Using Children’s Literature to Strengthen Social and Emotional Learning

Abstract

The introductory article to this special edition of School Psychology International, “Using Children’s Literature to Strengthen Social and Emotional Learning,” describes the need for a broader base of support for children’s mental health needs. Both nationally and internationally, the limited number of mental health professionals demands alternative options for the delivery of mental health services. Schools are recommended as one proposed venue for providing these services to children and youth. As such, teachers need easy-to-use basic information about mental health resources that are viable, yet rely on minimal professional support and supervision. One option is bibliotherapy, using books and stories to support social emotional needs. From the mental health perspective of both prevention and intervention, bibliotherapy is proposed not just as a professional’s therapeutic tool, but also as a layman’s resource to address students’ basic social emotional needs. We offer resources from a website that includes basic bibliotherapy lesson plans, posters, activities, and video clips—all centered on the five foundational competencies identified by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). This website [ http://education.byu.edu/sociallearning ] is geared to educators and mental health professionals who work with elementary school children, ages 5–11.

Children’s literature to promote students’ global development and wellbeing

“…Based on international evidence, children's literature and specifically developed storybooks can encourage the adoption of healthy choices and represent a useful preventive tool to foster young people's global wellbeing, helping them to better cope with emotional/ social problems while proposing proper patterns of behaviours and conveying health contents. [133][134][135][136] Children's literature is a helpful tool to "educate", "teach" and "heal", so that narration could be considered among the possible educational strategies which can be used for pedagogic, didactic and therapeutic applications in the promotion of children's global development both at home and at school.…”

Gerir emoções no jardim de infância por meio da literatura infantil:

“…Por esse motivo, e porque, como defendem vários autores (HYNES-GERRY, 2015;HEAT et al, 2017), a literatura infantil se pode instituir como um recurso para, entre outros aspetos, fortalecer as aprendizagens sociais e emocionais (HEAT et al, 2017), é nosso entendimento que o mediador adulto deve auxiliar as crianças na construção do seu processo identitário e da relação com a alteridade, promovendo atividades adequadas e estimulantes que proporcionem o seu desenvolvimento emocional, através de, entre outros recursos educativos, livros de qualidade estética e literária.…”

The Construction of Children Moral Reasoning in Strengthening Self-Control

“…On that ground, it is essential to get a reposition of science roles as the light of the world to always strengthen morals and science idealism as the embodiment of meaningful characters by bringing back the actualization of children stories in voicing moral values and self-control achievement. Some previous studies conducted by Erle (2017), Heath (2017), and Alkestrand (2018) find out the linkage between children's morals and self-control, including character strengthening.…”