MERYC2017

Proceedings of the 8th Conference of the European Network

of Music Educators and Researchers of Young Children
20th – 24th June 2017, Cambridge, UK
Jessica Pitt
[Company Name]
 MERYC2017

Proceedings of the 8th Conference of the

European Network of Music Educators and
Researchers of Young Children

20th – 24th June 2017

Cambridge, UK

Edited by Jessica Pitt and Alison Street

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MERYC2017 Committees

CONFERENCE CHAIRS
Jessica Pitt
Pamela Burnard
Michel Hogenes

MERYC BOARD
Michel Hogenes, Chair, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands 

Stefanie Stadler Elmer, Schwyz University of Teacher Education & University of Zürich,
Switzerland
Helga Rut Gudmundsdottir, University of Iceland, Iceland
Jessica Pitt, University of Roehampton, United Kingdom
Tiina Selke, Tallinn University, Estonia

EUROPEAN PANEL OF REVIEWERS

Melissa Bremmer, Amsterdam University of the Arts, The Netherlands
Laura Ferrari, University of Bologna and Municipality of Bologna, Italy
Charlotte Fröhlich, University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland
Margré van Gestel, ISME Board member, The Netherlands
Claudia Gluschankof, Levinsky College of Education, Israel
Helga Gudmundsdottir University of Iceland, School of Education, Iceland
Laura Huhtinen-Hildén, Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, Finland
Karin Johansson, Lund University, Sweden
Theano Koutsoupidou, Mediterranean College, School of Education, Greece
Leena Pantsu, Jyväskylän ammatikorkeakoulu, Finland
Jèssica Pérez-Moreno, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain
Jessica Pitt, University of Roehampton, United Kingdom
Hans Van Regenmortel, Musica, Impulscentrum voor Muziek, Belgium
José Retra, Independent Researcher, The Netherlands
Tiina Selke, Tallinn University, Estonia
Gudrun Schmidt-Kärner, Independent Music Educator, Germany
Ruth Schneidewind, Institut für Musikpädagogik, Austria
Stefanie Stadler Elmer, Schwyz University of Teacher Education & University of Zurich
Alison Street, Parents Early Education Partnership, Centre for Research in Early
Education (CREC), United Kingdom
Susan Young, University of Roehampton, Applied Music Research Centre, United
Kingdom
Nikolaos Zafranos, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, School of Fine Arts,
Greece

LOCAL ORGANISING COMMITTEE

Alison Street
Linda Bance
Jessica Pitt

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We are grateful to Prof Pam Burnard for her unfailing enthusiasm and positive
support, and to the schools and settings who have opened their doors for visitors

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 Table of Contents
Foreword ...............................................................................................................................9
Michel Hogenes ............................................................................................................... 9
Keynote presentations.............................................................................................. 10
Raymond MacDonald ..................................................................................................11
The role of singing in young children’s musical lives and development...................13
Graham F Welch............................................................................................................13
Creating possibilities for (re-)viewing ‘spaces’ and ‘creativities’ as practitioner-
researchers in early childhood settings .........................................................................14
Pamela Burnard .............................................................................................................14
Spoken Sessions ........................................................................................................ 15
Part I............................................................................................................................. 15
Practice Papers ......................................................................................................... 15
‘Imagine If..’ creativity through music, dance and gardening ...................................16
Peter Baynes ...................................................................................................................16
Tri-borough Music Hub, Tri-Music Together ....................................................................24
Nicola Burke ...................................................................................................................24
‘together in this space’ .....................................................................................................30
Margareta Burrell ...........................................................................................................30
Helen Goldsmith ............................................................................................................30
Ensuring music does not go “in one eye and out the other”: Effective practice in
musical play with very young deaf children and their families ..................................31
Alison Harmer .................................................................................................................31
Music expressing the unspoken - Family music groups for asylum seekers ............42
Laura Huhtinen-Hildén ..................................................................................................42
Hanna-Maija Aarnio ......................................................................................................42
The language of music: play with music to grow together .........................................43
Marina Ielmini .................................................................................................................43
A child-centred approach to the playing of tuned musical instruments ..................50
David Liggins ..................................................................................................................50
Multi-agency delivery of Luton Roma Music Project....................................................58
from 2015-present time .....................................................................................................58
Sophie Mathias ..............................................................................................................58
Martin Burrell ...................................................................................................................58
Traces of music ..................................................................................................................68
Inger-Lisa Møen..............................................................................................................68
The missing place of Early Years in England’s music education policy: issues,
challenges, and innovations............................................................................................77
Carol Reid .......................................................................................................................77
The bridge is singing: Working with Cultural and Linguistic Difference ......................78
Alison Street ....................................................................................................................78
Nuzhat Abbas ................................................................................................................78
Tafelmuziek (Table Music) ................................................................................................87
Esther Ursem ...................................................................................................................87
Eersteklasconcerten: a different look at music participation of children in concert
halls......................................................................................................................................93
Hans Van Regenmortel.................................................................................................93
Part II ......................................................................................................................... 101

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Demonstrations and Workshops ........................................................................... 101
Icelandic playsongs and nursery rhymes ....................................................................103
Helga Rut Gudmundsdottir ........................................................................................103
“BebéPlimPlim”: A contribution to shared listening experiences .............................104
Ana Isabel Pereira .......................................................................................................104
Helena Rodrigues ........................................................................................................104
Paulo Maria Rodrigues ................................................................................................104
Paulo Ferreira Rodrigues .............................................................................................104
Early Ears: Findings from an innovative music technology with young children
project ...............................................................................................................................111
Paul Weston ..................................................................................................................111
Spoken Papers ......................................................................................................... 112
Part III ........................................................................................................................ 112
Research Papers...................................................................................................... 112
Communicative musicality: Exploring parent-child musical relationships through
toddler crib songs ............................................................................................................113
Claudia Calì .................................................................................................................113
Meryl Sole ......................................................................................................................113
The effects of a collaborative approach on reflection among a group of early
childhood music practitioners .......................................................................................114
Barbara Cavanagh .....................................................................................................114
Toward a comprehensive, creative and culturally responsive ................................123
early childhood music curriculum in Hong Kong .......................................................123
Lily Chen-Hafteck ........................................................................................................123
Maternal wellbeing through singing .............................................................................133
Karen Eaves ..................................................................................................................133
Music in Swedish preschool classes .............................................................................141
Anna Ehrlin ....................................................................................................................141
Olle Tivenius ..................................................................................................................141
The effect of body movement on children’s graphic representations ....................150
Sandra Fortuna ............................................................................................................150
Assessment of relationship quality in improvisation ...................................................151
Charlotte Fröhlich ........................................................................................................151
Musical representations and their metaphorical meanings among early childhood
student teachers from different cultures.......................................................................152
Ora Geiger ...................................................................................................................152
Aviva Dan .....................................................................................................................152
From Musical Culture for a Child towards a Child’s Musical Culture: Women’s
Narratives in a Child’s Musical Activity ........................................................................163
Rūta Girdzijauskienė .....................................................................................................163
Can infants dance before they walk? An experiment with eight to nine-month-old
infants in parent-infant music classes...........................................................................172
Helga Rut Gudmundsdottir ........................................................................................172
Reframing observable musical behaviours as play. A research study of musical
play amongst two- and three-year old children in two Early Years settings in
England .............................................................................................................................180
Alison Harmer ...............................................................................................................180
What are they learning? - exploring the tensions and complexities in a learner-
centred approach to early childhood music education...........................................190
Laura Huhtinen-Hildén ................................................................................................190

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 Jessica Pitt.....................................................................................................................190
The EcoSonic Playground: Project description and development ...........................191
Emotion, Empathy and Musical Experience with Young Children: The Child You
See, Sees You ...................................................................................................................200
Danette Littleton ..........................................................................................................200
What is Important in Early-Onset Singing Acquisition???...........................................201
Gwendolyn McGraw ..................................................................................................201
The discovery of the Laws of Art in Early Musical Education .....................................214
Marina Morari ...............................................................................................................214
Music Education in Early Years Education settings in Ireland: Glimpses of Provision
and Practice .....................................................................................................................221
Regina Murphy.............................................................................................................221
Francis Ward .................................................................................................................221
Geraldine French .........................................................................................................221
The influence of two song-teaching strategies on vocal performance in 6 to 7
year-old children and its relationship with their use of voice registers ...................222
Ana Isabel Pereira .......................................................................................................222
Helena Rodrigues ........................................................................................................222
Time to raise the bar: Exploring realities and improving musical engagement
practices of early childhood professionals in the infant and toddler room of
childcare centres in Australia ........................................................................................234
Ginette Pestana ...........................................................................................................234
SALTmusic - Speech and Language Therapy & Music Practice: Emerging findings
from action research.......................................................................................................241
Jessica Pitt.....................................................................................................................241
Charlotte Arculus .........................................................................................................241
Sophie Fox.....................................................................................................................241
The “musical” day-care centre: A model for training the educators ......................253
Stefanie Stadler Elmer .................................................................................................253
Armin Wyrsch ................................................................................................................253
Parental awareness and activity concerning prenatal acoustic intake and after-
birth music stimulation of babies ...................................................................................258
Lelouda Stamou ..........................................................................................................258
Despoina Skandalaki ..................................................................................................258
Musical experiences in the play of a 16-month-old child ........................................267
Vanessa Stansall ..........................................................................................................267
Musical creativity in Israel’s “junkyard” playgrounds ................................................275
Sara Stevens Zur ...........................................................................................................275
Singing alone or singing in companion: Co-designing lessons to support in- service
early childhood teachers ...............................................................................................283
Nopi Nicolaou Telemachou .......................................................................................283
Constructing musical spaces on screen: Discourses of “childhood”, “music” and
“childhood music” in educational television programmes for young children .....284
Ingeborg Lunde Vestad .............................................................................................284
Why evaluate the teaching materials we use? ...........................................................292
Rosa Mª Vicente ÁLvarez ...........................................................................................292
Researching the musical engagement of young children with ...............................299
Retinopathy of Prematurity .............................................................................................299
Angela Voyajolu ..........................................................................................................299
Rosie Axon ....................................................................................................................299
Adam Ockelford..........................................................................................................299

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 The Branded Product and The Funded Project: Neoliberal policies creating
musical spaces in early childhood ...............................................................................307
Susan Young .................................................................................................................307
BabySong..........................................................................................................................315
Vanessa Young ............................................................................................................315
Spoken Sessions ...................................................................................................... 324
Part IV ........................................................................................................................ 324
Symposia .................................................................................................................. 324
Who are the Practitioners in Early Childhood Music in the United Kingdom? .........325
Discussant: Alison Street ..............................................................................................325
Zoe Greenhalgh...........................................................................................................325
Karen Eaves ..................................................................................................................325
Jane Parker...................................................................................................................325
Exploring early childhood music groups: the aims, background and experience of
leaders: The Big Picture. ..................................................................................................326
Zoe Greenhalgh...........................................................................................................326
The musical identities of early childhood music specialists: An exploration of the
contributory factors and how these identities relate to practice: The Close Up ....333
Karen Eaves ..................................................................................................................333
An exploration of the beliefs, assumptions and knowledge of Early Childhood
Practitioners towards Early Childhood Music: The Other Side ...................................341
Jane Parker...................................................................................................................341
Symposium 2 ............................................................................................................ 350
The Viennese Approach of Elemental Music Making ................................................350
Veronika Kinsky ............................................................................................................350
Eva Königer...................................................................................................................350
Mario Smetana ............................................................................................................350
Michaela Ulm-Aram ....................................................................................................350
Part V ......................................................................................................................... 358
Poster Sessions ......................................................................................................... 358
Foundations that support school readiness: Using music to enhance language and
executive function development in preschool children growing up in challenging
circumstances..................................................................................................................359
Alice R Bowmer ............................................................................................................359
Kathryn Mason .............................................................................................................359
Graham F Welch..........................................................................................................359
Investigating music and language development in preschool children ................360
Alice R Bowmer ............................................................................................................360
Graham F Welch..........................................................................................................360
The networked flow to read children’ interactions in musical experience with the
MIROR ................................................................................................................................361
Laura Ferrari ..................................................................................................................361
Anna Rita Addessi .......................................................................................................361
On-line training courses for early years educators, specialists and musicians .....362
Emma Hutchinson........................................................................................................362

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8
Foreword
We proudly present the Proceedings for the eighth Conference of the European Network for
Music Educators and Researchers of Young Children (EuNet MERYC). The MERYC network
aims to create a platform where both researchers and practitioners can meet, share
expertise & experiences, enthusiasm and insights on music education for young children. This
proceedings book shows the diversity of early childhood music research and practice. A
diversity with regard to heritage of methods and approaches, philosophies and theoretical
ideas, but also languages and cultures that form the basis that inspires enthusiastic music
educators and driven researchers to take new initiatives. As a novelty, EuNet MERYC has
opened its doors to non-European educators and researchers. Alongside European early
childhood music research and practices you will be able to read abstracts of colleagues
from the USA and Australia in this abstract book.

The MERYC Board is delighted to have participants representing a variety of twenty-two

countries, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Greece,
Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Republic of
Moldova, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States of America.
One of the aims of EuNet MERYC is to promote the participation of European countries from
all corners of the continent, including the Baltic countries.

All submitted abstracts have been blind reviewed by two reviewers of the composed
European Review Panel of experts in music education, psychology of music, and other topics
offered by the conference. The Review Panel represents many European countries and
expertise. We are grateful to the Panel for their time and attention in reviewing the
submissions.

The eighth MERYC Conference is hosted by Homerton College, the Faculty of Education of
Cambridge University. The second organising partner is MERYC-England, an independent
incorporated charitable organization for Music Educators and Researchers of Young
Children. MERYC-England aims to pursue inquiry into early childhood music education
through research and critical reflection on practice, to promote and articulate high quality
inclusive practice and musicianship in practice, to foster collaboration between educators
and researchers in Music Education practice with young children that is mutually supportive
between researchers and practitioners, and to conduct music education and research that
recognises the cultural and social diversity of early childhood and childrearing practices in
families in the UK.

The board of EuNet MERYC thanks Homerton College and MERYC England for the enormous
amount of work that has been done to organize the 8th MERYC Conference and to compile
the current proceedings book.

Michel Hogenes
The Hague, April 2017

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Keynote presentations

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Space is the Place: Improvisation as site for children’s creative
development

Raymond MacDonald
University of Edinburgh, Scotland
[email protected]

Abstract
We are all improvisers. In recent years there has been a significant growth in psychological
interest in improvisation, not just as a feature of jazz, but as an accessible, unique,
spontaneous, social and creative process that can facilitate collaboration between many
musical genres and across disciplines. More specifically, there is growing evidence to suggest
that improvisation is a universally accessible form of collaborative creativity that can be
utilised as a way of introducing children to music making. This presentation will explore the
importance of improvisation for children. It aims to highlight how improvisation can be
utilised as a contemporary approach to children’s creative engagement that can facilitate
the development of musicality and creativity across a range of contexts. This paper sets out
a framework, based on psychological findings, for understanding improvisation as a universal
capability and an essentially social behaviour, with important implications for children’s
education, contemporary artistic practice, pedagogy, therapy and the psychology of social
behaviour.
A number of research projects that investigate the fundamental features of improvisation will
be outlined. Musicians’ critiques of their own improvisations are discussed and key links with
children’s music making and music education are made. The paper draws together recent
advances to frame improvising as an innovative and vibrant way of engaging children
musically, and from a cross disciplinary perspective.
A model is presented for the process of choice that individuals undertake when improvising,
with examples provided to illustrate how the model functions. The presentation also outlines a
comprehensive set of options children, or any improviser, may take over the course of a
musical collaboration to allow a group to generate music. This way of conceptualising
improvisation has utility across all forms of music and across different art forms. It also offers a
less daunting challenge to the novice improviser, and a potential way round a ‘block’ for
creative practitioners. The implications are discussed in relation to broader social and
cultural change.

Key words
Improvisation, collaborative creativity, musical identities

Raymond is Professor of Music Psychology and Improvisation at Edinburgh University and

lectures and runs workshops internationally, written book chapters and co-edited five
texts. He is also a saxophonist and composer has released over 60 CDs and toured and
broadcast worldwide.

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His ongoing research focuses on issues relating to improvisation, musical communication,
music health and wellbeing, music education and musical identities. He studies the
processes and outcomes of music participation and music listening and has a particular
interest in collaborative creativity. His work is informed by a view of improvisation as a social,
collaborative and uniquely creative process that provides opportunities to develop new
ways of working musically.
He published over 70 peer reviewed papers and has co-edited five texts, Musical Identities
(2002) and Musical Communication (2005), Musical Imaginations (2012) and Music Health &
Wellbeing (2012), The Handbook of Musical Identities (2017) and was editor of the journal
Psychology of Music between 2006 and 2012. He is an associate editor for The International
Journal of Music Education, Jazz Research Journal, Research Studies in Music Education,
Musicae Scientiae and The Journal of Music Therapy.

Link to Raymond’s webpage at University of Edinburgh http://www.eca.ed.ac.uk/reid-

school-of-music/raymond-macdonald

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The role of singing in young children’s musical lives and
development

Graham F Welch
UCL Institute of Education, London
[email protected]
[email protected]
Abstract
One of the characteristics of the human condition is our use and interpretation of sound to
communicate and understand the world around us. Central to our sound making lives is the
voice, both for speech and song. Singing is a universal human behaviour and is subject to
developmental processes that are enriched, nurtured or discouraged and hindered by
experience and context. Vocal utterances begin at birth and quickly become shaped by
internal physical and emotional states, as well as by external sources, especially significant
others, such as carers and siblings. Mothers, in particular, are our initial singing mentors, and
the research evidence suggests that rich exposure to pre-school singing in the home and
maternal community is likely to have a significant positive impact on subsequent musical and
other-than-musical development (such as language, numeracy, pro-social skills and aspects
of executive function). The keynote presentation will rehearse recent research evidence
concerning the important place of singing in young children’s musical lives and
development, drawing on longitudinal as well as experimental and case study data from the
UK and elsewhere. Longitudinal evidence is drawn from new analyses of cohort study data in
the UK and Australia, alongside data from current research with young children in
mainstream and SEND settings. Implications will be drawn for practitioners, researchers and
policy makers (local, regional and national) of the key role that singing can and should have
in the lives of all our children.

Professor Graham Welch PhD holds the UCL Institute of Education (formerly University of London)
Established Chair of Music Education since 2001. He is a Past President of the International
Society for Music Education (ISME) (2008-2014) and elected Chair of the internationally based
Society for Education, Music and Psychology Research (SEMPRE). He holds Visiting Professorships
at universities in the UK and overseas, and is a former member of the UK Arts and Humanities
Research Council (AHRC) Review College for Music (2007-2015). Publications number
approximately three hundred and fifty and embrace musical development and music
education, teacher education, the psychology of music, singing and voice science, and music
in special education and disability. Publications are primarily in English, but also appear in
Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Swedish, Greek, Japanese and Chinese. New publications in 2017
will include an updated Oxford Handbook of Music Education (five volumes) and the Oxford
Handbook of Singing. He has been Chair of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation National Working
Group on music education in England (http://www.inspire-music.org) from 2015-2016.

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Creating possibilities for (re-)viewing ‘spaces’ and ‘creativities’ as
practitioner-researchers in early childhood settings

Pamela Burnard
Faculty of Education
University of Cambridge
[email protected]

Abstract
Today, as the boundaries between local and global communities disappear and flow of
information between them becomes instantaneous, the social, educational and community
spaces in which we find ourselves, as early years artists, educators and researchers, have
become increasingly culturally diverse. Early childhood music educators are finding new
ways to express and embrace the cultural diversity they see inside and outside the
classroom. Early childhood music education researchers are developing a specialized
discourse to allow individuals within the profession, with its own code of practice, its own
discourse, and its own theoretical perspectives, to communicate effectively about all
matters associated with research. In practice, early years music practitioners are thinking
deeply and carefully about the ways in which musics of other cultures enter into a dialogue
with their own. The gap between practice and research can, however, be closed. Active
engagement with children’s worlds and their music making, as practitioner-researchers, has
the potential to promote a more profound understanding of children’s creative endeavors
and for uniquely viewing (and co-creating) ‘spaces’ and ‘creativities’ in dialogic
communicative practice. It is timely that we critically examine our own practice as early
years professionals in order to deconstruct our taken-for-granted practices. How is the child
situated? From whose/which perspective do we frame our own practice (self-reflections)
and interactions (with children’s communities of music practice) in early childhood settings?
What is the significance of dialogic communicative practice in musical (play) spaces? What
are the spaces of possibility and learning implications for (re-)positioning and (re-)viewing
ourselves as practitioner-researchers?

Pamela Burnard is Professor of Arts, Creativities and Education at the Faculty of Education,
University of Cambridge (www.educ.cam.ac.uk/people/staff/Burnard/). She co-convenes
the British Educational Research Association (BERA) Special Interest Group, Creativities in
Education (www.bera.ac.uk/group/creativities-in-education), and the biennial international
conference, Building Interdisciplinary Bridges Across Cultures and Creativities
(www.BIBACC.org). She is a practising musician, educator, workshop practitioner, academic
and international authority on creativities research. She has published widely with 12 books
and over 100 articles on creative teaching and learning and the expanded
conceptualization and plural expression of creativities across sectors and settings, including
young children’s musical creativity in early childhood settings.

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Spoken Sessions

Part I

Practice Papers

15
‘Imagine If..’ creativity through music, dance and gardening

Peter Baynes
Kuten Theatre Company
Edinburgh, Scotland
[email protected]

Abstract
“Imagine If…”, commissioned by the City of Edinburgh Council, aimed to produce resource
materials for teachers and other nursery workers in early years settings to encourage
creativity through music and movement. We worked in two contrasting nurseries in the winter
of 2015-16: one private, where the children often spend a large part of their day, and one in
a state school, where they attend each morning. The Scottish Curriculum for Excellence
requires schools to develop creativity from the outset of every child’s school career. Music is
another integral requirement. “Imagine If…” set out to send a strong message that music
need not be a scary proposition for non-specialist teachers. We made a working definition of
creativity which bridged the gap between the government’s drive for a creative workforce
and the wholly child-centred approach appropriate to the nursery. The important points
were:
Creativity can make new connections, find new ways of doing things, solve problems.
Creativity helps people make positive life choices, enhances wellbeing.
A fundamental condition for creativity is curiosity and a desire to express oneself. We
incorporated gardening as a parallel strand. The private nursery had an allotment and the
children were already familiar with what could be grown there. In the school the children
planted seeds and observed them growing on the windowsill. The children learned that the
seeds needed the right conditions to grow. Likewise, we were careful to provide good
conditions during the music sessions. There was practically no such thing as a mistake
from their perspective, simply trying things out and expressing their feelings in a supportive
environment.
We explored established teaching techniques, such as learning by rote, finding ways to
maximise their creative potential. We used aspects of musical structure to elicit responses
and to indicate appropriate times for those responses. The resulting resources included a
short film, a recording of the repertoire we developed and CPD sessions.

Keywords
Creativity, nurture, repertoire

Setting the scene

Call and response is a familiar and much used musical device. It is also a very
common device to sing a welcoming song at the beginning of an early years
session.

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 Solo: Hello.
Chorus: Hello.
Solo: Hello, hello.
Chorus: Hello, hello.
Solo: Nice to see you here.
Chorus: Nice to see you here.
Solo: Today is Thursday.
Chorus: Today is Thursday.
Solo: The weather is fine.
Chorus: The weather is fine.
Solo: I wish you a happy morning.
Chorus: I wish you a happy morning. (Baynes, 2015)

This song is an example of the simplest kind of call and response: the
play leader sings a line and the chorus of children sing it back. Its main
feature is that the soloist has to change the words according to the
day of the week and the weather. A confident leader may go further
and introduce other topical subjects, even new phrases of melody. The
song is never the same twice. Children enjoy this and understand
immediately that in this session, making things up is allowed. We are
bringing creativity into the environment.

Project background and aims

‘Imagine If..’ was a project that was carried out in two contrasting
nurseries in Edinburgh in December 2015 and January 2016. It was
commissioned by the City of Edinburgh Council and its remit was to
explore the nurturing of creativity through music and to find ways of
enabling and encouraging teachers to carry out this kind of work. One
of the nurseries was part of a state primary school, which the children
attended either in the mornings or in the afternoons. The other was a
private nursery where some of the children spent most of their day,
eating there, sleeping there and almost making it a second home. In
addition to the music we added two further elements. Firstly
movement, or dance, which is virtually inseparable from music,
particularly with young children. Secondly, we added gardening
activities.

Establishing fertile conditions

Gardening may seem a random insertion, but there are strong parallels
between gardening and music education that we wanted to draw
attention to. Gardeners provide the best possible conditions for their
crops and those crops then grow at their own pace. Gardeners cannot
get results by shouting at flowers or pulling at carrots to make them
grow quicker. You may be able to force a crop, but will it be as
vigorous or taste as good when it gets to the plate? Children also need
nurture and often need time to come round to music making. If that
impulse does not come from within, like a germinating seed, it may
never be genuine.
Unfortunately, the notion that musicality can be instilled from outside is
commonplace in many classrooms. Too often one can see teachers or
assistants, observing that a child is not joining in with clapping and will
for example, take hold of the child by the arms to make them clap. This
is disempowering and can be highly damaging. In our project the
children were allowed to make things up; it was also equally as
acceptable if they chose not to do so. An added benefit of including
gardening was that it provided activities we could sing about. It also
offered an oblique perspective on a different kind of creativity.

Defining creativity
What is creativity? Definitions will vary according to context. An
engineer, a gardener and a poet will all have different understandings
of the word. For our purposes we needed a sound working definition to
help determine our goals. We identified the following significant
aspects:
Curiosity: Creativity stems from a curiosity about the surrounding world
and who we are.
Resourcefulness: Creativity seeks out and solves problems. It enables
critical analysis and flexibility of thought. It can encompass, learn from
and overcome mistakes.
Innovation: Creativity also does things. It finds new ways of doing
things and it discovers new things to do.

The Scottish government introduced its “Curriculum for Excellence” in

2010. This initiative was hailed as aspirational when it was launched, but
teachers’ organisations indicated that teachers would need extra
professional development in order to achieve it. The Curriculum for
Excellence (CfE) sets out a wide range of experiences and outcomes
along with a timetable for their achievement. Music and creativity are
both on the list for the early stage.

Edinburgh City Council is the body responsible for delivering education

in its area and is faced with an acute shortage of resources. Funding
the number of specialists it used to is no longer possible and it now
requires the teachers already on its payroll to achieve more. Given that
we live in a culture which broadly assumes that both music and
creativity are rare gifts that are bestowed on the few, it is unsurprising
that many teachers feel daunted by the prospect of teaching them.
Part of our task therefore is to assert and demonstrate that you do not
necessarily need special skills to teach music and that we all have the
potential to be creative. This came to the fore and was one of the
central tenets of the continued professional development sessions we
delivered during 2016.

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Nurturing the child or producing a workforce?
Creativity and music clearly support the Curriculum for Excellence aim
of developing confident individuals, but the government undoubtedly
also has its eye on producing what it calls ‘effective contributors’.
Creativity is high on the list of attributes needed in the economy of the
future.
In 2016 the World Economic Forum produced the following tables of
the top ten skills required in the work force. The first table is for 2015:
1. Complex Problem Solving
2. Coordinating with Others
3. People Management
4. Critical Thinking
5. Negotiation
6. Quality Control
7. Service Orientation
8. Judgement and Decision Making
9. Active Listening
10. Creativity
Creativity comes last in this list. But in the projection for 2020 it rises to
third place:
1. Complex Problem Solving
2. Critical Thinking
3. Creativity
4. People Management
5. Coordinating with Others
6. Emotional Intelligence
7. Judgement and Decision Making
8. Service Orientation
9. Negotiation
10. Cognitive Flexibility (2)

The World Economic Forum does not define creativity here but it is
worthy to note that, according to our working definition, creativity also
encompasses items one, two and ten in the list for 2020, making it the
top skill.

Creating a desire to join in

While our welcoming call and response song requires a degree of
creativity from the play leader, the role of the children is subordinate
and repetitive. With the song ‘Roll a Ball’ and its accompanying activity
we sought an individual response from each child. The game is played
seated on the floor in a circle and each child takes a turn.
Roll a ball,
Roll a ball,
Roll a ball to Ibrahim.
Ibrahim has got the ball,
Roll it back to me. (Street & Bance, 2006)

19
The ball is a strong and dynamic focal point and centres the attention
of the whole group on the child. It is up to each child in that moment
to choose what happens next. Creativity relies on having something to
say or do, but it is also important that a child feels there is an audience
out there to which it matters. The group is here making a request and
awaiting a response from the child, who is usually happy to make that
response and roll the ball back so that the song can continue. This
game elicits individual participation and strengthens the message that
not only are the sessions spaces where making things up is OK, but also
that the children have important contributions to make and that these
are appreciated and respected. It is essential that if a child is asked to
be creative, the creative space should also be supportive and safe.

Musical structures that allow space

Structure is important in planning the sessions to make them creative,
supportive and safe. Musical structure itself is also a useful tool in
fostering creativity. In the case of the last song, the structure gives a
clear indication of what to do and when to do it. Every child
understood that they should roll the ball back to the play leader and
the song indicates exactly when to do so.
Another example of this is the traditional song ‘Oats and Beans and
Barley Grow’. We adapted the tune slightly, making extra beats for
stamping of feet, clapping and turning around. Although we made no
attempt to teach anything about musical structure, the children
recognised it instinctively and needed no prompting; it was enough to
present that particular musical structure to them and demonstrate the
actions a single time.

With the song ‘Jean Petit qui Danse’ the structure and words clearly
invite dancing, featuring different parts of the body: the fingers, the
legs or the head. The structure however leaves the children free to do
the dance in the way they wish, leading to plenty of creative and
expressive dance moves.

Taking a solo
Jazz musicians are highly aware of structure and draw upon it when
improvising. The structure of the piece as a whole also gives a strong
frame to an improvised solo, helping to reveal its sense. We used
structure in this way to incorporate the playing of an instrument. In the
song ‘Suzie Has the Drum’ the group stands in a circle with a floor tom
in the middle. Each child takes a drum solo, handing the sticks to the
next child in turn.
Suzie has the drum.
It’s your turn to play for us today,
What do you want to say?
What are you going to play?

20
 [Drum solo for 12 bars, counted by the rest of the group.]
Thank you, Suzie.
Suzie can play the drum. (P. Baynes)

In the short timescale of our sessions in the nurseries we only had time to
introduce this song once to each group. Despite the novelty of the
song and the excitement of playing a large drum, most children
understood what to do, enjoyed the game and even managed to
take turns. Even though their technique was very basic we witnessed
some heartfelt performances.

Fundamental music skills

Although some of the children’s drumming demonstrated that
technique is far from the only ingredient of musicality, we spent time on
the beginnings of the long process of developing musical technique, or
skills, as these indisputably help musical expression.
We concentrated on the fundamentals of
Rhythm, including the concept of fast and slow.
Melody, including the concept of high and low pitch.
Listening.
Timbre, both as a listening activity and when singing and playing.
Dynamics.

Peer learning
Some of this work involves concepts which are difficult to grasp and all
of the above facets of music present challenges. We noticed that
during these activities, though it was important to present the material
clearly and simply, most of the teaching was done by the children
themselves. One or two children would leap to an understanding
before the others and would perform the task, upon which the rest of
the group would begin to follow their example. Peer learning is a
powerful factor and a bonus which comes from making music as a
social activity. It is a free gift to anyone officially responsible for the
teaching and we gave it maximum space.

The relevance of old fashioned methods and their subversion

Many teachers feel challenged by the prospect of teaching music or
having to sing, we therefore examined ways of using familiar teaching
techniques to enhance their creative potential. We looked particularly
at the use of repetition and learning by rote. The latter is sometimes
considered to be the antithesis of creativity, dulling the senses and
stifling curiosity, yet many musicians around the globe spend much of
their working lives learning by rote and through repetition. The very
word means rehearsal in several languages.

These learning techniques have their place and we did not shy away
from using them. In order to try and make them more interactive and

21
to break the sense of passivity and subordination we would sometimes
give the lead to a child to see what they would do. The song ‘Copy
Me’ provides a simple example:
Copy me, copy me,
You can do it too.
Copy me, copy me,
Then I’ll copy you.
And handing over to a child:
Copy Liam, copy Liam,
We can do it too.
Copy Liam, copy Liam,
Then we’ll copy you. [Moving to another child]
(Traditional)

Children spend much of their learning career subject to others’

agendas. Having the power to decide what everyone else will do for a
change can be both motivating and stimulating to creativity.

Summing up
Music education is a lifelong process and ‘Imagine If..’ delivered only a
few practical sessions. It is therefore premature to draw much in the
way of conclusions, but much experiential learning took place and it is
possible to make some meaningful points in summing up.

We placed great importance on establishing favourable conditions;

an environment where creativity is encouraged, supported and safe.
We developed activities for the children as a group and individually, to
help them feel that their contribution was valued.
We supported the children whether they chose to express themselves
or whether they chose not to.
We used musical structure to indicate what to do and when to do it
and to provide a context for play, dance, musical improvisation and
learning.
We explored playful ways of transmitting basic musical skills.
We made music in a social context.
We harnessed the power of peer learning, learning by rote and
learning by repetition, allowing the children to take control for
themselves where possible.

The local council received a short documentary film, made by Lorna

Simpson, a recording of the songs we used and a booklet outlining the
many educational benefits of the activities, with musical notation and
detailed instructions on how to carry out the games. These were given
to all schools in the city with early years departments. We also
delivered some lively and rewarding CPD sessions to teachers and
other early years professionals across Edinburgh.

The teachers in the state school nursery engaged enthusiastically with

the project from the beginning and contributed their own ideas. They

22
adapted the ‘Roll a Ball’ game to become ‘Slide the Ice’, using a big
block of ice which formed outside one night. They continued to use the
material outside the sessions and after the project had finished. In the
private nursery, the focus of the staff is caring rather than educative.
They have good facilities and provide many beneficial activities but
they are not required to deliver educational goals. Any lasting impact
there is, is consequently, uncertain.

The children in both nurseries were enthusiastic and engaged well with
the games. They avidly and quickly took the new material and made it
their own.
But all children are different. Some quickly came to the forefront and
became leaders, some remained quieter, some reacted with
enthusiasm but could also be disruptive. But no child in either nursery
refused to engage at all. Those individuals who were reticent still joined
in with the group games and everyone took a turn at playing the drum.
It is not possible to know what is going on when a child is quiet; parents
often report that a child who has been quiet at the nursery has been
very vocal at home, singing all the songs they learned earlier. There
can be many reasons for not joining in, including linguistic difficulty and
different cultural background.

Nurseries are fertile places for creativity because there are children in
them. Whether anything creative actually comes about depends on
the adults in charge. As in a garden, if favourable conditions exist,
positive things will follow. Every living thing wants to move, to grow, to
express itself. In the nursery and elsewhere, music, dance and play are
strong agents for making that happen.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Frances Rive, musician and educationalist, Edinburgh Council.
Lorna Simpson, filmmaker.
Stephanie Knight, Lecturer/Convenor, Applied Theatre Workshops Programme,
University of Glasgow.
The staff and children at the nurseries who hosted ‘Imagine If...’

References
Street, A. & Bance, L. (2006) Voiceplay: 22 Songs for Young Children. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report, Career Skills,
https://www.weforum.org/…/the-10-skills-you-need-to-thrive-in-the-fourth-
industrial-revolution

23
Tri-borough Music Hub, Tri-Music Together

Nicola Burke
Independent
Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
[email protected]

Abstract
Tri-Music Together is a two year workforce development project taking place across
three local authorities in London, England. The project was initiated by the Tri-borough
Music Hub (TBMH), London. Music Hubs in England are currently not granted
government funding to support EY music activity. The project, funded by the Charity
Youth Music, is therefore exploring how Music Hubs can have a strategic role in
supporting music in the EY.
The TBMH created a consortium of partners with an interest in developing music
provision for children aged birth to five. There are fourteen members of the consortium,
the members include state funded EY services, not for profit arts organisations, charities
and performance venues. All types of EY settings are involved. The participants
involved are musicians who work for the members of the consortium and practitioners
from the EY sector.
The aim of the project is to develop the skills and understanding of all those who work
with children aged birth to five from settings within the specified geographical area.
The focus of the CPD for the EY practitioners is on developing a general understanding
of music and music in the early years. The focus of the CPD for the members of the
consortium and the musicians who work for them is on developing an understanding
of child development and the current EY framework (EYFS). The initial stage of the
project involves a mapping exercise to identify the specific CPD needs of the EY
practitioners and musicians involved.
The project will encompass a range of sessions for musicians and EY practitioners that
involve collaborative learning and sharing, individual work and group work. Sessions
will take place with children in settings including reflection time for the musicians and
EY practitioners to allow them to discuss and learn from one another.
The project is striving to improve the quality of music practice and increase skills,
knowledge and understanding of music in the EY. A goal of the consortium is for the
strategies used within the project to be shared with other Music Hubs across the country
to raise the profile and understanding of EY music to a higher level.

Keywords
Music and education, Teacher training

Theoretical background and content

Tri-Music Together is a two-year Early Years (EY) music project taking
place within three boroughs in West London, England; The Royal
Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the London Borough of
Hammersmith and Fulham and the City of Westminster. In 2012, the three
London boroughs combined to create the Tri-borough to offer specific
areas of service delivery. The aim of Tri-Music Together is to improve the
music provision for children from birth to 5 years old across EY settings in
the Tri-borough.
In England there is a National Plan for Music Education (NPME) which
was created by the Department for Education in 2011 (Department for
Education, 2011). This plan was created as a result of a review of music

24
education in England that was carried out during 2010. The NPME sets
out a central vision for schools, arts and education organisations to drive
excellence in music education.
A central aspect to the NPME was the creation of new Music
Education Hubs (MEH’s) to take forward the work of local authority
music services from September 2012. MEH’s are groups of organisations
such as local authorities, schools, other hubs, art organisations,
community or voluntary organisations, working together to create
joined-up music education provision and fulfil the objectives of the hub
as set out in the NPME. MEH’s are coordinated by the hub lead
organisation, which takes on responsibility for the funding and
governance of the hub. The total amount of hub funding from the
Department for Education in 2016/17 is £75 million. Although the NPME
acknowledges that ‘music teaching starts in the Early Years’
(Department for Education, 2011, p.9) the hub funding from the
Department for Education is for children within the National Curriculum,
i.e. children aged five and above. National policy does not include
music making in the EY.

The Tri-borough Music Hub (TBMH) is the lead organisation that oversees
the delivery of music education in the Tri-borough. As a passionate
advocate of music in the EY, the Tri-borough Music Hub leader was
keen to explore how the TBMH could provide music education in the EY
across the Tri-borough. The Hub leader invited partners of the TBMH to
meet and discuss music in the EY, and to consider how the MEH could
provide EY music education for children from birth to age five due to
the lack of central funding. The initial meeting was an agenda-less
meeting to gauge interest amongst the partners. Throughout 2015,
further meetings pursued and the Tri-borough Early Years Music
Consortium (TBEYMC) was created. The TBEYMC had a vision to
develop EY music provision across the Tri-borough.

Characteristics of participants
The partners within the TBEYMC provide music making in the EY in a
range of ways with some providing more than others. The partners were
keen to not only support EY practitioners across the area, they were also
keen to develop the skills, knowledge and understanding of the music
practitioners who work with them to enable their organisations to offer
effective EY music making.
The TBEYMC consists of 14 partner organisations, they are:
• The Royal Albert Hall, an internationally renowned concert hall
• Wigmore Hall, a leading international recital venue
• The Royal College of Music, a music conservatoire
• Tri-borough Music Hub, the lead organisation that oversees the
delivery of music education across the Tri-borough
• The Voices Foundation, a national music education charity

25
 • Chickenshed Kensington & Chelsea, an inclusive theatre
company
• Creative Futures, an arts organisation that delivers programmes to
improve outcomes for children and young people
• Inspire-Works, an organisation that delivers world-music and
dance workshops
• Musichouse for Children, a music school that provides instrumental
and vocal lessons
• Sound Connections, an organisation that develops, supports
individuals and organisations to deliver high quality music-making
with children and young people
• The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Children’s Centres
• The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Children’s
Centres. (Children centres are places, where local families with
young children can go and enjoy facilities and receive support
that they need).
• Westminster City Council Children’s Centres
• Tri-borough School Standards, Children’s Services, EY Lead Adviser
A strength of the TBEYMC, led by the TBMH, is that 14 organisations are
working collectively as one large body of EY focused partners. It is the
shared vision of the consortium that has led to the creation of the Tri-
Music Together project. The consortium, applied to the national charity
Youth Music for £200,000 of funding to enable their vision to be a
reality. In the summer of 2016 the TBEYMC were granted £100,000 to
deliver the two year EY music project and subsequently I was
appointed Strategic Lead.
The requirements of the Youth Music grant stipulate that the project
must primarily focus within the most deprived wards across the Tri-
borough. Twelve wards within the Tri-borough were identified as the
most deprived in the area. They were identified using the Income
Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI). This index is calculated by
the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and measures in a local area
the proportion of children under the age of 16 that live in low income
households. The local areas for which the index is calculated
are described as super output areas.

Aims of the project

The focus of the Tri-Music Together project is on workforce development.
The project aims to develop a sustainable network of outstanding EY
music practice between EY settings and the TBEYMC to support
children’s creative and musical entitlement through workforce
development, targeted activity, and evaluation. The ethos of the
project is to engender a learning community between all of the
practitioners involved, this includes partners of the TBEYMC, EY
practitioners in settings, and music practitioners working with the partner
organisations. The goal is for everyone involved to learn from each other
at each step of the way in order to develop effective practice with

26
children from birth to five years old. Reflective practice is at the core of
the project with the aim that the project will support practitioners to learn
collaboratively.
The project is for:
• Those working in maintained schools and nurseries;
• Those working in children's centres;
• Those working in private, voluntary and independent settings;
• The music practitioners that work with the TBEYMC partners
organisations.
The project is primarily focusing on the 12 most deprived wards that have
been identified but it is also offering opportunities for EY practitioners
across all areas of the Tri-borough.

Method & pedagogical approach

The initial stages of the project involved a mapping exercise to obtain a
clear picture of:
• The current music provision in EY settings;
• The EY practitioners knowledge and understanding of music and
EY music making;
• The TBEYMC music practitioner’s knowledge and understanding
of child development and EY music making.
This information was gathered via an electronic questionnaire that EY
practitioners and music practitioners were invited to complete.
Following this initial stage, the project created a range of training
sessions to respond to the needs identified from the mapping exercise.
Throughout the two years the project will deliver a whole host of
Continuous Professional Development (CPD) sessions for EY practitioners,
teachers & music practitioners. The CPD sessions include:
Bespoke modelling sessions taking place in settings within the 12
identified wards. These sessions involve music practitioners working
with children and EY practitioners, followed by reflection time
between the music practitioners and EY practitioners.

Centralised off site sessions:

– Specific training for EY practitioners to develop knowledge

and understanding of music and EY music making

– Specific training for TBEYMC music practitioners to develop

knowledge and understanding of child development and
EY music making

– Sessions for TBEYMC music practitioners and EY practitioners

coming together to discuss, share and develop practice.

A unique and innovative aspect of the project is that it is providing

bespoke CPD sessions to address the specific needs of the EY
practitioners and the needs of the music practitioners. Opportunities to

27
access training such as this are rare. Musicians who are interested in
working in EY have little opportunity to access courses to enable them
to understand children and child development. There is currently an
MA in EY Education available at the Centre for Research in Early
Childhood (CREC), Birmingham, England, which offers a music module.
Other than this there are short courses available which tend to focus on
a particular aspect of musical approaches such as Kodály and
Dalcroze.
The MA was the only available qualification for music practitioners
wishing to work in EY. This year, 2017 marks a change in this as a newly
developed course has been initiated by MERYC-England; the
Certificate for Music Educators (CME): Early Childhood (Level 4). This
new course offers a distance-learning, flexible, part-time qualification in
early childhood music. The CME is a recognised National Qualification
validated by Trinity College London and is being delivered in
partnership with CREC, Birmingham, England. This course has been
designed to develop high quality teachers to work in early childhood
music and will begin in the autumn term of 2017.
Similarly, EY practitioners and teachers do not receive training on
children’s musical development within their child development tuition.
Music in the EY CPD opportunities are rare, courses can be accessed
via companies that provide this, or occasionally local authorities will
commission an EY specialist to deliver a one off training session for EY
practitioners. Throughout the two year project the CPD sessions that the
project is offering consist of:
• Two hour workshops
• One-day courses
• Three-day courses
• One-day insetting modelling & training sessions
• Sharing & networking sessions
• Tri-Music Together Facebook group to offer support and enable
discussion.

The project is also developing free online resources, including

guidance for EY practitioners and music practitioners to develop and
support music in EY settings.

Future Aspirations
Partners of the TBEYMC along with other music organisations and
people across the country are lobbying for EY to be included in the
NPME. Tri-music Together is being looked at by Youth Music as a
beacon project for MEH’s. It is our vision that when EY is included in the
NPME, the strategies that we have explored throughout the Tri-Music
Together project can be shared and implemented by the other 120
MEH’s across England.
We plan to disseminate the strategies we have put in place and
outcomes of the project by:

28
 • Writing articles for key publications in England, such as Nursery
World magazine, Teach EY magazine, Times Education
Supplement;
• Sharing our learning at national conferences such as Music Mark
for MEH’s, and the British Early Childhood Education Research
Association (BECERA) Conference;
• Working in partnership with the British Association of Early
Childhood Education to produce free guidance on
understanding children’s musical development and how to
develop music provision in EY settings.

References
Department for Education, (2011). The importance of music: a national plan for music
education. Department for Education.

29
‘together in this space’

Margareta Burrell
Head of Early Years, Music Therapist, Berkshire Maestros (Music Hub)
Reading, Berkshire, England GB
[email protected]
Helen Goldsmith
Whitley Park Primary School
Reading, Berkshire, England GB

Abstract
Touching on both educational and therapeutic aspects, this presentation will
describe a music project in an urban Infant school in south-east, UK, with a ‘nurture’
group (small group of twelve children with a wide variety of special needs). Sessions
take place within an evocative and intimate holding space within the room, which is
created by a painted ‘pop up’ panoramic scene.

The project ‘Pantomimus’ was led in close collaboration over ten weeks between the
teacher and the music specialist (from Early Years department, Berkshire Music Hub/
Music Services). It included both a weekly group session in a bigger space, adult led
and supported by staff, in parallel with a time of child led, spontaneous music making
within the classroom. Both sessions were using the described pop up.

Aims were
to increase the quality of engagement and focus through musical
interactions
to give the children an outlet to experience music making through
movement and exploring instruments
to observe the potential musical associations and links between the music
making in the bigger group and the free spontaneous music making in the
classroom, both within the pop up panoramic scenes.
to model effective musical communication and interaction to the staff

Through film clips and descriptions two collaborating professionals will share
outcomes and reflections, focusing on two children and their significant responses.

The approach of the music specialist is informed by both Dalcroze Eurhythmics (music
through movement) and Music therapy.
The teacher has 30 years’ experience in Early Years and has a keen interest in music
and singing as a learning tool.

The school is based in a diverse and deprived area of the city. The need for
additional support has been identified, although none of the children have yet
received an official diagnosis of any kind. Children who are part of this challenging
group may have global and language delay, behavioural and emotional problems
and some may be on the autistic spectrum or with attachment disorders. The aim of
the nurture group is to build children’s resilience and confidence to enable them to
join the mainstream classes in the future. Staff support parents and encourage close
collaboration.

Keywords
Music, movement, education, therapy, panoramic scene

30
Ensuring music does not go “in one eye and out the other”:
Effective practice in musical play with very young deaf
children and their families

Alison Harmer
Independent researcher
England, UK
[email protected]

Abstract
The idiom “It went in one ear and out the other” expresses that we did not pay full
attention to, or did not understand what we were listening to. In British Sign Language
a similar meaning is conveyed by signing “in one eye and out the other”. Recognising
that conventional approaches to music education amongst very young deaf
children and their families put music making at risk of “going in one eye and out the
other”, this practice paper reflects on musical repertoire and techniques which were
co-developed in a two-year action research project working alongside very young
children in the local Deaf community. It further reflects on approaches that did not
work, questions power relationships between use of conventional music pedagogies
amongst groups with sensory impairments and challenges assumptions about music
education.

Music interventions in the United Kingdom are, in general, positively regarded (Hallam
2015) but some of the local Deaf Community initially rejected the intervention of
“well-meaning”, hearing music leaders. Certain key elements emerged in our
practice: careful framing of the music leaders’ intentions before the project as well as
before and during music sessions, carefully chosen musical instruments, the use of
non-audio support materials to enrich the context of active music making, a
commitment to signing, plus evidence of being well-informed rather than well-
meaning. An emphasis on facilitating child-led musical play was welcomed by
children and carers. Ultimately, deaf and hearing carers demonstrated enjoyment of
music making by actively supporting their deaf child’s musical play and “by proxy”
through their deaf child’s music-making.

Keywords
Musical play, early years, early childhood music, deaf, hearing, signing

Introduction
This practice paper describes some of the successful and unsuccessful
approaches applied in a two-year long action research project called
“Playing Around Sound”. Funded by Youth Music through The Music
Works and located in five locations in Gloucestershire, England, two
music leaders engaged young deaf children in playful musical
activities. One music leader facilitated the majority of the music-
making and one music leader (the author) observed and documented
the musical play. Over the course of the project between 2014 and
2016, 73 music sessions were concurrently or consecutively held in five
locations in order to reach a total of 37 deaf children (aged 0-8years)
and 12 hearing siblings. Activities were already running at four of these
locations: A Deaf Children’s Club facilitated by volunteers, where we
included musical play as one of the play offers along with craft-making

31
and playing with toys; a session run by the Advisory Teachers in a
school for children with Special Educational Needs; a respite group for
children with profound and multiple learning difficulties, and a group
set up by a parent in partnership with the local Deaf Association for
children with communication difficulties. In addition we initiated a
regular musical play session at the Deaf Association’s premises.

We were determined to listen to the “voice” of the young deaf

children that we worked with. The current early childhood theoretical
practice that best typified our approach would be that of Reggio
Emilia (Malaguzzi 1998) on account of our reliance on observation.
Additional tools of analysis used to determine engagement with active
music-making included quantifying the songs acquired by the groups;
assessing duration of eye contact; recording types of British Sign
Language or Makaton signs used, and talking to parents, carers and
professionals involved in the care and education of young deaf
children.

We started our musical play sessions with a particular sort of open-

mindedness, perhaps a Keatsian “negative capability” (Bate 2012),
where we had to acknowledge that we were “in uncertainties,
mysteries, doubts”. Despite this knowing open-mindedness, we quickly
found that we had made the significant assumption that music was
welcome.

Xenia - Communities meeting

Music making with very young children is generally accepted to be
beneficial and important (Hallam, 2015; Trehub, 2006) and use of music
in affect regulation in early childhood is acknowledged (Goethem, &
Sloboda, 2011;Ilari, 2004). Listening to music has cognitive benefits
(Catterall & Rauscher, 2008) and transfer effects are recognised
(Kirschner & Tomasello, 2010) and Forrester (2010, cited in Pitt 2014),
although have been challenged (Sala & Gobet, 2017). Music plays a
significant role in music therapy (Nordoff & Robbins, 2011) and, in order
to develop one’s approach as a music practitioner, research into deaf
children’s auditory capacity (Nakata, Trehub, Mitani & Kanda, 2006;
van Besouw, Grasmeder, Hamilton & Bauman, 2011), and their singing
(Yennari, 2009) is readily accessible. We assumed that, when one offers
an informed music intervention to a community, the intervention will be
welcomed by all.

A hint towards the cultural sensitivities that need to be acknowledged

when working with very young deaf children is the use of lower case
“d” in the word “deaf” to indicate the general public’s understanding
of hearing loss but upper case “D” in “Deaf” to denote “a cultural
group of people united by distinct traditions and strengths arising from
the use of sign language as a communication form” (Smith, Bale &

32
White, 2005). Just as Young and Street (2009) and Gluschankof (2005)
examined the effect of cultural differences on musical behaviours, one
must acknowledge the possibility of a cultural divide between the Deaf
and hearing community and resulting musical differences. The CEO of
the Deaf Association that we were to work with outlined her concerns:
“.. our profoundly deaf volunteer leader …has very bad
memories of having music forced on her as a deaf child by well-
meaning hearing adults: she has grown up to feel very
protective of deaf children now under her wing so that they do
not have the same experience. Understandably the hearing
volunteers of the group, including one who has become deaf in
middle age, feel quite differently and are extremely enthusiastic
about welcoming you. But as CEO of this Deaf charity, it is my
responsibility – and I care in any case – to ensure L’s views are
respected at least as much as the other volunteer leaders.”

My fellow music leader and I were hearing and well-meaning. We

spent time reflecting further on the source of our authority, questioning
what made us experts in music with deaf children. The music leader
who was to facilitate the musical play had a level 3 qualification in
British Sign Language and the music leader who was to do the
observation had a Masters in Early Years Music with a special interest in
child initiated musical play. We had an emerging awareness of Deaf
culture through events at the local Deaf Association, films, YouTube
videos by young deaf people and books written about the experience
of acquiring a cochlear implant. We had members of our family who
were deafened later in life and used hearing aids. Music for deaf
children with cochlear implants is quite well documented (Yucel,
Sennaroglu & Belgin, 2009; NCDS 2014) and research into music with
young deaf people found that music can be deeply fulfilling as in
Fulford, Ginsborg & Goldbart (2011) and Chen-Haftek & Schraer-Joiner
(2010).
In spite of our theoretical expertise, we were members of the hearing
community, so we explained our approach to L, the concerned Deaf
volunteer, in writing but also expressed our willingness to enter into a
dialogue about our approach. We also told her and the other
volunteers that a typical two-hour morning might include:
Hello song, including the children’s names
Musical Freeplay - a range of musical instruments, mostly large
and pentatonic, to be played and felt and sat on. We will
encourage vocalisations in the context of play and use Sign-
Supported English and movement with sounds
Group song session, only for those that wish to join in, using a
singing repertoire which focusses on limited-pitch songs

33
L tentatively welcomed us in on our first morning and, before children
arrived, we talked about L’s experiences through an interpreter and
showed her what we would do. L tried the large, sit-on log drum:

Diary entry 4/10/14. Wow. L tried the (sit-on, double-ended log)

drum. Look of utter surprise on her face. “It tickles my nose! Oh!”
She taps softly, smiling.

Our gradual acceptance by L and the Deaf community for this

research project was thus rooted in xenia – a “guest friendship” -
where our Deaf hosts showed generosity and hospitality and we
reciprocated by learning about the community and sharing our
wonderful musical instruments.

Being wrong and making it right

In the early stages of developing the music programme, we planned to
target young recipients of cochlear implants (CIs). The logic of this
approach was that the parents or carers had, in essence, made a
decision that their deaf child would be part of the hearing world. The
age range that we worked with was birth to eight years and many of
these deaf children wore hearing aids because implantation was not
an option, or the child was not a suitable candidate. Therefore we
immediately took the decision to accommodate all deaf children, not
just those with CIs. In our music groups deaf children mingled with their
hearing siblings; some children wore no hearing aids or wore one; some
children were hearing children of deaf adults and all were
experiencing a non-mainstream early childhood.
As groups progressed I kept a diary of each session. Duties were
generally apportioned so that the music leader with level 3 British Sign
Language played musically with the children whilst I observed. I gained
a “Deaf Name” through my observations which was a mime of looking
serious and writing in a notebook. I wrote about what I saw and heard
and monitored which musical instruments attracted the children. After
each session I discussed with the main music leader what we felt had
happened and what we should do next. Occasionally I counted what
behaviours I observed within a self-defined boundary or observed and
wrote simultaneous notes.

“Counting” eye contact.

Eye contact and gaze studies have been useful in evaluating human
interactions (Senju Johnson, 2008; Rutter & Durkin, 1987). I wondered if a
young deaf girl’s eye contact during musical play would indicate how
she was gathering information about the play.

Over 60-second intervals I observed and recorded every occasion C,

(girl, bilateral cochlear implants, age 5) glanced at CJ (music leader)

34
who was sitting opposite her in an indoor wooden boat structure. The
recording started 1032am (Table 1).

Record of where C was looking

0–1 7 glances by C to CJ as CJ sings an improvised song

minute about being in a boat. CJ uses C’s name in the lyrics. Boy
arrives and sits in boat next to C.

4 glances to CJ then 1 to distance (opposite, away from

1-2 CJ) then 1 sustained look to CJ (coincided with CJ
minutes touching C’s arm and talking animatedly to C and boy).
C lipreading? Then C turns away from CJ and boy. Boy
leaves.

CJ and C only. CJ asks if C wants to do something else –

2-3 no – stay here. During this 1:1 session over 60 seconds was
minutes : 4 glances to CJ then 3 second duration look to CJ then
2 one-second looks then 3 glances

6 glances whilst rocking to and fro. 1 glance with

3-4 vocalisation by C. 1 glance. Vocalisation by C (indistinct)
minutes as joined by J (girl, familiar to C). 3 glances to CJ during
Row Row song.
Table 1. Recording of where C looked during musical play

Unfortunately C’s eye contact, diverted by the busy room or the

momentary absence of her carer, did not reveal useful insights.

Counting the signs (Makaton or British Sign Language) used

in musical play
I wanted to find out if there was a core repertoire of a few signs that
would be useful to know when engaging a young deaf child in musical
play. Over three separate sessions with different children on different
days I counted the gestured signs used by the qualified BSL music
leader when playing with a child with toys (bus, car, train, box), and
separately when playing with a child with a musical instrument. I chose
one-minute duration intervals when the child and the music leader
were fully engaged with each other. (Table. 2)

35
 fantastic
carefully
Fell over

change
surprise

colours

broken
happy
thanks

strong
hiding
again

funny

quick
horse

tricky
used

nice
play
Sign

box
it
Play

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Toy
Music
Play

1 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 6 1 1 1

Table 2. Number of signs used in three separate musical play

interactions

Although this quantitative analysis was from an extremely small sample

and often play with toys was occasionally indistinguishable from
musical play, I became aware that signs during toy play tended to
recount what had just happened. For example, the words “fell over”
were signed in block play after the blocks tumbled. Most remarkable
was the use of signed adjectives to describe the feeling being felt “in
the moment” during musical play (tricky, nice) or a signed adverb to
describe the quality of the movement that was occurring (carefully).
Reflection on these findings led to informal discussions with deaf
parents (via an interpreter), the practitioners at the Children’s Deaf
Club and Early Years Practitioners locally around the role of sign
language in musical play to help averbal or preverbal children
appropriate signs which they could then use day-to-day to
communicate how they were feeling.

Which musical instruments to use?

Oliver (2014) at the Music Focus Group, Southampton University had
researched music for adult cochlear implantees and an outcome of
the research was to create music that suffered the least amount of
degradation by the implant’s electronics. Such music used instruments
which produced sounds with few harmonics and a limited pitch range.
Trehub (2003) also pointed out the “challenge” of music for implanted
children who have been deaf from birth because of the cochlear
implant’s (and hearing aid’s) poor pitch resolution. For Playing Around
Sound, we analysed the harmonics of many of the musical instruments
in our oeuvre using the frequency analyser within Adobe Audition,
identifying those with a simple harmonic structure. Resonant
instruments like a bell had complex harmonics which “clashed” when
two notes were sounding together.
In theory, bell-like sounds should sound appalling to a cochlear
implantee. In practice the two most popular musical instruments
amongst young cochlear implantees and hearing aid wearers, apart
from the sit-on log drum (see Figure 1), were the metal Hapi Drum and
a metallophone called The Wing. We formed our own theory that the
musical instruments that “moved a lot of air” which could be felt

36
through the body, were the most engaging musical instruments for very
young deaf children. We also learned that the best judge of what
sounded good was the child and we made sure that we offered a
wide range of musical instruments for the children to try.

Setting the Scene

A musical environment for a child must be physically safe, which was
one reason why we joined in with existing, proven groups. We also tried
to offer quiet areas for experimentation like a child-sized, tipi-style tent,
a soft mat to sit on to play with instruments, a space to move about as
a group, and we gained control of lighting where we could.

Figure 1. Photographs from Playing Around Sound

We commissioned a local artist to paint a seven metre-long cyclorama

on light canvas depicting sea, mountain, forest and a castle. This was
held up by coppiced hazel sticks secured in log bases. The cyclorama
was inspired by Margareta Burrell’s “Pantomimus” (2016) portable
background to her music and movement sessions. We found that our
cyclorama focused children’s attention in a small group and its images
provided ideas for songs and stories. It also perfectly framed public,
family-friendly sessions that we held in a local town for the children we
had been working with alongside local families. These performances
allowed us to share widely what the Deaf Community had taught us.

37
Discussion
When the children were engaged in musical play - or musicking (Small,
2006)- with interested partners, where the goal was engagement rather
than performance, the children vocalised, volunteered ideas or guided
the direction of the session. A Speech Therapist watched us sing for a
moment with a small group of children including J (aged three, deaf
with bilateral CIs). The therapist had just come out of a therapy session
with J having ticked “no response” for every measure yet she had just
witnessed, in one music singing session, every single measure she had
been looking for.

My fellow music leader and I found that running such a musical play
session was a deeply immersive activity. To focus on safeguarding,
musical progression, communication of progression with parents,
observation and playing on musical instruments with children whilst
being very much “in the moment” was intense work. Reflection
between me and my colleague was essential for our own supervision,
to discuss any element of the session that had affected us and to
check with each other that we were “doing the right thing”. We found
in these discussion sessions that we had often lost track of time during
the music session. A good session coincided with us feeling that “flow”
had occurred (Csikszentmihalyi, 1970; Custodero, 2011).
We found that many Deaf adults had suffered a poor experience of
music education in their youth. Had we had simply taken music
education from an adult hearing world and applied it to young deaf
children in an unthinking “top down” way without any critical thought
or reflection - in other words in a “line of descent” (Davies, 2014, p7),
citing Bergson (1998) - we would have been actively rejected by Deaf
parents. Engaging children in musical play allowed us to see a “line of
ascent”, a “bottom up” way of empowering young children to
participate fully in progressing their music making skills. Freire (1970)
reminds us that “no pedagogy which is truly liberating can remain
distant from the oppressed by treating them as unfortunates and by
presenting for their emulation models from among the oppressors”.
We learned about the musical play of deaf children through
observation and listening. Whilst there is a certain irony or even ethical
jolt to rely on “listening” when working with deaf children, we learned a
justification for this approach from the deaf children themselves. The
children heard and listened using many methods including their eyes
and hands and bodies and they focussed tremendous effort into
understanding and interacting. Listening, moving and understanding
appeared to be a complicatedly intertwined part of their evolving and
becoming.
Reinforcing her position that nothing “makes itself” and we are all
interacting within “complex, dynamic, responsive, situated, historical
systems”, Donna Haraway (2016, p58) uses the term sympoiesis which
means “making-with”. Playing Around sound enabled a risky,

38
committed venture in which two communities, the Deaf and the
hearing, “made-music-with” each other. The medium for that venture
was musical play, specifically the engaged musical play of very young
deaf children, where music went in through the eyes and the body
and, hopefully, stayed.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank my fellow musician Ceilidh-Jo Rowe, and the generous support
of Youth Music, Gloucestershire Deaf Association and The Music Works.

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41
Music expressing the unspoken - Family music groups for
asylum seekers

Laura Huhtinen-Hildén
Senior Lecturer, Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences
Finland
laura.huhtinen-hilden@ metropolia.fi

Hanna-Maija Aarnio
Lecturer, Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences
Finland

Abstract
In this project eleven early childhood music educators organized family music group
sessions for asylum seekers in Helsinki. This project was built on the knowledge of
collaborative music making enhancing well-being and creating a sense of
community that has been shown in many research findings (see e.g. Clift & Hancox,
2010; Fraser, Bungay & Munn-Giddings, 2014; Hallam, 2014). In this project we
developed shared musical journeys, collaborative music making experiences and
musical dialogue to create safe musical spaces and encounters in collaboration with
staff in the reception centre.

The project consisted of ten family music sessions in the autumn 2016. The participants
were families with young children applying for asylum in Finland. The aim of this
project was to enhance the sense of community in and through group music
activities. It also aimed to develop pedagogical approaches in an early childhood
music education context without a shared language, culture or prior experiences of
taking part in family music groups. The music sessions were participatory using various
elements of music practice: singing, dancing and playing instruments as well as body
percussion. The focus was on the group interaction, learner-centred approaches and
on non-verbal communication. The themes of the sessions arose from Finnish nature
and everyday-life.

In this presentation we will share the key findings concerning pedagogical

approaches and actions within this project. We will explore pedagogical notions of
creating the safe atmosphere and sense of community in music learning processes
without spoken language. We will also share our experiences of developing the
means to communicate within the group as well as of teaching Finnish words in music
activities. This presentation gives an example of working without a shared language
which offers the participants the chance to think together and share experiences
about early childhood music education practice. Our experiences as music
educators in these family group music sessions and the role of the leader/teacher in
this kind of early childhood music education context are also opened up for
discussion. We hope also to nurture discussion about the wider implications of music
education and music experiences to enhance well-being and safety in society.

