“This Hallway Is Really a Space Portal!”: Young Children’s Artistic Practice of Rewriting Story Lines

• In Event: Stories of/in Equity and Social Justice in Early Childhood Education

Abstract

This presentation examines the artistic practices of young children as a fluid, integrated part of children’s thinking and learning. Given that the young child is an integrated learner, this paper argues that artistic practice must be viewed as seamlessly integrated into children’s daily pursuits. Through teacher research, children’s narratives are explored in order to identify these artistic practices and their role in children’s thinking and learning. This paper specifically examines a concept entitled “Rewriting Storylines” in which children reshape their experiences and the expectation of adults through artistic practice. As children narrate creative storylines for their experiences, they artistically reshape the world around them gaining control and autonomy through artistic practice.

Author

• Dana Frantz Bentley, Buckingham, Browne, and Nichols School