Background Music in the Lower Elementary Montessori Classroom

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which playing background music in a Lower Elementary Montessori classroom supports purposeful engagement. This study was conducted at a public charter Montessori school in a Lower Elementary classroom in the Midwest. In this classroom, there were 21 children aged 6-9 years old. Over an eight-week period, divided into two-week intervals, three types of music were played and two weeks without background music. These music types include jazz, classical, and piano music. This was a mixed methods study with qualitative and quantitative data collected and analyzed. The data was collected from observations and through a student survey. The results of this study suggest that playing background music does support purposeful engagement in a Lower Elementary Montessori classroom. This action research study provides evidence that background music not only supports purposeful engagement, it also shows that playing background music fosters a quiet, peaceful environment for children to engage in.