Mixed messages: the role and value of drawing in early education

Current English curriculum documents, namely the Practice Guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 of the National Curriculum, contain mixed messages about the role and value of drawing in early education. The documents state that children should be encouraged to explore their ideas, feelings and experiences through a range of means, including drawing, but drawing as a form of communication is predominantly seen as a pre‐writing skill. In the National Curriculum drawing exists as an element of the programme of study for art and design. However, it is argued here that presenting drawing as ‘art’ in the early years conveys a limited view of its place in children’s learning. Young children have many motivations for drawing for different purposes and in different contexts. These different purposes and contexts need recognition in both policy and practice.