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Brooks, Josh

College of Education and Social Services

M. Ed.

Despite the relative dearth of literature on the topic, songwriting can be a valuable learning and teaching tool in the classroom. What literature does exist addresses the many benefits of songwriting with young children, in particular. Songwriting supports literacy development, while providing an engaging avenue for addressing content in the classroom. Songwriting supports children's acquisition of musical skills and concepts, including rhythm, tone and composition. Songwriting supports the development of selfregulation and intersubjectivity, while also promoting active listening and selfexpression. Finally, songwriting can be therapeutic, helping children to deal with trauma, loss or illness.
While its benefits are uniformly touted, the vast majority of writing on methods and approaches to songwriting with young children is expository in nature, at odds with the highly personal and sometimes esoteric nature of the craft. This scholarly narrative attempts to re-frame the dialogue about songwriting with children, telling the story of one teaching songwriter's quest to re-define his role in songwriting with a class of eighteen kindergarteners through the process of teacher research. Topics addressed include: the role of songwriting in improving the children's communicative efficacy; 'Listening Time' as a forum for active listening and public discourse; the value of a multi-modal approach to teaching and learnjng; the importance of collegial support for the teaching artist; and the role of local and 'pop' culture in the children's songwriting process. While questions of methodology and pedagogy are addressed at length, at heart this is the story of how one teacher's passion can provide the foundation for building a vibrant learning community, blurring the line between 'teacher' and 'apprentice' in the process.