A Review of the Literature on the Relationship of Music Education to the Development of Socio-Emotional Learning

Judit Váradi

doi:10.1177/21582440211068501

Abstract

Social-emotional learning (SEL) is a topic of increasing focus in the education sector. SEL is the process by which children acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to effectively recognize and manage emotions, to formulate positive goals, to feel empathy for others, to establish and maintain functioning social relationships. It develops to take responsible decisions, determine students’ successful academic performance, transformation into adulthood, useful work, a good quality of life, and well-being. By the end of the 20th century the educational role of music has come into the spotlight, and in addition to the impact of music on the development of general skills, its social and emotional effects are also the subject of research. This paper undertakes to explore the literature about the connections between music education and social-emotional skill development. For the collection and analysis of information, online sources of peer-reviewed scientific journals in addition to the university library were used. The study also examined the relationship between social-emotional learning and the world-wide well-known Kodály Concept and the effect of Kodály’s vision of music education as a forerunner of socio-emotional skills development. The relationship between social-emotional skills and music was explored by reviewing the international music-specific literature from music psychology, music education, music therapy, and music for health and wellbeing. In order to illuminate the problem and to develop a holistic approach, the 100 studies presented here summarize research findings made and presented in different countries around the world.

Highlights

In recent decades, research has focused on whether it is possible to transfer values in education and if so, how exactly
At the turn of the 20th century, the common feature of approaches to pedagogical reform lay in the great importance attributed to the development of artistic, physical, and social skills (Váradi, 2019)
We draw from of previous research and literature to explore how music education can contribute to the role of socialization by assisting emotional development

Summary

Introduction

Research has focused on whether it is possible to transfer values in education and if so, how exactly. In addition to respecting children’s need for freedom, a coherent system of pedagogical theories and practices was later enriched by the need to create a sense of community (Pukánszky & Németh, 1996). In addition to the transfer of knowledge, schools play a significant role in the process of socialization. Socialization is the process of integration into society, during which individuals learn, among other things, about themselves, their environment, the rules of social coexistence, socially acceptable behavior, values and norms, the basic rules of institutional and community behavior, as well as the necessary skills for the integration into adult society (Meszaros et al, 2003; Németh, 1997). The question arises as to how we as a music educators can help this process, and what possibilities and methods are available to us to that end

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Conclusion