The Myths and the Realities: Conceptions and educational practices concerning children’s free

Expression – An exploratory study about the development of children’s (aged 6-10) free expression, in the visual arts

Abstract

This study has the main purpose of debating the concept of free expression regarding children (aged 6-10), in the context of learning of visual arts. In this debate, it is mobilized the role played by the viewpoints very often stated by Primary school teachers, that children are free by nature and that they express themselves aesthetically  according to their imagination and  their creativity. This way of thinking, knowing and stating has turned into an almost common assumption of educational thought, in their educational practice and aesthetic expression, as well as in the Arts in general; therefore, it has become a pedagogical myth and a perceived truth.
Based on the discourse analysis and questioning of a group of six Primary school teachers, it is aimed to clarify which basic principles and criteria underpin these ideas and lead these teachers to foster and decide the conditions for what they label as children’s free expression.