How Dr. Margit McGuire Uses Music to Teach Social Studies and Civic Engagement

Music has long helped people express what matters most to them. In the social studies classroom, it’s helping young people understand how civic life begins with listening.

That idea is at the heart of “Civic Engagement and the Power of Music,” a Storypath unit co-created by Seattle University College of Education professors Margit McGuire, PhD and Laurie Stevahn, PhD. Designed for K–8 classrooms, the unit invites students to study music as civic expression before creating original songs about issues that matter to them.

From the Civil Rights Movement to modern advocacy campaigns, songs have inspired people to speak out, organize, and work toward a better future. As civil rights leader John Lewis once said, "If it hadn't been for music, the Civil Rights Movement would've been like a bird without wings."

At Seattle University's College of Education, Professor Margit McGuire, PhD, is helping students discover that same connection between music and civic action through Storypath, a nationally recognized K-8 social studies curriculum. The latest Storypath unit, Civic Engagement and the Power of Music, teaches students how music can raise awareness, inspire action, and amplify community voices.

This article explores how McGuire and Stevahn use music to make civic engagement more concrete for young learners, how the Storypath model supports student voice, and what this work reveals about preparing teachers for meaningful social studies instruction.

Teaching Civic Engagement in K–8 Classrooms

Storypath is an inquiry-based teaching method that uses storytelling to help students build social studies skills and literacy. Students become part of a narrative, taking on roles, making decisions, and working through challenges connected to the subject they are studying.

“Civic Engagement and the Power of Music” brings social studies concepts to life by connecting historical examples of civic action to issues students encounter in their own communities. In K–8 education, studying civic engagement gives students opportunities to explore what it means to be an active member of a community and how their voices can contribute to issues that matter to them.

The Storypath model helps students see civic engagement as something people do, not just something they study.

“What gets me excited is the kids who you least expect to excel are transformed by the experience,” she explains. “This gives them agency.”

That agency matters because civic learning now happens in a world where students encounter fast-moving digital messages at a young age. A National Association of State Boards of Education article on youth civic engagement emphasizes the need for stronger school-based opportunities that help participate in public life while building the media literacy skills needed to evaluate information responsibly.

Students often practice that participation by researching an issue, shaping a message, and considering how that message might reach an audience beyond the classroom.

How Music Can Be Used to Teach Civic Engagement

Stevahn, who teaches courses on social justice in professional practice at Seattle University, emphasizes that the connection between music and civic learning is essential.

“Music and the arts always play a key role in social justice issues,” she explains.

Music gives students an accessible way into civic learning because it helps them hear how people respond to injustice. Across history, songs have helped people gather courage during periods of struggle and sustain a sense of purpose when change felt difficult. The First Amendment Museum’s history of protest music shows how songs have helped people document public concerns and invite others to act, giving students a concrete example of music as civic expression.

During the Civil Rights Movement, music became part of the movement’s public voice. The 1963 March on Washington was one of many moments when music helped carry a call for justice into public life. Civil rights leader John Lewis once captured that connection this way: “If it hadn’t been for music, the Civil Rights Movement would’ve been like a bird without wings.”

That history gives students a meaningful entry point into McGuire and Stevahn’s Storypath unit. In “Civic Engagement and the Power of Music,” students become part of a music studio.

They study how music has helped people respond to injustice and invite others to act. Then, they choose a topic that matters to them, research it, write a song, and share it with the group.

By the end of the unit, students have explored examples of civic engagement through music while also experiencing what it means to use their own voices to participate in public conversations.

Music as a Tool for Social Justice Education

The Storypath unit helps students understand that music can help people name injustice and imagine a different future.

Students also learn that creative work carries real-world responsibilities. As McGuire and Stevahn developed the unit, they researched songs in the public domain and considered how copyright shapes what teachers can use for instruction.

An expert from the music industry also reviewed the unit. That feedback helped frame music as a tool for impact rather than fame.

Connecting Student Voice to Real-World Issues

The unit was piloted with Barbara Bromley’s fifth-grade class at Hazelwood Elementary School in Lynnwood. Bromley had taught McGuire’s Storypath units before, and this one fit her students because music was already part of how they understood their own experiences.

Many of Bromley’s students had seen public issues touch their lives directly. They were also working on a yearlong civic action project with their city mayor, where they learned about local government and explored concerns near their school.

The music unit gave students another way to participate. In class, they wrote songs about issues such as deforestation and wildfire. Other groups focused on immigration, war, animal rights, or plastics in the ocean.

Each topic gave students a path from social studies content to a message they wanted others to hear.

Civic Learning in Action

Inside Bromley’s classroom, the Storypath unit became a shared project. Students worked in small groups to create a music studio, deciding how it would operate and what message their songs would convey.

The lesson reached beyond songwriting. Students explored parts of the music industry, including copyright and production, while continuing to connect their work to civic engagement.

They also practiced the kind of problem-solving that happens when a group has to make decisions together.

On May 31, Bromley’s class presented original songs through a Grammy Awards-style performance. Students shared their music studio journey and offered their songs as civic messages for the wider community.

Empowering Student Voice Through Action

McGuire encouraged students to think about where their music could go next. Students were asked to consider recording their songs and sending them to public leaders, such as a governor, a senator, or the Human Rights Commission.

The goal was to help students understand that civic voices can move beyond the classroom.

“In the end, we want students to see that their voice matters,” McGuire explains.

That lesson is especially important for young learners. With thoughtful support from teachers, students can begin to see themselves as people who can study an issue and speak about it responsibly.

Building Collaboration and Critical Thinking

Bromley saw students grow through the challenges of the unit. They worked through the difficulty of matching lyrics to melodies while managing the vulnerability of performance.

They also learned to compromise as they decided what belonged in their music studio spaces. Those choices became part of the civic learning itself because students had to listen closely and consider a shared goal.

As Bromley explains, her students connected with social studies by “becoming citizens themselves throughout the unit.” Their work asked them to think about evidence, audience, and the kind of action their music might inspire.

Preparing Teachers to Lead Civic Learning

Stories like this one reflect the rigorous, compassionate teacher preparation at Seattle University’s College of Education. Civic learning asks educators to design meaningful work while building a classroom community where students feel known.

The College of Education’s teacher education graduate programs, including the Master in Teaching program and the hybrid Master of Education in Transformational Teaching and Learning program, prepare future teachers to lead with confidence.

Teachers who lead civic learning help students:

• Ask thoughtful questions about community concerns
• Gather evidence from credible sources
• Listen with respect during disagreement
• Use creativity with ethical purpose
• Connect classroom learning to public life

At Seattle University, teacher preparation programs are designed to help educators lead this work with confidence. Our graduates enter classrooms ready to honor the student voice while supporting academic growth.

Educating the Next Generation of Changemakers

Storypath can leave a lasting imprint because students remember what it feels like to participate. McGuire has heard from former students years after they completed Storypath units, including one who became involved in a presidential campaign and another who ran for office.

Those stories speak to the heart of civic learning. When students are able to study real issues with imagination and care, they begin to see public life as something they can take part in.

“Civic Engagement and the Power of Music” gives students a way to understand that connection through sound and story. It shows how a classroom can become a place where young people learn that their voices matter.

That is the kind of learning we are proud to support at Seattle University’s College of Education.

To learn more about how we prepare educators for student-centered teaching, visit our Teacher Education Graduate Programs page or explore the College of Education.