Participating in professional learning can be energising and inspiring, but introducing what you’ve learned into your own practice – and sustaining it over the long term – can be hard. Taking small, simple steps on a regular basis was a key feature of what endured for teachers in a recent Australian research study of music-based approaches to nurture wellbeing.
The study followed 6 generalist primary teachers who took part in the music therapy informed professional learning program Music for Classroom Wellbeing, which focused on intentional use of music practices to foster a safe and supportive learning environment. Six months after the end of the 16-week program the teachers were interviewed about the lasting impact, including how they were sustaining their use of music.
The researchers have shared their findings in the Australian Journal of Education (AJE) (Steele et al., 2025). ‘One of the most encouraging aspects of the study was seeing teachers continue to use music in small, simple and sustainable ways,’ lead author Dr Megan Steele tells Teacher.
‘The professional learning was never about turning teachers into specialists or expecting complex therapeutic interventions in already busy classrooms. In fact, the findings reinforce earlier research showing that when music making is perceived as highly specialised or technical, teachers can feel that it is not for them.
‘What seemed to endure were the accessible practices: short singing rituals, gentle transitions using rhythm, brief listening moments to reset the room, or simple co-created songs connected to classroom learning. These were embedded into existing routines rather than added as something extra. That distinction is important. Teachers are already carrying significant cognitive and emotional load. Sustainable integration happens when music becomes a way of working, not another initiative to implement.’
Dr Steele says that while the original project focused on generalist primary teachers, the principles can be broadly applied to diverse learner needs. ‘Generalist teachers in particular often express uncertainty about their musical skill level. What the study showed is that confidence grows through use, and that children respond to authenticity and relational presence more than technical proficiency.’
What happened in the program?
The Music for Classroom Wellbeing professional learning program invited teachers to explore how they could promote the wellbeing of all students in a way that was personally meaningful to them. The early weeks focused on collaborative planning, with Dr Steele (the program facilitator) observing each teacher in the classroom, and discussing resources and wellbeing needs. They also worked together to set professional learning and student learning intentions.
In the second phase Dr Steele mentored the teachers. ‘In addition to a weekly classroom-based session with each teacher and their students, this process involved regularly meeting with teachers to plan for classroom sessions. The program facilitator also engaged in music making activities to address teachers’ personal wellbeing needs. Additionally, all 6 teachers met as a group at fortnightly facilitated professional learning community meetings,’ the authors explain in their AJE paper.
How did it impact their practice in the long term?
Six months on, the researchers found the teachers were still using music in 3 distinct ways.
1. Strengthening relationships
Several teachers said sharing music helped strengthen student-student relationships by encouraging collaboration, friendship and attentive listening. They described students working together, making eye contact, supporting one another and reflecting on how the classroom is managed. They also reported stronger teacher–student relationships, with one noting it helped them connect more authentically with students. And researchers highlight an unintended effect for some teachers who used music away from work – it helped strengthen family relationships.
2. Regulating emotions
The second sustained practice was teachers’ intentional use of music to help regulate emotions. They described how singing made students happier and more motivated, and how they used music as a go-to when thinking about student behaviour and needs, but also the positive impact on their own mood in the classroom and beyond school.
‘Some spoke about using music to ready themselves in the morning before students arrived,’ Dr Steele tells Teacher. ‘Others described the ripple effects of making more music with their families or joining a local choir. This aligns with broader literature suggesting that music can function as a co-regulatory resource not only for students but also for educators. Importantly, this was not framed as another self-care task, but as something woven into everyday life.’
3. Differentiating learning
Teachers described how they used music to address individual student needs. ‘This had been an important focus within the program, emphasising inclusive pedagogies in keeping with the Australian Professional Teaching Standards appropriate to their level of teaching expertise,’ the researchers write. This included adapting activities for different skill levels and using simple resources. Four of the teachers had started to integrate music into other curriculum areas, using techniques such as rhymes and chants in literacy and numeracy learning.
Where to start – make it small and relational
Sharing her advice for Teacher readers who want to use music more in their own classrooms, Dr Steele says simplicity is key. ‘For teachers who are interested but feel the weight of competing demands, my advice would be to start very small and relational.
‘Choose one predictable moment in the day, such as a morning greeting, pack-up time, or the transition after lunch, and introduce a consistent musical element. It might be a repeated chant, a familiar melody, or even 2 minutes of shared listening. The goal is not performance quality but connection, regulation and shared experience.’
AJE special issue on Arts in Education
The AJE article ‘I Think About Music and How This can Help’ – Exploring Sustained Outcomes From a Music Therapy Informed Teacher Professional Learning Program is available online and open access until the end of March. It’s also part of the journal’s Special Issue for April on Arts in Education. Guest Editor, ACER Senior Research Fellow Rachel Felgate, writes in her editorial: ‘In bringing this collection together, I was struck by how each contribution speaks to how the arts continue to help us make sense of our world, even as that world shifts around us.’
References
Steele, M. E., Crooke, A. H. D., & McFerran, K. S. (2025). ‘I Think About Music and How This can Help’ – Exploring Sustained Outcomes From a Music Therapy Informed Teacher Professional Learning Program. Australian Journal of Education, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/00049441251392282
What strategies do you use to support emotional regulation for students (and for yourself) during the school day?
With a group of colleagues, share the simple, everyday practices that help shift mood, focus or energy levels in your classroom.
Thinking about professional learning you’ve undertaken in the last 12 months, which elements (if any) have endured in your day-to-day practice? Why do you think this is?
