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Area Leader Angela Mackenzie explains how singing can help children who need extra attention
As the teachers and pupils at our singing schools know, as well as being fun, singing is great for building self-esteem and confidence, for enhancing the curriculum, lifting the morale of a school community, and for encouraging both children and adults to work together as a team.
But did you know that singing can also be an excellent tool for behaviour management? As a music and singing teacher, a professional opera singer and, most recently, a teacher of children with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD), I have seen first-hand the beneficial effect that music and singing can have on children's self-esteem and behaviour.
POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR
Through my last job as a SENCO, Music and PSHE teacher, working with children at risk of permanent exclusion from their mainstream schools, I inadvertently became a behaviour management expert! As well as working with these challenging children, I advised schools and families on behavioural issues and achieved a Post-Graduate Certificate in BESD. Using all these strands of experience helped me realise that, as well as affecting behaviour in a positive way, singing can be used proactively as an effective tool for managing behaviour.
As anybody who works with children with BESD knows, there is no magic wand, or quick-fix solution. Effective behaviour management is about having a "tool box" of strategies and techniques you can employ when the circumstances demand it. Learning how to use singing to promote positive behaviour will just give you a few more handy tools to use.
Prevention is always better than cure, so I've put together a list of five useful tips and techniques you can try
1 Build a positive relationship with pupils: Don't underestimate the value of this as a behaviour management technique as it can often diffuse situations before they escalate. When you sing together with your class or school, not only are you sharing an enjoyable activity, you are also all listening to each other and working together as a team. Inevitably, a bond develops, and you can use the positive relationship you've built with pupils when the going gets tough.
2 Use distraction: This age-old trick is always worth a try, and a call-and-response song is an excellent way to get the attention of the class. You can also use it to change tack and wrong-foot any pupil on the brink of indulging in disruptive behaviour. Have a look in the Song Bank at Who are we?, Boom Chicka Boom or Hot potato.
3 Give them a task: Many children displaying disruptive behaviour are desperate for attention - so give them some! Let them lead a song, or demonstrate actions. Children usually react positively to being given responsibility and it builds their self-esteem.
4 Keep your lessons interesting: This may seem obvious, but changing tasks and adding in something different every 15 minutes is not only an effective strategy for dealing with children with ADHD, but it generally works for the whole class. Try adding The alphabet song to your Literacy lesson, Chocoholics to Maths or Use the force to Science. By doing this, you are keeping the subjects interesting, so attention doesn't drift, and enhancing learning.
5 Breathing and humming: To sing well (and in tune!) you need to develop a good breathing technique. The very mechanics of deep breathing can relax and focus your mind, plus lower your stress levels, by releasing endorphins. (These wonderful chemicals also make us happy - an added bonus!) Then concentrate on expelling air as a hum, changing pitch and dynamics. Persist with this and you will be able to use it to calm a rowdy class!
HAPPY DAYS
These are a few of the many ways that you can use singing to help you with behaviour management in the classroom. I'm a great believer that singing schools are happy schools, and a happy school has fewer behavioural problems. Since I've been Surrey's Sing Up Area Leader, I've spoken to lots of teachers and Heads who agree. Try it for yourselves!
Did you know?
A recent American study has shown that people engaging in synchronous activity together (eg. singing and chanting) become more likely to cooperate with other group members. Another reason to keep singing!
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