The development of social skills through musical learning Marjolein Verburg, MSc; Anne-Christine Wemekamp, Music Professor

Marjolein Verburg, MSc Anne-Christine Wemekamp Music professor @ KC, specialized in Kodály approach, singer Child psychologist, singer, music teacher share knowledge

Wishful ME wishful music education Learning through art - Knowing all this, do you agree with me that music should play an important role in education of a children? Do you agree with me that this should be in primary school Daily based learning Multiannual Kodály based method Over the years, children will be taught to read and write music. using Dutch songs and singing games. Research shows these singing games are not only beneficial for teaching music skills, but also play an very important role in the development of social skills. Wich , Marjolein will now tell you more about. In collaboration with Powered by

Overview Short introduction social skills Singing Game Difficulties in social skills Learning social skills The role of musical play Evaluation Questions Link between social skills and music games

Social Skills Social Skills are the behaviors that we use in order to communicate effectively with other people. Developing social skills is one of the most important developmental tasks in childhood The ability to develop social relationships with peers is seen as one of the most important developmental tasks in childhood. A lack of social skills can lead to problems with peers, with emotion regulation, concentration in a school setting, etc

Social Skills Successful mastery of social skills: Sharing Taking turns Allowing other to talk without interrupting Smiling when greeting people Showing appropriate emotional responses Listening Etc.

SINGING GAME Hello-liedje Eye-contact, shaking hands, posture, individual contribution/group demands, smiling, listening, cooperation, trust

Difficulties with social skills Two main groups Inhibited children Symptoms: shy, stand at the side, lack initiative, being bullied You are all very socially skilled people. In groups of children, we often notice that for many children, it is quite an easy and natural process to develop good social skills. However, for some children, social skill mastery is more difficult. We can roughly distinguish two groups of socially less skilled children. Especially for those children it is important to get more help with mastering social skills, since a lack of social skills can lead to many problems later in life. Disinhibited children Symptoms: argue, shouting, bullying, aggressive behavior

The development of social skills Important task in childhood How and where do children learn social skills? Parents/family Peers in kindergartens and schools Teacher as a mediator To help them, it is important that we know how children learn social skill mastery. Many researchers have recognized the importance of peers in this developmental process: Parents and families provide foundation for learning social skills, but Kindergartens and schools are the main places where children learn to get along with peers. Important role for teachers in ensuring that children develop healthy social skills.

The development of social skills Learning social skills (implicit learning) “You cannot teach a concept, you can only teach skills” - Choksy Social learning theory (Bandura): people learn from one another by Modelling (teacher, peer to peer) Imitation Reinforcement As said, the role of the teacher is very important in teaching social skills. And social skills are learned in the interaction: they are not learned by a teacher telling children what social skills are: children have to experience what works and what doesn’t work in social interactions with teachers and peers. Louis Choksy sais about teaching music skills: you cannot teach a concept, you can only teach skills. The applies to teaching social skills. In social learning theory, Bandura states that people learn from each other in social settings. Three main concept stimulate the learning process. These are modelling (a teacher or a skilled peer shows the desired skill or behavior), imitation (the learner imitates the behavior that was modelled) and reinforcement: by giving positive feedback to desired outcomes, the desired behavior will be reinforced.

The role of play Play is an important setting to learn the implementation of appropriate social skills Internalizing social values through unconscious learning Fosters peaceful interactions Verbal expression Listening to another point of view Resolving conflicts Play is the perfect setting for the implicit learning of social skills. Learning social skills during play is an unconscious learning process. This learning without realizing it, anhances absorbing social values.

The role of musical play ‘Music is by its very nature a social art’ – Leonhard (1983) Musical play: Unites social groups, draws the withdrawn into the group, stimulates participation and sharing Through simple music activities: subordinate individual wishes to the goals of the group (cooperation) Ideal setting for learning social skills through play is musical play

Learning social skills What they need to learn….

Learning social skills Inhibited children Stand up for themselves Take initiative Speech volume Stand straight Disinhibited children Taking turns Inhibition Emotion-regulation Empathy

SINGING GAME Supermarket Circle

Examples of social skills learned from musical activities Establishing positive relationships and maintaining positive interactions with peers Taking turns fairly Showing interest in others Accepting and enjoying peers Interacting non-verbally with other children with smiles and nods Showing cooperation Skill mastery leads to an increase in self-confidence Self-control Showing empathy Performing in a group increases pupils confidence, social networks and the sense of belonging to a group. It helps individuals learn to support each other and cooperate for group goals.

Practice, practice, practice Fun and interactive Practice, practice, practice A few important things if you want children to learn. It should be fun and interactive! And the other thing is: practice, practice, practice! Social skills are not something that learn at once: you need repetition to keep mastery of the skills. Wether teaching musical skills or social skills, repetition is the mother of all learning. We believe that there is no better way to do so than through songs and singing games.

Wishful ME wishful music education Learning through art - Knowing all this, do you agree with me that music should play an important role in education of a children? Do you agree with me that this should be in primary school Daily based learning Multiannual Kodály based method Over the years, children will be taught to read and write music. using Dutch songs and singing games. Research shows these singing games are not only beneficial for teaching music skills, but also play an very important role in the development of social skills. Wich , Marjolein will now tell you more about. In collaboration with Powered by