Author(s)

Heddi REINSALU, Inge TIMOŠTŠUK, Inkeri RUOKONEN

Abstract

The impact of music has been studied, and there is a growing body of evidence according
to which playing a musical instrument has a positive impact on academic achievement in
school. It is important for music teachers to know how to support students’ motivation to
learn music. A person can be motivated in intrinsic or extrinsic ways, and the motivation
to learn is revealed in learning activities expressed as learning engagement. However, a
different perspective on engagement raises the question of how to be coherent with the
data presented in the studies. As early engagement predicts future levels of engagement,
this paper presents an integrative review that explores learning engagement in
preschool and primary school music lessons and identifies that more research is needed
in this area of learning engagement in music.
Keywords: motivation to learn, learning engagement, music lessons, preschool, primary
school, review article