Supporting personal and social development through child-led art projects in the early years settings

ABSTRACT

Personal and social development is an important area which influences children’s learning journey in all levels of education. Examining the impact of the arts on children’s development, there are several studies that adopt this focus. However, the majority of them focus on either primary or secondary education or on specific personal and social skills through a structured intervention, which is not compatible with the liberal context of the arts. Considering the importance of this area and the statement above, this research project was designed. The purpose of this paper was to examine the effects of a child-led art intervention in children’s personal and social development in the early years settings. The intervention used the ‘Play and Learn through the Arts’ (PLA) programme for a full school year. The participants were from a case study of a Greek early years setting with 5–6-year-old children. Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study. The findings revealed a positive influence of the arts, and more specifically of the PLA, on children’s personal and social skills.

KEYWORDS:

• Personal skills
• social skills
• arts
• early years education
• preschool
• Play and Learn through the Arts

Acknowledgements

I would like to cordially thank the practitioner who agreed and gave her time to participate in the research project. I am very grateful to the parents who gave their permission and to all of the children who participated and contributed in the implementation of this project and shared their pioneering ideas with us. It was an honour working with you all.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Evgenia Theodotou is a Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Studies at the Cass School of Education and Communities at the University of East London and a Senior Fellow of The Higher Education Academy. She holds a Diploma in Infant and Child Care Assistant, a B.A. in Early Childhood Education and Care, an M.A. in Education and an M.Sc. in Teaching Technology. Her Ph.D. is in the research area of ‘Literacy skills in the early years settings’. She has more than 10 years of experience in the Early Years Settings and more than 7 years in Higher Education. Her research activity is focused on literacy, the arts, creativity and technology-enhanced learning. She has participated in several research projects and published her research in International Conferences, Journals, edited books and monographs. She is the author of two books about play and creativity. She has been a member in several Scientific Review Committees and organized several special sessions in International Conferences.

ORCID

Evgenia Theodotou http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4133-8609