Bibliotherapy and the development of habits in sixth-grade children: the case of El Salvador

Abstract

Bibliotherapy is a tool derived from the cognitive-behavioral approach. The technique allows people to identify their thoughts, feelings, and emotions to generate actions that contribute to behavioral changes that favor their personal development. Bibliotherapy, according to the González Rodríguez protocol, is implemented through the selection and reading of a book and subsequent answers to the questions: What do I think? What do I feel? What will I do? How will I do it? And when will I do it? It is known that habits foster the development of skills and can also be decisive in children's academic performance. The study aims to establish a comparison describing the habits developed by sixth-grade children in two public schools in Honduras and El Salvador, applying the bibliotherapy technique according to the González Rodríguez protocol. This article presents only the results obtained in El Salvador. A quantitative, quasi-experimental, and descriptive approach was used to carry out the project. The "habits questionnaire" was administered to a sample of 39 children before and after the quasi-experiment to determine the development of categories in nine habit groups. The results show no significant differences between the control and experimental groups after the experiment, but significant differences are evident when comparing the before and after results of the experimental group.