The Impact of Art Therapy Program Experience on self-Understanding and Self-Efficacy in Pre-Service Early Childhood Teachers

The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of an art therapy program on the self-understanding and self-efficacy of pre-service early childhood teachers. For this purpose, 10 sessions of an art therapy program were conducted for 20 freshmen at K University in Gyeonggi-do. Self-understanding and self-efficacy were tested before and after the art therapy program, and Wilcoxon signed rank test was used for statistical verification. In addition, the change process of pre-service early childhood teachers during the art therapy process was analyzed through drawing tests and journals. The research results showed that, first, the art therapy program had a significant impact on the self-understanding and self-efficacy of pre-service early childhood teachers. Second, in the picture test, they showed the characteristics of objectifying their own appearance and changing into a confident self in the process of self-understanding and problem solving. Art therapy was found to be a valuable process for relieving the anxiety and tension of pre-service early childhood teachers, providing an experience to understand their own strengths and weaknesses, and enhancing identity exploration and self-efficacy. This study suggests the need for support for pre-service early childhood teachers to understand themselves and develop self-efficacy as teachers of young children, and that the art therapy program had a positive impact on the pre-service teachers.