In today's diverse and multifaceted world, how can the performing arts serve as a starting point for understanding emotions and responding to society?
This SEL empowerment workshop, "Aesthetic Appreciation as a Social Emotional Care," shared by Associate Professor Chang Szu-Ching of the Department of Dance at National Taiwan University of Sport, a member of the teacher training committee, used the body, context, and aesthetic experience as a medium to guide teacher trainees and teachers to explore more possibilities for emotional awareness, relational connection, and interdisciplinary teaching, starting from the classroom.

In an era of diversity and difference, how performing arts classrooms can connect emotional understanding and social action through "aesthetic experience" has become an important topic that continues to be explored in interdisciplinary teaching.
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The SEL Empowerment Workshop, "Aesthetics as a Form of Social Emotional Care," held on December 14th, was planned by Associate Professor Chang Szu-Ching of the Department of Dance at National Taiwan University of Sport, who is also the host of the Cross-Disciplinary Aesthetic Education Excellence Leadership Program Teacher Training Cooperation University Project. The workshop featured presentations by Lecturer Chang Chen-Hsin, a performing arts teacher at Qingshan Junior High School (Elementary) and a counselor at the National Education Guidance Group in New Taipei City, and Assistant Lecturer Huang Yi-Lun, a performing arts teacher at Zhongping Junior High School in New Taipei City. The workshop aimed to guide NTU master trainees and current teachers from various counties and cities to participate in the exchange.

The course takes a progressive approach, guiding participants to understand the theoretical foundation, teaching structure, and practical process of SEL (Single Language Arts) courses. The first part, taught by teacher Zhang Chenxin, combines drama, language, and situational design, starting with everyday dialogues and gradually building up emotional intensity and conflict scenarios. This guides participants to become aware of their emotions, understand others, and reflect on the diverse possibilities of conflict responses during the performance process. The second part, led by teacher Huang Yilun, focuses on "Dance Theatre—The Body Language of SEL," transcending language limitations and utilizing the transformation of the body, space, and objects. It guides students to slow down from the high-speed, high-pressure daily routine, creating aesthetic experiences through movement and perception. By imbuing objects with new symbolic meanings, participants deepen self-awareness through emotional and narrative creations, and perceive the connections between individuals in collective action.

Meanwhile, during the group presentations, teachers skillfully transformed the classroom space, combining changes in lighting, projection backgrounds, music selection, and seating arrangements among performers and audience members to create a layered and aesthetically pleasing teaching environment. This transformed the course presentation from merely a check on learning outcomes into an aesthetic feast that combined depth of learning with sensory experience.

This workshop, starting with the performing arts, integrates Social-Emotional Learning (SEL), aesthetic education, and instructional design to demonstrate how to transform abstract emotional concepts into a tangible and practical interdisciplinary learning process. Through bodily experience, contextual transformation, and interactive discussions, participants will experience firsthand how to respond to differences and resolve conflicts with aesthetic actions, deepening interdisciplinary aesthetic practices on campus.