Singing and Caring Thinking in a Learning Environment for Refugee Children (SingCaRe): A Participatory Design-Based Research Study
Prof. Dr. Silke Schmid
Mahsa Mohammadhosseini
Projektlaufzeit: 2023–2027
Gefördert durch den DAAD
Sustainable education of children is a central concern of the present era. However, equity-based teaching is still a desideratum (Hunter & Frawley, 2023). That is even more the case with respect to vulnerable groups like refugee children. Many initiatives have offered music programs to refugee children (Crawford, 2017; Marsh, 2017), which impacted social connectedness (Heynen et al., 2022) and children´s settling in (Marsh, 2017). Yet, studies rarely provide systematizations regarding the design of such educational settings. It can be assumed that the challenge for music education following Sustainable Development Goals SDG 3 (well-being), SDG 4 (quality education), and SDG 10 (reduced inequalities) may be met by e.g. designing settings implementing Caring Thinking (Lipman, 2003) as it modifies determination and self-care (Dombaycı et al., 2011). However, the number of studies investigating the concept of caring thinking is small (Uluçınar & Arı, 2019), and music education discourse has only started to acknowledge it (Hendricks, 2023).
Since the project aims to explore future possibilities for equitable and sustainable educational design (Euler, 2014), it follows a Design-Based Research approach integrating participatory methods, elements of Participatory Action Research (Kemmis et al., 2014), and the Mosaic Approach (Clark & Moss, 2011). The SLE is iteratively developed through qualitative and multimodal data, including workshop traces, children’s artefacts, drawings, picture cards, fieldnotes, and facilitator reflections, analysed through reflexive thematic analysis and visuo-textual interpretation.
Drawing on a heuristic model, the project develops prototypical design principles for a musical community of exploration (Sharp, 2017), implemented through storytelling, singing games, movement, visual-material practices, and nonverbal participation. SingCaRe expands Caring Thinking beyond verbal dialogue toward multimodal, embodied, material, spatial, and ethically restrained participation, including silence, hesitation, partial participation, opacity, and non-extractive documentation.
Following SDG 4, SDG 3 and SDG 10, SingCaRe contributes to singing-based and multimodal learning environments for children at risk and develops Creative Care Pedagogy as a framework for equitable, sustainable, care-centred education.
Mit dem Projekt verbundene Nachhaltigkeitsziele
Hier geht es zu den SDG-Richtlinien
Weiterführende Informationen
Mohammadhosseini, M. (submitted). Creative Care Pedagogy: Reimagining Caring Thinking through Multimodality, Opacity, and Participation with Refugee Children. Submitted chapter for an edited volume on care and creativity in education.
Mohammadhosseini, M. (submitted). Creative Care Pedagogy in Practice: Design Principles from Multimodal Singing Workshops with Refugee Children. Submitted chapter for an edited volume on care and creativity in education.
Mohammadhosseini, M. & Schmid, S. (in press). Listening at the edge of voice: Musical withholding as spiritual care in contexts of loss. In G. Tsiris, A. Erlich & J. Boyce-Tillman (Hrsg.). Music, Spirituality, Death and Loss: Contemporary perspectives from a crisis-driven world. Peter Lang.
Mohammadhosseini, M., & Schmid, S. (2026). Embodied Engagement: Fostering Caring Thinking in a Multimodal Singing-Based Learning Environment for Refugee Children. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1602855. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1602855
Mohammadhosseini, M. (submitted). Caring Thinking and Singing for Refugee Well-being: A Conceptual Critical Review of Multimodal Pedagogies for Ethical and Emotional Learning. Book chapter submitted for an edited volume on culturally sensitive appropriation/intercultural learning, Einwürfe. Texte zu Musik – Kunst – Pädagogik, LIT Verlag.
Mohammadhosseini, M. (2026). Embodied Ethics of Care in Sustainable Education: Singing, Multimodal Participation, and Refugee Children’s Agency. Project presentation. ReCCE – Research Center for Climate Change Education and Education for Sustainable Development, University of Education Freiburg.
Mohammadhosseini, M. & Schmid, S. (2026). Beyond Voice: Rethinking Participation Through Silence, Withholding, and Listening in Music Education. Poster presentation. 33rd European Association for Music in Schools Conference (EAS). Vienna.
Mohammadhosseini, M. (2025). Integrating Singing and Caring Thinking in Music Education: Enhancing Resilience and Well-Being for Refugee Children through Design-Based Research (SingCaRe). Paper. ANGEL Conference 2025. Academic Network on Global Education & Learning. Berlin.
Mohammadhosseini, M. & Schmid, S. (2025). Fostering Resilience and Well-Being through Singing and Caring Thinking in Music Education for Refugee Children: A Design-Based Study. Poster presentation. 32nd European Association for Music in Schools Conference (EAS). June 2025. Évora.
Mohammadhosseini, M. & Schmid, S. (2025). Fostering resilience and wellbeing through singing and caring thinking in a learning environment for refugee children (SingCaRe): Insights into a design-based research study. Paper. RIME 2025 The 14th International Conference for Research in Music Education.
Mohammadhosseini, M. & Schmid, S. (2024). Singing and Caring Thinking in a Multimodal Learning Environment for Refugee Children (SingCaRe): Insights into a Design-Based Research Study. Paper. 36th World Conference of the International Society for Music Education 2024 (ISME). Helsinki.
Mohammadhosseini, M. (2024). Presentation. DAAD-Seminar, University of Regensburg. April 2024. Regensburg.
Mohammadhosseini, M. & Schmid, S. (2024). Singing and Caring Thinking in a Multimodal Learning Environment for Refugee Children (SingCaRe): Insights into a Design-Based Research Study. Presentation. DBR Research Group Meeting. February 2024. Vienna.