PROFESSOR STUDIES CDULTURAL VISUAL SYMBOLS FOR CHILDREN

"Comparing Cross-Cultural Visual Symbols of 6, 8 and 10-year-old children" was the topic of the keynote address by Edwin Smith, professor of art at Southeast Missouri State University, at the Shelby County Teachers Meeting last month.

Smith is active in educational research in children's art of various cultures. He has visited schools and taught groups of 6, 8 and 10-year-old children in Great Britain, Bulgaria, Hong Kong, China and Japan.

He is planning to visit schools in India this year and teach these same age groups of children. These age groups are chosen because children are in specific developmental stages of symbol making which is the focus of the research project. Smith teaches, with the help of translators the groups of students in various cultures, for the purpose of collecting the visual symbols the students draw or paint.

Smith taught 11 years in public schools in Missouri and Kansas. He completed a doctorate degree at the University of Kansas in 1972, and has been teaching are education and sculpture at Southeast for 20 years. Last year he received the Outstanding Art Education Award presented by the Missouri Art Education Association.

In April, he will present his research findings at the National Art Education Association Conference in Chicago and then in August at the International Society for Education through Art Conference in Montreal, Canada.