42
The language of music: play with music to grow together

Marina Ielmini
“Oltrepò Mantovano” music school foundation
Quistello, Mantova, Italy
[email protected]

Abstract
Musical practice with children aged 0-6 years old and their parents is an activity full of
educational possibilities, not only purely musical. In addition to the promotion,
activation and awakening of innate musical skills both in children and adults, the
possibility of providing additional tools and strategies to the parent, for the education
of his/her child should not be underestimated. The music thus becomes an
educational tool: it can be the means by which the parent-child dyad mutually
grows and develops. Although in the musical activity with 0-3-year-old children the
parent actively participates in the sound proposals together with his/her child, thus
agreeing to get involved, playing, experimenting and having fun in practice, it is rare
to find a musical path for children from 3-6 years old which provides the involvement
of adults. With this work I would like to highlight, in the interest of growth and common
musical acculturation, how important the parent’s involvement is in the musical
activity with children 3-6 years old. During the school year 2016/17, “Oltrepò
Mantovano” music school of Quistello (Mantova, IT) has structured an educational
course which provides — together with weekly introductory music meetings with
children 3-6 years old — a parallel path with the parents of children attending the
course. The objectives of this project have been to awaken entertainment in the
adult, by eliminating the embarrassment and fear of not being musical enough; to
make him/her aware of music games in the family and provide him/her with tools to
process, develop and customize spontaneous family musical productions, thus
increasing a “music complicity” with the child.

This specific parallel path with parents has finally culminated in a moment of final
sharing with the child: parents and children united in the musical game. That was a
moment of great wealth for both; enrichment in interpersonal relationship skills,
knowledge and adjustment of emotions and in the sense of self-esteem and trust in
others, motivation and curiosity to learn. Children and parents, doing music together
for growing together.

Keywords
Education, children, parents, music education

Theoretical background and content

Can music represent a means of mutual growth for the parent-child
dyad? How to promote musical play between children of 3-6 years old
and their parents, aiming towards autonomy and personal growth of
both parties? Is it possible to say that music is an educational tool? Is it
possible to accompany the parent, as well as the child, in the
acquisition of greater skills and confidence in their own expressive-
sound capabilities? These are the questions that inspired my work on
the field, which involved parents of three to six-year-old children
attending the introductory music course at the Oltrepò Mantovano
music school of Quistello (Mantova). Until this year musical activities
concerning the parents only included the age group of 0-3. However,

43
with the transition of the activity to the three to six- year-olds, the
canonical activity continued without adults. Talking with the parents
had made come to light their clear desire to be able to live and share
with their children some of the progresses and achievements in the
musical literacy course. So, on a trial basis, a course was initiated
addressed only to parents, structured in 1-hour meetings, held
fortnightly, in the month of November 2016. During the meetings adults
had the opportunity to acquire basic musical knowledge at a
theoretical level. The proposed activities were not designed with the
aim to make the parent live the same experiences as the child, but to
increase or build parents’ own musical background. The play
represented the main intervention strategy. Playing, for the child but
also for the adult, is the way to know and live meaningful experiences.
Playing has an intrinsic motivation in it. Through the game you have the
opportunity to learn behavior patterns, to train fantasy and
imagination, and to learn how to handle different emotional states
(frustration, anxiety, anger, fear, excitement ...). Not least, play is an
important means of sharing rules to live in the social context in an
active and conscious way. Many psychologists have spoken about the
importance of play for the child. Winnicott(1986), a member of the
psychoanalytic school, considered play as a key transitional area, an
intermediate dimension between the outer world and the inner world,
in which children would learn to control their fears and develop
imagination and autonomy. Piaget (1937-1945) connected the
development of playwith cognitive development, stating that play is
the primary tool for the study of the child's cognitive process. He
recognized three basic types of play developed by the child
according to the development phase in which s/he is: games of
exercise (sensorimotor stage), symbolic (pre-operative stage) and with
rules (operative-concrete strage). Vygotsky (1896 - 1934) recognized in
play the answer that the child, struggling with his/her own needs,
processes in order to satisfy them, even if only in the world of his/her
imagination.

For the author, play plays the important task of liberating the objects of
their binding power: through play objects do not “suggest” which
child’s behavior has to be activated, but acquire new meanings. “... In
the game the thought is separated from objects and the action arises
from ideas rather than from things: a piece of wood begins to be a doll
and a stick becomes a horse.”(Vygotsky, 1933:12). Through play,
therefore, the child acquires skills in the acquisition of meanings and
language development.

Bruner (1976), a US psychologist, considered the game with regard to

adaptation and human problem solving strategies. According to
Bruner, playing primarily represented a chance to learn in a controlled
situation, in which the risks of violation of social norms were minimal.

44
Hence the prevailing feature of the game is to achieve increased
dexterity and always new combinations of behaviors at the time of
social interaction (Cambi, 2005).

To conclude this quick overview of the play’s conception from major

evolutionary psychologists it is mandatory to examine the contribution
of Stern (1934 - 2012), American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. He
claimed that the search for relationship with the mother is a primary
need for the child, like the satisfaction of hunger and thirst. This
research guides the child from the very first moments of life: even when
he’s a few months old, a baby does not passively receive the attention
of parents, but s/he is actively involved. The first games between a
child and a parent have an inherent order, defined by Stern (as cited
in Garvey, 1997: 32) in interaction.

“The means by which parents can encourage and maintain an

optimal level of attention and excitement in a newborn - whose
obvious pleasure signals further encourage their efforts - consist of
sounds, facial expressions and movements, often accompanied by a
some physical contact. A parent can modify them at speed, intensity,
aim and combination, producing ever-changing and different
feelings.”

Play activates cognitive processes in various ways, also in relation to

the age of those involved. Any type of game, from the free one to the
more structured, requires understanding, recognition and the sharing of
sense and rules among the participants (Baumgartner, 2009). The
awareness of these characteristics linked to the recreational moment
have been the basis of the musical offer: thanks to play it was possible
to develop and exercise the memorization and recall; it was possible to
accompany the child and the adult in a reasoning; it was possible to
enhance creativity and imagination.

Of course, not all children and not all adults show the same
involvement in the same playful proposal. What can be captivating
and challenging for some can be on the contrary boring and
uninteresting to others; the personal characteristics of the child and the
adult, the situation at hand or the type of proposal are the cause of
these heterogeneous answers. What does motivate a child to play
music together with his/her parent? Surely, it is the task of the musical
educator to structure an environment and proposals attracting the
attention of the dyad.
It is important that the game provides moments of surprise and
discovery that stimulate curiosity, properly alternating with moments of
“fun routine”, to allow the child to be aware and to guarantee a free
and spontaneous participation. Especially, it is essential that the
difficulty level of the game is suitable to the psycho- physical maturity

45
reached by the child. In this brief excursus on play lies the secret of
musical practice: If the emotional side and the expressive voices and
sounds are added to the elements described above, one can
understand the importance in education of making music together.

Age and characteristics of participants

The project I want to talk about has seen and still sees involved the
parents of three to six-year-old children attending the course in
introductory music at the Oltrepò Mantovano Music School of Quistello
(Mantova). As regards the teaching activities carried out with the
children within the school of music, two distinct groups based on age
were created: a first group composed of 3/4-year-old children and a
second group composed of 5/6-year-old children. In addition to
regular meetings with children, a fortnightly basis in meetings of one
hour each - with parents only - were organized during the 2016/2017
school year. The adult group was composed of eight parents (not all
members agreed to the proposal). The decision to offer a specific
music activity to parents was born from the desire expressed by them
to live and share with their children some progress and achievements
acquired in musical literacy courses. The primary purpose of this
workshop with parents has been to allow the adult to live a moment of
musical game with his/her child: to this purpose, the proposed music
extra-meetings have proved to be useful. In those moments kids
together their parents were able to share and experience through
song, movement, and the use of percussion instruments.

Aims of the project

The project had these objectives: (for the adult)
- Develop the ability to listen
- Use the voice in its different expressive possibilities
- Memorize songs, simple choreography and rhythms
- Stimulate musical creativity and personal reflection
- Build and develop a stock of basic musical theoretical knowledge
- Increase the parent-child emotional bond through the music game
- Promote socialization
(for the child)
- Share musical experiences with parents
- Develop the ability to listen and to share with the parent
- Increase the parent-child emotional bond through the music game
- Promote socialization
From an educational point of view, the main musical methodologies
used were:
- Orff (use tools, comprehensive involvement of the person, indivisible
unity of music-movement-word)
- Dalcroze (rhythm, solfeggio, improvisation)
- Kodaly (chironomy and do mobile)

46
 The mix among the main theorized points of each methodology has
represented the teaching strategy used during the meetings.
The activities
The proposed activities, before starting by reading a musical score or a
written text part, were based on imitation, as a means of learning and
active reworking. Through the creation of fantastic contexts that
served as storage of the various activities, it was possible to give sense
to musical ideas: in this way the parent was encouraged to find a
reason and a justification for his/her sound, vocal or instrumental
action/production.

The proposed activities featured integration: chant joined to the

movement, very often sustained by instrumental production. This
allowed the parent to realize firsthand that during the musical act there
is the need to be highly concentrated; you can get great satisfaction
when you invent independently rhythmic and melodic patterns or
simple movements. In addition, we realized that even simple musical
elements, if combined together, can become extremely complex:
simple rhythms combined with body movements and the use of
instruments became real songs. Parents were required to memorize
songs, rhythmic vocal games, simple rhythms and small choreographic
patterns. This allowed them to develop and acquire confidence in their
gestures and made possible gradually the personal elaboration and
following on spontaneous invention.

Assigning each time a specific task to each one of them (a rhythm

part, a reiterative melody, a sequence of body percussion) it was
possible to structure rich, complex and varied music. As previously
mentioned, the musical meetings were organized for parents only: we
did not made them live the same activities offered to their children. On
the contrary, it was structured a real educational path designed for
adults: this choice was dictated by the will to develop/enrich the
theoretical basic musical knowledge of the adult to make him/her able
to live a sound relationship with his/her child, in full awareness and
autonomy.

The outcomes
This workshop proposed to the parents of the children attending the
course of introductory music (3-6 years old) was greeted positively by
the Management of the Oltrepò Mantovano Music School of Quistello.
A distinctive feature of this school is the fact of wanting to be a reality
dedicated to cultural diffusion, social cohesion and to be a stimulus for
constructive and creative dialogue between the associations in the
area. Thanks to the direct involvement of the parents of the children of
the school of music - some of them are also engaged in other leisure
activities such as theater or work/volunteer with associations working
with disabled and elderly people - partnerships with local social

47
realities, and course openings also to adults without children, have
been proposed for the future year 2017/2018 school year.

This was an important result. You cannot hide that there were
numerous initial concerns linked to this idea: the number of adult
participants was in doubt (in fact, not all the parents of the children
enrolled have joined) as the fact that the path could be significant
and constructive for both the adult and the child. As the activity
progressed, though, these fears have gradually disappeared.
This path will see its conclusion at the end of May: in the occasion of
the last meeting of the introductory music course for children, it will be
organized a meeting where parents and children play together,
combining the proposals, working and having fun together. To support,
promote and enhance the playfulness and the complicity between
children and parents, in parallel to the standard offer of the school
(children’s activities and workshop with parents) during the school year
two extra moments of music play and sharing ae organized: that
allowed me to monitor the progress achieved by both adults and
children and thus to be able to structure proposals that can be suitable
and useful to the achievement of the objectives proposed by the
project.

Conclusion and implications for future work

This work is still on on going; it will see its conclusion only at the end of
May 2017. Currently, the feedback is highly positive - indeed, two
moments of sharing between children and parents have reported
observations progressively richer and more meaningful. Parents have
proven to be more and more confident of their musical abilities; The
sound dialogue between children and adults was carried out in a
situation of understanding and equality of the means available; it
fostered an atmosphere of well-being, peace and constructive sharing
between the dyad.
Through this proposed workshop was spread a very important
message; the music is definitely an educational tool. In addition to
enriching the cultural point of view its practitioners, both adult and
child, can become a tool to educate towards civilization, cohesion
and teamwork.

References
Baumgartner, E. (2009). Il gioco dei bambini, Carocci editore, Roma
Cambi, F. (2005). Le pedagogie del 900. Editori Laterza, Bari.
Garvey, C., “Play”, Armando Publisher, Rome, p.32. • Various Autohrs, “Musica per
gioco. Educazione musicale e progetto”, EDT, Torino, 1997, Franca Mazzoli
Vygotskij, L. S. (1933). ”Play and its role in the mental development of the child”.
Problem of Psychology, volume n.6, pag.12

48
Winnicott, D. W. (1986). “Playing and Reality”, Armando Editore, Rome, 1986 “Gioco e
realtà”, Armando Editore, Roma.

49
A child-centred approach to the playing of tuned musical
instruments

David Liggins
Independent Researcher
Kettering, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
[email protected]

Abstract
Playing tuned musical instruments often requires highly specific motor-coordination
and reading skills that are not essential components of general education. This
project looks at how musical instruments can be re-designed to develop children’s
pre-existing natural skills, encouraging both rapid musical and general educational
progress. This longitudinal project has involved over a million children in every
conceivable learning environment, from home to school to community, across 59
countries over 34 years. This paper will focus on children aged 8 months to 8 years.

The aim of the project is to offer an alternative tuned musical instrument that:
1) maximises the effectiveness of first instrumental experience, in a child-friendly way
2) makes instrumental lessons easy to teach for any teacher, including general class
teachers
3) allows children to successfully perform an extensive repertoire of solo and
ensemble music
4) involves every child, regardless of their musical and other abilities
5) motivates children to want lifelong involvement in instrumental and other forms of
music.

Initial research resulted in the discovery of the embryonic English 4-hole Ocarina as a
suitable instrument to be specifically developed for education. Prototypes were
manufactured and Ocarina teaching methods published. These have been refined
through teacher-training and mass-playing workshops. Teachers, parents and
children provide feedback, and their progress is recorded on video.

Results show that a ten-month old can make a clear and full sound on an Ocarina
with no special embouchure, and that children demonstrate all the manual dexterity
required to cover the four holes from one year onwards. Children between three and
five years of age can play 20+ different full-octave tunes in the keys of D and G major
by reading ocarina tablature. And children in whole-class music lessons make
demonstrably quicker progress with the English 4-hole Ocarina than with any other
tuned musical instrument. Whilst Ocarina-playing from grassroots education upwards
has been externally assessed as ‘outstanding’, universal understanding and
acceptance from the top down has been lacking. If the newly discovered benefits of
English 4-hole Ocarinas are to be harnessed and not permanently lost to music
education, further research and informed discussion are essential.

Keywords
Child-centred music, English 4-hole ocarina, whole-class music

Background
Over the last 40 years, a wide and diverse range of musical instruments
has become available for use in the classroom. No longer are children
limited to playing percussion or recorders as their sole introduction to

50
instrumental music-making. So, how do we choose what instruments to
offer and at what stage they should be introduced?

In 1976, I began teaching music in Primary, Secondary and Adult

Education and searched for tuned instruments that could be used with
all ages, and in a whole-class context. My initial experiments were with
tin whistle, guitar and keyboard. After three years of teaching up to 30
players at a time, over a thousand in total, I decided to take a year out
to travel and to reflect on this experience.
In exploring Latin America, from Mexico to Tierra del Fuego, my
attention was drawn to the vast number of ancient flutes that have
been lost or largely forgotten. Highly prized amongst these are globular
flutes, found in abundance in museums and labelled as 'Ocarinas'.
Despite their historic proliferation, globular flutes are largely unknown
and rarely played by indigenous musicians today, even though their
acoustic and ethnographic significance made them more valuable
than gold in pre-Columbian society (Llonch, 2013; Olsen, 2002).
On returning home, I found UK craftsmen making experimental clay
flutes, and I began working cooperatively with them. My aim to create
child-friendly instruments soon became focused on the embryonic
English Ocarina and its unique fingering system.
Starting with a blank canvas, I was able to determine the size and
musical range of each Ocarina and its fingering, tuning, voicing and
presentation. These variables were regularly tested in educational and
community settings. Since there was no pre-existing repertoire for the
English Ocarina, I began arranging and publishing Ocarina music.

Initial results
By 1984, the first tuned sets of ceramic Ocarinas had been tested in
class and the first music books and teaching resources published. Initial
reaction was positive with regard to ease-of-playing and sound quality.
Reservations were expressed over the fact that Ocarinas were ceramic
and breakable. However, the main concern of hygiene was answered
by making glazed Ocarinas that could be easily cleaned with sterilising
fluid. These glazed Ocarinas were very different to the more commonly
found cheap, terracotta Ocarinas sold around the world to tourists.

By 1988, demand for school Ocarinas led to the development and

production of the first plastic English Ocarina. This opened the way to
wider usage by ever-younger children - Ceramic Ocarinas had been
played by children aged eight to 16 - with the introduction of a slightly
smaller, impact-resistant, plastic version, children as young as three
began to play at home. Saturday music schools introduced Ocarinas
to small groups of four-year-olds and increasing numbers of children in
the six- to seven-year-old age group began playing Ocarinas in class.

The instruments proved to be intrinsically popular, as did the teaching

51
methods. At the Sidmouth International Festival of Folk Arts, Ocarina-
playing workshops grew each year into outdoor sessions at which over
100 people at a time queued to play together, many as families, with
an age range of five to 80. Everyone performed dozens of tunes from
scratch. Many had no previous experience of playing instruments or of
reading music. Two reasons for the instant success were the simplicity of
the Ocarina itself and the immediacy of reading tablature.
During the 1980s, school Ocarina groups won awards at music festivals
and appeared on national television; professional Ocarina groups
recorded and toured internationally. As an 'entry-level' instrument, the
English Ocarina was showing more musical potential than could have
been anticipated.

Teacher responses
The most positive initial responses to English Ocarinas were from
teachers in Special Schools. They made two observations:
Firstly, they saw that only two fingers on each hand are used to play
the octave. This motor-coordination involving the first two fingers and
thumb is the minimum required for holding a pen or pencil. They noted
that playing an Ocarina strengthens this coordination in both hands,
simultaneously, side-by-side. Left-handed and right-handed children
benefit equally as they make music and exercise this manipulative skill.
Secondly, they thought that children with moderate learning difficulties
would be able to follow the Ocarina charts.
These positive responses resulted in the successful early adoption of
Ocarina-playing in Special Education. Teachers in Infant schools also
reported some interesting findings.

An Early Years Advisor observed a class of 30 five-year-olds playing

'Twinkle, twinkle little star'. She rang to tell us that these disadvantaged
children had not yet learned to read. However, they played the tune
perfectly by following Ocarina charts from left to right, and down the
page. She said that Ocarina-playing was promoting reading-readiness
for these children in a very effective and demonstrable way, as well as
giving them a great sense of achievement.
A lifelong Infant Teacher, who was finding it increasingly difficult to
teach six-year-olds to play recorder, decided to try English Ocarinas
with her classes instead, although she was extremely reticent about
letting go of her recorder lessons. The same teacher rang a year later
to describe the successes that she had encountered. She said that
Ocarina-playing had made a world of difference to the children's
subsequent recorder playing. They could tongue notes and play tunes
musically and confidently as a direct result of playing Ocarinas first. The
teacher rang again the next year to say that she had dropped all
recorder lessons in favour of progressing the children's Ocarina-playing
from 'beginner' to a 'more advanced' level. All four classes of six-year-
olds played together in music lessons each week, 120 children in all.

52
By the end of the year, they could all play most of Play your Ocarina
Book 1 fluently, including Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy' and 20 other one-
octave tunes in the keys of D and G. One group played the Book 3
tune 'Yellow Bird' to me in two-part harmony, negotiating difficult
syncopated rhythms with considerable skill. (Liggins & Liggins, 1992)

An external inspection report noted that these Ocarina lessons made a

"significant positive impact on the pupils' learning and achievement":

"All the pupils in Year 2 learn to play the ocarina and are encouraged
to perform in assemblies. This has a positive influence on the pupils’
attainment and means that, by the end of Year 2, they all read musical
notation." (Office for Standards in Education, 2004).

This teacher has now used Ocarinas at the same Infant school for 25
years. In the UK, some 4,000 schools have incorporated Ocarinas into
lessons, and over a million children have played them. Many of their
stories are collated in a report that includes teacher comments and
the results of inspections and adjudications over the first 30 years of
'Ocarinas in the Primary School' (Liggins, 2014).

Continuing development
In 2006, the "Oc®" plastic Ocarina, was redesigned to be even more
accessible for small fingers. The addition of a lip-guard, finger-rest and
a slight rim around the finger-holes has made the instrument more
tactile and easier for young children to play.
In 2013, we gained a Guinness World Record in London's Royal Albert
Hall, when 3,081 children played a seven-minute medley of classical
tunes to become the world's 'Largest Ocarina Ensemble'. The group
included infants and juniors who all played themes by Beethoven,
Dvořák and Mozart without a single break or mistake, even those as
young as five. To win the award, 95% of all participants had to play
continuously, accurately and to a "professional level".
In 2015, a panel of music education experts shortlisted our freshly
redesigned "Oc" for "Best Music Education Product Award" at the Music
Teacher Awards for Excellence. To our amazement, it won with the
citation that "The 4-hole Oc combines creative potential, ease of use,
affordability and practicality".
We are currently preparing a new range of music books to develop this
'creative potential' through improvising and composing, and also to
prepare the Ocarina for more effective use by ever-younger players,
hence my participation at this conference.

Unique Ocarina Features

The main defining features of the English Ocarina are its sound and
sound-production, its size and physical accessibility, and the reading of

53
its music.
The sound of globular flutes was highly prized in ancient cultures. When
breath enters an Ocarina, a single mass of air vibrates in all directions.
The resulting sound is remarkably pure and free of overtones; it cannot
be overblown to produce an upper octave. So, what does this mean in
practice? Firstly, the Ocarina is squeak-free. If anyone blows too
strongly, it just cuts out. Imagine a first lesson where only those who 'do
it right' are audible! Secondly, when large numbers of children play
Ocarinas together, the result is flattering, because their Ocarinas
produce few overtones. It is the jarring upper-harmonics that make
other wind instruments sound so unpleasant when played by beginners.
In contrast, the fundamental Ocarina-sound blends well, rewarding
players for their efforts. Thirdly, finger-holes can be positioned anywhere
on the circumference of the English Ocarina without changing its
tuning. They can even be positioned for one-handed use. With tubular
instruments, the physics of sound determines hole positions and these
holes, for young children, can be difficult, or even impossible, to reach.
The Ocarina is the only instrument where finger-hole positions can be
adapted to suit the player; players do not have to adapt themselves to
the instrument.

This child-friendly adaptation is also true of breath pressure and sound

control. With tubular instruments, players learn to vary their breath and
embouchure subtly, according to the pitch of the note to be played. It
is easy to split notes on such instruments. A very gentle and carefully
controlled breath is needed to play down a scale to the lowest notes.
With the Ocarina, every note from high to low is played accurately with
the same moderately-strong breath. This consistent breath pressure
comes naturally to enthusiastic full-of-energy children, and also to
experienced players who wish to project their sound in concert. Other
unique features that help young players physically handle the Ocarina
are the child-friendly size and weight; the fact that it is worn around the
neck; the lack of left- and right-hand dominance; the close proximity of
the Ocarina to the player; the small size of the finger-holes and the fact
that only the first two fingers are needed to cover them. This latter point
is significant. For, whilst the use of the first two fingers and thumb is
coordinated in the first year of life, having evolved over millions of years
to facilitate tool-handling, the independent use of the third finger is
rarely needed and has not evolved in similar fashion (Wilson, 1998).
And although the independent use of the third finger is vital for concert
pianists and skilled typists, it's control is not a primary requirement for
three-year-olds or seven-year-olds. Indeed, having to use third fingers
for playing instruments can be a major barrier to early success. They
are not needed at all when playing the Ocarina.

The 4-hole fingering system was invented in 1963 in London by the

ethnomusicologist John Taylor (Liggins & Liggins, 2003; Liggins, 2014). It is

54
the simplest full-octave system to be found on any instrument. A
chromatic octave is played by simply opening and covering just four
holes. These holes are shown pictorially in what is sometimes known as
'cooker music' – using symbols similar to those on gas and electric hobs.

It is this tablature that provides the key to early musical success and to
the all-age appeal of the Ocarina. It also enables generalist teachers
to have confidence in teaching their own classes to play, even though
they might not be able to read music themselves.

My teacher's instinct told me that clear layout of Ocarina music would

be as vital to learning as the instrument itself. So, I introduced Ocarina
tablature from the start. It works amazingly well and its success has
remained a mystery to me until very recently. Wolf postulates that 2,000
years elapsed between the first written languages of cuneiform and
hieroglyph, and the first alphabet; and it takes a child around 2,000
days to learn to read with this alphabet (Wolf, 2008). Ocarina tablature
seems to act as a pictorial language that can be read and followed
during the first 2,000 days of life, requiring little learning or instruction.

Ocarina Pedagogy
Teaching with Ocarinas is very different to teaching with other musical
instruments. For example, when recorder players are still learning the
notes B, A and G, Ocarina-players are already playing fluently up and
down a full octave. And when pupils are still attempting to make their
first sounds on orchestral instruments, with Ocarinas they are exploring
melody, harmony, tonguing and slurring, and a range of musical skills.
This effortless acquisition of music and skills requires the guidance of an
understanding practitioner. If a teacher fails to grasp the Ocarina's
potential for rapid progress, he or she can easily act as inhibitor, rather
than facilitator. When a teacher is ambitious to help children to explore
a range of relatively complex music at a young age, and to develop
Ocarina-playing skills that are all, incidentally, transferable to other
instruments, then the youngest of children flourish.

Over the last 34 years, I have explored many diverse methods of

teaching. These include teaching orally and with books and screens to
introduce a broad repertoire of music, using tablature and standard
musical notation. All these Ocarina methods are now accepted and
widely adopted around the world (Liggins & Liggins, 1992 & 2014).

When our own children were tiny, we floated Ocarinas in the bath so
they could enjoy blowing bubbles and sounds. Between the ages of
three and five, they played all 22 tunes in Play your Ocarina Book 1
(Liggins & Liggins, 1992). They went on to play harmonies and, by the
age of eight, performed in award-winning groups. This early Ocarina
experience taught them that "playing instruments is easy and fun". Our

55
younger child went on to teach herself to play the clarinet. After just
ten weeks, she gained her Grade 5 and then retired. At the age of 23,
she now plays twenty or more instruments, including the nose flute, and
is currently graduating from Birmingham Conservatoire on French Horn.
She won her place there after less than three years’ Horn tuition. She
claims that her experience of playing Ocarinas from the earliest days
into teenage years is the main contributor to this amazingly rapid
progress on the Horn, which is probably the most technically complex
and difficult orchestral instrument to play. This experience has been
replicated over the years many times. One parent did not allow his
children to take lessons on cello or violin until they had mastered the
Ocarina. By the age of six, this had been accomplished and all three
children went on to study violin and cello. They all graduated from
London's Royal Academy of Music and now have successful
international performing careers.

Ocarina pedagogy, when used in both formal and informal settings,

can result in long-term, effective, high quality, musical achievement.

Conclusion
In conclusion, I would like to describe two real-life encounters.
The first was with the principal Oboist of an international orchestra. She
attempted to play an Ocarina at our exhibition stand. Her rigid oboe
embouchure resulted in an awful noise. She could not adapt to playing
the Ocarina, so dismissed it as a lost cause. In contrast, a beautifully
clear sound came from our lounge one day as I discovered our older
daughter, at ten-months-old, sitting on the floor, blowing a ceramic
Bass Ocarina with natural, relaxed embouchure and exactly the
correct breath-pressure. She was very pleased with her discovery.

My initial aim of creating an alternative tuned instrument has been

fulfilled. My attempts at changing human nature have been less
successful.
Despite award citations and inspection reports highly commending the
Ocarina, a rigid mentality exists amongst decision-makers who are
musicians rather than educationalists. They cannot see things from a
child's or a teacher's point of view and, like the oboist, miss the point.
On the few occasions that we have been invited to lead keynote
workshops for all delegates, two thirds of teachers have subsequently
chosen to introduce Ocarinas to their children. When grassroots
teachers are given a free choice of instrument, the Ocarina is more
often than not their number one selection (Liggins, 2014). However,
when higher-level decision-makers are involved, the Ocarina is often
ignored, disregarded and even denigrated. And teachers and children
are denied the opportunity to play. We are not looking for unanimous
approval from all quarters. We are looking for informed discussion that
examines the evidence critically, considers the Ocarina, its music and

56
pedagogy dispassionately, and is willing to recommend its use when
appropriate.

I believe that the English Ocarina offers a uniquely child-centred

approach to the playing of tuned musical instruments, and I welcome
your comments.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work has been shared for over 30 years with my wife Christa Liggins, whose full-
time support, dedicated hard work and teaching expertise have been major factors
in the success of Ocarinas in the classroom. I would also like to thank Graham Tilney
of Ocarina Workshop for his assistance and encouragement, to John Taylor (inventor
of the English 4-hole system) and John Langley (ceramic craftsman par excellence)
for making it all possible, and to the hundreds of thousands of teachers and children
who have chosen the Ocarina as their first tuned musical instrument.

References
Izikowitz, K. G. (1934). Musical and Other Sound Instruments of the South American
Indians. Göteborg: Elanders.
Liggins, D. & Liggins C (1992). Play your Ocarina: Complete Guide: Books 1, 2, 3, & 4.
Kettering: Ocarina Workshop.
Liggins, D. & Liggins C (2003). The Ocarina: A Pictorial History. Kettering: Ocarina
Workshop.
Liggins, D. & Liggins C (2014). 1-2-3 Ocarina Teacher. Kettering: Ocarina Workshop.
Liggins, D. R. (2001). Ocarina. In S. Sadie (Ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musicians (volume 18; pp. 308-310). London: Macmillan.
Liggins, D. R. (2014). Ocarina. In L. Libin (Ed.), The Grove Dictionary of Musical
Instruments (volume 3; pp. 644-646). New York: Oxford University Press.
Liggins, D. R. (2014). Ocarina Report: Ocarinas in the Primary School. Kettering:
Ocarina Workshop.
Llonch, E. V. (2013). Beyond El Dorado: power and gold in ancient Colombia. London:
The British Museum.
Office for Standards in Education (2004). School Inspection Report: Kingshill Infant
School, Ware (p. 25). London: OFSTED.
Olsen, D. A. (2002). Music of El Dorado: The Ethnomusicology of South American
Cultures. Gainesville: University of Florida.
Olsen, D. A. (2013). World Flutelore: Folktales, Myths and other stories of Magical Flute
Power. Urbana, Chicago, and Springfield: University of Illinois Press.
Wilson, F. R. (1998). The Hand: How its use shapes the brain, language, and human
culture. New York: Pantheon Books.
Wolf, M. (2008). Proust and the Squid: The story and science of the reading brain.
Cambridge: Icon Books.

57
Multi-agency delivery of Luton Roma Music Project
from 2015-present time

Sophie Mathias
World Beaters Arts and Culture Ltd
[email protected]

Martin Burrell
Luton Roma Trust
[email protected]

Abstract
This spoken paper will report on innovative strategies to widen access to music for the
most disenfranchised members of Luton society involving a grass roots community
organisation, statutory services and early years music providers. Inter-connected skills
and knowledge in multi-lingualism, family music provision, Roma culture and social
services tested the value of music in meeting the following aims: improving
communication between Roma family members; integrating Roma with the wider
community; increasing use of statutory services by Roma community and initiating
interaction between mutually estranged Roma groups.
A 30-week outreach programme established the following musical spaces for Roma
families:
School playground Beech Hill School (12-12.45pm ages 4-10); Family Music Time
Building Blocks Children’s Centre (now Luton Flying Start Central) (1-2pm, ages 0-6);
After-School Music sessions for Roma families (4-5.30, ages 3-7, 7+); Musical
interventions in Roma family homes (6-7.30pm. Ages 0-70+) and Picnic in the Park
Family Festival performances (15 July 2016 11.15am/3.00pm Ages 3-50).
Sessions combined adult and child-led practice with participants developing ideas for
session content including leadership, conducting, suggesting songs and improvising
rhythms, lyrics and movement.
Successful project outcomes, dependent on this multi-agency approach, provided 68
sessions of education and participation for 225 participants aged 0-70. Three music
leaders each had 35 days employment. Two performances reached out to an
audience of 1750. Roma family members interacted to develop musicianship skills and
performance repertoire including faith songs and culturally diverse music references.
Children from rival Roma sub-groups shared musical play and interacted during breaks.
Activities increased Roma uptake of English language classes by Roma men and
increased referrals to social services. The importance of an economic balance of
power between partnering organisations was recognised. Shared skills and knowledge
across collaborating organisations found solutions to long-term community problems.
Current developmental work includes: monitoring and evaluation processes gathering
data for all partners including musical development, child development, identifying
needs and location of Roma community and uptake of mainstream services by Roma
community; project planning with elders from mutually estranged Roma groups;
widening opportunity and responsibility through Roma youth music leadership
programme; widening performance opportunity reflecting inherent talent and
promoting health interactions through the popularity of musical play sessions.

Introduction
The Luton Roma Music Project (LRMP) was established in 2015 by World
Beaters Arts and Culture in partnership with the Luton Roma Trust
(LRT)and Building Blocks Children’s Centre (now Luton Flying Start
Central). The project’s initial aim was to work alongside Roma families

58
using music to reduce isolation, widen community engagement and
improve access to statutory services. This paper will outline the success
of multi-agency partnership in delivering the LRMP. Reference will be
made to material presented at the World Beaters interactive session at
London Early Years Music Network (LEYMN)conference 2017.

Project objectives
The delivery of music initiatives in multiple spaces in Luton aimed to
improve communication between Roma family members and initiate
interaction between mutually estranged Roma groups. Statutory
services, arts and community organisations wanted to see an increase
in participation and attendance at community-based events in Luton
by Roma families.

Multi-agency delivery
The chart below (Figure 1) outlines the World Beaters model for
successful partnerships, developed through its 15-year history of
celebrating diversity with younger children, their families and care
providers in multicultural communities.

WORLD BEATERS MODEL OF MULTI AGENCY PRACTICE

WORLD BEATERS
links with community leaders
Excellence in early years and culturally
MONITORING AND diverse music leadership
EVALUATION Culturally relevant instruments

Fundraising expertise
Project management COMMUNITY LEADERS
AND ORGANISATIONS
Understanding of arts interactions to
WORLD/EY MUSIC LEADERS address social need Have trust within the cultural groups

links with community Track record to engage settings Knowledge of cultural values and
threats
Multilingual skills
Knowledge of community's relationship
Understanding of cultural values with agencies and settings
and threats AGENCIES AND SETTINGS
Venues
Culturally relevant material Access to wider support networks
and musicianship Multilingual skills
Knowledge of demographic and
Mixed ability teaching social need

Access to specialist funding

Need to build trust and access the ECONOMIC

community BALANCE OF
POWER
Venues
© World Beaters Arts and Culture Ltd

Figure 1 Model of multi-agency practice

Key partners provide mutually beneficial knowledge and skills, which

reciprocate the needs of each other (marked in coloured fonts) to
develop projects which successfully reach and engage target
audiences. As projects evolve networks and partnerships increase.

59
The partnerships on the LRMP work reflect this co-operative approach.
The lead community organisation, LRT was formed in response to the
profound needs of the Roma community of Luton. These Eastern
European migrants came to the UK to seek work and a better
education for their children than they received themselves. Speaking
both Romani (an ancient Sanskrit-based language) and Romanian
(related to Latin) they are, however, often illiterate and need the help
of the LRT team to build a new life in the UK. In addition to daily crisis
interventions in every area of their lives, LRT believes long term
community transformation is needed to lift the Roma out of their
historical isolation and help them engage positively with the wider
community of Luton. To this end, LRT works closely with an ever-
growing number of other agencies and schools to help these families
achieve economic stability and real hope for the next generation. LRT
supports the project by attracting participants, providing guidance on
suitable programme, interpretation and additional support services.

The early years setting involved, Luton Flying Start Central, hosts the
project. The organisation aims to ensure children have the best
possible start in life. Linking together care, education, family support,
health services, and community education with an open door policy
and extensive outreach programme, the Centre is able to reach those
most in need living in the heart of Luton. The knowledge and
experience of the staff team in encouraging community buy-in has
enabled the project to thrive and they have provided a welcoming
venue large enough to accommodate the numbers of Roma families
attending sessions.

Our music leadership team is Alison Blunt and Spulber Cantaragiu.

Spulber is Romanian Roma from a dynasty of Roma musicians. He is an
accordion player and, as a Pentecostal preacher, he has enabled the
project to quickly gain the trust of Roma community leaders. Alison is
an experienced early years music leader and internationally renowned
performer specialising in improvised music. This musical partnership
shares musical excellence founded in improvisation skills, providing the
skills to drop one musical idea and pick up another instantly. This
flexible approach, well known to early years music leaders, has been
identified as an essential skill by all project partners in working with
Luton’s Roma community.

Figure 2 below shows the distribution of Luton’s population aged 5 and

under. There are 5227 under 5s living in Flying Start Central’s catchment
area (the four wards marked in white). 75% of school children are from
black & minority ethnic groups. The majority of children accessing the
music sessions live in the 10% most deprived areas nationally. Cultural
participation is low, particularly engagement in the arts, sports and
physical activity, with one in three adults inactive. Half of Luton’s

60
school children do not speak English as their first language. Flying
Start’s location is therefore ideal as a host venue for the LRMP to reach
out to families with younger children most in need.

Figure 2 Map of Luton showing distribution of under 5s per ward

Fundamental to the ethos of World Beaters practice is valuing the

cultural experience and languages of all participants involved. It is
therefore essential that music leaders combine early years and world
music leadership skills and encourage families to share their home
languages and culture. Recent projects have increased World Beaters
awareness of participants with complex language skills, speaking not
only a local vernacular language but also official nation state
languages. The Luton Roma speak two Romani dialects, Ursari (from
the word ‘urso’ meaning bear in Romanian) and Kalderash (from the
word Coppersmith in Romani). The Romani dialect database
(Matras,Yaran & Elsik Victor, 2008) shows that there are 19 dialects of
Romani spoken in Romania alone. Most participants are from Romania
and therefore speak Romanian. They may also have additional
language skills in the national languages of other countries their families
have lived in.

61
Project beginnings (September-December 2015)
The first term of the project focussed on outreach into the community,
providing spaces for musical engagement with Roma families in 3
ways.

Lunchtime family music sessions were established at Building Blocks

Childrens Centre and targeted Roma families during the first term.
Concerted efforts from the LRT team encouraged participation and
incentives were providedeach week such as Bookstart packs and
‘goody bags’ which included basic provisions such as nappies and
baby wipes. One participant reported that without the goody bags,
her family would have been unable to attend the project because she
would have been begging to provide nappies for her children. LRT
staff offered advice sessions alongside music workshops which proved
a successful encouragement for community buy-in.

After-school music sessions for Roma families began in a family home in

Central Luton. However, the first event proved so popular that the host
family became anxious about noise complaints from neighbours.
Sessions moved to Blenheim Crescent Baptist Church, a familiar space
as host for Roma church services. Sessions in musical play for ages
three to seven, melodica classes for children aged seven plus and an
adult singing group were provided. Sessions ended with groups
presentations and a religious song in Romani or Romanian. Incentives
for participation included a melodica for each family who attended
on a regular basis, food parcels from the Luton Food Bank and toys
and games donated by local churches. Advice sessions also
happened alongside activities. With an average of 30 children
attending each week, these sessions quickly outgrew the church hall so
Building Blocks extended its opening hours providing each activity with
a designated space.

Early evening visits to family homes brought participation to those who

were most isolated in the community due to depravation and poor
transport links. These visits also enabled conflicting sections of the
Roma community to engage in musical activity. Home visits
combined adult and child-led practice including choosing repertoire,
conducting and improvising with rhythms, lyrics and movement.
Musicians improvised together to provide high quality listening
opportunities.
Each week news from within the Roma community impacted on our
visits to family homes. For example, the death of a family member saw
40 days of mourning when families welcomed sombre music, quiet
chatting and prayer. Children were gradually allowed to sing and
dance as adults sat quietly. We were also welcomed to bring live
music to birthday celebrations and always took a cake, singing Happy
Birthday in English and Roma.

62
The music team during the first year included Alison Blunt and Trish
Power as early years leaders and Spulber Cantaragiu as
accompanying musician. A mixture of hand-held world percussion
instruments and small drums were used during sessions. Lycra and
giant scrunchies encouraged focussed participation.

Project Development (January-March 2016)

Early years sessions extended to the wider community with regular
attendance by Asian and Roma families together with children and
staff from Building Blocks creche. As weather improved we added an
outdoor lunchtime session in neighbouring Beech Hill Primary School.
Roma children actively participated, welcoming familiar faces and the
Roma language in the playground.

The project’s first year culminated with performances at Picnic in the

Park, an annual early years event in Luton’s Wardowne Park run by the
Pre-School Learning Alliance. Hours of complex negotiation
persuading Roma families to visit an unfamiliar venue and getting
permission for children with poor school attendance to perform at the
festival during school hours were rewarded with a major step forward in
community inclusion. Extended Roma families attended and took an
active part in Luton’s long running family festival for the first time,
gaining informal access to early years support agencies and play
opportunities for their younger children.

First year outcomes

LRMP provided 68 sessions of music education and participation for 225
participants aged 0-70. Three music leaders had 35 days employment
each. Volunteer Paul Sayers has become employed as Luton Roma
Education Champion since the project began. Two performances
reached out to an audience of 1750. The project has enabled Flying
Start Central, Luton Arts and Luton Music Hub to engage Roma families
for the first time.

The project met ambitious targets of integration. At our early years

sessions Roma families integrated with families of Asian and Eastern
European extraction. Towards the end of the project they were
exchanging tips on childcare, particularly supporting crèche staff to
comfort children who attended without their parents.

The project supported the work LRT by initiating integration between

sub-groups within the Roma community. These groups are made up of
extended families from different parts of Romania who do not
associate with each other, despite sharing Roma culture. At the after-
school sessions children from these rival groups sat next to each other,

63
chatting and supporting each other in instrumental tuition and
ensemble work. Careful selection of religious music, folk songs and
nursery rhymes met the needs and expectations of all factions within
the Roma community. Musicians became sensitive to the needs of
participants and widened their understanding of delivery of music to
diverse communities, adapting material appropriately, for instance
using different adjectives to describe the "Drunken Sailor".

World Beaters and LRT worked effectively together, seeking

opportunities to promote and develop the project. Luton Music
Service, lead organisation of the Luton Music Hub Music Mix, became
a valuable partner and enabled networking opportunities which have
provided diverse performance opportunities relished by participants.
Following a presentation to Music Service teachers and the executive
committee of the Mix, opportunities for the project have flourished.
Partnership with Luton Culture, a charity delivering arts, libraries and
museum services, led to an outdoor musical play trip for early years
families at Stockwood Park, supporting the venue’s aims to increase
musical play and enabling isolated families to visit this venue for the first
time with the reassurance of engaging in a familiar activity.

Project Development (July 2016 – present)

Partnership with UK Centre for Carnival Arts (UKCCA) has involved
Bedfordshire-based singing and keyboard specialist, Jo Hudson-Lett.
Revoluton’s Sacred Songs Festival brought a first concert performance
on the UKCCA stage, with lighting and amplified sound. Roma families
shared a bill with Polish choir Wnieboglosy, UpMass gospel choir and
Sinfonia Verdi. The group also sang as part of Luton Airport’s Christmas
fundraising concerts. Roma children took pride in raising money to
help others, a positive act towards dispelling myths about the greed of
the Roma community. Arts and community organisations have gained
participation from the Roma community through the LRMP without
taking on the heavy financial and temporal costs of outreach.

Members of the project team have been able to attend conferences

which have greatly informed practice and provided insight for short,
mid and long term ways forward. Discussions with music teachers at
Luton Music Mix annual conference on transition (July 2016) proved
useful. Their observations of how Roma children move from school to
school emphasised the value of accessible extra curricula arts activity
to support formal learning which is regularly disrupted. As a result,
LRMP participants are given a certificate of musical skills and
achievement to show new teachers as they move between schools.

Our understanding of the value of multilingual skills has grown during

the project through attendance at talks and conferences on the
subject. Dr Leena Robertson’s presentation at the Nursery World Show

64
2016 on ‘Meeting the communication needs of children in a
multilingual settings‘ endorsed the use of musical play and the value of
multilingual opportunities in the nursery involving parents and staff with
multiple languages. She shared practical strategies for monolingual
staff, including musical play to encourage multilingual children to
communicate using non-verbal actions and gestures, self-initiated play,
listening and observing, choral responses and turn-taking discussions
with repeated patterns of language.

Further validation and inspiration came from the “Translanguaging

Pedagogy: an emancipatory approach for plurilingual pupils”
conference (February 2017) organised by Newcastle University. Highly
relevant to the World Beaters approach to early years music delivery,
Dr Heather Smith demonstrated in her presentation at the conference
that the translanguaging pedagogy

“Raises the status of pupils’ plurilingualism, and particularly those languages

which are assigned a lower status in society, thereby indexing a shift in pupils’
identity as languaging experts in the eyes of all concerned: pupils, their families
and teachers, which also acts to support more equitable practices”.

Research into plurilingual learning involving schools in Finland,

Romania, France and UK has enhanced our practice. We recognise
how inclusion of plurilingalism at an early years level can support
children to be confident about their speech and language skills,
engage them in participatory learning at the start of their education
and enable development as mentors and interpreters for their peers
and teachers. A plurilingual approach that welcomes parents to
contribute their own multilingual skills fosters early co-operative
engagement in home-school learning, something which is severely
lacking in the Roma community in Luton. As secondary schools turn to
the LRT to support learning, the potential for using this practice as a
holistic path from the early years and throughout the educational lives
of pluringual families is becoming more apparent.

Challenges
Poor behaviour is a challenge for the team and was reported as a
common problem by school teachers both in Luton and on the
translanguaging research programme. Several strategies are being
used on the LRMP to tackle this issue. Participants are given a snack
when they arrive providing energy to focus during sessions. Project
leaders and families also work together, washing up and tidying the
space in preparation for music. Our detailed work around exploring
song lyrics has shown that poor behaviour is linked to language barriers
and not understanding the content of sessions. Time spent translating
lyrics in sessions has improved engagement. Advice from volunteer
Noah Munyurangabo who shared his experiences as an unruly
teenager has helped the team find ways to support those who struggle

65
to manage their behaviour.

Empathy has become an essential skill. There have been times when
participants have required team members to listen and respond to
critical need rather than to engage in planned music activity. Both
personal and national events, such as the bereavement and the
impact of the Brexit vote, have made understanding through
discussion an essential part of the project.

Irregular attendance has required music leaders to be flexible in

delivery of sessions, adapting the programme and spaces to
accommodate groups varying from 6 to 36 each week with mixed
abilities and wide age ranges.
Attendance is inconsistent for several reasons. Roma families are
scattered across Luton and public transport systems are not effective in
encouraging participation. Family members attend different schools
due to shortages in school places and because Roma children often
start school well into the academic year. As driving is the quickest way
to travel around Luton and with car ownership being unaffordable,
several families share cars making overcrowding an issue. This has been
resolved through home visits and volunteer drivers collecting children.

Current development work

Discussions around frailty and care are being facilitated by
performances at Moorland Gardens Care Home. Roma children are
developing an understanding of old age and how to adjust their
behaviour to meet the needs of others.
Touring opportunities will continue with events at community festivals
over the summer period. LRT is taking initial steps towards a mentoring
scheme for Roma youth people, supporting musical talent and
leadership skills through these performance opportunities.
LRT is seeking a permanent venue that the Roma will identify as their
own space in which to deliver advice sessions, church services and the
music programme. World Beaters has created ‘Toothy Tales,’ a pilot
project using music to explore dental health with families at Building
Blocks Children’s Centre.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The project is indebted to LEYMN as the initial spark for the Luton Roma Music Project
happened during a comfort break at a core group meeting. Several members of the
LEYMN core group have contributed to the growth of the project during its first year,
either as musicians on the programme or through positive encouragement from the
sidelines.
The project was initially funded by Arts Council England with match funding from
Near Neighbours. Local funding from Luton Youth Fund and an Awards for All grant
has enabled the project to continue into its second year. All partners have a financial
stake in the project, either as a named applicant on a funding bid or by contributing
funds towards activity. This financial balance of power is particularly important for
organisation which represent disenfranchised communities.

66
References
Matras, Yaron & Elsik, Viktor. (2008). Romani Moprpho-Syntaxt Database (RMS).
Available at http://romani.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/rms/ Accessed on
15/3/2017.
Smith, H. J. (2017). Translanguaging as a pedagogy for plurilingual pupil learning.
Powerpoint presentation at Romtels Multiplier Event: Translanguaging
Pedagogy: an emancipatory approach for Plurilingual pupils. Available at
https://research.ncl.ac.uk/romtels/resources/conferences/ accessed
15/03.2017

67
Traces of music

Inger-Lisa Møen
NLA University College, Department of Teacher Education
Bergen, Norway
[email protected]

Abstract
This presentation is based on experiences from a collaborative project involving 38
kindergartens in Bergen, Norway, over a period of four years from 2012 to 2016, with
eight to ten kindergartens participating each year. This project was initiated, supported
and organised by the department of kindergarten at the municipal level and was
academically led by two lecturers from NLA College University of teacher education.
During the project period, three to four participants from each kindergarten
participated in joint seminars with both theoretical and practical focuses, and the
kindergartens received supervision from university lecturers and art pedagogues on
their own practical work and project plans.

In autumn 2016, surveys were conducted among all the participants followed by group
interviews in two kindergartens to determine what effect the project had in the
kindergartens and among the single practitioners. The theoretical base for this project
was theories on the connection between music and language in a broad perspective
and theories on building a developmental project based on engagement and
commitment among the practitioners.

This presentation will focus on the benefits of the work with music activities and what
skills the pedagogues have developed and maintained after the project period. The
presentation will attempt to outline some elements of musical learning among the
participants and how this may have benefitted the children.

The research data was collected through reports and evaluations from the four-year
project period. Also, there was a survey among all participants and two group
interviews with a focus on the participants’ musical skills and capabilities after the
project period. Such skills may be better belief in one’s own singing voice, skills in
leading a musical activity and skills in playing instruments, like the djembe.

The presentation will also show what factors need to be presented to succeed in
such developmental projects. Some of these factors may be ownership of the
project, motivation caused by the common engagement among the staff and
commitment to colleagues, and the aims of the project and the project
management.

Keywords
Kindergarten teacher education, music and language, collaboration, communities of
musical practice

Introduction
This presentation is based on experiences from a collaborative project
named ‘From Music to Language’ with the research question: What
traces of music remain in the everyday kindergarten life after
concluding a developmental project that focused on music and
second language acquisition? (‘Kindergarten’ refers to group of
children one to five years old. In Norway, children start school at six)

68
The project involved 37 kindergartens in Bergen, Norway over a period
of four years, from 2012 to 2016, with eight to ten kindergartens
participating each year. The purpose of the project was to strengthen
the staff’s ability to use music and drama to stimulate language
learning, especially in multicultural kindergartens (Møen & Thoresen,
2015). The project was initiated, supported and organised by the
Department of Kindergarten of the City of Bergen. Two lecturers from
NLA University College of Teacher Education mentored and led the
project academically. During the project, three to four of the staff 1
from each kindergarten participated in joint seminars on the
theoretical and practical aspects of music and language
development, and the process of implementing music activities in
kindergartens. The staff received supervision from college university
lecturers and art pedagogues on their project plans and didactical
practices. The project plans were for each kindergarten, each of which
had different groups of children, from one to five years old. All
participating kindergartens received a musical instrument kit that
consisted of one big djembe, two small djembes, 20 sets of egg
shakers, claves, hakiballs and chiffon scarfs. Several songs and
instrument-related activities were introduced and practised together at
a kick-off seminar. The participant staff members were also taught
methods for building reliable project plans. They were also encouraged
to set personal goals and goals for the kindergarten as a learning
organisation. The concept of SMART(E)2 goals (Hals, Trydal, & Aase,
2011, p. 89) was used as a framework for goal-setting. The project
group members participated in supervision sessions, wrote reports on
their outcomes and wrote implementation plans to help them to carry
what they learned from the project into the future.

The purpose of our research after the project is to look at the outcomes
for the kindergartens, children and staff. This project may be viewed as
a type of communal learning, and the study is a hermeneutic study in
a social constructivist paradigm. This paper focuses on the music
learning outcomes in the kindergartens among both children and staff
and what factors facilitate success.

Theoretical Framework
This paper concentrates on the traces of music in the kindergartens
and among the staff. The learning outcomes among the staff are
socially constructed, and the learning processes are types of situated
learning (Säljö, 2016; Wallerstedt, Lagerlöf, & Pramling, 2014). The staff

1 In the project groups that we interviewed, these employee groups were

represented: Principal, Pedagogical leaders/kindergarten teachers and assistant
teachers. I will use the term ‘staff’ for all these.
2 SMART(E) refers to: The goals should be Specific, Measurable, Accepted, Realistic,

Time limited, Evaluable.

69
members in this study are a part of a community of practice (Säljö,
2016; Wenger-Trayner & Wenger-Trayner, 2015; Wenger, 2004) in their
kindergartens, because they have a common responsibility for
planning a good learning and developmental environment for the
children. During the project, the participants also become a part of a
larger community of practice when they met staff members from other
kindergartens, art pedagogues and lecturers in the project at the joint
seminars. In this new community, music is both present and expected.
A community of musical practice is defined by Ailbhe Kenny (2016) as
“a group of people who form a community of practice through music
making and/or musical interest” (Kenny, 2016, p. 16). Thus, for the
participants in this project, a community of musical practice is a place
for learning music skills and creating meaning through music. To
succeed as a community of practice, a common feeling of
engagement, involvement and ownership is necessary (Balsnes, 2011).
The findings from this study also show that the children were a part of a
community of musical practice through the increased focus on music
activities in their kindergartens.

Other theoretical frameworks for this project are those that focus on
the connections between music and language more broadly (Ehrlin,
2012; Jederlund, 2003; Kulset, 2015; Kultti, 2014). The authors emphasise
the importance of music in children’s lives, the connections between
music and language, and the use of music for children’s development
and communication skills. Particularly for children of different cultural
backgrounds, music can be seen as a community-building tool, one
with which to communicate and socialise (Ehrlin, 2012; Kulset, 2015;
Kultti, 2014). Certain elements in the music activities, such as repetition,
tempo and the positive relationships with other children are focused
on. Again, these elements supports children’s second language
learning (Kulset, 2015) and stimulate language abilities (Paquette &
Rieg, 2008).

In a study about music, language and learning, Pitts (2016) finds that
music activities in circle time and free play cause positive language
development. She refers to how linguistic breakthroughs happen
during musical activities and play. Through a predictable and well-
planned circle time session, children with different backgrounds and
needs can experience a sense of achievement, because during circle
time they develop other skills, such as listening, understanding others’
actions, collaborating with others and using their language (Pitts, 2016).
Pitts (2016) also outlines the importance of giving staff music training on
how to make music and how to support children’s music activities.
Such training gives staff members the opportunity to discover how
children participate in music making and when children are having
linguistic or social breakthroughs through music. A common
understanding among the kindergarten staff is essential to discover this.

70
Susan Young (2009) describes observations and reflections of practice
as important ways to increase music quality in kindergartens (Young,
2009). Reflecting on practice and learning theory both had important
places in the joint seminars during this project.

The arts are an important element of the Norwegian Framework Plan

for the Content and Tasks of Kindergartens (Norwegian Ministry of
Education and Research, 2011). Aud Berggraf Sæbø (2017) highlights
that the arts in Norwegian kindergartens should be characterised by
curiosity, creativity and a bodily and playful way of teaching (Sæbø,
2017). Young (2009) specifically defines the different activities that
should be a part of music in kindergartens: listening, playing
instruments, singing and dancing (Young, 2009). Still, staff may feel
insecure about different music activities such as playing instruments
and letting the children participate more actively. They might also feel
ashamed of their own singing voices (Møen, 2014, 2016; Schei & Duus,
2016). Therefore, the music content in the daily activities of
kindergartens can sometimes be limited. Similar experiences are found
in Swedish preschools (Ehrlin & Wallerstedt, 2014). Challenging such
myths about themselves was a clear focus among the staff in this study.

Methods and Data Collection

The collected data consisted of reports and evaluations from the four-
year project. In addition, we conducted a survey of all participants as
well as two focus group interviews (Halkier, 2010; Kvale, 1997). The focus
group interviews focused on the participants’ music skills and
capabilities after the project, as well as their experiences on music as a
way for bonding and communication among the children. We
selected interview groups from two different project years, and we
selected groups that we knew had some opinions about the process,
even though we had not spoken to them since the end of the project.
The focus group interviews gave us insights into how the staff members
thought about their daily work with music in kindergartens. Because we
knew the participants from the earlier project, we could not be
objective when collecting and analysing the data. However, this
knowledge and the familiarity that developed between us also
encouraged the interviewees to be more honest and to reflect about
the process with a long-term perspective. We based our findings upon
our own observations, theoretical framework on the subject and the
participants’ own experiences.

The questions, or the themes, for the focus group interviews were based
on findings from the survey. We focused on what they did successfully
and also how they coped with resistance or negative experiences. We
recorded the conversations digitally and then transcribed them. This
paper is shaped by the analysis of the data from the focus group

71
interviews, which were based on the data from the survey and the
reports from the project.

Findings
In general, the reports and survey show that there is now much more
music in the kindergartens then before the project and that the staff
are more aware of the positive effects of music on children in general
and on the linguistic outcomes for children’s second language learning
and children with special needs.

The Traces of Music in the Kindergartens

The music in kindergarten ‘Play Garden’ is described as an opportunity
for the children to participate through movement and song. Children
with Norwegian as their second language can understand what is
going on because there is no talking, only singing, moving and playing
with instruments. The interviewees point out that the music activities are
some of the most important ways to stimulate linguistic learning for the
youngest children. The music is an essential way for young children
without verbal language to express themselves: “This is so important for
them. They may not say a word, but they sit and hold the claves up to
their heads and show which song they want to sing”, one of the
interviewees says. Shy children can also take part in music activity;
suddenly, after many repetitions of a song or a music play, they take a
new step by saying the words to the songs or wanting to do the
movement at a certain place in the song. The staff recognise both
social and linguistic breakthroughs in the music activities.

It seems that most of the staff that participated in the project witness
the children’s shared interest in music. Music appeals to every child.
Music is also an arena for friendship and socialisation among the
children. The staff from kindergarten ‘Ant Hill’ highlight the following
strong outcome for the children: “We notice another sense of
community after this project. It’s different”. In other words, through
playing instruments, making their own music circles and developing a
common repertoire of songs, a new community developed among the
children. This correlates with theories both about music and language
(Ehrlin, 2012; Jederlund, 2003; Kulset, 2015; Kultti, 2014), and to previous,
similar research (Paquette & Rieg, 2008; Pitts, 2016).

The staff from ‘Ant Hill’ tell us that the children gather drums and other
instruments and want to play and sing together every day. One of the
interviewees admits that this would have never happened before the
project period, because they did not have many musical instruments
and the ones they did have were not available to the children. The
staff used to think of music activity as noisy and chaotic and did not
allow it. They admit that this is a dramatic change. Now the children
know how to handle the instruments, they have a repertoire to play

72
and the instruments are available to them. Furthermore, the staff are
much more relaxed about music activity among the children, because
they can see the positive effects for both single children and for the
sense of community within the whole group. A common repertoire of
songs and music activities for all children in the kindergarten makes it
possible to connect in the music and to use it anytime, anywhere. A
community of musical practice (Kenny, 2016) is visible in ‘Ant Hill’ every
day. The staff also show the children’s interest in music to their parents,
organising ‘pick up concerts’ in the afternoons that are a big success.
Generally, through the day, children are more active with their bodies,
suggest songs and activities, and play the instruments, just as the
framework for Norwegian kindergartens outlines (Norwegian Ministry of
Education and Research, 2011; Sæbø, 2017).

Both focus groups see the potential of music for children with special
needs. During the project, the staff practised didactical planning for
good circle times, they developed a repertoire of songs and activities,
and they learned the importance of repetition and movement. They
are also discovering the effects of starting a song or a rhythm when
they need the children to focus. This helps especially the children with
special needs. “We don’t need to hush and wait; they’re already
singing and focused”. When the kindergarten teacher starts to sing,
one very uneasy boy from ‘Play Garden’ brightens up and focuses, as if
to say, “Yes! Now it’s starting! I want to be a part of this!”

The Traces of Music among the Staff

The staff members in both kindergartens are aware that the quality of
the music activities improved after the project. There is more variety in
the music activities, and the staff are more aware of how they plan
and organise the activities so that the children get the most out of
them. One pedagogue says, “I have become more aware of the
quality… it’s like I have improved myself one hundred percent”.

The staff are also more secure about their pedagogy connected to
music and language. They are convinced that music helps children to
develop in many ways. They develop their pedagogy through reading
literature, participating in lessons on the seminars during the project,
practicing, and observations and discussions with their colleagues.
Observations and reflections about music practice are essential to
creating good quality music for children in kindergarten (Young, 2009,
p. 21). The staff are more sure of their goals and how to achieve them.

During the project, the project group in the two kindergartens had a
special focus on involving all the colleagues in the kindergarten. They
wanted to make everybody feel comfortable making music with the
children and with their colleagues. They practised the drums both
together and alone, learned new songs and felt confident enough to

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lead the daily music activities. They are still practising these new skills
but are much more relaxed with themselves and have greater belief in
themselves as competent leaders and initiators of music. Some of them
feel less ashamed about their singing voices, and now it is not only the
staff members who are the ‘best’ singers who are responsible for music
activities. Their learning is situated in the kindergarten, with their
colleagues and with the children, which creates motivation, ownership
and engagement (Balsnes, 2011). In ‘Ant Hill’, the staff still sing and play
together in meetings to learn new songs or to maintain their skills. In
addition, members of the project group still seek each other for support
and inspiration. This group is now a community of musical practice, a
place for doing music together (Kenny, 2016).

The staff in ‘Ant Hill’ often use instruments in activities with the children.
It is important that the adults are models for the children’s instrument
playing (Young, 2009, pp. 95-96) and also that the children can
manage the instruments and take the initiative to play when the adults
are not leading. In this way, the staff can relax when the children want
to play the instruments on their own. It also minimises chaos during
circle time.

The Traces of Music in the Kindergartens as Organisations

Both kindergartens have more planned music activities with the
children because of the project. These activities are now a shared
responsibility among the staff. This was a tough process for some of the
staff members in kindergarten ‘Ant Hill’. However, the recognition of
how important music is for the children motivated them to take new
steps. “If we don’t do it, the children don’t get what they’re entitled
to”. Both kindergartens have implemented music activities as a part of
their yearly syllabus. In ‘Ant Hill’, circle time with drums and percussion
instruments is a regular activity for all groups of all children. The staff
members from both kindergartens also consider music circles with
songs, rhythmical rhymes and instruments as a part of language
learning. ‘Play Garden’ even defines music activities with singing,
rhymes and rhythms as their main approach to language stimulation
for the youngest children. The fact that these activities are still written
into their plans means that the engagement among the staff is still alive
and fresh.

Conclusion
In both kindergartens, we recognise elements of communities of
musical practice, both among the children and among staff. Staff
were already part of a community of practice through their
colleagues, and the courses and seminars during the project led them
into a bigger community with a shared focus. Their community and
colleagues in the kindergartens now consider making music together

74
an important part of their work. They share music goals and interests,
even if their music skills are at different levels. The staff members in the
project groups have come to look at themselves as competent
teachers of music in kindergarten. From being not involved in music
activity, spectators of music activity, or rather peripheral members of
the music community, the staff members now feel themselves to be
active members who share mutual interest in music with the children.
The children benefit from the staff’s new engagement and knowledge
about music. The children naturally take part in music activities that, for
many, have opened up new opportunities to participate,
communicate and learn. Traces of music remain in the kindergartens,
and both the children and staff are still walking on musical paths.

References
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fra et situert læringsperspektiv (Vol. 12). Oslo: Norges musikkhøgskole.
Ehrlin, A. (2012). Att starta musikprofil i förskolan. In B. Ridderspore & J. Söderman
(Eds.), Musikvetenskap för förskolan (pp. 139-152). Stockholm: Natur & Kultur.
Ehrlin, A., & Wallerstedt, C. (2014). Preschool teachers' skills in teaching music: two
steps forward one step back. Early Child Development and Care, 184(12),
1800-1811. doi:10.1080/03004430.2014.884086
Halkier, B. (2010). Fokusgrupper (K. Gjerpe, Trans.). Oslo: Gyldendal akademisk.
Hals, A. H., Trydal, I., & Aase, A. (2011). Å lede mennesker : verdier, veivalg og
virkemidler. Kristiansand: Portal.
Jederlund, U. (2003). Musik og sprog : et udvidet perspektiv på børns sprogudvikling.
Århus: Modtryk.
Kenny, A. (2016). Communities of musical practice. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Kulset, N. B. (2015). Musikk og andrespråk : norsktilegnelse for små barn med et annet
morsmål. Oslo: Universitetsforl.
Kultti, A. (2014). Singing as language learning activity in multilingual toddler groups in
preschool. Early childhood development and care, 183(12), 1955-1969.
Kvale, S. (1997). Det kvalitative forskningsintervju (T. Anderssen & J. Rygge, Trans.).
Oslo: Ad notam Gyldendal.
Møen, I.-L. (2014). Den syngende barnehagelæreren : utvikling av faglig
trygghet (pp. 30-44). Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
Møen, I.-L. (2016). The Right to Sing : How to Inspire Confident Singing
Kindergarten Teachers The Changing Face of Music and Art Education, 7(2), 99-108.
Møen, I.-L., & Thoresen, E. (2015). Try it with music! - Lingual Development
through Music Activities in Norwegian Kindergartens. Poster presented at the EECERA,
Barcelona.
Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research. (2011). Framework Plan for the
Content and Tasks of Kindergartens. Oslo: Norwegian Ministry of Education
and Research.

