CAN MUSIC BOOST SELF-CONFIDENCE AND ACCEPTABILITY? A LIVED EXPERIENCE

Authors

  • Muya Francis Kihoro School of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, South Eastern Kenya University, Kenya

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v8i9.3917

Keywords:

low esteem, mental challenge, music intervention, music, benefits of music, personality

Abstract

Music is beneficial to all people, even those living with challenges, and can boost their self-confidence and acceptability in society. Educators know that practice is one of the key psychological principles of learning and that repetition will lead to perfection in all areas, especially so in playing instruments. The following account is a personal intervention with a low-esteem, mentally challenged boy using music. The intervention was done at Limuru, a small town in Kiambu County, Kenya. It involved teaching the boy how to play the keyboard. The boy’s self-confidence changed noticeably after he was accepted as an integral part of the worship group in his church. It is envisaged that sharing this experience can inform parents, guardians, social workers, teachers and other personnel who deal with struggling students, low esteem or mentally challenged individuals on the benefits of music intervention, even as it spurs interest in research on benefits of exposure to music.

 

 

Author Biography

  • Muya Francis Kihoro, School of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, South Eastern Kenya University, Kenya
    The author holds a PhD in curriculum studies and is a lecturer in the Department of Educational Administration and Planning, in the School of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences at South Eastern Kenya University, Kitui, Kenya. His research interests are music as a tool in teaching and learning.

References

Ausubel, D. P. (1978). In defense of advance organizer, a reply to critics, Retrieved from ERIC.

Boxhill, E. H. (1985). Music Therapy for the Developmentally Disabled, Rockville, MD: Aspen Pblication, 1985

Cerruti C. (2013). Building a functional multiple intelligences theory to advance educational neuroscience. Front Psychol. 4:950. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00950

Fields, R. D. (2005). Making memories stick, Scientific American, February, 75-81

Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, New York: Basic Books.

Gardner, H., & Hatch, T. (1989). Multiple intelligences go to school: Educational implications of the theory of multiple intelligences. Educational Researcher, 18(8), 4-9.

Hetland, L. (2000). Listening to music enhances spatial-temporal reasoning: Evidence for the “Mozart-Effect.” The Journal of Aesthetic Education, 34, 105-148.

Kocabas E. O., & Ozeke S. (2012). Using music and musical activities in special education: developments in Turkey. International online journal of primary education, 2012, vol 1, issue 1p 86-92

Muya, F. K. (2016). Levels of teacher self-efficacy and use of music activities among preschool children in Nairobi and Kiambu counties, Kenya. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis, Kenyatta University.

Nzioki, S. (1990). Music time. Nairobi, East African Publishers

Overy, K. (2003). Dyslexia and music: From timing deficits to musical intervention. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 999, 497-505.

Richards, R. (2008). Memory Strategies for Students: The Value of Strategies. Exclusive LD online.

Sternberg R. J. (2012). Intelligence. Dialogues Clin Neurosci.14(1):19-27.

Viorel A. (2017). Music Therapy for children with intellectual disabilities, Science, Education and Innovation in the Arts, 101-108

Weibel, C. (2011). Principles of learning: 7 principles to guide personalized, student-centered learning in technology-enhanced, blended learning environment. Retrieved January 28, 2015 from http://principlesoflearning.wordpress.com

Whitwell, D. (1977). Music learning through performance. Texas: Texas Music Educators Association.

Downloads

Published

2021-09-01

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 9 (2021)

Section

Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).