{"id":1766,"date":"2026-09-09T11:04:01","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T01:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/?p=1766"},"modified":"2026-09-09T11:04:01","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T01:04:01","slug":"cvc2026-664","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/cvc2026-664\/","title":{"rendered":"CVC2026-664 \u2013 Making visual art visible beyond sight: Anti-ableist pedagogy, children\u2019s participation, and inclusive artmaking"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"cvc-hero alignfull\"><span class=\"cvc-chip\">Presentation \u2013 CVC2026-664<\/span><\/div>\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\">Making visual art visible beyond sight: Anti-ableist pedagogy, children\u2019s participation, and inclusive artmaking<\/h1>\n<div class=\"cvc-authors\">\n<p><strong>Kathy Cologon, <\/strong>Children\u2019s Voices Centre, Charles Sturt University, Australia<\/p>\n<p><strong>Zinnia Mevawalla, <\/strong>University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom<\/p>\n<p><strong>Olivia Karaolis,<\/strong> University of Notre Dame, Australia<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ast-oembed-container \" style=\"height: 100%;\"><iframe title=\"CVC2026-664 Making visual art visible beyond sight: Anti-ableist pedagogy, children\u2019s participation\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mAleqH-W9nM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><strong>Background: <\/strong>Children\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Aim: <\/strong>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\u2019s agency, joy, belonging and meaningful participation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Method\/approach:<\/strong> 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\u2019s model of participation and Malaguzzi\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Results\/findings: <\/strong>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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conclusion: <\/strong>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.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Implications for children and families: <\/strong>Children and families benefit when every child\u2019s ways of communicating, exploring, and creating are recognised as meaningful and influential.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Implications for practitioners:<\/strong> Practitioners can strengthen inclusion by designing arts experiences that centre multiple senses, listen beyond spoken words, and allow children\u2019s ideas to shape curriculum.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Keywords:<\/strong> anti-ableist pedagogy, children\u2019s participation, inclusion, inclusive artmaking, children who are blind or have low vision<\/p>\n<p><strong>This presentation relates to the following <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/sdgs.un.org\/goals\"><strong>United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sdgs.un.org\/goals\/goal4\">SDG 4: Quality Education<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sdgs.un.org\/goals\/goal10\">SDG\u00a010: Reduced Inequality<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kathy Cologon, Children\u2019s Voices Centre, Charles Sturt University, Australia<br \/>\nZinnia Mevawalla, University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom<br \/>\nOlivia Karaolis, University of Notre Dame, Australia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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