Het Aventurijncollege is a school for secondary special education for students between the ages of 12 and 18 at VMBO level who need extra support on behavior and / or social emotional development. All students at The Aventurine College take music lessons for 45 minutes a week. From different motivations, the school chose to integrate music into the curriculum a few years ago. First, Het Aventurijncollege wants to connect as much as possible with the educational program of regular secondary education. Music is often part of the curriculum here. A second motivation is that the school has noticed that many students benefit from the subject of music. The music lessons are a way for students to learn to express their emotions and encourage students to step out of their comfort zone. The final motivation is that music education encourages the development of executive functions. The students of Het Aventurijncollege are struggling with complex problems such as autism, ADHD and/or trauma. A large percentage of people with autism, ADHD and/or trauma experience problems with various cognitive abilities called executive functions (Dawson and Guare, 2019). Het Aventurijncollege wants to encourage the development of the executive functions of the students to reduce the transition to regular further education. The aim of this research is therefore to stimulate both the musical development and the development of the executive functions in music lessons in a flexible and inclusive learning environment in which learning opportunities for students are optimized taking into account different learning styles, backgrounds, interests and challenges.
To formulate the main question, a needs and context analysis was first done. This was largely done by interviewing Lyssa Thielen (supporting school leader). In response to the need and context analysis, the main question has been formulated: in what way can the Universal Design for Learning contribute to inclusive music lessons in secondary special education that encourage the development of executive functions? To answer this main question, a literature review was conducted into executive functions and Universal Design for learning (UDL). This research resulted in design criteria for a series of five lessons in which both musical goals and the development of executive functions are worked on.
The needs and context analysis showed that the students at Het Aventurijncollege need a wide variety of support. In addition, it emerged that the development of executive functions can also vary widely within one class, because this also strongly depends on the problems that the students have. Based on this fact, this research investigated how UDL can contribute to inclusive music lessons in which all students can learn at their own level. The UDL is a framework aimed at creating flexible, inclusive learning environments for all students. Within the framework, different learning styles, backgrounds, interests, and challenges are taken into account. UDL is based on three principles. The first principle, involvement, indicates that it is important to create a learning environment in which all students are motivated and involved and in which it is taken into account that students can differ greatly in how they are motivated and involved. The second principle indicates that it is important to offer multiple ways of representation because students differ in the way they best understand and absorb information. The last principle, action and expression, gives students differences in how they can express what they know. That there is no one way optimal for all students. So offer different ways of action and expression so that all students have the opportunity to express themselves in the way that is most optimal for them.
Subsequently, a literature search was carried out into the executive functions. The literature review used the literature from Dawson and Guare (2019). Dawson and Guare assume eleven different executive functions that can be divided into two groups. The first group of executive functions is about the thinking skills with which we choose and realize goals and our problem-solving ability. The second group of executive functions are about skills that we need to achieve a goal. It is about skills that guide our behavior or with which we can adjust our behavior. The positive influence of music education on the development of executive functions has already been demonstrated in research(Jaschke, 2018; Villamizar, 2021). Research indicates that music education can improve a number of important executive skills such as sustained attention, working memory and reaction inhibition. In addition, playing an instrument requires the cooperation of multiple executive skills. It can contribute to the development of flexibility, planning and problem-solving skills. Thus, music education can serve as a valuable tool in improving executive functions and general cognitive development. Both studies indicate that more research is needed to determine the specific ways in which music education affects executive function.
Based on this literature review, design criteria were drawn up and a first prototype was designed. This prototype consists of a music lesson in which students are explicitly engaged in listening to music and with the concept of concentration. Feedback was given on this prototype by three respondents from the field. This showed that many different executive functions are already being worked on in a lesson. More than initially expected in the study. In addition, this feedback showed that the feedback in the lessons was not sufficiently focused on the process and that there were too few opportunities for differentiation in terms of the goals aimed at the executive functions.
Based on the design criteria and the feedback on the prototype, a design was made that consists of a series of five lessons in which both musical goals and executive function goals are explicitly worked on. These lessons were taught by me to a class in the second grade. These lessons were filmed and observed by three respondents from the field. The observations showed that the design criteria were well met. However, there are a number of recommendations for a follow-up design. In this way, the link between the musical goals and the executive function goals can be explained more explicitly to the students. In addition, the observations showed that it is important to balance the pressure on executive functions. If you want the students to work on one of the executive functions, you may take the pressure off other executive functions.
The answer to the main question of this research can actually be summarized in the design of the lesson series that has been made. By using the UDL framework as a framework in the design of the lessons, it is possible to design music lessons that work on both musical goals and goals in the field of executive function and where the lesson is optimized for the learning needs of each individual student.