ABSTRACT
Affective curriculum is usually introduced in one of three ways: proactive, reactive, and integrative. Proactive approaches focus on developing the skills necessary to facilitate personal growth and development. Reactive strategies happen in response to problems that interfere with learning. Integrative practices focus on attending to affective components of instruction and activities. Current research has indicated several components of an effective social-emotional curriculum program. These components include self-assessment, defining “meaning,” talent development, emotional intelligence development, and the use of bibliotherapy. Embedding emotional content into typical classroom settings could be as easy as using stories to interpret emotional reactions from characters as well as motivation. Bibliotherapy, in particular, can be effectively used to build emotional intelligence skills. The use of visual and performing arts is nothing new in the therapeutic process. Here, the use of art instruction within the school setting is purposefully built to incorporate many aspects of affective curriculum into everyday programming.
