Improving Students' Mental Health Through the Performing Arts: An A/R/Tography in Secondary Education

Abstract

This article describes and analyzes the Resiliencies project, which was developed by a cohort of fourth-year secondary school students during their drama class. Conceived as an a/r/tography, the project encompassed the creation of an artistic product through which students contemplated mental health and resilience. The results demonstrated how the project fostered three essential elements for the mental well-being of our students: personal artistic expression, student socialization, and the utilization of artistic practice as a means of mitigating the anxieties arising from the school environment. These findings highlight the necessity of the subject in secondary education and advocate for its extension to other grades of this educational stage.