Drawing Sustainability: Helping Students to Know What They Know
221
4 The Value of Drawing
Webb (2020) suggests an effective way to check students’ understanding is to ask
them to write down everything they know about a topic. This study develops this
approach further by adapting it into a visual representation of knowledge thus incorporating the value of drawing that science recognises can provide an opportunity for
students to recognise their own learning i.e., to know what they know. To do this,
students are asked to draw sustainability.
Drawing is a means by which individuals can create, develop, record and communicate their thoughts and ideas (Van Meter and Garner 2005); it therefore presents an
opportunity to support thinking and learning. (Hope 2008; Adams 2017) by allowing
students to apply what they have learned and recreate it in another format (Griffith
and Burns 2014).
In primary school, drawing as a teaching tool has been found to promote pupils’
analytical skills through use of perception and critical thinking by introducing pupils
to new and increasingly complex subjects (Quillin and Thomas 2015). It can also
build self-esteem and self-confidence (Jones 1997). In Higher Education’s scientific
subjects, drawing has been widely adopted as a tool to test ideas, elaborate knowledge, and imagine new relationships (Ryan and Stieff 2019) through which learners
are encouraged to create their own visual representations which can deepen understanding. (Ainsworth et al. 2011). As concepts within EfS such as social justice,
environmental protection and economic legitimacy are frequently new to Business
Management students and expose them to a level of complexity that they have not
previously faced within their university career, it may be beneficial to utilise the
same teaching tool of drawing. This may offer students the opportunity to see their
previously unseen knowledge on paper (Vygotsky 1978; Quillin and Thomas 2015),
thus helping them know what they know. Drawing gives students an opportunity to
ask themselves What do I know? and What else do I need to know?
Drawing can be a collaborative tool that promotes thinking (Hay et al. 2008), the
visualisation and interpretation of data (Ainsworth et al. 2011), and communication
of results (Ryan and Stieff 2019). The reflection required to enable this visualisation
and interpretation has a key role in learning (Schon 1987). Ainsworth et al. (2011) also
suggest that drawing encourages students to make their thinking explicit to exchange
and clarify meaning between their peers, which Vygotsky (1978) considers is due to
the ability of drawing to make ideas tangible and thinking visible. In turn this may
motivate students and make them more self-aware of their own learning (Quillin and
Thomas 2015). Drawing may therefore help students to know what they know.
Drawing sustainability as a teaching tool may have a particular value for Business
Management Students; drawing can encourage the learner to see the world differently
(Unicheck 2015). This ability to see the world differently is a vital requirement for
effective EfS (UNESCO 2017) as sustainable futures require students to transform
the way they think and act (Howlett et al. 2016).
In addition to using drawing as a tool for learning specific knowledge (Gobert and
Clement 1999; Hay et al. 2008) and communication (Roam 2008) it may also have a
221
4 The Value of Drawing
Webb (2020) suggests an effective way to check students’ understanding is to ask
them to write down everything they know about a topic. This study develops this
approach further by adapting it into a visual representation of knowledge thus incorporating the value of drawing that science recognises can provide an opportunity for
students to recognise their own learning i.e., to know what they know. To do this,
students are asked to draw sustainability.
Drawing is a means by which individuals can create, develop, record and communicate their thoughts and ideas (Van Meter and Garner 2005); it therefore presents an
opportunity to support thinking and learning. (Hope 2008; Adams 2017) by allowing
students to apply what they have learned and recreate it in another format (Griffith
and Burns 2014).
In primary school, drawing as a teaching tool has been found to promote pupils’
analytical skills through use of perception and critical thinking by introducing pupils
to new and increasingly complex subjects (Quillin and Thomas 2015). It can also
build self-esteem and self-confidence (Jones 1997). In Higher Education’s scientific
subjects, drawing has been widely adopted as a tool to test ideas, elaborate knowledge, and imagine new relationships (Ryan and Stieff 2019) through which learners
are encouraged to create their own visual representations which can deepen understanding. (Ainsworth et al. 2011). As concepts within EfS such as social justice,
environmental protection and economic legitimacy are frequently new to Business
Management students and expose them to a level of complexity that they have not
previously faced within their university career, it may be beneficial to utilise the
same teaching tool of drawing. This may offer students the opportunity to see their
previously unseen knowledge on paper (Vygotsky 1978; Quillin and Thomas 2015),
thus helping them know what they know. Drawing gives students an opportunity to
ask themselves What do I know? and What else do I need to know?
Drawing can be a collaborative tool that promotes thinking (Hay et al. 2008), the
visualisation and interpretation of data (Ainsworth et al. 2011), and communication
of results (Ryan and Stieff 2019). The reflection required to enable this visualisation
and interpretation has a key role in learning (Schon 1987). Ainsworth et al. (2011) also
suggest that drawing encourages students to make their thinking explicit to exchange
and clarify meaning between their peers, which Vygotsky (1978) considers is due to
the ability of drawing to make ideas tangible and thinking visible. In turn this may
motivate students and make them more self-aware of their own learning (Quillin and
Thomas 2015). Drawing may therefore help students to know what they know.
Drawing sustainability as a teaching tool may have a particular value for Business
Management Students; drawing can encourage the learner to see the world differently
(Unicheck 2015). This ability to see the world differently is a vital requirement for
effective EfS (UNESCO 2017) as sustainable futures require students to transform
the way they think and act (Howlett et al. 2016).
In addition to using drawing as a tool for learning specific knowledge (Gobert and
Clement 1999; Hay et al. 2008) and communication (Roam 2008) it may also have a