Children Map Their World Lauren Miller ECI 524 Extension #1

“Many Nations, One World” By Nicholas William,15, Indonesia I was struck by the details in this map. The map itself is intricately drawn. The title, bright colors, and smiling faces show an optimistic view of the world. Each child is dressed in a culturally specific way, highlighting the importance of our differences. However, the stereotypical way the children are dressed betray some understandably mistaken views of cultures outside of the child’s own.

“Green Land” By Yui Seito, 13, Japan This child’s map replaces each continent with drawings of leaves. I think this is meant to demonstrate the importance of our natural world. This child probably has been taught to honor nature. The depiction of different flags to represent individual countries shows that the student has been taught that each individual country has its own flag among other individualities. However, the noticable absence of many countries, including all of Central America show that the child has some gaps in understanding.

“Wild animals-Inhabitants of land and sea (Les animaux sauvages, habitants de la terre et de la mer)” By Kamila Sojka, 12, Poland This Polish child has chosen to depict animals from around the world in their native habitats. This child is obviously has a worldview that emphasizes its natural state. She probably loves animals and has been taught to honor them. The correct placement of particular animal species show an worldview that extends outside her own country.

“United Europe” By Marcia Grieva, 12, Russian Federation The fact that this child’s map shows only Europe and Asia demonstrates that this child is particularly interested in those continents. She is emphasizing themes of unity and peace. The flags of European countries are being sewn together to represent the forming of permanent bonds.

“I Want an Equal World For All” By Samuel Zúñiga Vélez, 9, Spain The child in this picture is asking “Why are there children in the world who do not have toys? The Spanish artist has probably been taught fairness, empathy, and about areas in the world that are less privileged than Spain.

“The Americas, Our Continent” By María Agostina Raffí, 9, Argentina This Argentine artist has imagined the world as a ball made of string. She has depicted only North America and South America and has omitted the island nations in Central America, which demonstrates a somewhat limited worldview. However, the metaphor of the string shows considerable insight; our continents are interdependent and we must rely on each other to survive.

“Bulgaria Is A Friend With All Nations in the World” by Daiana Emilova Hadjiiska, age 12, Bulgaria This child’s title says a lot about her picture. She values her own culture but also respects others. This child has been taught to value peace and friendship, which she has chosen to represent in her picture through a smiling sun, happy children bright colors, and words of peace in other languages.

“Treatment for War Disease” By Mizzaliyev Golib Museyib oghli, 12, Azerbaijan This map has a very serious tone. The artist has obviously been taught that war is negative and that it damages our world. He or she also believes that war hunger is rampant among countries in or world and we need a remedy for that disease.

“Untitled” By Mohamed Djoudi, unknown age, Algeria This student has a respect for the whole world but also has national pride. The picture of the birds at sunset also demonstrate an appreciation of nature.

“Untitled” By Bita Porrang, 8, Iran This child believes in peace and unity, as shown by the dove and the children holding hands. Like the child from Indonesia, this child probably has some stereotypical views of the world, as evidenced by the dress of the children in the picture.