The effect of the Orff approach on student outcomes in preschool music activities

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of the Orff Schulwerk approach on cognitive, language, psychomotor, social, and emotional development in music activities conducted during the preschool education process. The research was carried out using a quasi-experimental design, specifically the posttest-only control group model. Activities based on the Orff Schulwerk approach were implemented with the experimental group, while the control group received traditional music education. The implementation phase lasted for a total of 13 weeks. The study group consisted of two five-year-old classes, each comprising seven students, attending a preschool institution affiliated with the Ministry of National Education. During the implementation process, video recordings obtained at the end of each week were evaluated by an expert panel of five educators experienced in the field of education. The data collection tool used in this study was the "Expert Development Monitoring Forms" developed by the researcher. These forms were structured to observe the learning outcomes covered in the weekly activities and were reviewed and revised based on expert feedback before implementation. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to analyze the data. According to the research results, the posttest scores of the experimental group students who received music education based on the Orff approach were significantly higher than those of the control group in terms of cognitive, language, and psychomotor development. However, no significant difference was found between the groups in the areas of social and emotional development. In this context, it was concluded that music education based on the Orff approach is effective in supporting preschool children's development. Based on the findings, various recommendations were made for music educators, researchers, and educational policymakers to enhance the multifaceted developmental contributions of the Orff approach through improvements in content, implementation, training, materials, research, and policy.