This quarter, I have been collaborating with CONNECT Researcher Dr. Christine Lee and dual-language Primary Demonstration Teachers Cristina Paul, Nancy Villalta, and Olivia Lozano in understanding the role of play and art in education. I’ve been observing primary students from Rooms 9/10 as they learned about animal and plant adaptations in the Sonoran Desert. The students were able to pick their favorite Sonoran Desert animal and create a diagram drawing, labeling each of their features.
I stepped into Rooms 9/10 and saw students lying on their stomachs, dulling out several colored pencils. One student in particular, who was working on a jackrabbit, quickly turned and asked if I could grab her another brown after using up her color. Returning with the color pencil, I sat next to her as she was coloring in her drawing of a jackrabbit. Next to her, she had a Google Images photo of a jackrabbit on an iPad to better reference the colors and structure of the animal. Hyper-focused – her eyes would wander back and forth from the screen to the paper in quick intervals, striving to perfect her drawing.
Later that day, she was already on her third brown-colored pencil and had added both yellow and gray to the mix. “The brown is for the fur, the yellow is for the belly and feet, and the gray is for the fur if I don’t have any more brown to use”, she said. This prompted me to snag another brown pencil for her. When I returned, she grew curious about my personality, my background, interests, and how we might be similar or different. We bonded over our shared appreciation for historical science fiction, our shared identity as Asian, and which iCarly characters we closely relate to.
I noticed that our dialogue alleviated some of the pressure she had been placing on herself. Rather than being fixated on using proper colors to reflect the true traits of a Jackrabbit, she began experimenting with various colors to make the drawing more vibrant, even if they didn’t exactly match the reference image. She scavenged for orange and red-colored pencils, hoping to put some depth and accent within the brown fur, while adding pink and purple to emphasize the notably large ears.
I sensed that the student benefited from having someone present who engaged with her beyond just observing her doing her artwork. The connection we found encouraged her to shift her focus more on the joy of creating rather than achieving a replica of a jackrabbit. Her drawing evolved from a task of replication to an expression of her feelings and personal interpretation. This highlights how being truly present and actively involved helps a child express their creativity.
When students feel seen and their artistic expression valued, they are more likely to engage in genuine creative expression. Opportunities like this one, to share in the student’s process, encouraged and enhanced her artistic endeavors. It also contributes in the social-emotional learning context, helping students develop a sense of belonging and self-worth. It is important that they were able to recognize art as a way to use creative expression rather than perfection.
Marygrace Gliane was born and raised in Long Beach, California. I am a 4th year undergraduate student at UCLA majoring in Education and Social Transformation. I am interested in education for sustainable development and eco-curriculum in early childhood education. I am also interested in creative content, brand managing/marketing, and policies that shape creative industries.
Questions about this blog post can be directed to Dr. Christine Lee (clee@labschool.ucla.edu).