Abstract
Pre-COVID19 pandemic, school administrators reported increases in mental health issues in schools. A vast review of the literature reveals that the pandemic exacerbated these already existing mental health issues among middle school students across the globe. While many attribute these mental health issues to social media, the Internet, gaming, and changing parental involvement, the post-pandemic increase in students punching holes in school walls, destroying art supplies, and educators being given notice that many students are on suicide ideation watches is alarming. Art educators of young adolescents must balance the creative classroom environment with a delicate emotional and behavioral environment – often lacking professional training to manage deeper mental health issues. In this session, attendees will participate in activities called Circle Up, Buoyant Thoughts, and Integrity and Innovation, all designed to heighten the ability to achieve the desired aesthetic in art curriculum, while managing to keep an equilibrium of emotion within the art space. Social Constructivism, Social Identity Theory, and Visual Culture Studies provide framework. The presenter is a nine-year professor of undergraduate and graduate art education who also spent the 2022-23 school year also in a middle school. This middle school experience was eye opening and vastly different than a time period when the presenter taught middle school many years ago. Through vast efforts of trial and effort, the presenter managed to finally achieve classroom harmony through targeted, specific efforts to create a classroom climate that allowed for creativity in and amongst the daily mental health breakdowns of some students.
Presenters
Trina HarlowDirector of Undergraduate Studies in Art Education, Lecturer, College of Visual Art and Design, University of North Texas, Texas, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
KEYWORDS
Social Constructivism, Social Identity Theory, Mental Health, Middle School
Digital Media
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