Dissertation
Supporting emergent literacy in preschoolers through an art therapy intervention: a mixed methods pilot study
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Drexel University
17 Jul 2023
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00001867
Abstract
Addressing developmental and learning lags for preschoolers living in impoverishment is of critical interest to educators and policy makers as children who experience such lags are at risk for a significant number of adverse outcomes reaching into adulthood. However, the landscape of preschool is a fractured one with no standards across a wide variety of programs spanning public, private, and religious institutions. Art therapy may support early learning through relationship-based interventions in a classroom that are designed to promote visual-motor integration, fine motor skills/drawing, and expressive and receptive language development. This study was a preliminary exploration of the potential effects of an art therapy intervention program on the development of emergent literacy as a measure of school readiness, on preschool children in state supported preschool in a high poverty neighborhood in Philadelphia. A quasi-experimental, mixed-methods design used standardized measures and qualitative art and verbal/narrative data to explore if and how art therapy impacted student emergent literacy and response to intervention. Findings suggest a clinically relevant impact of the art therapy intervention on visual-motor integration, fine motor/drawing, and statistically significant impact on language/communication skill development with student improvement related to emergent literacy skills, meta skills, and social/emotional functioning with an experience of heightened engagement and joy.
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Details
- Title
- Supporting emergent literacy in preschoolers through an art therapy intervention
- Creators
- Kathryn Snyder
- Contributors
- Girija Kaimal (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- x, 203 pages
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Creative Arts Therapies; College of Nursing and Health Professions; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991021229614604721