교육학자들은 인지적인 측면에 많은 관심을 가지고 있지만, 상대적으로 정의적 측 면의 하나인 정서에 대해서 연구를 소홀히 해온 바 있다. 정서는 개인이 의미 있는 선택이나 판단을 할 때 영향력을 줄 뿐만 아니라, 학습과 기억의 증진에도 많은 영향을 미쳤기 때문에 우리의 사고와 행동에 중요한 역할을 하고 있다. 따라서 초등학교시기부터 인지적인 측면과 정의적 측면이 함께 발달하기 위해서는 정서교육과 관련된 교육이 함께 이루어져야 할 것이다.
The study was intended to fmd effects of right-brained art program on children's brain preference and emotional intelligence. The study was conducted on 127 children at two classes respectively in the third grade, K Elementary School, and in the fifth grade, S Elementary School, Seoul. Among them, a respective class in the third and the fifth grade was taken as the experimental group (left-brained children 28 and right-brained children 35 in respective classes) and another class in respective grades as the control group (left-brained children 27 and right-brained children 37 in respective classes). Total twelve 40-minute sessions of right-brained art program were given to the experimental group twice a week for six weeks. The results of this study are summed up as follows: First, marks for right-brain preference [t(50)=2.1O, p < .05] of left-brained children at the experimental group who were given right-brained learning showed a significant difference compared to left-brained children at the control group, while right-brained children at the experimental group didn't show any significant difference compared to their counterparts at the control group. This improvement of left-brained children in right-brain preference suggests that right-brained education has favorably influenced on the brain preference of children. Second, compared to the control group, analysis of post test marks of the experimental group by sex showed statistically significant difference between boys and girls [t(50) = 2.10, p<.05]. The same was applied to the result of post tests by ages [t(50) = 2.46, P < .05]. This suggests that right-brained art program significantly improved emotional intelligence of children at the experimental group across all sexes and ages compared to the control group. These results prove that right-brained art program is effective in improving brain preference and emotional intelligence of children.