Elementary School Students Approach the Pontian Greek as a Refugee within the Drawing Activity

Children tend to express themselves in detail through the design activity since they greatly lack linguistic and verbal competence. In the present study, we gathered and analyzed the drawings of elementary school students, aged 8-12, (total num = 110) to explore their views and thoughts for the Pontian Greeks as refugees. The drawings were collected during their visit to a multi-themed exhibition regarding the culture of the Black Sea and they were analyzed based on their content. The results show that children approach the Pontian Greek refugees with sensitivity and empathy, while gender and origin influence the presence of cultural elements and symbols that refer to the Pontian Greek Genocide and the exile that followed.


Research Tool
Students' drawings were collected and analyzed according to Kress' and Leeuwen's (2010) model. It is about the visual semiotics which incorporates visual representation within a theoretical framework of social semiotics, emphasizing the creation of points. Point makers use the appropriate forms to express what they want, depending on the context in which a point is produced (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2010, p. 51). This tool is considered the most suitable one for collecting data as it allows the participation of all students, regardless of their verbal and graphic difficulties (Kapoulitsa & Troulou, 2007, pp. 152-153).

Codification
Content analysis followed. According to Berelson (1971), content analysis is used to study the views and perceptions of an individual or a group of individuals. Using this type of analysis, we try to have an objective, systematic and quantitative description of the obvious content of communication, written or oral speech, with ultimate goal the right interpretation (De Sola Pool, 1959). Then, thematic analysis followed, with the aim to identify, analyze and report the various issues that arise through data (Braun & Clarke, 2006). This tool was employed to combine quantitative and qualitative data, so as to detect and record specific forms of social interaction, historical and cultural elements and social ideologies (Bardin, 1977;Grawitz, 1981;Moscovici, 1970;Mucchieli, 1988;Veron, 1981).

Result
According to students' drawings, they expressed their inner thoughts that were closely related to the history of Greeks in Pontus using scenarios. Evidence and information from the historical period of the Pontian Greek Genocide and the exile of these people were more often observed, while the use of elements-symbols was also evident, emphasizing cultural, social and religious information (Table 2).   (Table 3). Investigating the possible impact of different variables statistically, we observe significant differences in gender and origin in relation with the existence (sig = .023, sig = .033 p <.05), the number of data-symbols (sig = .011, p <.05), the gender symbols (sig = .002, p <.05) and the refugee symbols (sig = .001, p <.05) ( Table 4). to girls (N = 11.8%) ( Table 5). More specifically, it seems that more girls than boys include elements-symbols in their drawings (N = 47.3%), concerning both gender (N = 40%) and refugee (N = 28.2%). On the other hand, boys tend to avoid including refugee symbols (34.5%) ( Table 6).  Finally, with regard to the "origin" factor, we observe that more elements-symbols are used by students of Pontian origin (N = 60.9%), while students of non-Pontian origin share between integration (N = 12.7%) and non-integration at all (N = 10%) concerning some elements-symbols in their drawings (table   8).

Discussion
From the above examples we clearly notice that the design activity maintains a language of communication for children, through which they easily share thoughts and ideas that they may not have expressed otherwise (Kress, 1997;Pahl, 1999;Konstantinidou et al., 2019). Images constitute a means of abstract perceptions about. Drawing is a tool through which children can visualize their mood, emotions and thoughts (Brechet & Jolley, 2014;Jolley, 2010). All art expressions are uniquely personal statements that carry both conscious and unconscious meanings (Golomb, 2002). For children, drawing is a personal, enjoyable and unique experience (Malchiodi, 1998) through which they express their thoughts, ideas and feelings (Brooks, 2005;Cox, 2005).
Through the present study, we saw children, aged 8-12 years old, expressing their thoughts about Greeks from Pontus as refugees using a variety of elements and symbols. Scenarios were important, as they helped children depict in paper what had influenced them the most. According to , the production of drawings by young children constitutes very rich material with cognitive content through which they can tell a story with images-symbols. That is why we are highly interested in drawings, since apart from being a system of depicting images, it is also a means of revealing information for the child itself.
A drawing by Hopperstand (2008) is always representative of the child that has created it because it reflects his interests and intentions, while at the same time, s/he can convey his own message in his personal, unique way. In the present study, it was observed that girls were more associated with drawings concerning the refugee part, expressing, at the same time, feelings of empathy, while, on the other hand, boys were more concerned about the Genocide connotations, therefore, creating images of action. Both sexes used iconic images in their efforts to convey their thoughts. These symbols were related both to cultural elements (flags, clothing, church, the cross, olive trees, etc.) and to historical events (exchange, population movement, etc.). The use of symbols to construct meanings that we usually want to convey or communicate is described by Van Oers (1997) and reflects children's efforts to understand the world around them (Papandreou, Siambani, & Douma, 2011).
It is noteworthy that children of Pontian origin used more symbols in their drawings, expressing this way, elements of their own culture. This emotional identification may be due to the fact that children's drawings have always been influenced by their socio-cultural environment and background. Similar findings were observed in relevant research in secondary school students, as well (Konstantinidou, Fotiadis, & Kyridis, 2019). According to previous studies, children tend to use the design activity quite instinctively in their need to observe the surroundings and feel at ease in a given environment (Kouvou, 2016). This result, as a cultural product, is greatly influenced by the environment in which they live and grow (Eco, 1989). It is an act of representing their way of thinking (Whight, 2010) as they capture what they see in their own way of perceiving. Through the images they draw, we have the opportunity to observe not only children's current living conditions but also how this reality is interpreted according to the cultural community standards they belong to (Vallier, 1998).
Published by SCHOLINK INC.

Conclusion
This paper highlighted the thoughts of elementary school students (aged 8-12) about Greeks from Pontus as refugees within the design activity framework. It became quite clear that students are aware of the historical issues of humanity in which ill-treatment and the forced movement of populations are projected. Students' sociocultural environment affects the way they think and, therefore, helps them enrich their drawings with emotions and signs of sensitivity towards the Pontian Greek refugees. The design activity is an important tool for detecting children's thoughts and ideas, enabling them to externalize important information that they might not otherwise be able to externalize. For this reason, it is proposed to employ it both as a research tool and in the educational process with the aim of approaching corresponding topics.