SEL, Mindfulness, and the Art of General Music Education

General music education, if practiced with intentionality, has the potential to be a passionate act of hope with tremendous implications for the academic, social, and emotional needs of students. General music specialists have the capacity to expose students to the very best parts of life itself: joy, playfulness, respect, gratitude, creativity, persistence, resilience, curiosity, and so much more. The general music teacher is well positioned to help students develop relationships with long-held human insights and best practices in living an art filled, meaningful life. A few key skills students can learn in the general music classroom include cooperation, communication, positive peer interactions, recognition and support of the rights of others, dependability, responsibility, focus of personal attention, impulse control, delayed gratification, and acceptance of consequences. All 21st-century life skills that are integral to education and human development.