{"id":454,"date":"2024-11-20T04:04:33","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T04:04:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains\/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024\/?p=454"},"modified":"2024-11-20T04:08:38","modified_gmt":"2024-11-20T04:08:38","slug":"ecv2024-410","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains\/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024\/ecv2024-410\/","title":{"rendered":"ECV2024-410 – Children\u2019s mathematical voices: Meanings, messages and memories"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Presentation - ECV2024-410<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Children\u2019s mathematical voices: Meanings, messages and memories<\/h1>\n

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Jenny Dwyer<\/strong>, Charles Sturt University, Australia (jedwyer@csu.edu.au)<\/p>\n

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Background:<\/strong>A child\u2019s voice is expressed through many different languages. The Reggio Emilia Educational Approached in Italy hypothesises that children have one hundred languages to access, process, and express conceptual knowledge. One of these languages is children\u2019s mathematical graphics. Children\u2019s mathematical graphics, as a voice, allow children to access, process and express mathematical meanings and messages and develop mathematical memories. Children\u2019s mathematical graphics support their higher mental functions and cognition and help them to engage with the world. Children\u2019s mathematical graphics also create mental images and a visual construction of knowledge, which is important for mathematical learning in later years. Children\u2019s mathematical voice is the starting point for accessing mathematical knowledge, learning significant mathematical concepts, and sharing their ideas with others. This highlights that acquiring a mathematical voice is critical for children\u2019s cognition and higher order thinking. However, children\u2019s mathematical graphics are mostly seen as scribbles, or as a developmental precursor to more realistic pictures. The potential of young children\u2019s mathematical graphics is that it allows children to learn mathematical conceptual knowledge, form mental images and memories, and express messages and meanings of mathematical significance in symbolic ways.<\/p>\n

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Aims: <\/strong>The aim of this presentation is to highlight how children\u2019s mathematical voices mediate children\u2019s mathematical thinking and learning in the early years. Children\u2019s mathematical graphics help in the acquisition of a mathematical voice expressing significant mathematical meanings and messages. This presentation also aims to show how children\u2019s mathematical graphics develop children\u2019s symbolic and abstract thought processes. The premise is that language precedes thought and learning.<\/p>\n

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Method:<\/strong> This research study used the Cultural-Historical methodology to research a group of twenty 4\u20135-year-old children attending an early childhood setting. Alongside the Cultural-Historical methodology, this study uses a conceptual framework to frame, collect and analyse the data.
Ethics approval acquired through CSU, as well as through parental and children\u2019s consent. <\/p>\n

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Results:<\/strong> The findings from research into children\u2019s mathematical graphics suggest that children\u2019s mathematical graphics help to develop children\u2019s mathematical conceptual meanings, messages, and memories, either implicitly (without mathematical words to explain their graphic) or explicitly (with mathematical words to explain their graphic). This is the beginning of their written mathematical voice. These include:
Implicit Mathematical Graphics: \u201cA crocodile. There are the spikes on the body and the tail, sharp teeth with his mouth\u201d.
Conceptual mathematical meanings: geometric shapes \u2013 rectangle and circles, straight parallel lines, positioning, size and spatial awareness
Explicit mathematical graphics: \u201cThe smallest are the babies; the next are the kids, and the biggest are the mums and dads. Lots of people. I\u2019m doing lots of different colours. There is so many. They are all friends. They\u2019re in their own music. I can\u2019t even count them\u201d.
Conceptual mathematical meanings: Mathematical understanding of groups, classification and quantity; circles and colours represent groups of people according to size; positioning; spatial awareness; differences and similarities symbolically represented by circles and colours; patterning and relationships. <\/p>\n

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Conclusions:<\/strong> Children\u2019s mathematical graphics mediate children\u2019s mathematical conceptual learning. The research points to the importance of acknowledging that language (voice) precedes thoughts and ideas (learning).<\/p>\n

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Implications for children and families:<\/strong> We recognise and value your mathematical graphics to support your learning of mathematical conceptual meanings, messages and memories.<\/p>\n

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Implications for practitioners:<\/strong> Noticing children\u2019s mathematical graphics, not just as scribbles or developmental precursor to mature forms of drawing, but to mediate children\u2019s mathematical conceptual knowledge, their mathematical meanings, messages and memories.<\/p>\n

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Key words<\/strong>: children\u2019s mathematical graphics, children\u2019s mathematical voice, conceptual understandings and learning, expression of significant mathematical meanings <\/p>\n

This presentation relates to the following <\/strong>United Nations Sustainable Development Goals<\/strong><\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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