NASTAVA GLAZBE I DJECA S DOWNOVIM SINDROMOM

Abstract

Music is often used in the upbringing and education of children with Down syndrome because of the different possibilities for achieving developmental and therapeutic goals. Music has been found to favour the emotional development of children with Down syndrome, especially in identifying and recognizing emotions. Additionally, actively engaging in music for children with Down syndrome has positive effects on the acquisition and development of socio-emotional, motor, cognitive, and communication abilities and skills and helps them with self-organizing and encouraging their social interaction. Namely, music can facilitate parent-child interaction with Down syndrome and increase a child’s attachment to their parents. In addition, music can stimulate the psycho-emotional expression of children with Down syndrome, which is reflected through thinking, concentration, reasoning, and mood. Children with Down syndrome are happy to participate in musical activities, and respond well to music, and want to participate in group musical activities. Teaching music is especially useful for both learning and class interaction because music and musical activities will increase the self-esteem of a child with Down syndrome. In this paper, we will present the observations obtained through the case study procedure, i.e. the systematic observation of a student with Down syndrome in the teaching of the subject of Music Culture during the three school years, i.e. from 2018/19 until 2020/21. The student, along with a teaching assistant, currently attends the eighth grade in a Slavonian school and studies according to the regular teaching programme with the adjustment of content and individualized procedures in all subjects. We will present the peculiarities of her school learning as well as the educational needs that served as a starting point in creating an individualized curriculum in the subject of Music Culture. Through systematic observation and research diary, we monitored the development of abilities as well as the acquisition of knowledge and skills of the student during the teaching of the subject Music Culture, and we will present learning strategies and sociological forms of work that we applied in working with students.