The Use of Music to Teach Life Skills to Students with Emotional Disabilities in the Classroom

This article discusses the teaching of life skills to urban American youths who are highly fascinated with the hip-hop culture--songs, raps, miming, lyrics, dressing and musical rhythms, especially individuals with emotional disabilities in the public schools. This is an instructional curriculum str...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inUS-China education review Vol. 7; no. 1; pp. 17 - 26
Main Author Obiozor, Williams Emeka
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 01.01.2010
Subjects
African American Students
Attendance
Classroom Techniques
Creative Teaching
Daily Living Skills
Emotional Disturbances
Individualized Instruction
Males
Music
Popular Culture
Self Control
Social Behavior
Special Needs Students
Student Behavior
Student Motivation
Teaching Methods
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Summary:This article discusses the teaching of life skills to urban American youths who are highly fascinated with the hip-hop culture--songs, raps, miming, lyrics, dressing and musical rhythms, especially individuals with emotional disabilities in the public schools. This is an instructional curriculum strategy to encourage positive and active participation of these students, promote perfect school attendance, encourage good behaviors, deal with anger management and motivate committed learning in the classroom. The instructors' understanding of students' culture, learning needs and styles, and using such background knowledge to educate them become imperative in this setting. These urge for innovative and leadership projects in the author's special education classroom necessitated the application of hip-hop music to teach life skills, reading and other functional skills in the classroom. The outcome was positive and rewarding to both the teachers and students. There are recommendations for interested teachers to devise creative teaching methods, differentiated instruction and appropriate classroom management practices to attain student achievement.
ISSN:1548-6613