In recent years, school education has increasingly emphasized students’ emotional well-being and social development. However, many elementary school students continue to experience difficulties in emotional regulation, frustration tolerance, and peer interaction, which negatively affect their learning engagement and classroom participation. Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) has been internationally recognized as an effective framework for addressing these challenges. In Taiwan, however, SEL is often implemented in fragmented ways and is rarely systematically integrated into subject-based curricula. Art, as a medium for emotional expression, provides a safe and flexible creative context in which students can explore, understand, and express their inner experiences, thereby enhancing emotional awareness and reflection (Elias et al., 1997). This study aims to examine the curriculum design, instructional implementation, and educational impact of integrating Social and Emotional Learning into visual arts education for middle-grade elementary students. Grounded in the CASEL framework, this study adopts a qualitative action research approach. The participants were middle-grade elementary students from an elementary school in Taichung City, Taiwan, who participated in a ten-week visual arts curriculum consisting of thirteen instructional sessions. Data were collected through literature review, classroom observations, teacher reflective journals, student artworks, student interviews, and feedback from a collaborating teacher. These data were triangulated and analyzed to examine teaching processes and student learning experiences. Based on the research findings, this study proposes pedagogical implications and practical suggestions to support teachers in the future design and implementation of SEL-integrated visual arts curricula.

Authors:
Zeng Zhi Lin, National Taiwan University of Arts, Taiwan

About the Presenter(s)
I am Zeng Zhi-Lin, a graduate student at the National Taiwan University of Arts, researching SEL integration in elementary visual arts education, with interests in art-making and dance.

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