Can Music Help With Social-Emotional Learning to Fast-Track Your Students?

So, the short answer is yes. Music can help with social-emotional learning (SEL) and can fast-track learning in other areas of life.

But that’s not all. The impact of music on self-concept and SEL core competencies is even richer and more nuanced.

Today we want to explore how:

• Music builds self-awareness through emotional sensitization and self-assessment
• Musical learning is integral to developing social awareness and relationship skills
• Independence and responsible decision-making can grow from musical learning

1 - Music Sensitizes Emotions and Builds Emotional Vocabulary

What better vehicle for emotions is there than music? Music gives expression to the feelings that young people are experiencing but may not fully understand, creating a language framework for them to communicate with others and examine their emotions clearly.

Studies have shown that infants as young as nine months can recognize the difference between sad and happy music. By 20 months of age, babies can identify emotional and behavioral cues through music.

Emotional sensitization and understanding are essential for rational decision-making and enhance memory and learning.

Emotional sensitization directly affects all five core competencies of SEL:

• Self-awareness: The emotions conveyed through music help students articulate what they’re feeling beyond the basic “Fine” or “Not fine” generalizations.
• Self-management: Listening to music helps students regulate their emotions and improves their stress management and self-discipline. Lo-Fi study music exemplifies focus tools and anxiety reduction.
• Social awareness and relationship skills: Music and dance are effective tools in creating and maintaining social bonds and encouraging prosocial behavior.
• Responsible decision-making: Musical training boosts brain interconnectivity and engagement of the brain networks that regulate decision-making and impulse control.

A young person equipped with the tools to navigate their often terrifying and complex emotions will build stronger relationships and have more positive social interactions.

As an educator, you can enrich the classroom experience and emotional vocabulary of your students by incorporating music into their daily activities, such as during clean up, recess, and even disciplinary action.

Positive Action’s Program Music library is packed with valuable messages set to a fun, upbeat tempo that appeals to most young people.

2 - Musical Learning Creates a Sense of Community

Music forms a key part of the fabric of social communication. Remember how important nursery rhymes are during the kindergarten years? Or the impact that film scores and wedding songs can have?

Students receiving musical education, especially in groups, exercise these social skills and develop better social awareness and relationship skills.

A great example is showcased in this study of 180 students in after-school ensemble music programs. Researchers found that the students:

• Developed disciplined social cohesion (strong relationships) and a sense of solidarity within the program rules.
• Showed a significant increase in competence, confidence, connection, character, and caring.Growth in character, competence and caring was particularly evident.
• Reaped cognitive benefits, including improvement in brain functions (such as auditory processing, learning, and memory).

It just gets better.

A study on the effectiveness of the music-focused Kodaly educational model showed that students enrolled in music specializations:

• Experienced a closer connection with their peers, thanks to performing music together in their community.
• Shared the joy of performance, which reinforced group relationships as a positive experience.
• Experienced social-intellectual mobility, creating more divergent career plans than their peers.

Additionally, over 80% of children in music-focused classes didn’t feel lonely and had balanced and reciprocated social relationships with their peers.

When young people feel a sense of belonging in their community, they experience positive reinforcement which trickles into their behavior and academic achievements.

Case in point, a small town on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation experienced positive changes after integrating the Positive Action program:

“The Positive Action program gives us a common language for our children, their parents, and the community … and is compatible with our Native American values.”

3 - Music Helps Develop Accurate Self-Assessment

Self-awareness is a core element of social-emotional learning that provides students with the tools to practice self-honesty and to accurately assess their strengths and limitations.

Students exposed to a musical education, especially in groups, have to assess their abilities regularly in order to advance their musical skills.

Often, after a practice run or performance, the teacher will ask the students to gauge the quality of their performance using the “Fist to Five” scale (Fist = terrible, Five fingers = perfect).

Here’s how the skills of self-awareness are built into daily musical learning activities.

The student learns how to:

• See themselves honestly, enabling them to acknowledge all parts of themselves and respond to both compliments and critical feedback openly.
• Recognize their strengths and weaknesses, which gives them confidence and helps them to grow.
• Apply their inner drive towards self-work and growth. These positive activities build up their self-concept.