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Paquette, K., & Rieg, S. (2008). Using Music to Support the Literacy Development of
Young English Language Learners. Early Childhood Education Journal, 36(3),
227-232. doi:10.1007/s10643-008-0277-9
Pitts, S. E. (2016). Music, Language and Learning: Investigating the Impact of a Music
Workshop Project in Four English Early Years Settings. International Journal of
Education & the Arts, 17(20).
Schei, T. B., & Duus, A. L. (2016). Modig som Mitwa : kunstnerisk utfoldelse med
barnehagebarn. Bergen: Fagbokforl.
Sæbø, A. B. (2017). Kunstfagenes plass i barnehagen. In K. Bakke, A. B. Sæbø, & C.
Jenssen (Eds.), Kunst, kultur og kreativitet : Kunstfaglig arbeid i barnehagen (2
ed.). Bergen: Fagbokforlaget.
Säljö, R. (2016). Læring : en introduksjon til perspektiver og metaforer. Oslo: Cappelen
Damm akademisk.
Wallerstedt, C., Lagerlöf, P., & Pramling, N. (2014). Lärande i musik : Barn och lärare i
tongivande samspel. Malmö: Gleerups utbildning AB.
Wenger-Trayner, E., & Wenger-Trayner, B. (2015). Communities of practice : A brief
introduction. wenger-trayner.com
Wenger, E. (2004). Praksisfællesskaber : læring, mening og identitet. København:
Reitzel.
Young, S. (2009). Music 3-5. Oxon, GB: Routledge.

76
The missing place of Early Years in England’s music
education policy: issues, challenges, and innovations.

Carol Reid
Programme Director, National Foundation for Youth Music
England
[email protected]

Abstract
2011 saw the publication of England’s first ever National Plan for Music Education.
Despite the plan declaring that “music teaching starts in the Early Years”, its vision
covers children and young people aged 5-18. This means that English national policy
– and, importantly, the funding that underpins it – does not include Early Years music-
making. This omission is:
Contrary to significant evidence suggesting that ‘active engagement with
making music should start early for the greatest benefits to be realised’
(Hallam, 2015)
A missed opportunity to address the ‘patchiness’ in provision that the plan
sought to address – particularly when the Department for Education (the
plan’s publisher) has responsibility for teaching and learning in the Early Years.

What does this exclusion say about the status and importance of music in early
childhood? For the purpose of music education in the Early Years? What does a lack
of policy framework mean for the workforce? For progression planning beyond the
age of five? And for the ability of the early years music ‘sector’ to come together to
advocate and strategically plan?

As a significant funder of Early Years music education in England (investing over

£1million annually), the National Foundation for Youth Music is witnessing first-hand
some of the negative consequences associated with this policy framework omission.
However, at the same time we are witnessing some creative responses and cutting-
edge practices borne out of passion, resilience and a need to innovate. Five years
into delivery of the national plan for music education, we reflect on the implications,
challenges and innovations arising from the missing place of Early Years.

Keywords
Policy, innovation, workforce, strategy, practice

77
The bridge is singing: Working with Cultural and Linguistic
Difference

Alison Street
Peeple
Oxford,
United Kingdom
[email protected]

Nuzhat Abbas
Peeple
Oxford,
United Kingdom
[email protected]

Abstract
This paper discusses the relevance and implications of practical approaches in
support of young immigrant mothers with their pre-school children’s learning and
development in an urban community in central England. The Peep Learning Together
Programme is delivered in a ‘stay and play’ context where parents (mostly mothers)
from diverse backgrounds come together with their children and play, sing, and use
their own stories and experiences to help themselves and their own children under
four. One such weekly group is attended by women from Pakistan, Afghanistan,
Kenya, Zimbabwe, Algeria, France, Poland, Albania and India.

We present case studies of two mothers, from Afghanistan and Pakistan whose lives,
like those of so many refugees, have been on the move, from country to country.
During their journeys they have had to negotiate their ways through different social,
cultural, and linguistic contexts including attitudes to birth and child rearing. Through
telling their own stories and sharing their songs, they overcome their fear, rediscover
their traditional musicality, and value each other’s voices.

We explore the role of the practitioner whose remit is to help parents with their
children’s learning, using the ORIM framework (Hannon, 1995) based on
opportunities, recognition, interaction and modelling parents offer children day to
day in their home learning environment. We refer to Noddings’ ethics of care (2010)
to enlighten our encounter with cultural and linguistic difference. We suggest
empathy and understanding command the foreground and that singing and stories
create a bridge between individuals in place and in time.

Keywords
Parents, singing, home learning environment, culture, language, difference

Introduction
This paper is about the role of singing within mother-child relationships
both on a one-to-one basis and as a group activity that brings together
families of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Two case studies
explore the stories of two women; one from Afghanistan and one from
Pakistan, who sometimes struggle to make sense of the services offered
them in support of their children’s learning and welfare. In each case
remembered songs and stories from childhood serve to act as a bridge

78
between their past experiences and their present situations, between
their personal identities as expressed in their home languages, and
more formal expressions of belonging, and between their intimate
playful repertoire with their child and their general aspirations or fears.
They provide a snapshot into the lives of recently arrived mothers.
Populations are on the move for a range of reasons including
economic, political, conflictual and climactic conditions. As such their
experiences deserve to be taken into account as part of the
increasingly significant discourse of music as socio-cultural practice
focused on the day to day lives of families from diverse ethnic
backgrounds yet living in the same country (Young, 2016; Marsh, 2013).
The year 2016 saw a record number of refugees seeking new lives in
Europe where individual countries consequently expressed increasingly
protective attitudes against immigrants.
The practice explored here dates from Autumn 2016, in an urban
community in central UK. It outlines the aims of the charity Peeple,
considers the practice in relation to previous action research projects,
describes the activities, especially how singing is used, the role of the
Peeple practitioner and the implications for working with cultural
difference in music education with parents.

Aims and rationale

The Peep Learning Together Programme (LTP) is active in all regions
across the UK. It aims to help parents and carers to improve their
children’s life chances through making the most of everyday learning
opportunities; listening, talking, playing, singing, sharing books and
stories together (see www.peeple.org.uk). In turn it offers parents the
chance to realise and act on their own learning potential. The
programme is run by the charity Peeple, funded by grants from both
the voluntary and public sectors whose remit is to support raising
attainment in the early years through parental engagement. The
programme reflects the increased attention over the last twenty years
in educational research focused on the learning potential of the
earliest years and to the effective influence of the home learning
environment (HLE); (Sylva et al., 2003). For further explanation of its
rationale and related research on parental engagement see Street,
2009; Street & Smith, 2016).
A parallel groundswell of research is evident likewise in music
education, focused on the significance to musical development of
younger children’s day-to-day experiences (Barrett, 2008; Young, 2008;
Young, Street & Davies, 2006), on children’s audio environments both
at home (Ilari et al., 2011) and in settings (Burke, 2014) and on parents’
singing in informal situations (Custodero, 2006; Street, 2006).
Songs and rhymes are key components of the LTP, as they have been
found to enhance relationships, to build mutual understanding and to
encourage interactions between adults and babies (Street, 2009).
Whereas some studies suggest that a traditional repertoire of lullabies

79
has been forgotten and needs to be re-taught to parents (Baker &
MacKinley, 2006), it is clear that many Western mothers do sing to their
babies, although they consider what they do to be not musical in the
sense of performance art (Street, 2004). They interpret it as mimicking
their babies’ sounds, or the jingles on radio, television and digitised toys.
Research shows that the tuneful ‘doodles’ emerging in parents’ chatter
and the sing-song patterns of their communication with babies and
toddlers can be helpful both in regulating a baby’s mood (Trehub,
2009), as a resource for play and dance (Littleton, 2002) and invention
(Trevarthen & Malloch, 2002). Peeple practitioners draw attention to
voice play, and to how singing or playful chants can help both adult
and baby in day-to-day caring and expressing their emotions and
remembered experiences.

Activities
Learning Together uses a framework to structure and extend its work
with parents and children, with respect to a range of parental skills and
attitudes. The ORIM framework originates from Hannon and Nutbrown’s
research on parental support for literacy (Nutbrown & Hannon, 1997;
Hannon, 1995). It recognises the role of parents and carers in providing
Opportunities for learning, Recognition of their children’s
achievements, Interaction around playful activities and as role Models.
So practice ranges through time for talking and listening, for singing
and sharing stories, practical ideas for play and learning and places to
go or ways of coping with a baby or toddler. Sometimes this is on a
one-to-one basis in a home visit or in group work, depending on a
family’s needs. With play songs and lullabies in mind in multi-diverse
groups ORIM is explored with parents through offering:
Opportunities to sing and talk about childhood memories and
stories
Recognition of music’s expressive role in enhancing and
supporting children’s home language
Interaction through playing and singing together
Modelling the gestures and words of songs both old and new.

Allowing time and space

We have learned from previous action research projects, such as Time
to Play (Young & Street, 2010) which sought to develop inter-culturally
sensitive approaches to creative play in Children’s Centres serving
majority Muslim communities in four English cities. In terms of relevant
practical activities in creative play with groups that are multi-lingual,
multi-ethnic and multi-cultural we have to seek starting points.
Strategies found to be effective evolved through celebrating festivals,
such as Eid, with associated food, offered by mothers and shared by
all. These groups therefore often start late morning and may run over
two hours, allowing for time to meet, eat, play, talk and feed babies.

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Talking time
Time to talk or share ideas about how children play can be challenging
with so many languages. In the projects above mothers were invited to
represent ideas, their memories of songs or stories from home by
drawing on fabric. Fabric is important, as it is more durable and less
disposable than paper. Nuzhat Abbas can speak Punjabi, Urdu,
Russian, and English and has recorded, collected and arranged songs
and traditional folk tales in Urdu and Punjabi that recognise and
reinforce these memories and develop a shared remembered and
valued repertoire. In addition adults’ and children’s names are useful
triggers for conversation or representation, and emphasise familial
relationships. Displayed maps of the world indicate countries of origin
and offer starting points for mothers to share information about their
journeys or experiences. The following accounts are from two mothers,
whose names we have changed here, who came to a weekly group
over six months.

Noor’s story
‘I am Pakistani, and came to the UK after my marriage. I
have a seven year old boy and my girls are six, four and two.
When I first became a mother I was very fearful and desired
to know more about how to bring up my child. I had no idea
about how to put my baby to bed or what I should play with
him. I was not sure if singing lorian (lullabies) in my home
language was right or wrong. I was thinking, he is a baby and
is not going to understand what I am singing. Then one day
at the Children’s Centre Nuzhat invited me to join a group
and we used to sing in circle time, and Nuzhat encouraged
us to sing what we remember from our childhood in our own
language, Punjabi. At home I used her CDs with my child
sitting together in the corner as a special time. Slowly, slowly
the children began to enjoy these and the best thing was
that they started to follow in my own language. It
encouraged me to share with them more of my own songs. I
am unable to explain enough the happiness I felt through
having these songs and stories. In my childhood I used to sing
Choo choo chacha. It was jolly and is now a favourite in my
home. So is Choo choo choo, about the little chick. Visitors
enjoy it too. These two songs have changed our home
environment which is now a bit noisy but they have bound us
together. These songs and the group sessions have made us
all feel less isolated and I am now relaxed’.

Nasreen’s story
‘I am from Afghanistan, but left the country using secret
routes because of conflicts between the Hazara and
Pashtoon communities during Taliban and war. First we found

81
 refuge in Iran and then came to UK to save our lives. At
home we speak Dari or Persian and sing songs in Farsi, English
and sometimes my husband sings in Urdu with our little girl
who is 20 months old. Every day I get up at 4.30 and work in
the supermarket from 6.00 til 12.00 and my husband then
travels to work at a different supermarket from 2pm til 1.30
am. It is very hard when my baby wakes at night because we
both need our sleep so much before we work. But in this
situation singing her favourite songs help us to make her
sleep. The song she loves is Lulye Lulye zachima… this song
reminds me of my mother and her singing to me. We are very
happy that our baby is enjoying our singing and learning lots
of words. My husband wants me to become a teacher and
progress my education. We hope our daughter will get better
opportunities for education than we both had.

Even though there is still no electricity in our village, yet no

night goes by that we do not dream of that place and of the
sound of my mother singing Lulye Lulye Zechima …When
things get better we will go home’.

Accommodating cultural difference

As we listen to the accounts of families’ journeys across borders, and
their experiences with authorities, frontiers and services we are
reminded not only of their resilience in confronting daily dangers, but
also that their family stories shape who they are, what they value and
practise and believe. This challenges us to confront our own identities
and to seek to understand notions of difference in relation to common
understandings of what it means to be human. Appiah (2016) in his BBC
Reith lectures, ‘Mistaken Identities’ asserts that ‘the cosmopolitan
impulse that draws on our common humanity is no longer a luxury but
a necessity’. In terms of how we view cultural differences he
distinguishes between two contrasting and still prevailing views of the
meaning of culture both of which have their roots in Victorian England.
One is that espoused by Matthew Arnold. This saw culture as pursuit of
perfection in modes of culture, as in poetry, literature and music. The
other, promoted by Edward Tyler was one of the earliest articulations of
the meaning of cultural anthropology, representing a complex whole
including knowledge, beliefs, art, law as well as habits and customs.
Appiah interprets the latter’s relevance for contemporary behaviours in
the face of uncertainty and political volatility; that culture is a process
we join in a life lived with others; that our social identities connect the
small scale everyday things through which we live, such as meeting
and greeting and eating, with wider movements, causes and
concerns. There are choices to how we can make sense of our lives on
this wider scale; he argues that concepts of creed, colour, country and

82
culture can become both forms of confinement or conceptual
mistakes, but they can also give contours to our freedom.
Such philosophical views are not miles away from our day to day
practice with families. Indeed, they are both backdrop and substance
of how we make choices of repertoire; thinking of which song to sing,
or how it may relate to family routines like eating and sleeping, coping
with siblings or understanding about dangers as expressed in children’s
folk tales and then in their real lives. Some parents enjoy the familiarity
of joining in with a repertoire of newly adopted traditional nursery
rhymes as they can identify with aspirations to learn a new repertoire
on behalf of their children. Jessica Pitt’s research (Pitt & Hargreaves,
2016) illustrates the dynamics of such group singing in Children’s
Centres in England. By contrast, other mothers are moved and
delighted at the chance to share a song from their own childhood as
Nuzhat has found in her work with South Asian families in Peeple. What
seems key to what and how to offer is an awareness to provide
experiences that are meaningful and relevant to parents with their
children; to invite and to listen.

Ethics in partnership relations

Engaging with parents about their children’s learning is often a
balancing act in power and control. The aim of the charity Peeple is to
improve young children’s life chances. To this end practice has to work
in partnership, and this involves taking risks and maintaining flexibility;
taking risks in terms of managing unpredictability as family
circumstances are always changing and subject to adult work
patterns, health and childcare responsibilities (see Dencik, 1989), and
flexibility on the part of the practitioner to keep options open when
balancing educational priorities with parents’ needs and skills.
Where partnership working emphasises listening and trying to
understand the other’s point of view in order to offer support, ethics of
care come into play. Noddings’ (2010: 7) analysis of the ethics of care
found that being ‘in relation’ to someone precludes ‘caring for’ them.
She concluded it takes both parties to play their part; how care ethics
are not so much about rights as about responding to needs, where
emphasis is on attention, listening and understanding. In educational
engagement with parents and families this response asks for
competence, critical thinking, and maintaining open-ended flexible
practice.

Conclusions and implications

This paper has explored how practice can work with parents in
culturally and linguistically diverse groups in one urban location in
England. The stories of Noor and Nasreen illustrate the complex
linguistic background in each case. Noor’s home language is Punjabi.
In Pakistan it is the language mostly spoken in all areas of the Punjab
and in the UK it is also spoken at home by many families. However it has

83
not been taught in schools in Pakistan for political reasons for
around150 years. Urdu and English are the official languages. So there
is confusion in Noor’s mind about what is right for her children; her own
Urdu and English are not strong, but she does not want her children to
be disadvantaged by hearing Punjabi at home. She seems caught
between two worlds. Singing in her own language has been a relief
and source of joy.
For Nasreen and her husband, they appear to be confident in
speaking Dari and having songs in both Farsi and Urdu to share with
their daughter. They face demanding shift working patterns, express
aspirations for their own and their daughter’s education and long to
return to a distant home. Their language competence appears to be
sophisticated and both have used singing to communicate in different
ways with their baby since birth.
It is sobering to consider the international, national and local contexts
that impinge on many families who have already faced danger and
conflict. Once in the UK they come to a children’s centre, that has
systems to support families’ health, welfare and learning, but which are
currently subject to budget constraints and consequent reduction in
provision of services in the community. In addition, staff are often
younger and less experienced in life than the mothers, and are
themselves subject to regulations, targets and fixed requirements for
time and space. They can therefore feel challenged in how to listen, or
to respond to difference in culture and in how to value others’ existing
competencies.
In terms of music education with young children Young elaborates how
difference has in the past been conceptualised along ethnicity lines,
that choices of repertoire and resources have been motivated by aims
into integration or assimilation. She suggests what is increasingly
recognised are ‘intersecting divisions of poverty, gender, religion and
urban/rural location and that genuinely accommodating difference to
avoid replicating disadvantage, even unwittingly, is complex’ (2016:4).
To this list we might add divisions in time, for example when applied to
tensions arising between more settled groups, for example, from Syria,
and recently arrived refugees from Afghanistan. These have been
expressed, for example in adults’ contemporary accounts of attitudes
to language classes in urban German locations.
We argue that through attentive listening to mothers’ voices as they
sing and tell stories, we may share our diverse cultures and come to
understand how to relate more meaningfully, and through relating, to
interpret our encounters as opportunities for dialogue about diversity,
about music and about education.

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Conference. Leeds Metropolitan University, 2-5, 268-269.
Street, A. (2006) The role of singing within mother-infant interactions. Unpublished PhD
Thesis, Roehampton University, UK.
Street, A. (2009) Empowering parents through Learning Together: The Peep model. In
Svanberg, P.O.,Barlow, J. (Eds.) Keeping the baby in mind: Infant mental
health in practice. East Sussex, UK, Routledge.
Street, A. & Smith, S. (2016) Twenty Years of Peep Learning Together. In International
Journal of Birth and Parent Education (IJBPE) Vol. 3, Issue 4. Birth and Parent
Education Ltd.

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Sylva, K., Melhuish. E., Sammons, P., Siraj-Blatchford, I., Taggart, B., et al. (2003) The
Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) Project: Findings from the
Pre-school Period. London, Institute of Education.
Trehub, S.E. (2009) Music lessons from infants. In Hallam, S., Cross, I., Thaut, M. (Eds.)
The Oxford Handbook of Music Psychology. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Trevarthen, C., & Malloch, S. (2002). Musicality and music before three: Human vitality
and invention shared with pride. Zero to Three, September 2002, 23(1), 10–18.
Young, S. (2008). Lullaby light shows: Everyday musical experience among under-two-
year-olds. International Journal of Music Education, 26(1), 33–46.
Young, S. (2016) Early Childhood Music Education Research: an overview. In Research
Studies in Music Education. 1-13: Sage Publishers.
Young, S., & Ilari, B. (2012). Musical participation from birth to three: Toward a global
perspective. In G. McPherson & G. Welch (Eds), Oxford handbook of music
education (pp. 279–295). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Young, S., Street, A., & Davies, E. (2006). Music one-to-one: Final report. Exeter, UK:
University of Exeter.
Young, S. and Street, A. (2009) Time to Play: developing inter-culturally sensitive
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Network of Music Educators and Researchers of Young Children, 22nd-25th July,
2009, Bologna, Italy.

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Tafelmuziek (Table Music)

Esther Ursem
Musica, Impulse Centre for Music
Neerpelt, Belgium
[email protected]

Abstract
How do we develop a musical attitude in a daycare centre? How do we motivate
and involve caregivers that have no specific musical background? In autumn 2015
‘Tafelmuziek’ (Table Music) was launched in order to investigate the possibilities of
and requirements for an approach that invites and supports all participants of a
daycare centre in adopting a musical attitude during daily routines. The project
started as an experiment at the daycare centre of Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) in
collaboration with Erasmus University College Brussels (Pedagogy of the Young Child).
Tafelmuziek established a context that stimulates musical development of children
and caregivers on the basis of immersion, spontaneous interaction and ‘implicit
musical invitations’.

A broad stance towards musicality as a sounding, social, embodied and timed

phenomenon allows us to tackle the hesitation that often arises when caregivers are
invited to act or express themselves musically. In doing so, and without being taught,
musical sensitivity and skills start to develop organically by means of mutual
reinforcement: all participants invite, inspire, surprise and initiate with each other
musically in the trusted situation of daily activities and interactions. Their development
is not guided by a programme with planned music sessions or repertoire, but by an
increase of the reciprocal recognition of spontaneous musical behaviour: from being
aware of mere sound, to interactive musicking, singing songs, improvising and
listening to diverse musical idioms. The results were a greater willingness towards
collaborative play, a better awareness of the environment, reciprocal entrainment,
and more initiatives and creativity in dealing with available materials.

Since the initial experiment, Tafelmuziek has been successfully introduced in the
daycare centre of Campus O3, Huis van het Kind (House of the Child) in Genk (BE),
literally involving ‘everyone’, from babies to even administrators. On the floor, the
interactions feature a threefold relationship between children, caregivers/other
personnel, and professional music coaches, who interact musically on an
interpersonal equal level. This talk gives insight into the guidelines of the concept, and
how they are being applied in practice.

Keywords
Musical attitude, musicality, daycare centre, mutual reinforcement

Tafelmuziek
Musica, Impulse Centre for Music is an organisation started out almost
forty years ago, in the wake of the early childhood music movement,
but has transformed itself into an impulse centre for music that carefully
focuses on topics that can feed musical life and music education,
while always taking an artistic stance.

It is from this perspective that we also aim to stimulate the experience

of sound and music among the very youngest children.

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We have been doing this for years with workshops for children with their
parents or carers: in all kinds of contexts from libraries to museums, from
childminders’ homes all the way through to festivals. We also run
training sessions for child carers at day care centres and breakfast and
after-school clubs, as well as in nursery school teacher training courses,
sometimes on site or through national training bodies.

However, we have found that the material is not always easy to

translate into practice in the short term, and once participants return to
their own working environments they are sometimes hesitant to
experiment with music. The emphasis often remains instead on a
carer’s childcare and administrative tasks.

The Research Question

How to develop a musical attitude in a day care centre?

How to motivate and involve caregivers who have no
specific musical background?
In Autumn 2015, we launched the “Tafelmuziek” (Table Music)
coaching course to investigate the possibilities and requirements of an
approach that invites everyone involved in a day care centre to adopt
a musical attitude to their daily routines and supports them in this
process. The project started as an experiment at the Vrije Universiteit
Brussel (VUB) day care centre, in partnership with Erasmus University
College Brussels (Pedagogy of the Young Child). The research study
lasted three months and focused on two target groups at the day care
centre; a group of babies aged three to eighteen months and a group
of toddlers aged eighteen months to three years.

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The research began with an audio interview for the six participating
child carers, administered by a Pedagogic Coaching student. An
approach was devised on the basis of their responses and following an
observational visit by the coaches. For example, there were some child
carers who sang a lot themselves and made up songs. In that case the
coaches’ input was mainly focused on putting the children’s games to
music and imitating the sounds they heard around them (with the
space itself as a third teacher).

Two musical coaches and a Pedagogical Coaching student worked

on the project for three months. The musical coaches came to the
centre five times for three hours and gave the children music input
while they were playing. This was documented by the trainee, who
followed up what they had done with tips and games at times when
the musical coaches were not present.

By offering materials for free play such as empty toilet rolls, scarves and
insulation blankets, we stimulated the children and their carers to take
a different approach to music and sound. The popular children’s CDs
or constant radio noise were eventually switched off. What was striking
was that the experience with the toddlers was very different than with
the babies. For the child carers in the group of toddlers, a strict daily
schedule meant that music was regularly present, but as part of a
planned activity. The activity usually consisted of singing along to songs
with a CD and encouraging the children to dance in activities initiated
by the adults. Music as an impulse for the development of a musical
attitude was a difficult leap for them to take at first. This study was
completed in June 2016 in the form of a presentation. The presentation
generated interest from Campus O³ in Genk and the City of Antwerp.

Activities
Tafelmuziek has established a context that stimulates the musical
development of children and child carers through immersion,
spontaneous interaction and ‘implicit musical invitations’. The musical
interactions arise organically through play. The coach from Musica
introduces new musical elements and stimuli to the children’s games
without taking over. In this way, children, parents and child carers
discover new ways of playing that encourage them to discover music
and experiment with it for themselves. We do not have any pre-
established final product in mind. The musical interactions through play
gradually help children’s ideas and possibilities for musical expression to
grow. The roles of inspirers, imitators and communicators are taken on
by both the child, parent and musical coach. These roles change
spontaneously during play. Sometimes it is the children themselves
whose enthusiasm and creative open-mindedness lead them to adopt
a pedagogical role towards the carers and coach.

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For example, the musical coach introduced a one-year-old child to a
sound game with a scarf, in which the child’s sounds were translated
into movement and exaggerated. Later that day, the child wanted to
play the game again with a child carer. The child explained with
gestures what she expected from the carer. This led to a new game.
The child began to dance with the scarf and asked the carer to join in.
The carer had to hold the scarf up high so that the child could spin
around with the scarf, making whizzing noises. This ended up being
such a popular game at the daycare centre that the child carers
decided to knot a long line of scarves together and attach them to
the ceiling.

We noticed as well that there was a greater willingness to engage in

collaborative play, a better awareness of the environment, reciprocal
entrainment, and more initiatives and creativity in dealing with
available materials.

The development of each participant is not guided by a programme

of planned music sessions or repertoire, but by an increase in the
reciprocal recognition of spontaneous musical behaviour: from simply
being aware of sound, to interactive music-making, singing songs,
improvising and listening to diverse musical idioms. A broad attitude to
musicality as a sounding, social, embodied and timed phenomenon
allows us to tackle the hesitation that often arises when child carers are
invited to act or express themselves musically. In doing so, and without
being taught, musical sensitivity and skills start to develop organically
by means of mutual reinforcement: all the participants invite, inspire,
surprise and initiate each other musically in the familiar setting of daily
activities and interactions.

Development of practice and next steps

Since January 2017, the Tafelmuziek concept has been introduced to
seven childcare projects, including (Speel’Wij) at Campus O³, and the
Huis van het Kind in Genk. Speel'Wij is a playgroup and social group in
every neighbourhood of Genk. It is a place where parents and
grandparents can bring their baby, toddler or young child (aged 0 to
3) every week, except during the school holidays, to play, exchange
experiences, have a breather or chat to other parents over a cup of
tea or coffee. Everyone is welcome – including parents-to-be – until
their children go to nursery school. Each Speel'Wij has its own
atmosphere and activities, provides a warm welcome and offers a
large room with toys and books plus a cosy seating area for parents.
The Speel'Wij is usually organised by a childcare professional working
with local neighbourhood volunteers.

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The process is introduced over a period of nine months. During those
nine months, two sessions of three hours each are organised just for the
staff. These include a mindsetting session, the introduction of various
ways of working with music and an explanation of the pedagogical
context. This is followed by general coaching in the workplace with
children, parents and all the staff.

There are four working visits of two and a half hours each, spread over
four months. During these visits, we introduce new musical impulses
through play. After every visit there is an evaluation and each carer is
taught tips and games. At the end of this process, we ask the children
and parents about their experiences, and we conclude by extending
this question to all the staff.

The next step is to turn this Tafelmuziek for 0-3 year-olds into a version for
children aged 2½ to 12 who use childcare facilities before and after
school. The research phase is scheduled for the autumn of 2017 and
spring of 2018, and will be conducted with a bachelor student in
Pedagogical Coaching at Karel de Grote University College and three
different childcare facilities in different contexts: an urban, rural and
inner-city setting.

Children learn to work with children of different ages and with different
interests, taking each other’s wishes into account. Everybody’s input is
valuable, irrespective of the child or carer’s age, background or
(musical) experience.

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92
Eersteklasconcerten: a different look at music participation
of children in concert halls

Hans Van Regenmortel

Musica, Impulse Centre for Music
Neerpelt, Belgium
[email protected]

Abstract
Eersteklasconcerten is a journey of artistic, interactive experience for children in their
first year of primary school. This co-production by Musica, Impulse Centre for Music
and Concertgebouw Brugge (BE) puts a different renowned ensemble in the spotlight
each year. In the past, for example, Bl!ndman, Brussels Jazz Orchestra, Nadar
Ensemble and I Solisti del Vento have worked on the project. Once more, the 2017
edition in partnership with ChampdAction will confront young ears with
contemporary composed music and its interpreters, without compromising on the
artistic content.

Eersteklasconcerten breaks down the borders between listening, active experience

and performing. It demonstrates that young children can get really enthusiastic
about music from the past and present, irrespective of its complexity. Often the
format challenges the interpreters’, concert organisers’ and teachers’ view on
children’s aptness to ‘understanding music’.

Involving big groups of children with their teachers, and addressing both categories
as participants on an equal basis, Eersteklasconcerten is meant as a shared
experience in the first place. For many it even happens to be a unique experience on
the personal level as well. The format shows that, as long as the context is well
thought of, young children can be confronted with complex and layered
phenomena, like music, because they are apt to ‘absorb’ them as a whole
experience and in a meaningful way, even without any verbal explanation.
At the same time, and in an often confronting way, the format reveals a problematic
gap between the emotional involvement and complicity of the six to seven year old
participants and many of their accompanying teachers.

Eersteklasconcerten makes us aware of the opposing strategies of children and

adults in dealing with the world. It reveals children’s need for symbolic play in a
context of shared experience and companionship as a basis for being educated. It
illustrates children’s sensitive openness and aptness for being part of a whole, even
without ‘really’ understanding every aspect of what is happening.

Eersteklasconcerten reminds us about the role that our understanding of human

musicality could, and probably should play in rethinking education as a way of
participation.

Keywords
Music participation, young children, concert hall, shared experience

Introduction
Contemporary composed music and music from the classical
repertoire is often considered as too abstract or too complex for young
children. Nevertheless, it is very questionable whether ‘abstractness’ is
a feature of this music in itself. Then what would it mean? That the

93
music isn’t ‘about’ the real world? That it doesn’t ‘describe’ reality?
Most music does not, even if one can imagine that it reflects aspects of
reality. And as complexity is concerned, children are faced with all
kinds of complexity from birth. Should complexity then be avoided
when dealing with music?

Music that is being perceived or thought of as abstract, rather refers to

the lack of experience with an idiom or its performance practice. In
fact, the only abstract music that exists, is the music we can’t imagine
or remember (Strobbe & Van Regenmortel, 2012), or the one that lacks
contextual anchor points with one’s own experience. Concerning
complexity, let’s not forget that most people, young children included,
are often more acquainted with a diverse range of musical idioms than
they themselves would expect or are conscious about. Thanks to the
immersive effect of watching films or TV series, most of them already
have been listening to and have been moved by music that could
have been composed by Richard Strauß, Stravinsky, Berio, Ravel or
Kurtag (Strobbe & Van Regenmortel, 2010).

Then, how can a concert hall confront young audiences with high level
music of the past or present and its performers? First of all, it shouldn’t
worry too much about the aptness of the music for a young audience
because of its supposed abstractness or complexity. Secondly, it should
provide a context that makes music of high artistic quality a shared
experience for both performers and listeners: the concert as an
immersive, interactive and contextual event.

Musica, Impulse Centre for Music (Neerpelt, BE) and Concertgebouw

Brugge (Bruges, BE) take up this challenge with Eersteklasconcerten
each year.

Organising a context for young ears

Eersteklasconcerten is an immersive journey of artistic, interactive
experience for children in their first grade of primary school (in Flanders,
this means 6 years olds). This production puts a different renowned
ensemble in the spotlight each year. In the past, for example, Anima
Eterna, Bl!ndman, Brussels Jazz Orchestra, Nadar Ensemble and I Solisti
del Vento have worked on the project.

Once more, the 2017 edition in partnership with ChampdAction

successfully confronted young ears with contemporary composed
music and its interpreters, without compromising on the artistic content.
The whole journey lasts no less than 80’ to 90’, which is a considerable
amount of time for six years olds. Nevertheless, the children manage to
keep a substantial level of attention without any problem, absorbing
music that for many adults (e.g. their classroom teachers) isn’t always
obvious at first sight.

94
Young children are capable of making sense of the world in all its
complexity on their own terms, without any need for explanation,
provided that the context makes sense and that the adult’s
expectations are fluid. This simply means that the children have to feel
emotionally connected with what is happening around them:
connectedness as proof of ‘understanding’.

Another typical feature of Eersteklasconcerten is the total lack of

verbal explanations and instructions during the whole journey. Each
group of children is guided by an employee of the concert house. At
each station the children are welcomed by two Musica-teachers
(sometimes assisted by trainees), who only communicate by means of
body language and facial expression. This welcoming often
immediately takes a musical form, and as such is part of what is about
to happen. The spot itself communicates as well, as it is organised in a
clear and inviting way. Each station features some minimalistic
theatrical elements, that are thought of in function of the active or
immersive experience.

Let’s look at an overview (Table 1) of a typical Eersteklasconcerten

journey (approximate timings include displacements).

Arrival of 150 children + teachers

Each child receives a coloured wristband according to their group

Small concert or activity: gain a focus (all children + teachers) 5’

Station 1 (50 chldrn + teachers) Station 2 (idem) Station 3 (idem) 25’

Station 2 Station 3 Station 1 25’

Station 3 Station 1 Station 2 25’

Small concert or active performance with everyone involved (150 children 5’

and teachers + Musica-teachers + musicians)

Table 1

A small introduction already results in a specific focus and sharpened

expectations. A general theme is (implicitly) being introduced: e.g.
‘wind instruments’ (I Solisti del Vento), ‘jazz as improvisation on the spot’
(Brussels Jazz Orchestra), ‘direction and timing of sound’
(ChampdAction), etc. This focus will remain central on each of the
stations that the participants pass by. The general theme acts as an
anchor point for getting a more profound, recognisable and
emotionally connected understanding of the music. After the
introduction the children go to their respective first station in 3 groups of

95
50, each group following its own (different) order of consecutive
stations.

In general, a station consists of any combination of a mini-workshop

and a mini-concert:
workshop + concert (e.g. Pression by Helmut Lachenmann)
concert + workshop (e.g. Composed Improvisation by John
Cage)
workshop and concert crossfading in each other (e.g. Lohn by
Kaija Saariaho)
concert and workshop interwoven (e.g. Voices and piano by
Peter Ablinger)
a longer workshop, related to the introductory or closing concert
(e.g. Case History by Roderik De Man)
embodied concert by dancing to the music while listening for
the first time (e.g. Concert Champêtre by Henri Tomasi)
etc.

Preparing for a new edition

The preparation of each edition starts with a discussion with the
ensemble about a program that makes sense in its own right,
regardless of its complexity or artistic niche, nor the specificity of the
target group. Each program reflects the artistic DNA of the ensemble.
At this stage, there is still no concern whatsoever about the design of
the workshops. Only a possible central element that could serve as a
thread for the program is already taken into account, as well as the
timing of the individual works being performed in order to find a good
balance between workshops and concerts.

Indeed, it isn’t true that children only need simple children’s songs. They
are ready to tackle the world on their own terms. Even if they don’t
understand it the way adults do, they experience it. The only criterion
that we do consider in respect to the children’s age, is the timing of the
different pieces of music in order to find a well thought of balance
between listening and active engagement.

How is it possible not to compromise on the artistic level when dealing

with contemporary composed music or complex music from the
classical repertoire? How is it possible to tackle the (apparent) lack of
experience and familiarity with a musical idiom that - at first sight - is
often far away from children’s daily experiences? How can we
familiarize them with unknown musical idioms, on the spot and with
only limited time?

Breaking down borders

First of all we break down the borders between listening, active
experiencing and performing, all of them being historically evolved

96
adult distinctions of possible engagement with music. This doesn’t
mean that there is no real listening in the traditional sense anymore. On
the contrary! Young children can listen in an astonishingly focused way.
But the listening is contextualised by what happens before, after or
along with the music. Or it is prepared for by active engagement, or it
is embodied. The latter easily allows to ‘read’ the children’s level of
attention and involvement: their ‘sympathy’ with what’s going on.

The distinction between the performer on stage and the listeners apart,
isn’t taken for granted anymore just because this is a tradition or
because the room is organised as such. Nor does it mean that it is
avoided. Putting the performer on stage is rather seen as a specific
theatrical element. Think of the horn player in Appél interstellaire by
Messiaen, standing on a small stage above the seats of the concert
hall, who, in combination with the backlight, gives the illusion of him
floating through space.

Other possible relationships between performer and listeners are:

the listeners sitting or lying on the ground around the performer
the performer walking through the audience while playing
all performers making a circle around the public
the children moving around while the musicians play
etc.

Where the music itself is concerned, there may be a shift from its
structural properties to timbral, spatial and contextual aspects.

Making music tangible in the literal sense

Children have no need for ‘replicating the same.’ It is already enough
in having them perform something alike. This ‘relative approach’
precisely is proof of musical intelligence, because the children are able
to recognise similarity.

As the music itself is technically too demanding for them to replicate

even part of it, we focus on an aspect that represents the general
theme, and which they are immediately able to grasp in the literal
sense. This thread often refers to basic psychological aspects that they
also know from non-musical contexts, such as direction of sound, time,
chance, etc. or any combination of these.

When listening to the concert immediately afterwards, they get the

feeling - even the conviction - of having invented the music by
themselves (e.g. Lohn by Kaija Saariaho). During this year’s edition with
ChampdAction, one of the children spontaneously whispered to a
Musica-teacher: “That’s what we just did!”

An embodied and shared experience

97
Although most children nowadays grow up with music coming from
loudspeakers, TV’s and online interfaces without the real presence of
musicians, this situation masks the fundamental origin of music as a
human, interactive and shared phenomenon. Seen from the classical
performance practice, making music an embodied and shared
experience could sound somewhat uncomfortable, for some even
revolutionary. In fact, it isn’t. Let’s not forget that the ‘traditional’
concert practice mainly originated as the result of Mahler becoming
director of the Wiener Hofoper. As late as in 1897(!) he

“codified the etiquette of the modern concert experience, with its worshipful, pseudo-
religious character. (...) Emperor Franz Joseph, the embodiment of old Vienna, was
heard to say: “Is music such a serious business? I always thought it was meant to make
people happy.”” (Ross, 2007, p. 21)

So, we can ask ourselves to what extent approaches in which the

social aspects of music become more central again, are really new?
Although the principle might be not so new, the forms it can take surely
is. Eersteklasconcerten is one of these initiatives that transform and
adapt old traditions to new contexts and audiences.

Involving big groups of children with their teachers, and addressing

both as participants, Eersteklasconcerten is meant (and
communicated) as a shared experience in the first place. We have
always tried to involve teachers in the activities on an equal basis.
Nevertheless, we are sometimes faced with ‘a schoolish attitude’, as a
result of which some classroom teachers feel the need for (mostly
unnecessary) control and management of the children’s behaviour,
instead of joining the workshops with them on an equal level. Many
teachers even want to stay apart in order to overlook the children. So,
most of them have to be invited, while only some join in spontaneously.
And when they do, it has an immediate effect on the children’s
positive engagement and attentive attitude.

In any case, the concept of music as a well defined object coming

from the outside, is still part of most teacher’s collective unconscious.
For that reason, the format sometimes revealed a problematic gap
between the emotional involvement and complicity of the children
and many of their teachers. As many of them attend
Eersteklasconcerten each year, these attitudes are gradually changing
towards more openness. Their willingness to leave the children in our
teachers’ hands is loosening. More of them start really being part of the
same adventure.

Despite the shared aspect of the event, for many children it even
happens to be a unique experience on the personal level as well. Last
edition resulted in a child saying: “I get tears in my eyes.” And another
one: “I want to stay here.”

98
Children as actors in a contextual whole
In Eersteklasconcerten not just each station but the whole journey is
regarded as an artistic creation in its own right. In a way, it’s a
spectacle, but one that avoids the spectacular. It chooses for a
sensitive approach to musical experiences, with sober theatrical
elements in order to enhance this experience. The participants are not
approached as visitors, but as actors that are implicitly directed
towards activities that appropriate them with essential aspects of the
music and its performers.

In the other direction, the interpretation by the performer has lost its
relevance in the traditional sense (Hamel, 2016). The most important
element is how the music is construed in the participant’s momentary
experience, and in the way the performer feels connected with his
audience. In such a context not so much the work of art stays central,
rather its impact and invitation towards reciprocal active involvement.
The musical composition becomes part of a wider whole. Participants
are even not aware about the title of the work they are faced with, nor
about the composer’s name or when and where the work came
about. Such information would have no relevance in the moment, and
- as we all know - would vaporise immediately afterwards (although the
teachers get this information in the form of an information map,
including musical activities and tips for discussion afterwards).

The displacements from one station to the other are mapped out as
part of the journey through the labyrinth. At the same time they are
little moments of transition and relief. Within limits, on these moments
children verbally interact about their experiences and express their
feelings towards each other.

Conclusion
Eersteklasconcerten convincingly shows that, as long as the context is
well thought-out, young children can get really enthusiastic about
music from the past and present, irrespective of its artistic complexity.
They are apt to ‘absorb’ music as a whole experience in a meaningful
way, even without any verbal explanation.

The format challenges the interpreters’, concert organisers’ and

teachers’ view on children’s aptness to ‘understanding music’. It
challenges the idea that children need a methodological approach
from simpleness to complexity.

The format makes us aware of the opposing strategies of children and

adults in dealing with the world. It reveals children’s need for symbolic
play in a context of shared experience and companionship as a basis
for being educated. It illustrates children’s sensitive openness and
aptness for being part of a contextual whole, even without ‘really’

99
understanding every aspect of what is happening. It makes clear that
children can handle musical complexity if adults are willing to adapt
their expectations about what should be learned.

Eersteklasconcerten reminds us about the role that our understanding

of human musicality could, and probably should play in rethinking
education as a way of participation. It reminds us of the often limited
and limiting attitudes of adults towards children as well. It sheds light on
the way of children’s development as the sharing of experiences,
instead of the transfer of prepackaged knowledge.

References
Hamel, M. (ed.) & van Maas, S., van Weelden, D., Luijten, A. (2016). Speelruimte voor
klassieke muziek in de 21ste eeuw. Rotterdam: Codarts.
Strobbe, L. & Van Regenmortel, H. (2010). Klanksporen: Breinvriendelijk musiceren.
Antwerpen/Apeldoorn: Garant Uitgevers.
Strobbe, L. & Van Regenmortel, H. (2012). Music Theory and Musical Practice:
Dichotomy or Entwining. In: Dutch Journal of Music Theory, 2012, Volume 17,
Number 1, 17-28. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
Ross, A. (2007). The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century. New York:
Picador.

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 Part II

Demonstrations and Workshops

101
Story Music

Steve Grocott
Independent
London
[email protected]

Abstract
Sharing stories and music is arguably the primary method we have of passing culture
on to our children. Including stories in our early years music making enriches the
activity immeasurably. This practical workshop is about how to bring the story out in
our songs and how to put music into our stories. The aim of the interactive
demonstration is to explore how storytelling, music making and movement can be
combined and why this is important for children’s development.

There will be songs, story telling and acting out of stories to demonstrate how these
things can be combined. Reference will be made to telling stories without books and
the usefulness or otherwise of props and costumes. The usefulness of having a mental
toolbox of basic story elements and structures will be discussed with reference to
creating stories with groups of children. There will be discussion of whether some
stories are better than others.

I will argue that more attention needs to be given to story elements in music making
and to using the power of music to provide children with a repertoire of stories. This
has implications for teacher training and practitioner in service training. Reference will
be made to relevant recent research (Haven, 2007) demonstrating that presenting all
sorts of information, concepts and wider understandings in a story format significantly
improves its effectiveness.

Key words
Stories for all, early years music making, songs, repertoire, teacher training

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Icelandic playsongs and nursery rhymes

Helga Rut Gudmundsdottir

University of Iceland, School of Education.
Reykjavik, Iceland
[email protected]

Abstract
In this workshop demonstration a few Icelandic playsongs and nursery rhymes will be
introduced. Some are unique old traditionals that have been passed down for
generations in Iceland but others have been borrowed from foreign sources and
readapted in an original way into Icelandic children’s culture. The songs and games
presented here have all been used for years in popular courses for parents and
infants in Reykjavik, Iceland. Participants will learn simple chants, songs and games
that are suitable for music classes with 0-5-year-old children. Instructional material will
be available, including recorded music.

Keywords
Icelandic folk music, early childhood music courses, playsongs, nursery rhymes,
musical activities

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“BebéPlimPlim”: A contribution to shared listening
experiences

Ana Isabel Pereira

CESEM- FCSH/NOVA University
Lisbon, Portugal
[email protected]

Helena Rodrigues
Musical Sciences Department, CESEM- FCSH/NOVA University
Companhia de Música Teatral
Lisbon, Portugal

Paulo Ferreira Rodrigues

DELCA, Escola Superior de Educação de Lisboa/IPL
Lisbon, Portugal

Paulo Maria Rodrigues

DeCA Department, INET-MD/University of Aveiro
Companhia de Música Teatral
Aveiro, Portugal

Abstract
“BebéPlimPlim” is currently a part of the project “GermInArte – Artistic Transformation
for Social and Human Development since Infancy”, supported by Calouste
Gulbenkian Foundation. Along with three other works from the project (“Colos de
Música”, “Raps&Rimas” and “Super-Sonics”), it is designed as a transformative
transitive training in the field of arts for infants for early childhood professionals,
musicians and other artists. Transformative because it is built upon individual needs
and motivations, shaping the capacity to express the art within each one and
transitive because it is always in process. Its main idea evolves around singing and
movement as being born in the mother’s lap, the cradle of the first communicative
interactions of a human being. “BebéPlimPlim” is therefore grounded in the concept
of communicative musicality developed by Stephen Malloch and Colwyn Trevarthen,
highlighting that Music is part of our communication matrix and it can also be present
in musical artistic creations. The repertoire from “BebéPlimPlim” is inspired by different
sound landscapes, from Johann Sebastian Bach, Meredith Monk, Kurt Schwiters and
Hugo Balla to Portuguese folk music and Javanese gamelan. Its wide-ranging
influences intend to contribute to the enrichment of listening experiences since
infancy.
The main goals of this training are to explore communicative resources using the
body and the voice, to be able to use the repertoire in different educational settings,
to share meaningful moments of musical interaction, and to contact with
professionals who work in different early childhood contexts.
The demonstration aims to share one possible experience built upon this specific
musical repertoire. The activities are centred in listening, movement, vocal
landscapes and human interaction.
The implications for this work are to offer complementary educational and artistic
perspectives not yet provided in our higher education training programmes for
teachers and artists, and to develop processes of autonomy, initiative and reflection
within the context of musical creation for children.
This work emphasises listening as a different possibility of connecting to music, and
draws attention to sharing listening experiences as the basis of being human.

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Keywords
Communicative musicality, listening, movement, vocal landscape, human
interaction.

Introduction
Colwyn Trevarthen, the mentor of the GermInArte project wrote (cited
in CMT, 2016a):
Since BebéBabá, the work of the Companhia de Música Teatral
(Theatrical Music Company) has celebrated the pleasure of
musical communication between parents and children,
promoting a philosophy of education in which families play a
fundamental role in encouraging children's creativity and
learning. Its work has been a source of inspiration for my research
into communicative musicality and its educational application.
Now, GermInArte also presents a training ground for young
artists, educators, musicians and researchers in psychology and
education (…).
The project GermInArte – Artistic Transformation for Human and Social
Development since Childhood is an artistic and educational project,
whose goals consist of conceiving quality training practices, as well as
qualifying professionals within the scope of social and human
development since early childhood (CMT, 2016b).
From the beginning, this project’s title aims to transmit its distinctive
philosophy. Therefore, the concept “GermInArte” leads us to each
person’s unique interaction and communicative capacity in an artistic
context. On the other hand, the concept “Transformation” is a
paraphrase for this same idea: the need for a training that is built upon
individual characteristics and motivations. Furthermore, this
qualification will be shaped in a rather personal way, avoiding an
impersonal training, and becoming a unique and singular qualification.

The prefix “Trans” intends to call upon a transversal and a cross-

curricular qualification: an authentic plural one. It also conveys an idea
of a transitory and evolutional training, a continuous process: training
instead of formatting. The concept of “artistic transformation” aims to
transmit the idea that art can be used as a human and social
development tool, applied in positive social changes. Therefore, the
artists should reflect upon art’s role and their own existential mission.
Finally, “since childhood” is used to highlight the fact that early
childhood’s care is an important and long-term factor towards the
building of a healthy society, with high quality of life enrichment.
This way, the project is in the forefront of educational and social agents
who share the idea that the artistic process fosters a transformative
capacity. This capacity will later reflect on social and human
development. The designation “social and educational agents”
embodies a systemic perspective, encompassing/involving parents,

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carers, families, professionals, older children or any other social
member, whose action may reverberate directly or indirectly, over
childhood. In other words, qualifying early childhood professionals (who
work with children aged between zero and three years old) will be
developed together with the idea that education and childhood’s
care ought to be shared by caring communities. This project is not
merely about acting with those involved directly with children, but also
to offer them searching and reflection paths, valuable references and
ideals.

The book Manual Para a Construção de Jardins Interiores (Handbook

for the construction of inner gardens) rises from this context. It consists
of a set of publications – “BebéPlimPlim”, “Colos de Música”,
“Raps&Rimas”, “Super-Sonics” - and presents a diversified set of
materials. These materials were designed to inspire and develop
activities with babies and children. It is an educational puzzle that aims
to offer some complementary educational views, which support artistic
intervention during childhood, drawing attention to different
approaches towards music (Rodrigues, Rodrigues, & Rodrigues, 2016a).
The philosophy underlying the compilation of these new and different
materials is precisely the waterfall effect mentioned previously: it is
necessary to reach different intervenients (professional system or family
members, acting directly within early childhood). It is, therefore,
necessary to promote the inner dialogue and reflection of each agent.
The set of publications within the Manual Para a Construção de Jardins
Interiores offers diversified vocabulary, which can be used later in order
to access and build one’s own “inner garden”.

This set of materials is one of the outputs of the preceding project Opus
Tutti, reflecting the view adopted within its scope: the creation of good
practices of intervention in the community directed to childhood and
early childhood (Rodrigues, Rodrigues, & Rodrigues, 2016b). Thus, it is
characterized by a systemic approach: intervening in early childhood
implies reaching several related elements. Therefore, it also aims to
offer some clues about how to work with different artistic approaches
(mainly through music issues) with diversified groups of people.
“Bebé PlimPlim” is a musical “gramelot” – a kind of new language build
on baby’s sounds and other elements that express some vocal
communication. It is an attempt to establish contact through a
universal repertoire, basis for the entire communication process. It is a
work inspired by several sound universes – from Johann Sebastian
Bach, Meredith Monk, Kurt Schwiters, Hugo Balla, as well as the
traditional Javanese gamelan. It is built upon musical experiences
across generations and it aims to rouse babies’, children and adults’
interest on “sharing listening” moments. On the other hand, the musical
content within this CD may inspire singing, movement and playing
activities (Rodrigues, 2016). It also offers some material and allows

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carers to create educational activities, just like any other artistic work of
art.
Unlike “Colos de Música” or “Super-Sonics”, that present concrete
strategies about how to do, the idea of including the CD “Bebé
PlimPlim” offers the possibility to “listen”. It also highlights the specific
artistic creations for infants, promoting an extended reflection and
debate on its ground principles.

Listening as vehicle for musical expression

Listening as an active process is a way to express ourselves as innate
musical beings. This statement may sound somewhat odd, because we
usually relate “being a musician” to composition, instrument playing or
reading scores activities. In our opinion, it is something more extended:
it is, mainly, the capacity to respond to sound. Therefore, it is important
to promote listening as a path to connect with music throughout our
lives.

Children enjoy and need routines and rituals, whether in a family

context or in a pre-school environment. These routines help establishing
the comfort of the child’s daily life. They can even acquire a special
meaning, when integrating some known child’s games. For example,
using a lullaby or a simple musical activity when washing their hands,
may turn into a magical moment, that the child will wait for
enthusiastically. On the other hand, special events – like attending an
artistic presentation or getting involved with a group of parents that
create music with their children – bring a new brightness to everyday
life. These are special moments that bring joy and union to a certain
community.
This is our perspective on aesthetic experiences: powerful rituals that
can be enjoyed with our beloved ones. And it is not mandatory that
these experiences come from the outside. They can happen at home,
in the nursery or pre-school, when creating special days for a collective
listening, eventually by closing their eyes, holding their hands, skin with
skin. The musical listening experience, shared with other babies and
adults, offers a kind of silent dialogue: thus, we may not know what the
other is feeling, but we do know that, as ourselves, he/she is feeling
something. It is the ultimate characteristic of human kind: being
unique, as well as sharing each other’s company.

Aims
“BebéPlimPlim” is a training based on the publication Manual para a
Construção de Jardins Interiores – BebéPlimPlim (book and CD). Its
main principle is built on communicative musicality. It aims to enrich
the listening experiences, offering a suitable musical repertoire for
childhood. It also promotes listening through a set of sound references,
developed as early as birth, thus enriching a child’s musical
experiences throughout infancy.

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The main goals of this training are to explore communicative resources
using the body and the voice; to be able to use the repertoire in
different educational settings; to share meaningful musical interaction
moments and to contact with professionals, who work in different early
childhood contexts.

Description of the activities

The demonstration aims to share one possible experience built upon
this specific musical repertoire. The activities are centred in listening,
movement, vocal landscapes and human interaction.
The selected piece for this presentation is called “Knong”. The
participants will experience straight and curved movements, by
moving and going around paper sheets lying on the ground. These
movements will be alternated by freezing positions. The participants will
carry these paper sheets on their hands, thus exploring personal and
shared space. The paper sheets will also be carried by other body
parts, such as back, shoulders and forearms. When passing them over,
the human sculptures will arise. Firstly, without physical contact and
slowly developing into movements with physical contact. This sculpture
will be built using different perspectives and searching for variety. This
exercise will carry on until all the participants join the sculpture.
Afterwards, the participants will slowly unfreeze from their positions and
will listen to the track (this time, without movement). They will conclude
that the melody in the bass was developed according to a certain
rule. After explaining that rule, the participants will move around again
to the sound of the musical sequence.

Implications
Even though we experience a growing interest in this artistic area in
early childhood, there are still no suitable answers in the higher
education system for educators and artists. A training with these
specific characteristics implies an entire set of reflection activities and
experiences that the Portuguese high education is still not ready to
promote and develop. Furthermore, this area of teacher training is
quite recent, thus requiring serious organizational processes and a
deep reflection. It will take some time before we can observe a solid
establishment in teaching training institutions.
We believe that offering meaningful reflection experiences is the best
contribution for the development of this teaching context. Knowing
about the topic is not enough, because it does not necessarily imply
acting. That is the reason why we have been using the expression
immersive training, that combines artistic, educational and relationship
skills acquisition. This process will be built within real work settings and
through different challenges. The training is thus experiential, offering
different sensations, emotions and learning opportunities (in a sense of
an embodied cognition or embodied feeling).

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We also believe in an artistic training that values different experiences
related to voice, movement, listening, creation and emotions. These
factors are combined towards a specific artistic goal – for example
developing and presenting a performance together with families and
their babies – shared with artists. This idea is related to an isomorphic
training, which tends to reproduce mainly the learning environments
and models experienced during the teacher training, instead of
theoretical learning achievements.

Early childhood crosses multiple acting settings (social and educational

care, health, law, culture, family). It is therefore necessary, to prepare
the professionals with a certain versatility that can able them to
dialogue in all these different settings. This training goes beyond a
specialized knowledge. The professionals will be able to use artistic
activities, in order to reach a final goal, which is promoting the general
well-being of the baby or the child, through a shared dialogue with
other carers.

Specific value and meaning

This work emphasizes listening as an alternative path to connect with
music, drawing attention to shared listening activities as the basis of
being human. GemInArte offers a professional training practice that
tries to qualify not only pre-school teachers, but also other
professionals, within different settings, related to early childhood. Like a
training puzzle, this project aims to prepare educational agents and
foster the sharing of experiences among different carers.
We believe that it is very important to establish strong relationships
between children and carers. We also believe that playing, thus
exploring the senses and the body, is the foundation for all future
learning achievements. We are also aware that becoming a good
“player” requires from the professional, a skilled training along with a
set of positive experiences within this scope. But, it is not enough. It is
also necessary to foster inner availability. A good training practice
should guide the trainees through that same searching process –
finding their generosity and inner harmony, meaning and personal
fulfillment. These feelings ought to be transmitted over to the children,
characterizing everyone that works with childhood. In conclusion,
training childhood professionals implies appreciating and valuing
human emotions and relationships: we do not need technicians, but
people who are truly dedicated to infancy and are willing to improve
and enrich their “presence”.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This project was developed in the framework of Companhia de Música Teatral in
cooperation with Lamci (Laboratory of Música and Communication in
Infancy)/CESEM (Sociology and Musical Aesthetics Research Center) and financial

109
support of Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. The authors would like to thank Andreia
Soares for her review of this paper.

References
Companhia de Música Teatral [CMT]. (2016a). Retrieved from
http://www.musicateatral.com/germinarte/
Companhia de Música Teatral (Producer) [CMT]. (2016b). Short-term training on art
for infancy based on Manual para a Construção de Jardins Interiores –
BebéPlimPlim publication. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/192923766
Rodrigues, H. (2016). BebéPlimPlim [CD]. In H. Rodrigues, P. F. Rodrigues, & P. M .
Rodrigues (Eds.), Manual para a Construção de Jardins Interiores –
BebéPlimPlim. Lisboa: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.
Rodrigues, H., Rodrigues, P. F., & Rodrigues, P. M. (2016a). Manual para a Construção
de Jardins Interiores – BebéPlimPlim. Lisboa: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.
Rodrigues, H., Rodrigues, P. F., & Rodrigues, P. M. (Eds.). (2016b). Ecos de Opus Tutti –
Arte para a Infância e Desenvolvimento Social e Humano. Lisboa: Fundação
Calouste Gulbenkian.

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Early Ears: Findings from an innovative music technology with
young children project

Paul Weston
Laboratory Media Education
Norwich, Norfolk, England
[email protected]

Abstract
The Early Ears project was a two-year Youth Music funded partnership between
Laboratory Media Education, Future Projects and The School of Applied Social
Sciences, University Campus Suffolk (UCS) led by Dr Wendy Lecluyse. The settings
were in Great Yarmouth and Norwich, UK and the children were aged 3-4yrs. The
methodology adopted for the assessment of the project was IMTAP (Individualized
Music Therapy Assessment Profile)

By exploring cutting edge music-making technology and techniques, integrated with

music therapy, we aimed to establish a new approach to improving the musical and
wider development of children under the age of five years in challenging
circumstances, by virtue of deprivation or social/economic disadvantage.

In this Workshop, participants will have the opportunity to experience new and
unique methods to delivery and monitoring that can be enjoyed with technology.
We will show how working through non-directive relationships encourages
‘communicative musicality’. This hands-on session will leave participants with the
confidence to use technology immediately and effectively in their settings.
This will be supported with film evidence of the impact of the technology used in
settings.
The session will also include opportunities for exploration and discussion of the
activities.

In the workshop we will present findings from the project in relation to where we
started from with use of technology, how it developed and how it affected our
delivery. We will also explore the relationship between data collection and reflective
practice. We will outline findings related to the opportunities and barriers that
technology brings, the use of technology to develop enabling environments and free
play.

The main areas of learning from the project that we would like to share are related to
accessibility, engagement, using music tech as an approach, monitoring, positive
relationships and ‘enabling environments’. We have new information to share in
connection with how using music technology can benefit language development.
The project has pioneered the use of non-directive relationships and the effect this
has on children’s engagement. We will also share the impact of working with a music
therapist in the team.

Keywords
Music technology, methods of assessment

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Spoken Papers

Part III

Research Papers

112
Communicative musicality: Exploring parent-child musical
relationships through toddler crib songs

Claudia Calì
Brooklyn College Conservatory
of Music, New York, USA
[email protected]

Meryl Sole
The University of New Haven West, Haven, CT
USA

Abstract
During infancy, parents and babies are drawn closer by their shared musicality that
enables them to converse emotionally and share meaningful time together, thus
generating and participating in what Trevarthen and Malloch define as
“communicative musicality” (2009). Their interactions are often reflected in
toddlers’ private "crib songs" (Sole, 2014). Previous research (Sole, 2016) has shown
the pulse, quality and narrative (Malloch, 1999) of such vocalizations, as if the
interactive moments of daily musical engagement continue to be re-lived privately
at bedtime. Through spontaneous pre-sleep vocalizations, some toddlers (18-36
months old) reflected and made sense of meaningful moments of musical
communication shared with their parents during the day. More recently, Calì (2015)
expanded the view, applying redefined parameters of Communicative musicality
to parent-child relationships. In her study on families, she examined parent and child
relationships, through an analysis of the frequency, strength, duration and impact of
each musical interaction (Collins & Madsen, 2003) as reported by family members.

In the current study, the redefined parameters of pulse intensity and form, were used
to investigate parent-child relationships of three toddlers as emerging from family
interviews, journaling of daily musical experiences and the analysis of audio
recording of the toddlers’ bedtime singing. Preliminary results indicate that parent
and child are both active agents in shaping their relationship, and suggest a strong
bi-directional influence (Kuczynski, 2003) of which parents are often unaware. Music
shared between adult and child during the daytime feeds toddlers’ musical
exploration and reflection at night. In turn, such awareness influences adults,
increasing and expanding daytime musical sharing with toddlers.

Keywords
Communicative musicality, toddlers, crib songs, musical relationships, bonding

113
The effects of a collaborative approach on reflection among
a group of early childhood music practitioners

Barbara Cavanagh
Early childhood music practitioner/researcher
Freelance
[email protected]

Abstract
The field of early childhood music education is characterised by a diverse pool of
practitioners with a myriad of skills, knowledge and experience. Many work on a
freelance, independent basis with little or no opportunity to share and discuss their
work. In the 21st Century, reflection is considered to be a necessary part of personal
and professional development.

The main purpose of the qualitative study was to look at whether collaboration, a
coming together to share and discuss experiences, can help practitioners reflect on
their practice. The study reported on a three month action research project whereby
a focus group of five local early childhood (music) practitioners was established. The
group met 3 times and it used these occasions to discuss issues relevant to members
of the group. Journals were also kept by members of the group in between
meetings. The study investigated how members of the focus group used these
opportunities to reflect on their practice and how such an environment may have
become the catalyst for further reflection.

A postmodern methodology and constructivist lens were used, providing a

framework which allowed participants to become actively involved co-researchers.
The methods used to gather data – semi-structured interviews, focus groups and
journals - were congruent with this framework and allowed the different viewpoints of
the participants to be recognised. Data, collected over three cycles of discussion
and reflection, were analysed on an on-going basis.

The study found that collaborative discussions enabled points of focus to emerge for
further reflection. These were specific to individual participants, depending on their
needs and stage of development. Perspectives were broadened, allowing
participants to begin to think about their practice in a different way. Discussion and
reflection led to more awareness among participants of their individual
developmental needs. The small-scale localised opportunity for development that
this project offered was seen to be pertinent to how adults learn and was relevant to
their everyday practice. Establishing local groups could then feed into regional or
national CPD days, which could tailor their programmes to suit the needs of the
participants.

Keywords
Reflection, development, action research

Introduction
The field of early childhood music is a varied and diverse sector, with
no regulation (Young,2007). Practitioners themselves come from all
walks of life – musicians, parents, teachers; the places they practise
range from private nurseries to school settings, children’s centres to
privately run groups. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience
within the sector, but most of it is not shared because of the inherent

114
way early childhood music is practised, namely in an isolated way.
Being an early childhood music practitioner can be a lonely profession
with little or no opportunity to discuss and share ideas.
In today’s workplace, professional and personal development are
considered an essential and expected part of all professions (Moon,
2004), including early childhood music education. However, as
practitioners working in isolation, what form does that professional and
personal development take? How can practitioners develop
themselves? Reflection is one means by which practitioners can
develop their thinking and their practice. It is recognised as a valuable
way for professionals to generate thinking in order to improve practice
(Brock, 2015). Brock (ibid.) comments that ‘reflection and reflective
practice are core values of professionals and have a key role in
professional learning’ (pg.7). For the freelance early childhood music
practitioner, however, reflection may not come easily, as ‘the
autonomy bred by isolation’ (Stanley, 2011 pg 73) is comfortable and
reassuring. However, the feeling of isolation felt by so many lone
practitioners is not comfortable or reassuring. Having the opportunity to
come together to share discuss thoughts, ideas and feelings with like-
minded people in a safe and caring environment may be a way to
overcome the sense of isolation without compromising one’s
autonomy. Sharing is not a compromise for autonomy. In fact, it may
help to build a sense of agency and may be a way to help overcome
the barriers to reflection and collaboration which are sometimes
prevalent in this area of education. It may lead to an enhancing and
broadening of self-awareness, with the possibility of bringing about
changes to practice, through an increase in one’s knowledge base. It
may also result in different ways of thinking, thus arriving at a better
understanding of teaching and stimulating improvements.
Professional development also occurs through more formal means,
such as conferences. They are a good means of disseminating current
information and are useful for networking and connecting people.
They may also have an impact in creating a sense of renewed energy
and enthusiasm among practitioners. But in reality, how effective are
they? Do they provide real possibilities for practitioners to develop and
reflect on their practice in the long term? Is the content relevant to
practitioners and their daily work? For how long do practitioners feel re-
energised and enthused?
This paper will report on an action research project undertaken as part
of an MA in Early Childhood Music Education, which sought to provide
the benefits of development at a local level, in a way that was
relevant to the participants with a view to helping them reflect on their
practice.

