Abstract
This chapter discusses the value and importance of music education in maximising student wellbeing and development in the post COVID-19 learning landscape. The importance of participatory music-making, including ensemble performance, is explored, acknowledging research pointing to the value of this area of music education. The rapid development of the neuro-musical field of research over the past twenty years has enabled understanding of the significant benefits of music towards physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional child development. Learning a musical instrument involves the whole brain, including motor networks, auditory processing, linguistic networks, working memory and visual cortices. The landmark longitudinal population-sized study of 112,000 public school students in British Columbia showed that participation in school instrumental music is directly related to higher exam scores (Guhn et al., J Educ Psychol 112:308–328, 2020). This chapter also examines how participatory music education increases child wellbeing and strengthens their sense of social cohesion. There is a growing body of research on the wellbeing and cohesion outcomes of music education programs delivered in low socio-economic communities, modelled on Venezuela’s El Sistema (Osborne et al., Music Educ Res 18:156–175, 2015). These findings have relevance for school communities of all demographics. In the post-COVID-19 landscape music’s ability to build social cohesion, allow for emotional release, and provide proven cognitive development will be pivotal in assisting students to rebuild connections and counteract developmental delay due to interrupted learning.
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Acknowledgements
With thanks to Associate Professor Mathew White and Professor Faye McCallum for your leadership and vision on this project. Deep thanks also to the music educators, researchers, performers and students whose activities are explored in this chapter; collectively your efforts are renewing and strengthening music education.
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Dollman, E. (2023). The Value of Music Education for Child Development and Wellbeing in the Post COVID-19 Landscape. In: White, M.A., McCallum, F., Boyle, C. (eds) New Research and Possibilities in Wellbeing Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-5609-8_7
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