Art Saved My Life: Building Resiliency for Students Struggling From Trauma

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 9
  In Roundtable Session: Attention to Social and Emotional Outcomes in Arts Education

Abstract

At least one in four youth have experienced trauma, with some having faced multiple traumas (Ko, et al., 2008), yet most never receive care from a mental health professional, resulting in cognitive, social, and emotional issues (Pezzote, 2015). These problems are especially threatening for young people who have been traditionally marginalized (Morsette, et al., 2009; Ozer & Weiss, 2004). Poverty, incarceration, poor health, and dropping out of school often result (Bell et al., 2013). Schools are one place that have a potentially profound impact on youth (Crosby, 2015). More must be done to understand how to best serve these students. This autoethnographic study seeks to investigate ways that art can bolster student success academically, socially, and emotionally.

Author

• Erin Jacob Blubaugh, Liberty Union High School District