A humanistic educational philosophy applied through holistic teaching methods for the building of self-esteem and improvement of intonation in a youth choir

The application of a sound teaching philosophy through methods that are compatible with the philosophy is of primary importance in education. The public education system of the United States claims to foster Aristotle's humanistic philosophy that the end of education should be justice for all. However, research has revealed that the public schools do not consistently maintain this philosophy in practice. Educational reform may occur when each educator takes individual responsibility for demonstrating humanistic philosophy in action.;This thesis demonstrates how humanistic educational philosophy can be carried out through holistic teaching methods (methods sensitive to physical, psychological and social elements of learning) and result in desired student achievement. A youth choir identified as singing under pitch received a humanistic-based treatment and was evaluated as having improved in overall choral sound following the treatment.