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ScienceDirect Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 237 (2017) 499 – 504

7th International Conference on Intercultural Education “Education, Health and ICT for a Transcultural World”, EDUHEM 2016, 15-17 June 2016, Almeria, Spain

Music education as a tool to improve socio-emotional and intercultural health within adverse contexts in El Salvador María del Mar Bernabé Villodre* Universidad de Valencia, Facultad de Magisterio, Avda. Tarongers, 4, 46022 Valencia (España)

Abstract Educators must address emotional, affective, social and intercultural health, taking into account learners’ specific cultural and economic context in their teaching. This article discusses the experience in la Comunidad Iberia in San Salvador (El Salvador), one of the most conflict-ridden areas in the country. Here, educators created a music education program as a tool to prevent violence and improve the students’ socio-emotional health. This group’s lives had been characterized by affective, economic, emotional and intercultural deprivation, which prompted feelings of disdain for their own culture. The process followed led them to consider music as an instrument to improve their social, affective and cultural relationships. © 2017 2016The TheAuthors. Authors. Published Elsevier © Published by by Elsevier Ltd.Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of EDUHEM 2016. Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of EDUHEM 2016. Keywords: Music education; socio-emotional health; interculturalism

1. Introduction Music forges a path toward emotional understanding through activities such as auditory comprehension of the composer’s emotions, or improvisation, which commits the learner to listening to the other. We can consider this music education process to be comprehensive since it implies the transmission of fundamental values that allow learners to view musical work as a cultural and emotional product. Artistic cultural production (Bernabé, 2015) cannot be considered something individual, since it encompasses elements brought in from other time periods and other cultures. From this perspective, art can be understood as a tool

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +34-963983180; fax: +0-000-000-0000 . E-mail address: [email protected]

1877-0428 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of EDUHEM 2016. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2017.02.098

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María del Mar Bernabé Villodre / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 237 (2017) 499 – 504

for intercultural citizenship, allowing individuals to be in touch with their own emotions and at the same time with those of their peers. That said, when working in socially disadvantaged groups we have to ask ourselves what educational, social and emotional priorities should be set for learners: Do they need to first receive intercultural training? Will the exercise foster a positive cultural self-concept? This article argues that music education based on intercultural education principles will allow an improved self-concept and self-image and thus contribute to positive socio-emotional—and hence intercultural—health, given the principles emphasized during the project. Thus, the main aim of this study is to use the experience gained in El Salvador to demonstrate that music education can improve the socio-emotional health of students and promote intercultural understanding in a classroom of young people at high risk of social exclusion. We perceived it to be very necessary to attain this intercultural situation given the loss of cultural identity apparent in Salvadoran society, so damaged by conflict and its economic and political situation. 2. The Republic of El Salvador, Central America El Salvador has the highest rate of deaths and “disappearances” worldwide (Acevedo, 2008), which undoubtedly affects the world view of students and their families. The country’s civil war brought with it massacres and torture of the civilian population, a strategy the Salvadoran military implemented to intimidate civilians and destabilize any external attempts at intervention (Zúñiga, 2010). The aftermath of the war is still visible in the overwhelming number of broken families; the high rate of migration, illiteracy and poverty; and the scarce attention paid to the importance of the educational process. Beyond these factors, the war’s consequences have also had an impact on how the student body understands life and death, its apprehension regarding education, and a detachment from family. Together, these circumstances drive many into the hands of gangs, or maras (Moratalla, 1990). Children raised in an environment characterized by an absence of parental figures, physical and psychological abuse, and both financial and nutritional scarcity—in short, children with negative socio-emotional health—can easily fall into delinquency, abuse and physical aggression in order to defend themselves from a society that has mistreated them. Juvenile violence is the sad reality that the country lives as a result of its recent history and the lack of positive and adequate socio-emotional health. Certainly, dealing with intercultural education is seemingly inaccessible for this particular demographic. 3. Music education as an educational tool to achieve health and interculturality In this context, Salvadoran students from regions such as Comunidad Iberia of San Salvador need an educational model based on prevention. The pedagogy developed at the Instituto Técnico Obrero Empresarial Don Bosco (Don Bosco Technical Worker Business Institute) of the Polígono Industrial Don Bosco (Don Bosco Industrial Park, a center that develops musical education activities), was based on several principles, including: increased classroom time, consisting of service by educators to the student body within the same schedule and of artistic activities (among them, the activities included in this paper); plus diverse meetings and psychological attention to reduce and eliminate conduct that negatively impacts personal and social development. As of 2010, thanks to the Polígono Industrial Don Bosco’s initiative, art classes were introduced to minors at risk of exclusion (Bernabé, 2014a). This initiative helped them to improve their self-image, and to understand that they had a right to artistic beauty; their socio-emotional health improved as they realized that the rest of the country valued them as they deserved. These were the individual objectives achieved with this experience. From there, the Polígono’s student body required systemization, structure, order and rigor in the educational process, in order to extrapolate the values transmitted through musical activities and apply them to their socio-affective development outside of the classroom. Thus, among the musical objectives, the project focused on achieving the following within this group of students: x A reduction in violent behavior and conduct towards their peers, by means of respect toward peers’ turns to perform. x An increased appreciation toward their peers for their contributions (intellectual, social, cultural, affective, etc.), by means of creating body percussion movements to accompany the songs.


