Year of Award

2023

Document Type

Professional Paper

Degree Type

Master of Arts (MA)

Degree Name

Fine Arts (Integrated Arts and Education)

Department or School/College

College of the Arts and Media

Committee Chair

Karen Kaufmann

Commitee Members

Dr. Michael Musick, Dr. Michael Ruybalid

Keywords

social emotional learning, SEL, elementary general music, arts integration, K-5 Music, Creative Pulse

Publisher

University of Montana

Subject Categories

Elementary Education and Teaching | Music Education

Abstract

Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, many students demonstrated a need for further social emotional learning (SEL) support. The work of this project focuses on how to help support students’ SEL development through SEL integration into the elementary music classroom. An increased focus on integrating SEL throughout educational settings is relatively new, and thus the research into how to do this effectively is still emerging. Based on the principle of collective teacher efficacy, this project explores how to integrate SEL specifically aligned with the Second Step Elementary Curriculum into the kindergarten through fifth grade general music classroom. Utilizing the existing research, the author develops five key principles connecting the role of general music education with SEL which were then used to guide the design and implementation of six SEL integrated music activities across several sections of students. After implementation, these activities were then revised based on what was learned through student feedback, recording activities, and written educator perceptions. Upon completion of the project the author asserts that while there is no single correct way to integrate SEL in the elementary music classroom, there are a few guiding principles that help create effective activities that are engaging while also addressing both SEL and musical objectives. This work serves as a beginning step for the continued work in SEL integration, while offering concrete examples and guidance for music educators interested in pursuing SEL integration in their own classrooms.

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© Copyright 2023 Nicole Evans