"Booking it" to peace: bibliotherapy guidelines for teachers. (On-going Topics).

Abstract

This article explores both the theory and practice of bibliotherapy. The history of bibliotherapy is discussed with various definitions. The authors provide guidelines and examples for implementing bibliotherapy in the classroom for children with special needs. The benefits of using bibliotherapy include language enrichment, improved reading skills, self-confidence, thinking in another perspective, and empathy development. The appendix provides a listing of useful children's books, which are particularly useful for students with disabilities.

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Humans seem to have an insatiable thirst for knowledge that can be partially satisfied by the printed word (Davis & Wilson, 1992). Naturally curious, children too have a thirst for knowledge as they journey through their lives to adulthood. Unfortunately, that journey has become more challenging for children today. Children in America are entering school with a multitude of experiences that in the past took a lifetime to accrue. This exposure is due to influences such as the media, changes in family structure, mobility, and other factors too numerous to mention. Regretably, these experiences do not always serve to promote the healthy development of our children. As a result, the needs of children in classrooms today are such that teachers are challenged to utilize all resources and strategies available to meet needs beyond pure academic acquisition of knowledge. One strategy beginning with the creation of books is bibliotherapy.

Documented use of bibliotherapy reaches back to the Ancient Greeks, where it was primarily used with patients who were mentally ill, and continues through the twentieth century to present day in a variety of settings (Bernstein, 1977; McMath, 1997; McTague, 1998; Piercy, 1996; Stroud, Stroud, & Staley, 1999). The first books printed for children were basically used to mold the minds of children toward good character by focusing on religious and moral values. As children's literature evolved and changed to include less acceptable and sometimes demoralizing storybooks, evaluation of children's literature began focusing on the identification and creation of lists of acceptable books for children. The first of these lists published by Edwin Starbuck (1928) prompted the move toward bibliotherapy, which was first applied to maladjusted children in 1946 (Agnes, 1946, pp.8-16).

As our society and the lives of our children have become more complex, the issues and the challenges facing them have also become more complex. Focusing on the moral development of literary characters where problems seem to work out ideally in the end no longer applies to the emotions of children facing such issues of AIDS, divorce, drugs and alcohol, homosexuality, pregnancy, prejudice, rape, social alienation, suicide, violence, and learning problems in a highly literate society. Bibliotherapy has evolved dramatically to include a plethora of books whose story characters have realistic problems to be faced and often not necessarily resolved, just as in real life. Young readers of realistic literature often find solace and hope through the written page in a way that will most likely benefit them on their life's journey.

Definition

Connecting literature to the emotions of the reader for therapeutic purposes has been termed bibliotherapy. The intent is for the reader to think about and question situations from another perspective. Bibliotherapy is not a cure all, pill, or band aid to fix a child's problems (Smith 1989). Bibliotherapy has been defined in a variety of ways of which the following are representative samples:

() Bibliotherapy is a tool that can be used to promote healing through books (Smith, 1989).

() Bibliotherapy is the process of growing toward emotional good health through the medium of literature (Davis & Wilson, 1992).

() Bibliotherapy is the therapeutic use of literature with guidance or intervention from a therapist (Cohen, 1994).

() ... the use of guided reading to help the reader grow in self-awareness and to help in thinking about one's own circumstances through critical inquiry (Harris & Hodges, 1995).

() Capturing the message of the previous definitions, the authors of this paper seek to extend the meaning beyond the traditional clinical setting and suggest the following definition:

() Bibliotherapy is the process by which teachers, as informed decision-makers, select appropriate reading materials and match them to the needs of individual students to assist them in the development of self-awareness, problem-solving skills, perspective-taking, and understanding of problems.

Guidelines

Typically, teachers have little, if any, instruction or guidelines on how to appropriately implement bibliotherapy in their classrooms. According to Ouzts (1991), in the United States, educators have recognized the critical need for delivering literacy instruction to at-risk children including children with disabilities. Davis and Wilson (1992) indicated that teachers in public schools used bibliotherapy with students who had disabilities. Using familiar people and situations can aid the student who may feel alone and unique. All students, including minorities and those with disabilities can potentially profit from bibliotherapy.