x x

To work on the most appropriate tools in order to improve social and affective behavior, by means of addressing the different auditory parameters. To control emotions and show empathy towards their classmates, through passive listening and body movements that respond to those stimuli.

3.1. Student body: age, profile, and needs The work groups were composed of students aged 4 to 20, but this article focuses on the experiences of the students completing their Baccalaureate studies (the final three years of high school), which were totally different than those of younger students, in order to highlight the program’s results in older, more mature students who were also the group facing the most difficulties and were at the greatest risk of exclusion. Baccalaureate students were within the age group targeted by both police and military forces in the capital (although the practice is commonplace throughout the country) for increased vigilance throughout Comunidad Iberia and in other checkpoints in the city. Students were also routinely searched when entering or leaving the city center, bars, shopping centers, etc. The younger students were not subjected to this constant harassment. This situation directly contributed to them feeling undervalued, excluded, and hurt, undermining their selfconcept and self-perception. In addition to this treatment from security forces, all of the students came from broken families, in the best case because one of their parents was in prison for a minor offense, and in the worst case because they had been abandoned in an orphanage or directly on the street. This led them to feel even less loved, driving them to search for belonging in groups who would support and include them, which elsewhere meant joining the maras (Moratalla, 1990). Of course, this situation it was further compounded by students’ absolute lack of connection with their cultural traditions. The student body actually considered that their country had no traditional music, that they shared it with other Central American countries, or that their music consisted of reggaeton. Paradoxically, they did know the traditional dances, which they had learned for national holidays; yet these were associated with music that they did not even realize was part of their country’s culture. This information was gathered during the first week of orientation, when we familiarized ourselves to the center’s atmosphere and with the student body. It was also during this time that the sessions were organized within school hours, along with other extracurricular activities such as piano, guitar or singing lessons, which we do not cover in the present article. With a student body under constant persecution from authorities, facing discrimination for living in a particular community, and excluded from any kind of artistic activity due to financial constraints, their needs were quite clear: primarily an improvement in socio-emotional health so that they could develop and achieve personal growth in a society that also, collectively, needed to gain awareness of its own culture in order to feel more valued both internally and externally. 3.2. Activities to promote socio-affectivity and interculturalism Activities included musical language, body and instrumental improvisation activities, voice and auditory activities, and even simplified and facilitated composition. It is worth pointing out that all the proposed activities were carried out in groups. This approach was critical because the student body belonged to a collective that had suffered social exclusion due to the community in which it lived. Therefore, only through approaches that required them to work with and count on others could they understand the importance of respecting and appreciating each other. In the case of the different groups of students in the first, second and third years of Baccalaureate, the first contact with music began with an activity that combined brainstorming and emotional analysis through songs. This approach was considered ideal to begin probing into their emotions and their ability to manage and control them. The student body at this center was used to listening to reggaeton, a genre that deals with specific topics and has a particular way of viewing women and interpreting human relations, none of which favor good emotional health. In particular, this genre is not likely to foster gender equality, respect towards women, solidarity, etc. For this reason, it was crucial to