Background and Aims

As a practitioner and researcher, I am interested in how these two
areas can be more connected. My studies afforded me the

115
opportunity to reflect on my practice by becoming a researcher,
studying my own work and looking at ways of developing and
improving it (Craft & Paige-Smith, 2011). Students on the course came
together through a series of face-to-face days, as a learning
community, to further knowledge. We would reconnect as a
community, sharing and discussing ideas and thoughts, problems and
joys, with a view to supporting each other and stimulating alternative
views. Discussions emerged from a theoretical standpoint, but always
relating to lived through experiences and it was these real life
experiences which bonded the group as we discovered how common
certain themes and issues were. The process helped me to reflect more
deeply on my practice and encouraged a broadening of
perspectives. As my course came to an end, I wondered if it would be
possible to recreate this environment closer to home. However,
although my own experience of accepting the need for change had
been positive, I questioned whether others would be willing to take that
first step. Would it be possible for a group to be established? Would
practitioners want to share their practice? Would they feel threatened
by sharing ideas? Also, once I embarked on my own journey, I had
negative as well as positive feelings. I felt vulnerable because of
questioning what I thought I knew. Would others be willing to commit to
starting their own journey if it meant possibly having negative feelings?
Through my own reflections and from my own experience, I have
come to believe that collaboration is an extremely powerful way of
creating a mutually beneficial environment where meaningful
knowledge can be co-constructed, leading to professional and
personal development. The purpose then of the study was to establish
a focus group of local early childhood (music) practitioners to meet
regularly, providing an environment which could become the catalyst
for reflection.
Communities of practice (Wenger, 1998), a framework for exploring
learning in social circumstances, provides an opportunity for the link
between theory and practice to be explored. They enable people with
different experiences and levels of knowledge to come together to
share, support and acknowledge each other’s skill set, thus validating
and affirming one’s beliefs, and also moving people forward in their
thinking. They offer an opportunity for participants to be socially active
within a group, sharing and reflecting on their experiences in order to
make them more meaningful and valued. This interactive learning
environment creates and sustains a shared view of the world relevant
to all participants. Communities of practice (CoP) are groups of people
who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn
how to do it better as they interact regularly. They are a means for the
social generation of knowledge, not necessarily to reach a general
consensus, but to provide a supportive environment where mutual
learning enables knowledge to be increased. This sharing of

116
experiences and real-life scenarios is also consistent with the way adults
prefer to learn.
The study looked at how practitioners used a series of opportunities for
discussion to reflect on their practice, promoting debate as well as
critical thinking. It explored reflective practice in terms of the qualities
of depth and thoughtfulness necessary for it to be significantly
effective. However, reflection is not easy and the depths of one’s
reflections depends on what stage of development has been
reached. It is a process which involves among other things, a
combination of critical thinking - theory based understanding of a
topic - and critical reflection - practice based implementation of that
understanding. It requires asking questions of ourselves and our beliefs,
being able to see outside the box and to see the bigger picture. It is a
long and emotional journey, which can often lead to negative feelings
of inadequacy and inner conflict when practitioners start to question
and challenge what they are doing and why they are doing it?
Wackerhausen (2009) refers to this as ‘second order reflection’ (pg
466), which takes practitioners to foreign territories, where they
experience alien concepts and unfamiliar perspectives. It develops
into an abstract conceptualization of their experience, where they
become uncertain of their role, their practice, which may be hard to
accept and hard to define. It brings into play the question of
balancing theory and practice. However, by moving through these
phases of questioning and doubt, practitioners may come out stronger
and reconciled to new ways of practice. Learning is enhanced and a
feeling of empowerment and increased self-confidence may be
found. Paige-Smith and Craft (2011) remind us that reflection is a long,
difficult and seemingly never-ending journey.

Method
The research was carried out using an action research approach. This
method encapsulated the philosophical basis of the research, namely
a postmodern, interpretivist perspective within a social constructionist
paradigm, and allowed for contextualised analysis. Action research is
concerned with linking theory and practice in a way that is
commensurate with communities of practice (Wenger, 1998). It is of the
people and for the people with the primary aim of expanding
knowledge which can then be used to enhance practice. The main
characteristic of action research is that it is participatory, where
interaction and reflection may help to shape thoughts and deeds.
Action research is a cyclical process which goes through the phases of
doing and reflecting, leading to more doing and more reflection in a
progressive way.
The design of the project allowed for participation and collaboration,
as well as reflection, within the cyclical process. The methods needed
to be appropriate for the type of project, concerned as it is with
allowing different perspectives and voices to be heard in an attempt

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to provide a meaningful learning experience for all involved. Therefore,
a focus group was established giving participants the opportunity to
discuss their viewpoints (the doing) and journals were offered as a
means of thinking about the discussions within the focus group (the
reflection). The cycles happened three times. Initial one-to-one
interviews were also carried out prior to the focus groups.
Figure 1 provides a pictorial description of the process used.

The semi-structured interview allowed for flexible responses and

enabled participants to determine their own context, thereby
engaging them in the process as active participants.
Using a focus group as a method of collecting data was pertinent to
this study and its fundamental philosophy as it is a tool which allows
participants, as active listeners and critical friends, to share and
experience a deeper understanding of local and contextualised
practice (Gruenhagen, 2007). It promotes an equitable participative
openness, which enables ideas, thoughts and feelings to be aired in a
safe environment. It is also consistent with the type of situated learning
context which appeals to adult learners and which is prevalent in
communities of practice (Wenger, 1998). It is a way to challenge one’s
thoughts which may lead to a reconceptualization of knowledge. By

118
doing this it may be possible to open up new ways of thinking, new
perspectives and to broaden perceptions, to socially construct
learning through an active, relevant and experience-led process
(Gruenhagen, 2007). The aim of the focus group for this project was not
to reach a consensus (Liamputtong, 2011) of what early childhood
music education looks like, but to share and recognise the diversity
and complexity inherent in personal experience, offering support and
scaffolding, with a view to making practitioners more expert in their
field.
Areas which were important to the members of the group needed to
be acknowledged and addressed for the focus groups to be an
effective tool to engage in reflective dialogue. By not setting an
agenda, the focus groups allowed participants to express their views
freely and allowed for a reciprocal sharing necessary for the
generation of knowledge in an adult environment (Merriam, 2008;
Taylor, 2010). Through open discussion and the unstructured nature of
the focus group, perspectives were questioned, challenged and
broadened.
The purpose of the journal for this study was to enable participants to
reflect on what had been discussed during the focus groups and to try
to equate what had been discussed with their practice.

Findings
The initial semi-structured interviews generated an overarching theme
of diversity and its prevalence within the sector - diversity of ways into
the field of early childhood music, diversity of knowledge and skills,
diversity of types of settings and sessions and diversity of reasons for
participating in the project.
The combined knowledge, expertise and wisdom which participants
brought to the focus group, based as they were on real life
experiences, helped to shape the discussions and helped to move
participants forward in their reflecting. The discussions ranged from
general practical issues, pertinent to all the participants – for example,
staff/parents not joining in – to thoughts on perceptions – how we see
ourselves and how others see us – to more specific individual
developmental needs – how to reflect more, needing to take more
risks. Participants were able to process negative feelings and expand
their self-perceptions and perceptions of others. For example, feelings
about staff not joining in evolved during the groups as we began to
question why they were not joining in and how we could make it easier
for them to do so. The diversity within the group enabled participants to
begin to think about issues from different perspectives, leading to a
broadening of perceptions. It enabled participants to begin to
recognise areas of development and to support each others’ needs
(Gruenhagen, 2007 ), such as taking more risks, admitting our
limitations, learning more repertoire. The collaborative discussions then

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acted as a catalyst for participants to reflect further on their thinking
about possible developmental needs.
The journals showed that participants reflected on discussions in
between each group meeting. For example, one of the participants
brought up the notion of whether they considered themselves an
educator or an entertainer. After discussing the issue within the group
and then reflecting on it via the journal, the participant was able to
accept and be happy with how they saw themselves. Participants
were starting to think about their specific needs – next steps, how to
relieve boredom, needing to read/learn more about the subject,
acknowledging that reflection may mean change.
The interaction of the focus groups, followed by personal reflections,
offered a meaningful route to self-discovery and assisted the feeling of
autonomy rather than hindered it (Stanley, 2007). This active reflection
enabled participants to begin to draw on the collective experiences of
the group to ‘revise, modify and refine their expertise’ (Finlay, 2008, pg
4). This showed how real life knowledge and practice reflects the
values and needs of the learners, allowing participants to deconstruct
and reconstruct knowledge (Hansman & Wilson, 2002).
The participants used the focus groups as an opportunity to share
ideas, to reassure each other, to process thoughts and ideas. The
discussions helped to validate current practice as well as beginning to
look at ways to improve practice. Discussions also helped to enhance
participants’ sense of value. This reassurance led to a feeling of
empowerment and growing confidence, which in turn led to a
broadening of outlooks. Participants used the diversity of the group to
focus their thoughts, helping the reflective process. Perspectives were
broadened, needs were identified and problems aired, with
consensual solutions being offered as part of the democratic learning
process.
It is interesting to note how fewer entries were made in the journals
after the last focus group, indicating that the focus group was a
necessary part of, and the motivation for, the reflection process.

Conclusions
The diversity of experience and knowledge, highlighted during the
interviews, played a part in contextualising the reasons participants
gave for participating. These components lend weight to the thoughts
of Merriam (2008) that historical and sociocultural contexts should be
taken into account in an adult learning environment. They also add to
the argument that large scale conferences are not necessarily the
optimum route to help practitioners to develop, as they are too
general and not specific enough for the needs of individuals (Feiman-
Nemser, 2001). At a local level, the diversity of knowledge and
experiences, together with an acknowledgement of those as being
valid and meaningful, led to an enrichment of knowledge and
perceptions. Through the sharing of experiences, through an

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acceptance of different perspectives, through empathy towards each
other, participants were able to reflect on their own personal needs
and their next stages of development. They were able to expand their
horizons looking at issues from a different perspective and started to
look at the bigger picture and to think more deeply about their
practice. Whether this reflection is of a practical nature or of a
theoretical nature, depending on individual stages of development,
the fact that a collaborative approach has enabled participants to
focus on and highlight these needs shows it to be beneficial. It also
helps to relieve feelings of isolation and as such participants have
agreed to continue meeting even though the project has come to an
end. Participants have also been to see each other’s work, which has
offered another opportunity for new ways of thinking about our
practice. This could potentially lead to an acknowledgement of what
best practice might look like. By continuing to share ideas and observe
each other’s work a collaborative approach to practice and reflection
on practice is beginning to emerge, in a way which links research and
practice.

This type of action research project could also be used between early
years practitioners and the visiting musician to help build better
relationships between the different parties, including parents, involved
in children’s education. Having time to reflect on events is a powerful
means of coming to a shared understanding and could lead to a more
integrated and relevant music education for young children.

References
Brock, A. (2015). What is Reflection and Reflective Practice? In A. Brock (Ed.), The Early
Years Reflective Practice Handbook (pp 7- 21). Abingdon: Routledge.
Craft, A., & Paige-Smith, A. (2011). Developing Reflective Practice in the Early Years (2nd
ed.). Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Feiman-Nemser, S. (2001). From Preparation to Practice: Designing a Continuum to
Strengthen and Sustain Teaching. In Teachers College Record Vol 103 (no 6) pp
1013-1055.
Finlay, L. (2008). Reflecting on ‘reflective practice’. A discussion paper prepared for
Practice-based Professional Learning Centre (PBPL CETL). The Open University,
52, 1-27.
Gruenhagen, L.M. (2007). Investigating Professional Development: Early Childhood
Music Teacher Learning in a Community of Practice. Ph.D. Thesis. University of
Rochester,
NewYork.(https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&q=lisa+gruenhagen&bt
nG=&as_sdtCas_sdtp
Hansman, C., & Wilson, Arthur, L. (2002). Situated Cognition: Knowledge and Power in
Context. In J. M. Pettitt (Ed.), Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Adult Education
Research Conference (pp. 141-146). Raleigh: North Carolina State University.
Liamputtong, P. (2011). Focus Group Methodology: Introduction and History. In P.
Liamputtong (Ed.), Focus Group Methodology: Principles and Practice (pp 1–
14). London: Sage Publications.

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Merriam, S. (2008). Adult Learning Theory for the Twenty-First Century. In S. Merriam (Ed.),
Third Update on Adult Learning Theory. New Directions For Adult and
Continuing Education Vol 119 pp 93-98. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Moon, J. (2004). A Handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning: Theory and
Practice. London: Routledge.
Stanley, A-M. (2011). Professional Development within Collaborative Teacher Study
Groups: Pitfalls and Promises. In Arts Education Policy Review Vol 112 (no 2) pp
71-78.
Wackerhausen, S. (2009). Collaboration, Professional Identity and Reflection Across
Boundaries. In Journal of Interprofessional Care Vol 23 (no 5) pp 455-473.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice. Learning, Meaning, and Identity. New
York: Cambridge University Press. Alpha
Young, S. (2007) Early Childhood Music Education in England: Changes, Choices and
Challenges. In Arts Education Policy Review Vol 109 (no 2) pp 19-26.

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Toward a comprehensive, creative and culturally responsive
early childhood music curriculum in Hong Kong

Lily Chen-Hafteck
The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California, USA
[email protected]

Abstract
This paper reports on an action research project that aimed to develop a
comprehensive, creative and culturally responsive early childhood music curriculum
that is appropriate to the Hong Kong context. Ten teachers in three preschools in
Hong Kong participated. Pre- and post-project surveys were administered to teachers
and principals. A total of 8 visits to each participating teacher was arranged when
lessons were video-recorded and observations on the teaching strategies and
student responses were noted. A post-observation meeting with an individual teacher
after each lesson was conducted to critically reflect on the teaching and learning
processes and to develop an action plan.

Preliminary findings on data include: (1) The Hong Kong culture is a special one that
combines Chinese and Western ideologies. Deep inside, teachers possess a lot of the
traditional Chinese values. However, they are keen to learn from other cultures,
appreciating and wanting to bring in foreign ideas to advance their education. (2)
Prior to the study, teachers believed that they had been integrating their curriculum.
However, the level of integration was superficial. During the study, they discovered
that a comprehensive curriculum is one that integrates the various learning areas
which are of equal importance. Music is not used as a tool to learn other areas, but a
part of a holistic learning experience. (3) Teachers learned the art of music teaching.
Music is one of the creative arts and it is of utmost importance that music activities
can provide opportunities for students to express their creativity. Music activities need
to allow students to experience musical elements, emotions and feelings. Since music
tends to excite students, teachers found the need to develop strong classroom
management skills appropriate in the music classroom so as to provide students with
an environment that is conducive to learning. (4) The experience of participating in
action research was shown to be helpful to teachers in providing them with an
opportunity to reflect critically and deeply on the teaching and learning processes. It
also increased their confidence and ability to implement a comprehensive
curriculum that includes music in their classrooms.

Keywords
Integrated curriculum, Hong Kong, preschool, action research

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Introduction
The Need for Creative Arts in a Comprehensive Early
Childhood Curriculum
We are currently living in a time of socio-economic and technological
changes that call for new ways of learning and thinking. More than
ever, younger generations need to develop diverse capacities that will
help them face the world’s future demands (Gardner, 2007). Gardner’s
highly influential theory of Multiple Intelligences (Gardner, 1983; 1993;
2006) recognizes that people have different cognitive strengths and
styles. He argues that in American schools, only the linguistic and
logical-mathematical intelligences (two out of eight intelligences) are
emphasized. This does not provide opportunities for human potential to
be developed to its fullest. Integrating the arts in education is an
important means through which we can nurture children into well-
rounded, creative individuals.

The significance of arts in school curricula and in student learning has

been stressed by numerous educators (Davies, 2007; Eisner, 2004;
Fowler, 2001; Rabkin, 2004). Teachers need to acknowledge children’s
ability to construct their own understandings about their world and to
express their ideas in original, inventive ways, which can be achieved
through arts-based learning (Isenberg & Jalongo, 2013). Jalongo and
Stamp (1997) found that teaching becomes ‘routine, monotonous, and
spiritless’ when the arts are not included. They contend that arts are
‘an integral part of authentic learning’ that teaches the whole child to
develop socially, creatively, emotionally, intellectually and physically
(p. xvi). An interdisciplinary curriculum connecting the arts and other
subjects can foster students’ relational thinking and make learning
meaningful (Barrett, 2008).

Brain research has demonstrated the significance of early brain

plasticity, concluding that the absence of the particular forms of
cognitive stimulation provided via music and dance can have long-
term adverse consequences for cognitive development (Flohr, Miller &
Debeus, 2000). Young children naturally love the arts, as observed from
their engagement in activities such as drawing, singing, dancing, and
dramatizing. Moreover, the arts have been found to yield numerous
benefits for students: enhancing verbal and nonverbal communication
skills, increasing attention, concentration, motivation, and cognitive
involvement with and comprehension of subject matters (Fowler, 2001).
Thus, besides providing a well-rounded education, a comprehensive
curriculum that integrates the creative arts can also motivate children’s
learning interest and prepare for their success in school.

Promoting an Arts-Based Interdisciplinary Curriculum for

Preschools in the USA

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Throughout my education and teaching career in Hong Kong, I was
told that ‘Western pedagogy’ (i.e. an integrated curriculum, learning
through play, a child-centered approach in which children are active
learners discovering new knowledge rather than being taught
passively) was more advanced than the pedagogy that was practiced
by Hong Kong teachers. But when I emigrated to the USA in 2001, I was
surprised to find that like the schools in Hong Kong, there had been an
over-emphasis on test score achievement in the academic subjects of
language and mathematics, especially at that time with the
introduction of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. Consequently,
teachers have to teach to the test rather than attend to student
learning needs. The focus on tested subjects marginalizes other
subjects in the curriculum (Chapman, 2004, 2007), resulting in an
average decrease in instructional time for art and music in school (CEP,
2008).

I was disappointed that what I learned as ‘advanced Western

pedagogy’ was not practised in American public schools in general.
Therefore, I founded the Educating the Creative Mind Project (Chen-
Hafteck, 2014a; 2014b) to promote arts education and to bring a well-
rounded education to children. The project started with an
international conference in 2010, featuring Professor Howard Gardner
as keynote speaker and bringing together over 500 national and
international educators. It was followed by a year-long professional
development project during 2012-2013, supported by a National
Endowment for the Arts grant. A total of 27 preschool classroom
teachers and 4 school administrators worked together to implement an
arts-based interdisciplinary curriculum into their classrooms. Data
indicated that participating teachers increased their interest and
commitment to the arts, understanding of how to develop integrated
arts experiences for their students, and confidence with using the arts in
their classrooms (Chen-Hafteck, 2013b). (See project website for more
details: www.kean.edu/~creative.)

Developing a Comprehensive, Creative and Culturally

Responsive Early Childhood Curriculum in Hong Kong
As a Hong Kong native, I have an in-depth understanding of its
education system and culture. Even though I no longer live in Hong
Kong, I have continued my research on Hong Kong children. In 2016, I
received a Fulbright research award to conduct a research project in
Hong Kong, expanding and adapting the Educating the Creative Mind
idea on arts-integrated early childhood curriculum to Hong Kong
preschools.

For many years, early childhood education was given a low priority in
Hong Kong. Both the status and salary level for preschool teachers
were comparatively lower than teachers at other levels of education.

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Preschool education was not included in the nine years’ free and
compulsory education until very recently. Preschools are run by private
organizations, with limited government funding. However, with the
major education reform in 2000, early childhood education has been
given a special status for the first time. The vision of enabling students to
attain all-round development through early childhood education is
established. Moreover, arts education has been identified as one of
the eight key learning areas (Curriculum Development Council, 2000;
Education and Manpower Bureau, 2001). In 2003, the government
announced to allocate one-fifth of its annual budget to education, the
largest allocation to any policy priority (Chen, 2007). In 2006, the
government allocated US $8.7 million as a ‘Capacity Enhancement
Grant’ for kindergartens to acquire more teaching resources. The
government also provides ‘education vouchers’ worth up to US $1600
per year for each child aged 3 to 6 starting from 2007 to subsidize
school fees and to be invested in the professional development of
teachers (Education & Manpower Bureau, 2006; HKSAR Government,
2006). It also requires preschools to increase the proportion of qualified
kindergarten teachers employed in their schools in order to qualify for
the government’s subsidy (Chan & Leong, 2007).

In 2006, the ‘Guide to the Pre-primary curriculum’ was issued by the

Curriculum Development Council (CDC, 2006). It introduces
developmentally appropriate practice for young children, emphasizing
learning through play and child-centered approaches. Six learning
areas, including Physical Fitness and Health; Language; Early
Mathematics; Science and Technology; Self and Society; and Arts, are
identified for teachers to ensure a comprehensive and balanced
curriculum. An integrated curriculum across different learning areas is
recommended, allowing teachers greater flexibility in devising learning
and teaching strategies that cater to children’s holistic development in
the cognitive, language, physical, affective, social and aesthetic
aspects.

Despite these policies to reform early childhood education, the results

in local schools have not been satisfactory due to the achievement-
oriented pressure from parents and the competitive education system.
Pearson and Rao (2006) reported a clash between traditional and
contemporary attitudes towards education and an underestimation of
the potential force exerted by the sociocultural beliefs of the Chinese
people. Parents want preschools to emphasize ‘academic’ so that
children can pass the entrance examination for acceptance to
prestigious elementary schools. As a result, children have little music
instruction, as they have to spend a lot of time studying Chinese,
English and Mathematics. They have to learn to read, write and
calculate well above the level that they are ready for (Chan & Chan,
2003; Cheng, 2006). Wong (2003) found that it is stressful for teachers to

126
implement a new curriculum without adequate support from the
school management and parents. The Chinese concept of diligent
study, in which play is regarded as trivial and a possible barrier to
learning in Chinese culture (Liu, 2004; Li, 2001), poses a conceptual
barrier to the implementation of ‘learning through play’ approach in
Hong Kong (West & Chiu, 2007). Furthermore, Li (2003) found that Hong
Kong teachers perceived firm traditional instruction with emphasis on
planning, preparation and external judgment as indicators for good
teaching. Such a teacher-directed approach is in contrast with the
child-centered approach of the reform in which children are given the
freedom in their learning initiatives (Rao, Ng & Pearson, 2010). It is a
great challenge to change the beliefs of what are the qualities of
good teachers and good teaching, which are so deeply-rooted in the
Chinese culture. Therefore, Li, Rao and Tse (2012) suggested that
‘people should adapt rather than adopt those pedagogical
innovations developed in other sociocultural milieu’ (p. 603), and that
perhaps there should be a blend of direct instruction and independent
learning approach.

Another challenge to an arts-integrated curriculum is that although the

new policy recognizes the significance of music in the curriculum,
music in early childhood teacher preparation is still very inadequate. In
Hong Kong, most preschool teachers receive only 20-25 hours of music
classes in their basic teacher education (Chan & Leong, 2006). Even for
teachers who had completed the advanced training, their music
teaching was found to be unsatisfactory (Wong, 2003). Most preschool
teachers reported that they were not confident to teach music and
felt the need for more in-service training (Chan & Leong, 2007). Thus,
professional development in music is needed for these teachers.

In short, this is an exciting time as ‘early childhood education is entering

a very positive era in the history of Hong Kong education’ (Rao & Li,
2009, p. 243). The government is providing full support to ensure a high
quality of early education and care. Research studies in this field have
blossomed, but they are mostly collecting data and reporting on the
current situation and challenges. It is evident that the present need is
for the teachers to receive the support they need to put into practice
those ideals advocated by the education reform. Therefore, the
present project aims to make a difference by improving teaching
practice through an action research method. Providing mentorship in
supporting teachers has shown to be effective (Chen-Hafteck, 2013b;
Tse & Leung, 2010). Thus, my role as the researcher has often included
working with the teachers in the field, serving as mentor who facilitates
teachers’ observations and reflections, guiding them to discover the
teaching approach that is culturally responsive and progressive, that I
hope, will eventually lead to advancement of early childhood
teaching practice in Hong Kong.

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Objectives
The ultimate goal is to develop a comprehensive, creative and
culturally responsive early childhood music curriculum in Hong Kong.
With my support as the researcher, the participating teachers created
and improved on their curriculum design and instructional strategies
that feature an interdisciplinary curriculum – where the educational
goals of both music and other learning areas can be achieved most
effectively through drawing meaningful connections between the
different learning areas in the curriculum, fostering relational thinking
and deepening understanding (Barrett & Veblen, 2012). Hopefully, the
project will serve as a starting point for teachers to understand what it
means to implement an integrated curriculum.

Research Questions
The research questions of the present study are:
1. How are music and other learning areas taught in early childhood
classrooms in Hong Kong? To what extent are the two subjects
integrated?
2. How can teachers shape their curriculum design and instructional
strategies that can integrate music and language learning,
providing a holistic and creative learning experience that is
culturally responsive?
3. To what extent can action research help teachers in increasing their
confidence and ability to implement a comprehensive curriculum,
using a child-centered approach, and including creative arts and
play in their classrooms?

Method
Action research method was used and qualitative data were
collected. Three preschools in different localities (Shatin, Tuen Mun,
Fanling) participated. One teacher from each grade from each school
were the research participants. Pre-project interviews were used to
investigate teachers’ ideas and opinion about integrated curriculum
and to measure the self-perceived level of confidence and ability in
implementing a comprehensive curriculum, using a child-centered
approach, and including creative arts and play in their classrooms.
Then, during three months, eight lessons were observed and post-
observation meetings where teachers discussed with the researchers
about the lessons were conducted. Through the action research cycle
of observing – reflecting – identifying problem – developing action plan
– acting on the plan – back to observing, etc., teachers and
researchers were able to develop more efficient teaching strategies
and lesson plans after each meeting. Finally, there was a post-project
interview that was similar to the pre-project interview, and the data of

128
the two interviews provided a comparison for evaluating the effects of
the project.

Findings
At the time of writing this paper, data analysis is still on-going. Therefore,
this is a report of the preliminary findings of this study.

First, it was found that the Hong Kong culture is a special one that
combines Chinese and Western ideologies. Deep inside, teachers
possess a lot of the traditional Chinese values. However, they are keen
to learn from other cultures, appreciating and wanting to bring in
foreign ideas to advance their education. During the project, they
became aware that any new teaching philosophy and methods need
to be adapted and adjusted according to student learning needs so
that they are suitable to the local Hong Kong children.

Second, prior to the study, teachers believed that they had been
integrating their curriculum. However, the level of integration was
superficial. Most of the time, they thought that by singing a song about
a topic in their classroom, they had already integrated music into the
curriculum. During the study, they discovered that a comprehensive
curriculum is one that integrates the various learning areas which are of
equally importance. Music is not used as a tool to learn other areas,
but a part of a holistic learning experience.

Third, teachers learned the art of music teaching. Music is one of the
creative arts and it is of utmost importance that music activities can
provide opportunities for students to express their creativity. Music
activities need to allow students to experience musical elements,
emotions and feelings. For instance, teachers realized how much more
children can gain from a singing activity when they insisted on
children’s singing with good pitch, rhythm, tone color, and expression.
They discovered children’s diverse creative ideas when they allowed
children the freedom to explore different ways of playing a percussion
instrument instead of giving instructions on one way of playing it.

Furthermore, since music tends to excite students, teachers found the

need to develop strong classroom management skills appropriate in
the music classroom so as to provide students with an environment that
is conducive to learning. They had to work on the balancing act
between teacher-directed and child-centered approaches in their
teaching so as to achieve an effective learning environment in the
classroom that can also provide children with a creative outlet.

Last but not least, the experience of participating in action research

was shown to be helpful to teachers in providing them with an
opportunity to reflect critically and deeply on the teaching and

129
learning processes. It also increased their confidence and ability to
implement a comprehensive curriculum that includes music in their
classrooms.

Conclusion
The overwhelmingly positive responses from the teachers and principals
throughout the project have supported that an arts-based
interdisciplinary curriculum in preschool classroom can motivate
children’s learning and enhance the teaching and learning processes.
Through well-designed lessons integrating music and other learning
areas, the teaching and learning processes become more meaningful,
relevant and creative. Such lessons also promote children’s self-
expression and creativity. Integrating music and the arts in education is
an important way through which we can nurture children into well-
rounded and creative individuals.

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Maternal wellbeing through singing

Karen Eaves
Independent Researcher
Budleigh Salterton, Devon, England
[email protected]

Abstract
Every Monday afternoon a group of mothers gather for Mamasing in a small studio at
the back of a baby shop in Essex. Their infants lay on cushions or are worn in slings,
their toddlers shake eggs and tambourines as they roll and totter around the rugs.
The mothers sing together. Gospel, soul, rock, pop, traditional, classical, the style
doesn’t matter. The mothers sing, and they experience something they describe as
“soul-soaring”, “magical” and “empowering”.
In this qualitative study I explored changes in subjective wellbeing that occurred
through group singing, investigating the relationship between singing and musical
parenting. I used the Warwick-Edinburgh Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) with a group of
twelve of the mothers before and after a singing session. Semi-structured interviews
were conducted with four of the mothers exploring their perceptions of singing in the
choir in relation to their well-being, and their musical interactions with their infants and
toddlers away from the choir.
This paper shares the perspectives of some of the mothers, with the research results
showing a significant increase in wellbeing for mothers and reporting a resultant
increase in frequency and type of everyday musical interactions between mother-
infant dyads.

Keywords
Maternal wellbeing, maternal singing, singing and health, musical parenting

Introduction
Every Monday afternoon a group of mothers gather in a small
studio at the back of a baby shop. Their infants lay on cushions or
are worn in slings, their toddlers shake eggs and tambourines as
they roll and totter around the rugs. The mothers sing together.
Gospel, soul, rock, pop, traditional, classical, the genre doesn’t
matter. The mothers sing, and they experience something they
describe as “soul-soaring”, “magical” and “empowering”.
In this study I investigate mothers singing together and with their
infants and toddlers present. This research is targeted on a
particular group of mothers in MamaSing, a parent and infant choir
that rehearse together weekly singing contemporary songs and
popular music in harmony. The study assesses the subjective
wellbeing of the mothers and investigates mothers’ perceptions of
how singing in the group affects their wellbeing. It explores how
singing in the choir relates to the vocal interactions they have with
their children when they are away from the choir.
There is already a considerable body of research around the
benefits of music in early childhood with the emphasis upon the
child ie: child centred music groups led by adults and child
initiated music making. The importance of music between mother

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and infant is further established through the conceptions of
communicative musicality (Trevarthen & Malloch, 2002). Equally so,
music and health is a growing area of research including, in
particular, the connections between choral singing and mental
wellbeing. However, there is a paucity of research regarding music
making of parents and how this relates the parent child musical
relationship in everyday life.
This study explores the theoretical background to singing, health
and wellbeing and is an exploration into the perceived changes in
wellbeing of mothers who choose to sing together in the company
of their infants and children.

Maternal Wellbeing
At an extremely vulnerable time when new mothers are experiencing a
plethora of emotions, tiredness, and hormonal changes, they also have
responsibility for a new life. With a bewildering quantity of articles
available via the Internet asserting various hypotheses around infant
development and parenting, these mothers encounter vastly differing
attitudes and an underlying pressure to conform. Mackinlay & Baker
discuss a mismatch of what women expect of motherhood and how
they feel, how they manage in reality, coping with realities such as
“feeling out of control, loss of freedom, loneliness and isolation,
entrapment, lack of achievement and recognition, and interruption to
personal interests” (2005, p. 70).
The wellbeing of a mother has a direct affect on the wellbeing of her
infant (Murray & Cooper, 1997; Roberts, 2010), highlighting the
relevance of this research to the early childhood sector. One of the
dominant theories of infant wellbeing underpinning current early
childhood policy and practice is attachment theory.
Studies with infants at 18 months showed a correlation between
insecure attachment, and those infants whose mothers experienced
post-natal depression (Murray, 1992; Murray and Cooper, 1997).
Milligan, Atkinson, Trehub, Benoit & Poulton (2002) investigated the
emotive qualities of mothers’ vocal communications according to
attachment classifications. This study suggested that there was an
association between the attachment style of the mother, and the way
the mother responded vocally to their infant when distressed.

Every Day Music and Musical Parenting

Västfjäll, Juslin & Hartig ask the questions “Does music have beneficial
effects also in the flow of everyday life? Do the effects extend beyond
the immediate situation?” (2012, p. 405). The day-to-day interactions of
infants with their mothers are filled with music and it could be
constructed that music conducts the flow of everyday life for an infant.
Singing and playful chants help with the day-to-day routines and help
mother and infant show each other how they feel (Street, 2009).

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In the course of everyday life mothers sing to their infants. This is the
most frequent form of musical activity between parent and infants
(Illari, 2005). Mothers sing to promote sleep, and they sing to play and
have fun. Custodero, Britto, and Brooks-Gunn (2003) assert the position
that singing songs and lullabies is an extension of the early musical
communications between parent and pre-verbal infant. They sing to
distract and they sing to comfort. The choice of songs varies in style
and purpose. Illari found that mothers gave a wide variety of
responses regarding what they believe to be appropriate music for
infants, and yet 82% were found to sing only lullabies and children’s
songs (2005, p. 653). The repertoire for this research was a mix of
contemporary and popular genres.
This underpinning theoretical background and review of the literature
finds that mothers’ wellbeing can be vulnerable to pressures of society
and yet is imperative to the wellbeing of infants. Singing and
vocalisations are a natural and instinctive part of mother infant
relationships and communication. Furthermore the literature implies
singing can affect the wellbeing of mother and form part of the
parenting toolkit within the context of everyday music. This study will
endeavor to investigate the interconnectedness of these dimensions,
and find out how singing in a choir with infants can affect maternal
wellbeing, everyday music and parental wellbeing.

Method
The primary question this research asked is “How do the mothers
perceive their singing in a choir affects their wellbeing?” I used a
questionnaire to gather a small amount of subjective wellbeing
information that was then followed up with semi-structured interviews
to explore the qualitative details through the perceptions of the
participants.
I selected the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS)
as being the most suitable instrument for this study. In this study I
assessed the wellbeing of the mothers at a specific point. A wellbeing
measure was taken immediately prior to singing and then again
immediately after having rehearsed in the choir. In order to do this it
was necessary to adapt each question in the scale into a time specific
questionnaire creating a better fit with my research and asking the
participants to consider how they think and feel “right now” as
opposed to over the last two weeks.
There are 12 mothers who attend the choir regularly with their children
ranging from 6 months to 4 years in age. The wellbeing questionnaire
was used with all 12 mothers in order to give the best size sample. This is
a small sample as is typical of qualitative social research around
singing and health (Clift, 2012).
The secondary stage of research took the form of four semi-structured
interviews that were conducted between the parents and myself.
These interviews sought to represent the views of the mothers about

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singing in the choir and how it affects their wellbeing. The interviews
also gathered information about how the choir mothers sing in the
home, how singing and vocal play are used as part of daily routine
and if singing is used as a parenting technique.
A specific set of questions was devised to create the semi-structured
format of the interviews. The questions were a mixture of open and
closed questions. The open questions encouraged the participants to
share their thoughts and perspectives. The closed questions were
supported with probes to then draw more depth from the responses.
All interviewed mothers received the same set of questions. However
the questions were asked in a different way for each participant, and I
adopted a flexible and emotionally sensitive approach in interview
style.

The MamaSing Context

The entire repertoire used in this research project is arranged in two
parts, the main melody and a simple harmony line, usually pitched
lower. During a rehearsal the mothers are taught a new song, line by
line using a listen and copy approach. The songs are a mixture of
popular contemporary songs, folk, world, gospel, jazz and soul. The
lyrics are displayed on a screen to facilitate hands free singing. This
enables the mothers to continue to hold and care for their infants and
toddlers while singing. They also have sheet music available, a two part
score for the fluent readers, and also a single line melody part for those
who wish to follow along.

Wellbeing Questionnaire Findings

The findings of the subjective wellbeing component of this research are
very clear and statistically significant. The start score and end score
from the wellbeing questionnaires were calculated into a total score
for each participant. Putz, O’Hara, Stewart-Brown & Taggart, (2012)
recommend using a group average when measuring wellbeing
changes as a result of an intervention. The minimum scale score is 14,
and the maximum scale score is 70. The average score of the group at
the start of the singing intervention was 47. At the end of the
intervention the average score rose to 60, giving a total increase of 13.
When a change of between 3 and 8 occurs it can be considered that
“mental wellbeing meaningfully improved over the course of the
project” (Putz et al, 2012). In this context the women clearly perceive
an improvement in their wellbeing as a result of singing in the mother
and baby choir.
The individual scores for each woman were also examined. Each
individual participant showed an increase in mental wellbeing as a
result of the intervention, though not all individuals increased on all
questions.
The results were then mapped to each question to see if there were
any specific aspects of wellbeing that saw notable changes as a result

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of the singing intervention. There were two questions that saw an
exceptionally large increase in wellbeing score of 18. These aspects
with the biggest increase represent how relaxed the women felt and
how much energy they felt they had. These two questions were scored
the lowest at the start of the intervention and experienced the largest
increase as a result of the intervention. This is congruent with numerous
qualitative studies that find participants in singing experience feelings
of both relaxation and energy (Tonneijck, Kinebanian & Josephsson
2008; Clift, 2012). The aspect of wellbeing that showed the smallest
increase was how loved the women felt, with a small increase of only 3.
This aspect of wellbeing scored highest of all questions in the average
start scores, so a smaller increase would be expected.

Interview Findings
A large amount of relevant information was gathered through the
interview process. I then scrutinised each interview in turn and
developed a simple coding system for every response to reduce the
quantity of data. I adopted the practices of In Vivo coding (King, 2008
and Saldana, 2013) using words and phrases that were taken directly
from the participants. After this initial coding phase I then repeated
the process and carried out a second coding (Saldana, 2013) to
improve accuracy and reliability.
Through the coding process it was possible to then collate data from
across questions bringing the information back to the main question
categories. The collated data was examined for common responses
and I began to identify emergent themes.
The interviewees all reported a feeling of uplift or an increase in energy.
Their minds are taken off stresses and difficult emotions that are often
present prior to sessions, and they associated a feeling of wellbeing
with being with others.
Having the children present was important to the mothers. All the
mothers felt the choir was something for themselves, that it met their
needs, and they described the choir as something that was good for
the children. This is supported by the literature that suggests music is a
means of shared experience for parents with young children
(Custodero et al, 2003), and provides a formalised, structured
environment to extend everyday music.
When describing their singing ability, with one exception the mothers all
described a lack of confidence. Attending the choir was reported to
be building confidence in ability, and the women felt less self-
conscious, sang out more and thought they sounded a little better.
Despite this none of the women thought they were musical, and
associated this with an inability to play a musical instrument.
The shared experience of singing with others was ardently important to
all the women and some powerful words were used to describe this
such as “tribal”, “sisterhood”, “mums together”, “girls together” and
“energy you get from each other”. The interviews gathered evidence

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that the mothers also experience and highly value the social aspect,
and an acculturation process is taking place helping them to connect
with their new community of “mums together”. Pavliceic describes the
conception of community music therapy through singing in which “the
whole group creates itself and shifts itself into a different musical,
emotional and group space” (2004, p. 39). This is almost certainly what
the interview participants are describing.
The mothers all reported singing at home with their child. Two
described an increase in the amount they sing and the repertoire of
songs since being in the choir. One mother also gave a reflection on
the relationship between siblings and how her 3 year old now sings
choir songs to his baby sister “If I sing he’ll join in, look at her face and
sing to her.”
All the mothers described instances of singing as a parenting tool, such
as calming with a song, singing to distract an upset or restless infant,
changing tones of voice to engage in activities such as eating, and
singing songs to encourage desired behaviours such as walking. One
mother reported that this is a new technique and that she didn’t sing or
use her voice in this way at all before singing with the group. Although
she frequently sang songs around her daughter she hadn’t used songs
as a form of conscious interaction with her daughter to regulate mood
or encourage behavior until singing in the choir. This is consistent with
the research of Mackinlay & Baker in which a group of mothers
participated in a 6-week lullaby-singing programme. The narratives
given by the mothers through the interviews and the conclusion of the
study was that singing had become “an essential skill in their mothering
toolbox – nourishing, reviving, and desirable musical food for the soul”
(Undated, p. 41).

Pedagogical Implications
Maternal wellbeing is closely linked with infant wellbeing, and women
are particularly vulnerable to episodes of mental illness such as post-
natal depression in the early stages of motherhood. Singing in a choir
with their infants has had a significantly positive effect on maternal
wellbeing. The effect is measurable and significant after a single
singing intervention.
As a result of singing in a mother and baby choir the mothers found a
specific improvement in their relaxation and energy levels. This was
measured in the wellbeing surveys, was further reinforced through the
interviews in which all four interviewees reported a feeling of uplift,
feeling better, increase of energy and feeling good. One of the
strongest themes that emerged from the interviews was that of the
sense of “mothers together”, and how highly the choir was valued as a
supportive shared team environment created through a common aim
of singing. Through singing together these women not only perceived
an improvement in their own wellbeing, but they also felt connected to
their community.

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The guilt that is described by mothers when doing something they
perceive as being for themselves was alleviated in this experience by
the inclusion of the infants and children in the choir. It was recognized
by all the participants that their children benefitted directly from being
present during the sessions. Even those who described the choir as also
being good for their infants because it was good for them said they
probably wouldn’t have attended without their child.
Participating in the choir with their infants and toddlers gave ideas to
the women for ways to increase musicality and musical
communication in the home. They replicated some of the interactive
warm ups and songs when away from the choir. They also developed
new strategies and techniques such as calming and soothing with
song. As found by Dionyssiou and Fytika (2013) enthusiasm from
parents participating in musical events and activities results in an
increased level of enthusiasm from children.

Conclusion
The women participating in this study were enthusiastic to chat and
share their experiences of singing, reporting strong feelings of
improvement in subjective wellbeing. Many of the women felt they
had a story to tell, and a need to share and connect through their
story. A longitudinal ethnographic study to capture the anecdotal
chatter of women singing in a mother and baby group would be of
future interest.
Through the findings of this research it can be conceived that maternal
singing is central to motherhood. Singing is used as a tool to connect
and communicate with both infant and community. It can be used as
a strategy for parenting, and mothers incorporate singing into
everyday music making.
Maternal depression is linked with decreased prosody and decreased
levels of affective communication with infants (Milligan, Atkinson,
Trehub, Benoit & Poulton, 2002) and this in turn has a negative impact
on the attachment relationship and wellbeing of the infant. Through
singing in a mother and baby choir there is an increase in wellbeing for
mother, and a reported increase in frequency and type of everyday
musical interactions and parenting techniques between mother-infant
dyads.
It is therefore feasible that singing in a mother and baby choir could
become a non-invasive, low cost activity for improving maternal
wellbeing, facilitating acculturation, promoting positive attachment,
and supporting new mothers to form and connect with new
communities of motherhood.

References
Clift, S. (2012). ‘Singing, Wellbeing and Health’ in: R. MacDonald, G. Kreutz and L.
Mitchell (Eds) Music, Health and Wellbeing. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Custodero, L. A., Britto, P.R. and Brooks-Gunn, J. (2003). Musical lives: A collective
portrait of American parents and their young children. Applied Developmental
Psychology. Vol. 24 pp. 553-572.
Dionyssiou, Z and Fytika, A. (2013). ‘Analysing reactions of toddlers in music concerts
designed for a six month to three years old audience.’ In J. Pitt and J. Retra
(Eds) Proceedings of the 6th Conference of the European Network of Music
Educators and Researchers of Young Children. July 17-20, 2013. The Hague, The
Netherlands. Article received from author by email.
Illari, B. (2005). On musical parenting of young children: musical beliefs and behaviors
[sic] of mothers and infants. Early Child Development and Care. Vol. 175(7&8)
pp. 647-660.
King, A. (2008). “In vivo coding” in: L.M. Given (Ed) The SAGE
Mackinlay, E. and Baker, F. (Undated). Methodological Challenges Amidst Musical
Food for the Soul: Reflections on Singing Lullabies as a Mother. Unpublished
[received by email from author]
Mackinlay, E. and Baker, F. (2005). Nurturing Herself, Nurturing Her Baby Creating
Positive Experiences for First-time Mothers through Lullaby Singing. Women and
Music: A Journal of Gender and Culture. Vol.9 pp. 69-72.
Milligan, K., Atkinson, L., Trehub, S. E., Benoit, D. and Poulton, L. (2002). Maternal
Attachment and the Communication of Emotion Through Song. Infant
Behaviour and Development. Vol.26 pp. 1-13.
Murray, L. (1992). The impact of postnatal depression on infant development. Child
Psychol Psychiatry. Vol.33 pp. 543-561.
Murray, L., and Cooper, P.J., (1997). Postpartum depression and child development.
New York: Guildford Press.
Pavlicevic, M. (2004). ‘Learning from Thembalethu: Towards Responsive and
Responsible Practice in Community Music Therapy’. In M. Pavlicevic and G.
Ansdell (Eds) Community Music Therapy. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Putz, K., O’Hara, R. Stewart-Brown, S. and Taggart, F. (2012). Using WEMWBS to
measure the impact of your work on mental wellbeing: A practice-based user
guide. Edinburgh. NHS Scotland, the University of Warwick and the University of
Edinburgh.
Roberts, R. (2010). Wellbeing from Birth. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
Saldana, J. (2013). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. 3rd Edn. London:
Sage Publications Ltd.
Street, A. (2009). ‘Empowering parents through learning together.’ In J. Barlow and
P.O.Svanberg (Eds) Keeping the Baby in Mind. East Sussex: Routledge.
Trevarthen, C., and Malloch, S. (2002). ‘Musicality And Music Before Three: Human
Vitality And Invention Shared With Pride’. Zero To Three. pp. 10–18.
Tonneijck, H.I.M, Kinebanian, A. and Josephsson, S. (2008). An Exploration of Choir
Singing, Achieving Wholeness Through Challenge. Journal of Occupational
Science. Vol. 15(3) pp.173-180.
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Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Music in Swedish preschool classes

Anna Ehrlin
Division of Education, Culture and Communication
Mälardalen University
Eskilstuna, Sweden
[email protected]

Olle Tivenius
Division of Education, Culture and Communication
Mälardalen University
Eskilstuna, Sweden

Abstract
Research shows that many teachers in preschool as well as school feel uncertain
about singing and playing musical instruments with children, and that music activities
therefore risk becoming marginalized. There is also a risk that those music activities
that do occur remain limited to content that the teachers feel comfortable with.
These are circumstances that jeopardize children’s opportunities for developing
different aspects of their musicality in preschool, preschool class and school.
The aim of the presentation is to highlight what opportunities a six-year-old child in
preschool class in Sweden might have of participating in and being inspired by music.
We ask the following question: What factors determine how music teaching is
conceived and carried out in preschool classes?
The present study is quantitative in character, and data were collected by means of
a survey sent out to all teachers working with preschool classes in a Swedish
municipality of about 100 000 inhabitants. 17 of 23 schools returned completed
questionnaires, giving a response frequency of 69%. As our sample consisted of the
entire population in a specific municipality in Sweden, it is reasonable to assume that
the results can be generalized for that municipality, but based on previous research
the result may also be generalized for other municipalities in Sweden or even other
countries.
The conclusion we can draw from the result is that the preschool class teachers in the
study without a fundamental view of music education carry out few music activities.
Teachers who mainly see music as a skill subject carry out more activities, while
teachers who value music’s transfer effects carry out many more music activities, and
with a greater range of variation. The result also show that it is important that teachers
in early childhood education reflect on opportunities for children to learn about, in,
and through music and about their opportunities to explore music in different ways. It
also indicates the importance of music being taught and reflected on in preschool
and primary school teacher education.

Keywords
Music, Preschool-class

Introduction
The aim of this presentation is to highlight what opportunities a six-year-
old in preschool class in Sweden might have of participating in music
activities. We ask the following question: What factors determine how

141
music teaching is conceived and carried out in preschool class? The
result of the study is also presented in an article for International Journal
of Music Education. (Ehrlin & Tivenius , In press)

Swedish context
In Sweden children ages one to five years can attend preschool on a
voluntary basis. Once a child turns six, they can attend a ‘preschool
class’ even though it is voluntary, most six-year-olds do so. The
curriculum for comprehensive education contains no specific syllabus
for preschool class activities (National Agency of Education, 2011). The
curriculum, Lgr-11, has syllabi for various subjects including prescribed
content specified for years 3, 6 and 9. One of these subjects is music,
and its learning goals focus on pupils’ opportunities for developing
musical knowledge. The goals for the younger pupils to develop are:

• play and sing in different musical forms and genres,

• create music as well as represent and communicate

their own musical thinking and ideas, and

• analyse and discuss musical expressions in different

social, cultural and historical contexts.

(National Agency of Education, 2011, p.96).

The preschool curriculum (Lpfö-98/10) has no prescribed content for
music as a subject. It emphasises that various forms of aesthetic and
creative expression are to be included in activities, but are also to
serve as a method for promoting development and learning. Our
interpretation is understanding music as both content and method in
preschool, preschool class and during the early years of school can
involve regarding music as play.

Theoretical premises
Vygotsky (1995) argued that teaching in different areas gives pupils
new experiences that can form the basis and inspiration for
spontaneous play and thereby for learning. One theoretical premise of
our study is that individuals are constantly learning and being shaped
by the communities they are part of. The thoughts, views and actions
of individuals can be said to be situated in social communities (Lave &
Wenger, 1991; Vygotsky, 1978). Such a community can be a preschool
or a school, and it is our understanding that the individual is
continuously influencing, and being influenced by, these communities
(Rogoff, 2003). Teachers’ notions of their practice are thus not based
only on interpretations of curricula, syllabi, content, learning goals and
methods, but also on prejudices regarding social and cultural factors.

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Teachers in preschool class can have either a music educational
perspective or a general pedagogical perspective and this
fundamental view affects their teaching (Hanken & Johansen, 2004).
From a music educational perspective music can be regarded as art,
craftsmanship or science. Music education can take the starting point
in any of these (Nielsen, 1998).

Method
The present study is quantitative in character, and data were collected
by means of a survey sent out to all teachers working with preschool
classes in a Swedish city of about 100.000 inhabitants. The
questionnaire included nine closed and two open questions. The first
two questions were about the respondent’s background, training and
years of experience. Questions three to nine dealt with the extent to
which the respondent taught music, what the content of music lessons
focused on, and how the respondent acquired new impressions as a
basis for teaching. These questions were formulated as statements with
which respondents could express their degree of agreement or
disagreement on a four-point Likert scale. The two concluding, open,
questions dealt with why music should be included in preschool
classwork, and what opportunities and obstacles respondents saw in
teaching. 17 of 23 schools returned completed questionnaires, giving a
response frequency of 69%, or 68 of a total of 98 distributed
questionnaires. We claim solid validity based on impeccable statistical
handling (Esaisson et al., 2002). We have observed all the ethical rules
prescribed by the Swedish Research Council (2011), and can therefore
claim a fully adequate ethical foundation.

Results: statistics and interpretation

The initial responses of 68 informants to a questionnaire containing 14
variables were entered into a matrix. A first correlation analysis
produced about 60 correlations at a maximum significance level of
0.05. Reading these correlations into the program focused subsequent
interest on specific phenomena, which in turn generated further
questions. Various statistical analyses based on the research question –
some of them of an exploratory nature – initially generated interesting
correlations, which were then followed up with crosstabs and analyses
of variance and mean values. Significant correlations potentially
representing associations were interpreted and discussed. Patterns
could be discerned during the process, and these were tested against
other associations, producing various ever clearer pictures.

Crosstabs were created to delve further into the underlying data

distribution of the correlations of interest. In the questionnaire we asked
how often the informants lead various music activities and also how
often they are led by someone else. Cross tabulations showed that

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groups of children whose teachers often lead them in various music
activities receive music activities comparatively more often than
groups of children whose teachers rarely, or never lead them in music
activities.

We also asked if the informants lead various music activities such as

singing, playing instruments, listening to music and dancing. Cross
tabulation confirmed the pattern seen above: teachers who lead their
children in one specific activity also lead them in other activities, while
teachers who don’t lead their children in one specific activity tend not
to lead them in others either. The upshot is that some teacher’s pupils
receive almost no music teaching at all. These crosstabs generated
further questions, the responses to which were included in the
comprehensive interpretation. We employed frequency tables, which
primarily help to show how the sample is distributed across the different
variables, in order to also obtain an overview of the volume of data.
Frequency analysis of question 4 shows the distribution of teaching
input in more precise terms.

Table 1. Frequencies of different music activities.

Number Percentage of the

whole sample
Yes 62 91.2
Singing
No 6 8.8
Yes 41 60.3
Dance and
movement No 27 39.7
Yes 25 36.8
Listening to music
No 43 63.2
Yes 14 20.6
Playing an
instrument No 54 79.4

The most common music activity in which teachers lead their groups is
singing. The least common activity is playing an instrument.

Our overall interpretation is that pupils in preschool class are provided

with a varying extent of music activities, with varying content. Some
children hardly come into contact with any music at all, while the
majority make music at least once a week. The most common activity
is singing.

Only three teachers stated that the children have access to musical
instruments for use in their spontaneous play.

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Question 11 in the questionnaire was an open question: “Why is music
important?” 93% of informants stated at least one reason, and several
stated more than one. We coded the responses and entered them as
new variables in the matrix. Crosstabs, frequency tables, and analyses
of variance and of mean values provided a picture that became
clearer as the work progressed (Glass & Hopkins, 1996; Vejde &
Leander, 2000).

Table 2. Frequencies of different conceptions of why music is important.

Percentage
Number of the whole
sample
Music is important for joy and
36 52.9
emotions
Music is a means of learning 30 44.1
Music is important for learning
23 33.8
about music
Music is important for social
20 29.4
purposes
Music is important for body and
12 17.6
mind
Music is important for personal
8 11.8
development

The most common conception of why music is important in preschool

class is that it is important for joy and emotions. The least common
conception is that music is important for personal development.

Stating that music is important for learning about music implies that
music is good for its own sake and therefore that music is regarded as
a subject that demands practical skill. We refer to the other reasons as
transfer effects, since the teachers claim these effects are more
important than the music itself. In the next step, answers were re-coded
into a three-level gradation that was used as a variable, and
correlation with other variables was examined.

This new variable correlated with four others and gave the following
result: The higher an informant values transfer effects,

the more often the informant leads pupils in playing instruments,

the more often pupils have access to instruments to use in
spontaneous play,
the more the informant partakes of and uses music-related
teaching materials, and

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 the less the informant considers her/himself to lack interest
and/or competence.

Our interpretation of this is that a teacher’s view of what music in

preschool class can be good for is reflected in how active she or he is
in teaching music. Analysed in greater detail, these data show that in
practice pupils get less music teaching when the teacher’s view of
music is that it is intended for its own sake, i.e. that it is a subject
demanding practical skill.

The variables Lacks competence/interest and music as a skill subject

correlate. Our interpretation of this is that the more teachers see music
as a skill subject, the more they feel that they themselves lack
competence or interest. This can further be understood as teachers
who see music as a skill subject also considering that it requires
competence – which they lack. Similarly, the variable Lacks
competence/interest correlates with the variable Music is important for
body and mind. We understand this to mean that preschool teachers
who feel that music is important for body and mind also feel, to a
greater degree than those teachers who don’t feel that music is
important for body and mind, that they possess the necessary
competence.

It thus appears that a decisive factor for music-making in preschool

class may be the teacher’s personal view of music. The teacher’s idea
of what qualifications are necessary also appear to be significant, but
this is primarily among those who see music as a skill subject.

Three variables that show statistically reliable mean values for groups
formed from the answers to “Why is music important?”, based on the
coding described above, “I partake of and use music-related teaching
materials”, “Does your group of children have access to instruments
they can use in their spontaneous play?”, and “I regret the absence of
a music teacher”.

The group “Both transfer and skill subject” is the outlier for all three
questions. Despite being somewhat vague, this nonetheless suggests
that teachers with the broadest view of music – those who appreciate
both transfer effects and music as a skill subject – may not have a fixed
fundamental view, but rather see all aspects as advantages. Further
cross tabulations show clearly that the group “Both transfer and skill
subject” is the one that carries out least music activities in their classes.

Conclusions
The conclusion we can draw from the result is that the preschool class
teachers in the study without a fundamental view of music education
carry out few music activities. Teachers who mainly see music as a skill

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subject carry out more activities, while teachers who value music’s
transfer effects carry out many more music activities, and with a
greater range of variation. Thus the conclusion – and the answer to the
research question – is that the fundamental view of music education,
irrespective of what it is, determines to what extent music teaching
occurs, and how it is carried out, in preschool classes in the
municipality studied.

Discussion
Our study contributed to demonstrating the factors determining music
in preschool classes in a city of 100.000 inhabitants in Sweden, but we
also think that discussion of the results could shed light on important
issues regarding music education in the early years of education, and
not only in a Swedish context. The results show that it is important that
teachers in early childhood education reflect on pupils’ opportunities
to learn about, in, and through music and their opportunities to explore
music in different ways. It also indicates the importance of music being
taught and reflected on in training preschool and primary school
teachers. In a Swedish context this is very much connected to the
goals in the curricula, for example the goal of giving pupils the
opportunity to develop the ability to create music as well as to
represent and communicate their own musical thinking and ideas
(National Agency of Education, 2011).

Our study shows that singing is the most common music activity among
the preschool classes included in the study, which is a result also
reported in studies conducted in the United States (Giles & Fergo, 2004;
Nardo el al, 2006). Most children at the preschool class level in our
study are offered singing. It is clear that many teachers offer little
variation in music activities. Some groups of children, however, were
hardly ever offered either singing or other music-related activities in
class. Our result also shows that most children in the preschool classes
participating in the study had no access to music materials or musical
instruments in their spontaneous play. Only five % of the teachers in our
study stated that the children have access to any kind of music during
spontaneous play. Opportunities for spontaneous play with, exploration
of, and expression through music were limited. Our study shows that
those teachers who regarded music as a skill subject also stated that
they lack competence and interest. They could see that music has
something to offer in itself, but this is not something they felt they were
capable of conveying, nor did they offered the children opportunities
for exploring music themselves in a spontaneous and playful approach.
The study shows that the fate of music in each preschool class was
determined by what the teacher offered and his or her view of music.

The results from our study are puzzling, and raise further questions. There
is a statistically discernible separator for how, and to what extent, music

147
teaching is practised in preschool class: the fundamental view of the
function of music. Teachers who did not regard music as a goal in itself
gave their children a comparatively richer music experience, while
teachers who regarded music as primarily a skill subject declined to
offer music. Traditionally, teachers at municipal music schools – who
ought to be experts – are the ones who have an art-for-art’s-sake
attitude to music, while also defending a rich musical offering (Tivenius,
2008). Within the studied sample it is exactly the other way around.
Possibly, this tells us something about the prejudices of general
teachers as well as of music teachers with regard to what music is
good for. It may also tell us something about teachers’ self-image with
regard to their abilities in music education. The result points to a
discourse that is not in step with the curricula (National Agency of
Education, 2011) in terms of music activities, nor of content or
education. It seems as if teachers who value music’s inherent qualities
take the view that they have nothing valuable to impart to the children
musically, and therefore they don’t even try. Nor did they delegate this
task to someone else; one may well wonder why that is. As there are
generally no music teachers in preschool class education, the task can
only be delegated to colleagues who do not have formal
qualifications for teaching music as a skill subject. Seen from that
perspective, delegating is unlikely to improve anything, and thus
teachers may refrain from doing so – with the result that the children
get no music at all.

If the premise were that music in preschool class should be taught as a

skill subject, it would be easy to understand teachers’ resignation when
faced with the task. But as the focus of the curricula – as we
understand it – is on transfer effects instead; it rather seems as if
teachers do not realise what mechanisms are active, and are
therefore at a loss when faced with the task of making music with the
children. Our theoretical understanding (Lave & Wenger, 1991) is that
this lack of meaning is situated in the preschool classes as social
communities of practices where teachers’ notions of their practice
seem to be based on their interpretations of music as a skill subject
rather than what is stated in the curricula. Perhaps it is a general
discourse which has gained force in the shadow of portentous PISA
reports – a discourse that presents the core subjects as overriding all
others – that makes teachers treat music so unfairly, not daring to rely
on transfer effects and other factors linked to the concept of aesthetic
learning processes – creativity and spontaneous play, for example
(Wallerstedt & Pramling, 2012).
Inspired by Vygotsky (1995) it may be apt to ask the philosophical
question: What else can music be if not play? Perhaps this is where the
problem lies for those who are so keen to see music as a skill subject.
And in this light one might ask if other forms of play could be treated as

148
skill subjects. The truth about music would seem to be that skill is
attained through doing – that skill is attained through play.

References
Ehrlin, A. & Tivenius, O. (In press). Music in preschool class – A quantitative study of
factors that determine the extent of music in daily work in Swedish
preschool classes. International Journal of Music Education.
Esaiasson, P., Gilljam, M., Oscarsson, H., & Wängerud, L. (2002). Metodpraktikan:
Konsten att studera samhälle, individ och marknad. [ Methods: To study
society, individuals and market] Stockholm: Norstedts.
Giles, A. M., & Fergo, D.R.J. (2004). An inventory of music activities used by
elementary classroom teachers: An exploratory study. Applications of
Research in Music Education 22 (2), 13-22.
Glass, V. G., & Hopkins, K. D. (1996). Statistical Methods in Education and Psychology.
Needham Heights, MA, USA: Allyn & Bacon.
Hanken, I. M. och Johansen, G. (2004). Musikkundervisningens didaktikk. Oslo:
Capellen akademisk Forlag.
Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning. Legitimate peripheral participation.
New York: Cambridge University press.
Nardo, R.L., Custodero, L.A., Persellin, D. C., & Brink Fox, D. (2006). Looking back,
looking forward: a report on early childhood music education in
accredited American preschool. Journal of Research in Music
Education. 54, 278-292.
National Agency of Education. (1998, 2010). Lpfö-98, reviderad 2010. [Curriculum for
the preschool Lpfö-98. Reviced 2010] Stockholm: National Agency of
Education.
National Agency of Education. (2011). Lgr-11. [Curriculum for the compulsory school,
preschool class and the recreation centre 2011] Stockholm: National
Agency of Education.
Nielsen F. V. (1998). Almen Musikdidaktik. Danmark: Akademisk Forlag.
Rogoff, B. (2003). The Cultural Nature of Human Development. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Swedish Research Council (2011). God forskningssed. Vetenskapsrådets rapportserie
2011:01. [Good research practice in humanities and social science]
Stockholm.
http://www.vr.se/download/18.3a36c20d133af0c12958000491/God+
forskningssed+2011.1.pdf
Tivenius, O. (2008). Musiklärartyper: En typologisk studie av musiklärare vid kommunal
musikskola. [Music Teacher Types: A Typological Study of Music Teachers
at Municipal Music Schools]. (Dis.) Örebro: Örebro universitet.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society. The Development of Higher Psychological
Processes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1995). Fantasi och kreativitet i barndomen. [Fantasy and creativity in
childhood] Göteborg: Daidalos.
Wallerstedt, C., & Pramling, N. (2012). Learning to play in a goal – directed practice.
Early Years: an International Research Journal 32 (1), 5-15.
Vejde, O., & Leander, E. (2000). Ordbok i statistik. Borlänge: Olle Vejde Förlag.

149
The effect of body movement on children’s graphic
representations

Sandra Fortuna
Department of Music Education
Conservatory of Music, Frosinone
Italy
[email protected]

Abstract
Embodied music cognition advocates the role of the body for musical understanding
(Leman, 2007; 2010), and the embodied approach during the process of learning
has been taken up recently by various scholars (Juntunen & Hyvönen 2004, Abril 2011;
Davidson 2012; Kerchner 2014). In the meantime, graphic symbols such as invented
notations are considered an external representation to access children’s musical
cognition.

The aim of this research is to analyse the effect of children’s body movement on their
external representations with graphic notations during the activity of listening. More
specifically, it was observed and analysed in which ways children’s invented
notations change when the activity of listening to a piece of music is described and
interpreted by body movement or by verbal description of the different features of
the piece.

Fifty 7-8 year-old children attending primary school and without any formal music
education, were required to listen to a musical fragment with salient sonic
parameters. In the second phase half of the children were invited to describe the
features of the piece by their body movements, and the other group, with the help of
the researcher described the piece verbally. In the last phase, all the children were
invited to describe the musical fragment with their own invented graphic notations.
The procedure was concluded with an interview with each child to allow them to
explain their graphic production.

Data were collected, analysed and compared according the categories suggested
by Verschaffel et al. (2009) and Elkoshi (2002), such as global versus compounded or
differentiated notations, in which one or more sonic musical parameters are
described. A significant percentage of differentiated or compound notations drawn
by children who used body movement was found, compared with the global
notations used by children whose verbal descriptions were proposed.

Different notational strategies closely connected to the body and musical

parameters were analysed: more frequently size, or different shapes are used to
represent mainly rhythm and articulation (legato/ staccato). An embodied
experience of the musical features could have elicited differentiated perceptions of
the musical parameters so as to influence the notational strategies.

Keywords
Embodied music cognition, listening, graphic representation, body movement

150
Assessment of relationship quality in improvisation

Charlotte Fröhlich
University of Potsdam
Germany
[email protected]

Abstract
This presentation is of a currently conducted research project. Inclusive teaching
seemingly sets a high challenge to music pedagogical approaches. By taking a
closer look into the anthropological intent of music making, we discover that inclusive
interactions with music and movement/dance can be very natural and models that
are commonly known. The fact that schools are changing towards inclusive teaching
compels us to set new and different goals in music teaching, mainly such as learning
through simultaneous imitation and improvisation.

