Because of the possible preventative benefits of bibliotherapy, schools are one of the ideal places to implement such a program to improve the overall mental health of a country. Schools not only impact the greatest portion of the population and already teaching literature but are also places that are attempting to prepare students for life Teachers are constantly searching for ways to control children who come from diverse backgrounds and behaviors. Heath, Young and Smith explained that through bibliotherapy teachers can use stories to build foundations that influence children’s behavior instead of merely trying to control students. They explain, “Good stories hold the power to change how we think and how we feel. By helping change the way children think and feel, the behavior change is self-initiated from the inside out.” This places schools in the ideal situation to reap the benefits of bibliotherapy.
Debbie McCulliss explained, “Bibliotherapy has been described as a means of allowing children a safe way of confronting dilemmas. Through bibliotherapy, ‘‘children have an opportunity to identify, to compensate, and to relive in a controlled manner a problem that they are aware of’.” [Bibliotherapy is like] prevention of a disease and suggests that, because books help a child develop his or her self-concept, the child will be better adjusted to trying situations in the future.”
Teacher Training
Ideally, in cooperation with the workshops, teachers will receive training about how to implement bibliotherapy in the classroom so that the students can continue to benefit from the practices of bibliotherapy and so that the principles will be continually reinforced to them. Teacher training sessions will vary greatly depending on the group being presented to. Ideally, in addition to attending a teacher training session, teachers will also be present during workshops with the students to observe what the students are being taught and the process they are learning. The teacher training should cover the following topics: how bibliotherapy works in the classroom, the process of bibliotherapy in the classroom and the benefits.
How Literature Therapy Works in the Classroom
Heath, Smith and Young explained that, “The basis for bibliotherapy is grounded in principles of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): what we think and how we feel impacts our behavior. Hence, rather than expecting teachers to focus on merely controlling students’ behavior, we propose using stories to build a strong foundation…that will positively influence children’s behavior. Good stories hold the power to change how we think and how we feel. By helping change the way children think and feel, the behavior change is self-initiated from the inside out.”[1] This is the basis for how bibliotherapy works in the classroom. It is designed to change the way students think and ultimately affect behavior.
McCulliss and Chamberlain explained the outcomes that teachers should look for in bibliotherapy in the classroom:
- Showing an individual that he or she is not the first or only person to encounter such a problem
- Showing an individual that there is more than one solution to a problem
- Helping a person discuss a problem more freely
- Helping an individual plan a constructive course of action to solve a problem
- Developing an individual’s self-concept
- Relieving emotional or mental pressure
- Fostering an individual’s honest self-appraisal
- Providing a way for a person to find interests outside of self
- Increasing the individual’s understanding of human behavior or motivations
The Process of Bibliotherapy in the Classroom
The process of bibliotherapy as described previously by McCulliss and Chamberlain can also be applied in the classroom:
- identification of the reader’s issue(s)
- pre-reading; selection of book(s) to match the reader’s needs
- presentation that includes guided reading based on a carefully planned approach
- follow-up on what the reader learned or gained from reading the book(s)
McCulliss and Chamberlain continued to describe the process with which bibliotherapy can be implemented specifically in a classroom setting, following the steps in the process listed above.
- When working with a large group, such as a whole class of students, if can be difficult to pick a specific issue for the whole group. Teachers should focus on the most common issues that are likely to affect the age group they are teaching. For example: anxiety, trouble with friends, dealing with failure, etc.
- Teachers should refer to and be given the book selection guidelines that are presented in the Literature Therapy Workshops section when selecting books.
- The teacher should teach themes and topics from the novel as they would usually do in the curriculum when teaching literature with a special emphasis on themes and situations in the book that the children can apply to their immediate lives. The most beneficial stage of bibliotherapy is in the follow-up stage when the children work through these topics for themselves.
The follow-up process should be completed in groups which has many advantages over an individual approach in the classroom including:
- It is less time consuming
- Allows students to share common experience with less anxiety
- Students experience a sense of belonging and security
- Everyone has the opportunity to develop different perspectives and new understandings
According to Joanne Bernstein (1983): Children, through reading, realize that others share their plight …their feelings are within the range of normality. When children feel less isolated, they lose some of their embarrassment about their situation.
The follow-up stage should include an age appropriate interactive or thought-provoking activity such as:
- Commenting on illustrations or main characters
- Creative writing (writing a solution to a problem situation, writing an opinion about a certain viewpoint, or writing a letter to a character)
- Art projects (sketching, painting, drawing, or creating a collage from pictures from a magazine to create a pictorial essay)
- Drama (role-playing, puppetry, or pantomiming)
- Journal writing (compare decisions the characters made with what they would do)
McCulliss and Chamberlain emphasized that “activities are based on the age level of the child and what the child needs to take from the story. No matter what activity the teacher chooses, the child needs to be able to identify their problem with the story and express the identification through the activity.”
Benefits of Literature Therapy in the Classroom
McCulliss emphasized some of the main benefits and intended outcomes of bibliotherapy in the classroom:
- Enhanced self-concept
- Increased self-expression
- Relief from emotional stress
- Increased understanding of personal or generic human behavior or motivation
- More honest self-appraisal
- Discovery of others with similar problems or situations (sense of belonging)
- Realization of the variety of potential solutions
- Plan for finding a workable solution to identified problems
The main goal of implementing bibliotherapy in the classroom was expressed by the children’s author Bruce Colville:
“The right story
at the right moment is an arrow to the heart. It can find and catch what is
hiding inside the reader (or the listener), the secret hurt or anger or need
that lies waiting, aching to be brought to the surface.”
References
Melissa Allen Heath, Kathryn Smith, Ellie L. Young. “Using Children’s Literature to Strengthen Social and Emotional Learning.” 2017.
D. McCulliss and D. Chamberlain. “Bibliotherapy for youth and adolescents: School-based application and research.” 2013.