Connecting Music Education and Social Emotional Learning: A Curriculum and Activity Chart

Abstract

Currently, students are in need of emotional education. After the Covid-19 pandemic, students have been left stressed and overwhelmed by their surroundings. As an elementary music teacher that worked during the pandemic, I’ve heard stories from countless students as well as other staff that have suggested this need for help. Since elementary classroom music educators work with all of the students in a given school, the music classroom may be uniquely situated to address this need. Many schools have adopted Social Emotional Learning (SEL) to address this need. An approach to teaching inter- and intra-personal social and emotional skills, SEL has a deep research base. While there are materials available to implement SEL into secondary music programs, there is not yet a published approach to implementation of SEL into the elementary classroom. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was to create a curriculum for music teachers that incorporates Social Emotional Learning (SEL) for elementary grades. After a review of scholarly literature and practical teaching sources, a full-year curriculum and activity guide for grades K-5 that combines music with SEL related activities was created. The activities are designed around music skills developed through Orff’s Schulwerk method using performance, listening and creativity with the additional implementation of elements of SEL by grade level. The goal is for students to be able to use both musical and SEL skills beyond the music classroom.