At the moment much research is conducted on the topic of inclusion, however we

do not find any sustainable concept of inclusive teaching with music and movement.
Yet referring to a successful approach in music therapy can probably help. Music
therapist Karin Schumacher (1999) showed that improvisation - if a certain setting and
specific interventions are provided - helps to develop relationship qualities. For this
purpose she developed her criteria for the Assessment of the Quality of Relationship
(AQR – in German: Einschätzung der Beziehungsqualität EBQ) and she referred to the
findings of the infant researcher Daniel Stern.

In the current project we work in music classrooms and have two children at a time,
who improvise on percussion instruments. We have similar settings for ten weeks and
are currently very surprised how much the students like the setting. Schumacher’s
matrix serves as one basis for assessing the development of improvising students
during the ten meetings at school.

The main goal of the project is to give crucial pointers for music education in inclusive
classes. Interlinked with this is the second intention: we want to assess whether
children develop their team spirit and their ensemble skills in a non-verbal, mimetic
way of interacting through ten specific improvisation meetings in the classroom.

The spoken paper will show and explain the specific research setting, will present the
underlying hypothesis of the project, will give some insight into current results and will
display some questions that emerged during the course of the project.

Keywords
Classroom music education, free improvisation, learning through imitation, shaping
music, teacher’s role, teacher’s feedback, classmate’s feedback, self-efficacy,
listening competence, social competence

151
Musical representations and their metaphorical meanings
among early childhood student teachers from different
cultures

Ora Geiger
Kibbutzim College of Education, Technology and the Arts, Tel Aviv, Israel
Ohalo College of Education, Kazrin, Israel
[email protected]

Aviva Dan
Early-Childhood department, Ohalo College of Education,
Kazrin, Israel
[email protected]

Abstract
This research examines the relationship between musical representations and their
metaphorical meanings among adult early childhood students from different cultural
and religious backgrounds in Israel. The research aim was to investigate whether
metaphorical associations for musical representations are culturally dependent.
The research is a phenomenology research, which investigates the personal human
experience from the perspective of the individual. The research is a mixed methods
research built on qualitative and quantitative methodology. The data were obtained
from the students through the examination of questionnaires and interviews.
At the study’s preliminary stage, students in a multi-cultural music class were
requested to choose from a variety of percussion instruments an instrument whose
sounds represent “light” and an instrument whose sounds represent “darkness” in their
opinion. When their choices were presented, it became apparent that students from
different cultures experienced the musical sounds differently.
In the study, 180 early childhood teacher trainee students filled in a questionnaire in
which they were requested to indicate from a variety of percussion instruments which
instrument symbolises for them sound of “light” and which symbolises “darkness”.
The findings indicate that there were some differences in the metaphorical concepts
of "light" and "darkness" in association with musical sounds, between students from
different cultures, although not all of them were significant. The researchers conclude
that when teaching music to multi-cultural student groups, educators should be
sensitive of cultural differences within the population and be aware that perceiving
music is acquired through the building of musical schemas that are culturally
dependent.

Keywords
Culture, Early childhood educators, Musical representations, Metaphor, Percussion
instruments

Introduction
This research evolved from a music workshop experience in a teachers’
training college in the north of Israel, in which students study together for
four years to become early childhood teachers. The student population
in the college is a multicultural; the students come from different
religious-cultural backgrounds: Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze,
Circassians, and others.
The workshop took place at the time of the year of two major festivals,
Christmas and Chanukah (the Jewish festival of lights). The students were

152
requested to associate musical instruments with the concept of "light",
an important concept in both festivals, and "darkness". During the
workshop, it was apparent that students from different cultures
experienced the musical sounds differently.
While most students of one culture chose musical instruments with a
metallic sound, such as finger cymbals, triangles, and bells as instruments
that symbolised “light”, students from another culture and a different
religious background indicated that these exact percussion instruments
actually represented “darkness” for them. The question arose whether
cognitive schemas in music are influenced by cultural differences.
As a result of this experience, the researchers decided to examine this
phenomenon in an extended population, 180 Early Childhood students
were recruited from two different teachers’ training colleges, the
students were requested to reply to a questionnaire. The questionnaire
was designed especially for this research and presented the students
with visual pictures of the same percussion instruments that were
presented in the original workshop. The students were requested to
indicate which instruments represented “darkness” and which
instruments represented “light”.
The research looked at the differences between different cultures in their
use of two specific dichotomous metaphors, "light" and "darkness", in
describing musical sounds. This article presents the results of a study in
which the researchers attempted to see if there was a cultural effect on
the use of metaphors in musical concepts.

Theoretical Background
"A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something
to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance".
www.thesaurus.com

This research deals with music and metaphors, by connecting two

dichotomous metaphors, "light" and "darkness", to musical sounds. The
use of metaphors as a way of expressing cognitive schemes is a well-
known strategy in literature or spoken language; it is a less known
strategy in other forms of expression.
The subject of musical representation has been discussed and
examined since the time of Plato (380 BCE). The question whether
abstract music can be used to express feelings, experiences, and
personal images has been addressed in the literature (Riemer, 1989).
There have been past attempts to tie together the properties of music
(such as dynamic, pitch, colour, etc.) and human emotion (Langer,
1957). The question that arises is: what shapes the moulding of a
person’s cognitive schemas when listening to music?
A major theory in the research field of metaphors is the theory of
Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT, Lakoff and Johnson, 1980), which
was developed in the field of cognitive linguistics. The theory states that

153
there is a connection at the cognitive level of two conceptual
domains, the source domain and the target domain. The source
domain consists of literal entities, attributes, and relationships linked
and apparently stored in the mind. The target domain tends to be
abstract and takes its structure from the source domain through the
metaphorical link (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980).
Conceptual metaphor theorists claim that all metaphors both hide and
highlight aspects of the target domain (Lakoff and Turner, 1989). The
Conceptual Metaphor Theory states that there are a few or even no
abstract notions that can be understood without the use of metaphors.
Present day research on metaphors sees them as natural outcomes of
the human mind (Gibbs, 2008) and focuses on how people use
metaphors to conceptualise the world and their actions in it.
Music is a domain that is subjective in its interpretation. Pelto and
Saresma (2014) examined spatial and bodily metaphors in narrating
the experience of listening to sad music. In their article, metaphorical
language acts as a vehicle of communication to help understand the
emotional experience when listening to music. Zibikowski (2008) states
that music makes references to people’s inner world of emotions or
psychological states, and Barcelona (2000) infers that metaphors are a
cognitive mechanism that connects between domains.
Research linking music and metaphorology has aroused interest in
certain circles. Psychological research in the field can be traced back
to Pratt (1930). In recent years, Eitan and Timmers (2010) found
consensus regarding metaphors with relation to musical pitch; High
tones are conceived as sharp, light, clear, and soft tones, while low
tones are conceived as dull, rough, darker, bigger, and harder than
the high ones. Eitan & Granot (2006) found that with relation to pitch,
there are also motion metaphors, which were expressed by both
musicians and non-musicians.
This research examines the use of metaphors in a cultural context
concerning the representation of light and darkness within different
cultures through the media of music. Cognitive structures, schemas, are
built by the interaction of an individual with their environment. The
personal interpretation of musical sounds as representing abstract
symbols is a result of one’s personal musical life experiences. The
building of cultural identification is related to an accumulation of a
myriad of daily experience built up through one’s sensory experiences
and language, (Lantolf, Thorne & Poehner, 2015), music being one of
the artefacts for cultural identification.

Methodology
The research is a mixed-methods study built on qualitative and
quantitative methodology. The research population consisted of early
childhood teacher students from two different teacher-training

154
colleges in Israel. The data were obtained through the analyses of
questionnaires and interviews. The questionnaire was analysed
statistically using the Chi-square distribution test. Content analysis
was implemented on the open questions' responses and the interviews.
The research had two phases: (1) Workshop around the time of
Christmas and Chanukah, in a multicultural class of 24 early childhood
teacher trainees at a teachers training college. The subject of the
workshop was “light” and “darkness”. This was a preliminary stage to
the main part of the study; (2) 180 early-childhood teacher trainee
students from two different teacher-training colleges filled in a Google
form questionnaire in which they were requested to indicate which
percussion instruments symbolise for them “light” and “darkness”, and
also answered some open questions, in which they explained their
choices. Later, out of this group, 20 participants from different cultures
were interviewed separately.

Findings
The research population consisted of 73.4% of Jewish origins and 26.6 %
from other cultures (12.4% from the Druze culture, 7.3% from the Muslim
culture, 4.5% from the Christian culture, 1.1% Circassian population and
others).
With reference to the entire population, the findings show that there is
a significant difference between the instruments that were chosen to
represent "light", and those chosen as representing "darkness".
Chi-Square test: χ2=110.438, d.f=16, Sig<0.001
From the data analysis of the entire research population, it is apparent
that the leading musical instruments that symbolise "light" according to
the participants are the triangle, the bells, and the big bell.
The distribution of the percussion instruments that symbolise "light"
according to the entire research population is illustrated in the table
below.

Table 1: Musical Instruments that symbolise “light” according to the

entire research population
1 Triangle 47.8%
2 Bells 24.2%
3 Big bell 13.2%
4 Gong 6.6%
5 Finger cymbals 4.4%
6 Wooden box 1.1%

155
7 Drum 1.1%
8 Rhythm sticks 0.5%
(Claves)
9 Guiro 0.5%
10 Wooden Cup 0%

Diagram 1: Distribution of musical instruments that symbolise “light”

Bells
Big Bell

Triangle

From the data analysis of the entire research population, it is apparent

that the leading musical instruments that symbolise "darkness"
according to the participants are the gong, drum, guiro, and wooden
box.
The distribution of the percussion instruments that symbolise "darkness"
according to the entire research population is illustrated in the table
below.

Table 2: Musical Instruments that symbolise “darkness” according to the

entire research population
1 Gong 47.8%
2 Drum 23.1%
3 Guiro 7.7%
4 Wooden box 6%
5 Finger cymbals 4.4%
6 Triangle 3.8%

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7 Rhythm sticks 3.8%
(Claves)
8 Bells 2.7%
9 Wooden Cup 1.1%
10 Big bell 0.5%

Diagram 2: Distribution of musical instruments that symbolise “darkness”

Gong

Drum

To enable a statistical analysis of the findings, the percussion

instruments were divided into categories. The category “Metallic
instruments with a gentle sound" included the triangle, the bells, and
finger cymbals; The “Wooden instruments” category included the
guiro, the wooden box, and the rhythm sticks (claves).
The research took place in two different teachers' training colleges
in the north and centre of Israel. The findings show that there is a
significant difference, in the choice of instruments that symbolised light,
between the Jewish population and the other cultures that took part in
the research. In this case, the gentle metal sound instruments (triangle,
finger cymbals, and bells) were found to be statistically significantly
more popular among the Jewish population, while the big bell was
found to be statistically significantly more popular among the group of
other religions (Druze, Muslim, Christian, Circassian).
Chi-Square test: χ2=10.8 d.f=4 Sig<0.05

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Table 3: Cultural differences concerning musical sounds that symbolise
“light”
Druze, Muslim,
Christian,
Jewish
Circessian
N=37 N= 130
Gong 6.4% 6.2%
Gentle metal 66% 80.8%
Big bell 19.1% 11.5%
Drum 2.1% 1.5%
Wooden inst. 6.4% 0
There was no statistically significant difference in choosing the
instruments that symbolised “light” based on the population age.
With regard to choosing the instruments that symbolized “darkness”,
there was no significant difference based on the population age and
the cultural-religious background.
Similar findings arose in the open questions that were part of the
questionnaire and in the open-ended interviews. In the explanations for
choosing the percussion instruments, some students specified religious
contexts:
"The sound of the bells reminds me of the church, when we hear the
sound of the bell we know that the day has begun. The bell reminds me
of light".
"The bells remind me of “Santa’s sleigh” and Christmas, a festival full of
light".
"Perhaps because the sound of (many) bells reminds me of morning
prayers in the church, (more than one bell is rung)".

As noted, the triangle was the most popular musical instrument that
represents "light". This is how the participants explained this choice:

“The sound of the triangle is calm and quiet, which leaves a feeling of
peace and calm, especially when one hears it in the morning. In addition
it gives me a feeling of purity and certain kind of innocence”.
“The sound of the triangle is gentle and rich and full, one feels that it
gives a feeling of hope and is suitable to symbolise “light”.
“The sound is very gentle and continues for a long time, I feel it enters my
soul, enlightens, starts with a high pitch and slowly slowly ends on a lower
pitch. It is a special sound that is inspiring and brings on positive thoughts”.

In comparison, there were students who chose the triangle as an

instrument symbolising “darkness". In most of the instances where the
participant chose the triangle or bell as an instrument that symbolised

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“darkness”, the participants came from a religious minority group. This is
how they explained their choices:
“Maybe because it reminds me of the ringing of the bells in the church,
when someone in my village dies”.
“The triangle has a quiet tone that can represent 'darkness' because
when it is dark there is silence and no noise".
“The sound is deep and gives a feeling of night time”.
“I chose the triangle because it has a nice gentle sound …. In the
darkness there is no sound, only the sounds of the insects, the triangle
has a quiet sound that symbolises the quietness of the dark".

Other explanations for choosing the triangle as an instrument that

symbolised “darkness” were that it has a quiet gentle sound that
can be played before going to sleep, as a lullaby, or that it reminds
them of the stars: "Something in the sound that changes reminds me
of the darkness of night, the stars". Some students chose the bells as
an instrument that symbolises darkness: "The bells produce a few
sounds together. There is something that is reminiscent of stars at
night".
The instruments associated with “darkness” that were mentioned
most frequently were the gong and the drum. Following are some
quotations of the participants explaining their choices:
Gong:
"This instrument has a strong rasping sound. Just like darkness".
"The sound of the gong is strong and powerful, muffled. A little threatening
and scary, because of that it reminds me of the “darkness”. Searching in
the mist, like the echo from a mountain, it causes one to recoil and to be
slightly frightened".
"The darkness brings with it mystery, as does the sound of the gong".
"I do not like it when it begins to be dark, and the darkness for me
symbolises a sudden scary sound like the gong".
Drum:
"The drum has a bass sound, low and deep, which reminds me of the
darkness because of the mystery in its sound. There is a deepness in the
sound of the drum that makes me think of despondency and mystery, like
at night time".
"The sound of the drum is powerful, portrays seriousness and fear, like the
darkness".
"This instrument (the drum) reminds me of the darkness, because for me
the darkness is a “boom”, fear, heart beating something that is stressful".
"It can be a threatening sound, and sometimes darkness can be
threatening".
The phenomenon in which long metallic sounds symbolised “light” for
participants from one group while it symbolised “darkness” for another
group (as appeared in the preliminary stage of the research) was not
apparent in the statistical analysis of the questionnaire.

Discussion

159
As a result of the music workshop that took place in the first stage of
the research in a multicultural class at teachers’ training college, when
it appeared that the building of musical concepts is affected by
cultural differences, it was decided to extend the research to a larger
population. The first part of the research took place in the classroom,
while the second part of the research consisted of students filling in a
digital on-line questionnaire. 180 students who are training to be early
childhood teachers in two different teacher-training colleges’, one in
the north of the country and one in the centre of the country,
completed the questionnaire.
The findings indicated that there was a difference in the metaphorical
concepts of "light" in association with musical sounds between different
cultures; however, no significant differences were noted with relation to
the metaphorical concepts of "darkness".
Additionally, the differences between the cultural groups were not
consistent in the two stages of the research. While in the music
workshop, the differences appeared clearly when metal long sounds
were conceived as symbolising “light” for one culture and “darkness”
for another, in comparison, in the digital questionnaire there was a
statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of their
choice of the specific metal instrument for representing “light”. This
difference is not a dramatic or major one, as was shown in the first
phase.
It is possible to explain the differences between the results of the two
phases. In the first phase, the workshop took place in a classroom, with
real musical instruments, where the participants played the instruments
and actually heard the sounds. The students in this experience were
part of a group, and their musical choices may have been affected by
group choices.
In the second phase, it was possible for the researchers to reach a
larger population; however, the participants' choices of instruments
depended on their musical representation from previous experiences,
since they specified their choices based on pictures of musical
instruments that were displayed in the Google form questionnaire.
Some of the students who answered the questionnaire even specified
that they had no memory concerning the sounds of the instruments
that were illustrated on the questionnaire.
The research question was whether there were cultural differences in
the use of metaphors to describe a person’s inner experience when
listening to musical sounds. The students who took part in the research
fully understood the use of the metaphorical concepts of light and
darkness, which was similar to what is written in the literature.
Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980, stated
that a connection is made at the cognitive level of two conceptual
domains, the source domain and the target domain. In this research,
the music was the source domain and the concepts of light and
darkness the target domain. Here the students were able to make the

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connection between “light” and “darkness” and musical sounds. In
addition, the open interviews made it apparent that the students were
able to build concepts, and their actions in the world around them
concerning” light” and “darkness“, as Gibbs (2008) indicated in the
literature when expanding the CMT theory. The cultural differences as
shown in the findings imply that the cognitive schemas built through a
person’s life are affected by social and cultural environment.

Conclusions
The findings in this research indicate that there is a cultural difference in
the mental concepts of musical sounds and the abstract level of
mental behaviour, the use of metaphors, to describe phenomena. This
has significance for musical educators. When teaching multicultural
groups of pupils or students, the educator must be aware and sensitive
to cultural differences when experiencing music.
It is acceptable to think of music as being “an international language”
and that there is a common understanding of musical metaphors. This
research indicates that there is a cultural effect on personal
experiences of music. Understanding music is gained through the
building of musical schemas that are culturally dependent.

References
Barcelona, A. (2000). Introduction. The cognitive theory of metaphor and metonymy.
In A. Barcelona (ed.) Metaphor and Metonymy at the Crossroads. A Cognitive
Perspective (pp.1-30). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Eitan, Z. & Granot, R. (2006). How music moves: Musical parameters and listener’s
images of motion. Musical Perception, 23 (3), 221-247.
Eitan, Z. and Timmers, R. (2010). Beethoven’s last piano sonata and those who follow
crocodiles: Cross domain mappings of auditory pitch in a musical context.
Cognition, 114(3), 299-464.
Gibbs, R.W. (2008).Metaphor and thought. The state of art. In R. W. Gibbs (ed). The
Handbook of Metaphor and Thought (pp. 3-16). Cambridge University Press.
Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (1980) Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press.
Langer, S. (1957). Philosophy in a New Key, Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
Lantolf, J. P., Thorne, S. L., & Poehner, M. E. (2015). Sociocultural theory and second
language development. Theories in second language acquisition: An
introduction, 207-226.
Peltola, H.R. & Saresma, T. (2014). Spatial and bodily metaphors in narrating the
experience of listening to sad music. Musicae Scientiae 18(3), 292-306.
Plato (380 B.C.E). The Republic. Trans. By Benjamin Jowett.
http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.html
Pratt, C. (1930). The spatial character of high and low tones. Journal of Experimental
Psychology,13, 278-285.
Reimer. B. (1989). A Philosophy of Music Education. Second edition. Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Thesaurus dictionary http://www.thesaurus.com retrieved on the 12.3.2017

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Zibikowski, L.M. (2008). Metaphor and music. In R.W. (ed.). The Handbook of
Metaphor and Thought (pp. 502-523). Cambridge University Press.

162
From Musical Culture for a Child towards a Child’s Musical
Culture: Women’s Narratives in a Child’s Musical Activity

Rūta Girdzijauskienė
Klaipėda University
Lithuania
[email protected]

Abstract
A review of studies of musical children shows how views regarding children’s music
education have changed over the centuries. The narratives of women who have
brought up their children and now have grandchildren illustrate such transformations
of attitude. Relatively short narratives of two fifty-year-old women have been chosen
as the unit of analysis. They told of 1) their own early musical experiences, 2) the
practices involving their children in musical activity, 3) the musical involvement of
their grandchildren. Thematic narrative analysis reveals the changing nature of
children’s involvement in musical activity, the role of parents in shaping a child’s
musical culture as well as the level of involvement of persons participating and has
been used to analyse the data. The data is analysed in the context of local cultures in
which the children are living with attention to their family environment as well as
national and cultural contexts that press upon the young lives of children.

Keywords
Child’s musical culture, narrative, musical activity

Prelude
Late afternoon in July. We sit together with my classmate Tina in a small
cafe in town. We have known each other for more than forty years: we
were in the same class at school. The friendship between me and Tina
continues. We meet each summer when I come to visit my parents.

We drink coffee, share our memories, and tell each other what has
happened during the previous year. Tina enthusiastically tells me about
her eighteen month old granddaughter and shows photos and videos
on her mobile phone. When I get to my parents’ home, I think about
the meeting for some time, about the photos and videos Tina showed
me, about the stories she told. Four of five or six stories were about
Tina’s granddaughter.

That summer I met with some other classmates and friends from
university days. All of the women enthusiastically talk about their first
grandchildren. All stories refer to or exhaustively describe the
relationship between a child and his/her musical environment. I
remember my childhood, the time when I was raising my children. The
insights that the musical environment of the family has changed, and
that there is added attention of the adults to a child’s musical activity
are obvious. I thought about this all summer, so at the end of the
holidays we met again with Tina and Rita—another friend from college.
This time I ask them to talk about how we grew up, how we raised our

163
children and how our grandchildren are brought up now. Early musical
experiences were the focus of my attention.

Participants
Tina, Rita and I are all fifty-two years old. There is a time lag of more
than twenty years between the period of childhood of both research
participants and the time when they raised their own children. Twenty
more years later their grandchildren were born. Both Tina’s children
returned to their hometown after university studies, are married and live
apart from their parents. Tina maintains close relationships with her
daughter and son, they often visit their parents’ home. Unlike Tina, after
studies Rita’s children stayed in the capital and return home a few
times each year. Nevertheless, they often communicate on the phone.
When the granddaughter was born, Rita and her daughter started
communicating via SKYPE. This way Rita can see her granddaughter
and communicate with her.

The lives of Rita and Tina are similar in many ways. They both were born
and grew up in small towns, their parents were labourers who worked a
lot and spent little time at home. Tina and Rita have completed higher
education, after university studies they returned to their hometowns.
They married their classmates, each has two children, a year ago their
first granddaughters were born. Both women do not have a music
education background, but they learned to play an instrument as
children. As adults they did not participate in any musical ensembles,
but sometimes they play an instrument, they like to sing. Past and
present narratives told by these two women are the basis of this article.

Methodology
From the first conversation with Tina it was clear to me that each story
“positioned in relation to music education helped me awaken to the
complexity of music education” (Clandinin, 2009, p. 202); its
contextuality. Narrative inquiry was to me a way of shaping, organising,
or imparting meaning to human experience, “a way of keeping alive
questions, conversation” (Bowman, 2006, p.14).

The data were collected through one hour interviews and some
informal conversations. The purpose of the initial interviews was to ask
what engaged both participants in recounting stories from their lives
that were related to their early childhood musical experiences (the
1960s), their children’s experiences (the 1990s) and grandchildren’s
(the 2010s). I asked open-ended questions: i.e., tell me about your early
childhood musical experiences, about your musical experiences while
raising children, grandchildren. I followed the participants’
conversational leads, encouraged them to tell their stories, adding their
voice by “trying to make sense of the life as lived” (Clandinin &
Connelly, 2000, p. 78). The participants presented several stories. The

164
stories that are based on a specific event and which reveal what, how,
and in what context something happened, have been chosen for
analysis (Feldman & Skoldberg, 2002).

Before the first meeting I thought I knew almost everything about both
women. During the interview, and particularly while reading
transcribed stories, I understood how superficial and general my
knowledge about them was. I met with Rita one more time, had
several conversations on the phone with both participants in order to
clarify information and to obtain additional data.
As a narrative researcher I was aware that my personal background
and perspective, my presence as an audience would affect the
narrative they told. Both of them felt a little uncomfortable at the
beginning of the interview. For both women I was not a researcher, but
primarily a fellow student, a friend. Ensuring openness and
ingenuousness was the first challenge. On the other hand, preliminary
doubts of the women that their narratives could be interesting to me
and valuable (“… nothing significant has happened in my life …”), that
their stories had to be told describing the situation, the place, and
relation to other persons (“… well, you know my family”) had to be
overcome. Positive experiences of both women, memories of a
“happy childhood”, “of the most beautiful time bringing up children”,
“of the sense of the miraculous when a granddaughter was born”
helped to overcome these misgivings and conduct interviews based
on cooperation and dialogue.

Similarities in age and life experience allowed me to understand the

essence of the narratives. As the researcher, I attempted “to discover
and construct meaning in those texts” (Clandinin & Connelly, 1994, p.
170). By listening to the stories of two women I became open to the
mystery, open to the wonder, open to the questions (Greene, 2001). I
listened to story to experience resonance (Eisner, 1991), to consider of
what it might to be significant in early childhood music education. The
research was carried out in accordance with the structure of three-
dimensional narrative inquiry space suggested by Clandinin and
Connelly (2000). While analysing stories, I looked for the following key
elements: time, place, and episode of action. Texts were analysed for
emergent themes and commonalities within stories.

The sunny silence of childhood

While describing her childhood musical experiences, Tina uses the
metaphor of a sunny time. Home to her is primarily a place of quiet.
“We lived in a remote, quiet street. Somehow it appears to me as very
sunny. Regarding my parents’ home, the first thing I remember is calm.
We never heard parents arguing, and they talked quietly as well. Then
we only had a small radio, the sounds of which I do not remember, or
we listened to the radio very rarely. My childhood was full of stillness.

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But I remember my mother singing. I see her as if it is happening now …
Our home is bright with sun, I am sitting on my bed, my mum is sewing
and singing. Her singing is loud, beautiful, deep. Her face is bright and
unearthly. Mum used a foot-pedal sewing machine – an incredibly
noisy one. She sang loud so that the song could be heard …. I hear the
sound of the sewing machine better than mum’s singing, but mum’s
face makes the song visible, tangible. She does not sing to me, she
sings to herself. I am afraid even to move so as not to disrupt this
peculiar moment… No, nobody sang to us (children). And I do not
remember any other music from my childhood.”
Rita’s childhood was also quiet, and her first musical experiences were
related to family celebrations.
“At home we had both TV and a radio, but I do not remember music
playing. Even though I attended a kindergarten from two years of age,
I do not remember singing there. There are no memories related to
music from the kindergarten …
I remember singing during family celebrations. My parents had a lot of
friends. They gather together and there is a lot of racket, happy voices.
A real contrast to the quiet daily routine. And oh how they sang … our
flat consists of a kitchen and two rooms of 17 square metres each.
During the party all chairs from the kitchen were brought to the living
room. I also stayed in the same room… I find a place to sit and listen to
guests singing. This is so beautiful, mum’s and aunt Irena’s voices are
particularly pleasing – resounding, harmonious. Also, they both know
the most songs. I find the song “Mažam kambarėlį” (In the Little Room)
the most appealing. I wait for it every time and pray in my thoughts –
one more verse, please, one more … I do not know how long the party
lasts. I fall asleep, then wake up again, and the guests are still singing. I
sleep in a song. I still remember all the songs from my parents’ younger
days”.

Raising children: music outside and inside the home

It is the 1990s. Tina and Rita are already married and have their own
children. One of the most notable features of that time was how
Lithuanians aimed to revive their national identity that had been
suppressed by the Soviet Union for 50 years. Events in great halls and
city squares attract a lot of people. It seems as if all Lithuanians have
left their homes. TV and radio programmes are filled with Lithuanian
songs awakening patriotic feelings. Tina tells the story.

“Nora was born during the first year of independence, and I could not
sit at home – I wanted to participate everywhere so much. When I
stayed at home, it seemed as if life just went by. I then would take my
daughter and we joined the others.
Once I was sewing a national costume for Nora [then she was two]
until the early hours. I could not wait for the morning to come. I dressed,
took care of Nora and we went to the celebration of Lithuania’s

166
Independence at the community hall. All the musical ensembles of the
town performed. The concert was long with lengthy breaks. Nora was
feeling great – in the beginning she sat on my knees observing what
was happening on the stage. Later she found the courage to dance
and clap to the music. It was strange to see so many young people,
young families. It was incredibly nice to see little children in the hall. We
both got home tired, but happy. Nora could not get to sleep for a long
time. I sang her all the lullabies that I knew, and the songs that I had
heard in the concert. I sang all the songs in Lithuanian that I knew, I
sang all my love for Lithuania”.

Rita talks about the time when she raised children in relation to her own
childhood musical environment. Her narrative is also about music.

“In my family we sang less. And my children grew up listening to

recordings … We went to all the concerts in town with the children.
Father played in the town’s orchestra, which is why we attended all the
concerts. Laura would start clapping her hands as soon as she reached
the entrance to the hall. I do not know how she understood that the
orchestra was going to perform. While the music was playing, she sat
charmed. Once after the concert she started crying out loud. People
turned around to see what had happened to the child. And Laura
shouted in a lisp (then she was two or three years old) – I want more.
This is how the concert ended– Laura was crying and I was laughing”.

Raising grandchildren: towards technology based musical

culture
Tina’s daughter lives in the same town. Nora and her daughter visits her
parents several times a week. Grandmother often baby-sits little
Elizabeth. Tina willingly describes what a responsible mother Nora is.
Even before the birth of Elizabeth she had gathered a lot of information
from the Internet about childbirth and bringing up a child. Nora
initiated a mothers’ group called “Mamyčių klubas” (Mothers’ club)
with children of the same age. Young women communicate on the
Internet every day sharing concerns of raising children, ideas regarding
their nutrition, healthcare, and education. Tina says:
“When my daughter leaves Elizabeth for me to babysit, she brings a
basket full of toys. Almost all the toys produce sounds: they play, jingle,
rattle. I take out all these toys wondering why there are so many of
them. I always find a music player and speakers in the bag. Her parents
bought these especially for Elizabeth so they would be of good quality.
Recordings are selected according to age, the playlist consists of
classical music pieces. Elizabeth has to listen to music every time
before sleep. This idea comes from the “Mothers’ club”, they all do the
same. It is said that then children will grow up more intelligent. Nora
does not know that I would rather sing myself when we are together

167
and before sleep. I enjoy this because I remember what my parents
used to sing to me, what I used to sing to my children”.

Rita’s daughter lives several hundred kilometres away from her parents,
she rarely visits her grandmother. However, they communicate via
SKYPE several times a week. The favourite toy of Laura’s daughter Agnė
is her tablet computer with programmes for children, with a lot of films
and collections of songs. Agnė skilfully manipulates her fingers to
choose the programmes. The talking grandmother on the computer
screen does not surprise the girl at all.
“We started communicating with Agnė via SKYPE as soon as she was
born. There is no other way since she lives so far away. In the beginning
Laura just showed us Agnė. She was about half a year old when she
“found” grandmother on the computer screen. I saw her staring into
the screen. She observed me for some time and … smiled. I was so
happy, so incredibly happy. She noticed me and recognized me. I did
everything to maintain Agnė’s attention – I sang, made various faces,
clapped my hands. I looked like a crazy woman. When we were
communicating, my husband came into the room. I felt his piercing
eyes on me asking what was going on with me. I tried to imagine how I
looked, a woman sitting in front of a computer producing various
strange sounds, shaking her head and hands. And looking happy...
Now we communicate with Agnė several times a week. I sing songs to
her, she sways, claps her hands. When I finish one song, she shouts,
‘more …’.

Discussion
The narratives presented are not homogenous. Firstly, while recounting
their childhood and the upbringing of their own children, Tina and Rita
are both participants within family life. On the other hand, participation
in their grandchildren’s care is fragmented; they receive most of their
information from other people. Secondly, while telling about their
childhoods, the women presented the stories that they had
experienced themselves. With respect to the upbringing of their
children and grandchildren Tina and Rita are active participants of the
situation; they are acting in regard to their goals and values. Despite
these limitations, the stories reveal significant glimpses of children’s
musical culture over various periods.

Themes and commonalities within narratives at a particular period of a

woman‘s life clearly emerge: their quiet childhood, active participation
in social life when raising their children, the role of technologies when
communicating with grandchildren. These themes can be analysed in
relation to social, economic, political factors, such as the galvanisation
of social life and bolstering of national identity when Lithuania
regained its independence. Even though the participants raised their
children at that time, they still participated in social events that gave

168
meaning to their ethnicity. National revival was felt everywhere during
that period: at schools, kindergartens, in families (Balčytis, 2012). Social
activeness, the moments of national identity perception are
particularly notable in Tina’s story. Therefore, in order to understand the
musical culture of Tina’s children, we have to „understand its social
agency, its cultural contexts, and its relation to the powerful institutions“
(Jenkins, 1998, p. 2). As DeNora (2007) states, music education must be
always understood as a holistic, culturally situated endeavour that
involves explicit and implicit understandings and practices.

Until the end of the twentieth century the dominant conception of

childhood presumes that children exist in a space beyond, above,
outside the political. “Childhood was seen as banal and transparent,
as without any concealed meanings” (Jenkins, 1998, p. 2). This can be
easily noticed in the stories of Tina’s and Rita’s childhood: at home they
are observers, they do not participate in the family’s social life
themselves. Later stories told by both women reveal the impact of
adults on children’s life, on their musical culture. At the end of the
twentieth century a child is recognized “as subject to the same
historical shifts and institutional factors that shape all human life”
(Jenkins, 1998, p. 4). The concept of children’s culture is changing as
well – “a sphere, where entertainments, advocacy and pleasure meet
to construct conceptions of what it means to be a child” (Giroux, 1996,
p. 89). Orientation towards a child, meeting his/her needs – these ideas
are clearly expressed when Tina and Rita talk about their
grandchildren. They are not passive recipients of music but active
agents who shape family life.

Children’s musical culture is closely related to musical activities. As

Katinienė (2001) states, the musical culture of a child might be
characterized as the variety of musical activities of a child and for the
child. From infancy, across their childhood years, and onward into their
adolescence, they sing, dance, and play music. Tina and Rita do not
remember such experiences from their childhood although Lithuanians
have a very rich heritage of Lithuanian folk songs for children. For
example, more than 1000 children’s folk examples are published in a
collection of Lithuanian children’s songs (Jokimaitienė, 1980). Until the
Second World War the tradition of singing to children and with children
was alive in Lithuanian families. In the middle of the twentieth century
when many people moved to cities, the tradition of folk singing was
lost; urban ballads became the most popular genre of song (Balčytis,
2012). From Tina’s and Rita’s childhood stories we see that their parents
used to sing, but not folk songs, not to their children and not with them.
The participants of the research begin to use folk singing (lullabies,
chants, rhythmic speech) while bringing up their own children,
coinciding with the time of national revival. Twenty more years later the
variety of musical activities in which Tina’s and Rita’s grandchildren

169
take part becomes highly diverse: songs, chants, rhythmic speech,
movement and dance, listening to music.

As regards musical culture of today’s children, the use of technologies

and the media in various contexts of family life needs to be assessed.
As Kertz-Welzel (2013) suggests, today’s childhood is a changed
childhood. Our grandchildren are the “Net Generation” (Carlson,
2005), who learn about their world through instantly accessible visual
and audio resources. Musical electronic toys, cell phones, DVD and
MP3 players play an important role in children’s lives. Technology and
the media are evident not only in children’s lives. They influence
parents’ and grandparents’ lifestyles and the way they communicate
with children and grandchildren (as in the social network ‘Mamyčių
klubas’ initiated by Tina’s daughter; Rita’s communication with her
granddaughter via SKYPE). New technologies make a significant
impact on the family and the child’s musical culture (Howe & Sloboda,
1991).

And finally, what have I learned from this narrative inquiry? As a

musician, from Tina’s and Rita’s childhood memories about their
parents’ singing I understood that early aesthetic musical experience is
particularly significant. For both women beautiful singing remained a
most striking musical memory from childhood. As a music teacher I
rediscovered the importance of music in passing on human values.
Tina’s story reveals the role of music in the formation of national
identity. I intend to act much more responsibly regarding the messages
that music and musical activities send to my pupils, their parents, and
community. As a mother and a future grandmother I will be careful
when using technologies and the media, I will try to preserve the
tradition of live performance, particularly singing, in the family. As a
researcher I will be attentive while listening to friends’ and colleagues’
stories. It is likely that some story might encourage me to take a closer
look at other people’s experiences which ‘might provide a means to
re-conceptualise the ways in which we think about music
engagement, music education, and inquiry in music education’
(Barrett & Stauffer, 2009, p. 1).

References
Balčytis, E. (2012). Muzikinio ugdymo labirintais [In the labyrinths of music education].
Šiauliai: Šiaulių universiteto leidykla.
Barrett, M. S., & Stauffer, S. L. (2006). Introduction. In M. S. Barrett, & S. L. Stauffer (Eds.),
Narrative Inquiry in Music Education (pp. 1-6). Springer Science+Business
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Can infants dance before they walk? An experiment with
eight to nine-month-old infants in parent-infant music classes

Helga Rut Gudmundsdottir

University of Iceland, School of Education.
Reykjavik, Iceland
[email protected]

Abstract
The present study investigated the gestural behaviour of infants in parent-infant music
classes. The data was collected using three video cameras in two groups with eight
to nine-month-old infants and their parents over a period of five weeks. Classes were
given two times a week, resulting in recordings from 20 parent-infant music classes. In
analysing the videos, a particular focus was placed on the effect of social frames
and of repeated musical activities on the infants’ gestural responses to the music. The
paper explores the notion of infant participation in musical activities and displays of
infant learning over the course of time. Furthermore, the paper discusses
methodological challenges and the limitations of quantifying overt responses in order
to understand infants’ experiences in social music contexts.

Keywords
Infants, Parent-infant music classes, musical movement, infant behavior, dance

Introduction
Research on music in infancy has predominantly regarded the
perception abilities of infants while relatively little attention has been
directed towards infants’ overt responses and attempts at producing
music and responding to music. The present paper examined eight to
nine-month-old infants in a parent-infant music course and their
behaviour during a particular social dance activity repeated in every
class. Their gestures and vocal behaviour was described before, during
and after the dance activity.

Music and movement frequently seem to go together. Most of the

bodily movements humans associate with music can be described as
some form of dancing. According to Dalcroze´s theory, music and
movement are inherently social activities and musical expressions are
thought of as closely related to the expression of rhythm through bodily
movements (Seitz, 2005). In the Dalcroze method, musicians deepen
their understanding of rhythm through interactive group activities. “The
orchestration of the body involves the concatenation of bodily
gestures, the juxtaposition and opposition of bodily movements in
relation to emotional attitudes, as well as the use of immobility (i.e. rest)
and silence” (Seitz, 2005, p. 423).

Observations of a large number of infants have suggested that

between four and six months they begin to respond to music with
intentional movements (Moog, 1976). “The movements were not
rhythmically coordinated with the music, nor in time with it. Though

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they were seldom synchronized with the music, they are rhythmical in
themselves, because of their repetitive nature” (Moog, 1976, p. 40).
More recent research has demonstrated that even though infants do
not accurately follow a musical beat, their movements are affected by
the tempo of the music. That is, they move faster to a fast beat than to
a slower beat (Zentner & Eerola, 2010).

In fact, infants are surprisingly capable of perceiving beats and rhythm.

Even the newborn brain habituates to a regular beat and responds
when the regularity is interrupted with a silence on a skipped beat
(Winkler et. al, 2009). As young as six months, infants habituate to a
triple meter if they are bounced to every third beat of a metronome
but to a double meter if bounced to every second beat (Phillips-Silver
& Trainor, 2005). Infants are also good learners of more complex
irregular rhythmic patterns. At three to six months infants can learn to
discriminate irregular patterns common in Bulgarian folk music which
North-American adults and children older than one year cannot
discriminate (Hannon & Trehub, 2005). Thus, infants are highly capable
of perceiving musical beat although their ability to demonstrate their
perception through body movements is limited by their command over
their movements. In fact, seven-month-old infants show that they
perceive the difference when a hammer moves in synchrony to a beat
or not (Bahrick & Pickens, 1995).

Enjoyment of dance and music is found in all cultures and gestures to

music can be seen as interpretative of the music in a similar way as
gestures to speech (Lewis, 2013). Moving to music in a social group is a
form of communication or more specifically, non-verbal
communication. Some researchers see the ability to communicate non
verbally with another human being as an act which requires some
rhythmic sensibility and use the term communicative musicality in this
context (Cross and Morley, 2008; Malloch, 2000; Malloch and
Trevarthen , 2009). From analyses of vocal communication between an
infant and a caregiver Malloch concluded that a four-month-old infant
is “capable of entering the structure of a musical game with an other,
participating in a musically logical way” (Malloch, 1999, p. 47).
However, very young infants do not demonstrate the same variety of
behavior in organized music classes as toddlers do (Custodero, 2005; St
John, 2006). The only two behaviors found in young infants according
to the Flow Indicators of Musical Activities (FIMA) are: Gesture and
Adult awareness (Custodero, 2005).

The parent-infant music classes

The experiment described in this paper was done with two groups of
eight to nine-month-old infants in a parent-infant music program in
Iceland. The program is called Tonagull (composed of two Icelandic
words having the double meaning of “precious tones” or “playful

173
tones”) and was designed by the author of this paper. The Tonagull
program has been described in a previous paper (Gudmundsdottir &
Gudmundsdottir, 2011). The program has been offered continuously
since 2004 with increasing enrolment rates every year. The classes are
45 minute long and are run in a prescribed sequence of elements that
has proven to work well to sustain interest, affect and attention of
infants under two years of age. A key element of the sequence is the
introduction of a social dance near the 30-minute mark before
segueing into the last minutes of “winding-down” songs and activities.
In our experience, the organized group dance helps in the transition
from active playing with drums and instruments into the final episode
leading into the good-bye-song. The dance activity sparks the
attention of fatigued infants and helps them cope with the
disappointment of instruments being put away at this point. The dance
activity that has been the most popular through the years is a dance
designed for the very first Tonagull class, called the baroque dance.
Although all the group dances we have designed do work as intended
none of them surpasses the popularity of the baroque dance. For
example, the music to the baroque dance is the most requested music
by parents who want to play it at home. There is no obvious
explanation why that dance is so popular but we refer to the magic of
the baroque dance because of its consistent success through the
years. In the case of a difficult or fuzzy group the Tonagull teachers rely
on the baroque dance to instantly create a positive synchronous
atmosphere in the group.

The baroque dance as an activity

The baroque dance is accompanied by a musical piece from the CD
Croc' Baroque : chansons enfantines et musique baroque3. The musical
piece is La sauterelle and is 1:15 minutes long (75 seconds). In class, the
dance activity is usually done two times in a row. The dance
participants are lined up in two rows facing each other similar to the set
up in court dances from the period of the baroque. Parents in both
rows hold their infants facing forward, the two rows facing each other.
Thus the parents and infants in both rows clearly see the participants in
the row facing them. The distance between the rows is about four to
five steps.

The dance is so simple that it takes only a little explanation to get

everyone dancing within a minute. In short, the two rows take turns in
walking to the beat towards the row facing them, taking a bow and
backing up to their starting position. While one row is moving forward
and backward the other row stands still and visa versa. The tempo is
close to a normal walking pace making the pacing easy and natural
to the adult participants, even those with very little experience in

3 Published by Accord label, Paris, 2002

174
dancing.

More specifically, the musical piece (La Sauterelle) is composed of 8-

beat phrases. On the first 8-beat phrase, row one walks four steps
forwards (beats 1-4) and four steps backwards (beats 5-8). On the
fourth step forwards they bend their knees as if they are bowing to the
participants facing them. As soon as row one has completed the
phrase walking front and back, row two walks in the same way towards
the facing row in four steps (making a bow with their knees on the
fourth beat) and back in four steps on beats 5-8, This gets repeated
continuously throughout the 75 seconds of the music, much to the
delight of the infants. The infants seem to appreciate the excitement
and predictability of the back-and-forth movement in the dance.
Somewhat in a similar way as infants and toddlers get excited about
swinging back and forth in a swing, facing someone who is stationary.
Typically, non-walking infants are intrigued by this dance and it is, in our
experience, by far the most effective way to quickly calm down and
regain the interest of a group of 12-14 infants who are tired, and
disappointed that the free play with musical instruments is over.

The experiment
Knowing the appeal of the baroque dance we were curious to look
closer at the behavior of the infants during the dancing activity. In
order to achieve this we needed permissions to videotape lessons. For
this purpose we invited parents of six-month-old infants to enroll in a
session of 10 free classes that would run two days a week for 5 weeks.
The parents who enrolled consented to video recordings of all classes.
At the time of the first class, the infants were all eight months old and
by the last class they were nine months old. This is during the paid
parental leave period when at least one parent can be at home with
the infant. Most infants were accompanied by at least one parent
although in some cases both parents did show up for the class.

Two groups of parents with14 and 16 infants each participated in the

study. No infant missed more than 2 out of 10 classes due to illness or
other reasons. Three cameras were placed at different angles in the
classroom. A total number of 30 infants recorded in 10 sessions.

For the first eight classes the baroque dance was introduced and
performed in a traditional manner, with a standard repetition making a
total of two runs of the dance during each class. At the ninth class
(week 5) a variation was introduced. The parents were instructed to
stand completely still when the dance music started and not make any
movements for the whole duration of the 75 seconds the song would
play. We wanted to know what the reactions of the infants would be to
the stillness of their parents who usually moved predictably back and
forth during this dance activity. After the still version of the dance the

175
music was repeated and the parents instructed to dance normally as
they had done during the first eight classes.

Video recordings of the normal version of the baroque dance were

analyzed for types of behaviour in the infants. Movements and gestures
were identified and labeled. The reactions to the “no dancing”
condition of the activity in the ninth class for both groups were
described and the infants’ behaviours compared to that in the normal
versions.

Results
The behaviour of the infants was observed on recordings that started
30 seconds before the activity was resumed with the onset of the music
and ended 30 seconds after the music stopped. Individual differences
were found in the types of behaviour and extent of reactions from the
infants. Some infants could be described as responding with high
intensity and others with low intensity. A list of behaviours detected is
displayed in Figure 1. The majority of the gestures and vocalizations
detected were considered positive and positive types of gestures were
more frequent than negative ones.

Gestures and vocalizations detected

One leg kicking

Both legs kicking
One hand reaching gesture
Both hands reaching gesture
One hand beat approximation
Both hands beat approximation
Hands and legs all moving
Relaxed posture of content
One palm open-close
Both palms open-close
Head nodding approximating beat
Head shaking side to side
Stillness attending to facing row
Stillness attending to parent
Stillness attention indistinct
Vocalizing short call
Vocalizing long
Vocalizing short negative
Vocalizing long negative
Rubbing of eyes
Wiggling backwards discontent
General discontent

Figure 1

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A clear difference was found between the infants’ vocal behaviour before
the music started and after the music started. In the 30 second window prior
to the activity the majority of negative gestures and vocalizations took place.
In summary, 16-30 seconds of the 30-second interval were characterized by
negative vocalizations by three or more infants. In contrast, when the music
started a vocal silence followed in all of the recordings. In some recordings
there were no vocalizations during the dance activity and in others individual
short vocalizations occurred sporadically and only after 30 seconds into the
dance. When the music stopped there would be vocal silence for at least 10
seconds followed by multiple onsets of negative vocalizations, even crying.

The negative body language was mostly found in the 30 seconds prior to the
beginning of the activity. The parents would be standing in their positions in
two rows, holding their infants facing forward to the other row. Restless infants
would sway backwards, rub their eyes and display the discontent that could
also be heard in the accompanying vocalizations. A few infants would be
still, in a content resting position. However, as soon as the music started all of
the infants would initially become still and remain still and attentive for a few
seconds. About half of the infants would continue to be mostly still during the
whole duration of the music (75 seconds) looking interested and content,
looking forward and at other participants. The other half of the infants would
display varying amount of physical movements but usually only 4-5 infants
(out of 14-16) would be highly active throughout the dance with hands
waiving and feet kicking in the air. In general, the infants moved more when
their parent stood still than when their parent was moving. It seems that they
reacted with body movements when the facing row walked towards them
but when their row was moving they relaxed their muscles, hands and feet
dangling down.

In the “no dancing” condition, when parents were instructed to stand still
when the music started rather than doing the dance steps it was observed
that all vocalizations stopped immediately, just as in the dancing condition.
So the music seemed to help trigger the silence rather than the movement of
the parents. Interestingly, the infants behaved very similarly in the non-moving
condition in the ninth class, as they would do in the regular dancing activity,
remaining interested and content throughout the duration of the 75 seconds
of music. Immediately, as the music stopped the infants demonstrated
restlessness in their movements and produced multiple negative
vocalizations. This finding was the same in both groups.

Discussion
It was clear from the recordings that the music and dance activity we call
the baroque dance alerted the attention of all infants and elicited positive
gestures and vocalizations. This was in sharp contrast to the 30 seconds
before and after the dance, which elicited negative gestures and
vocalizations. It did not seem that the parents needed to be moving in order
for this effect to manifest. The “non-moving” music-only condition elicited

177
similar reactions by the infants as when there was movement. It is not clear if
the music alone had this effect or if the anticipation of dancing played a role
in their reactions. It is nevertheless remarkable that over a dozen infants can
stay relatively quiet and still in an apparent state of heightened alert for 75
seconds.

This resting, albeit alert state of infants in the context of a social musical
activity deserves more attention and could be viewed in the context of infant
studies that rely on focused attention to auditory stimuli (e.g. Trehub, 2001).

To observers of the video recordings of infants participating in the baroque

dance activity it is obvious that they all enjoy the activity. Even the ones who
are tired and initially in a negative mood. The infants also seem to have a
sense of anticipation of what is coming. However, systematic observations of
the infants’ behaviour poses methodological challenges. It is not clear that
quantification of movements and gestures is helpful for understanding the
infants’ perceptions or experiences during the activity. In future studies it may
be helpful to focus on different types of reactions from infants whose
responses differ in terms of intensity.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The writing of this paper was made possible by the University of Iceland Research Fund and
the Fulbright Visiting Scholar Program.

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Malloch, S., & Trevarthen, C. (2009). Communicative musicality: Exploring the basis of human
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sciences: The biological foundations of music, Vol. 930, 1-16.

Winkler, I., Háden, G. P., Ladinig, O., Sziller, I., & Honing, H. (2009). Newborn infants detect the
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179
Reframing observable musical behaviours as play. A research
study of musical play amongst two- and three-year old children in
two Early Years settings in England

Alison Harmer
Independent researcher
England UK
[email protected]

Abstract
Music in early childhood tends to be perceived and supported by adults as “performance”
and the accurate recreation of tunes and rhymes is valued. Both music and play are
appropriated as pedagogical tools for learning and child-initiated, expressive, multi-modal
musical play often goes unnoticed by early childhood practitioners. Consequently, the
nature of musical play in the healthy development of the child is little understood.

In this study I, an early childhood music practitioner, have monitored the diverse musical
behaviours of 26 two- to four-year olds at play in two Children’s Centres in the South West of
England in two ways. Firstly, the Sounds of Intent (SOI) scale was used to quantify how a
child’s behaviour was musically proactive, reactive, or interactive. Secondly, I collected
written observational data.

At the end of 2017, research data will be examined to see if they support the hypothesis that
increasing musical behaviours in an early years setting can help to “close the attainment
gap” for children identified by the Centre’s professionals as being at risk of academic
underachievement.

Data collected so far demonstrate a general trend in the children’s musical development.
Some findings require further investigation: the disparity between the quantity of overt
musical behaviours recorded for boys compared with girls; the lack of clarity amongst early
years professionals over the purpose of musical play in early childhood settings, and when
viewing the contextual data obtained within a Playwork Theory framework, hints emerge as
to why musical play was occasionally absent.

Keywords
Musical play, Play, Sounds of Intent, Playwork, Early Childhood, Ludic Play Cycle, musical
ludido

Introduction
This paper describes a primarily outcome-focussed project called “Move,
Groove, Improve”, funded by Youth Music, supported by The Music Works
and based in two Children’s Centres in the South West of England. The
research hopes to demonstrate that increasing children’s active music-
making will help to “close the attainment gap” for targeted children who are
considered to be at a disadvantage when compared with their financially
better-off peers locally and nationally. Musical behaviours of children were
monitored using the Sounds of Intent Scale (Ockelford, 2008; Vogiatzoglou,
Ockelford, Welch & Himonides, 2011) and the Centres have agreed to share
with the me, the author, anonymised data gathered as part of their
monitoring of children through the Early Years Foundation Stage (DfE, 2014)

180
enabling the comparison of the studied cohort to other children in England.
Serendipitously, this study offers a valuable opportunity to take time to
observe children as they go about their play and gain deep insights into how
that play is musical.

Musical play, according to Young (2003), is a way of “creating forms of

organisation which ‘hold on’ to things in time and space through rhythmical
regularities and expressive shapes”. Who starts or supports that play is not
prescriptive. In a Vygotskian model of teaching and learning (Vygotsky 1978)
adults, and capable child peers, are an important resource in learning
environments, supporting a child’s progression through their zone of proximal
development; however play, where adults are not present, can be superior
according to Siraj-Blatchford and Sylva (2004). In a wider sense, playwork
theorist Russell (2015) expanded the idea of play into a “synecdoche
encompassing children’s play and adults’ support of it” and the Dutch
historian Huizinga (1955) explained “in everything that pertains to music, we
find ourselves in the play sphere”.

In order to ensure a core of at least 24 children at the end of the project, and
anticipating attrition of this number as children move out of the area or
change their childcare facility, 43 children have been tracked from the age
of two when they started at their local Children’s Centres, and observations
will continue until they are four years old and leave to go to school. All
children in the targeted group are identified as being at risk of delay to their
development and are part of a programme called “Achieving Two Year
Olds” which offers carers up to five, three-hour sessions per week, free of
charge. Criteria for accessing these free places includes being in a family
which qualifies for free school meals and receives working tax credits; if the
child has an education, health and care plan; is in receipt of disability care
allowance or is in the care of the local authority. All children in both
Children’s Centres, regardless of their age or vulnerability, were included in
music activities, yet they could equally choose not to engage in active
music-making.

Staff in both Centres sing regularly with children in group sessions utilising a
core repertoire of nursery rhymes. Parker (2015), surveying Children’s Centre
Managers, found that speech and language skills were the most popular
areas of need that music was required to support. Unprompted remarks from
the Centres’ hard-working and dedicated practitioners hinted at their
understanding of music as a tool to gather children into a group, focussed on
one task (table.1). This contention between music for pedagogy (learning
through music, as Hargreaves (2013) put it) and music as pedagogy (learning
in music) resonates with the distinction made by Howard (2010, p205)
between play for pedagogy and play as pedagogy.

181
Table 1. Examples from this project where priorities of pedagogy in musical
play have been apparent

Musical Play for Pedagogy Musical Play as Pedagogy

examples from this study examples from this study
“Would you like to do some music? The Ali plays a bass riff on a guitar and L drums
children are sitting, ready”. along
“Can you get them to stay on the Boys A and D share a drum, taking turns
carpet?” with “go go go!” and “stop”
A core repertoire of songs/signs with card Child-constructed “bus”. R the driver sings
prompts “The Wheels on the Bus” as he drives.
Number counting rhymes R hums to himself as he cycles past on his
bike
Songs for hand washing or transitions C and M turn Hapi Drum upside down to
make “Music Soup”
Learning Sign Supported English / “Total Glissando “oooeayeeayah!” as S scoots
Communication” signs through songs downhill

Data Collection
Sounds of Intent in the Early Years (SoI-EY) was launched in 2015 and many of
its ideas to promote particular musical behaviours have been applied in this
study. The free original online SOI reporting tool has been used (Vogiatzoglou
et al, 2011) for ease of data recording and to benefit from the graphical
data reporting tools that this method offers. Using SOI (Ockelford, 2008), the
musical behaviours of the children are assessed in three areas:

Reactive: Listening and responding

Proactive: Causing, creating and controlling
Interactive: Musical behaviours that occur in the context of participation with
others

The cohort of children (Table 2) includes those who have joined the Centre
since I started this study. Within this group of 43 children is a “core group” of
26 children who have been tracked since the beginning (Table 3).

Table 2. SOI data May ’16 to March ’17 for all monitored children

Total number of sessions attended by researcher 108

Total Number of SOI observations recorded 503

Total number of boys across two Centres observed 22

Total number of observations of musical play by boys recorded 316

Total number of girls across two Centres observed 21

Total number of observations of musical play by girls recorded 187

Table 3. Average Reactive, Proactive and Interactive scores for core group
only, recorded May ’16 to March ’17

182
 Total
observations of
girls in core Average SOI Average SOI Average SOI
group Reactive score Proactive score Interactive score
Girls (n=13)
156 3.4 3.4 3.2
core group
Total
observations of
boys in core Average SOI Average SOI Average SOI
group Reactive score Proactive score Interactive score
Boys (n=13)
224 3.1 3.0 2.9
Core group

In addition to the SOI data, I wrote brief narrative observations in my

notebook every time I noticed a child’s musical behaviour. I will examine
here the data collected so far for two children, girl M and boy T.

Girl M: The SOI scale, my observations and EYFS data

Figure 1 depicts M’s SOI evaluation over time. The initial observation scores
highly as a result of an interaction with a peer. Since then her opportunities
for engaging in music and musical play have been increasing but overt
musical behaviours are not frequently observed or recorded.

Figure 1. Girl M’s Sounds of Intent Data illustrated as three Domains with a
combined summary

My diary notes 6th May 2016: Girl Z sitting in music corner with practitioner
and child M. Z offers jingles to M who shakes her head and shrinks away. The

183
practitioner picks up a beater and softly strikes drum whilst singing “Twinkle
Twinkle Little Star” and picks up spare jingles and offers them to M who takes
them. M takes the jingles as Z starts singing song (I can’t make out the words).
M and Z look at each other shaking jingles enthusiastically then quietly
together then loudly again, laughing.

EYFS measurements for M show no area of concern and that she is on target
in all areas including Listening and Attention and Speaking, although fewer
data points have been collected for her than some of her peers.

Boy T: The SOI scale, my observations and EYFS data

Figure 2 shows boy T’s SOI evaluation over time. Whilst the overall trend
showed an increase in the frequency and sophistication of his observable
musical behaviours, some days T made his musical behaviours observable
and some days he did not.

Figure 2. Boy T’s Sounds of Intent Data illustrated as three Domains with a
combined summary

Observation Diary Notes: 24th Jan ’17. Seven children (four boys, three girls)
are gathering large wooden pallets and placing them on top of each other
to a height of approximately 60-70 cms. This is quite a struggle. Boy T speaks
loudly “boys, I can do this one” and places another pallet on top of the
tower. He starts singing, swaying as he walks heavily past the tower:
“Build a big tower (sol sol sol mi)
Build a big tower (sol sol sol mi)

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 Bob the Builder (do la sol mi)
Yes we can” (re re do)
And moments later, as he shifts logs amongst other children:
“Working together to get the job done” (fa so ti so mi, mi re mi re do)
Last phrase different key, mostly in tune.

EYFS data for T show typical development for Self-confidence and Self-
awareness, Health and Self-care, Reading, Numbers, People and
Communities, The World, Exploring using media and materials and Being
Imaginative. Other areas such as Listening and Attention, Understanding and
Speaking are developing age appropriately, but are not yet “secure”.

Discussion: A Play-focused view of Musical Play

Sturrock and Else (1998) developed the Ludic Cycle within the discipline of
Playwork Theory to depict the process of play as it occurs. The diagram
(Figure 3) is borrowed from Else (2014) and adapted here by me for a musical
interaction where two children are in flow (Csikszentmihalyi 1990; Custodero
2011).

Figure 3. Musical Play in flow between two players adapted from Else (2014)

The play frame is the physical or thematic boundary that contains the play.
For boy T it was pallet-building area outside. For girl M it was a music corner
with a trusted friend, girl Z. The play frame can be constructed, like a music
corner or den; or a metaphorical musical environment where song and
diverse musical behaviours are supported and welcomed.
The play drive, the ludido (Else 2014 p71), is the child’s intrinsic conscious or
unconscious desire to play which is related to the child’s sense of identity or

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sense of power. T had a tower to build and peers to be rallied. M wanted to
be included in a song. Ludido is necessary for play to become evident.

The child issues a play cue (is Proactive), such as Boy T singing “Build a big
Tower”; or girl Z offering a jingle to girl M. The play cue is accepted as building
continues or the jingle is taken (Reactive).

Acceptance of the play cue feeds back (the play return) to the Proactive
child and boy B sings a motivating song. Girl M shakes her jingle
enthusiastically. Play flow occurs briefly as the children become “lost” in their
play (Interactive). Shortly, when the tower is built, boy T moves away to
another area. Girl M drops the jingle and sits still. The play is annihilated (Else,
2014). Both children have already got what they wanted from that episode
of music-centred play.

Even in a musical environment, music does not always “happen” and is

therefore not recorded. Figure 4 depicts a musical play cue that is not
returned. I have experienced this when I am being Proactive, wanting to play
in a musical way by humming a tune, leading a music session, strumming a
guitar or playing on the Hapi Drum, and no child joins me. It is part of my job
to be Proactive in an Early Childhood environment but I rely on children to
start singing on a note that they can reach so I know what key to sing in, or
show me a movement, rhythm or sound that I can support and that we can
“play with” together.

Figure 4. Musical Play with no return

Reviewing the Data so far

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Some aspects of the data collected demand reflection: I am tracking boys
and girls in equal numbers but am gathering many more observations of
overt music making from boys than girls (Table 2). A part of this bias is due to
staff asking me to focus on certain children with behavioural issues or Special
Educational Needs and the majority of these children are boys. If I bring in
interesting musical instruments for use during free play it is usually boys who
arrive at the instrument first. Careful, firm and fair management of a musical
instrument is essential, as is keeping the instrument available for the full
duration of free play so that all children can eventually explore it fully and
utilise it in their play, particularly when its novelty has expired.

Examining the average SOI Domain scores for the data collected to date,
the lowest average score for a domain is the boys’ Interactive score.
Interactivity in the SOI sense means taking turns to copy musical motifs and
can require some high level verbal skills like remembering lyrics, voice control
or turn-taking. “Interactive” is also the girls’ lowest-scoring domain.

Moving forward, I shall change my sampling technique from recording

musical behaviours as I notice them to collecting an equal number of SOI
observations for girls as for boys. I will also positively seek out and facilitate
musical play that is Interactive.

Unfortunately for girl M, one skilled musical interaction between M and her
peer at the start of the study gave her a downwards-pointing graph over
time for her personal SOI analysis. I cannot be certain that doing more of the
same musical approach will convert M’s graph into an upwards incline. I am
confident however that M is “musical” and that her level 2 abilities are
consolidating (Ockelford 2015). Currently, Girl M’s lower scores in SOI
measurements do not correlate with lower scores on her EYFS observations.
Her EYFS data measure “higher” than Boy T who had higher SOI scores. I will
not be able to tell if the “attainment gap” has been closed or narrowed until
the children leave for school later in the year. I also will never know if the gap
will have been closed by more music or the excellent work of the early
childhood practitioners I work with. Further data collection and analysis is
required before comparing EYFS and SOI data for the entire cohort and
drawing firm conclusions.

Conclusions: “Purposeful” Musical Play

It would appear that Musical Play is a complex, tangled, multi-purpose
activity. Counting individual threads in musical play has revealed how vital
those threads are to the colour, texture and integrity of the whole fabric of
children’s musical play.

The newly updated EYFS (DfE, 2017) keeps a phrase from its previous iteration:
“Each area of learning and development must be implemented through
purposeful play and through a mix of adult-led and child-led activity”. In this
study, active music-making has been implemented through a combination

187
of adult-led and child-led activity. The “purpose” of music and musical play
appears to be different for all the children, staff and practitioners in the
Children’s Centre. It is clear that musical play needs to be examined from
many angles and whilst quantitative measurement offers useful information,
there is a risk that promotion of measurable features of musical play might
jeopardise its less-tangible or less-researched benefits. As Wood (2010) points
out, the justification of quality pre-school provision is its positive impact on the
long-term life chances of the children. Therefore I feel under some pressure
now to show that more music, monitored through SOI equates to a positive
impact on EYFS scores.

I am finding the Sounds of Intent Scale to be a valuable tool in assessing

children’s musical behaviours because it facilitates a highly disciplined, if
narrowly focussed, way of looking at diverse, contextual behaviours.
Identifying SOI domains that require additional support is tantamount to
utilising SOI data as a diagnostic tool. However, acknowledging the staff’s
requirement that music could be used to modify group behaviours, and
through this study having proved that the lowest-scoring domain for both
boys and girls is “Interaction”, the evidence suggests that I should focus on
music for group interaction for the rest of the year. I am still reflecting whether
this can or should be done through musical play or through structured, adult-
led activities. I also worry that such clear repurposing of music might in the
short term modify social behaviours, but could pose a risk to a vulnerable
child’s long-term association with music.

I am concerned as to why some children are difficult to engage in musical

play, or rarely proactively initiate musical play. The Sounds of Intent domains
map on to many features of the Play Cycle with the exception of “ludido”
(the play drive) and “annihilation” (where the play is ended). I suggest that it
is the musical drive, the child’s internal “need” to make music, the “musical
ludido” that needs to be supported for some children. Without this musical
ludido, musical play might lack any purpose for the child and extrinsic,
behaviour-modifying goals for example, could become the child’s musical
play drive.

As Ockelford pointed out (2008, p82) “And it is worth remembering that a

theory need not be correct to be useful”, neither the Sounds of Intent Scale
nor Playwork Theory explain the purpose of Musical Play but both are very
useful in helping us to get to grips with the complex relationships between the
early childhood music practitioner, pedagogical requirements, and the
young musical child at play.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My grateful thanks to the two Children’s Centres who continue to welcome me each week,
to Youth Music and The Music Works.

References

188
DfE. (2017). Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage: setting the standards
for learning, development and care for children from birth to five. Retrieved from
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-
framework--2
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: the psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper
and Row.
Custodero, L. (2011). Observable indicators of flow experience: a developmental
perspective on musical engagement in young children from infancy to school age.
Music Education Research, 7(2), 185-209.
Else, P. (2014). Making Sense of Play. Maidenhead. Open University Press.
Ockelford, A. (2015). Sounds of Intent in the Early Years. London: International Music
Education Research Centre Press.
Ockelford, A. (2008). Music for Children and Young People with Complex Needs. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Parker, J. (2015). For what reasons do Children’s Centre Managers employ or not emply
musicians practitioners? Dissertation submitted in part fulfilment of the award of
MAEducation (Early Years Music) Birmingham City University. Retrieved from
https://bcu.academia.edu/JaneParker
Hargreaves, D. (2013). What do young children learn in and through music? Keynote address
in the 6th conference of the European Network of Music Educators and Researchers
of Young Children, The Hague, Netherlands, 18th July, 2013.
Howard, J. (2010). The developmental and therapeutic potential of play: re-establishing
teachers as play professionals. In J. Moyles (Ed.), The Excellence of Play. (3rd ed. p205)
Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Huizinga, J. (1955). Homo Ludens. Boston:Beacon Press.
Russell, W. (2015) Entangled in the midst of it. In M. Mclean,W. Russell & E. Ryall. (Eds).
Philosophical Perspectives on Play. London:Routledge. (p193).
Siraj-Blatchford, I., Sylva, K. (2004. Researching Pedagogy in English preschools. British
Educational Research Journal, 30(5), 713-730.
Sturrock, G., Else, P. (1989). The playground as therapeutic space: playwork as healing
(known as ‘The Colorado Paper’). In Sturrock,G., Else, P. (2005). Therapeutic Playwork
Reader One. Sheffield: Ludemos.
Vogiatzoglou, A., Ockelford, A., Welch, G. & Himonides, E. (2011). Sounds of Intent:
Interactive Software to assess the Musical Development of Children and Young
People with Complex Needs. Music and Medicine, 3 (3), 189-195.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Wood, E. (2010). Reconceptualizing the play-pedagogy relationship: from control to
complexity. In L. Brooker and S. Edwards (Eds.), Engaging Play (pp.15-27).
Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Young, S (2003). Music with the Under Fours. London: Routledge. p54

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What are they learning? - exploring the tensions and complexities
in a learner-centred approach to early childhood music
education

Laura Huhtinen-Hildén
Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences
Finland
laura.huhtinen-hilden@ metropolia.fi

Jessica Pitt
University of Roehampton
United Kingdom

Abstract
There is a need to understand and interpret early childhood education approaches for
music learning situations. The shift towards a more learner-centred paradigm poses questions
for reflection. This presentation seeks to explore terminology and concepts about learning
and music education in early childhood. The aim is to give an overview of this broad topic
and to offer a focus for further analysis. The presentation unpicks the pedagogue’s and the
learner’s positioning along a continuum from a teacher-centred to a learner-centred
approach (see van Langenhove, & Harre´, 1999).

Questions that have guided our dialogue with the literature: What are the tensions,
complexities and dilemmas inherent in following the child’s lead in a group music situation?
What are the ways in which children’s musical initiatives can be included and valued in a
group learning process? Is there a place for pedagogue-led elements in learner-centred
music learning?

One-to-one following of a child’s musical initiatives may be easier to understand and

incorporate into practice than adopting child-led ideas in a group-learning situation. If we
conceive of the group learning process as collaborative the dialogue and the initiatives, the
power and contributions are shared and negotiated within the community of practice (Lave
and Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998). The pedagogue facilitates the process by drawing
together the threads and ideas to shape the artistic shared moment. Issues of the location of
power, authority, control, knowledge and creativity in early childhood music education as
well as questions about the characteristics of quality music teaching in this situation will be
discussed in the presentation. Our findings include some key issues about how to develop
and define quality music practice; assessment of learning and pedagogical attributes in
early childhood music education. We hope that the discussions will raise more questions to
further the contribution to knowledge that is needed in our sector.

Keywords
Learner-centred, music education, teacher training, pedagogical approaches.

190
The EcoSonic Playground: Project description and development

Elissa Johnson-Green
Department of Music
University of Massachusetts Lowell
[email protected]

Abstract
Providing equal and free access to interactive musical play drives us. The EcoSonic
Playground project develops interdisciplinary STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the
arts, and math) and sustainability education through project-based learning. Using a
differentiated, engineering focused curriculum, 7- and 8-year-old children (2nd and 3rd grades
in the US) will build large-scale, indoor musical instrument play structures with majority
reusable materials. Sustainability education blends architectural design processes,
technology, acoustics, and materials experimentation, which immerse children in kinesthetic
deep-skills learning. The EcoSonic Playground serves under-served communities, wherever
exists the greatest need for creative opportunity - through constructing interactive musical
spaces.
Cross-disciplinary faculty and undergraduates will facilitate the EcoSonic Playground
curriculum through an after-care program at an inner-city elementary school. Children’s
active participation includes: Planning/organizing; collecting clean reusable materials with
school community help; experimenting with those materials; instrument design visualization
through aspirational drawing; and instrument building. Once the instruments are made and
tested, children will build scaffolding for them following provided structural kits and blueprints.
This initiative will become a pilot program – a model for the EcoSonic Playground group to
bring across the City of Lowell and beyond. This project is a work in progress: It has
developed quickly. Each new idea seems to spur us into further avenues of creative problem
solving. This paper is a full description of the project.

Keywords
STEAM, immersion learning, community, playgrounds, design

The EcoSonic Playground: Project description

In the summer of 2016 a cross-disciplinary project team consisting of University
of Massachusetts Lowell faculty and students entered into a collaborative
venture with the Earth Day Committee for the City of Lowell, the Abraham
Lincoln Elementary School, and UMass Lowell’s Office of Sustainability to
design and implement an integrated engineering-focused, and project-
based STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and
math)/sustainability education curriculum.

The goals of the EcoSonic Playground look toward immersive, experiential

learning for early elementary aged children through building large-scale,
multi-faceted musical instruments – emphasizing community-facing benefits.
Using majority reusable materials, children will design and build musical
instruments that will be attached to PVC pipe scaffolding, in essence
creating sculptures that can be played. The university project team designed
and built two working models, which included the following: Computer tower
covers, computer cord, large water containers, dryer vent tubes, telephone
cords, pots and pans, bicycle wheels, electrical tape, propane tanks, large

191
water barrels, and PVC pipe. These models have been installed at our
university where students have been playing on them – recently for a two-
hour jam session (see figures 1 and 2).

Figure 1

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Figure 2

Our initiative will extend its reach to a range of critically underserved

populations, including: Incarcerated youth, children on the autism spectrum,
children with a range of other special needs, public schools, community
organizations who provide after school care, and organizations making
efforts to involve at-risk youth in positive and meaningful activity. Coupled
with a rigorous and structured evaluation component, this will set the stage
for a scalable model that will be poised for the development of future
expansion throughout the region.

193
Presently, we have a connection with the Lincoln Elementary School in the
City of Lowell, where we will be implementing the EcoSonic Playground
program starting in Autumn 2017. This school’s neighborhood has been
designated as low socio-economic status even as compared to other areas
of Lowell (an at-risk city). The Lincoln School community comprises
predominantly immigrant families, many of which are Cambodian. We are
working with the school’s principal to align the EcoSonic Playground
curriculum with the children’s skills and educational needs.

Community connections
The EcoSonic Playground will provide an effective and multifaceted vehicle
for community organizations to develop in their children under care a rich
variety of skills and aptitudes to facilitate their growth as creative,
collaborative, culturally aware and socially responsible individuals. It also has
the potential to demonstrate the interconnectedness of socio-cultural
aptitudes with learning in STEAM areas. The EcoSonic Playground may lead to
positive learning outcomes in the areas of general musicianship skills,
improvisation, collaborative music making, and STEAM education, as well as
foster creativity, ecological awareness and strengthen social interaction.

Intentional community involvement will be at the core of designing, creating,

and building the prototype instruments/play structures. Focused integration
of music, visual arts, and cultural relevance will create open play spaces for
the public. The EcoSonic Playground will not only revitalize these urban areas
but also will become a catalyst and model for transforming public areas of
Lowell, which have great potential for community interaction – but that
currently may be underused and/or attract illicit behaviours.

The curriculum
Participation in the EcoSonic Playground pilot project will happen through an
after-school program developed at UMass Lowell’s Department of Music. This
program will involve students in applying STEAM skills in the following ways:
Planning/organizing: Collecting clean reusable materials with school
community help; Experimenting with those materials for feel, materials, and
sound production; visualizing how an instrument might be designed/made
through materials manipulation; creating aspirational drawings of early-stage
musical instruments; and building these instruments/learning to use hand tools
and hardware (safely and effectively) as part of the curriculum.

Once preliminary instruments are made, the UMass Lowell project team will
provide structural kits and blueprints. These materials will allow students to
build scaffolding, to which these instruments will be attached. Structural kits
will include: Specially cut and sanded PVC pipe (chemical free); PVC fittings;
hardware; and blueprints.

After completing the indoor structures, participating students will be given a

new challenge: Design a permanent, outdoor playground where the

194
adventure structures are musical instruments. During this stage, the UMass
Lowell project team plans to invite professionals (e.g., engineer, architect,
city planner, acoustics specialist, etc.) to work with the students. Building the
playground will be a school community effort.
The after-school class will draw students into the process of civic
development as they help to design their own playground.
The school community will become involved with the afterschool
program, in building the indoor playground pieces, and gathering safe,
non-toxic reusable materials, aiming to reduce the neighborhood’s
carbon footprint and provide students with experimental materials.
As a community development project, the playground will become a
model for building other playgrounds across Lowell. It will become a
concrete manifestation of that community’s efforts to make their school a
social center.
Community involvement in The EcoSonic Playground will emphasize
ownership, which will provide incentive for maintaining the playground
over time. To mitigate inevitable wear and tear on the structures, we will
use an integrated design: The instruments will be the playground structures
(see Figure 3).

Figure 3

Project initiatives
Presently, our working group is involved with two major research initiatives
aimed towards understanding the project’s potential.
International partnership

195
Working in parallel, Marino Institute of Education, an associate college of the
University of Dublin, Trinity College will explore the efficacy of a portable
EcoSonic Playground from a STEAM learning perspective (music, visual arts
and social, environmental and scientific education) with elementary school
children in areas designated as disadvantaged (DEIS).

In Dublin, student elementary teachers will design, test and help construct
mobile EcoSonic Playground installations informed by science and music and
inspired by visual artists (mobiles, stabiles, kinetic work and sound sculpture).
In addition, they will co-design a STEAM interconnected learning program for
elementary school including Music, Visual arts and Science and informed by
inquiry-based, collaborative, and transdisciplinary learning. Findings from
UMass Lowell’s research on community interaction and relationship with the
EcoSonic Playgrounds will scaffold efforts to approach Dublin city councils in
relation to exploring similar possibilities to transform neglected public spaces
with environmentally sustainable musical instrument playgrounds.

Case study at UMass Lowell

Through this research initiative we will make the large-scale instrument
structures our project team has produced available to students inside of the
Department of Music in two different age groups: Undergraduate and
elementary age. Studying these two populations will give us a baseline for all
future research. We intend to compare the ways in which older and younger
students use the instruments from diverse perspectives including:
Spontaneous musical play, social interaction, group improvisation,
community building, and musical thinking.

We believe that the data collected from both of these initiatives will help us
to create and implement the EcoSonic Playground curriculum as we bring it
to the Lincoln School and other organizations that serve children. We intend
to involve these children in all aspects of envisioning, building, and playing on
large-scale instrument structures of their own creation. Based on previous
research, we believe that open and free access to musical play aids in
aspects of children’s musical and social-emotional development, (e.g.,
Chooi-Theng Lew & Campbell, 2005; Lum & Campbell, 2007; Marsh, 1995,
2012; Marsh & Young, 2006, etc.) therefore benefiting their overall well-being.

Frameworks
The idea for our project stems from several existing theories of development
and learning, along with the seminal work of others in the area of children’s
playground music making. We began with reading into Campbell’s (1998)
and Marsh’s (2008) research into children’s free musical play in playgrounds
and in diverse cultural contexts. Their work inspired us to think about how we
might weave together the various developmental aspects of children’s music
making that have been foundational to this project.

196
We decided to look at the musical playground from an engineering
perspective – we asked how we might combine young children’s natural
propensity towards music making in communication and social interaction
(e.g., Burnard, 2006; Miell, MacDonald, & Hargreaves, 2005; Trevarthen, 1999-
2000, etc.) with learning processes in general. We became most interested in
STEM subjects as logical connecting skills to music instrument building,
therefore adding the A (for arts). However, as we continue to think about this
project, we also see STEAM connections to improvisation and composition –
from the perspective of music as a dynamic, living form of architecture
based on engineering and design principles (Bispham, 2009-2010; Kuloglu,
2015; Resnick & Ocko, 1991; Watson, 2015).
We know from previous compositional work with kindergarteners (Johnson-
Green, 2016) that we may include children from early elementary in the
building and design process. Creating music lends itself well to the types of
learning that we hope will arise out of the entire process: From building to
playing. We are constructing the EcoSonic Playground curriculum to focus on
developing both technical and developmental skills. In the technical realm
children will bring and practice their knowledge of STEAM subjects. And in the
developmental realm, children will practice critical thinking, divergent
thinking, adaptive strategies, resiliency, planning, envisioning, and creativity.

Because it covers a wide range of knowledge, the EcoSonic Playground

depends on immersive learning to be effective. Here, we define immersive
learning as comprehensive learning where students are asked to use all
knowledge and materials at their disposal (Harel & Papert, 1991; Piaget,
1960). Models of learning immersion are often seen in second language
learning programs where students need to acculturate to a new environment
(Jared, Cormier, Levy, & Wade-Woolley, 2011) – or in virtual reality technology
environments (Johnson-Glenberg, Birchfield, Tolentino, & Koziupa, 2014). We
thought about the idea of immersion in an alternative way, where students
are challenged to push the boundaries of their experience using the
resources at their disposal.
The EcoSonic Playground project has potential to become a model of
integrated, immersive learning in STEAM areas for music and other educators
who may be interested in providing this type of experience for their own
students. We hope that our findings may shed light on aspects of
developmentally appropriate practice, which may provide effective,
alternative ways of teaching in STEAM areas. We intend to disseminate this
research to both the music and STEM education community. Depending on
our results, we hope to influence policy around curriculum writing for
effective, immersive music education.

Conclusion
It is imperative in our present political and social climate that we discover
ways to strengthen children’s social-emotional connection among peers and
to their community. Especially now, children need creative outlets designed
to encourage the skills of adaptation and resiliency: What is commonly

197
known as “grit.” These inter- and intra-personal skills are paramount to a
healthy, functional society in which all children function well regardless of
station or mode of operation. The EcoSonic Playground project intends to
provide ongoing and long-term complex learning opportunities so that
under-served children may develop these critical skills.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you to Christopher Lee, co-project investigator; Tyler McMillan, student co-researcher,
and Martha Robertson, student project coordinator. Thank you also to the University of
Massachusetts Lowell for grants and fellowships; and to the University of Massachusetts
President’s Office for our 2017 Sustainability Grant.

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musical pitch. Musicae Scientiae(Special Issue, 2009-2010), 41-61.
Burnard, P. (2006). The individual and social worlds of children’s musical creativity. In G.
McPhereson (Ed.), The child as musician: A handbook of musical development (pp.
353-374). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Campbell, P. S. (1998). Songs in their heads: Music and its meaning in children’s lives. New
York, NY: Oxford University Press.
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Jared, D., Cormier, P., Levy, B. A., & Wade-Woolley, L. (2011). Early predictors of biliteracy
development in children in french immersion: A 4-year longitudinal study. Journal of
Educational Psychology, 103(1), 119-139.
Johnson-Glenberg, M. C., Birchfield, D. A., Tolentino, L., & Koziupa, T. (2014). Collaborative
embodied learning in mixed reality motion-capture environments: Two science
studies. Journal of Educational Psychology, 106(1), 86–104.
Johnson-Green, E. (2016). STEAM: Where A is for composition. Massachusets Music Educators
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Emotion, Empathy and Musical Experience with Young Children:
The Child You See, Sees You

Danette Littleton
Delray Beach, Florida USA
[email protected]

Abstract
Recent trends in music education in the United States emphasize what children should know
about music more than what teachers need to know about children. Importantly, what we
know about children determines how we teach music, the learning environments we
construct, and the interdependent relationship between teacher and child that we establish.
Empathy, fundamental to the premise here, influences the quality of teaching and learning
as it engages cognitive and affective elements in recognition of the thoughts and feelings of
others. Similarly, musical engagement involves cognitive and affective processes; and it
evokes emotional responses among music listeners, players, and makers. Music’s meaning is
realized because of its unique form of human expression, unmatched across time and
culture. Children’s experience of music, like our own, are attuned to distinctive affinities and
exactitudes. When we engage children in listening, singing, playing, dancing, and creating
music, we have opportunities to attend to and nurture children’s hearts, minds, and spirits, as
well as our own.

The aims of the research a) Focus on why music matters to children; b) Examine
interconnections between children’s emotional needs and their experience of music; c)
Investigate teachers’ beliefs about children’s behavioral needs; c) Suggest music classroom
environments and devise pedagogies that are psychologically responsive to children,
especially those who are hurt, angry, disruptive or detached.

This work examines pedagogies of kindness and respect and suggests that music education
is uniquely positioned to provide an environment of care. Music teaching and learning within
the context of empathy, helps the child learn to regulate his and her emotions, overcome
difficulties, and experience personal joy in creating and making music. Additionally, making
music with others increases children’s pro-social behaviors. Children, who experience a rich
and varied music repertoire across time and place are more likely to embrace cultural and
ethnic differences.

Compassionate-centered pedagogy and practices that inspire creativity and self-expression

and nurture positive emotions and self-esteem are herein proposed for additional study.
Investigations through auto-ethnology and narrative methodologies may best provide a
deeper understanding of the interactions between teacher and child through shared
musical experience.

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What is Important in Early-Onset Singing Acquisition???

Gwendolyn McGraw
The University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California, USA
[email protected]

Abstract
Results of experimental, historical, and anecdotal research indicate that infants are born with
the ability to sing tunefully. Although daily, ongoing parental singing with infants is believed
to nurture early-onset singing, little is known about parental philosophies regarding such
singing, or the differences in singing acquisition and vocal learning seen in association with
different philosophies and approaches. This research compares the singing acquisition of two
infants from two families by means of semi-structured interviews (four parents).

In one family, parents hoped to develop tuneful singing from infancy onward: each day, the
father sang tonal patterns/songs and the mother sang a repertoire of songs (daily exposure
90 minutes). In the second family, the father sang lullabies while the mother sang at other
times (daily exposure 30 minutes). In both families, daily singing with the infant was regarded
as a time to bond and to play – to nurture positive relationships between parents and infants.
Both infants first sang tunefully at 8 months: one first imitated tonal patterns, while the other
segmented the “song-stream” using domain-general pattern detection. During the second
year of life, one infant sang three songs at 14 months, while the other sang a single (although
more complex) song at 16 months. Both synchronized their singing with parents.

Both infants first sang tunefully at 8 months and sang intact songs by 14 - 16 months of age.
However, marked differences in singing-performance in the second year of life indicated
that both amount of exposure and specific parental philosophies/ approaches to singing
acquisition had a dramatic impact on the repertoire of songs sung by the age of two.
Moreover, tonal materials that scaffolded tuneful singing between 8 and 13-14 months of
age seemed important for both singing and speech acquisition. Emotionally salient parental
vocal timbres, social contexts, joint experience with parent(s), infants’ active learning, pitch
ranges used for singing, repetition of songs, and use of song-associated gestures supported
singing acquisition in the first two years of life – an optimal period for vocal learning.

Keywords
Early-onset singing, parental singing, singing exposure, singing acquisition, speech
acquisition, perceptual narrowing, optimal period

Introduction
Although we have known for many years that some young children learn to
sing in infancy (Howe & Sloboda,1991; Sloboda & Howe,1991), a review of
child-voice research gives little indication of that knowledge. Recently,
however, there has been growing interest in early-onset singing (Barrett, 2011;
McGraw 2017abcde; Stadler Elmer, 2011; Trehub & Gudmundsdottir, 2015),
and that bodes well for the singing development of all children. For almost a
decade, McGraw (2017abcde) has undertaken research into early-onset
singing. Results confirm the following: (1) singing acquisition unfolds alongside
language acquisition during an optimal period for vocal learning; (2) early-
onset singing is grounded in significant, ongoing exposure to parental singing,
and has characteristics of conspecific adult song (as in acquisition of

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birdsong); (3) parents with intent to develop early-onset-singers (E-O-S) are
successful; (4) parents of E-O-S preserve innate singing range; (5) the paths
leading to tuneful and non-tuneful singing diverge early in development; (6)
strategic approaches to singing acquisition impact early vocal learning; and
(7) two indicators of enhanced speech acquisition co-occur with early
singing acquisition.

Background
An infant’s brain is primed for vocal learning: the acquisition of language,
and the acquisition of singing (Kessen, Levine & Wendrich,1979; McGraw,
2017abcde; Stefanics, Haden, Sziller, Balazs, Beke & Winkler, 2009; Trehub et
al. 2015; Van Puyvelde, Vanfleteren, Loots, Deschuyffeleer, Vinck, Jacquet &
Verhelst, 2010; Wendrich, 1981). The vocal timbre an infant most wants to
hear from birth is that of a mother (DeCasper & Fifer,1980) or father (O’Neill et
al., 2001).

Social context for learning

Infants’ singing acquisition (McGraw 2017abc) occurs when vocal learning is
grounded in socially salient interactions with parents (Kuhl, 2007; Mehr, Song,
& Spelke, 2016). As in language acquisition, early-onset singing requires
active, multisensory (Lewkowicz, 2014) experience with parents (McGraw,
2017abcde) such that neural commitment (Zhang, Kuhl, Imada, Kotani, &
Tohkura, 2005) is made to singing acquisition. Infants have an innate pitch-
matching ability (Kessen et al., Van Puyvelde et al., 2010; Stefanics et al.,
2009; Wendrich, 1981), and early-onset singing builds on that ability (McGraw,
2017abcde). Significant exposure to parental singing maintains/sharpens
infants’ innate pitch-matching ability (Kessen et al. 1979; Wendrich, 1981) –
with ongoing exposure to a parent’s vocal timbre supporting both robust
formation of culturally salient perceptual categories for pitch (Patel, 2008)
and an infant’s ability to perceive similarities and differences in pitch
relationships and melodies (Costa-Giomi, 2013).
Singing melodies and learning a “singing use” of the voice

E-O-S learn intervallic-pitch-relationships and tonal schema early in life from

exposure to parental singing (McGraw 2017abcde) - and sing complete
melodies from 9-mos. onward, long before they sing whole songs with words
(age 14-24 mos.). Infants can vocalize across a wide range (Fox, 1990), and
parents who sing in extended ranges support infants’ song-singing in such
ranges (McGraw 2017abcde). E-O-S imitate a ‘singing use’ of the voice from
listening to singing parents (McGraw 2017abc), and learn to switch between
speaking and singing. When singing familiar songs experienced with parents,
E-O-S sing using discrete-pitches, not melodic contours (McGraw 2017abce).

Vocal-motor challenges in emergent speech

E-O-S are challenged (McGraw, 2017abc) by combinatorial-motor-transitions
between syllables – i.e., song lyrics (Lipkind, Marcus, Bemis, Sasahara, Jacoby,
Takahasi, Suzuki, Feher, Ravbar, Okanoya, & Tchernichovski, 2013). Infants

202
can sing vowel-only song lyrics (McGraw, 2017abcde) and toddlers
sometimes sing whole melodies with words gradually filled in (Barrett, 2011;
McGraw 2017abce). Most E-O-S singers, however, sing whole songs with
words, from about 16 -18-months-of-age onward (McGraw2017abce)

Social contexts for joint experience

Infants have robust memories for songs sung by parents, but NOT for songs
experienced through audio-media (Mehr et al., 2016). Both songs sung by
parents and parental singing itself have social meaning for infants (Mehr et
al., 2016). By 8-months-of-age, infants view parental actions as ‘intentional’
and ‘goal directed,’ and can learn from joint experience (Carpenter, Nagell,
Tomasello, Butterworth, & Moore, 1998). While infant-directed-speech elicits
infants’ attention, parental-song-singing maintains infants’ attention for
extended periods of time (Corbeil, Trehub, & Peretz, 2015). In McGraw
(2017abcde), parents engaged infants (from 8-mos. onward) in joint-singing
experiences: infants readily attended to and learned from parental singing.
Parents sometimes used gestures as they sang to infants (McGraw 2017abc),
increasing multisensory memory cues and making experiences more playful.

Exposure to parental singing and perceptual narrowing

No one knows how much exposure to parental singing is required to support
early-onset singing. In co-occurring language acquisition, an infant’s native-
language experience results in neural commitment to culturally relevant
sounds (Zhang et al., 2005). Similarly, Infants need exposure to parental
singing (McGraw 2017a-k) sufficient to ensure that neural commitment to
singing acquisition maintains innate pitch-matching ability and culturally-
relevant-tonal-schema during a period of perceptual narrowing (perhaps 8 –
10 mos. of age, but see Singh, 2017). E-O-S in McGraw (2017abcde) had
command of culturally relevant perceptual categories for pitch (Patel, 2008)
such that a co-occurring developmental emphasis on language acquisition
did not interfere with their perception of song melodies sung by parents. For
these infants, perceptual narrowing sharpened categorical learning of pitch
and culturally – relevant tonal schema. Notably, E-O-S showed evidence of
robust musical development throughout early childhood, with more adult-like
auditory perception and processing by age 4-7 suggesting accelerated
maturation of the auditory system (McGraw 2017abcd).
Without ongoing exposure to parental singing in infancy, however, an infant’s
perceptual ‘weighting’ of a song is biased towards song lyrics rather than
melody by 11-months-of-age (Lebedeva & Kuhl, 2010).

Synchronizing singing with parents

Infants can perceive the beat from birth (Winkler, Háden, Ladinig, Sziller, &
Honing, 2009) - and there is a strong link between tuneful singing (with lyrics)
and synchronization abilities (Dalla Bella, Berkowski & Sowinski, 2015).
Synchronous activities engage “perceptual, motor, and sensorimotor
processes (Dalla Bella et al, 2015); are associated with increased attention in

203
young children (Khalil, Minces & Chiba, 2013); and strengthen social bonding
(Hove & Risen, 2009). Young children synchronize more successfully in social
settings (Kirschner & Tomasello, 2009; Overy, 2012). To this point, McGraw
(2017abcde) reported that from eight-months to two years of age, E-O-S
synchronized both brief and extended episodes of singing with parent-
singers.

Singing acquisition and enhanced speech acquisition

Importantly, McGraw (2017abc) observed that two indicators of enhanced
speech acquisition co-occur with early-onset singing: (1) accelerated
acquisition of speech, and (2) greater clarity of emergent speech. In
McGraw (2017ab), 96% of monolingual parents of E-O-S reported “highly
accelerated” or accelerated” speech and “words easily understandable” or
“precisely articulated.” Bilingual E-O-S were somewhat less accelerated and
less precise in speech acquisition.
To give a clearer picture of singing acquisition from birth to age two, see
diagrams (Figure 1) and (Figure 2) summarizing development (reprinted by
permission from McGraw 2017abc).

Figure 1.

Figure 1
©2017BornMusical
Singing Acquisition in First Year of Life
1. Social Context for Infant Learning
2. Songs Either Scaffold or Gate Earliest Singing

Ongoing-Parental-Singing Critical During Period of Perceptual Narrowing

Memory-- Individual-Level Encoding

In-Tune Singing
Joint
Action
Songs as
ID Gesture or Word
or Continued
Auditory
Listening to
Imitates Tonal Objects
Patterns
Parental Singing
Sings in
Sings Synchrony
Recurring Text-less Melodies
Song Patterns Internalized
8 months
onward Synchrony In-Tune Singing
Birth to 8 Months: 8 – 12 Months
Significant Exposure to Singing
Imitates pitches/
intervals 3 mos.
onward
Increased
Volubility to Earliest Vocalizations
Singing
Shaped Towards Singing and Speech
Reciprocal
Dialogues

Neural Commitment to Singing Acquisition

Ongoing Exposure to and Experience with Parental Singing

204
Figure 2.

Figure 2
©2017BornMusical
Singing Acquisition in Second Year of Life
1. Social Context for Toddler Learning
2. Songs with Patterns Scaffold Singing Early in Year

Ongoing-Parental-Singing Critical to Maintain Sensitivity to Pitch Relationships

Memory-- Individual-Level Encoding

Whole Melodies
Joint
Action
Songs as
ID Gesture or Word
May Initially Be
Auditory
Sung Without
Imitates Tonal Objects
Patterns
All of the Words
Sings in
Sings Synchrony
Recurring Melodies with Lyrics
Song Patterns Internalized
12 months
Synchrony 13 to 24 months of age In-Tune Singing
onward
of Whole Songs
Speech Acquisition Accelerated 13 – 24 Months
Precise Encoding
of Phonemes

Combinatorial-Transitions Speech Acquisition May Be Shaped

Between Syllables are Driven
by Rhythmic Demands by Rhythmic Demands of
Synchronous Singing
Receptive Chunking
of Song Lyrics

More robust learning due to social interaction:

Ongoing Exposure to and Experience with Parental Singing

Research methodology
Subjects: Profiled infants and their parents are from a group (n = 46) of early-
onset singers/families studied through semi-structured interviews and
longitudinal observations. Selection criteria follows: (1) both mothers and
fathers sang to infants; (2) mothers are early-childhood-music experts; (3)
both infants are female -- and sang tunefully at 8-months-of-age; and (4)
differences in singing exposure suggested observable differences in learning.
In both families, singing with infants was a time to bond and share in vocal-
music play. However, monolingual parents made strategic efforts to develop
their first child’s singing voice, while bilingual parents believed their second
child would learn to sing given parental singing exposure. Nine topics were
compared:
1. Daily exposure. 2. Parental approaches. 3. Year one: first episodes of
singing. 4. Parental responses to first singing. 5. Songs/tonal materials.
6. Year two: whole songs. 7. Synchronous singing. 8. Song repertoire: age
two. 9. Co-occurring speech acquisition.
One two-part research question was formulated: (1) Was infants’ vocal
learning different, given different exposures and philosophies/approaches to
singing acquisition? (2) If so, how?

205
Results
Research Results: Differences
The research question asked if infants’ vocal learning was different, and if so,
how. From birth to age two, the vocal learning of the two infants differed
markedly. In year one, the S-A infant imitated tonal patterns and sang text-
less melodies in synchrony with her mother. The N-A infant sang only song-
segments from two songs in two languages (but these song-segments were
also sung in synchrony with parents).
In year two, marked differences were found between two indicators of
singing acquisition – but, somewhat paradoxically, both differences were
grounded in speech acquisition: (1) the S-A infant sang three whole songs
with words at the 14-mos., while the N-A infant sang a single, more complex
melody at 16-mos. with words gradually filled in. (2) the S-A infant sang four
times as many whole songs as the N-A infant at the age of two. Previously
(from 9-mos. onward), the S-A monolingual infant had sung many more
whole songs in synchrony with parents as compared to the
N-A infant.
From 12 months of age onward, indicators of enhanced speech acquisition
were robust for the S-A monolingual infant – but less so for the N-A bilingual
infant. The S-A infant’s acquisition of both singing and speech was markedly
accelerated as compared to that of the N-A infant. Thus, the vocal learning
of the infant who experienced both greater exposure to parental singing and
strategic approaches to learning was more advanced through age two.
Table 1 summarizes differences across families. Natural Approach (N-A) is the
bilingual family. Strategic Approach (S-A) is the monolingual family.

Table 1. Results: Contrasting Parental Approaches to Singing Acquisition

N-A bilingual infant S-A monolingual infant

Songs – small repertoire Songs-large repertoire
In two languages Tonal patterns
Text-less songs

First tuneful singing – 8 mos. First tuneful singing – 8 mos.

Song-segments of two songs Imitated tonal patterns
Sang in two languages Text-less songs- synchrony 9 mos.

First whole song - 16 mos. First whole songs – 14 mos.

Melody sung first: words filled in 3 whole songs: sung with words

Repetition: fixed repertoire Repetition: changing repertoire

Synchronous singing Synchronous singing before age

before age one, 2 songs one: tonal patterns, many songs

Synchronous singing Synchronous singing age 1-2:

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age 1-2: Several songs Many songs

Small song repertoire age two Huge song repertoire age two
in two languages (20 songs) in English (80+ songs). Some
songs learned independently

Speech acquisition: met Speech acquisition: highly

developmental guidelines accelerated from 12 months
onward; precise articulation

30 minutes exposure 90 minutes exposure

Shaping of linguistic tones Includes singing-immersion:
Bilingual: greater auditory acuity recitative-like speech

Summary of important strategic approaches

Ways in which the strategic-approach differed from the natural-approach
follow: (1) Learning strategies: The S-A mother sequenced early learning by
changingt singing repertoire when her infant was successful at a task. At 8-
months-of-age when the infant tunefully imitated tonal patterns, the mother
next utilized text-less melodies. After singing text-less melodies for several
months, the mother then incorporated songs with lyrics. In contrast, all
repertoire for the N-A infant consisted of songs with words, and no changes in
approach were observed from birth to age two. (2). The S-A mother sang
many more songs in synchrony with her child, both before and after the age
of one. (3). The S-A mother used an at-home singing immersion approach
where communication was sung rather than spoken (i.e., like recitative). (4)
Both repetition of a small group of songs over time and repetition of a larger,
changing group of songs supported singing acquisition. However, a content-
rich singing environment – i.e., experience with a greater number of songs as
in the strategic-appraoch -- supported greater vocal learning (in both singing
and speech).

Research results: Similarities

Both infants learned to sing during the same timeframe that they learned to
speak – and in similar social contexts with parents (McGraw 2017abcde).
Infants had robust command of perceptual categories for pitch, both prior to
age one when they sang tonal materials using vowel-only texts, and after
age one when they sang whole songs. At 8-months-of-age, both infants
seemingly regarded the song-singing of their parents as goal-directed.
Although infants’ earliest tuneful singing required different cognitive
processes (i.e., statistical learning/pattern detection vs. imitation), both
actively participated with parents.
Three similarities between parental approaches are important: (1) both used
high pitch ranges (g to high g octave); (2) both occasionally used gestures
with tonal materials and/or songs; and, (3) both sang songs in major keys that
featured simple duple, triple, and compound (6/8) meters. (Importantly, had

207
there been greater differences in music content between the families [i.e.,
songs based on different modes and scales; greater metric complexity],
greater differences in infants’ singing acquisition might have been observed).
In co-occurring speech acquisition, both had command of phonological
categories and combinatorial-motor-transitions between phonemes – and
ably used those in easily understandable speech. In sum, both infants sang
and spoke with precision: singing was pitch-accurate and emergent speech
had clarity such that it was “easily understood by strangers” (i.e., pediatric
evidence-based criterion, Dosman, Andrews & Goulden, 2012).

Discussion
There were dramatic differences between the vocal learning of these two
infants at two years of age. Some of the behavioral differences can be
attributed to the much more demanding speech-acquisition profile of the
bilingual infant. However, the S-A infant also experienced much more
exposure to parental singing as compared to the N-A infant, with many more
opportunities for synchronous singing with parents throughout the first two
years of life: thus, the S-A toddler sang prolifically at two years of age.
The S-A infant’s ‘first language’ was a music language – a finding noted by
this researcher and echoed by her parents. The S-A infant sang before she
spoke her first words, and sang fluently (on text-less melodies) at a time when
she was first speaking only single words and two-word sentences. Moreover,
this child experienced significant daily in-home immersion to recitative (i.e., as
functional speech) from birth onwards, Thus, results strongly indicate that
significant exposure to parental singing in conjunction with strategic
approaches to singing acquisition can dramatically change the character of
vocal learning in early life.

Speech-acquisition
The speech acquisition of the S-A toddler was markedly advanced as
compared to the N-A toddler. In this regard, the S-A toddler resembles a
group of infants (McGraw 2017abcde) for whom very-early singing
acquisition was predictive of highly accelerated speech acquisition. These
infants had remarkably high exposure to parental singing -- and yet, it was in
co-occurring speech acquisition that the most dramatic learning was
observed. Notably, early clarity of speech is predictive of accelerated
language acquisition from age 2 – 7 (Lyakso, Frolova, & Grigorev, 2015).

Implications
Five areas of interest conclude this discussion.
First, both approaches have their benefits. The natural approach does not
require expert parental knowledge: parents sing daily to provide significant
exposure. Most parents in McGraw (2017abcde) used a natural-approach.
The strategic approach, however, revealed critically important information
regarding early singing acquisition – information that would be useful for
some parents. Strategic approaches are likely candidates for researchers

208
investigating potential benefits associated with early-onset singing in neuro-
rehabilitation for developmental language disorders (Cummings, Wilson,
Leong, Colling, & Goswami, 2015; McGraw, 2013, 2014), or in accelerating
the maturation of auditory cortex in young children with sound-in-noise
processing challenges (White-Schwock, Carr, Thompson, Anderson, Nicol,
Bradlow, Zecker, & Kraus, 2015).
Second, tuneful singing prior to age one indicated that infants can sing much
earlier than previously thought: it is important to know that singing in infancy
is ‘gated’ by song-lyrics that are too complex. Most E-O-S in McGraw
(2017abc) first sang whole songs about 18-months-of-age – ten months later
than these two infants. Thus, there is a timeframe when infants are capable
of singing, but typically do not. Active singing during this period predicts
benefits for all vocal learning – and this topic should be investigated further.
Third, synchronized singing on both vowel-only texts and whole songs (with
lyrics) may significantly impact the precision of co-emergent speech. A
growing body of music-language neuroscience research suggests that
precision-demands associated with rhythm/ synchronization have an impact
on phonological learning (Tierney & Kraus, 2015; Cumming et al., 2015).
Moreover, infants attach social meaning to both parental singing and to
songs sung by parents (Mehr et al., 2016) – and it seems likely that an infant’s
ability to sing in synchrony with parents also has social meaning. Early facility
with synchronous singing suggests that the ability is one that has been
adaptive across the history of humankind (Mithen, 2007; Patel, 2006; Bowling,
Herbst, and Fitch, 2013). Such “being-together-in-time” in infancy (Overy,
2012; Overy & Molnar-Szakacs, 2009; Trainor & Cirelli, 2015) is remarkable.
Indeed, it is possible that neural commitment to adaptive, socially relevant
song-singing might be sufficient to drive acquisition of speech needed for
such singing with parents. Such an outcome would be consistent with a
dynamic systems approach to singing acquisition (Stadler Elmer, 2012).
Fourth, there is an optimal period for singing acquisition that is parallel to the
acquisition of language (McGraw, 2017abcde). In an optimal period, an
ability is more easily and rapidly acquired as compared to other times in
development (Bailey & Penhune, 2013). Given significant ongoing exposure
to parental singing, infants sing tunefully from 8-months onward: moreover,
their singing acquisition is robust from the age of two onward (McGraw, abd).
Following this early window-of-opportunity, it can take years for children to
acquire the ability to sing tunefully (McGraw, 2007, 2002, 2000, 1999; Welch et
al.,1998; Wurgler, 1990). Pitch-accuracy challenges associated with a lyrics-
biased-perceptual-trajectory (i.e., speech-like, contour-based singing) are
the most highly researched area in music education – this because learning
to sing is so challenging for many later-onset singers.
Fifth, the first two years of life are the most important for human vocal
learning: the sum of what we know about early singing acquisition and
associated speech acquisition is currently limited to a handful of publications.
Research on this topic should be a high priority.

209
What is important in early-onset singing acquisition?
What is really important? Without question, these six things:
(1) From 8-months onward, infants can engage in active singing with
parents. Tuneful singing before age one experience predicts robust singing
acquisition and speech acquisition in the second year of life.
(2) Significant exposure to parental singing is required for singing acquisition.
Exposure is especially important early in life, when (a) neural commitment is
made to specific types of vocal learning; (b) infants learn from salient,
multisensory experiences with parents; (c) robust categories for pitch and
tonal-systems are maintained/sharpened; and (d) pitch-accurate singing is
strengthened in a period of perceptual narrowing.
(3) E-O-S learn from repetition of songs and/or tonal materials that scaffold
singing acquisition, and benefit from a rich vocal music environment that
includes both text-less melodies and songs with lyrics.
(4) Synchronized singing experiences are critical for vocal learning: such
experiences may support enhanced acquisition of speech as well as more
‘organized’ and ‘coordinated’ neural development (Buzsaki, 2011).
(5) Singing in higher pitch ranges supports the acquisition of expanded
ranges for singing, while gestures may reinforce infants’ memories for specific
songs.
(6) Strategic approaches may support accelerated acquisition of singing and
speech.

Coda
Human children are born musical. They have innate pitch-matching abilities
that are maintained and sharpened by significant exposure to ongoing
parental singing early in life. Their vocal signature is early, pitch-accurate
singing.
Understanding that there are inter-relationships between singing acquisition
and speech acquisition in infancy, however, challenges us to fully consider
the implications. Does optimal vocal development in infancy mean co-
development of both facets of one human vocal signal (Fitch, 2006) -- singing
and speech? When we better understand the inter-twining of singing
acquisition and speech acquisition in infancy (Brandt, Gebrian, & Slevc, 2012;
Chen-Hafteck & Mang in McPherson and Welch, 2012; McGraw 2017abc),
we may no longer have the luxury of considering one without the other.
Results of this research suggest that when parents develop both facets of the
vocal signal early in life, there are synergistic benefits that unfold throughout
childhood.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Sincere thanks to Dr. Diana Deutsch, Dr. Donald Hodges, and Dr. John Iversen for talking with
me at length during stages of this ongoing work.

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The discovery of the Laws of Art in Early Musical Education

Marina Morari
Alecu Russo Balti State University,
Balti city, Republic of Moldova
[email protected]

Abstract
The supreme function of music in early education is the educational one. Through music,
children become acquainted with the world and with the phenomena around them, they
are discovering themselves, developing their abilities in musical-artistic understanding and
communication. Child development depends on some physiological, psychological, socio-
cultural and spiritual aspects. By the age of three-six, children discover the action of music
and explore its laws at an insightful level, artistically, in the form of games, based on their own
sensitivity, during the activities of music audition, musical performance and elementary
musical creation.

To work up a methodology of the communication between the child and music through
listening - performance - creation means to bring out the mechanism of the action of music.
As each individual is unique (physically, psychically, spiritually), the perception of musical
expressiveness comes individually. In order to plan for musical education, there must be
taken into account three levels of musical perception: (1) the physiological level (at the level
of the body and primary feelings, at the fringes of psyche); (2) the physiological level
(through other psychic processes: emotionalism, intellection, memory, imagination, etc.); (3)
the spiritual level (“visible” in conscience related to the inner universe, when the spiritual level
is manifest).

At the beginning of musical education, children explore the sonorous, expressive, imagistic
and temporal characters of the musical art form. The learning of the laws of music as a form
of art are dependent on the specific methodology of the musical activities; it contributes to
the formation/development of the art consumer; it facilitates the formation/development of
children’s artistic abilities; it ensures proper integration of art in the act of early education; it
stimulates the interest and positive attitude towards art. Exploring the laws of the art of music
in early childhood education depends on compliance with the specifics of that artistic
knowledge.

Keywords
Early musical education, the laws of musical art, the mechanism of the musical action, the
specific of the artistic learning (knowing)

Introduction
To approach the laws of music from the early musical education perspective
involves the combination of the efforts of parents, educators and musical
masters in the process of the musical training of children. As the development
of the child depends on physiological, psychological, socio-cultural and
spiritual laws, so the laws of musical art depend on the methodology of the
musical art process. In order to create a favourable environment for the
generation and development of children’s musicianship, it is important to
understand the vocal-artistic phenomenon. In general, children discover the
action of music and explore these laws at an intuitive level. The whole activity
of the educator and musical master depends on their conforming to the laws
of music and the characteristics of the artistic knowledge in all the phases of

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the educational-artistic act: its design, achievements, evolution and
assessment. We list, and shortly characterise some musical laws that reveal
the vocal, eternal, temporal, imagistic and expressive characteristics of
music.

Music is an Art of Sound

The material of music is the sound. Music cannot exist in any other state than
its vocal manifestation. Unlike noise sounds, musical sounds are pleasant to
the ears, being produced by human voices and musical instruments. At the
same time, the musical creation of sounds are arranged in a certain way and
express a sound-artistic message. In order to understand this message, it is
necessary to know the elements of musical language, and how they
cooperate to create the musical image and how the musical ideas are
organised. Thus, while studying the elements of the musical language, we
discover what and how the musical creations “speak to us”.

To understand the artistic order of the sounds in a musical creation, the

following tasks can be completed:
- Following the “life” of the melody form the beginning till the end of the
creation (the sense of motion, character, mood, the melody outline,
intonation, tempo, with comments on the mood and tempo markings of
the piece, e.g. cantabile, dancing or march music).
- Discovering a new sound moment event (that manifests itself by the
change of the melody and its musical expression);
- Crooning the melody in order to observe the changes in its character, the
evolution, transformations etc.;
- Creating a graphical representation of the sound events (of the
organizational modality of the musical form);
- Characterising the musical language elements, that give expression to the
musical creation;
- Creating a “listener’s score” through repeated active listening episodes.
For children, any musical work represents a “fairy tale in sounds”. Its content is
composed of one or more sound events. The transition from one sound event
to another is felt by the change in the music expressiveness. The
expressiveness of the sound event is created by the musical language.

To develop a relationship with music, there must be a first moment encounter:

this contact, via the auditive sensations, is followed by the listening itself (a
complex experience including: reflexivity, understanding and performance).
The sound character of the musical art imposes the compliance with some
requirements to the educational-artistic process: (1) the appropriate volume
of the musical sounds is selected during the listening or interpretation; (2) a
favourable environment is created for the musical-didactic activities, where
there is fresh air (aired room), noise sounds; (3) during the day, a favourable
time of day and amount of time for the musical activity is chosen; (4) all
musical activities start with sensitizing to sound, to the expressiveness of the
musical sonority heard/interpreted/created; (5) we suggest listening to the

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music with closed eyes, in order to enhance the quality of the auditive
sensations and challenge the imagination; (6) we carefully select the words
used about music in the process of acquiring knowledge; (7) we aim to keep
a triple silence during the act of listening to music (silence before listening in
order to concentrate and detach from any problems that are foreign to
music; silence during the listening itself, to engage with the silence flowing
and passing through the sound flow; silence immediately at the end of the
music to allow the state of sound to permeate our spirit).

Music is a Temporal Art

The temporality of music reveals the processual and unique character of a
musical creation. The content of the musical creation, entitled ‘the musical
image’, is built gradually, discursively. From an extract of a musical creation,
we cannot perceive its whole, but each element of the creation contributes
to the entire image. What appears to be merely initially a sound immediately,
in a few moments, develops, changes, transforms and evolves. Sometimes,
while perceiving the message of the musical creation, we cannot conceive
of everything that music contains in itself. Following an expression cannot
allow for catching the global, integral image of music. For this reason, by re-
auditions we return to the same musical creation. With each audition, we
manage to discover the depths of the musical expression.

The temporal character of music is manifested in totally different ways

through these three expression modalities of this art: (1) at the level of the
score, in its written form; (2) in the live act of the interpretation; (3) at the level
of the listener. We should accept that at all three levels of sound-existence of
music there is an imposition of a subjective element to the codification-
decodification process by taking the music in the score and vice-versa,
passing from the interpreted music to that perceived by the public. In this
regard, it is very important for good organisation of preschool music
education so as not to impoverish the message of music via the modality of
presentation/interpretation, analysis-characteristics, artistic/value
appreciation of the creations studied.

In order to perceive the temporal nature of music, we should pay attention to

the selected repertoire for listening to music. Each educator shall seek an
answer to the question: what is the best music for the child’s development?
(with reference to style, musical genre). There are a number of rules likely to
bring the child into the world of music. In psychologists’ opinion, there are
classical musical creations which should not be listened to by children under
the age of two years for example: (a)opera, opera arias, romances. The
voices of the mother, grandmother and father are beyond competition; (b)
the creations interpreted by a symphony orchestra (the big structure of the
orchestra is perceived by the child not as music, but as noise, and the child
gets scared of the sounds of the tambourines and cymbals).

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It is important to inform parents that it is dangerous to put headphones on
children up to three years old to hear music. The distance between the child
and the source of sound should not be less than one meter and a half. The
pieces for listening should be selected according to the child’s mood and
expectations: playing, movement, falling asleep/waking up, activation/
soothing, etc. The music for listening may be used in different contexts: (1)as
background for another activity (game, reading, eating, sleep, sports, etc.);
(2) as a syncretic element of an artistic activity (dramatizing, dance,
instrumental improvisations); (3) the listening to music itself (for educational,
didactic purpose).

In order to raise awareness of the temporal character of music, we

recommend approaching the following aspects within musical education:
- Discovering the character of the sound message (gradual organization –
sound by sound) via listening/ re-listening humming the melody on
successive renditions;
- Listening to the musical creation from the beginning to the end (with
careful concentration);
- Noticing the sound events in a musical creation (identification,
perception, description, association, characterisation);
- Discovering the rhythmic-melodic nucleus, following its development
(expressing with hand gestures the ascending, descending movement, by
jumping, undulatory, etc.);
- Identifying the development (move), culmination (the strongest emotional
moment) of the musical idea.

Music is an Imagistic Art

The musical image is a representation in the conscience of the content of the
musical work (based on imagination). Music cannot be received through
sight, but it does not mean that it has no image. In reality, the musical image
belongs to the composer, and the process and result of experiencing music
by the listener is already an artistic image and constitutes a subjective
feature. The artistic image often brings into the structure of the musical
creation external or extra-aesthetic elements, which refer to the soul and
destiny of the person, from their life pulses. Co-existence of the extra-
aesthetic elements (subsumed to other values) with the aesthetic values in a
work of opera contributes to its connection with the vibrations of the
authentic life and protects it from reductionism. In this regard, we can
capitalise with maximum efficiency on the pieces of art while developing
those aspects that exceed the limits of the pure musical aesthetic, i.e. the
moral, civic and spiritual values. The image of a musical creation becomes a
means of education of any extra-aesthetic value.

Image is a representation of the surrounding reality, built in our mind based

on the impressions created through senses. In order to discover the musical
image, the children shall answer the question: What does music tell us about?
Conditionally, we may group the content of the musical creations into three

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big areas: (1) the individual (experience, feelings, ideas, facts, dreams,
fantasies, etc.); (2) the human society (history, events, traditions, holidays,
etc.); (3) Nature (seasons, phenomena, animals, birds, insects, etc.).

There are two types of musical image: (1) pure, absolute image (the images
from the instruments music, orchestra or vocality); (2) mixed image through
more manifestations. For the musical listening with children starting from three
to five years old, the pure instrumental music is recommended (pieces with a
single instrument), the music with a programme (the image of which is
accessible to children: represents scenes from the children’s life, natural
phenomena, expresses a mood, describes animals), with a duration from 30
seconds up to one minute and a half.

At the age of six to seven years, children may listen to orchestral creations,
opera and ballet scenes from (for children), musical plays, symphony
fairytales, up to 3 minutes. In order for children to engage with the musical
image from the music with a programme, the title of the musical work may
be announced, then, prior to the listening exercise, a discussion is held about
the character of the musical work (phenomenon, action, object, being, etc.).
It is not recommended to explain the musical image. The educator may
describe how the sound event starts at the beginning of the creation, to
orient the children’s attention to certain means of musical expression, to
stimulate and/or trigger curiosity of communicating with music.

In order to raise awareness of the imagistic character of music, within music

education, we recommend approaching the following aspects:
- The length of the pieces for listening (as part of the music education
activities) should correspond to the psycho-mental concentration
capacities of the children: up to one minute at the age of two to three
years one minute and a half at the age of three to four years and up to
two minutes at the age of five to seven years;
- The musical image of the listening pieces for children up to three years old
may be described/explained before the listening exercise itself, and at the
age of four to seven years the listening may be organised (by announcing
the title and partial description of some sound events; by announcing the
title of the work without describing the musical image; by announcing the
title of the work and associating the musical image with the pictographic
images displayed in front of the children);
- The musical image from a piece of work shall be researched/learnt
through multiple listenings, by sensitizing the children to: (1) the
mood/feelings of music; (2) the event/events of sound expressed; (3) the
development of music (beginning, culmination, end); (4) expressiveness of
the music/melody (by identifying/characterising the elements of musical
language, which give expressiveness to the musical image); (5) artistic
appreciation (personal, of the group of children, of the educator).

Music is an Expressive Art

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The art of music is a language, as its function is communication. In music, the
message is transmitted not only via sounds, but, especially via the sound
ensemble, as a result of the connections established between sounds. The
artistic language, in general, and namely the musical one, creates the
“appearance”, reveals and transmits some truths reached by philosophy,
science and activity of the spirit. The expressiveness of the musical-artistic
language, unlike the scientific one, always gives possibility to a new vision,
and limiting allows pluralism of image decodification perspectives. In this
regard, each receiver of music has the autonomy of conquering the image
of music based on their own sensitivity to the expressiveness of the sound
message, based on an individual process of giving sense to the musical
image. The role of the educator and the teacher-musician is to guide the
process of learning music according to the specifics of the legitimacies of the
musical art and developmental legitimacies of the child’s personality.

At the age of two to four years in the musical-pedagogical activities, the

principles of imitation, reproduction, repetition after the model of the
teacher-musician dominates. At the age of five to seven years, the children
become actively involve in activities of creativity and get familiarized with
some means of musical expression. Due to reduced vocabulary, the
definition of the elements of language may be metaphorical, for example:
melody, the sound of music, rhythm, the heart of music, tempo, the
speed/velocity of music, intensity, the power of music, timbre, the colour of
music, modality, the mood of music, etc.

In order to facilitate the analysis-characterisation of music, it is recommended

that criteria be established based on the specifics of musical expression. For
example, we enumerate some criteria based on the melody of the
composition : (1) mood (joyful, sad, solemn, funny, etc.); (2) the melodic
outline (may be represented with the hand gesture in space – curve, arch,
ornament, etc.); (3) the meaning of the move (ascending, descending,
linear, jumping); (4) type of music (song, dance, march); (5) tempo (fast,
appropriate, slow); (6) the performers (on one or more instruments, or with
one or more voices); (7) any means of musical expression (specifies the
expression of music). Here, we specify that, during the listening activity of a
musical creation, not all elements are emphasised, but only those which
express the musical image (reasonably, for those aged one to two or two to
three, depending on the level of the children’s musical-artistic experience).

Discussion and Conclusion

For an appropriate methodological realisation of the forms of the children’s
initiation into the world of music respect is required for the legitimacies of art
and the legitimacies of the physiological, psychological and spiritual
development of young children. In conclusion, the child involved in the
musical-artistic activities is the subject of a triple conditioning: value (given by
the quality of musical work, including the spiritual one), social (implies the
formative institutional and opinions of methods that the child comes in

219
contact with), psychological (where the whole cognitive, affective and
motivational system is engaged). The learning of the laws of musical art:
- Determines adherence to the specific methodology of musical activities;
- Contributes to the formation/development of the consumer of art;
- Facilitates the formation/development of artistic abilities of the
preschooler/parents;
- Provides the adequate integration of art into the education of the
preschooler;
- Stimulates an interest and positive attitude towards art.

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Music Education in Early Years Education settings in Ireland:
Glimpses of Provision and Practice

Regina Murphy
School of Arts Education & Movement
DCU Institute of Education,
Dublin 9, Ireland
[email protected]

Francis Ward
School of Arts Education & Movement
DCU Institute of Education,
Dublin 9, Ireland

Geraldine French
School of Language, Literacy & Early Childhood Education
DCU Institute of Education,
Dublin 9, Ireland

Abstract
Curriculum and pedagogy in early years education in Ireland is informed by a holistic
curriculum framework, Aistear, The Early Childhood Curriculum Framework (National Council
for Curriculum and Assessment, 2009), which identifies “what and how children should learn”
as well as “the types of experiences that can support this” (p. 6) through four interrelated
themes: Well-being; Identity and belonging; Communicating; and Exploring and thinking.
While discrete subject areas are not made explicit, the Framework allows scope for a broad
range of creative and artistic activities, including music education, to develop in various
ways as early years educators deem appropriate.

The purpose of the current study was two-fold: (i) to support student educators in an early
years degree course to adopt a proactive stance in engaging with music education in the
diverse settings in which their placements take place, and (ii) to generate qualitative
understandings of the extant music education activity – its curriculum, pedagogies and
resources within Aistear – in a range of settings in the Greater Dublin Area. Data was
collected from over 60 naturalistic settings and recorded in student notebooks using given
observation schedules. Interviews were also conducted with two focus groups comprising 5
students in each group. Data was analysed both quantitatively through content analysis,
noting the number, frequency and duration of musical encounters in the setting, and
qualitatively, using a grounded approach, to ascertain the nature of the encounter, the
musical features, musical intentions, and the children’s engagement with the musical
experience.

Findings are multifaceted and point to important issues: first, for early years teacher-
educators, notably in nurturing musical agency among early years student educators such
that they can generate insightful understandings and musical experiences with the very
young; and second, for providers and policy makers charged with envisaging provision in
music education for early years and the consequent responsibility to resource such provision.

Keywords
Curriculum, pedagogy, resources

221
The influence of two song-teaching strategies on vocal
performance in 6 to 7 year-old children and its relationship with
their use of voice registers

Ana Isabel Pereira

CESEM - FCSH/NOVA University
Lisbon, Portugal
[email protected]

Helena Rodrigues
Musical Sciences Department, CESEM- FCSH/NOVA University
Lisbon, Portugal

Abstract
Research on the influence of teaching songs with melody and words or with the melody sung
with a neutral syllable, adding the words later, on children’s vocal performances has not
been addressed in depth (Jacobi-Karna, 1996). Furthermore, research on vocal
development has shown that singing is also affected by children’s ability to access their full
voice (Rutkowski, 2015; Welch, 2006). However, even when the full register is accessed,
singing accuracy may be compromised due to a vocal-motor deficit.

This study aims to determine (a) if children sing better depending on the teaching strategy,
(b) if the inaccurate first pitches for both songs fall into the registers of the children’s Singing
Voice Development Measure (SVDM) classification, and (c) if there is a relationship between
the tonal dimension scores for both songs and SVDM classification.

Children aged 6 to 7 (N=49) attending a private school in an urban area participated in a

two-phase study. Phase one occurred over a period of eight weeks in regular music sessions
presenting a song A with melody and words and a song B with a neutral syllable, adding the
words after five sessions. Phase two consisted of individual singing of both songs with the
teacher providing an auditory cue.

Inter-judge reliabilities on rating scales were high (song A: ICC(3, k) = .928; song B ICC(3, k) =
.885). Results showed no significant differences between the mean of ratings on both songs
(t(48)= -.563; p= .288). A closer comparison revealed different singing achievements: better on
song A (22.4%), better on song B (24.5%) and no relevant differences (53.1%). 89.8% of the
inaccurate first pitches fell into the range measured by SVDM, with 30.4% of the children
classified as singers. There was a positive correlation between the tonal dimension scores and
SVDM classification (song A: rho(49) = .558, p < .001; song B: rho(49) = .385, p < .05).

The song-teaching strategy is relevant when considering individual differences, suggesting

that vocal performance can be improved depending on it. Results suggest that children can
be more accurate if they sing in their usable voice register. Tonal achievement on song B is
less related to SVDM classification.

Keywords
Children’s vocal performance, performance rating scales, Singing Voice Development
Measure, song-teaching strategies, vocal-motor deficit

Background
In music education, numerous studies have focused on children’s ability to
sing in tune, investigating the influence of a wide variety of factors (for a

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literature review, see Hedden, 2012). Research on the influence of teaching
songs with melody and words or with the melody sung with a neutral syllable,
adding the words later, on children’s vocal performances has not been
addressed in depth (Goetze as cited in Phillips, 1989; Jacobi-Karna, 1996;
Levinowitz, 1989; Welch, Sergeant, & White, 1998). Findings are inconclusive
and, in some cases, contradictory. However, presentation and response
variables vary substantially between studies. For example, Levinowitz (1989)
presents a song with words and a song without words, asking kindergarten
children to sing the songs as taught in music sessions. On other hand, Goetze
(as cited in Phillips, 1989) presents 2 songs with words, asking the participants
(kindergarten, first-, and third-graders) to sing those songs first with words and
after without words. In both cases, results were similar: children sing more
accurately without words (using a neutral syllable) than with words.

For the purpose of this study and in order to provide more insight into the
influence of teaching songs with or without words, children will be asked to
sing songs as it were presented in classroom.
However, research on vocal development has shown that singing is also
affected by children’s ability to access their full voice range(Rutkowski, 2015;
Welch, 2006). In the past decades, two independent measures of children’s
singing development were developed and have been widely used: the
Singing Voice Development Measure (SVDM) by Joanne Rutkowski and the
Vocal Pitch-matching Development (VPMD) by Graham Welch (e.g.,
Rutkowski & Chen-Hafteck, 2001; Welch et al., 2008). So, as in Welch et al.
(2008), the present study intended to create an initial baseline profile for
each participant, measuring their use of voice registers using the SVDM.

Nonetheless, even if children access all their voice registers, singing accuracy
may be compromised due to different sources, namely the motor and
sensorimotor, memory, imitative, motivation, or perceptual, referred to as
models for poor-pitch singing (Hutchins & Peretz, 2012; Pfordresher & Brown,
2007).

One of the explanations for the vocal motor deficit is related to the inability
to control one’s vocal tract apparatus, despite their ability to use the vocal
register of the pitches to imitate or produce (Hutchins & Peretz, 2012). Yet, if a
child is not able to use all the voice registers, it is possible that she has a
good-pitch singing in her comfortable singing range. On the other hand,
singing inaccuracy can also be observed if there is has a lack of detail in the
representation of the song musical structure in memory (Pfordresher & Brown,
2007). To this matter, it is interesting to investigate the influence of two song-
teaching strategies, where the interaction between words and melody is
taken into account. Therefore, this study will focus on the motor and memory
deficit, crossing over children’s ratings on two songs and their SVDM
classification.

Aims

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The purpose of this investigation was twofold. First, this study examined if first
and second graders’ vocal performance of two songs was influenced by two
different teaching strategies. Second, to investigate the relationship between
children’s tonal achievement in both songs and the use of their singing voice
as measured by the Singing Voice Development Measure (SVDM).

The specific goals of this study were (a) to determine if children sing better
depending on the teaching strategy, (b) to find out if the inaccurate first
pitches for both songs fall into the registers of the children’s Singing Voice
Development Measure (SVDM) classification, (c) to determine if there is a
relationship between singing (in)accuracy for the first pitch and the tonal
dimension scores for both performance rating scales, and (d) to find out if the
tonal scores for both songs are related to the SVDM classifications.

Method
Participants
Forty-nine children aged six to seven attending a private school in an urban
area (Lisbon) and belonging to families with medium/high income levels
participated in this two-phase study.
Materials
The songs used in this investigation were song A (always taught with words
and melody) and song B (taught with neutral syllable, words added later).

Figure 1. Song A.

Figure 2. Song B.

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A performance rating scale was developed for each song. These scales are
additive.

Figure 3. Performance rating scale for song A.

Figure 4. Performance rating scale for song B.

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The Singing Voice Development Measure is described in Rutkowski (2015).

Procedure
Phase one (instruction phase) occurred over a period of eight weeks in
regular music sessions presenting two unfamiliar songs. Two teaching
strategies were used: song A was taught with melody and words during the
eight sessions and song B was taught with a neutral syllable, adding the
words after five sessions. The instruction of both songs took 15 minutes of each
session. Songs were similar in tonality (major), meter (duple), length and
range (C#3–A3; A3 = 440 Hz).

In phase two (test phase), participants were individually asked to perform two
singing tasks: (a) to sing both songs with the teacher providing an auditory
cue and (b) to echo eight three-tone patterns, one pattern at a time, sang
by the music teacher. As recommended by Joanne Rutkowski, the author of
the tool to measure children’s use of singing voice (not vocal accuracy),
those patterns were echoed with the text and with the neutral syllable “bá”
(half of the children echoed all patterns with text first, the others with the
neutral syllable first). For the purpose of this study, only the results of the
assessment for the text patterns were considered.

Children’s singing voices were audio recorded as each sang individually,

after being escorted to a private room at their school.
Three independent judges—music educators who work regularly with these
grades —rated children’s performances using a researcher-developed
performance rating scale for each song. Each scale comprised tonal and
rhythmic dimensions with five criteria each. They also rated the children’s use
of their singing voice (voice registrations) using the SVDM.

Results
(a) Do children sing better depending on the teaching strategy?
Inter-judge reliabilities were high for both rating scales (song A: ICC(3,k)= .928;
song B: ICC(3,k)= .885). T-test results for paired samples revealed no
significant differences between the mean scores of song A and B (song A: M
= 7.04, SD = 2.52; song B: M = 7.19, SD = 2.37) [t(48) = -.563; p = .288].
Nevertheless, the means for each song reveal that there is a tendency for this
age group to perform better on song B (the song first taught with neutral
syllable, adding the words later).
To find out if there were individual differences between vocal performances
of song A and B, we calculated the difference between both mean scores
(M = -.15, SD = 1.86) for each child. Since possible scores ranged from -4.33
and 4.33 and SD was high, we considered the scale unit (= 1.00) to define
three groups when analyzing the difference between means. Criteria
established were: a better performance for song B if c A - c B £ -1.00; no
relevant differences if -1.00 < c A - c B < 1.00; and better performance for song
A if c A - c B ³ 1.00). Results revealed that 22.4% of the participants (N = 11)

226
performed better on song A, 24.5% performed better on song B (N = 12) and
53.1% showed no relevant differences between both songs (N = 26).

