Young, able (talented) pupils and visual-spatial intelligence

At Key Stage 1, the programme of study for Design and Technology in the National Curriculum in Wales, in relation to ‘Designing Skills’, simply states that: ‘Pupils should be taught to record their ideas, e.g. using words, pictures, sketches and ICT’ (ACCAC 2000 p.8) This paper provides details of a pilot research study, focused on the extent to which young children (infants), as guided learners, can develop competent sketches, as a means of generating, communicating and recording ideas. Here, the emphasis is on young children’s management of more formalised drawing formats (orthographic projections) and how these might support the development of pupils’ visual-spatial awareness; not least, the ability to visualise objects, or parts of an object, from different perspectives, in a realistic way.