Hundreds of Early Childhood Teachers will have access to an evidence-based rhythm and movement program to support children’s self-regulation thanks to a new partnership between early learning provider G8 Education, and QUT’s world-first RAMSR program.
The Rhythm and Movement for Self-Regulation (RAMSR) program sees children perform complex, coordinated movements to specially developed music tracks to help support the development of their attentional and emotional skills.
“Research has established musicians have more connected and efficient brains and that group music experiences contribute to social cohesion,” said Associate Professor Kate Williams who developed the RAMSR program.
“Our research showed greater teacher-reported self-regulation skills in the RAMSR children across the kindergarten year than those of the control groups.
“Self-regulation includes the important skills of regulating attention and emotion, working memory, ability to shift attention between information and tasks, impulse control and concentration which all affect learning and social development.”
A new professional development partnership between G8 Education and RAMSR will see more than 600 Early Childhood Teachers from across Australia trained to deliver elements of the RAMSR program – enabling them to support thousands of children to improve their self-regulation in their learning environments.
“We include some brain tricks to practise impulse control such as asking children to be still even when music is playing- the brain’s ‘air traffic control system’ has to kick in to restrain the natural impulse to move,” Assoc. Prof. Williams said.
“The children love the ‘slow down’ end of the session when they are asked to ‘stand tall like a tree’ or ‘sit down and breath like a bubble’.
“G8 Education’s Early Childhood Teachers will be equipped with practical skills and resources to be able to implement the basics of RAMSR into their learning environments immediately.”
“RAMSR is travelling the country with the G8 Education team for our inaugural Early Childhood Teacher Roadshow, which will see our network of Early Childhood Teachers collaborate with sector-leading researchers and professionals such as RAMSR,” said Ali Evans, G8 Education Head of Education and Early Learning.
“I think what is special about the RAMSR program is we know what incredible benefits it has for children, but it also supports Educator and Teacher wellbeing by promoting the importance of ‘play’ for adults.
“We are committed to empowering our Teachers to tailor their programs to meet the needs of the children in their classrooms, so RAMSR will be yet another great addition to that collection of skills, knowledge and programs.”
Click here if you’d like to learn more about RAMSR.