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  • Essay / Musical Movement Program in Education

    Previous studies implementing musical movement programs have largely focused on preschool education and supported the effectiveness of these programs on children's locomotor development and rhythmic ability preschool age, as well as on the cognitive development of preschool children. Additionally, Tsapakidou, Zachopoulou, and Zografou (2001), drawing on the musical movement methods of Orff (Keetman, 1974) and Dalcroze (Bachman, 1991), found that their implementation over a three-month period improves the spatial perception of students aged 4 to 6 years, their reaction to an audio stimulus, rhythmic ability and ability to make decisions. Yet the number of studies examining the effect of music and movement programs on children in primary and secondary schools is rather rare. Notable exceptions are the studies of Chatzipandeli, Pollatou, Diggelidis and Kourtesis (2007), Likesas and Zachopoulou (2006) and Lykesas, Koutsoumba and Tyrovola (2009). These studies also suggest that music and movement programs can influence students on a variety of factors. More specifically, Chatzipandeli et al. demonstrated that a program including exercises accompanied by music improved the manipulative skills of 1st year primary school students. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Similarly, Likesas and Zachopoulou (2006) reported that a musical movement program increases the enjoyment and intrinsic motivation of elementary school students while teaching them traditional Greek dances during physical education lesson. Lykesas, Koutsoumba and Tyrovola (2009) examined the creativity of high school students during traditional dance classes, indicating a strong effect on it. In addition, Murray (1975) recommends that teachers use dance in elementary schools because of its effectiveness on the parameters of rhythmic skills and on several other locomotor and non-locomotor skills. This evidence demonstrates that rhythmic exercises can be effectively applied across a wide range of grade levels in primary school to promote students' locomotor skills. However, such activities are usually only integrated in the first three years of primary school. Yet, previous evidence has demonstrated that simple rhythms (i.e., 2/4, 6/8) can be used for younger students ages 6 to 8, whereas more complex rhythms (i.e., 2/4, 6/8) i.e. 7/8 and 9/8) can be used. be used with older primary school students (Serbezis & Panagopoulou, 2008). In addition, rhythms with a regular temporal structure stand out and are better reproduced than irregular rhythms (Grahn & Brett, 2007; Patel, Iversen, Chen and Repp, 2005). Such rhythms have been found to effectively increase the student's rhythmic ability (Pavlidou, Mertzanidou, & Zissi, 2009). It is important to note that, as Zachopoylou et al. (2003) noted, these activities are enjoyable and do not require special equipment. Generally, national physical education programs decrease the time allocated to music education and movement in the upper grades of elementary schools in favor of games and sports (Hardman, Klein, Patriksson, Rychtecký, & da Costa, 2008). However, musical movement education in these classes can still help students increase their locomotor development and better acquire sports skills. In this sense, musical movement education should be integrated into physical education lessons. A possible way to achieve this without interrupting the teaching of other physical education subjects, but by..