(b) Do inaccurate first pitches for both songs fall into the registers
of the children’s Singing Voice Development Measure (SVDM)
classification?
Inter-judge reliabilities for the SVDM classifications were high (ICC(3,k)= .942),
indicating that the judges used the measure in a consistent manner. An index
was computed based on the mean of the three judges scores (M = 4.26, SD =
0.85). Table 1 shows the distribution of children according to their SVDM
classification (the index was recoded in order to maintain the same
classification levels).

Table 1. SVDM Classification.

According to the SVDM classification only four children (8.2%) would not be
able to sing the first pitch of song B, which falls into a register that they
cannot access yet (SVDM £ 3) and one child (2.0%) would not be able to
sing both pitches (SVDM £ 1.5). All the other participants (89.8%) have access
to the register of both first pitches (D3 for song A and A3 for song B).

Nevertheless, the scores on the first criteria of the tonal dimension for both
rating scales revealed that 13 children (26.5%) did not sing D 3 accurately
(song A) and that 21 children (42.9%) did not sing A3 accurately (song B).
Table 2 shows the inaccurate pitches sang by children, even after an
auditory cue was provided, and their SVDM classification. If the pitch was
accurate it is not mentioned on the table.

Table 2. First pitch sang for song A and B and the SVDM classification.

227
As shown in table 2, 11 children did not sing accurately both pitches, two
children did not sing accurately the first pitch on song A and 10 children did
not sing accurately the first pitch on song B. Results also show that 30.4% (N =
7) of the children who sang inaccurately were classified as singers by SVDM,
8.7% (N = 2) as inconsistent singers, 26.1% (N = 6) as initial range singers, 13.1%
(N = 3) as inconsistent initial range singers, 4.3% (N = 1) as limited range
singers, 13.1% (N = 3) as inconsistent limited range singers, 4.3% (N = 1) as
inconsistent speaking range singer.

In order to further investigate the relationship between singing the first pitch
accurately and the use of children’s voice registers (as measured by the
SVDM), the means and standard deviations were also calculated for the
SVDM classification on both songs, as shown in Table 3 (0 = first pitch is not

228
accurate; 1 = first pitch is accurate).

Table 3. Means and standard deviations for the SVDM classification related to
first pitch accuracy.

Results showed that for both songs, singing the first pitch accurately is related
to higher means in the SVDM classification. Also, results revealed a moderate
association between the accuracy on first pitch and the SVDM classification
for both songs (song A: Eta(49) = .577; song B: Eta(49) = .543).

(c) Is there a relationship between singing (in) accuracy on the

first pitch and the tonal dimension scores for both performance
rating scales?
In order to investigate the relationship between the accuracy on the first
pitch and the other criteria established in the tonal dimension of the
performing rating scales (criteria 2 to 5 as shown in figures 3 and 4), we first
analyzed the means (and standard deviations) for each song (song A: M =
2.52, SD = 1.56; song B: M = 2.84, SD = 1.27). Results show that tonal
achievement in song B is slightly higher. Table 4 shows the distribution of the
mean scores on tonal dimension along each song for the first pitch accuracy.

Table 4. Means and standard deviations for the scores on tonal dimension
related to first pitch accuracy.

Following the results shown in table 3, also here the means for song B are
higher and standard deviations are lower, regardless of the accuracy on the
first pitch. Results also indicate a moderate association between the
accuracy on first pitch and the tonal scores (criteria 2 to 5) for both songs,
and higher for song B (song A: Eta(49) = .565; song B: Eta(49) = .662).

(d) Are the tonal scores for both songs related to SVDM

229
classifications?
Correlation measures were also calculated to determine the nature of the
relationship between children’s tonal scores on each song (song A: M = 3.25,
SD = 1.84; song B: M = 3.45, SD = 1.63) and their SVDM classification (song A:
rho(49) = .558, p < .001; song B: rho(49) = .385, p < .05). Correlations were positive
and statistically significant indicating a moderate relationship for song A and
a weak relationship for song B. Figure 5 and 6 show the distribution of SVDM
classification according to the tonal scores on each song.

Figure 5. Distribution of SVDM classification according to the tonal dimension

scores for song A.

Results show that the lower SVMD classifications [inconsistent speaking range
singer (1.5); inconsistent limited range singer (2.5); and limited range singer
(3)] achieved the lowest scores on tonal dimension for song A. We also
observe that children classified as singers (5) show scores within a wider
range.

Figure 6. Distribution of SVDM classification according to the tonal dimension

scores for song B.

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For song B, results reveal that children with higher SVDM classifications
[inconsistent initial range singer (3.5), initial range singer (4), and singer (5)]
are distributed all across the x-axis. To further investigate this relationship,
correlation measures were also calculated according to the first pitch
accuracy. Thus, measures were calculated for all possible combinations: first
pitch accuracy for song A and B = 0 (N = 11); first pitch accuracy for song A
and B = 1 (N = 26); first pitch accuracy for song A = 0 and for song B = 1 (N =
2); and first pitch accuracy for song A = 1 and for song B = 0 (N = 10).

Results showed correlations statistically significant in two cases: when children

are accurate in both first pitches, and for song A (rho(11) = .415, p < .05); and
when children are accurate in the first pitch of song A but not in the other
song, and for song B (rho(10) = -.644, p < .05). So, in the first case, results
indicate that there is a positive and moderate relationship between the
SVDM classification and tonal achievement on song B. On the other hand,
when children are not accurate in the first pitch of song B but accurate for
song A, the relationship between those two variables is negative and
moderate, meaning that there is a moderate tendency to get lower scores
on the tonal dimension when the SDVM gets higher.

Conclusions
This study revealed that for this population (6 to 7 –years old) there is no
significant relationship between vocal performance on two songs and its

231
teaching strategy. Yet, findings indicate that individual differences should be
accounted for, since there are children who can perform better according
to the song. Therefore, it is important to consider teaching songs using both
methods, perhaps in a counterbalanced way.

Still, when considering vocal accuracy it is advisable also to measure

children’s use of their vocal registers (Rutkowski, 2015; Welch, 2006). The results
of this study showed that although both songs’ pitches fall into the voice
registers of 89.8% of the participants, not all of them score high in the tonal
dimension. In fact, for both songs, there are children classified as singers
(using SVDM) who scored approximately zero in both songs. The opposite is
also found, meaning that some children score high in the tonal dimension
although classified in a middle SVDM ranking, for example. This suggests that
it is possible to be accurate when singing in a comfortable voice register.

On the other hand, results pointed out that there is a moderate association
between the singing accuracy in the first pitch and the other criteria on the
tonal dimension for both songs. So, there is a tendency to have higher ratings
if the first pitch is accurate.
At this point, it should be mentioned that only the first criterion in the tonal
dimension of the performance rating scales was designed to take into
account the register in which the song was taught.

Nevertheless, there is a tendency to get higher scores in both songs if the

SVDM classification is higher, as suggested by the positive and significant
correlation measures. Yet, this correlation is weak for song B. This result is
reinforced when considering the relationship between the first pitch
accuracy and the SVDM classification. For instance, if children did not sing
accurately both first pitches or vice versa there was no significant correlation
found. So, perhaps there is a slightly different vocal behaviour in song B,
meaning that teaching the melody first may help those children who still do
not access all their voice registers.

In conclusion, measuring the use of voice registers and vocal accuracy

should be used in parallel in order to provide a singing profile for each child.
Based on this profile, it should be possible to contribute to more effective
singing in terms of individual differences. Further studies should replicate these
procedures with different ages. In addition, longitudinal case studies should
also be most valuable to further deepen our understanding on these issues.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research was developed in the framework of CESEM (Sociology and Musical Aesthetics
Research Center – UID/EAT-00693/2013) and financial support was provided by FCT (Fundação
para a Ciência e Tecnologia) through a PhD grant (PD/BD/114489/2016), co-financed under
the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education
(MCTES).

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Hedden, D. (2012). An overview of existing research about children’s singing and the
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Hutchins, S., & Peretz, I. (2012). A frog in your throat or in your ear? Searching for the causes of
poor singing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 141(1), 76-97.
Jacobi-Karna, K. (1996). The effects of the inclusion of text on the singing accuracy of
preschool children. Dissertation Abstracts International, 57(11), 4682.
Levinowitz, L. (1989). An investigation of preschool children’s comparative capability to sing
songs with and without words. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education,
100, 14-19.
Pfordresher, P., & Brown, S. (2007). Poor-pitch singing in the absence of “tone-deafness”.
Music Perception, 25(2), 95-115.
Phillips, K. (1989). Review: Factors affecting accuracy in children’s singing by Mary Goetze.
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Rutkowski, J. (2015). The relationship between children’s use of singing voice and singing
accuracy. Music Perception, 32 (3), 283-292.
Welch, G. (2006). Singing and vocal development. In G. McPherson (Ed.), The child as
musician (pp. 311-329). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Rutkowski, J., & Chen-Hafteck, L. (2001). The singing voice within every child: A cross-cultural
comparison of first graders’ use of singing voice. Early Childhood Connections, 7(1),
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Welch, G. (2006). Singing and vocal development. In G. E. McPherson (Ed.), The Child as
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University Press.
Welch, G., Sergeant, D., & White, P. (1998). The role of linguistic dominance in the acquisition
of song. Research Studies in Music Education, 10 (1), 67-74.
Welch, G., Himonides, E., Saunders, J., Papageorgi, I., Rinta, T., Preti, C., … Hill, J. (2008).
Researching the first year of the National Singing Programme in England: an initial
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Time to raise the bar: Exploring realities and improving musical
engagement practices of early childhood professionals in the
infant and toddler room of childcare centres in Australia

Ginette Pestana
Monash University
Melbourne, VIC, Australia
[email protected]

Abstract
The use of musical engagement such as singing and musical play are long established
practices with infants and toddlers. All children are born wired for music so there is little
wonder that these sensitive, responsive and reciprocal musical episodes have considerable
impact on the social, emotional, physical and cognitive development of the child. These first
musical encounters play an important role in building relationships and contribute towards
the child’s sense of wellbeing and belonging. Traditionally introduced by the child’s parents,
early childhood professionals now find themselves in this position due to the increasing
number of children in childcare in Australia. There is little prior research concerning the
musical practices of professionals in the infant and toddler room and research in preschool
settings reveal occasional and limited musical engagements due to inexperience or lack of
confidence or training.

This paper will present findings from a case study research which reviewed musical practices
of professionals in an infant and toddler room in a long day care setting. It looked at what
the existing musical engagement practices of early childhood professionals were, the issues
they faced in delivering these practices and what support they needed to increase the
quality of these practices. Direct observations and semi-structured interviews were
conducted and the researcher kept a reflective journal. The analysis revealed the heavy
demands of care, issues about the continuity of care and the presence of spontaneous
musical episodes that were more instinctive rather than informed in nature and a push down
from practices with older children. Based on these findings, the researcher then tested
elements of an in-service collaborative professional development program and found that
one of the key contributors to transforming practice, was watching the children’s reactions
to the researcher’s modelling of musical engagement practices throughout the day. These
findings provide insights that will contribute towards developing effective professional
development programs and refine pre-service teacher training that will empower and
transform musical engagement practices of professionals in the infant and toddler room.

Keywords
Infant and Toddler, musical engagement, childcare, professional development

Introduction
Experiences in early childhood affect and set neurological and biological
pathways of the child and have life-long implications for health, learning and
behavior (Council of Australian Governments, 2008). The first few years of life
are prime times as they have great influence on the person the child
becomes, shapes their sense of security, and how they view the world
(Greenman, Stonehouse, & Schweikert, 2008). It has been suggested that
experiences with very young children should be personal, intense, and family-
centred while retaining an understanding of the continuity of learning
(Cataldo, 1984). Relationships that are contingent, responsive, and
reciprocal, formed during these early years between the carer and the child,

234
provide the stable and safe environment for the child to absorb and
understand the world around them and support infant development (Raikes
& Edwards, 2009).

This reciprocal responsiveness between the carer and the child has been
likened to a ‘dance’ by infant psychologists (Raikes & Edwards, 2009) and
being musical as these back-and-forth communications involve turn-taking
on a shared pulse, different qualities of vocal and body expressiveness, and
narratives in jointly created sequences (Trevarthen & Malloch, 2002). Infants
are born wired for music and instinctively look for and start musical
interactions with objects and people (Custodero, 2002). Shared musical
episodes offer invaluable opportunities to develop attachment (Mazokopaki
& Kugiumutzakis, 2009) and provide sensory experiences such as exploration
and discovery, self-expression and communication, with an overall sense of
well-being and belonging.

The use of musical engagement such as singing and musical play are long
established practices in infants and toddlers care-taking (Trainor, 2002).
These first musical encounters are traditionally introduced by the child’s
parents but due to the increasing number of children in childcare, early
childhood professionals now find themselves in this position. Looking at
available literature regarding musical engagement in early childhood
settings, we can see that professionals in these settings offer occasional and
limited musical engagements due to inexperience or lack of confidence or
training (Gharavi, 1993; Hildebrandt, 1998; Scott-Kassner, 1999). In Australia,
there is an average of 14 hours music training provided for preservice early
childhood teachers to cover music education from birth to 8 or 12 years
(Pestana, 2015). Research has shown that the music capabilities of very
young children are enhanced by musically trained adults who are able to
facilitate an enabling environment (Custodero, 2005; Suthers, 2004; Young,
2005). With inadequate training, the provision for rich, reciprocal and
attuned musical episodes needed to support young children is under threat.
General impressions from my visits to the infant and toddler rooms of
childcare centres to assess preservice teachers on Practicum, indicate a
superficial musical involvement which lacked the quality engagement
needed.

The literature also revealed that there is limited research available about
musical practices of professionals in the infant and toddler room (Niland,
2015). Educators in this room also face challenges of balancing both the
caring and learning aspects in their pedagogical work. In most cases, the
focus is on the care aspect rather than engaging the child and supporting
their learning (Suthers, 2004). In Australia, early childhood educators’
practices are guided by the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) which
outlines learning outcomes, principles and practices (DEEWR, 2009). These
outcomes are broad guidelines and are subject to interpretation. There is
little mention of musical practices - mostly involves singing songs and

235
chanting rhymes.
The inclusion of musical engagement practices is very much left to the
choice of the educator. Coupled with inadequate training and the choice
to leave out what the educator is not comfortable with, it seems inevitable
that music engagement practices are not widely included.

Research Aims
These research questions drove my research:
What types of musical experiences are enacted by early childhood
professionals in the infants and toddlers room?
What issues do early childhood professional face that prevent their
engagement with “Quality” or rich music experiences?
What can be done to support the early childhood professional to
enhance their musical engagement practices in the infant and
toddler room?

From this analysis, a model of collaborative professional development within

the class context was developed and tested with the aim of transforming
current musical engagement practices of professionals working in the infant
and toddler room.

Methodology
For this research, a phenomenological case study was selected to provide
relevant quality data to enable a deeper understanding of the “lived”
experiences of the educators in the infant and toddler room. Data collection
was obtained through semi-structured interviews – pre and post interventions,
direct observations, reflective journal and documentation. During this
process, the researcher adopted the role of the “expert” in both the data
gathering and in acting as the mentor/trainer in the collaborative
professional development program.
Semi-structured interviews conducted at the start with the two key educators
provided the foundation to understand their musical background, views and
attitudes towards music practices, and their professional development. This
was followed by 118 direct observations of musical episodes taken over a
two-month period to capture the reality of their musical practices. These
musical episodes captured any occurrence of musical engagement that
happened throughout the day. An event sampling procedure was utilized
and data collected included the time, place, those involved and a brief
narrative of what occurred. Each episode was coded using a music
categorisation schema based on the typology that emerged from the data.
The type of activity – use of voice, musical instruments, movement or listening
– was first examined and then the data was further coded to find out the
reasons, contexts, and motivations behind the musical episodes. The
episodes were coded by Category (formal, informal or incidental); Initiator
(Educator or Child); Grouping (One-to-one, small or bigger group); and Role
(pedagogical - supporting concept development, e.g. counting;
developmental - physical, cognitive, social and emotional; cultural - passing

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on cultural knowledge; instructional - signaling transitions or giving instructions;
and as a filler -something to do). The researcher also kept a reflective journal
to provide a richer context and insights into a day in the life of an educator.

The data generated from the interviews, observations and reflective journal
helped towards developing a collaborative professional development
program. This consisted of modelling musical practices throughout the day
including one-to-one reciprocal episodes and group music time; provision of
supporting literature outlining the “how to” and reasons behind the different
musical engagement practices; informal discussions throughout the day and
regular debriefing after musical episodes. Feedback regarding the
professional development program was then sought via the post-intervention
interviews.

Results
From the initial interviews, the educators revealed strong support towards
music education in the early years citing its many intrinsic and extrinsic
benefits, and expressed belief in the transferable benefits of music into other
domains as evidenced from working with older children. Both the educators
came from multi-cultural backgrounds, and had rich musical experiences in
their childhood and school days despite not having formal music training.
Their pre-service teacher training did not provide specific music training.
They were satisfied with their level of musical practices with the children in
their room but cited some difficulties of not having enough time to prepare or
conduct activities in the room as well as being constantly interrupted with
care practices. Both were receptive towards receiving professional
development for musical engagement with the expectation that they would
learn how to get a better response from children, learn new activities, and
felt that watching someone demonstrate these activities with the children
would benefit them more. They both also stated that they were very busy
and did not have time during and after working hours to learn more about
their music practice.
The observations showed that the educators did engage in musical
practices. There was a predominance of voice-related episodes followed by
playing musical instruments, moving to recorded music, and listening to
recorded music or electronic devices. The “Wiggles” Cd, a popular
children’s recording group, was played almost every day.
The musical episodes were mostly spontaneous, incidental, opportunistic and
not planned. There was no evidence of planning for musical episodes, and
the choice of song and musical activity and when it was conducted was
linked closely to the ‘role’ it played and its perceived transferable benefits.
The use of action songs, familiar children’s songs and nursery rhymes were
used in their sing-a-longs and to soothe unsettled children.
The musical episodes observed appeared to be more instinctive and intuitive
rather than informed in nature, with a strong indication of push-down
practices from working with older children. When asked about their choice
of songs and activities, both educators cited that these ‘worked’ successfully

237
before with other children, and ‘that’s what you do with children’. They were
hesitant to include new repertoire as they believed that the children would
not be so familiar with the songs.
The musical episodes were mostly teacher initiated and driven by their
understanding of what was suitable for the child. When a child initiated a
musical episode, the reaction from the educator was responsive but the
interaction rarely went further. For example, a child gave a car to the
educator and said “car, car”. The educator asked if the child wanted her to
sing the song about the car, then after getting the confirmation, sang the
song and stopped after that. What was clearly not evident was the
presence of intersubjectivity between the educator and the children.
After the collaborative professional development was conducted, the
educators noted obvious differences in the children’s behaviour. The
children were calmer, settled faster and were more responsive. They
demonstrated a higher level of concentration, the ability to listen and
respond to instructions, and seemed to have better memories. They were
more open to listen and respond playfully to new and different music and
there was a higher rate of participation, especially from children who had
previously never participated. The children seemed more receptive in
responding as a group. More children were actually singing the words rather
than just doing the actions. The educators also realised that the children
were more capable than they thought, in using their imagination and having
creative responses.
These results challenged and changed their practices. They began to take
on board and practice the different musical activities demonstrated for
them. They were more confident in using music in a ‘different way’ and
including a wide variety of music types. They expanded on the ways in
which they used props and instruments, and found that there were more
opportunities to engage children with music and invite reciprocity rather than
just do actions to music.

Implications for practice

It was evident that a key turning point for the educators in transforming their
practice was witnessing the effects of attuned, interactive and reciprocal
musical experiences with the children in their room. Watching the children
respond to the simple strategies used empowered them and boosted their
confidence to try it out for themselves. The frequent informal discussions
about the activities helped to unpack and support understanding about the
purpose of the activity. Coupled with recognizing the capacity and
potential of the child helped them to develop more meaningful musical
experiences.
This calls for a need to review and refine current pre-service teacher training
and professional development programs for existing teachers to improve the
quality of musical engagement with infants and toddlers. Trying to include
the understanding and practices in the already marginalized music
education module might be futile and further perpetuate the push-down
problem. Pre-service teachers might be better prepared if the understanding

238
and practices be included as part of learning of the pedagogical practices
or ‘pedagogy of care’ – involving theorising how routines for infants and
toddlers are able to actualize learning within the curriculum (Rockel, 2009) –
in the infant and toddler module and practicum experiences of a preservice
teacher course.
This small-scale study highlights the issues and reality of what happens in the
infant and toddler room and possible opportunities to improve practices.
How to translate and transfer the knowledge gained into a wider reaching
program needs further consideration and is currently being explored by the
researcher.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank my supervisor Dr Jane Southcott – Associate Professor, Monash University,
for her wise advice and help in guiding me along this PhD journey.

References
Cataldo, C. Z. (1984). Infant-Toddler Education: Blending the Best Approaches. Young
Children, 39(2), 25-32.
Council of Australian Governments. (2008). National Partnership Agreement on Early
Childhood Education. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia Retrieved from
http://www.federalfinancialrelations.gov.au/content/npa/education/early_childd/n
ational_partnership.pdf.
Custodero, L. A. (2002). The Musical Lives of Young Children: Inviting, Seeking and Initiating.
Zero to Three(September), 4-9.
Custodero, L. A. (2005). Observable Indicators of Flow Experience: A Developmental
Perspective on Musical Engagement in Young CHildren from Infancy to School AGe.
Music Education Research, 7(2), 185-209.
DEEWR. (2009). Belonging, Being & Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for
Australia. Canberra: Australian Government Department of Education, Employment
and Workplace Relations.
Gharavi, G. J. (1993). Music skills for preschool teachers: needs and solutions. Arts Education
Policy Review, 94(3), 27-31.
Greenman, J., Stonehouse, A., & Schweikert, G. (2008). Prime Times: A Handbook for
excellence in infant and toddler care (2nd ed.). St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.
Hildebrandt, C. (1998). Creativity in music and early childhood. Young Children, 53(6), 68-74.
Mazokopaki, M., & Kugiumutzakis, G. (2009). Infant rhythms: Expressions of musical
companionship. In S. Malloch & C. Trevarthen (Eds.), Communicative musicality:
Exploring the basis of human companionship (pp. 185-208). Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Niland, A. (2015). ‘Row, row, row your boat’: singing, identity and belonging in a nursery.
International Journal of Early Years Education, 23(1), 4-16.
Pestana, G. (2015). Where has all the music gone? A review of music education content of
early childhood teacher tertiary education programs in Australia. Paper presented at
the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) 2015 Conference,
Fremantle, Australia.
Raikes, H. H., & Edwards, C. P. (2009). Extending the Dance in Infant and Toddler Caregiving:
Enhancing Attachment and Relationships. Baltimore: Paul H. Brooks Publishing Co.
Rockel, J. (2009). A pedagogy of care: Moving beyond the margins of managing work and
minding babies. Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, 34(3), 1-8.
Scott-Kassner, C. (1999). Developing Teachers for early childhood programs. Music Educators
Journal, 86(1), 19. doi:42601088
Suthers, L. (2004). Music Experiences for toddlers in day care centres. Australian Journal of
Early Childhood, 29(4), 45-49.

239
Trainor, L. J. (2002). Lullabies and Playsongs: Why we sing to children. Zero to Three, 23(1), 31-
34.
Trevarthen, C., & Malloch, S. (2002). Musicality and Music Before Three: Human Vitality and
Invention shared with pride. Zero to Three(September), 10-18.
Young, S. (2005). Changing tune: reconceptualizing music with under three year olds.
Internstional Journal of Early Years Education, 13(3), 289-303.

240
SALTmusic - Speech and Language Therapy & Music Practice:
Emerging findings from action research

Jessica Pitt
Applied Music Research Centre
University of Roehampton
[email protected]

Charlotte Arculus
Great Yarmouth Community Trust
Great Yarmouth

Sophie Fox
SALTmusic
Great Yarmouth Community Trust

Abstract
This paper presents findings from an on-going action research project with speech and
language therapists and early childhood music practitioners and children aged 24 to 36
months with communication difficulties and their parents/carers. This age is critical for
increasing vocabulary and word use (Sharma and Cockerill, 2014) and presents a ripe
moment for interventions that might improve the outlook for children prior to entering formal
education settings. The informal, community-based, family music group activities offered by
the resident music team at a children’s centre provided a means for overstretched speech
and language services to engage with young children and their families in ways that had
hitherto been less successful for them. There were many shared and similar practices found
amongst the two teams that came to light from interdisciplinary practices that characterises
the work of children’s centres.
At the mid-point in this project this paper explores the evolution of a community of practice
(Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998) through working together on a programme of co-
constructed SALTmusic sessions (Speech And Language Therapy and Music).
The data collected for this project are both quantitative and qualitative. Qualitative,
tentative findings will be reported here. New models of early childhood music education
practice for young children with communication difficulties, as well as some preliminary
indications of the benefits for children and families through this innovative collaboration will
be outlined. These include: the benefits of music for children’s communication and
expression; the impact of different environments on the children’s expressive behaviours; the
community of practice and the growth of the partnership; strategies and activities that are
emerging as a result of SALTmusic practice.
Implications from this joint working project include models of work for speech and language
therapists to integrate into their working practices with young children. Additionally early
childhood music educators extend and deepen their knowledge and understanding of the
most effective ways to work with music to improve young children’s communicative skills and
self-expression at this critical stage of development.

Keywords
Communication, communication difficulties, parents, early childhood music, communities of
practice, interdisciplinary working, two year olds, speech and language therapy

Introduction
In this paper we present work-in-progress of an action research project
involving two teams of professional practitioners: from speech and language

241
therapy, positioned in the health context; and from early childhood music
education, positioned in the education and care context. The unfolding story
of building a community of practice (Wenger, 1998) together is one strand of
the research and the joint team’s work together with families and children
with communication difficulties is the other important element. The team is
developing a data collection tool for recording individual children’s levels of
wellbeing and involvement, social interaction and communication. The
children’s musical behaviours are also observed using the Sounds of Intent for
the Early Years Framework (Ockelford, et al., 2005;Welch, et al., 2008). Much
of the work is experimental and evolving as the team begins to understand
each other’s practice and methods. This paper begins with a brief overview
of some relevant literature followed by a description of the action research
process and preliminary findings.

The Millennium Cohort study has provided data about 12, 644 children born in
UK between 2000-01. Using this dataset Waldfogel and Washbrook (2010)
argue that poverty and cognitive development have statistical associations.
By the time they were four-five years old those children in the lowest income
band were about 11 months behind those children in the middle-income
band in terms of expressive vocabulary. Parenting and the home
environment was one of the factors suggested by the researchers to
contribute to these findings.
I Can talk4’s report (2009) found that in some areas of England as many as
50% of children are starting school without solid foundations in language and
literacy, this can have a devastating impact on children’s life chances. The
report highlights the importance of early intervention and the need for a
skilled childhood workforce to address the severe deficit in effective oral
language skills that become the building blocks for literacy and numeracy
development.

Pitt (2009); Knight, Bowmer & Welch (2016) suggest that early childhood music
educators and speech and language therapists benefit in several ways from
joint working by developing a ‘shared repertoire’ as they work together. Pitt’s
vignette described how the two professionals became more skilled in their
practice as a result of talking, reflecting, planning and working together. The
action research reported here brings together professionals to work similarly.
The project offers early intervention for young children aged 24 - 36 months
with communication difficulties and their families. The settings chosen for the
project are in what many would consider to be economically disadvantaged
locations in the east of England. The participation of the children’s
parents/caregivers as part of the project is considered to be of vital
importance. When parents attend with their child to a music group activity it
is found that there are more musical links to home as a result (Pitt &
Hargreaves, 2016), it may be that any communicative behaviours

4 ICan - children’s communication charity (UK)

242
demonstrated during musical play can be experienced together and
perhaps rehearsed at home.

The music group context for collaboration between professional disciplines

can assist the dyad in several ways. Findings from research indicate that
music is of fundamental importance in emotional bonding between parent
and infant (Dissanayake, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2010). Babies prefer the human
voice to other sounds (Fernald, 1992) and adults have been found to vary the
tonal quality of their speech (elevated pitch and a melodic quality) when
interacting with infants and seem to do this intuitively (see for example Dunn
and Kendrick, 1982; M. Papoušek and H. Papoušek, 1981). Trevarthen and
Malloch whose studies of infant’s early communication with her
parent/caregiver found characteristics of intricate coordinated vocal
narrative between the pair with musical-type features of rise and fall pitch
patterns, rhythm, building up to a climax followed by release, termed by
them as ‘communicative musicality’ (2000).
The prosodic quality of speech and music: that is the rhythm, intonation, stress
and phrasing are thought to be the dominant components in both domains
(McMullen and Saffran, 2004) and carergivers maximize these aspects when
interacting with infants. Lullabies have been found cross-culturally to have
certain specific qualities: simple, repeated pitch contours, descending
melodies (Trehub & Trainor, 1998) and are preferred by infants to other music.
Most significantly perhaps is that caregivers have been found to accurately
repeat melodies time and again at the same pitch when interacting with
their infant (Bergeson and Trehub, 2002). Prosodic cues may help with
understanding the shape of phrases in both spoken and sung domains; the
ends of clauses in speech tend to drop in pitch and syllables lengthen
(McMullen and Saffran, 2004).
Music is similar in some respects to speech in that they both combine a series
of individual elements – phonemes, pitches - in accordance with established
rules (grammar in speech or music theoretical ideas) to generate meaningful
utterances (see Jackendoff & Lerdahl, 1982; Anvari, Trainor, Woodside &
Levy, 2002). Because of its rhythmic characteristics music may help young
children to segment, rhyme and blend sounds (Degé & Schwarzer, 2011).
Music also benefits verbal intelligence, pre-reading skills and social-cultural
(Gerry, Unrau & Trainor, 2012) and emotional behaviours (Kirschner &
Tomasello, 2009, 2010; Rabinowitch, Cross & Burnard, 2013). Infants have
demonstrated early abilities to differentiate the rhythms and distinguish pitch
contours of different language speech patterns (Nazzi, Bertoncini, & Mehler,
1998). It would seem that the skills necessary to identify language are musical
in nature (i.e. pitch and rhythm).

Music and acquiring language

In the realm of speech perception and language acquisition, specifically in
the perception, comprehension and imitation of sound segments within
speech, music has been found to have a positive influence. Longitudinal
studies with young children aged eight years showed that those that

243
attended music training were significantly better able to identify speech
segments than those who attended a painting group (Chobert, François,
Velay, & Besson, 2014; Francois & Schön, 2011; François, Chobert, Besson, &
Schön, 2012). Gromko (2005) found that music instruction over four months
improved phonemic segmentation fluency (i.e. the ability to break words
down into individual sound components) in a group of kindergarten children
as compared to a control group. Music training was found to improve
auditory processing for specific tasks - as was second language training
(Moreno & Lee, 2015). Musical perception skills were found to be
advantageous for reading ability in pre-school children and have also been
found to be beneficial for early word use and social and emotional
development (Anvari, Trainor, Woodside, & Levy, 2002; Bolduc, 2008). A study
conducted by Bolduc &Montésinos-Gelet (2005) investigated the effects of a
music programme on phonological awareness, word recognition and
invented spelling with kindergarten children. The findings suggest that musical
activities develop three components that are important to linguistic
development too: auditory perception, phonological memory and
metacognitive knowledge (for more information see Bolduc, 2008). The latter
skill (self-awareness of one’s intellectual function, i.e. Thinking about one’s
thinking) has been found to be useful in children’s development of thinking
and understanding across all learning (Robson, 2012) and may be a vital skill
in language acquisition.

Methodology
Influencing change in practice characterises the aims of this Youth Music 5
funded project therefore action research was the most suitable
methodological approach. At the heart of the project are collaboration and
the establishment of a self-critical community of practice (Cohen, Manion
and Morrison, 2008). Ideologically there is an epistemological root in critical
theory; communication is seen as an intrinsic element in building a
community of equals (Grundy and Kemmis, 1988, p.87). Action research is
conducted in real world circumstances and ethical considerations are
important as the project is built upon open and in-depth communication
between all participants. Parents and children have been included in the
cycles of action research. The children and their parents/caregivers watch
edited film data collected through one cycle of ‘intervention’ and their
reactions are observed as evidence of their ‘voice’. The parents’ views are
sought throughout the process and the data they provide helps triangulate
data from the team of their observations of the children.

Participants
The professional participants comprise four speech and language therapists
(SLT), two SLT assistants, two early childhood music practitioners, two trainee
early childhood music practitioners, strategic project lead, researcher and a
project manager. The SALTmusic Programme of activity takes place in three

5 Youth Music is an English charity that funds music projects in out of school contexts.

244
different group sessions per week in term-time. Each group includes up to ten
children with communication difficulties and their parents/caregivers and
any young siblings. Participants attend for one term of sessions (8-weeks).
One of the groups is for children with speech and language disorders and the
other two groups are for those children who have social interaction and
communication difficulties. As these children are between 24-36 months of
age few of them have a diagnosis at this stage.

Cycles of Action Research

At the time of writing the project is in the middle of the third cycle of action
research. Using Schön’s Reflective Cycle (1983) the team reflects, evaluates,
analyzes and then concludes with an action plan for the next cycle of
activity. Figure 1 shows the various stages of the cyclical process of SALTmusic
action research.

1. Intervention
2. Weekly
once per
Reflections on
week for 8-
action
weeks

3. Celebration
session with
5. Action
parents and
planning and
children (video
recruitment for
data playback
next phase
& observation
of children)

4. Focus group
(whole team
reflect,
analyse,
evaluate)

Figure 1 – Salt music cycle of action research based on Schön (1983)

Data Collection
A data collection tool is in formation as part of the project and is completed
for each child at the end of every session by the team members who
facilitate that group session through discussions and observation notes. They
score for wellbeing and involvement (Laevers, 1998), social interaction and

245
expression. The codes and the tool has been developed by team members
through ‘joint enterprise’ to achieve ‘a shared repertoire’ (Wenger, 1998).
Eraut (2008) speaks about blending theory and practice knowledge from
different disciplines, in this case with a codified document to represent the
expansion through the amalgamated professional practice. It is expected
that over the lifetime of the project these data will show in what ways the
children are benefitting from the SALTmusic group activity. It is too early in the
project to provide any significant findings at this stage.

The SALTmusic sessions – emerging models of work

The sessions have been based on the EY music/arts-pedagogy that has been
established since 2003 at Great Yarmouth Community Trust where the early
years music team has pioneered innovative approaches to musical
playfulness over many years (see Pitt, 2009; Arculus, 2015). The creation of an
enabling playful environment is one of the key pedagogical actions. The
room is set up with tuned and un-tuned percussion instruments, objects to
encourage speech (such as toy animals, plastic food, vehicles), construction
materials and abstract items such as large, floaty pieces of materials pinned
on washing lines, with many large foil blankets -which can be inviting sound
makers- strewn on the floor (see image 1). The first part of the activity is free
play with the practitioners (SLT and music) focused on interacting with
individual children’s musical/sound play, copying, extending and
demonstrating that they have ‘heard’ the children’s sounds. Parents are
encouraged to ‘play’ with their children, pointing out that asking questions
that demand ‘right’ answers from the children are not needed in this session.
The children, and the parents/caregivers gradually build their confidence in
this playful atmosphere and when the time is right, a slightly more ‘led’ music
group-time ensues. The musical material for this section is a work-in-progress;
at the moment there are choices of key word objects that are offered in a
playful manner. These words are practised many times through simple songs
and rhymes. The use of Lycra has been successful and enjoyed by all the
children. The format of the sessions is kept simple and repetitive. The use of a
visual timetable, found to be very effective for children to understand what is
happening in nursery settings was used in the pilot sessions but was found to
be redundant as the music seems to act as its own auditory timetable. It
seems that music orders and structures the time so that the framework for the
session is guided by the ebb and flow of the songs and their place in the
session.
The ‘Makaton’ 6 signs for ‘more’ and ‘finished’ are used throughout the
activity and the signs for the key words to be practised in the particular
session are added.

6 Makaton is a simplified sign language system https://www.makaton.org/aboutMakaton/

246
Image 1 enabling playful environment

Findings - professionals
At the outset there was a taster session to recruit families for the project. At
the focus group thereafter the following comments came from the speech
and language team:
“…the only thing was establishing the speech and language roles within that
very well established group….what would you like us to feed into that?”(SLT)
“We wondered about planning time before the group. Whether we could
have a set collaborative planning?” SLT

It appears from these comments that the SLTs have identified that the music
team uses an established structure and format into which they are perhaps
negotiating a means to contribute their expertise. They take the lead in
suggesting a practical solution.

At the end of the first cycle of intervention sessions the group met together to
discuss what we called the ‘pilot’ series of 8-week SALTmusic sessions from
October-December 2016 -

Findings - joint working

“We’ve built a really nice relationship with the therapists and the therapy
assistants as well” Musician.
The joint-team appears to be building good working relationships. The wider
SLT service is reported to be under tremendous pressure, therapists are
required to see many referrals. Some SLT’s find it difficult to do more than
‘signposting’ to other services at times. This project has offered a different sort

247
of intervention for families:
“Previously I often felt as though I had to rely on the wider workforce around
the child to effect the change, often only seeing children for one-off
assessments and giving recommendations to home and nursery…”
Of her involvement in the music project she says:
“Personally I found it to be very meaningful to feel as though I was directly
involved with effecting positive change to the families” SLT (case study data.)

Findings - music practice

“The music team…enabled children to explore, build confidence and inspired
a sense of musical playfulness. The music team already had the basis for
creating a good communicative environment for children” SLT (case study
data).

Talking about the most effective practice musicians said:

“…it’s about stripping it right down…”
“following a similar routine and for that to becoming established…” (focus group).

This music practitioner acknowledges learning through the process about the
most effective practice for these groups of children and parents. It seems
that simplicity, clarity, structured routine and repetition are emerging as key
elements that work.

Findings - children
“...she [SLT assistant]was visiting that school where [Child’s Name] was at
nursery and she popped in to feed back what had worked really well for him.
He is now just a couple of hours short of his full 15 hours place.” SLT

This child had been almost completely excluded from the setting as they had
found it difficult to meet his needs. He was attending nursery for just a couple
of hours per week when he started the SALTmusic sessions. The SLT assistant’s
visit to the setting allowed transfer of practical tools and ideas from the
SALTmusic sessions for the nursery to integrate into their practice making it
possible for the child to manage better in the setting as his communication
needs were addressed more effectively.
There are benefits to other children as a result of the growing knowledge
within the team:
“…and we have been able to cross over quite well: the signs and things that
we’ve been doing in the SALTmusic sessions we’ve been doing in our bridge to
music groups [young children and parent music activity groups] as well. A
parent said her little boy had been very frustrated as his language has been
quite slow and she had ben considering whether she needed a referral [to
speech and language services], she felt he had already picked up on the signs
and that had lessened his frustration.” Musician

Findings - parents/caregivers
When asked if parents had benefitted from attending the music group
sessions a frequent response was about having time together with their child:

248
 “Having fun with [Child].”
“Spending quality time with [Child] in a completely child-focused
environment.”
“Spending more time with my child, I have learned a lot more signs.”
“It has helped to encourage positive behaviours in my son.”

Parents were asked in what ways, if any, their child’s communication had
improved. Responses show that there are increases in interaction efforts:
“More attempts to communicate/interact.” “Although [Child] still isn’t speaking, he is
using sounds a lot more.” Also increases in word use: “Vocab. [Child] is using 3-4
word sentences now it was single words before.”

Musical behaviours and signing have increased too: “He has started to sing
more. He has also taken on ”finished”, “more” and putting toys back in the bag.”

Discussion
This project has two strands: To explore how two professional teams can work
together and develop a community of practice and to study the ways that
musical activities may be beneficial for children with communication
difficulties and their families.
Already there are examples of the community of practice’s evolution.
Negotiability (Wenger, 1998, pp.197-206) involves a process of developing an
‘ownership of meaning’ (p.200). The meaning has to be socially negotiated
and the ownership relates to the ability to be responsible for negotiating
meaning. The initial findings suggest that the speech and language therapists
are perhaps negotiating ways through the established music group practice,
by suggesting collaboration through joint planning meetings; thereby
encouraging mutual engagement, pursuing joint enterprise towards
producing and adopting a new meaning (ibid., p.202). There is mutual
appreciation of the other’s expertise and a willingness to learn. The team
reports working well together although there is still a sense of two different
professional groups.
The parents are enjoying what they regard as ‘quality time’ with their
children. Pitt & Hargreaves (2016) found that the parent-child music group
activity offers a ‘multi-layered’, socialisation space where intimate one-to-
one interaction is possible, as well as peer-to-peer and group interaction and
this one-to-one interaction time (between parent and child) was felt to be
very beneficial to both parent and child (Pitt & Hargreaves, in Press).
It would appear that there are benefits for children arising from the musical
playful environment. There is no pressure to get things right and this
encourages freedom to vocalise. Moving the focus away from word-use
encourages more attempts to communicate and use sounds more readily.
These are preliminary findings. The rules of music (Jackendoff & Lerdahl, 1982;
McMullen & Saffron, 2014) seem to offer the children rehearsal time for their
sounds and vocalisations that, in turn, appear to build confidence for
speaking. The use of simple signs is proving helpful at home and in education
settings.

249
There are emerging implications for music practice including using signs in
other music group contexts for young children to also benefit those with no
recognised communication difficulty. The joint working has allowed sharing
across professional disciplines of practical ideas that support children’s
effective communication to improve access to education and care for those
with communication difficulties.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
With thanks the authors acknowledge funding from Youth Music for this project. They are
grateful to all the children and families that have participated so far in the research and to
the staff team for their generosity, kindness and spirit of collaboration and to Great Yarmouth
Community Trust who have continuously supported early childhood music since 2003

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The “musical” day-care centre: A model for training the educators

Stefanie Stadler Elmer

Schwyz University of Teacher Education
Goldau, County of Schwyz, Switzerland
[email protected]

Armin Wyrsch
Schwyz University of Teacher Education
Goldau, County of Schwyz, Switzerland
[email protected]

Abstract
In an ideal world, the professional education of educators of young children would include
musical training targeted to the benefit of the young children. Yet, research knowledge on
the role of musical activities – e.g., song singing – is only slowly applied in the practical fields
of early education. In order to contribute to knowledge transfer, our research project aims at
designing a model for the musical training of early childhood educators as a team within
their professional context. Ideally, this model should be communicated in such a way that it
allows to be transferred to new contexts. Hence, we strive for identifying and generalizing
didactic elements for providing young children daily experiences of enjoyable and playful
song singing and other musical activities in day-care centres. Our main task as project
leaders is to guide the team in the day-care centre to appreciate their already existing
musical culture by increasing their awareness and knowledge, and to help them improve
their abilities and skills. By musical culture we mean shared values and goals such as a shared
musical repertoire that is practised daily and that follows pedagogical criteria. A musical
culture also means mutual support in the team, and involving parents and other actors in the
environment. One of the key elements is the educators’ ability and skill to practise song
singing and to enrich the singing setting as an enjoyable and playful social scenario by
narratives, movements, pictures, objects, and accompaniments. Another key element is a
shared repertoire of songs and musical games that is child-oriented and suitable for including
children. In workshops and in the working place, we train the educators in various ways. We
demonstrate musical practices, introduce criteria, support individuals and the team in their
own daily practice, and we assist the setting up of routines that help to sustain
achievements. By the end of the implementation process, the team should have established
its own daily routines and a procedure to ensure quality and sustainability. In our presentation
we give an overview of the model’s current state, and we illustrate aspects of the
implementation process with video films.

Keywords
professional training, music pedagogy, early education, implementation research

Introduction
The literature on early childhood education provides strong incentives for
policy-makers to maintain optimum ratios of adults to infants, on-going
training including in the specialist area of infant and child pedagogy, and
environments with good leadership which facilitate low levels of stress (e.g.,
Dalli et al., 2011). These conditions are recognized to have a marked impact
on the development and learning of infants and children, since they allow
building up and maintaining mutual attunement between adults and
children. Mutual attunement has to do with multimodal communication
including qualities like shared attention, shared intentions, and shared

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playfulness. These are mainly manifested in eye contact, reciprocal vocal
imitation, and interactive synchronization. Moreover, mutual attunement,
taken literally, can be interpreted as musical. This “musical” view on early
communication goes back to Papousek and Papousek (1981, 1987) who
identified acoustically musical features in the intuitive caregiving that they
summarised with the concept of “intuitive parenting”. Similarly, while studying
early communication, Dissanayake (e.g., 2008, 2011) discovered the same
features, yet called them proto-aesthetic. Her idea is to view early
communicative as events to make something ordinary into something
special, and she created the concept of “artifying” by means of repetition,
variation, simplification (formalisation), surprise, and exaggeration. She
conceptualizes early communication as the very original experience of the
temporal arts. In this domain of temporal arts, song singing for and with
children is prominent as the traditional means to regulate emotional states of
the singer as well as the listener. In a broad sense, music or song singing can
be said to be one of the earliest cultural domains children from early on are
capable of participating by listening and by vocally joining in. Studies show
(e.g., Longhi, 2009) that mothers use songs to structure the interaction with
infants, and that children are capable of reproducing identifiable tunes even
before they are able to form and articulate bi-syllabic words (e.g., Stadler
Elmer, 2012, 2015). Early song singing not only indicates how a child adapts to
the cultural environment, but also – and maybe even more importantly – how
she or he acquires the skill to reproduce the collectively shared emotional
state related to this activity. Apart from being involved in the production of
knowledge on learning and teaching music through research, we aim at
transferring knowledge into practice.

Designing, improving, and formalizing an implementation model

Together with the leaders of a large day-care centre in Germany, we
designed a model for implementing music pedagogical knowledge into
early education. The two leading questions have been: 1. What kind of
knowledge and skills do educators need to provide children a musically
stimulating environment on a daily basis and to foster children’s basic musical
learning potential? 2. How can the implementation process be organized in
an efficient and effective way? The aim of this project is to enable the team
to establish its own musical culture by functional daily routines and to agree
common values, goals, and a procedure that ensures quality and
sustainability such as a shared musical repertoire that is practised daily and
that follows pedagogical criteria. In addition, from our viewpoint as
researchers, we aim at documenting and formalizing the model and process
in order to allow the transmission and multiplication to other contexts.

Content knowledge and skills

To a large extend, the nature of answers to the first question about the
educators’ necessary musical qualifications is normative. Therefore, issues
around norms or standards need from time to time negotiations, adjustments,
and agreements. They may also need to be individually adjusted. To some

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extent, standards can be claimed to concern the elementary musical
competences with which each human being is normally biologically
equipped. These basic musical activities are sound perception, vocalization,
and movements (e.g., Stadler Elmer, 2000), and they are interrelated.
Apparently, vocalization and movements adapt to the surrounding culture,
and this process is manifested in the organization of these activities. Musical
learning and development can be understood as a gradual differentiation
and integration of cultural rules into the organization of these elementary
musical activities. Educators learn to understand and observe the emergent
musical features and rules in the child’s organization of his or her vocalisation
and movements. Moreover, educators are trained to practise sensorimotor
games with the children that include voice, movements, sound sources, story
telling, pictures etc. They learn to understand the basic musical and
language rules concerning pitch, time (duration, accents, phrases), syllable
and word formation, their generative nature (Merker, 2002; Stadler Elmer,
2015), and how these are expressed while singing and playing musical
games. The educators are specifically trained in-service to practise song
singing, enrich this practice with various scenarios, and to observe and
engage the children.
With the focus on practising song singing scenarios, we emphasize vocal
learning. It is as a specific human capacity to adjust vocally to an external or
internal sound source, and to use feedback for modifying the vocalization.
During the first two or three years, vocal learning leads to speech and song
that reciprocally influence each other. Ultimately, vocalization is
sensorimotor, and moreover, movements of other body parts usually
accompany it. Key words are self-synchronisation and interactive
synchronization as deeply biologically rooted propensities to join in oscillating
stimulations.

Organisational requirements
An expert model of music education typically commissions the professional
musicians to visit day-care centres once a week for teaching the children,
and it does not aim at empowering the educators. Yet, our model focuses
the educators as a team with a leader and invests into an in-service training
of the day-care centre staff by an outside expert and/or mentor during a
limited period. The aim of this training is to assist the staff team and leader in
improving the actual musical culture, increase awareness and introduce new
knowledge, and train to integrate additional criteria. The first and foremost
organizational requirement is the leader’s commitment to the project goal.
The leader is the key figure to manage the communication between the
project leader, mentor and the staff, parents, and stakeholders. Together
with the project leader, she or he monitors the entire process. Good
leadership facilitates change processes and encourages staff members to
comply with the agreed commitment, values, and goals (e.g., Penuel,
Fishman, Haugan Cheng, & Sabelli, 2011; Peters et al., 2013).

An important step for developing a common vision on how to set up a music

255
culture within a day-care centre, begins by becoming aware and by
appreciating existing functional resources in the staff, e.g., habitually
deserved time slots for gathering and music making, individual expertise,
collections of songs and musical material. Our experiences show that this
process is not easy, since a common language to communicate about
musical practices and its quality has to be found. For instance, at the
beginning staff members believed the quantity of songs sung for the children
to be most important and sufficient. Indeed, their protocols of the songs sung
during five working days yielded a large number and a large variety of songs.
We had to find ways to introduce new criteria, and to convince the staff to
decrease the number of songs, to avoid songs with complex rules, and
instead increase the quality of working with a limited set of children’s songs.
We asked them to collect their favourite songs and to agree among
themselves on a shared song repertoire. Further, we introduced new and
simple musical games that target basic musical competences. We also
introduced new criteria for playfully staging song singing for and with
children, and demonstrated how to gain children’s active engagement and
learning. The educators learned to understand that children profit more when
the songs are simple and easily accessible to them, when they are repeated,
shared and enriched with stories or combined with further activities, than
from their own and individual favourite songs with complex and advanced
rules. The coaching of the educators – individually, pairwise, and small groups
– is organized within their working environment with children actually
involved. This practical training includes demonstrations, observations at the
basis of criteria, video recordings and analyses. Intermediate, we organize
workshops with the entire staff team and also meetings with the leader. The
requirements – e.g., the pedagogical criteria for the song singing practice,
instructions on how to observe the children – need to be adjusted iteratively
in order to find a level that avoids over- or under-challenging the individual.
Throughout the entire process, we strive to convey to the educators the
experience that their music pedagogical work with children, especially with
the very young ones, is beneficial for all, and we teach them to apply criteria
and to observe the effects of their interventions such as learning progress,
shared attention, interest, and enjoyment. A sustainable change towards a
lively and daily music culture can only be reached when the target group –
the educators – feel supported, valued, and respected as professionals, and
when they gain positive inspiration from their work in the interests of the
children.

Research and Evaluation

From the research perspective, we are interested in how the implementation
process works, and how the theoretical model could be improved that
encompasses assumptions about musical pedagogical knowledge and skills
and about process management of knowledge transfer (cf., Stadler Elmer,
2014; Stadler Elmer & Wyrsch, 2017). Currently, we are devising a
questionnaire for evaluating the process. We are also analysing videos and
make a film to demonstrate best practice.

256
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Stadler Elmer, S. (2000). Spiel und Nachahmung. [Play and Imitation] Aarau: Nepomuk.
Stadler Elmer, S. (2012). Structural aspects of early song singing. In: A. Baldassare (ed.), Music
– Space – Chord – Image. Festschrift for Dorothea Baumann’s 65th birthday. Bern: Peter
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Stadler Elmer, S. (2015). Kind und Musik. [Child and Music] Heidelberg: Springer.
Stadler Elmer, S. (2014). Bildungsakzent Musik für kleine Kinder – das Konzept BAMUKKI. In M.
Dartsch (Hrsg.), Musik im Vorschulalter (S. 58-67). Kassel: Gustav-Bosse-Verlag.
Stadler Elmer, S. & Wyrsch, W. (2017). Musikdidaktische Forschung und Entwicklung am
Beispiel eines Projekts im Frühbereich. [Music pedagogical research – an early
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fachdidaktiken/

257
Parental awareness and activity concerning prenatal acoustic
intake and after-birth music stimulation of babies

Lelouda Stamou
Department of Music Science and Art, University of Macedonia
Thessaloniki, Greece
[email protected]

Despoina Skandalaki
University of Nicosia
Philharmonia Heraklion Municipal Philharmonic Orchestra
Heraklion, Crete, Greece

Abstract
Research findings of the last few decades underline the importance of the acoustic
environment of the fetus and the newborn baby as a major source of stimulation influencing
growth. While developments in scientific fields dealing with prenatal and neonatal
development are ample, there is little research on the degree of awareness possessed by
the individuals involved with pre- and neonatal care, such as parents, obstetricians,
caregivers, etc. The present study aimed at investigating (a) parents’ degree of awareness
concerning the importance of the fetus’ acoustic intake during the prenatal period; (b) the
sources of this information, and (c) the parental activity during pregnancy and after birth
aiming at enriching the acoustic environment of the unborn and born child. The sample
consisted of 129 women in a major urban area who had given birth to their child no more
than eight months before the beginning of the study. Data was selected via the New Mother
Questionnaire (NMQ), an author-constructed 33-item measure of satisfactory reliability
(ranging from r= 0.777 , p 0.05 to r=0.955, p 0.001). Analysis revealed interesting findings on
the degree and origin of parental knowledge on the importance of the acoustic
environment on their unborn/born babies’ growth, and shed light on the similarities between
pre- and post-natal stimulation provided by parents, as well as the criteria for parental
choices. Of special interest are the findings on fathers’ awareness and activity to reinforce
prenatal acoustic intake as compared to mothers’, as well as on the use of parental speech
versus singing for the baby’s acoustic stimulation before and after birth. Findings of the
present study have several implications for the role of music educators as advocates of the
importance of the baby’s prenatal and postnatal acoustic/music stimulation and for the
implementation of music programmes for the unborn baby.

Keywords
Prenatal, neonatal, music, acoustic, stimulation, baby, growth, parent, awareness, fetus,
womb, sound.

Introduction
Arguments presenting the womb as a tank, empty of any sensory stimuli
(Preyer, 1885), into which the fetus is sleeping as if it lies in a coma,
untouched by the external environment and uninfluenced by sensory
impressions (Seitz, 1951), belong to the distant past. Developments in
technology and progress in medical fields have produced impressive
knowledge on what happens in the womb (Honemeyer & Saling, 2013).
External sounds merge with sounds in the womb to form the acoustic
environment of the fetus, which supported by the senses of touch, taste and
smell, connect the fetus with the external environment (Federico, 2000). This
sound environment belongs to our primordial, pre-birth wealth of experience

258
(Hüther, Krens and Weser, 2008). Research studies have shown acoustic
stimulation during prenatal period to influence the fetus’ bodily functions, the
development of perception, personality development, as well as the
development of musicality (Arabin, 2002; Arya et al., 2012; Birnholz &
Benacerraf, 1983; D’Elia et al., 2004; Hepper, 2005; IFREPmla. n.d.; Lagercrantz
& Ringstedt, 2001; Shahidullah & Hepper, 1994; Ullal-Gupta et al., 2013; Wilkin,
1995). Every newborn child coming to this world, brings a number of
experiences which he/she gothered in the womb and can now recall as
respective ‘memory’ schemata (Hüther, Krens and Weser, 2008). Infants and
young children are predisposed to speech and musical development
(Stadler Elmer, 2012; Trehub, 2001).

While developments in scientific fields dealing with prenatal and neonatal

development are ample, there is little research on the degree of awareness
possessed by individuals involved with pre- and neonatal care, such as
parents, caregivers, etc. The present study aimed at investigating (a) parents’
degree of awareness concerning the importance of the fetus’ acoustic
intake during the prenatal period; (b) the sources of this information, and (c)
the parental activity during pregnancy and after birth aiming at enriching the
acoustic environment of the unborn and born child.

Method
Convenient sampling in a population of 3,011 women who had given birth in
the period of September 01, 2014 to June 30, 2015 in a major city in southern
Greece, led to a sample of 129 women who agreed to participate in the
present study. One hundred of them had given birth at a public hospital,
while 29 women had delivered their babies in other private materninty clinics.
All mothers had given birth to their baby no more than eight months before
the beginning of the study.
The author-constructed New Mother Questionnaire (NMQ), consisting of 33
items, 21 closed and 12 open-ended questions, was administered to gather
data on the research questions mentioned above along with demographic
data. The NMQ had been pilot-tested for its clarity and ease in completion
before the actual beginning of the study and was modified accordingly,
leading up to the NMQ used in the present study. Test-retest reliability of the
modified NMQ ranged from r= 0.777, p 0.05 to r=0.955, p 0.001, and was
therefore considered satisfactory.

Findings
Analysis of the demographic data showed that 97,7% of the women
participating in the study were of Greek nationality. Most of them (58,1%)
ranged in age between 31 – 40 years old, 35,7% between 21 and 30 years
old, while very small percentages of women were below 20 (4,7%) and
above 40 (1,6%) years of age. Almost half of them (49,6%) were mothers of
only one child, 38,8% mothers of two children, 9,3% mothers of three children,
and 2,3% had four children or more. Almost half of them (48,8%) were

259
university graduates holding bachelor degrees, 38% high school graduates,
and 13,2% middle school graduates. The sample of mothers was almost
equally divided among the five categories of degree of involvement in
music, with slightly more women (29,5%) having moderate involvement with
music and less women out of the sample (20,2%) having no involvement with
music. In most cases (97,7%), the mothers’ involvement with music was not
professional.

Concerning mothers’ awareness of the importance of the acoustic intake of

the fetus, it emerged that 43,4% considered themselves highly or very highly
informed, 33,3% moderately informed, 19,4% slightly informed and 3,9% not
informed at all. The basic sources of information were reported by the
mothers to be the Internet (65,1%), scientific journals and books (23%), journals
and books for the general public (21,4%), gynecologists (20,6%), relatives and
friends (13,5%), personal experience (7,9%), courses and seminars (5,6%), and
education (3,2%). The mothers who considered themselves highly or very
highly informed were graduates of middle school (58,8%) and high school
(44,95), while university graduates mostly considered themselves moderately
informed (42,9%) and to a less extent highly – very highly informed (38,1%).
The majority of mothers considered the acoustic intake of the fetus to be
highly or very highly important for its future development (45% and 37,2%
respectively).

Analysis showed that stimulation provided by mothers during pregnancy in

order to reinforce the fetus’ acoustic environment, involved listening to
recorded music (58,7%), singing (56,3%), reciting (11,9%), speaking to the fetus
(4%), and reading children’s books (2,4%). As far as singing was concerned,
analysis showed that 38,8% of mothers sang daily for the unborn baby, while
31% sang 2-3 times a week. Concerning listening to music during pregnancy,
this happened daily in 69% of mothers, while 63,6% of them did it intentionally
in order to have the fetus ‘listen’ to the music. The greatest percentage of
mothers (82,9%) did not play any musical instrument during pregnancy. The
styles of music to which mothers chose to expose their unborn babies to,
were Greek pop music (77,5%), any choice of music (31%), classical music
(24,8%), foreign pop (24%), rock (20,9%), traditional Greek music (16,3%),
children’s music (10,9%), jazz (7,8%) and folk music from other countries
(3,9%).

Mothers also reported their spouses’ degree of information/awareness, about

the importance of the fetus’ acoustic intake, as being moderate (33,3%), low
(22,5%), high (19,4%), none (16,3%) and very high (8,5%). According to
mothers, fathers participated in activities to reinforce the fetus’ acoustic
environment daily (29,7%) two or three times a week (24,2%), once a week
(11,7%), 2-3 times a month (10,2%) and once a month (9,4%). These activities
included mostly talking to the fetus (73,6%), singing (20,2%), playing a musical
instrument (10,1%) and playing recorded music (3,1%). A percentage of

260
14,8% of fathers did not at all participate in reinforcing the acoustic
environment for the unborn baby.

Concerning the period after birth, it was found that mothers’ singing in order
to reinforce the acoustic environment of their babies was mostly daily
(83,6%), while 12,5% of mothers sang for the baby 2-3 times per week, and
only 3,9% sang to the baby no more than once a week. Mothers had noticed
that the baby recognized the mother’s voice to a very high degree (84,4%)
and to a high degree (15,6%), as well as the father’s voice to a very high
degree (74,2%), and to a high degree (18,8%). Analysis showed that when
mothers wanted to calm down their baby, they sang to the baby (78,9%),
they put music on for the baby to listen (47,7%), they shook the baby’s
rattle(48,4%), they used a musical toy (9,4%), and spoke to the baby (2,3%).

As far as exposing the baby to recorded music, results showed that in the
majority of cases (66,4%) this happened daily, in 29,7% of cases this
happened 2-3 times a week, while once a week was the frequency for only
3,9% of the sample. It was also found that the music which mothers chose to
expose their baby to, was not different from the one they chose during
pregnancy in 40,6% of cases, a little different in 29,7% of the cases,
moderately different in 21,1%, much different in 7%, and very different in 1,6%
of cases. Exposing the baby to recorded music happened daily (25%), 2-3
times a week (30,5%), once a week (16,4%), 2-3 times a month (10,2%) and
less than once a month (18%). The music which mothers used to expose their
babies to, after birth, was reported to be Greek pop music (50%), several
kinds (37,5%), children’s songs (27,3%), any music (26,6%), traditional Greek
music (25%), classical music (22%), rock (14,8%), foreign pop (14,8%), jazz
(7,8%), and other countries’ folk music (5,5%). Mothers reported the criteria for
choosing this music to be their own music preferences (71,9%), the baby’s
reactions (17,2%), their views based on what they had read on the internet
(16,4%), the older siblings’ music preferences (9,4%), their readings from books
and magazines (8,6%), and the paediatrician’s recommendations (5,5%).
Mothers characterized the baby’s acoustic environment mostly as “noisy”
(46,9%) and “musical” (42,2%).

Mothers reported that, when babies were exposed to acoustic stimuli to

which they had also been exposed while in the womb, they had the
following reactions: turning their head toward the sound source (46,9%),
calming down (39,1%), vocalizing (35,9%), body movements (31,3%), stopping
crying (15,6%), smiling (9,4%), falling asleep (2,3%) and crying (0,8%).

Discussion
Findings from the present study show that mothers are knowledgeable of the
importance of the fetus’ acoustic intake, while the sources of this information
are mostly the internet, and much less books, magazines and gynecologists.
The educational system is not reported as a source of information to a
considerable degree. This verifies older research findings (Stamou, 2006;

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Stamou, 2001) according to which, even early childhood teachers and
carers ignore the importance of the acoustic environment in first years of life
for the child’s musical development. It also underlines the gap often existing
between the scientific community, education and society also reported in
other studies (Cole & Knowles, 2000; Joram & Gabriele, 1998; Korthagen,
2007; Leglar & Collay, 2002; Stamou, 2006; Stamou, 2001; Stamou &
Mouchtaroglou, 2012), as well as the need for bridging this gap (Custodero &
Stamou, 2006; Scott, 2004). This is imperative if the importance of the acoustic
environment before and after birth for baby’s growth is to be effectively
communicated to the people who are mostly dealing with the unborn and
born baby; parents, carers and educators.

Findings showed no significant relationship between a mother’s degree of

information on the importance of the fetus’ acoustic intake with either her
age or degree of involvement with music. These findings could be indications
that this awareness is mostly by instinct or by what is considered as “common
knowledge”. The very high and high degree of awareness that mothers
report (43,4% and 33,3% respectively) may have been affected by the testing
procedure itself, as mothers probably get a feeling about the significance of
the fetus’ acoustic intake, just by reading the questionnaire.

While mother’s educational level does not seem to relate to the degree of
her awareness of the importance of the fetus’ acoustic intake, it does
however seems to relate to the frequency of activities done to reinforce this
intake. This shows that the mothers who actually realize their responsibility for
building a rich environment for their unborn baby and act in order to
reinforce acoustic intake, are the ones who possess high educational level.
Similarly, while the number of children does not seem to relate to the degree
of information, it does seem to relate to activities done by mothers to
reinforce acoustic stimulation for the fetus. The above findings may be
indications that regardless of the fact that mothers present themselves as
aware of the importance of the fetus’ acoustic intake, it is only few of them
who actually realize their role in that or act to that end. The activities that
these mothers employ are mostly singing and exposing the baby to recorded
music. It seems that older siblings do make a difference to the amount of
musical stimulation available.

Interesting are the findings concerning what mothers report on fathers.

According to these, fathers’ participation in the reinforcement of the fetus
acoustic intake, involves talking to the baby in a vast majority of cases and
much less singing or listening to recorded music. A considerable number of
fathers do not get involved at all in any process for enriching the unborn
baby’s acoustic environment. The degree of fathers’ information on the
importance of the fetus’ acoustic intake is also reported by mothers to be
much lower than that which they report for themselves. The above findings
may be indicative of fathers being less informed and involved with the
unborn baby, which however could be a natural consequence of the fact

262
that it is the mother who carries and feels the baby into her body, and
therefore the fetus’ senses are mostly turned to the mother (Righetti, 1996). It
will be interesting however to investigate whether the above findings for
fathers hold true, when fathers are asked directly to talk for themselves.

