Journal for Learning through the Arts

This paper examines how elementary children develop voice in a classroom where art and language have equal import from four different contexts: group, guided, table, and independent shares. Specifically, this paper highlights one child in particular: Rebecca, a writer who discovers art as a way of knowing and develops a greater appreciation for her love of writing.  My dissertation study took place in a second grade classroom, a ripe context to study a multimodal approach to learning, since many modes of knowing often lose their status (e.g., art) to more privileged ones (e.g., language) as learners progress in the elementary grades. This article investigates how one child develops voice through art and language and serves as an exemplar of how multiple ways of knowing and contexts in which to learn can positively influence children’s sense of self as artist, writer, and meaning maker.