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An Arts-Informed and Play-Based Case Study of Young Newcomer Children's Everyday Lives, Experiences, and Perspectives
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- Author / Creator
- Jamison, Nicole M
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The purpose of this qualitative arts-informed and play-based case study was to explore and better understand how young newcomer children use common childhood activities of play and personal art-making as tools or vehicles of communication, for exploration of their ideas and sharing perspectives, and to demonstrate what they considered personally significant about their everyday lives and experiences. This is necessary as young newcomer children’s voices and perspectives have been largely absent from the literature. The research study was guided by the following questions: 1) What are the personally significant experiences and influences in young newcomer children’s daily lives?; 2) How do young newcomer children use play and personal art-making to understand, negotiate, and make sense of experiences, and communicate the personally significant? and; 3) How do adults support young newcomer children's play and personal art-making and their communication of the personally significant? Research took place over a 3-month period in two half-day kindergarten classrooms with two 5-year-old girls. Data were collected through multiple methods including observations in the classroom, video and audio recordings and photographs of the girl’s play and art-making activities, and any accompanying conversations with the girls, and their mothers and teachers.
Informed by sociocultural-historical theory of learning and development (Vygotsky, 1978), along with concepts of perezhivanie (Vygotsky, 1994), ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) and the RAISED Between Cultures model (Georgis et al., 2017), the play and art-making activities were understood as an echo, foregrounding, memory, or communicative reconstruction of daily experiences (Bodrova & Leong, 2015; Fleer, 2019; Lindqvist, 2001). Findings revealed that both girls’ creative and imaginative processes and products effectively communicated personally significant ideas, experiences, and perspectives through direct representation alongside processes and fluidly across both art and play activities. These creative and imaginative activities also functioned as tools or prompts for conversation and recall of events, and as bridges to connect home and school lives. Additionally, findings were mapped onto the RAISED Between Cultures model and it was found that both girls had a wide range of personally significant experiences, influences, barriers, and complexities connected to their culture, pre- and post-migration experiences, identity, and family. Findings also point to the importance of relevant environments, time, materials, opportunities, and experiences, as well as adults that offered supports and prompts, which greatly enhanced each girl’s sustained interest and communication of their perspectives and what was personally significant. -
- Graduation date
- Spring 2022
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- Type of Item
- Thesis
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- Degree
- Doctor of Philosophy
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- License
- This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.