Abstract
The purpose of this review is to examine the impact of music education on children’s socio-emotional development. More specifically, this paper will critically review the literature on the impact of music education on children’s emotional control, empathy, and social skills. Through the review of the literature, it is evident that research shows that music education, especially group musical activities, has a positive impact on children’s socio-emotional development. Music education helps children to control their emotions and to know themselves better. It also helps children to develop their ability of empathy, to know the emotions of others better. In addition, music education can help children to develop their confidence and collaboration ability, which contribute to the improvement of their social skills and relationships with others in groups. The studies have some methodological limitations. First, all the studies have sample bias. Second, the design of these studies is mostly cross-sectional. Third, the validity of the data, especially the self-report data, needs to be improved. However, the findings of these studies show that music education has an important role in developing children’s socio-emotional competencies. Future studies should overcome the methodological limitations of the current studies by using a longitudinal design and a more representative sample to explore the long-term impact of music education on socio-emotional and social skills development.
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