Promoting Social, Emotional, and Learning Skills of Students with and without Special Education Needs by Developing Teachers’ Capabilities in Music, Dance and Digital Competences (RYTHM4INCLUSION)

The project directly addresses the need to promote social inclusion in European Classrooms by developing, piloting and applying an innovative methodology to combine music and dance to promote social, emotional and learning skills of students, focusing on mixed classrooms that have children with special needs. The innovative learning approach to be explored promotes the use of rhythm to enhance the students' skills and promote an atmosphere of collaboration and respect in the classroom. The project partners' have years of experience in using arts and in specific dance and music in combination with traditional school curricula and in training teachers to use arts in their teaching practices. This project will move one step beyond to focus on rhythm (both in music and in dance and their combination) and how it could be used to promote student engagement and collaboration while at the same time promote the use of rhythm-based artistic techniques to manage the classroom and enable the effective inclusion of all children in the learning process. The central focus of the project is to implement and evaluate an Art (music/rhythm -dance/movement) and Resilience based Intervention Curriculum in a number of schools across Europe in order to enhance teachers’ scientific and practical knowledge, professional and personal skills and development. Specifically, the proposed project aims to provide school teachers with a flexible and innovative training program to help them deal with a wide range of students’ problems/difficulties (Emotional-Behavioral Disorders/Difficulties/ADHD (SEBD), Developmental Disorders-Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and facilitate the development of concrete techniques. Furthermore, the project addresses the social and educational value of European cultural heritage and promotes its use for educational purposes. In particular, the project will study how European cultures related to music and dance can feed its innovative pedagogical approach to form the basis for rhythm-based learning interventions for building inclusive learning environments. The project will contribute to the strengthening of the profile of the teaching profession, firstly by offering to teachers the necessary skills and knowledge to promote inclusive learning by using arts and in specific Music and Dance, secondly by acquiring psycho-pedagogical skills and knowledge that will enable identify the unique characteristics and needs of their students and build an atmosphere of collaboration and trust in the classroom in an engaging way. Finally, the project will also promote the acquisition of digital skills by teachers and give them the motivation and ability to document their teaching practices and experience in the form of digital stories using modern digital tools in order to further exchange ideas with their peers, thus building vivid communities of practice that will support them in their teaching activities.
Τhe project is implemented in association with the Technical University of Crete (which will develop a special platform for the continuous education/ support of the teachers), the Coventry University (England)-Institute of Serious Games, the educational organization “L.C. Educational” (Cyprus) and the Dance & Dance Therapy School, Viksjöfors skola (Sweden).
Offices: Laboratory of Psychology and Special Education, UCRC