EVA LAUTERSZTEIN PITLIK, Israel

Evaluating strategies to promote choral singing in Arab and Jewish primary schools in Israel

Researches - such as “Sing Up”, The National Singing Program for Primary Schools in England - showed the positive impact of the program, irrespective of socioeconomic status, and a demonstrable connection between social inclusion and singing development (Welch et al, 2014). 

 

The focus of our investigation project in Israel was evaluating the pedagogical strategies that lead to three main types of findings:

 

1. A notably perceived success promoting musical and vocal skills, as well as social inclusion for every child, throughout collective singing in a choral setting.
    

2. Although living in a conflicted reality in the same Israeli city, the meeting between Arab and Jewish children was successful, as they listened respectfully to each other and sang together in both Hebrew and Arabic.
    

3. Besides musical education, there was evidence that students gained positive self-esteem, pride in belonging to a performing team, and a sense of contribution to the community through their own voice.

 

The project, which was conducted in the course of three years, involved 150 non-auditioned children in three different elementary schools within the same city.

 

In this presentation, you will be invited to experience the implementation of the inclusive pedagogy which was developed, and watch video clips of the project in Israel. It might be interesting for music educators/conductors to investigate whether a similar initiative could be implemented in their own countries.