#988: Drawing as Translanguaging Method to Understand Collaboration within a Mathematics Afterschool Program

This study examines drawing as a translanguaging method within a culturally responsive mathematics afterschool program. Grounded in ethnographic methods, we investigate how drawing helps researchers understand students, their interactions, shared participation, and mathematical thinking. Drawing functions both as a communicative and an epistemic tool, making visible the subtle, often overlooked aspects of collaboration; for example, how students negotiate meaning, construct shared knowledge, and express ideas through visual and multimodal forms. By extending translanguaging beyond linguistic expression, this study positions drawing as an informative way of representing data and meaning making in educational research. Findings suggest that drawing captures relational and cultural dimensions of learning that traditional methods may overlook, offering deeper insight into students’ diverse ways of knowing and doing.