Joint Music Making in a Montessori Classroom: Is There a Correlation Between Joint Music Making and Prosocial Experiences?

Abstract

Extensive research has been shown to support the idea that joint music making experiences significantly increase a sense of social connectedness among its participants. Research has further shown that shared musical experiences which include alignment to a central beat promote prosocial behaviors. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether joint music making experiences added during the morning session of a small private Montessori threeto six-year-old classroom would increase the prosocial and emotional behaviors of a four-yearold student who had been struggling in these areas. During the study, fifteen to twenty minutes of joint music making sessions were added every morning for two weeks, followed by one week of no joint music making sessions. This cycle repeated itself three times, creating a nine-week study. During the study, the child was observed and tally marks were collected noting a variety of social and emotional behaviors. The child’s behaviors and attitudes were also monitored and recorded on a rating sheet by his parent at the time of pick up and during the fifteen-minute ride home from school. A pre and post parental survey noted the effect of the sessions on the child’s behavior and attitude in the home. The cumulative results of the study showed that there was an increase in positive social and emotional behaviors throughout the nine-week period of the study. This study lends support to the idea that adding just fifteen minutes of joint music making experiences to early childhood classrooms may increase a sense of social connectedness among the students and increase prosocial behaviors.