Social skills outcomes of arts education

In this chapter we review the evidence for the impact of multi-arts education and education in specific art forms on social skills: self-concept and general self-esteem, social behaviour, empathy for others, emotion regulation, and perspective taking (understanding of others). The only evidence thus far that arts education improves some form of social behaviour/social understanding comes from the domain of theatre. There is some quasi-experimental evidence that theatre education improves empathy, perspective taking, and emotion regulation. We can explain such findings by pointing to the fact that theatre education asks children to step into the shoes of others, feel their feelings, and understand their mental states. In addition, theatre education teaches children to express emotions. More research is needed before we can draw firm conclusions about the power of theatre to affect these very important kinds of social skills.