Drawing stories: The power of children's drawings to communicate the lived experience of starting school

Abstract

All too frequently the process of starting school is viewed through the eyes of teachers and parents alone. What is often overlooked is that the children, who live this experience, and their interpretation of events, may be vastly different from that of their parents and teachers. The use of drawings in conjunction with oral retellings is an innovative strategy in terms of studies related to transition. In the study reported on in this article, experiences were shared not only through what the children themselves said, but also through what they have drawn. This article highlights the nature of children's experiences as they start school, and how both oral and visual narratives can be effectively combined to access the lived experiences of young children. The wider study reported in this article was qualitative in nature and focused on the transition1 to Kindergarten2 experience at Callan Public School3, a small school in rural New South Wales, Australia. The study included three key stakeholders: the classroom teacher, the parents and, importantly, the children themselves. The children's drawings and comments have been combined with observations and anecdotes from parents and the classroom teacher in order to offer a richer insight into the process of starting school in this small rural community.