Green Songs as music education for sustainable development in an early childhood setting: Tuning into pre-service music teacher voices

Abstract

This study addresses the need to integrate education for sustainable development (ESD) into music teacher education using the Green Songs Project, an undergraduate service-learning project in a music education module. Seven pre-service music teachers (PSMTs) composed and taught original environmental songs to pre-schoolers to foster ecological awareness through music. In this qualitative case study, I analysed the PSMTs’ journal reflections on the project, my observations, and our discussions exploring their experiences and the meanings they ascribed to writing and teaching green songs to pre-schoolers. We also discussed how the project could promote music education for sustainable development (MESD) in an early childhood setting. Five themes were generated, indicating that MESD can be promoted by 1) using movement and song to teach and learn about conservation; 2) integrating a mixture of excitement, laughter, and enthusiasm; 3) creating opportunities to make the world a better place to live in; 4) remembering things that impact our lives and 5) developing consistent, encouraging teaching strategies to foster learning and development for MESD.Findings show that creating and teaching culturally relevant green songs empowered PSMTs to connect global sustainability goals to local early childhood settings. The project demonstrates music’s potential as a transformative medium to support sustainability by fostering environmental awareness, social cohesion, and cultural appreciation in an early childhood setting. Key aspects include using song to explore nature, developing empathy through collaborative music-making, and teaching ecological responsibility while promoting creativity, sensory awareness, and emotional expression. Embedding ESD in music education can cultivate and equip educators with transferable, interdisciplinary skills to inspire sustainable thinking from the earliest years.