Ani Zlateva
Trakia University – Stara Zagora (Bulgaria)
Abstract. One of the main purposes of the preschool education is not only to educate the kids an ability to deal with day-to-day actions, and gaining knowledge, but also forming their main social competences. This research aims at using children’s’ drawings as a diagnostic tool to state the level of social adaptation of children aged 6 – 7. At this age they complete the stage of their preschool education, and the social skills that they gained are of crucial importance in their new school environment. For the aims of this research the following themes have been adapted: “Draw-a-Person test”, “Kinetic family drawing”, “House-Tree-Person test”. Using them are analyzed the thematic child drawings for diagnosing the kid’s attitude towards the social environment. Researching the drawings the following indicators have been used for analyzing and diagnosing: willingness to work on a certain theme, and the correspondence with the image with the theme, the size and place of the main figures, the level of saturation with details and colors, connection between the different objects included in the drawing. In the thematic drawings of the 6 – 7 year-olds we’re looking for a decoded in a graphic way message for the level of social development of the child and its awareness of itself regarding its environment. Using the language of drawing the kid expresses its position as “The Self” in society and makes clear its position regarding its relationships with the people that surround it.
Keywords: social adaptation; preschool education; children; drawings
Dr. Ani Zlateva, Assoc. Prof.
Faculty of Education
Trakia University
