The construction of environments for learning graphic-pictorial skills. An empirical research in two Italian infant-toddler centres

The article presents some results from an exploratory empirical research carried out in two public infant-toddler centres in northern Italy in order to understand which contextual conditions can favour the development of graphic and pictorial competence in children. Within a socio-cultural and socio-constructivist theoretical framework, the graphic-pictorial activities proposed to 31 children aged 24–36 months have been investigated from a pedagogical perspective, giving priority to the analysis of the group process of the children who scribble and to the context where it takes place.We made 14 video recordings of children’s group activities guided by an educator. The children’s graphic-pictorial drawings were collected too. Video recordings were subsequently used to conduct a video-stimulated interview with the seven educators involved. The analysis of the video recordings led to the identification of five main content areas (the group’s contagious imitation and “resonance”; the child’s attribution of meaning to his/her drawings and the verbalization of the adult; children’s play and exploration during the drawing activity; the communication between adults and children and the teacher’s verbal behaviour; conclusion of drawing and graphic-pictorial activities). This paper aims at presenting the first two areas. The analysis of the educators’ beliefs allowed us to bring out, in particular, the relevance of beliefs about the “spontaneity” of the child’s behaviour and the educational practice adopted in relation to it. In the light of the research results, some areas of intervention for teachers’ professional development have been identified.