Teacher Strategies for Creating Opportunities for Flow Experiences in Student Learning Through Music

Every day my second grade teacher spent time with the class gathered around a repurposed surfboard, the whole class singing along as she played guitar. For a young student, this was a daily time of leaving the rules of school behind and simply enjoying the moment with my classmates and teacher, getting lost in the music. Singing gave me a sense of being a part of something greater than myself, belonging to a group in a significant way, and feeling pure joy through vocal expression: experiences that Csikszentmihalyi has conceptualized as “flow.” Experiencing this phenomenon in an educational setting made school more fun, accessible, and worthwhile. My love of choral music continued throughout middle and high school, as meeting the challenge of a difficult vocal performance provided me with an unmatched feeling of self-accomplishment, group connection, and high enjoyment. This study is based on the possibility that if teachers are able to create this type of musical experience in an academic classroom, students may be more likely to become fully engaged in learning and “get lost” in the creation of a meaningful product during school time. How can teachers approach education in a way that captures the essence of a potential-fulfilling, body-consuming, emotionally immersive musical moment? What classroom strategies can teachers use to make such a meaningful phenomenon more likely among their students? This research will begin to answer these questions.Bachelor of Art