GASPRO International Journal of Eminent Scholars

ABSTRACT

This study was to examine the roles of music in improving the behaviour and academic performance of children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Music is a vocal or instrumental sounds combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion. There have been many statements regarding to the roles of music on behaviour and academic performance of children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Music is a very powerful medium and there have been attempts to control its use. It is powerful at the level of the social group because it facilitates communication which goes beyond words, enables meanings to be shared, and promotes the development and maintenance of individual, group, cultural and national identities. Music is powerful at the individual level because it can induce multiple responses – physiological, movement, mood, emotional, cognitive and behavioral. The study concluded that music seems to improve academic performance of children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Music education has been decimated in schools around the globe, due to competition with academic performance and increasing lack of funding. Throughout the history, music has played a significant role in human life. It has been used to express and influence human thoughts, emotions and behavior in varied forms. Music has been used as a tool in treating human problems and bringing significant changes to human behavior and academic performances. One of the recommendations made was that school administrators should improve the standard of music in the school for the children to achieve their academic performance.

KEYWORDS:           Music, Behaviour, Academic Performance, Children, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties