Values & Social Justice

Teaching music is partly about social change, whether or not this aspect is explicit in a lesson. Songs composed especially to deliver a lesson about social values are sometimes weak choices for children’s music. Here are a few exceptions:

One Little Person from the Southern Poverty Law Center (thank you Jonathan Hardy).

Yo Quiero comes from the Inter-American Children’s Institute. The IIN multimedia page has animated video and lyrics (see “I Wish”). An excellent recording by Ruben Rada of Uruguay is available on the Putumayo CD Latin Playground. The ESM lyrics page has a better translation.

Don’t Laugh at Me is the centerpiece of an anti-bullying curriculum called Operation Respect.