As Room 217 broadens its reach to include training educators in both elementary and secondary schools, our mission has expanded to help address social and emotional learning (SEL) outcomes through the power of music. SEL plays a crucial role in shaping resilient, purpose-driven, and socially successful students, and music is an ideal medium to support this essential area of human development.

Social and emotional learning encompasses a set of skills and competencies that allow children to develop healthy and supportive relationships by fostering positive self-perception, empathy for peers, effective collaboration, and a strong sense of identity. Through SEL, children learn to identify and manage their emotions in healthy ways, build personal resilience, and develop coping strategies. Additionally, SEL aims to amplify students voice, advance equity, and strengthen partnerships between teachers, students and their families. RESEARCH suggests that SEL is integral not only to academic success but also to personal well-being, mental health, and overall life satisfaction.

Educators have long recognized that music serves as a powerful conduit for students to identify, express, and connect with their emotions. A wide range of programs and platforms now exists to help teachers integrate music with mindfulness activities and breathing practices, creating a calm and focused learning environment. For example, Save The Music Foundation, in partnership with the Center for Arts Education and Social Emotional Learning, offers a professional learning program specifically designed to intersect music with SEL Student Empowerment Through SEL in Music Education (savethemusic.org). —empowering students through music education. Programs like these equip teachers with the resources to help students build agency and self-efficacy by centering students' lived experiences, voices, and cultural narratives.

Engaging with music—whether through creation, performance, or listening—allows students to connect with the art form in meaningful ways, fostering skills that extend beyond the music classroom. Music helps children and youth draw connections between their own lives and the shared threads of the human experience. Participation in music-making, whether in a group performance or a solo endeavor, can build self-confidence and develop the collaborative skills necessary to achieve common goals. Additionally, listening to lyrics, whether from contemporary songs or music of the past, can help students feel less isolated as they navigate the complexities of growing up, understanding relationships, and coping with change, crisis, heartbreak, and loss. Teachers who intentionally integrate music into their educational settings can effectively embed and sustain SEL practices within their classrooms.

Having been a music teacher myself, I was always aware of the dual role music played in my students' lives. The curriculum I followed was designed to be purposeful, challenging, and exciting, offering a refreshing departure from the rest of their school day. But beyond that, it provided opportunities for students to develop self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Music demands goal-setting and perseverance, yet it also brings joy. I cherished the moments when my students lost their self-consciousness, whether playing drums in a group, singing together, or conquering a challenging task I had set for them. These experiences often fostered a sense of belonging, mutual respect, and healthy collaboration, where every student felt a sense of agency.

The skills developed in the music classroom are highly transferable to life beyond school. Over my 25 years in education, I have observed a decline in discipline and determination among students. I recall one student who initially wanted to quit learning the ukulele because the strings hurt her fingers. When I encouraged her to persevere, explaining that the discomfort would pass as her fingers grew stronger, she stormed out of the classroom. However, as the weeks went by, my students began to wear their hardening fingertips as badges of honor, a sign that they had been practicing at home and were willing to endure minor discomforts for the sake of progress. Eventually, the discouraged student came around, mastering a beautiful song that we performed together for the school community. The pride she felt in overcoming adversity was evident, and this experience served as a powerful lesson in resilience.

In today’s culture of quick fixes and immediate gratification, opportunities for developing self-discipline are becoming scarce. The ukulele became more than just an instrument for my students; it was a source of comfort, a medium for expressing their experiences, and a symbol of personal achievement. It represented a feather in their cap of strengths and abilities, a tangible reminder of their capacity to overcome challenges.



Music offers educators a valuable tool for fostering SEL in their students, but beyond that, it is one of the most deeply rewarding and purely enjoyable ways to experience what it means to be human. Music connects us to others in profoundly human ways and equips us with the skills needed to thrive in today’s world. As students and teachers step into a new school year, may music fill their hearts, lives, and minds with the potential to bring out the best in themselves, their well-being, and their relationships with others.