Embracing Arts curricula as integral for children’s wellbeing

Abstract

ABSTRACT Internationally, research documents a link between children’s creative engagement in Arts and their experiences of positive wellbeing. Yet this is at odds with both the provision of Arts curricula in England’s education system (which continues to decline including substantial cuts to resources and staff), and longitudinal research reporting a decrease in children’s wellbeing. In this article, the authors present findings from a qualitative study conducted as part of a mixed methods project in a Secondary school in England exploring how performing arts curricula (dance, drama and music: ‘PA’) nurture pupils’ hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing. 11 pupils (aged 11–16) engaged in participatory creative projects as a means of expressing their PA experiences. Their projects served as a springboard for in-depth individual interviews. Thematic analysis revealed that Arts curricula are uniquely need-facilitating environments that nurture pupils’ wellbeing in school. Pupils’ experiences suggest that PA curricula positively impacted their eudaimonic wellbeing, satisfying their innate psychological needs of relatedness, autonomy and competence, as theorised in Self-Determination Theory. Pupils’ experiences also underlined the benefits of Arts engagement for their hedonic wellbeing, including increased positive affect and providing a space for regulating emotions. Collectively, the qualitative and quantitative findings from this mixed methods project suggest some pupils engaged in PA are vulnerable, and Arts play a critical role in facilitating their wellbeing. The positive implications of retaining Arts curricula, versus the potential damage to pupils’ wellbeing and wider engagement with school caused by continuing to devalue Arts, is discussed.