Becoming: How Expressive Arts Nurture Self-Esteem, Identity and Empowerment, Development of a Method

A vigorous art-centered curriculum was created and implemented amongst elementary students in a community-based program. The curriculum primarily involved step-dance incorporating movement and music therapy, while also including visual arts, music and aspects of drama therapy. These interventions were included to measure and test if the use of the arts within a community could help improve the participants self-esteem, confidence, sense of identity and empowerment as aspects of their becoming. The participants consisted of six elementary students (four girls and two boys), who were referred by their mentors to receive additional support surrounding their social-emotional development, self-advocacy, timidity, and low self-esteem. Results illustrated a great increase in the participants confidence from the first to the last group session. Several themes emerged such as disengagement, awareness and advocacy. Further research on how these interventions positively impact older young people in a group setting is recommended