Did I throw you off with the planet names? Moon & Pluto are the pseudonyms for the participants in my action research study! I have been working with these two fabulous participants for over two months now. With each session, the goal is to establish a solid relationship between researcher & participant (aka teacher & student) as well as highlighting art a means for self-esteem in girls. The official title for my thesis is ” Social Emotional Learning Visual Art Curriculum to Foster Positive Self-Esteem in Girls With Bipolar Disorder.” Let’s unpack this dense title!
First, the Social Emotional Learning(SEL) framework is an educational scaffolding for teachers to use as a means of teaching critical life skills along with content knowledge. This is not just a method for art! The SEL framework can be used in any and all scholastic content areas. This particular framework teaches the 5 main competencies:
- Self-Awareness
- Self-Management
- Social-Awareness
- Relationship Skills
- Responsible Decision Making
Now that you have a basic understanding of what SEL is, let’s focus on on the self-esteem part. It’s hard to be a girl. Let me repeat, it is very hard to be a girl! I know it was difficult back in the early 90’s to be a teenage female but today’s girl’s have it so much more difficult (I am wondering if every generation of women say this). Filters, status, likes, followers, it is all about how much people like the way you look. And, with this standard comes unbelievably hard demands on appearance, school, hobbies, higher education, sexuality, motherhood, etc. I’m exhausted just typing this out. OUR GIRLS TODAY HAVE IT SO HARD! So, how can we help? This is where my study comes in.
Designing this action research study has been one of the most challenging academic endeavors I have ever took on but absolutely the most rewarding and eye opening experience of my career. Both of my participants has worked so hard in the past eight weeks making responsible decisions, setting personal and artistic goals, time management, ability to recognize and identify emotions, and positive language when speaking about themselves and their art.
Wrapping up with my participants is bitter sweet in that I have truly developed an amazing relationship with each girl. I am also so anxious to start coding all of this beautiful data to hopefully prove my theories are correct in having art be a confidence booster for girls. I hope after reading this, you are just as pumped as I am to see the results!! Stay tuned!
Mood & Magic 