ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Special Educational Needs
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1603207
This article is part of the Research TopicInclusion in Non-formal Education Places for Children and Adults with Disabilities Vol. IIView all 3 articles
Dramatherapy in an adapted school: what identity boxes reveal
Provisionally accepted
Alessandro Porrovecchio1,2*
Bérénice Mai Pruvost2- 1Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale, Dunkirk, France
- 2Univ. Littoral Côte d’Opale, Univ. Lille, Univ. Artois - ULR 7369 - URePSSS - Unité de Recherche Pluridisciplinaire Sport Santé Société, 59140, Dunkerque, France, Dunkerque, Hauts-de-France, France
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Background Dramatherapy is increasingly used in special education contexts to support young people facing academic, emotional, and social challenges. In France, Regional Institutions for Adapted Education (EREA – Etablissement Régional d’Enseignement Adapté) serve vulnerable adolescents, often stigmatized and marginalized in mainstream schooling. This study explores the use of identity boxes as both a research method and a therapeutic tool in such a context. Aims The study investigates how identity boxes, integrated into a dramatherapy program, can foster emotional expression, self-reflection, and improved peer relationships among students in an adapted education setting. Methods Conducted as part of a research project, the intervention involved ten dramatherapy workshops led by a certified dramatherapist and conducted with two groups of final- and penultimate-year students. A control group, who did not take part in the workshops, nonetheless participated in two sessions dedicated to the construction of identity boxes, delivered as part of their visual arts classes. The study adopted an ethnographic approach, combining participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and the analysis of identity boxes and the associated narratives. Results Students in the dramatherapy group demonstrated enhanced emotional introspection, more positive peer interactions, and a stronger sense of Self, while the control group showed fewer developments. The identity boxes served both as expressive objects and as reflective instruments, offering deep insights into students’ evolving self-perception and experiences of inclusion. Conclusions This study highlights the value of combining dramatherapy and creative visual methods in special educational settings. It underscores the importance of arts-based interventions in fostering emotional well-being and inclusion for students with disabilities and social difficulties, suggesting future applications in similar institutional contexts.
Keywords: identity boxes, Special Education, Dramatherapy, Art based research, Clinical sociology
Received: 11 May 2025; Accepted: 07 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Porrovecchio and Pruvost. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Alessandro Porrovecchio, Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale, Dunkirk, France
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