Previous general guidelines have suggested using five basic procedures in bibliotherapy (Aiex, N.K., 1993). These included: (1) motivation with introductory activities; (2) reading time; (3) incubation time; (4) follow-up discussion time; and (5) evaluation and closure. Extending these guidelines to students with special needs has resulted in the following new guidelines:

1. Motivate the learner with interesting introductory activities. Select classroom activities and materials that represent diversity among families. Collect photographs or drawings of the student and their families for a family collage bulletin board representing everyone in the group. Make puppets for the characters in the story and allow the students to think about planning for producing an enactment after the story is completed.

2. Allow time for the reading of a bibliotherapeutic book. Increase the normal reading time by at least 25% or more time. For example, if 40 minutes is normally allowed for reading, the student can have more time such as 10 minutes more to continue the reading. Pace the increased reading time by the student needs.

3. Provide ample time for the students to develop their thoughts about the book. For example, the time extension may allow a student with emotional or attentional difficulties to focus on the reflection of a book. More time will be necessary for those with cognitive needs. The student with emotional needs may require specific encouragement to accomplish the task and additional time may help.

4. Furnish discussion follow-up time with questions that require a complete range of higher level thinking skills as well. Include questions involving interpretation, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Use students generated questions as much as possible. Be sensitive to the cultural background and any special needs of the students in the choice of questions.

5. Evaluate the process and the outcome, directing students to closure through self-evaluation as well. Have the students tell and demonstrate where appropriate what occurred at various points throughout the book. Ask what emotions students felt as these events were revealed. Ask if they would have done the same or differently from the characters in the book. Ask them why they feel that way.

Several additional areas need to be highlighted for effective practice. These include: supportive, safe and positive discussion, use of positive reinforcement, character and situation predictability, nonjudgmental questioning, student-generated questioning, timing, and meaningful extension activities.

1. Supportive, safe and positive discussion. A positive discussion of characters in a supportive and safe way is essential to deal with students' expressions of emotions. This will encourage students to express more freely. This is important for students experiencing diversity as well as students with special needs.

2. Use of positive reinforcement. What the student discovers should be reinforced by positive verbal and nonverbal communications. Learning that the situation or concern occurs in other environments in stories and with other individuals helps students cope with the issues in their life. Knowing that others have experienced the same feelings and emotions is very important to learners with special needs.

3. Character and situation predictability. Predictability of characters and situations is important for the choice of materials. The closer the characters and situations to the reader, the more identification and understanding will take place. Students who have behavioral difficulties, emotional difficulties, learning problems, and feelings of low self-worth have an opportunity to develop confidence in both their academic reading and their feelings about themselves when they can play a part in the story.

4. Nonjudgmental questioning. Nonjudgmental questioning prior to, during, and after reading should focus on the main character and that character's feelings. Use of questions such as "How does this make you feel?" should be carefully limited. According to Smith (1991) and David and Wilson (1992), emotional distance is necessary in bibliotherapy. Bauer (1991) indicates that the story should never become a sermon. This is particularly important in any bibliotherapy where the student is identifying with characters or situations, which may be troublesome or problematic to them. Rather they need support for coping with their own feelings.

5. Student-generated questions. The stories should lead to student-generated questions rather than potentially sensitive questions given by the teacher.

6. Timing considerations. Timing is a crucial component of successful bibliotherapy. When a student has faced an immediate tragedy or trauma, time is needed before bibliotherapy should be attempted. Acute events such as divorce of parents or death in the family may require more time for the students to recover before starting bibliotherapy than chronic events such as dealing with fears, long-term illnesses, and relationships where healing of feelings needs to be present.

7. Meaningful extension activities. Extension activities also may be reinforcing for the reader. Here are some examples: meeting with the author or having the reader of the book dressed as a character from the book, trips to the actual locations of stories, or watching a film of the book after reading.

Teachers also need a large collection of books for students to use. This allows each student to select a book that relates to his or her particular unique needs. The bibliotherapy technique should be used carefully and sparingly. Students do not need a daily bibliotherapy session. Teachers should select an occasional time to do these readings so the feelings can be maximized for effectiveness.

Although additional research needs to be done, many believe in bibliotherapy and are using it while evidence of how it works, why it works, or if it works has been needed (Lenkowsky, 1987 and Riordan, 1991).

