Enhancing Social Competence in the Music Classroom

Abstract

Strong social skills are vital for successful functioning in life. Social skills can affect academic success, peer relationships, family relationships, employment, and extracurricular and leisure activities. Children and adolescents who display academic, social, and behavioral deficits are at risk for both short-term and long-term negative social and academic outcomes (Lane, Givner, & Pierson, 2004). In fact, longitudinal studies have shown a connection between behavioral and social difficulties and substandard academic achievement as children mature (Bracken & Fischel, 2007; Lane et al., 2004). Furthermore, research suggests that students with deficits in social and behavioral skills frequently show higher rates of school dropout, impaired social relationships, unemployment or underemployment, substance abuse, unstable and unfulfilling personal lives, and a lack of postsecondary education and training (Lane et al., 2004). In addition, students with poor social skills are more likely to be rejected by their peers and more likely to be the victims of bullying (Milsom & Glanville, 2009). Because of disability-specific deficits that lead to fewer interactions with peers and/or difficulty establishing meaningful relationships, children with disabilities are at a much greater risk for demonstrating poor social skills (Bellini, 2004; Boo & Prins, 2006; Milsom & Glanville, 2009). According to recent figures from the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (2008), 13.5% of the total public school enrollment demonstrated some type of disability that qualified them for services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) during the 2006–2007 academic year. Given the large number of students served under IDEA, the likelihood that music educators will teach students with some type of disability is high. Moreover, the likelihood that those students with disabilities will demonstrate poor social skills is also high. Children need opportunities to learn social skills, practice those skills, and receive corrective feedback about their performance of those skills. Because music is an inherently social activity, the music classroom is an ideal place to help students develop or improve vital social skills. Specific Social Skill Objectives That Can Be Incorporated Into the Music Classroom