Motoko Matsui

1.40 The Significance of Self-Portrait and Mask Making as Emotion Education (Paper)

Motoko Matsui – Aichi Gakusen University, Japan

Abstract:

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is an educational process that helps children and adults learn and practice social and emotional skills. SEL is not a specific program or curriculum, but rather a comprehensive approach to fostering skills such as self-awareness, self-management, awareness of others, relationship building, and responsible decision-making. In this study, students aged 12 to 15 years old were asked to draw self-portraits of their upper bodies, especially their faces, in an art class, and to create and wear masks to cover their faces in advance. The reason why we decided to put masks on the faces of the self-portraits was that the students were at the stage of puberty when they were concerned about their appearance, and they showed strong resistance to having their self-portraits painted. By wearing the masks, the students were able to face themselves without worrying about their appearance, and they drew self-portraits that expressed their own inner selves through the masks that covered the face.