Exploring the Impact of Indian Classical Music on Behavioural Regulation of Pre-primary Children

Abstract

The most critical developmental period with behavioral self-regulation is the early childhood. The outcomes can interfere with long-term academic and social outcomes when the young children have difficulties with reactive aggression and attention deficits. In order to overcome those issues, a mixedmethods field study on this topic was conducted to test whether a culturally embedded rhythmic interface, the AARAMBH module of Indian Classical Music would decrease externalizing behaviors in a natural classroom setting. The researchers followed 50 pre-primary children (3-6 years old) in which an experimental group followed six weeks of musical routine was compared to a control group which continued regular activities. The ASEBA Caregiver-Teacher Report Form (C-TRF), used with in-depth qualitative teacher interviews, were used to monitor changes. The quantification data indicated that the directional alteration was apparent: anxious trials of the experimental group demonstrated a particular decline in the combined attention and aggression issues, as compared to the control group. Though the outcomes were close to statistical significance (P = .067) and the effect size was very small to medium, the thematic analysis solidly anchored this trend to the reality. A progressive reduction in classroom volatility, development of sustained attention, and a robust social contingion effect of disregulated children imitating those who were better regulated were established through teacher interviews. Key practical limitations were also noted in the observation: opening passive listening to active verbal confirmation on the part of the teachers would only become embedded, and the entire class setting was too stimulating in children with clinical neurodivergence of severe severity. These findings are overwhelmingly in favor of arousal-reduction and attentional control theories, but prove complex aesthetic models (like Rasa Theory) to be in developmentally inappropriate during early childhood. This study offers empirical support to a highly scalable culturally resonant pedagogical instrument, by moving even further westward in the paradigms of clinical models. It shows that rhythmic entrainment is able to construct the warm-up self-regulation in the real, under-resourced early childhood classrooms.