Date of Award
Spring 4-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ed.D. Transformational Teaching and Learning
Department
Secondary Education
First Advisor
Dr. Christopher S. Weiler
Second Advisor
Dr. Amber Pabon
Third Advisor
Dr. Dave Ramage
Abstract
Music education has long been recognized as a subject that encourages student learning beyond the walls of the music classroom. While elementary music programs often foster language development and social awareness, secondary music instruction tends to emphasize performance skills and technical development. The explicit secondary orchestra curriculum for this middle school includes only instrument skill-development standards and learning-target descriptions. In this fourth-marking-period sixth-grade orchestra class, coursework—including students’ journal reflections, classroom dialogue, and comparison soundscape projects—operated intentionally “within the cracks” of the formal curriculum to create opportunities for the students to express and engage with emotions, identity, belonging, empathy, perspective-taking, and social relationships central to social and emotional learning concepts. Using qualitative thematic narrative analysis, patterns within the data suggested that reflective journals, classroom conversations, and multimodal (soundscape) compositions provided openings for students to articulate experiences, consider multiple perspectives, and engage with social and emotional ideas within the resonant space of this secondary music classroom.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Lerch, Margaret E., "Resonant Cracks in the Music Curriculum: Integrating Social and Emotional Learning in the Secondary Music Classroom" (2026). Education Doctorate Dissertations. 58.
https://research.library.kutztown.edu/edddissertations/58
Included in
Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, Educational Leadership Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Music Education Commons, Music Pedagogy Commons, Music Performance Commons, Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education Commons, Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons
