Integrating Visual Arts Education and Art Therapy: Supporting Artistic Expression and Social and Emotional Learning in Secondary Schools

This study developed an Arts-Based Integrative Teaching and Learning Model to introduce arts therapy approaches into secondary visual arts education. It was implemented to enhance students’ social and emotional learning and deepen their personal artistic expression. The lessons incorporated reflective practices that helped students navigate diverse emotions, complex identities, and creative processes. An artist and two art therapists affirmed the model's validity, reliability, and efficacy in fostering students’ wellbeing, artistic growth, and self-discovery through their reflection and evaluation of the learning sequence, student outcomes, and the model’s impact.