3 Things Creativity and the Arts Can Do for Social-Emotional Learning: Guest Blog Post by Elizabeth Peterson

Make sure to listen to Elizabeth in Episode 72 of The Teacher As… podcast.

Creativity and the ARTS Make for a More Integrated Approach to SEL . . .

When you think about social-emotional learning and the methods you use in class, there are generally two ways you can go about it:

Way #1  The daily or weekly lesson that you are asked to do.

Way #2  You can take a more integrated approach.

Now, many teachers can appreciate having a set time to work with their students on social and emotional learning objectives, however, it does take time out of the day - precious time that many teachers don’t feel they have.

For example, in my 3rd grade classroom, I’m often faced with having to sacrifice social studies or science time in order to fit in the SEL lesson of the week.  

Granted, these skills are important for students to learn and understand, but there is a much better, more natural approach: integration!

When you can integrate the students’ social-emotional learning into their day, it just seems more natural.  When you integrate SEL, you are talking with students and working with them in the moment while they are learning the content you are teaching them.

Classic example: When you assign group work, you walk around to guide students as they communicate and solve problems together.  This is part of self-management, relationship skills and responsible decision making!

So, what does this have to do with the arts and creativity?  With SEAL: Social-Emotional Artistic Learning, you develop a repertoire of strategies to embed into your days so that students are able to develop their social-emotional skills as they work.

For example: When you soundtrack your students’ group work time, one of the things you will help bring to their attention is how the music that was chosen was done so to help them be calm and work together well.

There is no break in the learning.  Instead it runs seamlessly together!

Creativity and the ARTS Make Learning Social-Emotional Skills Less Boring . . .

Let’s face it, the arts are fun.  They are engaging.

So, instead of gathering in a circle to talk about different emotions people have, or looking at a poster of the ways to deal with these different emotions, you can engage students in creating their own Emotion Wheel.  (That’s a link to a video you can watch and use in your own classroom!)

There will be times when you’ll want to pause what you’re doing in order for your students to practice and develop their social-emotional skills.  That’s when stand-alone SEAL lessons come in.  When your students are engaging in art creation, they will learn so much more about themselves and the world around them!

Maybe you’re looking to help your students identify their own emotions.  Or, perhaps you have a class that needs work getting along.  Providing creative opportunities for students to work together and learn about each other is a much better experience in social-awareness and relationship skills than simply having a discussion around how everyone needs to get along.  

With artistic experiences, students are able to better understand that everyone in the class has something of value to offer.

Creativity and the ARTS Allow Big Conversations to be More Manageable . . .

There will be times when you need to have some difficult conversations with students; where they will need to process some big emotions.  The arts can help with that!

Once students create some art, you now have something they can discuss.

For example, one year I led my students through an enjoyable watercolor creation.  First we took some time to breathe and focus in on our work and then, I started some calming music and gave them about 15 minutes to paint.  Afterwards, I asked them some questions that allowed them to look closely at their painting.  

One question was: How did painting make you feel?  Another was: What colors did you choose and why?

Then, I walked around and talked with students as they were finishing up.  One student in particular looked a little upset.  I wondered if he was mad because he felt he made a mistake.  I was ready to boost him up and give him a lesson in working through mistakes.  

Instead, he surprised me by talking about his dad - how he never got to see him and how he was both angry and sad about that.  And then he started to cry.  It was obvious that he had all these emotions bottled up inside and that he wanted to get them out.  The artwork allowed for this to happen in a safe way.

Students, even the smallest ones, walk around with a lot of big, deep feelings.  When you allow for creativity and the arts to be part of your classroom and part of your social-emotional learning environment, those big, deep feelings can become a little more manageable.

There may be times when you need to sit down and have a conversation with a student one-on-one.  Simply asking that student to draw out what they are feeling or doodle while you talk can be a bridge to a conversation.

There are other ways to have conversations about feelings that may be interfering with students’ ability to work.  You can talk about emotions by responding to and interpreting some music or studying the lyrics like poetry.  Acting out situations can help students understand options they have in tricky situations.  And puppets are a classic tool for allowing students to express their emotions by transferring them into the puppet.  I’m not just talking about little kids, but older students and even adults can use puppets to create characters and put themselves into the shoes of another.

When you add an artistic part to your social and emotional skill building, it can stop being so hard and uncomfortable to have these conversations.

There are just so many ways the arts can help students develop and practice their social-emotional skills.  

And if you’re interested in learning more, I want to invite you to my free workshop, The 3 Secrets to Integrating the Arts with SEL.  In this workshop, you’ll learn how the arts can help you to create calm, dissolve distractions and promote positivity in your classroom.  Hope to see you inside!

About Elizabeth:

Teachers are burnt out by disruptive classroom behaviors and the constant piling up of responsibilities. Elizabeth Peterson helps to empower caring teachers with creative social-emotional strategies that proactively address disruptive behaviors and ease teacher burnout through SEAL: Social-Emotional Artistic Learning. An arts integration specialist with degrees in Education, Music, Arts, Leadership and Learning, Elizabeth hosts theinspiredclassroom.com.  She is currently in her 24th year of teaching and 16th year of hosting workshops, retreats and online courses in arts integration and SEAL. Elizabeth knows the importance of teacher-centered professional development and strives to provide that in all her work with teachers.