General Music and SEL: A Matter of Equity

Abstract

As we consider how best to help our students achieve, we must work to ensure that our practices are equitable. That is, we must make certain that each of our students are equipped with the skills and opportunities to be successful in school and in life. Equity must be a central goal for all educators—in all academic areas. A general music classroom alignment with Social and Emotional Learning can, if implemented with fidelity and purpose, help promote equity in a number of important ways by acknowledging systemic inequities, identifying personal bias, and actively disrupting barriers to equity that plague so many schools.

Be Intentional: Anti-Racist Music, SEL, and DEI Alignments

“…Some, often rooted in folk songs, might appear perfectly innocent at first. But, by digging just a little deeper, we learn that some common general music selections have been "whitewashed" and often reinforce "an offensive and racist history that has no place in a general music classroom" (Varner, 2021). Songs with offensive histories, inappropriate themes, or other racist overtones-that is, mocking and/or degrading various cultures-should be removed to actively disrupt some of the many barriers to success experienced by our most vulnerable populations.…”