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draw them toward different types of music so that they would understand that another interpretation of reality was possible and not so far removed from their interests. We did not initially use classical music, given that numerous studies show the null interest in this genre among adolescents, who are often influenced by their families’ tastes (Bautista, 2013). In the first activities, the song “Oh, no, tú no” (Oh no, not you) was used, a romantic pop song that encouraged them to see other types of romantic relationships that do not emerge in reggaeton songs. They were encouraged to relax in their seats, to listen to the different musical elements of the song and to try to deduce its message. After listening, the group brainstormed about what they had interpreted from the song, an exercise that allowed them to see that expressing their feelings could in fact make them stronger and that they did not need to be ashamed of their emotions. The aim of the activity was to show them that, as described by Conejo (2012), musical activity (listening, performing, improvising, and composing) could help them to differentiate social roles and define their own responsibilities toward themselves and others. The conclusions we could draw from this first activity were very interesting. Girls expressed their emotions and reactions to the song more freely. Only a few of the boys wanted to express what the song meant to them. Meanwhile, the rest of the boys were reluctant to write much at all on a piece of paper regarding what the music had made them feel. Instructors were trying to help them understand that listening to certain types of music (free from vulgarities and violence) could produce effects that were not only physical but also psychological (relaxation, wellbeing) (Pérez, 2014) that would contribute to making them feel better about themselves, and therefore more open to peaceful social interaction. Afterward, we worked on respecting differences in the song “Moving.” This song by Macaco attracted their attention, especially after watching the video on the internet, which helped them to better understand the lyrics. Diverse experiences in Spain had demonstrated that this kind of pop fusion was apt for taking the step from multicultural coexistence to intercultural understanding (Bernabé, 2014b), and that every effort toward social harmony was very necessary for eliminating conflictive social behaviors. This approach was crucial due to the students’ attitudes regarding skin color, which were influenced by their vision of racism and xenophobia in the United States, transmitted by relatives who had emigrated there and felt that their inability to assimilate was due to their skin color. Understanding this, we decided that it was essential to foster an appreciation of students’ own culture, and by extension, their skin color. Given the affective ties between the students, they did not discriminate against each other and generally got along well. However, the same was not true when they imagined a future outside of their country. In addition to listening to the song, the students also watched the music video. This was a more enriching approach because the video shows different races around the world, helping the students to see that everyone has their place and that they did not need to change physically or culturally in order to please others. However, what they did have to do was change how they perceived themselves: their self-image needed to be positive, replete with human, social and cultural value. Students had to identify musical elements of the song that reminded them of particular countries, discuss the emotions that the song transmitted, and create improvisational body movements as an accompaniment. All of this was done cooperatively, in order to promote the values that are essential to an inclusive concept of citizenship (Carrillo, 2013). Bebe’s songs were very moving to the students given their focus on subjects such as abuse and the humiliation of women. Many of the center’s students came from social insertion programs for prisoners (for example for sex crimes or robberies) or from families broken by imprisonment or abandonment. For this reason, many could not contain their emotions, especially the girls (the boys became more stoic). The shared work on emotions through music opened the door to work on a culture of peace, so necessary in students’ immediate environment. In this sense, music education could help them to acquire what we could call “values of peace”, which could be transmitted very well through musical activity (Sánchez y Epelde, 2014). In working with pop music with varying levels of social messages, we were trying to demonstrate that people in other countries were living similar social situations (if not to the extreme extents of violence that Salvadoran society lives), such as domestic violence. Beyond those topics, though, there was always hope and happiness, and for that reason we also covered pop songs about love and joy. The different songs we worked on by Macaco and Bebe were also chosen to stimulate students’ creativity, which is an essential ingredient for social interaction. Exercises took into account the possibilities and limitations of each


