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LGA3101 CHILDREN'S LITERATURE COURSEWORK - BIBLIOTHERAPHY

Friday, 11 October 2013 @ 19:02 | 0 Comment [s]

DYGKU AUNI BAIEZURA

PISMP TESL SJKC

IPGGY

BIBLIOTHERAPHY

Do you remember the story of The Ugly Duckling? a story of a baby bird that was born in a barnyard living together with a group of ducklings. He was mistreated as he looks different from the others. To his surprise, he matures into a beautiful swan, the most beautiful bird of all. The story is beloved around the world as a tale about personal transformation for the better. It is like a gift for those that feels they are ‘different’. Reading this kind of fairy tales, children not only learn that every cloud has a silver lining, but also teaches them to cope, understand and feel the emotion of the character in the story and relate it to their own feeling. By doing so, they have a bigger picture on what they should feel and do when they are in the same situation with the character.

Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.”(G.K Chestorton)

Kids love fairy tales just like how we do when we are at their age. Undoubtedly, fairy tales affect lives of everyone since in early age. It played an important role in the life of any children all over the world where fairy tales becoming a stimulant to children’s imagination, hopes and dreams in chorus helps them to develop their cognitive. various fairy tales were made as a medium of moral value and indirect behavioral teaching to children as it is the reading composition that were written meant for them, apt to their needs and ability to cope and understand. For instance Pinocchio, children will learn that they shouldn't lie and always be honest. Just like Pinocchio, many other fairy tales are stereo typically came up with the lesson on how bad actions will cause bad consequences. At this point, they learnt that they should always practice good manners because bad manners would only led to bad consequences as what was underwent by the character in the stories they read. Children learn a lot from listening and reading fairy tales so do us, adults. We learnt from the character we read. It helps in developing children’s character as it connects to our own experiences, lives, dreams and our consideration of what we would do in their shoes. Through this, it helps the readers to navigate their life. This is how reading and listening to fairy tales are best at becoming a medium of moral deliverance to children and simultaneously helps in the building of children character.

This is how fairy tales functioning more than just for the sake of entertainment alone, it helps the kids to understand their life better and helps them to make a move. This is how Bibliotheraphy work. Bibliotheraphy is a therapy that uses written material to help individual to process difficult situation and changes in lives. It cannot be denied that it is not easy to really understand what is in kids mind and what they really feel. We adult always forget that, not only us; children are also going through depression and indulged in pressures in their daily life. They just can’t expressed their feelings well.

Separation, divorced parents, being abused, bullied and isolated by friends, these conflicts happened around them all the times that it gives bad impact to the children’s emotion. In United States, almost half marriages end with divorce and separation. When the relationship doesn’t turn out well, and their egotistical dominating their rationales and decisions, finally led to unsolvable, separation and divorce are seen as the best way to both parents. Left the children’s feelings abandoned. Children’s turn out to be the victims. Most of the kids are unable to express their feeling, they are too small to cope and understand the situations. The changes in lives, with having two family and houses, two sets of rules and other changes due to divorces can be too much for them to bear. Even worse, some children even blame themselves for what happened. It’s important to remember what divorce looks like and feels like from the perspective of a kid. They couldn’t understand the situation yet. They only believe that no one really understand and care about their feelings. Therefore, at this stage, they really need helps to encounter the feelings and situation. Since communication between adult and children are not very well effective at this stage, Bibliotheraphy can be an alternative medium to help them to feel better.

Through Bibliotheraphy, the children are given books that are related and appropriate to the situation or conflict they are in. For example a book about dealing with parents separation are given to a children that facing the same situation ; through the reading, it can help the children to label out, express and validate his or her thought and feelings by identification of character’s life situation and apply it to their own life. Bibliotheraphy provides a superficial discovery on kids feeling about divorce and all good goes with it. After reading it , they can discuss about the emotion of the character and relate it to their own. By doing so, they will also develop insight, let go their emotion and they will be able to seek out appropriate problem solving method and make it an inspiration for them to move on. Through Bibliotheraphy they will start to cope, understand and heal. Children will gradually understand that they are not the causes for the separation and they cannot fix it. They will slowly be able to accept the fact and look on the bright side of it. Thus, make them even bolder and rigid. They can understand that thing happen for reason and the decision was decided for the best. This will not only create a bold and confidence character in children but will become a good lesson for them that they must have a better marriage life in the future as they know how it feels to be in a broken family.

