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Understanding Children's Perspectives: Sixth Graders Talk About Their Art, Christine Mulcahey

Christine Mulcahey

Abstract This exploratory study investigates children's perspectives on artistic representation. Unstructured weekly interviews with a group of sixth graders for ten weeks allowed for a negotiated and shared understanding of children's views. The talk of the children, in relation to a collection of each child's drawings, constitute the primary data for the study. Analysis of interview data suggests three primary themes: categories for understanding, a children's world, and children's talk about art. The children's categories for thinking about ideas and events appear to be flexible and tentative, and to allow for variation and subdivisions. The children's conversations suggest a distinct …