The Acquisition of Cartography in Preschool Children

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explain how children learn to understand and draw maps. A cultural perspective, derived from Vygotsky's theories on the acquisition of knowledge, was adopted, similar to the approach taken in recent studies of literacy. Emphasis was placed on the map as a culturally devised symbol system and on how children come to understand the meanings, uses and values of maps through interaction with others. Home influences on children's emergent cartography were the main focus for the study, as a central question was how children become mappers before they receive formal instruction in mapping at school. Influences or learning sources associated with five conceptual models for acquiring map knowledge were investigated. Three of the sources related to the child's direct, unmediated experience: individual travel or activity in the environment, environmental toy play, and experience of maps and map-like forms. The other two sources concerned the child's vicarious, mediated experience: observations and interactions with others using maps in everyday situations, and experience of people using maps on television or in books. Additional aspects studied included young children's interest in maps and mothers' attitudes towards map skills. Audio-taped home interviews with 41 mothers of 4-year-olds gave information on the children's experience relating to each of the possible influences within the home or family. The children's performance on tasks of map comprehension and map production was assessed in individual audio-taped interviews at their preschools. All the homes, except one, had maps and the children were involved in activities within the family which centred on the use of maps for a variety of practical, everyday purposes. Almost half the mothers had observed their children acting out the adult use of maps in play. Children also experienced the use of maps in story books and television programmes, and encountered maps and map-like forms in their play activities. Widespread, sometimes longstanding, interest in maps was reported among the preschoolers and nearly half had drawn maps or plans. Mothers had relatively low expectations that children acquire skill in mapping. The child's interest in maps, the mother's talk about map symbols, and the mother's attitude to map use had most bearing on whether the child drew maps (R2=57%). The children were highly accurate at recognising maps in a task which focussed mainly on prototypical maps used in the home or community. Map recognition was most strongly influenced by the presence of maps in the home and the child's practice of adult map use (R2=47%). The children's sketch maps and explanations emphasised everyday functions of maps for navigation. The results were interpreted as support for the cultural theory of cognition which stresses the importance of shared consciousness for learning. It was concluded that children acquire the cultural meanings and uses of maps and mapping conventions by sharing the consciousness of those with whom they interact in events involving maps, and particularly by engaging in the map routines associated with practical, everyday activities, and by practising the adult use of maps in their own map routines during play.