Check out how the skill of self-assessment can feed into other creative and life skills.

A student with self-confidence and self-efficacy will easily seek help in class or challenge themselves to learn new skills.

By developing their self-assessment skills, they’ll be able to identify what they know vs. what they don’t and come up with the next steps to take.

It’s the surest way to fast-track learning and equip students to deal with the increasing complexity of school and life as they grow older.

Here’s a great success story about a group of middle school students in New York who took part in the Positive Action program:

“Students enjoyed Positive Action. They broke out of their shell … showed a willingness to volunteer, students read out loud and gained confidence.”

4 - Music Specialization Fosters Independence and Reliability

Self-management skills are crucial for preparing students to navigate their lives with self-reliance, self-motivation, and a growth mindset. Teaching students self-management skills improves their performance, productivity, and behavior.

According to this study on primary school children,** musical training fosters independence and reliability**, which are integral to self-management.

Apart from academic performance, there are several positive benefits of encouraging independence in young people.

Let’s break them down.

Independent students:

• Develop self-motivation, which will carry them through many achievements in life.
• Develop decision-making skills because of their ability to weigh options.
• Gain a sense of importance and belonging essential for healthy social relationships.
• Believe in their own competence and capabilities and are thus resilient to challenges.
• Feel that they have control of their lives, thanks to their self-reliance.

Developing independence prepares students for the real world, outside of school, with key problem-solving, decision-making, critical thinking, and self-management skills.

Enhance Your Students’ Social and Emotional Development

The benefits of musical learning for cognitive and social-emotional development are undeniable and lifelong.

Educators can easily introduce music into their students’ lives through after-school programs, clubs, and simple music-based activities in class. If you’re interested in learning how Positive Action can help you implement social-emotional learning in your classroom or school, contact us or request a webinar.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I help my students develop social-emotional learning?

As an educator, implementing the Positive Action Curriculum, designed according to grade level and subject, will help you integrate social-emotional learning concepts into your students’ daily learning.

Here are a few ways you can build SEL into your daily lessons:

• Encourage positive actions, which lead to feeling good about oneself, and create a positive Thoughts-Actions-Feelings Circle.
• Teach self-management and impulse control through short and long-term goal setting as a foundation of lifelong success.
• Introduce the five-step responsible decision-making model that teaches children how to make constructive decisions.
• Highlight the diversity of individuals and encourage students to understand different perspectives.
• Encourage students to focus on others and treat them as they would like to be treated by recognizing and rewarding acts of service.

How can music enhance the learning process?

Music can enhance the learning process by enhancing memory, focus, and the social aspects of learning.

Introducing multi-sensory and psychosomatic (mind and body) interactions through music makes new information easier to remember as it connects more data points in the brain.

Music reinforces social bonds among students, making learning a positive communal experience and creating a positive feedback loop.

Incorporating music and rhythm into learning and reading exercises creates a pathway for focus. A music tempo of about 60–80 beats per minute is ideal as this falls within the normal range of a resting heartbeat. A relaxed body means the mind is open and ready to learn.

How do music and social-emotional learning benefit students?

Both music and social-emotional learning impart a wealth of practical soft skills to students.

We compare musical education skills with the corresponding SEL competencies and student benefits in the table below.

• Musical Learning Skill

• Develop emotional vocabulary

• Social-Emotional Learning Competency

• Self-Awareness

• Benefit to the Student

• Helps students recognize their feelings, strengths and weaknesses

• Musical Learning Skill

• Independence and self-reliance

• Social-Emotional Learning Competency

• Self-Management

• Benefit to the Student

• Helps students turn their dreams into reality

• Musical Learning Skill -Social cohesion -Strong sense of belonging

• Social-Emotional Learning Competency

• Social Awareness

• Relationship Skills

• Benefit to the Student -Helps them develop social connections and foster healthy relationships through empathy, respect, and communication

• Musical Learning Skill

• Accurate self-assessment and peer assessment

• Social-Emotional Learning Competency

• Responsible Decision Making

• Benefit to the Student

• Helps them gauge positive vs. negative actions and decisions