Learning through Drawing: A Qualitative Descriptive Study of the Experiences of Drawing Practitioners.

Drawing as a tool for learning is both undervalued and underutilised in current educational systems. Outdated understandings and conceptions of what drawing is and what it can be used for are embedded and perpetuated throughout our learning environments. As such, there is a necessity to describe and articulate the process of drawing so that its learning potential may be further explored. Within our educational enviroments there exists hierachies of knowledge that premise rational and logical ways of knowing the world. By succumbing to these hierarchies we invalidate other ways of knowing and experiencing the world.This results in the isolation and neglect of our full range of human capabilites and intelligences. The mystification and spiritualisation of art out of connection with our everyday lives is discussed as it affects the instrumentality of drawing.Through a discussion of the experiences of the participants involved in this research we can come to a fuller understanding of how they use drawing in their daliy lives. The aim of this research is to explore and discuss the possilbities that exist for drawing as a learning tool. The findings of this research relate to and support themes that have emerged throughout the literature review. This research found that drawing as a method of communication, a therapeutic tool, and also as a vital means of self-expression has a large role to play in learning settings