Markmið þessarar rannsóknar er tvíþætt: Annars vegar að skoða félagslegan ávinning
söngleikjaþátttöku og mikilvægi söngleikjaforms sem óhefðbundins náms og hins
vegar að skoða hvaða áhrif söngleikjaþátttaka hefur á félagskvíða hjá nemendum með
frammistöðukvíða. Rannsóknin var eigindleg viðtalsrannsókn þar sem viðtöl voru
tekin við unglinga í grunnskóla sem tóku þátt í söngleik. Þá voru dagbókarfærslur
rannsakanda einnig hluti af gögnum sem og reynsla hans á vettvangi. Niðurstöður
sýna að óhefðbundið nám í söngleiksuppfærslu er mikilvægur vettvangur til að efla
félagsfærni nemenda. Jafnframt hefur söngleikjaþátttaka góð áhrif á félagskvíða og
eflir samskiptafærni nemenda. Þá sýndu niðurstöðurnar að söngleikur er mikilvægur
vettvangur fyrir nemendur til að kynnast og losa um hömlur. Jafnframt hefur þátttakan
jákvæð áhrif á félagsfærni og minnkar félagskvíða en margir nemendur upplifðu
aukið öryggi í félagslegum samskiptum í gegnum söngleikjaferlið. Niðurstöðurnar
eru mikilvægar til að sýna fram á hversu nauðsynlegt er að efla óhefðbundið nám
og listgreinar og til að styrkja félagsfærni og sjálfstraust nemenda. Jafnframt skipta
þær máli til að hjálpa félagskvíðnum nemendum þar sem félagskvíði byggir meðal
annars á félagslegri fullkomnunaráráttu sem lýsir sér helst á þann veg að nemendur
eru hræddir við að gera „samskiptamistök“. Söngleikur, þar sem eiga sér stað mikil
samskipti, er því gagnlegur jafnt sem krefjandi vettvangur fyrir þá félagskvíðnu.
The aim of this article is to shed light on social benefits of musical participation and
the importance of musical form as a non-traditional type of learning, in which the
art forms of music and drama are treated as one whole. Another aim is to discover the
impact of musical participation by focusing on performance anxiety through drama
therapy. Drama therapy can play an important role in helping young people deal with
social anxiety. Drama therapy involves a relationship between a therapist and a client
or clients who attempt to make sense of their life experience as they engage, partly
or fully, in a creative process, in this case through the media of drama and theatre.
Robert Landy talks about the role of drama, stating that it is ‘about people creating a
distance between the everyday reality and the reality of the imagination. Role plays
and improvisations can encourage participants to understand negative behaviours and
to practice new ways of reacting and of being’ (Landy, 1994). He also describes ‘the
dramatic experience of role as being one of paradox: I am me and not-me at the same
time. It is one of engagement and separation’ (Landy, 1991). In his study Daniel J. Siegel
(2007) reports on the positive effects improvising has on anxiety in the book The
Mindful Brain. According to him, the reason for the positive effects of improvising is
that the medial frontal cortex is very active when improvising and has the effect that
individuals become better in communication with others. Then some social-minded
individuals find it easier to be around people in a role because they feel they are freer.
At the same time, the role does not have “negative consequences” as in everyday
life where individuals are judged by others (Sóley Dröfn Davíðsdóttir, 2017). The
research question for this article is: What are the effects of participation in a school musical
on social skills and self-perception of adolescents? This was a qualitative interview study in
which interviews were conducted with elementary school teenagers who participated
in a musical. The investigator’s journal entries were also part of the data as well as his
experience in the field. All interviewees reported that the musical process had helped
them forge connections with one another. Those students who experienced anxiety
said that throughout the process, their anxiety had diminished and that it had helped
them express themselves to fellow students, enhancing their self- confidence. The
results show that non-traditional learning within a musical is an important platform
for enhancing students’ social skills. Furthermore, musical participation has a positive
impact on social anxiety and enhances students’ communication skills. Practitioners say it can empower people who struggle with communication to express their needs
and feelings. It can help to forge relationships by enhancing confidence or bringing
people together. It can provide opportunities to experience positive self-esteem and
self-worth, and help people gain control over conflicts and anxieties. The results
clearly demonstrated the necessity of non- traditional learning and arts in enhancing
students’ social skills and self- confidence. At the same time, it is important to help
students who suffer from social anxiety, since the base of social anxiety is social
perfectionism, which is best described by the fact that students are afraid to fail
during communication with other people. Music-based projects, in which there
is considerable social interaction, are, therefore, a helpful as well as a challenging
platform for those who suffer from social anxiety disorder. The study is useful to all
those who work in primary and secondary education and consequently important to
the school community, especially to those who are socially excluded and often find
themselves in the world of creative arts
