The effect of Orff Schulwerk-supported movement/dance studies on the musical skills of preschool students

This research aimed to observe the impact of Orff-Schulwerk pedagogy supported movement/dance activities on students' musical skills. The study group consisted of 15 preschool children aged 5-6 years. Data for the research is collected using the "Effect of Orff-Schulwerk Pedagogy Supported Movement/Dance Activities on Preschool Students' Musical Skills Observation Form" developed by the researcher. To support the quantitative data of the study, researcher and teacher journals, field notes were kept. An Education Program is prepared by the researcher to be implemented during the data collection process. The musical concepts targeted in this program for students included: ability to perceive pitch levels (high/low), understanding musical duration (musical memory), understanding tempo in music (fast/slow), understanding musical form (ability to comprehend a musical phrase), developing rhythmic skills (ability to move rhythmically), ability to perceive nuances (piano/forte), and ability to improvise rhythmically and melodically according to given themes. The research employed a pre-test post-test single group model. Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to determine the difference between pre-test and post-test results. The sample of the study consisted of 15 students who participated in 6 weeks of movement/dance-based Orff-Schulwerk activities. The results of the research indicated that statistically significant improvement was observed in the ability to perceive pitch levels, understanding musical duration, understanding tempo, understanding musical form, developing rhythmic skills, and improvising rhythmically and melodically according to themes. However, statistically significant improvement was not observed in the ability to perceive nuances and to improvise rhythmically according to given themes in preschool students through Orff-Schulwerk pedagogy supported movement/dance activities.