individual, that is, students were encouraged to clap their hands or snap their fingers to the song’s beat, and one day to accompany the song with body movements. The importance given to creativity not only had professional intentions (the center’s director allowed musical work as a way to improve the “results” of the student body—that is, business prospects—and hence to compete better on the market) but also aimed to teach students that creative people are not close-minded or selfish (Gómez, 2005). 3.3. Evaluation and assessment of personal and musical outcomes Two types of outcomes were assessed in order to evaluate the extent to which the project achieved its stated objectives: personal outcomes and musical outcomes. The first was more complicated than the second, as the project team had neither sufficient time nor validated tools to measure improvements in self-esteem, students’ perceptions of their right to access musical beauty, or socio-emotional health. In light of these limitations, we considered it more appropriate to elicit their impressions through personal and group interviews, using open questions. The assessment had a pragmatic (or action-research) focus, which responded to the search for a possible solution to the educational and personal problems of this center’s student body. The individual and collective questions were the same in an effort to understand whether peer interaction would lead them to rethink and reflect on the project experience and their feelings during the activities. Among the comments elicited from students, we can highlight that a large number of them considered that they had discovered a new world of musical possibilities, other music that they could identify with and fulfill their needs, and that they could perform and interpret . . . Few students dared to publicly express feelings of exclusion from Salvadoran society because of their neighborhood, where no type of artistic activity was available (even if money were not an issue), but they did say that the activity had made them feel better about themselves and able to demonstrate that they could be artists. With regard to the achievement of personal objectives, inextricably linked to the musical objectives, we would like to highlight that two students composed short songs for publicity campaigns related to one of the most important activities in the center, the Technical Exhibition (or Expo). In this way, they demonstrated their knowledge of basic musical parameters, which had been taught through basic musical activities, and they also showed their talent as budding artists. 4. Conclusions The students not only improved their self-concept because they saw themselves as capable of communicating with their peers on a different level, but they also understood that their classmates had interesting things to offer. They learned how to appreciate their peers because they were able to view themselves as artists and as people, deserving of artistic education that used to only be available to a scant minority of people with greater financial resources. Violence and confrontations in the center decreased, and together these small victories led to the “Violence prevention through musical and cultural activities” project (B.M./TF094811) which was financed by the World Bank. In turn, this project inspired several other similar projects that were financed by the European Union and the United States Agency for International Development. This small example of action research, which attempted to offer an artistic solution that was not only educational at a socio-emotional level but also intercultural, demonstrated that artistic practice could foster personal growth among a group that is socially, politically, and culturally excluded from society, promoting greater equality in personal relationships along the way. Of course, the reduction of violence resulting from the achievement of personal goals through artistic activities is just one solution out of a potentially wide array of possibilities. However, the social harmony developed in these musical spaces, where students from warring neighborhoods (complete with violence and homicides) have to share experiences and feelings and work together, was a highly interesting path toward social peace. Music education became a tool to reduce the aggressive behavior that essentially had stemmed from the unknown and fear of the other. The socio-emotional health of the Polígono’s student body became a focus of discussion; students appeared to be happy in their classes and feel closer to other fellow students after having shared a space dedicated to orchestra and choir, and because violent urges toward “the other” were reduced.

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The music education process that was launched with a socially excluded student body from Comunidad Iberia made learners feel more at ease with themselves, more appreciated by peers and more equipped to confront others with reason (rather than violence). This process emphasized learning the values of respect, understanding, cooperation, and teamwork, through increased knowledge of their own culture. Students became conscious of their peers’ needs, that violence was not the answer, and that respecting their own emotions would help them empathize with others’. Nevertheless, achieving an end to violence and strengthening an educational approach around cultural and emotional respect is an uphill battle in a society that incites/requires its members to develop certain attitudes and actions that infringe upon the fundamental right to life. References Acevedo, C. (2008). Los costos económicos de la violencia en El Salvador. América Latina Hoy, 50, 71-88. Bautista, V. E. (2013). La actitud del alumnado de Educación Secundaria hacia la Música Clásica en Andalucía. Un estudio analítico-descriptivo. LEEME, 31, 1-32. Bernabé, M. (2014a). Los inicios del programa de artes del Instituto Técnico Obrero Empresarial del Polígono Industrial Don Bosco. DEDiCA, 5, 257-270. Bernabé, M. (2014b). Propuestas didácticas musicales para trabajar interculturalmente en ESO: la música POP de mestizaje. Espiral. Cuadernos del Profesorado, 7 (13), 59-70. Bernabé, M. (2015). Educación musical y educación en valores para la prevención de la violencia en contextos marginales de El Salvador. Eufonía, 63, 16-23. Carrillo, I. (2013). El valor formativo y transformador de la cooperación. Una experiencia de prácticas educativas en Guatemala.Revista Iberoamericana de Educación, 61, 121-141. Conejo, P. A. (2012). El valor formativo de la música para la educación en valores. DEDiCA, 2 (1), 263-278. Gómez, J. A. (2005). Educación y creatividad. Estudios Sobre Educación, 9, 79-105. Moratalla, P. (1990): El Hombre del Polígono Industrial Don Bosco. San Salvador: Talleres Gráficos Don Bosco. Pérez, O. A. (2014). La música receptiva como estrategia. Revista digital La Gaveta, 20, 23-56. Sánchez, S. y Epelde, A. (2014). Cultura de Paz y Educación Musical en contextos de Diversidad Cultural. Revista de Paz y Conflictos, 7, 79-97. Zúñiga, M. (2010). Heridas en la memoria: la guerra civil salvadoreña en el recuerdo de niñez de un pandillero. Historia Crítica, 40, 60-83.