Beyond the Baton, From Gesture to Growth: Reimagining Choral Conducting for Leadership, Empathy, and Emotional-Social Intelligence in the IB MYP

• Gao Tianqi

  Sultan Idris Education University

  Author

• Mohd Hassan Abdullah

  Sultan Idris Education University

  Author

This paper investigates the potential of choral conducting as a pedagogical tool for cultivating leadership, communication, and emotional growth within the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (IB MYP). Despite the MYP’s commitment to holistic, inquiry-based learning, the MYP Arts Guide lacks domain-specific frameworks for specialized practices such as conducting, leaving teachers to design curricula and assessments independently. This absence has led to inconsistency, inequity, and missed opportunities to integrate music education with social-emotional learning (SEL). Drawing on a Design and Development Research (DDR) framework, this study employed a sequential mixed-methods approach, incorporating document analysis, teacher interviews, and a Delphi expert panel. Findings revealed systemic gaps in curricular scaffolding and identified six essential domains for adolescent conducting education: basic conducting techniques, aural and listening skills, nonverbal communication, repertoire and score understanding, rehearsal strategy and problem-solving, and fundamental choral skills. Each domain was mapped to outcomes in emotional and social intelligence, demonstrating how conducting fosters self-regulation, empathy, intercultural understanding, collaboration, and collective identity. A validated choral conducting framework is proposed, aligning technical progression with the IB’s learner profile and broader goals of 21st-century education. The implications are significant: for IB schools, the framework enhances consistency and equity; for teachers, it provides research-based scaffolding and reduces workload; for students, it reframes music education as a pathway to leadership and resilience. Ultimately, the study advances music education as both an artistic and humanistic practice, contributing to global debates on equity, curriculum design, and the transformative potential of the arts.

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