Benefits

Among the benefits are language enrichment, improvement in reading skills, self-confidence, thinking in another perspective, and empathy development (Aiex, 1993; Hoagland, 1972). Goleman (1995) has documented less physical violence in the classroom, less name-calling and fewer put-downs among students while teachers have better dealt with angry students, helped conflict resolution among students, increased their sensitivity to their students and increased their ability to listen. According to Masters, Mori, and Mori (1999), the technique may provide benefit by using situations portrayed through stories that model appropriate values, habits, and attitudes.

Also based on our own classroom experiences, language development for students using bibliotherapy can be a result along with greater confidence in reading which may lead to more reading proficiency. Improved reading skills are academic benefits as the students have more opportunities to read with a greater variety of materials.

In the social and emotional areas, self-confidence develops with reading proficiency and understanding (Aiex, 1993). Thinking in another perspective allows the student to go from concentration on self to thinking about others. Empathy development occurs as the student matures in the process of using bibliotherapy. Collaborative problem solving in collaborative settings develops and is crucial for healthy emotional development.

The primary goal of this paper was to explore the varied uses and applications of bibliotherapy with the intent of creating guidelines for its appropriate use in classroom settings for students with disabilities. In addition, a listing of useful children's books has been collected for use with students with disabilities in both elementary and secondary levels.

References

Agnes, S.M. (1946). Bibliotherapy for socially maladjusted children. Catholic Educational Review, 44, 88-96.

Aiex, N. K. (1993). Bibliotherapy (Report No. 82). Bloomington, IN: ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 357 333).

Cohen, L.J. (1994). Bibliotherapy: A valid treatment modality. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing, 32(9), 40-44.

Davis, K. & Wilson, T. L. Y. (1992). Bibliotherapy and children's award-winning books. AR: ERIC Clearinghouse on Counseling and Personnel Services. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 354 470)

Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ for character, health, and lifelong achievement. New York: Bantam Books.

Harris, T.L. & Hodges, R.E. (Eds.) (1995). The literacy dictionary: The vocabulary of reading and writing. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Hoagland, J. (1972). Bibliotherapy: Aiding children in personality development. Elementary English, 49, 390-394.

Lenkowsky, R.S. (1987). Bibliotherapy: A review and analysis of the literature. The Journal of Special Education, 21,123-29.

McMath, J.S. (1997). Young children, national tragedy, and picture books. Young Children, 52 (3), 82-84.

McTague, K. (1998). Children's literature bibliotherapy and learning problems. NJ: ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 424 560)

Masters, L.F., Mori, B.A., & Mori, A.A. (1999). Teaching secondary students with learning and behavior problems. Austin, TX: PRO-ED.

Ouzts, Dan T. (1991). The emergence of bibliotherapy as a discipline. Reading Horizons, 31 (3), 199-206. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. EJ 421 220)

Piercy, B.A. (1996). A content analysis and historical comparison of bibliotherapy research. OH: ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Resources. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 413 930)

Richardson, R.C. (1998). Social skills instruction for culturally diverse adolescents with behavioral deficits. LA: ERIC Clearinghouse (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 419 997)

Riordan, R. J. (1991). Bibliotherapy revisited. Psychological Reports, 67, 306. Smith, A.G. (1989). Will the real bibliotherapist please stand up? Journal of Youth Services in Libraries, 2, 241-249.

Stroud, J.E., Stroud, J.C., & Staley, L.M. (1999). Adopted children in the early childhood classroom. IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 426 819)

Celia E. Johnson, Bradley University, IL Guofang Wan, Bradley University, IL Rosalyn Anstine Templeton, Bradley University, IL Lesley P. Graham, Bradley University, IL Joan L. Sattler, Bradley University, IL

Celia, PhD, is an associate professor and the Coordinator of the Learning Disabilities program. Guofang, PhD, is an assistant professor and has expertise in the Language Arts and children's literature. Rosalyn, PhD, is an associate professor and is the Coordinator of the Emotional Disorders program. Lesley, PhD, is an associate professor and is the Coordinator of the Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Program. Joan, PhD, is the Dean of the College of Education and Health Sciences and has served on national committees for NCATE.