Making visual art visible beyond sight: Anti-ableist pedagogy, children’s participation, and inclusive artmaking
Background: Children’s participation in early childhood education requires more than physical presence. It requires space, voice, audience and influence, including for children who communicate, perceive, and participate in diverse ways. In visual art experiences, participation is often shaped by sighted assumptions. This can limit opportunities for children who are blind or have low vision, unless educators rethink artmaking from an anti-ableist starting point.
Aim: This presentation explores how visual art can be made visible beyond sight through inclusive artmaking with young children and families. It examines how anti-ableist pedagogy can support children’s agency, joy, belonging and meaningful participation.
Method/approach: The study draws on a yearlong community playgroup project with 16 young children aged 10 months to 6 years and their families. Grounded in anti-ableist pedagogy, Lundy’s model of participation and Malaguzzi’s hundred languages of children, the study used portraiture methodology to capture lived moments of inclusive artmaking. Fieldnotes, sustained observations and co-reflections with educators informed six portraits of sensory-rich art experiences. Ethical approval was obtained from the University Human Research Ethics Committee. Informed consent was obtained from family members and educators. Active assent was obtained from the children.
Results/findings: Children participated through touch, sound, rhythm, gesture, movement, memory, experimentation, and laughter. Visual art was reimagined through tactile narration, an interactive gallery, a beach excursion, collaborative textured artworks, and a gallery walk. Children’s preferences and ideas shaped the curriculum, including the move from tactile gallery exploration to beach-based inquiry and collaborative artmaking. Rather than adapting activities for one child, educators reshaped the pedagogical space so that multiple ways of knowing and expressing were valued.
Conclusion: The study found that anti-ableist pedagogy transforms inclusive artmaking from accommodation into collective reimagining. This benefited all children, as touch, sound, dialogue, and shared sensory exploration became central to the artmaking process. When diverse ways of participating are valued from the outset, visual art becomes multimodal, relational, and joyful.
Implications for children and families: Children and families benefit when every child’s ways of communicating, exploring, and creating are recognised as meaningful and influential.
Implications for practitioners: Practitioners can strengthen inclusion by designing arts experiences that centre multiple senses, listen beyond spoken words, and allow children’s ideas to shape curriculum.
Keywords: anti-ableist pedagogy, children’s participation, inclusion, inclusive artmaking, children who are blind or have low vision
This presentation relates to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: