of the group. This study addresses the gap in children’s meaning-making during art museum visits, illustrating their strategies to construct knowledge and bridge connections.

Authors

• Sylvia Ya-Hsuan Yang, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Presenting Author

• Stephanie C. Sanders-Smith, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Presenting Author