Drawing Development in Mainstream and Waldorf Steiner Schools Revisited

Although different approaches to teaching children to draw have been advocated and practiced, little is known about how these may influence children's developing drawing abilities. In this study the drawings of pupils receiving an art education that attempts to concurrently teach representational and expressive skills (Mainstream schools in England) are compared to those of pupils who experience an alternative art education that emphasizes imaginative, creative, and expressive drawings before introducing representational drawing skills (Waldorf Steiner schools). One hundred and sixty 7- to 16-year-old pupils from the 2 school types completed 3 expressive (happy, sad, and angry) drawings, 2 representational drawings (an observational drawing of a mannequin and a drawing of a house from memory), and 1 free drawing. Two artists rated all of the drawings for quality on 7-point scales, and stylistic features (scene-based, size, and color) of the free drawings were assessed. No consistent between-school differences were found in the expressive drawings, but Waldorf pupils produced superior representational drawings. With respect to stylistic differences Waldorf pupils produced larger and more scene-based free drawings. Waldorf pupils also combined colors more frequently, and the 7 and 10 year olds tended to use more colors than their Mainstream school counterparts. These results appear inconsistent with the difference in emphasis on expression and representation in the 2 school types. However, observational research investigating actual classroom practices within the 2 school types is required because maybe practices differ to what is outlined in the curricula.