This is the drawing I produced with my nephew and niece

Reflection 3 Beach experiences

 Beach experience in Melbourne

Childhood experience at a Cambodian beach

This drawing was produced by the researcher and her nephew and niece (two international university students).

There was a discussion about oversea students’ lives in Australia before our collaborative drawing. When the topic of conversation came to favorite activities in Melbourne, they mentioned that they liked to go to the beach in Melbourne. Then, they started to draw what they have experienced at the beach. After that, their drawing reminded them of their childhood experiences at the beach in Cambodia. They continued to draw their childhood experiences at the beach.

Reflections:

Perception: The collaborative drawing enabled them to share their experiences and perceptions of their overseas life in Australia. The picture of a Melbourne beach expresses a peaceful and relaxed social world. People on the beach are relaxing, surfing, and walking. The collaborative drawing conceptualized their overseas life as being free and independent. The coffee bar is the only food service near the beach.

Comparing to their childhood experience at a Cambodian beach, the Cambodian experience was enjoyable and children could engage in many water activities with other children on the beach. The activities indicate children’s engagement with play objects. Also, there was more marketing at the beach, and the seafood was very nice. This shows two different lifestyles in Melbourne and Cambodia.

Communication: The drawings show the diverse cultures of the two countries, and cultural differences are shown through the shared thinking and drawing. How the international students valued their life overseas has been visualized. The drawings acquired knowledge of diversity.

Invention: They drew their childhood beach experience and compared it to their current beach life. Now, they are concerned about security in Cambodia. Their parents don't allow them to play freely at the beach now, and they have to stay in a hotel every time they go to the beach. Their parents are concerned about safety on the beach as they are richer than before. The researcher’s niece mentioned, “We are not allowed to go to the beach as it is not safe. We are rich now.” This is the reason why they preferred to draw their childhood beach experience. The drawing shows their ideal beach in Cambodia. They felt that they did not have a lot of freedom in their home country compared to Australia.

Action: The drawing crystallized the shared thinking and supported a deep understanding of world differences and lifestyle differences among people in different cultural contexts.

The collaborative drawing, as an innovative research method, allows the researcher access to the participants’ perceptions and knowledge of the social world in a richer way. The picture helps the researcher and participants to be aware of the world and the transformation of knowledge past to present. The drawing process can be considered as a mirror of international students’ personal identities and supporting self-reflection. The drawing captures the complexity and layers of meaning on one page. Also, the expressive form of drawing offers the researcher access to visual representations of emotions, perceptions, and even abstract ideas.