Dive Brief:
- Nora Litz, a Mexican-American artist based in Pennsylvania, helped organize a weekend arts class to help students who are scared about the national conversation concerning immigration, particularly those with parents who are in the country illegally, according to NPR.
- The class was based in downtown Philadelphia, and students created stories and comics concerning ICE agents taking their family members, or of the proposed wall along the Mexican border, as a way to work through their anxieties.
- Many of the children were less afraid by the end of the class and were sleeping better, according to Litz, and the organization that sponsored the workshop, which lasted a few months, hopes to hold more classes like it in the future.
Dive Insight:
Experts indicate that despite an increased emphasis on critical or analytical texts due to Common Core regulations, it is actually extremely beneficial for educators to incorporate “the art of storytelling” into children’s education, something Litz encourages her students do through creating art and comic books. Such art therapy is a well-accepted form of addressing anxieties and trauma, and has been used in a wide range of situations, from assisting UK students needing behavioral support to helping Syrian refugee children address the trauma they have faced.
For educators, this type of process is a kind of social-emotional learning that can naturally fit into a student’s education. Addressing student’s anxieties by helping them craft a story, as Litz works to do, helps children name their stressor and talk about it with adults. But it also teaches students how to construct a thought, and can offer the opportunity to help them better a burgeoning art skill. Educators and administrators may find that creative pursuits like art, creative writing or music are more conducive to integrating SEL into curriculum than more analytical disciplines, and that could support keeping these subjects thriving in schools, even if they are not as rigorously tested.