Exploring Integrated Curriculum for Music Education in China: Music with Children’s Literature and Visual Arts

Abstract

The use of an integrated curriculum approach for music education in China is in the beginning stages of implementation. The current National Standards for Music teaching in China are limited in this approach. The purpose of this thesis was to develop some novel and creative teaching methods for music utilizing an integrated approach for children’s literature and visual arts that could be applied to future music classes in China. Research on the integration of children’s literature and visual arts into music teaching were reviewed in this thesis for general approaches, and application both broadly and specifically within Chinese music education. The thesis includes one lesson plan developed for children in the United States, and the other specifically designed for children in China to draw on cultural connections to materials used.