Utilizing Bibliotherapy Within Language Arts Instruction Can Increase and Contribute to Students’ Mental Health and Overall Well-Being

Authors

  • Bailie Brock Graduate Student

Keywords:

bibliotherapy, Language Arts, children's books, interactive read-aloud

Abstract

Research has shown that there is a rise in mental health issues amongst young children, causing concern to educators. In order to help students, teachers have engaged in the therapeutic technique, bibliotherapy, which revealed positive effects on overall student mental health. Likewise, the combination of bibliotherapy and Language Arts has not only helped children with mental disorders, but it has also allowed other students to empathize and understand what peers are experiencing. There are several techniques educators can use to incorporate bibliotherapy into the curriculum such as the interactive read-aloud during whole-group instruction. With open communication and collaboration with colleagues, teachers have been able to successfully implement bibliotherapy into Language Arts instruction and significantly support the mental health of students.

References

Catalano, A. (2008). Making a place for bibliotherapy on the shelves of a curriculum materials center: The case for helping pre-service teachers use developmental bibliotherapy in the classroom. Education Libraries: Children’s Resources, 31(3), 17–22. https://eric.ed.gov/?id¼EJ824774

Chappell, J., Szente, J. (2019). International teacher perspectives on quality in ECE: A case study. International Journal of the Whole Child, 4(2), 27-42.

Danielson, M. L., Bitsko, R. H., Holbrook, J. R., Charania, S. N., Claussen, A. H., McKeown, R. E., Cuffe, S. P., Owens, J. S., Evans, S. W., Kubicek, L. & Flory, K. (2020). Community-Based prevalence of externalizing and internalizing disorders among school-aged children and adolescents in four geographically dispersed school districts in the United States. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 52, 500-514. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-020-01027-z

Fountas, I. & Pinnell, G. (2021). What is an interactive read-aloud. Fountas & Pinnell Literacy. https://fpblog.fountasandpinnell.com/what-is-interactive-read-aloud

Friess, T. H. (n.d.). Something a child can understand: Bibliotherapy and its potential applications in the foster care environment. toddharrisfries@weebly.com, 1-29. https://toddharrisfries.weebly.com/something-a-child-can-understand-bibliotherapy-and-its-potential-applications-in-the-foster-care-environment.html

Go Guardian Team. (2019, October 10). Enhancing mental health by teaching social emotional learning (SEL) in the classroom. Go Guardian. https://www.goguardian.com/blog/learning/enhancing-mental-health-by-teaching-social-emotional-learning-sel-in-the/

Harding, S., Morris, R., Gunnell, D., & Ford, T. (June 2019). Is teachers’ mental health and wellbeing associated with students’ mental health and wellbeing? Journal of Affective Disorders, 253, 460-466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2018.08.080

Heath, M. A., Smith, K., & Young, E. L. (2017). Using children’s literature to strengthen social and emotional learning. School Psychology International, 38(5), 541–561. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034317710070

Ho, J. & Funk, S. (2018). Promoting young children’s social and emotional health. Young Children, 73(1). https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/mar2018/promoting-social-and-emotional-health

Jack, S. J. & Ronan, K. R. (2008). Bibliotherapy: Practice and research. School Psychology International, 29(2), 161–182. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034308090058

Khalik, A. A. (2017). The effectiveness of bibliotherapy as an intervention on improving aggressive behavior of fifth graders children with emotional and behavioral disorders. International Journal of Psycho-educational Issues, 6(2), 30-35.

Lucas, C. & Soares, L. (2013). Bibliotherapy: A tool to promote children’s psychological well-being. Journal of Poetry Therapy, 26(3), 137-147. https://doi.org/10.1080/08893675.2013.823310

Maich, K. & Kean, S. (2004). Read two books and write me in the morning: Bibliotherapy for social emotional intervention in the inclusive classroom. Teaching Exceptional Children Plus, 1(2), 1-13.

Morawski, C. M. (1997). A role for bibliotherapy in teacher education. Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts, 37(3). https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/reading_horizons/vol37/iss3/6

Newman, K. (2015). Bibliotherapy as an intervention for aggressive elementary children (Publication No. 5779) [EDS thesis, Brigham Young University]. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/5779

Parker, Karen L. (2005). Reading for character: Principles of bibliotherapy applied to children’s literature.” (2005). Faculty Publications and Presentations. Paper 2. http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/educ_fac_pubs/

Yuan, S., Zhou, X., Zhang, Y., Zhang, H., Pu, J., Yang, L., Liu, L., Jiang, X., & Xie, P. (2018). Comparative efficacy and acceptability of bibliotherapy for depression and anxiety disorders in children and adolescents: A meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 14, 353-365. https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S152747

Published

2021-10-01

How to Cite

Bailie Brock. (2021). Utilizing Bibliotherapy Within Language Arts Instruction Can Increase and Contribute to Students’ Mental Health and Overall Well-Being. Learning to Teach Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies Through Research and Practice, 10(1). Retrieved from https://openjournals.utoledo.edu/index.php/learningtoteach/article/view/466