The power of simply singing together in the classroom

LOUISE PASCALE has worked for over twenty-five years integrating the arts in education. She received her BA from the University of California in Music and a Masters in Education from Lesley College, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her career includes: elementary school teacher, music specialist, arts administrator, curriculum writer and teacher trainer. She spent two years in the Peace Corps in Kabul, Afghanistan working alongside Afghan poets and musicians to create the first children's music book. Louise currently teaches for Lesley College's Creative Arts in Learning Master's program, a unique program that focuses on enhancing learning through integrating the arts into the curriculum. She teaches 'Integrating Music into the Curriculum', 'Integrating the Arts into the Curriculum' and 'Arts and the Special Needs Child'. Lesley's Masters program is offered across the United States and in Israel. In 1995 Louise wrote an arts curriculum guide, The Multi-Arts Resource Guide and Companion Videos. The curriculum is currently used extensively by teachers in the United States and abroad and has been translated in Arabic for use by Palestinian teachers. Louise's life-long passion is collecting traditional folksongs, dances and singing games from around the world. She shares this material with teachers as a tool for enhancing learning and building a strong school community. Louise is currently enrolled in a doctoral program at Lesley College where her focus is studying the impact of singing in the classroom and researching ways to encourage all teachers to sing with their students.