Art therapy and teaching through art can contribute to wellbeing of students

Art therapy and teaching through art can

contribute to wellbeing of students
Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc. Nov 1 2021

The doctoral dissertation focuses on school factors that affect the subjective
wellbeing of school-aged children and how art can contribute to the wellbeing of
students. The aim was to identify the school factors that affect the wellbeing of
students and describe the potential of the arts to contribute to said wellbeing
through art therapy and teaching through art.

The first therapeutic intervention intended to improve the wellbeing of students

through art was conducted in 2003 at Tallinn University Health Research
Laboratory on high school-aged girls. The participants said that the therapeutic
process aided by the arts (music, drawing) helped them with self-discovery and
stress relief and described the experience as interesting and useful.
Vibroacoustic therapy offered a pleasant bodily experience as the low frequency
sounds cause physical sensations. The music the researchers used helped the
participants focus on their thoughts and had a calming effect. Drawing was said
to be relaxing and helped them discover themselves. The aforementioned art-
based components contributed to the wellbeing of the students by improving
the general functioning of the girls.

From 2014, schools have started hiring creative therapists. The number of
creative therapists working in schools was the highest during the 2017/2018
school year. Five of those therapists with whom the schools had signed
employment contracts participated in the research. School executives were also
involved. In order to support the students, the therapists used individual
preventive and curative measures, psychoeducational groups and therapeutic
recreation (healing, recovery, refreshment and mood support) programmes.
They used evaluation of art therapy, which helped them track the aim and
effectiveness of the therapy, and consulted and trained teachers, support
specialists and parents. Through interviews with therapists and school
executives, six categories describing the specifics of art therapy in schools
emerged: active and creative, various forms of working, therapeutic lessons,
calming and relaxing effects, therapeutic relations and support during
adjustment. These categories highlight how art therapy differs from other
support services provided by schools.

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Art therapy and teaching through art can contribute to wellbeing of students

Based on the example of Randvere School, the dissertation describes music-

based teaching activities. The music-based activities used by teachers can be
divided into five categories based on their goals: 1) restorative and
transformative activities that support students in self-regulating; 2) activities
aimed at listening, focusing and remembering, which develop cognitive skills;
3) activities that simplify learning and pique the interest of students or
integrate a variety of topics; 4) music as a reward; and 5) socialising activity.
Teachers pointed out that applying arts (music) in teaching does not require
artistic training. The important part is that the teachers themselves enjoy
making music. Teachers thought that the potential of music to improve the
wellbeing of students was connected to it being refreshing and emotionally and
relationally supportive.

The doctoral dissertation connected two fields of research: research on school

factors that affect the wellbeing of students and research describing the
potential of the arts to improve the wellbeing, focusing on art therapy and
teaching through art. The therapeutic approach as a support service in schools
is gaining popularity, which is why it is extremely important to properly describe
the fields of work of art therapists in schools; equally vital is describing the
benefits of art therapy in achieving the school's educational goals as seen by
school executives. Application of the teaching thorough the arts method is one
of the possible measures to improve the wellbeing of students through
teaching.

The bigger aim, however, is to introduce the opportunities of creative therapy in

schools to the Ministry of Education and Research and to the heads of schools.
Creative therapists apply a therapeutic approach in supporting the students at
school and can help and advise teachers in teaching through the arts.

The dissertation was supervised by professor Eha Rüütel from Tallinn University.
The opponents are associate professor Kristi Kõiv from the University of Tartu
and professor Merike Sisask from Tallinn University.

Source:
Estonian Research Council

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