They live, speak, gesture, and call to us. Materials can evoke memories, narrate stories, invite actions, and communicate ideas.
(Pacini-Ketchabaw 2016)
(Pacini-Ketchabaw 2016)
Sitting amongst eco tools, made of dried grasses and seed heads, are food pigment paints derived from turmeric, paprika, spinach and beetroot, interspersed with coiled twine - an entirely sustainable network of art materials.
This practice-based research is motivated by my experience of working in early-years settings where art sessions are kept to neat and predictable formats often limiting young learners' agency and creative endeavours.
Beginning with two open-ended and exploratory art workshops held at an early-years setting, I set out to explore the reciprocity between children and an abundance of organic matter. Through visual documentation I captured patterns of play as childhood schemas became apparent in the manipulation of materials and use of physical spaces.
In my dissertation research, I argue for imagination, environmental awareness and accessibility and for facilitating learners' agency, alongside promoting relationalities with organic matter and the natural world.
Reference
Pacini-Ketchabaw, V. (2016) Encounters With Materials in Early Childhood Education. New York: Routledge.
This practice-based research is motivated by my experience of working in early-years settings where art sessions are kept to neat and predictable formats often limiting young learners' agency and creative endeavours.
Beginning with two open-ended and exploratory art workshops held at an early-years setting, I set out to explore the reciprocity between children and an abundance of organic matter. Through visual documentation I captured patterns of play as childhood schemas became apparent in the manipulation of materials and use of physical spaces.
In my dissertation research, I argue for imagination, environmental awareness and accessibility and for facilitating learners' agency, alongside promoting relationalities with organic matter and the natural world.
Reference
Pacini-Ketchabaw, V. (2016) Encounters With Materials in Early Childhood Education. New York: Routledge.