Bibliotheraphy are usually done with assist and supervise by adult such as skilled librarian, teacher, reading therapist or parents. It can be done to individual or in a group. Bibliotheraphy is very functioning in building character in children. Through the implementation of this therapy method, it helps the kid to release the emotional pressures. This not only helps them to regain composure after imbalance emotional states, but also built a healthy character and mind in them. Bibliotheraphy also helps the children n to enhance self awareness and self concept in them. Other than that, reading a material that suits and understand what they feel, helps to foster awareness that they are not alone and they are not the first or the only one encountering the same problem. Through this a bold and strong character can be built in them. They start to be rigid and tough in confronting difficulties in life that demands their rationality and wise consideration. Apart of becoming guidance for children as it gives them a bigger picture on what is best to do when confronted a similar situation in life, Bibliotheraphy can be an encouragement for them to move on. They will build strong and firm stand that the life changes all the time and everything that happened is not an end to their world.

As Bibliotheraphy are usually involving participation of more than one person, interaction among the children and the guider can be really helpful in building character in the children. In Bibliotheraphy, children are encouraged to discuss their problem freely with the teacher. They feel appreciated when there are people willing to listen to their problem. After that, the discussion will be on figuring out variety of solution to the problem. Children are introduced with multiples ways to encounter the problems. They also guided to plan realistic and constructive resolution to the problem they are encountered. This kind of interaction helps a lot in building character in children. Discussion makes them feel appreciated. They would be freer to share their thought and feeling. Opposite of this can cause depression to the children as they feel isolated and abandoned. Bibliotheraphy method can helps them to gain self-control and help them to release their emotional pressure in a healthy way. Discussions will stimuli themselves to encounter and resolve the problem. This will create a character that will work their best in resolving problems that might come to them, create a person that wise and calm when encountering a crisis, and also they will not be depending on others to solve their problem. They will do their best to resolve problems they are facing.

Meanwhile in education context, Malaysian education system is very dynamic. It goes through changes and adjustment from time to time to cater for the need of the stakeholders. The system definitely needs the cooperation and contribution from all parties to ensure its effectiveness and success. The parents have the obligation to provide quality children that they sent to school every year. The learning standard of the children varies and thus required more effort from the school in order prepare them for the learning process.

In this process, Bibliotheraphy can be an effective tool to build the children’s character in school. It has the strength to broaden and deepen the child understanding of the situation around them. Children come from different family background. Those who have a happy family with stable financial status would have a focus mind to get involved in the learning process. Provided with proper school attire and beautifully groom they would be able to mix and play with the other children with high feeling of self worth. For the unfortunate children who come from broken family, poor or low income group, their mind would be less focus or confused. They would feel very unstable and low self esteem. This would create resistance within themselves and thus avoiding the learning process.

Amongst the children, Bibliotheraphy can be used to build confidence and self esteem. It helps to normalize a child’s world by providing coping skills and minimizing their feelings of isolation, reinforcing creativity and problem solving. Through the process of connecting the children with written words or the content of books Bibliotheraphy would be able to shift their feeling of unworthiness to a better state of self confidence. The content of the books that tell them stories which are very closely related to their situation would create a feeling of relief when they learned that others have had the same problem and have coped successfully with it.

In short, Bibliotheraphy is a very good medium and alternatives to help students making their moves. It’s not easy for adult to understand that children have their own perspectives on one thing as it may different to our view. They do not have lucid and highly- rational view on a conflict surrounding them as they cannot understand it well. They tend to feel left out. Therefore, by reading related situation story it can help to give them a bigger picture of what they are going through and what they can do about it. Bibliotheraphy providing a superficial exploration to children’s feeling about the problem and crisis they are in. through Bibliotheraphy, it build bond and connection between the children to the character in it. Hence, it is very crucial that the materials used are appropriate and suitable to the children’s needs. The books must have a good guide and ending. Negative story plot and moral values can cause bad effects to the reader.

To sum up, Bibliotehraphy implementation is a very good alternatives and approaches to help children processing and adapting to difficulties situation and changes that occur to their lives. It is not only offering deeper exploration to the children’s feeling, it also can become a very good motivation and encouragement for them to move on and to look for best solution to resolve or assimilate to the conflict happened. But still, wrong implementation with no professional guidance can lead t to wrong way. Therefore, parents and adult should never rely 100% on the books to understand their children’s feeling. They are just kids that impacted by life pressures, our helps and willingness to always be there is very crucial to help them confronting the conflict and pressures they are in. for children, the best and warm helper help for them is when adult start to realize that they still needs them to be with them in going through lives journey. The best remedial will always loves and attention to the. Communication and attentions from people around can be the best tools to help them untangle conflicts that drowning their emotion. In a word, it is undeniable Bibliotheraphy is effective in helping children to figure out what happen and that they are not alone, but children is a human that need more than books to communicate and help them out from the pressure that they aren’t able to cope with, and that is what the best remedial which adult can do adult but always forgot.

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