MUSE

Promoting Musical Competence, Self-Regulation, and Psychological Well-Being in Primary School

Our Goal

MUSE seeks to advance our understanding of the development of musical competencies during primary school and to identify effective approaches for fostering these competencies. At the same time, the project addresses a central concern of contemporary educational research by examining self-regulation and preventive measures that support children's well-being.

The Challenge

Making music, singing, and engaging in rhythmic movement are uniquely human abilities that are closely intertwined with children's development. Yet within general education, music education often receives only limited attention, despite the widespread assumption that it can positively influence individual learning and developmental trajectories.
Could this represent untapped potential that we could make greater use of in the school context?
What impact does systematic musical education have during the primary school years?

Our Questions

Can the development of specific musical abilities be systematically fostered during the primary school years?
To what extent do teachers, instructional quality, program format, and the family background contribute to children's musical development?
Do music-based coordinative activities simultaneously promote the development of self-regulation and speech-related abilities in primary school children?
Does active music-making and musical engagement enhance children's psychological well-being at school and contribute to a positive classroom climate?

Background

How musical abilities develop over the course of childhood and the relative contributions of genetic predispositions and environmental influences remain open questions in research. Within educational research, particular attention has been devoted to whether musical competencies can be systematically fostered during childhood and whether music education exerts beneficial effects on other domains of learning. Such transfer effects continue to be the subject of considerable scientific debate.
Recent developments have further increased the relevance of this line of research. In particular, the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina's 2024 statement highlighting the importance of self-regulation in children and adolescents, together with the growing prevalence of mental health challenges among young people, has brought children's self-regulatory abilities and psychological well-being into sharper focus within educational research.
MUSE investigates the music education programmes Singen – Bewegen – Musizieren (SBM) and SingPause in a longitudinal controlled study to examine the extent to which musical competencies can be systematically fostered in primary school children. In addition, the project explores whether targeted music education produces transfer effects on the development of self-regulation, speech abilities, and psychological well-being in primary school children.

Timeline

1 June 2026

Project launch

31 July 2030

Project completion

Project Team

Dr. Patrizia Bieber, Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology, University of Tübingen
Prof. Dr. Michael Dartsch, University of Music Saar
Prof. Dr. Sebastian Herbst, Leopold Mozart College of Music/Uni Augsburg
Rebekka Steinhäuser, Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology, University of Tübingen
Ruth Wörner, Stuttgart State University of Music and Performing Arts
Anna Teichmann, Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology, University of Tübingen
Prof. Dr. Daniel Müllensiefen, University of Hamburg
Dr. Janina Täschner, Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology, University of Tübingen
Prof. Dr. Ulrich Trautwein, Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology, University of Tübingen

Funding and Collaboration

The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) and the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science as part of the Excellence Strategy of the German Federal and State Governments (Athene Grant and Program for the Promotion of Junior Researchers at the University of Tübingen). Additional support is provided by the LEAD Graduate School & Research Network, which is funded by the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of the state of Baden-Württemberg within the framework of the sustainability funding for the projects of the Excellence Initiative II.
The project is conducted in cooperation with the Baden-Württemberg Association of Music Schools (Landesverband der Musikschulen Baden-Württembergs) and the SingPause initiative.