Integrating Climate Education into the Music Curriculum

Music education provides an ideal opportunity for integrating climate education into the curriculum. We’ve teamed up with The National College to make two ground-breaking webinars free exclusively to Music Mark members: 

• Integrating Climate Education into a High-Quality Music Curriculum | Primary  
• Integrating Climate Education into a High-Quality Music Curriculum | Secondary 

These webinars, developed by Jonathan Harris, Head of Academy Music at The Premier Academy, explain how primary and secondary schools can use music lessons to develop pupils’ climate literacy, using practical examples and activities to enhance teaching and learning. The National College has shared a flavour of the themes covered in the webinars, including some initial tips to give teachers a head start! Read on to learn more, and to find out how you can access these webinars for free. 

The new academic year offers schools a timely opportunity to enrich their curricula by integrating climate education into various subjects. One area where this interdisciplinary approach can particularly shine is in music education. By weaving climate and sustainability education into the music curriculum, teachers can engage students with some of the pressing global issues of our time through the universal language of music.  

Why integrate climate education into music? 

Music, as an art form, has always been a powerful tool for expression and communication. It transcends language barriers and can convey complex emotions and ideas, making it an ideal medium for exploring global issues like climate change. By integrating climate education into music lessons, we can help students develop a deeper understanding of sustainability while also enhancing their creative and collaborative skills. 

The integration of climate education into the music curriculum supports the development of key skills: 

• Fostering creativity and imagination: Music encourages creativity, and when linked with climate education, it allows students to imagine and create a sustainable future. This could involve composing songs about environmental stewardship or creating soundscapes that reflect the natural world. 

• Promoting collaboration: Many music activities, such as assembly performances or group compositions, require collaboration. These can be tied to themes of global citizenship and community, emphasising the collective effort needed to tackle climate change. 

• Encouraging reflective thinking: Music can prompt students to reflect on their actions and the broader impact of those actions on the environment. For example, discussing the environmental themes of certain songs or creating music that tells a story about climate change can lead to deep, reflective conversations. 

Integrating climate education into the music curriculum not only helps teach students the facts about climate change but also helps foster skills and mindsets needed to contribute to a sustainable future. This can benefit schools in a range of ways: 

1. Enhancing whole-school awareness: Music can influence the ethos of your school and the attitudes and actions of your students regarding environmental issues.
2. Easy to implement: Incorporating climate themes into music lessons can be as simple as selecting songs related to environmental topics or using outdoor environments to enhance students’ listening skills.
3. Enriching education: Learner-centred activities, enquiry-based learning, and interdisciplinary approaches can connect music with other subjects like geography and science, enriching the educational experience.
4. Inspiring school-wide projects: Large-scale projects, such as creating a school-wide opera on a sustainability theme or organising performances that promote environmental awareness, can extend the impact of climate education beyond the classroom.
5. Access to a range of resources and support: Access to the latest educational frameworks and global initiatives like the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can provide a solid foundation for integrating these themes into your teaching. 

Initial tips for teachers 

To give you a head start, here are a few tips you can begin implementing in your music classes: 

• Select your repertoire wisely: Choose songs that convey messages about caring for the environment. Resources like “Sing Up” offer a range of songs that address themes of nature, recycling, and global citizenship. 

• Outdoor music lessons: Take your class outside to experience the natural sounds of your environment. Encourage students to listen carefully to birdsong, wind, or even the rustling of leaves, and use these sounds as inspiration for their compositions. 

• Collaborative projects: Consider initiating a project where students create a soundscape or a musical piece that tells the story of an environmental issue. This not only teaches them about the issue but also allows them to express their understanding creatively. 

• Connect with global peers: If possible, establish connections with schools in other countries to collaborate on climate-related music projects. This can broaden students’ perspectives and help them understand the global nature of climate change. 

How to claim your free webinar

Music Mark Members have been granted an exclusive discount to access these webinars for free. Log in to your Music Mark account and then click here to access the discount code! 

If you aren’t currently a member, take a look at our membership options so you can gain access to these webinars for free, as well as the rest of our member-only resource library, training and events, and exclusive member discounts.