Artifact 2
My second artifact comes from my human services discipline. All these courses focused on helping people and providing specific interventions in unfortunate situations. Some of the courses I chose to take were children and families in healthcare, therapeutic play, and death and grief. Since my capstone research thesis focuses on therapeutic play, I thought it was fitting to use a paper from my therapeutic play course, HSR 548.
This course was about using play to find solace in times of struggle. The HSR 548 course was taught by two Certified Child Life Specialists, or professionals who conduct play therapy. We played games inside like duck, duck, goose, sports games outside, and we even got to dress up for Halloween weekend! Most importantly, we always conducted simulated “support groups” to help us grasp how we needed to respond in certain situations. What made it even better though was that we could use the group to help with our own lives too. I know so many of my peers shared topics about deep struggles they were facing, and they shared just because of a simulated support group.
The attached paper was used for my final project of the course. Our assignment was to create a game or activity for a targeted group, (homeless, bully victims, minority groups, etc.), and my group was victims of bullies. I created what I called “Masks of Mettle” to increase self-worth and self-esteem for the victims. These masks were to be used as a front to help the victims feel powerful and strong even at vulnerable places like school. The assignment was meant for us to act like we were conducting a support group for these victims and we had to create something that was age appropriate. Here, I had to use my interdisciplinary knowledge to figure this out. I had taken life span psychology and other developmental courses, so I had a better understanding of what was developmentally appropriate for my given age group. I learned from this assignment that I must be empathetic, not sympathetic, with my responses and activities. I also realized that some activities may be harder on some than others. I truly have to be able to adapt in the counseling world, and I learned that through this final project. My peers were the ones participating and making the masks I wanted them to create. They helped me by responding as a middle schooler would act, carefree, annoyed, sometimes enthusiastically.
This course was eye opening: educationally and personally. The instructors treated everyone with kindness, the atmosphere was conducive to learning and acceptance; it was overall an amazing experience! I learned so much about integrative studies because the class was designed to solve the problems of loneliness, isolation, etc. using play. I had to think critically, and I designed multiple interventions for specific groups throughout the duration of the semester. The problem of loneliness and depression is so complex that a single disciplinary scholar cannot be the only one conducting research on it. You need scholars of biology, psychology, education, sociology, etc. to begin to grasp the complexity behind such a problem. I believe I added a lot to the course for my peers and teachers with my interdisciplinary approach to education. I displayed new insights on interventions I learned through education courses, and I even added what I had learned in psychology to better understand how one adapts to stressful situations.
Overall, I did not do much revision to this essay. It was pretty informal, but it was my first-time using APA and that helped with my other papers in psychology and English courses. It represents some of my best work because I was passionate about the topic, and I continue to research therapeutic play even though this course is in the past. This course alone probed my interest for my research topic which is a significant part of the integrative studies capstone. Without this course and studying play therapy outside of the class, I would not have had the knowledge to conduct a well written research project on therapeutic play.
Project C: Techniques in Challenging Circumstances
A Bullying Victim Intervention: “Masks of Mettle”
Lauren Bluford
Northern Kentucky University
Bullying is a growing problem in our society. Bullies no longer only bully to your face, in front of a crowd, or behind your back during class transitions. They now have the ability to hide behind the comforts of a laptop screen or a phone. Today, social media can improve or diminish a middle schooler’s self-confidence. As many of us know or have experience with, it is often the latter of the two because of the issue of bullying. Middle school is an inevitable gawky time, so throwing bullying on top is a recipe for disaster! On Stopbullying.gov’s facts about bullying page, it is stated that most bullying happens in middle school. After reading this, I have decided to make “Masks of Mettle” for middle school bullying victims. These masks are used as a front to increase self-worth and self-esteem for the victims.
At this specific developmental level, industry vs. inferiority, the child can either develop a sense of competency or rather become pessimistic and lack confidence in their abilities. This is an important developmental trait and sets a child up for their future adult lives. According to PsychCentral.com, low self-esteem affects almost every aspect of our lives. This includes how we portray ourselves to the way we react to and embrace life situations. If a child does not develop proper confidence, it will affect how one feels about themselves and how they feel about experiences later in life. They will have an altered picture of themselves and my even develop depression or an eating disorder because of their lack of self-love. Therefore, we need the “Masks of Mettle”. We need to show the bullies what we want them to see: the traits on the inside that define us, not the outside which is often the target of bullies.
Everyone in my support group will have the chance to make a mask if they would like. I will start everyone out with a blank face template. I chose to use a blank face (without hair and features) because of fears with how the person identified, i.e. male and female assumptions. Stopbullying.gov mentions that more students who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual report having been bullied on school property and cyberbullied in the past year than their heterosexual peers. This statistic proves that bullying is subjected, but not limited to, the LGBTQ community. If I made the masks neutral, it would eliminate any gender conflicts that may arise. Gender conflicts are not the only problems I may face with my activity. I may come across a child who does not put down positive qualities because of such a tainted image of themselves. I have seen this problem occur in the classroom when a young boy chose to describe himself as angry, lazy, and bad. His peers chose words such as awesome or helpful. If this same scenario were to happen, I would have to step in and point out the good qualities I see in him. This may be difficult since I would just be getting to know him, but I could always say ‘brave’ since the child had the courage to come to the session.
Once they decorate their blank face template, I will ask the middle schoolers to write the GOOD qualities of themselves on the side of the mask they did not decorate. These are the things they will see when putting on the mask. This will increase their confidence to hopefully make them feel as if these qualities are true while wearing their mask. Even though the bullies and peers will not see the words, (the fantastic traits), they will be able to see a bright smile, an upright posture, and an overall outwardly confident appearance on the mask. These masks will build the courage and self-esteem of the student to face the bullies head on and allow them to overcome the adversity they had been facing.
The only materials you need for my chosen intervention is paper (with or without the face template) and markers or other coloring utensils. It is an inexpensive activity and the tools are extremely accessible. My setting would be a small group table. The table will be so they can continue working while I ask questions to create discussion. Such questions would be, “Why do you want your peers to see this mask?” and “How do other students see you when you are not wearing your mask?”. After the participants answer and create their masks, I will have each of them put on the masks. They get the opportunity to be silly and feel safe and accepted at this time! Then, I want them all to take off their masks and I will ask how they feel without the masks. I think that this will produce a variety of responses. I hope to keep the point that I want them to be comfortable without their masks and to stay true to themselves. The great words they wrote down to describe themselves on the mask is how they need to act and portray themselves daily!
I would know that my intervention was effective if I got everyone to participate and write the good qualities they see in themselves. We would then go around and share our qualities. There will probably be some traits repeated, but it will make for a good group and conversation about how we all want to portray ourselves with confidence and bravery against our bullies. The group would close by me telling them to bring their masks in their backpack or folded in their pocket if school is not the setting in which the bullying is taking place. I will assure them that they have those traits inside them, and they do not need to wear the mask in order to be seen that way by their peers. My goal is to give them enough confidence and self-esteem where they no longer need to carry the mask with them. I want them to believe the truths of their awesome personalities and endless capabilities.