The Application of Expressive Art Therapy in the Ideological and Political Education of Impoverished Minority Students

王秀民

Abstract： In the current stage， the ideological and political education on impoverished college students from minority nationalities still need improvement. Due to its wide application， means of representation， and procedural features etc.， Expressive Art Therapy can be closely combined with ideological and political education， as a way to provide a more targeted and practical ideological and political education for disadvantaged ethnic students.

Key Words： Expressive Art Therapy；Impoverished Minority Students；Ideological and Political Education

中圖分類號：G751 文獻標識碼：A 文章編號：1005-5312（2017）09-0261-02

In this We Media era， featuring in economic globalization， cultural diversity， value diversification and internet life， conventional ideological and political education methods are confronted with loads of challenges. In this case， the ideological and political education of impoverished college minority students has good reasons to be combined with psychological counseling. In practice， Expressive Art Therapy can effectively enhance the pertinence and validity of ideological and political education .

一、Problems Existing in the Ideological and Political Education of Impoverished College Minority Students

Leading these students to have a better understanding of poverty， of themselves can relieve their poor mental states and promote their development. This has been an essential part of ideological and political education for impoverished minority students. However， currently there are still many deficiencies in this field.

（一）Want of pertinence in teaching methods

Currently， impoverished minority students have the same educational content as the major Han students， with no special remedy to their various needs. As a consequence， this non-individualized ideological and political education bears little fruit.

（二）New breakthroughs have to be made in educational content

Guiding impoverished minority students to have a better understanding of individual and themselves lays the foundation of college ideological and political education. However， education in universities cannot help them formulate a correct self-understanding and comprehensive self-exploration， especially lacking contents on national consciousness， cultural traits？and？psychological？features？for impoverished minority students. These include clearing up their feelings and emotions， analyzing the obstacles faced by them during a certain stage of growth course， their own characteristics， resources and supports etc.. Therefore， research on ideological and political education for them requires references from other disciplines such as psychology and ethnology， accompanied with constant attempt as well as exploration during educational practice.

二、Merits of Expressive Art Therapy in Ideological and Political Education

As an emerging psychological therapy， expressive art therapy not only dose well in psychological treatment， but also enjoys unique advantages in college ideological and political education， especially that for ethnic minority students， for it can enhance the pragmaticality of education effectively.

（一）Wide range of application

Due to its diversity on media-choosing， Expressive Art Therapy can be widely applied to various ideological and political education work， consisting of classroom teaching， theme-oriented class meeting， personal chatting， enrollment education etc.. Meanwhile， it can be integrated with many ideological and political education theme， such as interpersonal relationship， self-awareness， honesty and thanks-giving， rights and responsibility etc.

（二）Closely integrated with students life

Various methods of Expressive Art Therapy can be highly involved in college students daily life， especially social-drama-playing， which can yield twice the results with half the work， for all the episodes of life can be replayed in social drama. By taking part in the play， students can be encouraged to have empathy with each other. That is what can not be achieved by persuasion. Moreover， the material and medium of Expressive Art Therapy can even be gained from students life. For instance， students can produce some kind of work together during an outing. They will be united as a class at the sight of the finished work.

（三）Concrete representation of the content

Achievement of ideological and political education with traditional spoon-feeding method can hardly be seen. In fact， in the process of ideological and political education， teachers are supposed to play a leading role， while the dominant role of students should never be ignored. Students should educate themselves while receiving education， thus believing in what they have learnt and behaving well under the influence of their ideology. At the meantime， teachers employ Expressive Art Therapy to render students less defensive and less rebellious. By presenting the content of the course in their works in concrete form， teachers could achieve the natural transition from communication to integration of ideas between teachers and students. The employment of Expressive Art Therapy enables ideological and political education to be carried out in a more specific and visualized manner， and helps the students to better understand and appreciate the course.

（四）The process of ideological and political education coincides with that of artistic expression and creation

Men act according to their thoughts， however， it is not a certain event that decides mens thoughts， but their attitude towards it， or their sentiment after they have gone through the event. Therefore， in order to let students express their emotions in a reasonable manner， teachers should provide students with both ideological education and psychological guidance. Artistic expression， in this case， does not focus on the quality and the aesthetic of the work. Rather， what really matters is whether the true feeling of the narrator is fully expressed. As Expressive Art Therapy does not require high artistic attainments， every student is given much more room to express themselves， which satisfies their demand for expression. In addition， when students try to express their feelings in an artistic way， they could re-experience their lives by interacting with others or exploring their inner world in the process of producing artistic works. Through such experience， emotional conflict can be eased， negative feelings can be vented， knowledge about the world can be integrated. Thus the purpose of education and self- education can be achieved.

三、Tips for the Application of Expressive Art Therapy on Ideological and Political Education for Impoverished Minority Students

Expressive Art Therapy enjoys broad prospect in ideological and political education. But at the present stage， the application of Expressive Art Therapy on ideological and political education is still in its infancy， let alone that for needy students from minority nationalities， which is still under exploration. The following items should be given due attention.

（一）Combining with the fine traditional culture of minority nationalities

As most of these students are gifted in many forms of artistic presentation， Expressive Art Therapy is more acceptable and familiar to them. Therefore， if traditional ethnic culture is included to tap the art potential of needy students when Expressive Art Therapy is applied to ideological and political education， students will get more sense of achievement despite of poverty and substandard education. In this way， ideological and political education will be more welcome and approachable among these students. And that is the exact aim of ideological and political education.

（二）Catering to the various needs of disadvantaged minority students

As the assisting fund system in universities is getting more and more comprehensive， students will bear less economic burden. Therefore new needs are waiting to be met. Thus， in order to benefit ethnic minority students more effectively， their needs and expectations should be taken into account.

With unique feature and advantages， Expressive Art Therapy， serving both individual counseling and group assistance， can be applied in routine teaching practice. As ideological and political education continues to develop， Expressive Art Therapy is bound to be a new breakthrough as well as new way of exploration.

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