What is of interest also, is the fact that the frequency with which mothers sing
to their babies is impressively increased from the prenatal to the postnatal
period. This is probably due to the fact that after the baby is born, singing is
used to accompany the baby’s daily routines, such as putting the baby to
sleep, diaper change, feeding, bathing and playing with the baby, through
lullabies, games, giggles, etc.) (Barrett, 2009; Bergeson & Trehub, 1999;
Custodero, 2006; Custodero, Britto, & Xin, 2002; Custodero & Johnson-Green,
2003; Dionyssiou, 2009; Mehr, 2014). Findings of the present study verify
previous research findings according to which most mothers sing to their
babies and/or put on recorded music for the baby for listening and
distressing. The utmost importance of such activities, not only for
accompanying the baby’s daily routines but also for the emotional
exchange and feelings of security and calmness created for the baby, are
underlined by a plethora of research studies (Barrett, 2009, Dionyssiou, 2009;
Custodero, Britto, & Xin, 2002, Custodero & Johnson-Green, 2003, Custodero,
2006; Ilari, Moura, & Bourscheidt, 2011).

The mother’s music preferences are the basic criterion for what she chooses
to sing to/for the baby or what she chooses to listen to/expose the baby to,
both in the prenatal and postnatal period. This finding has important
implications for the music which is chosen by researchers when they intend to
investigate the influence of music on the relationship between parent and
child, in home, educational or music therapy settings or on other factors
involved in family situations. Music chosen by the parent based on her/his
own mood and preference, may hold significant emotional power and may,
therefore, function with greater efficacy towards specific ends. The fact that
mothers of the present study use singing to their babies vastly more than they
use talking to the baby, is probably an indication that mothers, instinctively or
not, are aware of the power of their singing to their little ones.

The limitations of the study included the relatively small sample, the nature of
the questionnaire as a research instrument and its limited capabilities for
revealing the essence of parental views and actions concerning the
reinforcement of the fetus’ and baby’s acoustic environment. Future
research studies employing larger samples and additional research
instruments, such as in-depth interviews as well as observational tools, may
significantly add to this body of research and allow for verification of findings
and greater generalizability.

Findings of the present study have several implications for the role of carers,
gynecologists and, early childhood and music educators as advocates of
the importance of the baby’s prenatal and postnatal acoustic/music

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stimulation for the child’s growth. Such findings may lead to several ideas for
the development and implementation of music programmes for the unborn
and newly born baby, as well as the development and implementation of
parental education programmes on music, which take into account the
educational, social and emotional aspects of the parental role (Pitt, 2011), so
that better ‘soundscapes’ are created around the unborn and born babies
and better conditions for growth.

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Musical experiences in the play of a 16-month-old child

Vanessa Stansall
Centre for Research in Early Childhood (MA Student)
Birmingham, UK
[email protected]

Abstract
This small study was undertaken as part of an MA in Early Childhood Music Education. A case
study of a 16-month-old child’s musical experiences through play in the home, it is informed
by theoretical perspectives on child development and learning, musical learning and
musical childhoods. The data were gathered through naturalistic observations of the child in
his home and recorded in the form of video snapshots in time. Information about the child’s
background was gained through a short conversation with his parents. Of the video taken
over five visits with the family, three short vignettes were chosen for analysis. These vignettes
were then transcribed as illustrative detailed descriptions. Vignette 1 examines the
affordances of sound makers and how these influence a child’s music making. Vignette 2
considers the aural and physical environment and the role recorded music can play in affect
regulation. Vignette 3 shows an episode with a musical toy and discusses the affordances of
such toys, their capacity for multimodal use, and their role in parent-child interaction. The
study identified implications for practice, some of the limitations of working in the home, and
areas of interest for future research.

Keywords
Musical childhoods, parents, play, affect regulation, technology, interaction,

Introduction
This small-scale, qualitative case study investigated the musical experiences
in the play of a 16-month-old child, George.

Research with young children has more usually been focused on laboratory
studies with younger infants or studies in nursery settings with children from
three years old and accordingly there is less research with children of
George’s age. This study aims to make a small contribution to the research
on music in daily life (see, for example, Young and Gillen, 2007 and Young,
2008).

George’s parents are Lola and Joe. George attends nursery Monday to
Wednesday and is at home with Joe on Thursdays and Lola on Fridays.
George’s mobility has developed rapidly over the last few months and the
family increasingly spend time in the park and the garden where George can
enjoy the space and permission to move around. They still attend certain
parent and child classes, including a music group that Lola takes George to
on Fridays. Musical toys as well as drums and a recorder are available to
George at home. The radio is often on at home and in the car, usually BBC
Radio 1 or BBC Radio 2.

267
This paper is based on an assignment carried out as part an MA in Early
Childhood Music Education and includes some selected perspectives from
the original paper.

Research design
The data were collected through naturalistic observations of the child in his
home over five visits in the spring of 2016 and recorded in video form. The
footage collected was edited and three short vignettes selected for analysis.
These vignettes were then transcribed as illustrative detailed descriptions.

The video was recorded on a mobile phone. George is used to adults in his
home using mobile phones and it was hoped this would minimise any
tendency to ‘perform’ for the camera, compared with a video camera. An
additional consideration was whether George’s parents might try to set up
specific musical situations in the home and it was made clear to them this
was neither necessary nor desirable for the study. George was too young to
sign a consent form and so the written consent of his parents was gained.
George’s body language and facial expressions were monitored throughout
however for indications of his ongoing assent or signs of distress. See Street
(2007) for an exploration of ethical issues and the rights of young children in
research in naturalistic settings.

All names have been changed to protect the family’s identity.

Vignette 1
George is sitting on the floor holding a spoon in his left hand. He puts it inside
the cup next to him and strikes the base eight times. He looks inside the cup
and strikes again six times. He picks up the cup and tries to drink from it. The
spoon falls out. He puts it back inside and strikes eight more times, this time
moving the spoon between two opposite sides of the inside of the cup. He
makes a scooping motion and puts the spoon in his mouth. He hits the floor
with the spoon 10 times singing ‘da da’ with the first two strikes, the two notes
at the same pitch. He lifts the cup to his mouth and sings an open vowel
sound. Holding the spoon between thumb and index finger he returns it to
the cup, singing ‘mmm’ through a rising interval and striking the back of the
spoon against the inner surface of the cup, this time with a wiping, slightly
swinging motion. He places his hands on the floor and sings another rising
vowel sound. He kicks his right leg three times to shuffle forward towards the
step and sings ‘eek eek eek’. He positions himself on the step singing ‘mm-
mm’, the second note slightly lower than the first, then repeats this while he
stands up and walks off towards the bin.

A Piagetian view of George’s play points to the sensorimotor, exploratory

nature of his striking gestures (Pound, 2012) and musical developmental
models such as the Spiral of Musical Development (Swanwick & Tillman, 1986)
have also pointed to the sensory, experimental nature of music-making in
children of this age. The sensorimotor moments in George’s play seem to

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alternate with units of pretend play, solitary play (Parten, 1932 cited in
Tarnowski, 1999) or object play (Hughes & Melville, 2002). Marsh and Young
(2006) however argue that such categories of play do not recognise the
social aspects or real-life contexts of play and that far from being random
and exploratory, children’s music-making is complex and structured.

In a study with older children in a preschool, Young (2003) showed how

structures in space relating to instrumental affordances and structures in time
work generatively and organizationally in young children’s music-making.
One such structure of time is clustering (Young, 2003, p. 54), where identical
movements are repeated in a group followed by a pause, characteristically
four to ten repetitions; such a pattern provides a fitting description of
George’s rhythmic groupings. With regards to space and the shape of the
cup, George’s initial striking motif with the spoon reoccurs, now moving back
and forth in a straight line between the opposite faces of the inside of the
cup, and then another time, going back & forth by swinging around the
curve of the cup and wiping the inner surface. In this way the motif is
transformed, creating a sequence. Does the swinging action dictate the
pathway round the curve of the cup or does following that pathway give rise
to the swinging action? In this particular example they seem inextricably
linked.

Young (2012) also suggests that the physical environment gives structure to
children’s music and George incorporates other parts of his physical
environment into his music-making, striking the floor and later the washing
machine. For the adults of the house, only the soles of their feet are in
contact with the floor; George however spends much time lying and sitting
on the floor, it is much closer to him, and features more in his field of vision.
After the clip finished, George extended his striking motif further, using the
spoon in the larger circular space of the washing machine drum in what
could be interpreted as a sound-gesture transfer (Delalande & Cornara,
2010) or potential schema (Pound, 2012)

Vignette 2
It is morning and the family are preparing to leave for a holiday. Lola tells me
that George ‘has been a bit fractious today’. They are in the kitchen and
George starts slamming a cupboard door. Lola puts a song on. When
George hears the music he turns his face away from the cupboard, listens
and starts to bounce, bending his legs with his left arm out in front of him. He
looks at Lola, who asks ‘are you having a boogie?’ in an encouraging tone.
He lifts his left arm higher and continues to bounce, legs and arm moving
together. He claps his hands together then returns his left arm to the air. He
bounces for a few bars before again clapping his hands together then
returning his left arm to the air. He starts to rock from left to right and then
moves to the other side of the kitchen. Here he puts his left arm in the air
again and tilts from left to right. He pauses to look at another adult in the
room, a friend of his parents, who is watching and smiling. He lifts his arm

269
back up, and rocks again. He approaches the other adult and then returns
to his space. He turns to look at me and then at Lola. He walks towards the
door, pauses and rocks back and forth for a few seconds, before turning
back into the kitchen.

Music had been playing all morning via an online streaming service; Lola
deliberately selected this song and she told me afterwards that it is a song
that Joe loves and which he has danced to with George since he was born.
In choosing this song deliberately to try to change George’s mood, we see
how Lola uses the recorded music as a form of affect regulation. Much of
the research on the use of music for affect regulation in infants has focused
on parental singing (See Dissanayake, 2000, Trehub, 2004; and Trevarthen,
1999). The predetermined nature of recorded music of course limits
opportunities for the parent-child dyad to dictate the pace of turn-taking
and for the sonic content to be shaped in response to the infant, but other
factors mentioned by Trehub, Ghazban, and Corbeil (2015) as being
important in affect regulation, such as moving, smiling and touching need
not be precluded when using recorded music.

Young and Gillen (2007) describe different levels of involvement by family

members in listening to recorded music as parents guide and support their
children’s participation. In George’s family, Joe has previously supported
George’s participation by dancing with him in his arms, and now that George
is older and dances independently, Lola continues to support his
participation by noticing his dancing and commenting on it encouragingly.
The music may also act as a form of affect regulation for Lola herself, possibly
relaxing her to see George happy or reminding her of meaningful moments
for her family.

George moves through the room, alternating between dancing on the spot
and walking to a new place. This pattern concludes when he reaches the
end of the kitchen at the start of the hallway. Here, instead of continuing on
the same trajectory, he turns back into the kitchen. Hancock and Gillen
(2007) in their study of two-and-a-half-year-old girls in the home found that
the shape and quality of space elicited different movements from children.
The hallway here is darker, narrower, a transitional space and perhaps is not
as attractive an option to George for dancing.

Vignette 3
George is sitting on Lola’s lap while she talks to a friend. He is playing with a
toy with a number of buttons, each of which plays a different animal noise.
He presses the ‘wolf’ button and hearing the howl that is played, copies it
with his voice, lifting his right arm as he does so. This gains Lola’s attention and
she asks ‘Did you do the wolf noise? Can you do it again?’, pressing the
button for him. He copies the sound again, this time lifting the toy into the air
with both hands as he does it. Lola laughs and imitates him, and so George
presses the button again, making his own sound immediately rather than

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waiting for the toy to finish its sound first. Lola presses more of the buttons.
When she presses the duck sound, George lifts his arm into the air and starts
to sing a falling melodic pattern, two long notes during which he holds his
hand in the air and three short notes accompanied by waves of his arm. Lola
presses more of the buttons. When she presses the dog button George replies
with a ‘he he he’, bouncing himself on each sound he makes. Lola presses
the wolf button and again George replies with a howl, this time lifting his left
arm into the air. Lola comments that she thinks the arm action is George’s
representation of an elephant. They press more buttons. On pressing the lion
button, Lola comments ‘that one’s from Row, Row, Row, Your Boat. Do you
want to do Row, Row, Row?’. George replies by singing three long notes,
vowel sounds with a soft ‘r’ at the beginning, the melody falling in pitch over
the three notes. Lola sings Row, Row, Row, and George turns to face her on
the last line. She sings a second verse, and after the final words ‘don’t forget
to roar’ plays the lion sound from the toy and makes a roaring sound herself,
to which George turns and laughs. She starts a third verse. On the second
line George turns to look at her, smiling. After the words ‘don’t forget to
squeak’ she presses the mouse button and makes a squeaking sound,
moving her face towards his neck. She sings another verse, this time with the
final word ‘shiver’. She wraps her arm round him, making a shivering motion
that shakes them both.

Lola’s view was that George had listened to the howling wolf sound and, as
the two sounds have similar contours, interpreted it as an elephant’s
trumpeting, George’s arm movement representing the elephant’s trunk. She
noted that George had recently seen an elephant statue in a shop and
made the same noise and gesture. George’s interpretation of the wolf howl
as an elephant trumpet may also be related to the sound quality of the toy.
Young and Gillen note the prevalence of “anodyne, thin, neutral timbres”
(2007, p.24) in toys and the lack of a distinctive timbre may make this sound
more open to interpretation.

In a study on the affordances of early childhood technological activities Carr

(2000) suggests three factors: transparency, challenge, and accessibility, the
last of which refers to the toy’s potential for social participation and
collaboration. An initial reading might suggest this toy’s accessibility is low;
only one person can press a button and only one button can be pressed at a
time. Social participation in technology-enhanced toys is a matter of some
debate and Young (2007) notes the polarization of opinion regarding
childhood use of technology.

Bergen et al. (2010) suggest that play with technology-enhanced toys in fact
presents favourable conditions for adults to scaffold language, as the
context is one of the child’s interests. Tamis-LeMonda, Kuchirko, and Tafuro
(2013) propose that in a dyadic process of object exploration parents are
more likely to use referential than regulatory language, providing the input
multimodally to facilitate word learning. In naming the various animals, Lola

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provides referential language input and this is indeed presented
multimodally, including also sound, facial expression and gesture.

Young and Gillen (2007) suggest that technology-enhanced toys do not

displace parents’ musical participation with their children but supplement it.
This toy encourages Lola and George’s object exploration and shared
attention and inspires their musical participation; the lion sound acts as a
trigger, a reminder of a song they have shared together. Lola asks George if
he wants to sing it and he responds positively by singing the song.

Each verse of Row, Row, Row is melodically identical, the repetition of verses
creating a sense of expectation. Dissanayake (2012) describes how as infants
get older they enjoy fun, silliness and divergence from expectation; in this
song the divergence, and therein the fun, comes from the lyrical substitutions
of place (shore, river and so on) animal (lion, mouse and so on), and
accompanying noise. These noises represent the climax of each verse, in
contrast with the original ‘life is but a dream’ verse which ends with a
dimuendo and/or rallentando, more in line with Papoušek’s (1996)
description of common structural features of early interactional games.

The multimodality of these interactional games is important as it allows for

songs to be repeated or varied depending on the infant’s signals of interest
(Papoušek, 1996) and for non-verbal participants to contribute to the building
up of an interaction (Fantasia et al., 2014). As Lola sings she also makes eye
contact with George, strokes his hair and kisses him, and creates actions to
represent the different animals. Each verse includes more physical contact
than the last, starting with just singing the first verse, then adding the sound
effect in the second verse, adding an ‘eeek’ and nuzzling George’s neck in
the third verse, and in the fourth verse adding a shivering sound and
enveloping George in the hug it appears the song has been working
towards.

Conclusion
The study presented some methodological challenges. Some of the more
interesting episodes were captured when George was left to play freely
without any adult encouragement; these most frequently occurred when the
adults were distracted and engaged in conversation, though this made
those same videos difficult to use as the conversation obscured the audio
recording of George’s music.

In vignette 2, George turns around to face each of the adults in the open
kitchen space; I would tentatively suggest that he may have been seeking or
expecting some further interaction from one of them and that had this been
forthcoming he may have demonstrated more extended engagement. It is
possible that my presence was a factor in why this didn’t happen; perhaps
Lola felt unable to intrude on what was being recorded or had unconsciously
also taken on a role as ‘observer’.

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Despite these challenges this study has provided an opportunity to examine
the rich and varied musical world in which George lives. His music-making is
structurally complex, he listens to a range of music for which he has tastes
and preferences, and spends time with adults in musical interactions where
he is an active agent.

An understanding of these competencies and experiences is important for

practice with such young children. The song to which George dances is
perhaps not one that might be typically considered ‘music for children’ but it
has a special meaning for Joe and for George who, through his smiles and
dancing and apparent change in mood, seems to enjoy the song. On the
basis of his play with the cup and washing machine George’s interests could
lead him to, for example, find new ways of playing with a drum that exploit its
internal cylindrical space; ways of playing which would risk being
extinguished by a focus on an adult-constructed ‘correct’ way to play the
drum.

From this study a number of areas emerge where further research would be
of interest, particularly around the effect of developments in technology on
musical life in the home and more specifically how musical affect regulation
works beyond parental singing and what the role of recorded music is in that,
and how technological devices play a role in participation in parent-child
interactions.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank my supervisors Dr Alison Street and Dr Jessica Pitt for their advice and to
thank Julian Knight for his support. Many thanks to George, Lola and Joe for participating in
this study.

References
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technology-enhanced toy: Affordance-related actions and communicative
interactions. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 24(1), 1-17.
Carr, M. (2000). Technological affordance, social practice and learning narratives in an early
childhood setting. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 10(1), 61-
80.
Delalande, F., & Cornara, S. (2010). Sound explorations from the ages of 10 to 37 months: the
ontogenesis of musical conducts. Music Education Research, 12(3), 257-268.
Dissanayake, E. (2000). Antecedents of the temporal arts in early mother-infant
interaction. The origins of music, 389-410.
Dissanayake, E. (2012). The earliest narratives were musical. Research Studies in Music
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Fantasia, V., Fasulo, A., Costall, A., & López, B. (2014). Changing the game: exploring infants'
participation in early play routines. Frontiers in psychology, 5, 522.
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handbook of musical development (pp. 289-310). New York: Oxford University Press.
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musical competence (pp.88-112). New York: Oxford University Press.
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Street, A. (2007). ‘They won’t let you in’ Ethical issues in a study of maternal singing in
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Swanwick, K., & Tillman, J. (1986). The sequence of musical development: A study of
children's composition. British journal of music education, 3(03), 305-339.
Tamis-LeMonda, C.S., Kuchirko, Y., & Tafuro, L. (2013). From action to interaction: Infant
object exploration and mothers' contingent responsiveness. IEEE Transactions on
Autonomous Mental Development, 5(3), 202-209.Tarnowski, S.M. (1999). Musical play
and young children. Music Educators Journal, 86(1), 26-29.
Trehub, S. E. (2004). Music in infancy. In J. W. Flohr (Ed.), Musical lives of young children (pp.
24-29). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Trehub, S.E., Ghazban, N., & Corbeil, M. (2015). Musical affect regulation in infancy. Annals of
the New York Academy of Sciences, 1337(1), 186-192.
Trevarthen, C. (1999). Musicality and the intrinsic motive pulse: evidence from human
psychobiology and infant communication. Musicae scientiae, 3(1_suppl), 155-215.
Young, S. (2003). Time–space structuring in spontaneous play on educational percussion
instruments among three-and four-year-olds. British Journal of Music Education, 20(01),
45-59.
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Musical creativity in Israel’s “junkyard” playgrounds

Sara Stevens Zur

Independent Researcher
Jerusalem, Israel
[email protected]

Abstract
Children’s spontaneous music making is said to be a central, driving force of their play, filled
with an expressive mixture of known and invented material. Yet, preliminary observations of
children’s play in Israel revealed surprisingly few examples of creative musical expression,
despite their playful and musically rich culture. The aim of this study was to formally
investigate young children’s musical experiences and music making in Israel, thereby
expanding, and providing validity for these preliminary data. Thirty locations were purposively
selected for maximum variation. Settings included ten public spaces (such as the zoo, parks,
malls, bookstores, and museums), ten private preschool/kindergartens (indoor and outdoor
play spaces), and ten playgrounds (modern, old, sand-based, water-based, and
“Junkyard”). Observed participants ranged in age from approximately 2-6 years and
included religious and secular, Hebrew and Arab-speaking populations. Interviews with
teachers and local residents, as well as ethnographic field notes were compiled and
analyzed for recurrent themes.
Results reveal that classroom and music teachers used CDs as a primary tool for musical
instruction and engagement. Teachers rarely sang to students. Children’s spontaneous music
making existed primarily in short blips and bursts of known material, with very few examples of
introverted, free-flowing, creative songs. Surprisingly, however, the “Junkyard” playgrounds
on kibbutz preschools provided an exception to these findings. In the “Junkyard,” real-life,
discarded materials such as broken microwaves, radios, cribs, tires, and dishwashers provide
a playscape, wherein children create their own microworlds according to a democratic
decision-making process. Creative play and inventive, introverted free-flowing music
flourished in these settings.
Several conclusions emerged from these findings. Since children’s music making is a
reflection of local cultural norms, teachers must nurture children’s propensity to invent songs,
rather than rely solely on recordings. Furthermore, the clear influence that playground
structure and materials have on children’s spontaneous music making calls into question the
use of “toys” versus “real-life” objects (including “toy” instruments versus “real” instruments)
for children’s use. Lastly, it is suggested that creativity in children’s music making is
strengthened when children are given agency to co-construct their play space.

Keywords
spontaneous music; playground construction; creativity; musical agency

Introduction
The ever-growing body of research on young children’s spontaneous music
making demonstrates the importance of their musical expressions as a vital,
central aspect of their playful world (for example, Custodero, Chen & Lee,
2006; Custodero, Cali & Diaz-Donoso, 2016; Gluschankof, 2005 & 2011;
Littleton, 1991; Pond, 1992; Marsh, 2008; Young, 2002, 2005). I was therefore
surprised, when I began observing young children in Israel, at what seemed
to be a very limited display of spontaneous music making. Questions
regarding Israeli children’s ability to create spontaneous music seemed
irrelevant—creativity, playfulness, and self-expression being strong traits of
Israeli children and Israeli culture in general. My instinct was to avoid the
question of why young children in Israel might exhibit little spontaneous

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musical expression, and instead ask where and under what circumstances
their spontaneous music flourished.

Background
From home and classroom settings, to public spaces, how children are
influenced by their school and local cultures, and how they conceptualize
issues in their world, can be gleaned by looking at their play (Boehm &
Weinberg, 1997). As Bowman (2004) so eloquently stated, children’s music
making is a cultural embodiment of their play—a way for them to fully
experience their world. Campbell’s (2010) highly regarded research on
children’s spontaneous music making in American schools highlights the
personally meaningful and vital nature of their musical expressions. The
feeling of timelessness that allows children’s playful music making to flourish is
largely influenced by the boundaries and rules that adults impose (or refrain
from imposing) on children (Zur, 2007). As Young (2009) explains, certain
environments more naturally elicit spontaneous music making than others.
Harmer’s (2011) study of children’s music making in “dens” exemplifies this—
private spaces can offer children just the boundary they need to relax into
free-flowing, inventive music making.

Access to these types of private spaces, however, is not a given in many

early childhood settings. In American schools, for example, the trend towards
over-protectiveness in the last half century, alongside threats of litigation
have led schools and communities to adhere to tidy, safe, open spaces using
standardized materials (Solomon, 2005). Speaking specifically of playgrounds,
Solomon explains that, “Today’s playgrounds guide kids in how to perform
and leave little room for fantasy or spontaneity.” (p. 207). She describes
modern plastic playground structures as “...overly safe and terminally
boring…” (p. 210).

Though playgrounds are clearly not the only place where children might
spontaneously sing, dance, chant, or hum, they certainly offer compelling
glimpses into environmental influences on spontaneous music making. In
Israel, one type of play environment stood out as being unique in its design
and use of materials. The “Junkyard” playgrounds on kibbutzim throughout
Israel, have been in existence since the 1960s. Malka Haas (1996) who
created and defined the “Junkyard” as a pedagogical practice, explains
that the goals are for children to explore, play, create and destroy using real-
life local materials with minimal supervision. Objects such as broken stoves,
farm crates, hoses, fax machines, teapots, and CD players are intentionally
placed in the (usually sandy) yard according to a democratic class
discussion of where and how the space should be used. In contrast to indoor
play spaces, where children play with toy phones, toy cribs, or toy tools,
everything about the Junkyard is real. Consequently real-life objects which
are usually out-of-bounds to children, allow children to enter into an adult-
sphere where they are trusted to create child-centered play themes.
Children’s concepts of reality become intensely intertwined with their

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fantasies and feelings (Haas, 1996). The teacher’s role in this environment is to
remain in the background, occasionally offering an idea or helping hand.
Children are free to create private spaces with wood, mattresses, cloth, or
other materials in the setting. Several times a year, the entire space is cleared
and cleaned, and new decisions are made.

Junkyard playground in northern Israel

Upon conducting preliminary observations, the “Junkyard” seemed to offer

unparalleled opportunities for creative play and spontaneous music making.
Aiming to gain insight into the musical lives of children in Israel, I knew that
“Junkyards” must be included among the settings in which I planned to
observe. Would the quality or quantity of spontaneous music making be
higher than in other settings?

Research questions
Echoing Pond’s (1992) research, Marsh and Young (2016) describe two basic
types of spontaneous singing among young children: (1) socially
communicative, short musical ideas or chants that tend to be repetitive, and
(2) solitary, introverted, free-flowing songs, often on open syllables. Similarities
across cultures and geographical distances have been clearly observed. In
trying to determine how Israeli children’s spontaneous music fit into these two
seemingly universal types of expression, I designed my study based on the
following questions:
1. What are the salient characteristics of children’s play in Israel?
2. What types of musical gestures are seen and heard in schools,
community settings, parks, and playgrounds around Israel?
3. What influences do these observed places and spaces have on
children’s spontaneous music making?

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 4. What can these findings tell us about children’s musical cultures and
musical needs that align with or differ from what we know from
previous studies?

Method
Given that children express themselves musically throughout their daily lives,
as they work, play, wander, and interact (Campbell, 2010), I purposively
selected settings in Israel that would allow for maximum variation. Thirty
locations were chosen, included ten public spaces (such as the zoo, parks,
malls, food markets, museums, and fountains), ten private
preschool/kindergarten settings (indoor, outdoor, and “junkyard” play
spaces), and ten playgrounds (modern, old, sand-based, and water-based).
Religious and secular Jewish populations both wealthy and low-income were
included, as were Israeli Arab, Christian, and Bedouin populations.
Observations took place between October 2015 and May 2016. Each
observation lasted between 20-40 minutes, during which time interaction with
children was kept to a minimum and thick-description field notes were
recorded. Care was taken during observations not to intrude (or appear
intrusive) on children’s natural playtime. The exception was in the Bedouin
village, where being a passive observer seemed more intrusive than joining in.
In this case, no field notes were written until I had left the village--I
participated fully in the activities at hand, and even sang songs with the
children at their request. Observations spanned across the country, including
coastal and desert areas, rural and urban settings, and kibbutzim. In addition
to these thirty observations, personal ethnographic field notes, interviews with
teachers, a local child psychologist, and an Israeli member of Music without
Borders contributed to the data. All field notes, observations, and interviews
were subsequently typed and reviewed for emergent themes, categories,
and codes. Findings were reviewed by an Israeli colleague in music
education who helped in validating the results.

Findings
Young children’s play culture in Israel
Children in Israel seem to be treasured, prized, and celebrated. From
supermarkets, to buses, religious services, and restaurants, they were rarely
hushed by adults. Baskets of toys and small play areas could be found in
government offices, and other “adult” settings. There seems to be a strong
sentiment among adults to care for children who were not theirs and to trust
other adults, even strangers, to care for their own children. This type of
communal caring dates back to the earliest days of Israel’s political
existence, when children were reared in a socialistic manner on the
kibbutzim.

Children’s playtime seemed to be deeply valued. Though classes were large

(containing up to 35 students), long play sessions with low-levels of adult
supervision (demonstrating a level of trust in children’s ability to play and

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solve problems) existed in preschool and kindergarten settings. Their play was
focused and intentional, with mostly long, uninterrupted sessions. In many
instances, groups of children were seen playing in a single area on a single
theme for up to 30 minutes. This was especially the case in “Junkyard”
playgrounds of kibbutzim.

Parents seemed to highly value play as well--not only for children, but for
themselves as well. They were often seen playing on the playground
equipment or kicking balls around the park with each other and with their
children. Both children and adults demonstrated a high propensity toward
conversation and verbal communication. Skipping “small talk,” and delving
into politics or life-events seemed typical. Children showed no hesitation to
begin long conversations with adults, including myself (a stranger) as I
attempted to passively observe within preschool settings. Children’s capacity
for verbal expression was also noted by Rutkowski, Chen-Haften and
Gluschankof (2002) in their cultural comparison of children’ vocal qualities in
the US, China, and Israel.

Music in the lives of young children in Israel

Music appeared to be central to Israeli culture. Teachers and music teachers
played CDs of children’s songs and holiday songs as a regular part of the
curriculum, and were even expected to do so (M. Hefer, personal
communication, May 26, 2016). In each classroom observed, a “Rhythmica”
teacher visited weekly and taught dances and songs using recorded
material. The recordings were played quite loudly, and children were
encouraged to move, clap, or stomp to this music. Movement seemed to
take precedence over singing. Recorded music of popular Israeli songs and
holiday music could also be heard from loudspeakers in public spaces such
as malls, parks, and even swimming pools. A guitar or music player often
accompanied family picnics and birthday parties. Large groups of upper-
school children were seen walking down the street arm-in-arm singing
national songs, and groups of young children often linked arms to sing parts
of popular songs. On playgrounds, parents were often seen pushing babies or
toddlers on swings while singing the well-known “Nad-ned” song.

Though long and focused play occurred in the school settings, spontaneous
musical output happened primarily in small blips and bursts. These
“musickings” (Small, 2011) mainly occurred as sound effects, rhythmic chants,
or as a melodic accompaniment to scenes of play. It is also worth noting that
most songs consisted of known material (pop songs from the radio, holiday
songs, or Israeli children’s songs). While small “blips” of humming or singing
could be heard frequently, rarely did the content seem to contain the
solitary, introverted, free-flowing material described by Young and Marsh
(2016). Only four incidents of solitary, introverted singing or humming were
observed that lasted more than a moment and that contained invented
material. Interestingly, one of these four children who sang at length had just
moved to Israel from the US; another was being raised by parents from Italy

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and the US. Looking across the data from the 30 observations selected for
this study, the settings where greater amounts of spontaneous music, and
greater amounts of invented material could be heard were in the Junkyard
playgrounds of kibbutzim, and on playground material that moved (such as
swings or riding toys). The spaces where very few examples of spontaneous
music could be heard were around “typical,” plastic/metal playground
structures.

Discussion
The plethora of known material that emerged in short blips and bursts clearly
reflected the classroom culture, where CDs and recorded music were the
primary source of adult-introduced music. Spontaneous music of the solitary,
introverted and free-flowing style was seldom heard. Young (2006) reminds
us, however, that researchers may not hear all the music that children
produce, especially in a loud classroom. It is also possible that some children
had musical soundtracks in their heads, silently accompanying them. Longer
episodes of spontaneous singing were heard on swings and riding toys,
reflective of Custodero, Cali, and Diaz-Donoso’s (2016) findings--being
moved, rather than moving, created a natural backdrop for song. Junkyard
playgrounds seemed to act as catalyst for spontaneous music making with a
greater propensity towards invented, free-flowing material. The trust placed
on children to create, manage, and navigate within their democratically-
designed play space, was, I believe, a crucial factor in their creative play
and music making. The importance of agency, along with the materials at
hand, and the many nooks and crannies available for privacy, allowed
children to express their inner worlds more freely.

This study was limited in that it excluded the musical and developmental
influences of families in their home settings. Was recorded music used in such
abundance among families? If asked, would parents report hearing
spontaneous music from their children in the more private “den”-like places
of their homes? Furthermore, spontaneous music in this study was
documented solely according to vocal, rhythmic, or kinesthetic output. I
question what qualities of spontaneous music would emerge if musical
instruments had been present. Known material would likely not be replicable,
and children’s inventiveness would take on other qualities. Gluschankof’s
(2005) research on Arab and Jewish children as they played on small
percussion instruments clearly shows culturally-influenced improvisation on a
profound level.

What seems clear from this study, is that environment and agency each have
a powerful impact on the qualities of children’s spontaneous music making.
As we continuously search for ways to encourage musical creativity in young
children, our trust in children’s ability to organize their own musically playful
landscapes is crucial. Balancing risk factors against children’s need for
private (and perhaps slightly risky spaces) poses a challenge that must be
met head-on. Are our small, plastic “baby percussion” instruments too safe?

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Too much like toys? Perhaps it is worth discussing how music educators might
incorporate more “real-life” materials into our teaching? Currently in Israel,
many teachers of young children have collected pots, pans, spoons, and
buckets to create a “music playground” in their yards, conjuring the
sentiment of the “Junkyard.” Is this enough of a shift in materials and
environment to elicit quality musical inventions? Or is it adding to the noise of
the large group, banging and bashing until the novelty fades? These
questions invite further investigation and discussion.

References
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Developing observation skills in early childhood settings (3rd ed.). New York: Teacher's
College Press.
Bowman, W. (2004). Cognition and the body: Perspectives from music
education. In L. Bresler (Ed.), Knowing bodies, moving minds: Towards embodied
teaching and learning. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Campbell, P. S. (2010). Songs in their heads: Music and its Meaning in
Children’s Lives. (2nd ed.). New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Custodero, L. A., Chen, J. J., Lin, Y. C., & Lee, K. (2006). One day in Taipei:
In touch with children’s spontaneous music making. Proceedings of the International
Society for Music Education Early Childhood Commission Seminar, “Touched by
Discovery” (pp. 84–91). Taipei, Taiwan: International Society for Music Education.
Custodero, L. A., Cali, C., & Diaz-Donoso, A. (2016). Music as transitional
object and practice: Children’s spontaneous musical behaviors in the subway.
Research Studies in Music Education, 1-20.
Gluschankof, C. (2005). Spontaneous musical behaviors in Israeli Jewish
and Arab kindergartens: Searching for universal principles within
cultural differences. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Hebrew University of
Jerusalem.
Haas, Malka. (1996, September). Children in the junkyard. Childhood
Education 73 (1) 345-350. Retrieved May 26, 2016 from Academic OneFile.
Harmer, A. (2011). Child-initiated musical play (ChIMP) in dens: Reclaiming
the play in playing music. (unpublished masters thesis). Birmingham City University
Littleton, D. (1991). Influence of play settings on preschool children’s music
and play behaviors (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Texas, Austin, TX
Marsh, K. (2008). The Musical playground: Global tradition and change in
children’s songs and games. New York: Oxford University Press.
Marsh, K., & Young, S. (2016). Musical play. In G. McPherson (Ed.), The
child as musician: A handbook of musical development (2nd ed.,
pp. 462-484). New York: Oxford University Press.
Rutkowski, J., Chen-Hafteck, L., & Gluschankof, C. (2002). Children’s vocal
connections: A cross-cultural study of the relationship between first graders’ use of
singing voice and their speaking ranges. In Proceedings of the 10th International
Conference of the ISME Early Childhood Conference. (pp. 39-50). Copenhagen:
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Small, C. (2011). Musicking: The meanings of performing and listening. CT:
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Solomon, S. G. (2005). The American playground: Revitalizing community
space. Lebanon, NH: University of New England Press.
Young, S. (2002) Young children’s spontaneous vocalisations in free-play:
Observations of two-to three-year-olds in a daycare setting, Bulletin
of the Council for Research in Music Education, 152 (1), 43-53.
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Young, S. (2009). Music 3-5. Abingdon: Routledge.
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Singing alone or singing in companion: Co-designing lessons to
support in- service early childhood teachers

Nopi Nicolaou Telemachou

Music Education Teaching Fellow
Department of Educational Studies,
University of Cyprus
[email protected]

Abstract
Those involved in curriculum reform agree that curriculum development is not something done
to teachers but through and within them. Thus, teachers must be involved in curriculum
development whereas an ongoing professional development is necessary. Accordingly,
teacher learning in schools is as important as children learning. From previous research was
identified that early childhood teachers in Cyprus reported their insecurities to plan and teach
music. Therefore in this research project I created space for them to co-design lessons in an
attempt to identify their needs. I worked with 10 teachers designing three teaching units. While
designing these units I noted areas in which they needed support. Therefore, the purpose of
this study was to create understanding through collaborative conversations among early
childhood teachers and music teacher educators, and the extent to which such conversations
can function as professional development for those teachers. The question that guided this
study was: What happens when a group of early childhood music teachers engage in
collaborative professional development? In addition several sub questions guided me to
narrow the focus of this research: What do the teachers need to know? Are these linked to
particular contexts, skills, or materials? Do teachers believe that collaborative conversations
change their music teaching practices, and if so, in what ways? Using constant comparable
method I analysed the data, trying to identify patterns in in-service teachers needs. This analysis
suggested two main areas for improvement a) musical abilities and knowledge, b) beliefs
regarding their comfort level with teaching music as a subject. Finally, I discuss the findings by
drawing implications for in-service teachers’ professional development.

Keywords
in-service teachers, professional development, teacher learning, early childhood music

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Constructing musical spaces on screen: Discourses of
“childhood”, “music” and “childhood music” in educational
television programmes for young children

Ingeborg Lunde Vestad

Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences
Faculty of teacher education and natural sciences, Department of music
Hamar, Norway
[email protected]

Abstract
This paper reports on a study on television music, more specifically on the music of an
educational children’s programme of the 1970s. In Norway the 70s were the decade of
Lekestue, a co-production of BBC Play School broadcast by the NRK (Norsk Rikskringkasting).
These programmes were about learning in a fun way and they aimed at inspiring children to
play [children’s play] to learn. Musical spaces were constructed on screen so that the child
audience could recreate the spaces at home.
The paper presents and discusses the diachronic and synchronic “routes” of ideologies of
“childhood”, “music” and “childhood music” of Lekestue and the resulting musical spaces.
The presentation draws on other cases from the same study: Norwegian children’s radio
programmes of the 1950s, Sesam Stasjon broadcast in the 1990s (the Norwegian co-
production of the American Children’s Television Workshop’s Sesame Street), and the
contemporary Junior Eurovision Song Contest, which is popular among Norwegian pre-
schoolers today.
The study is based on archival research/document analysis, analysis of broadcast
programmes and qualitative interviews with people who participated in the productions, on
screen and behind the scenes. Discourse analysis (Potter & Wetherell) is applied in order to
bring out the available interpretative repertoires of “childhood”, “music” and “childhood
music” and the subject positions ascribed to the child audience, which are closely
connected to the musical spaces provided.
Overall, Lekestue and its musical space emerge as a glocal, transcultural space of the 1970s.
The ideas of “childhood”, “music” and “childhood music” behind the series at the time of its
production result in a type of musical learning space on screen, which is different from the
musical spaces constructed in the other programmes: The aesthetic space (1950s), a fuller
and “real” musical space of a competent child (1990s), and a space of the child artist
(contemporary).

Keywords
Children’s music – children’s television – interpretative repertoires – children’s subject
positions – discourses of musical space – transculturality – music education

Introduction
It is likely that many people “can trace their first experiences of music and
screen media back to television” (Deaville, 2011, p. 1), and television has
been a medium for children’s music listening for years (cf. Lury, 2002).
Nevertheless, music in children’s television is rarely addressed in research,
whether by popular music scholars, researchers in children’s media or music
education researchers. This paper reports on a study in progress, which is
about the history of children’s music in Norway from WWII to the present. By
“children’s music” here I mean music broadcast to (an imagined) child
audience through radio or television. In this presentation I concentrate on

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one case, Lekestue/Play School, but other cases will be drawn on for
analytical purposes. The main question discussed is: What is conveyed about
music in a music educational perspective? The aim is to bring out taken-for-
granted thinking around “childhood”, “music” and “childhood music”,
especially what kind of musical knowledge that is presented, how it is
presented and what the child audience is expected to need, know and
have the capacities to understand etc., i.e. how they are positioned within
the discourse. Discourse analysis is applied in order to tease out the thinking in
terms of interpretative repertoires (Potter & Wetherell, 2007; Wetherell &
Potter, 1992), which here it means ways of thinking about and presenting
music in children’s programmes. These interpretative repertoires, in turn,
regulate which subject positions that are made available to the children in
the audience, that is, the positions from which children can think about and
“do” music. The broadcast programmes are here regarded as spaces for
dispersions of discourses of broadcast music for children, and it is the
dispersion itself that is the principle of unity (Laclau & Mouffe, 2001, p. 105).

The study is based on archival research/document analysis, analysis of

broadcast programmes and qualitative interviews with people who
participated in the productions, on screen and behind the scenes. In this
paper I will draw in particular on two broadcast programmes: one episode of
the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation’s [NRK] Lekestue produced in 19727
and one episode of BBC’s programme Play School produced in 19798. Both
episodes are included because of their focus on sound and music. Due to
the limited space of this paper, I will concentrate on Lekestue.

Lekestue/Play School and prominent discourses

The children’s television series, Lekestue, produced by Grethe Høien and later
Vibeke Sæther, first aired in 1967 and was broadcast until 1980. It was based
on BBC Play School (released in 1964 and running until 1988, created by Joy
Whitby), and represents the beginning of edutainment television, which
stresses learning in a fun way, in Norway (Hake, 2006). Lekestue was later
followed by other infotainment or edutainment-oriented shows, such Sesam
Stasjon launched in the 1990s, which was a coproduction of the American
Children Television Workshop’s programme series Sesame Street. Lekestue
belongs to a tradition of broadcasting aimed at a child audience, starting
with the radio programme Children’s Hour, broadcast first in 1924 (Dahl,
1999), and it represents a beginning shift towards a larger focus on learning
skills in broadcasting for children in a Norwegian context.
A discussion of whether children’s programmes should be about
entertainment or education (or both) is prominent throughout the history of
NRK’s broadcasting for children. The pendulum has swung between a focus
on mere entertainment, on education and their merging in the concept of
edutainment. Also, what constitutes “entertainment” and “education”,

7 Unfortunately, this episode is not available online.

8 This episode is found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_bJlG4BAsc

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respectively, (i.e. how each of them looks and sounds on screen) is changing
through time.

Another prominent discourse in NRK’s broadcasting for children is about

children’s active engagement; children should be inspired to play (and
learn) from the programmes. It is also stated clearly in BBC’s information to
the NRK that “[p]lay is the first and most important school for children and all
young creatures” (Quayle, 1970). But the subject position of the active child is
evident already in the 1950s, when it was voiced by Åsa Gruda Skard, who
was responsible for the Children’s Hour at the time (Skard, 1954). This
discourse has shifted in recent years, and programmes such as the Junior
Eurovision Song Contest (JESC) offers children a subject position as artist
(which may or may not be considered as play like involvement), which allows
(some) children to be actively engaged on screen.

Music in television and the constitution of space

The close connection between visuals and the music in children’s
programmes (cf. Lury, 2002) makes it fruitful here to draw on previous
research in popular music/music video. Berland (2000) stresses that music
television transports the viewer into simulated spaces. I argue here that
children’s television programmes constitute a discursive space for the child
audience, which regulates what is possible to think and do with music, as
mentioned above.

Spatial concepts are not unfamiliar to musicians and music educators, as it is

often used to describe music:

[...] it would seem to be impossible to talk about music at all without invoking spatial
notions of one kind or another. Thus in discussing even the most elementary aspects of
pitch organization [...] one finds it necessary to rely upon such spatially oriented
oppositions as “up and down,” “high and low,” “small and large” (in regard to
intervallic “distances”), and so on. Space, then, [...] apparently forms an inseparable
part of the musical experience. (Morgan, 1980, p. 527)

The object of investigation of this paper, however, is the television space, that
is, the musical space offered in and by children’s television programmes.
According to Lefebvre (1991), space is a complex social construction, based
on values. For analytical purposes I apply here an adaptation of the triad
described by Lefebvre and later developed further by Soja (1996): I will
investigate the first space (the physical/perceived) in terms of artefacts in the
studios; the second space (the mental/conceived space) by investigating
available interpretative repertoires, as described above, which regulate the
content of the television programmes; and finally, the third space (the social
and lived space), which according to Soja (1996) involves several social
categories. Although the important endpoint of children’s television
programmes is the child audience, the third space will not be explored here
by applying ethnographically oriented approaches to the children’s viewings
of the programmes (i.e. how children in fact are involved in the television

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space, c.f. Berland, 2000). The third space, the lived space, will instead be
addressed as the hosts’ ways of actually living in the space in the studio (“on
screen”).

The perceived, conceptualised and lived space of Lekestue/Play

School of the 1970s
The following description of the physical space of the studio is from the
documents provided by the BBC for the Norwegian producers: “There is a
large cupboard, a clock, a calendar, a blackboard, book shelves, clothes
pegs, windows, a useful box containing the sort of bite and pieces found in
most homes and stylised furniture e.g. blocks which can be used as seats or
working levels” (“Mother & Child”, p.1). The programmes themselves
generally confirm this description. The British producers underscored that they
would not convey that the space on screen was to be conceptualised by
the viewers as someone’s home, and it was therefore designed more as a
school-like setting. The document further refers to a discussion of whether the
lived space on screen should be inhabited by children. It was decided not to,
and the main reason given was that it was not desirable to establish a sense
of the on-screen as a space that the child audience was excluded from.
Instead dolls and puppets are involved as conversation partners for the hosts.
Big Ted, Little Ted, Jemima (the rag doll) and Humpty were included in the
Norwegian co-production, but Hamble the doll was substituted for the doll
Victoria, who always wore a beautiful gown.9 There were two hosts at a time;
one male and one female.

For children, musical instruments are important symbols of music (Campbell,

2010). Although musical instruments are generally absent from the visuals of
Lekestue, music is present in several ways. For one, it clearly supports the
structure of the programmes: There is an opening vignette and a closing
vignette, and for other fixed segments the music functions as signals and as
bridges between the segments (cf. Lissa, 1965; Tagg, 2014). Moreover, the
music is used as underscore (the music playing quietly during dialogue or
visual scene) and to set moods (cf. Gorbman, 1980). While the opening and
closing vignettes vary slightly between the two programmes, the musical
vignette introducing and supporting the clock segment is identical, and also
the vignette introducing the segment with the windows. The visual artefact of
the clock (used for demonstrating how to tell time) and the windows of three
different shapes (through which the audience is invited to watch film
segments) are important. As the visuals of the clock segment allows for the
viewer to move closer and around to the clock the music is playing. The
ticking sound of the clock blends in with the music and provides a clock-
glockenspiel-clarinet soundscape. There are extremely close relations
between the sounds/music and visuals of the clock, particularly in the
Norwegian episode where the circular movements of the parts of the clock
suggest that it is a music box. The music appears to originate in a source

9 For an example, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLA3Xw63s-0

287
within the narrative, and can thus be described as diegetic (Gorbman, 1980).
The relationship between the visuals of the clock and the sound/music is so
strong that “clock music” might eventually be elicited to the audiences’ inner
ear at the mere sight of the particular clock on screen; the clock becomes a
symbol of music as well as a symbol of time. The music of the windows may
be described in a similar way.

Regarding the content of Lekestue, Hake (2006) asserts that it consisted of

traditional songs, rhymes and literature. Overall, music based in classical
genres and orchestral instruments forms a core in both Play School and
Lekestue. More jazzy sounds are nevertheless not unusual, as featured in the
opening and closing vignettes. The repertoire of children’s songs, however,
varies between the respective series, and represents each of the countries’
musical traditions of children’s songs and rhymes. Some children’s songs from
“abroad” are seen in Lekestue, for instance Old Mac Donald had a Farm, but
generally songs and rhymes described as belonging to the treasure of
Norwegian children’s music (Vestad, 2013) and pedagogical songs relating
to the themes of the various programmes make up most of the repertoire
performed (sung) by the hosts.

In the two particular programmes the connection between sounds of

everyday artefacts and music is brought out. Ashcroft, one of the Play School
hosts, invites the child audience to listen to the sound of pulling out a drawer
from a wooden cupboard and slamming it harder back into place. She
illustrates the contrasting sounds with her voice in an onomatopoeic manner.
While playing on boxes, pots and pans she introduces the spatial metaphors
of “high” and “low” about pitch (cf. Morgan, 1980). The philosophical
question of “how did the music of the world begin?” is raised, but not given a
definite answer.

Sæther and Skolmen, the hosts of Lekestue, provide a guessing game

involving auditory discrimination by inviting children to guess the sounds of
chewing crisp bread and more. The episode by BBC, however, connects the
sounds of domestic items closer to music than appears in the episode by
NRK. Derek Griffiths, also one of the Play School hosts, provides a transition
from domestic sounds to music when he plays on a typewriter along with The
Typewriter music (Anderson, 1950). Moreover, in the Play School episode at
hand percussionist Jimmy Blades is featured, and the instruments he plays
are part of the visuals. Blades tells a story about a Chinese boy, who loves to
listen to the xylophone, and who plays on a xylophone made of sticks he
found, which makes different sounds. Blade demonstrates this kind of wood
stick instrument as an integral part of the story, underscoring verbally that the
instrument was made by the young boy himself clearly intended as an
inspiration for the child audience for identification and active engagement
at home. Further, the story involves Blades playing “fast music” on the
marimba, and he shows the audience – also integral to the story telling – how
the little boy copies and plays the rhythm of the fast music with his hands on

288
his chest. Then Blades asserts that the little boy practices hard on the stick
xylophone for a long time before he enters a competition of playing a “slow
tune”. He wins the competition, receives a real xylophone as his prize,
practices even more and then, finally, he is able to play a fast tune on the
marimba, a tune that Blades plays on the xylophone in the studio.
The Norwegian episode at hand offers a more scientific approach to music,
i.e. introduce the physics of sound. Sæther plays on drinking glasses filled with
water and demonstrates as well as explains verbally to the child audience
about the relationship between volume and sound. The metaphors of “high”
and “low” pitch are introduced as in the mentioned episode by the BBC, and
the child audience is encouraged also verbally to play with sounds in a similar
manner at home. In both episodes the concept of silence is introduced and
the hosts invite the child audience to be quiet and listen carefully to the
sounds of their surroundings.

Concluding remarks (preliminary)

“The attribution of nationality is not a simple matter in children’s television,”
Bignell argues (2011, p. 180). Regarding Lekestue it is clear that the concept
has its origins in BBC Play School and, consequently, Lekestue has many of
the same features as Play School, such as solid artefacts, vignettes and
learning content. Children are exposed to music such as film music, as
diegetic music (from the clock) and as music from real music instruments. In
the BBC episode the instruments, by the invited professional percussionist
Blades, become part of the lived musical space, offering the child audience
through his presence, and the story, a subject position of active musicianship
in another manner, i.e. to build a stick xylophone from sticks they find and
practise long and hard to be able to play slow music first and then fast music.
Similarly, when Sæther presents the physics of volume/sound it becomes part
of the lived space in such a manner that the child audience is explicitly
encouraged to try it at home, to play on glasses filled with water (carefully, so
that they do not break) and make a glass orchestra. The musicianship is
blended here with the subject position of a (young) scientist.

The way in which Blades conveys the story and the music educational
messages resemble the style of the hosts of the 1950s of NRK’s programme
Children’s Hour; it involves a warm, grandfather like tone of address, and the
aesthetic aspects of experience is weighted. But its music educational
message is nevertheless more advanced than in the Children’s Hour, and
resembles more the learning content of the physics of sound as in Lekestue.
The largest difference between the two episodes analysed here is the great
musical, aesthetic and performative professionality that guides the music
making of Blades and Griffiths. By its richness the quality of the episode is lifted
from ordinary educational children’s television programmes to something
more. Childhood as a space of experiencing quality and aesthetics is
brought out.

The fact that the programmes are so much alike points in the direction that

289
childhood and children’s needs are understood as similar across national
borders. On the other hand, the inclusion of Norwegian children’s songs and
literature in Lekestue probably has to do with serving “Norwegian” children
and re-constituting “Norwegian” culture. The nation is thereby re-constituted
as a “natural” category, and overall “British” and “Norwegian” childhoods,
respectively, are constituted as both similar and different.

Regarding the competing discourses of broadcasting for children as

education or entertainment, respectively, it is clear that Play School and
Lekestue cut across this dichotomy, with their focus on playful learning. In that
respect, Lekestue positions itself between the pre-war Children’s Hour (with its
strong argumentation that it should be purely about entertainment, because
children needed to rest after schoolwork, Dahl, (1999) and Sesam Stasjon
(designed to even out differences between privileged and less privileged
children and to raise the production potential, Tønnessen, 2000).

Overall, Lekestue emerges as a glocal, transcultural space of the 1970s. The

ideas of “childhood” as a space of active engagement and playful learning
in a sense draws on and supports the best of two worlds; the child in the
present and her needs for the future (i.e. as beings and becomings, James &
Prout, 2007). As far as children’s subject positions go, the most important
offered seem to be that children are capable of doing advanced music, if
they practise. The subject position of talent is downplayed; what counts is to
love music and work. A similar subject position is made available for young
researchers in the NRK episode, as it is conveyed that children are capable
of beginning to test out and understand the physics of sound. The seriousness
with which music is put out as educational content makes the 1970s
programmes analysed here stand out as different from, for instance, Sesam
Stasjon of the 1990s (see also Vestad, 2016). Moreover, the subject position as
child artist available in the Play School episode is different from the child
artist’s role in the JESC of the 2000s, where the position of “natural talent” is
more dominant. There are good reasons to ask what these subject positions,
the hard working learner and the natural talent, respectively, constitute
possibilities and constraints for child audiences’ engagement with music. This
question is left for the project’s further research efforts.

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Why evaluate the teaching materials we use?

Rosa Mª Vicente ÁLvarez

Didactic And Organization of Education, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de
Compostela, A Coruña, Spain
[email protected]
[email protected]
Abstract
The main problem addressed in this paper is the issue of dependency that textbooks can
generate with respect to certain aspects of teaching such as curricular planning, the
development of didactic units and/or their sequencing, the carrying out of projects or
workshops, and evaluation. Publishers provide the standard didactic guidelines, projects,
programming and didactic units which teachers can use more or less intelligently. The
consequent contextualization bias that this entails can be a difficult problem to overcome.
Hence, the interest in understanding didactic materials and being able to choose them with
knowledge of what they can contribute to our teaching strategy.
On the one hand, we analyze the methodological formulation of published materials. We
aim to find out if the materials that we use offer varied teaching strategies, if they are based
on active musical methodologies, and so on. Here we analyze the learning process with
respect to external determiners (specific goals, challenges, feedback or distractions) and
internal determiners (the relationship between skills and the opportunity to develop them,
concentration or distraction of the resource itself and its ability to lead us to an optimal
learning state). We wish to know the difficulties or facilitating aspects of the curricular
planning, development and evaluation of textbooks.
The evaluation of teaching materials involves the analysis of the final product; a didactic
program which is usually subject to a curriculum established by the competent government.
In general terms, evaluation guidelines for didactic materials are rare. A program for
evaluating material provides an evaluation of the strengths and limitations of the
educational system and its teachers.
Implications include the publishing market, economic interests and proposals of the majority
publishers represent a matter of little scientific study, although they have an important
influence on the selection and use of music and teaching materials.
The knowledge, use and evaluation of teaching and music materials is directly related to
teacher training. The type of material used in music is conditioned by the teachers’
professionalism in their choice ability.

Keywords
music teaching materials, evaluation, knowledge

Theoretical framework
There has been a proliferation of didactic 10 and music materials by
educational, literary and cultural publishers over the last 25 to 30 years in
Spain. Furthermore, the materials published by education companies have
the largest share of the education market and, therefore, are used by the
largest number of schools. These materials are used by 70% of music teachers
for students between 6 and 12 years of age (Gillanders, 2011) and 49% of
preschool teachers who teach music lessons for children between 3 and 6
years of age (Rodríguez and Vicente, R. M., 2015) in Galicia (Autonomous
Community of Spain). There is less use of finished published materials (print or

10Didactic material: Teaching material, for the use of knowledge and learning a subject or
content. In this sense, it refers to those edited materials and those created for educating, for
profit or not.

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digital) in preschool than in later stages, but the use of these materials is
growing. Nevertheless, the study of these didactic materials seems to be of
little interest to the teachers who use them. One of the reasons may be that
materials are seen as being ephemeral, changing, boring and undervalued.
Several of the authors who have studied the foundations, structure and
purpose of textbooks are convinced that this artifact or mediator of
knowledge is what finally prescribes and closes curricular content in the
classroom. In recent decades, the research on didactic materials for music
has become increasingly interesting. In part, this is due to the increased
production of this resource and the subsequent interest in its scientific
analysis. There are numerous examples in Spain (Paredes, 1998; Romero, 2003;
Pérez and Malagarriga, 2010).
Certain studies stand out, such as García and Arredondo (2006 and 2007),
which reveal that art curriculum materials (music) are based on a technical-
professional paradigm, literacy learning and exclusively musical abilities;
furthermore, they portray an impoverished, distorted and unrealistic image of
traditional music. The ideological nature of textbooks has been studied by
many specialists such as Parcerisa (1996; 2001), Cantarero (2000; 2001) and
Martínez (1991; 2003) who pointed out a centralist national bias as well as
Eurocentric, racist, homophobic, mono-linguist, anthropocentric, anti-rural
and pro-industrialist views.
At present, evaluation of school music resources is not a matter often
discussed at schools. Only 31% of Galician teachers support the subject in
school plans, with the least experienced teachers showing the most concern
(Rodríguez and Vicente, R. M., 2015). Moreover, teachers are unaware of the
mechanisms for choosing materials, so evaluation is often intuitive and
teachers base their choices on their own experience, the experience of
others or on publisher sales visits to schools (Rodríguez, 2009).
In any case, published material is a choice that influences teacher
development, the adaptability of teaching, classroom dynamics, task
enrichment and students’ creative potential.

Analysis of formal aspects

In Spain, Paredes (1998), Romero (2003) and G. Vicente (2009) conducted
specific research to learn about music materials for primary education.
Paredes studied the formal aspects of printed materials. Romero analysed
didactic and music resources, not just those in printed format. G. Vicente
analysed the treatment of movement in music lessons through the contents in
music textbooks. All of these authors based their analysis on the
understanding of the formal aspects of textbooks.

Guidelines for analysis and evaluation of materials

The main problem is the issue of dependency that textbooks can generate
with respect to certain aspects of teaching such as curricular planning, the
development of didactic units and/or their sequencing, the carrying out of
projects or workshops, and evaluation. Publishers provide the standard

293
didactic guideline, projects, programming and didactic units which teachers
can use more or less intelligently. The consequent contextualization bias that
this entails can be a difficult problem to overcome. Hence, the interest in
understanding didactic materials and being able to choose them with
knowledge of what they can contribute to our teaching strategy.

Materials used for analyzing

The publishing market, economic interests and proposals by the major
publishers are having an important influence on the selection and use of
music and teaching materials. Some materials are examples of the songs and
activities, something like songbooks edited and published by the Early
Childhood Education. Other examples are materials with teaching units
(didactic units) with worksheets interconnected, for rhythmic tasks, for
learning conventional music, for learning to play instruments, for melodic
dictations or for learning how to notate music on the music stave, for learning
how to follow written music compositions, and similar materials.
The examples of materials that I have analysed are from Cyprus, Israel, Italy,
Greece and Spain. They are materials for school, from major publishers from
each country. They are materials designed for teaching 5 year-olds in a
common class (in preschool education). The last two years I have been a
researcher for MusiChild, Eramus+ coordinated by Avra Pieridou. It was a
wonderful experience for me where I was able to analyze different materials
from each country to contribute to the project.

Practical framework
At this point the question arises: do we reflect on the action of evaluating the
didactic materials we use? This question leads to other meta-reflections: what
considerations lead us to choose between one resource or another, and how
can a teacher like you use a resource like this? The first consideration is
usually to choose the resource that is most familiar, or, on the other hand, the
one that is most novel but easy to use.
But what can we find among published music materials? It is not feasible to
analyse all the didactic materials in existence, but we can work on a sample
to help us learn more about the educational resources available. We started
out with a sample from the most important school publishers in Spain as well
as some publishers who have chosen to give an informative format to
preschool music material.
Once the content of activities has been isolated, it is possible to determine
the material’s potential for producing optimal learning experiences (defined
as flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, 1975). This author defined optimal learning
experiences as a state in which people are intensely involved in what they
are doing and, furthermore, find it fun to do (1990, 1997).

Evaluation of didactic materials

The evaluation of teaching materials involves the analysis of the final product;
a didactic program which is usually subject to a curriculum established by the

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competent government. In general terms, evaluation guidelines for didactic
materials are rare. In Spain we can highlight those by Parcerisa (1996; 2001)
and Martinez (1991) among others.
A program for evaluating material provides an evaluation of the strengths
and limitations of the educational system and its teachers. The success of the
evaluation involves:
- Observing and improving what is done.
- Knowing the background, tasks and results.
- Checking the expected effects and accidental achievements.
- Determining broad and clear conclusions.
In this paper, materials are mentioned as examples that will help us to
evaluate the development of optimal learning experiences. To carry out this
analysis we must take into account the characteristic factors of flow such as
perceived achievement, cognitive activation and affective quality.
In the second part of the study, we will delve into the evaluation of music
materials and present examples to help us, as teachers, perceive the
methodological, design, development and evaluation difficulties. The
analysis will continue from our own line of research anchored in the analysis
of teacher thought and practice for the purpose of showing didactic
materials evaluation practices that are professional and well thought out. To
do so, we will consider two strategies.
On the one hand, we analyze the methodological formulation of published
materials. We aim to find out if the materials that we use offer varied
teaching strategies, if they are based on active musical methodologies, and
so on. Here we analyze the learning process with respect to external
determiners (specific goals, challenges, feedback or distractions) and
internal determiners (the relationship between skills and the opportunity to
develop them, concentration or distraction of the resource itself and its ability
to lead us to an optimal learning state).
On the other hand, we wish to know the difficulties or facilitating aspects of
the curricular planning, development and evaluation of textbooks. The
quality of a material must connect musical content and the tasks to be
carried out. In addition, it should consider the appropriateness and viability of
the resource.
This paper focuses on the analysis of conditions that affect learning success
by fulfilling expectations, enabling self-control and producing well-being in
the learning process.

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Table 1 Examples of teaching strategies according to country

Conclusions
Teachers are free to choose didactic and music materials, but their limited
knowledge of music and curricular content development restricts their
options. Moreover, the cost of materials means that didactic development is
constrained to what publishers offer in their global printed materials for
preschool education. Specific music materials for early childhood education
tend to be reduced to certain auditory aspects and easy exercises that do
not require musical instruments.
Some studies suggest the need to develop specific music materials for the
preschool stage. This would help develop teachers’ autonomous work and
build the pedagogical foundations of their practice (Arús, 2010).
One model for analysing the music materials usually found in our schools from
preschool to secondary education provides for capacity to adapt to what
the teacher encounters. The examples presented here are meant to be no
more than that; examples that help us to understand the scope of analysis.

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They are examples taken from a specific course (5-year-olds), as each
teacher needs to focus on one course at a time when it comes to choosing
the materials to be used in the coming years. Also, political considerations
regarding free textbooks (Spain) mean that while each school is free to
choose their own printed resources, these must remain for several years, thus
ensuring some stability in format and type of teaching as well as providing
savings to the government. In this sense, teachers must be mindful of the
recourses available for addressing their working style and carrying out their
teaching.
The materials chosen here have also responded to a specific interest: the
desire to present textbooks published to comply with the various education
laws that have regulated the regular system in recent years. We have chosen
materials based on each country’s educational system. The differences
between them is minimal, which demonstrates that the changes produced
by each education law are not significant enough to justify the extra
spending on textbooks in recent years. It also shows the commercial aspect
that textbooks have acquired and the poor management of educational
resources which benefits large publishing companies. The observed changes
are more in terms of audiovisual quality such as the materials by generalist
publishers.
Textbooks and other printed materials influence our teaching style and foster
different types of learning among students. Over the years, this can define
the kind of teacher we become. We would like to present some final ideas
that stand out in all the materials analyzed.
Firstly, we have observed the importance given to individual tasks over group
tasks. Activities are proposed without regard to students, their characteristics,
and much less the development of the class group.
Secondly, relevance is not given to prior skills. What children already know is
assumed and no consideration is given to different capacity levels.
Futhermore, tasks are presented in an unnatural manner, regardless of what
students know or want to learn about the topic.
Thirdly, the challenge posed by the activities is coincidental, the relation
among activities is unclear, and only in certain conceptual tasks does there
seem to be any continuity. Some activities are even disconnected from
music itself or else the use made of it bears no relation to musical reality. No
metacognition is posed through questions like “Why do I play music/ dance /
play games? What do I play music/ dance / play games for?
Finally, music learning is not transferred to other realities in which there is
music. Most of the musical performances that are presented by the materials
under analysis show only students and teachers in the classroom. The
contexts in which music occurs are confined to a theatre or a classical music
concert, and sometimes a pop music venue. Other contexts are absent
(streets, popular feasts or even video games).
The point is not to abandon printed materials, which as other scholars have
demonstrated can be a foothold for our work of teachers. Yet we must
seriously consider the possibility of building our own style of teaching and

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learning from what we have at our disposal and carry out an enriched
practice open to learning.
We must break with the traditional way of using textbooks and begin to see
them as what they always should have been: a compendium of tasks and
exercises to be used according to our own guide, which is none other than
the didactic program we must rebuild and review each year. In this way,
textbooks may really serve to complete our teaching practice and not vice
versa. We must reflect on this and stop delegating our programming
responsibility to published materials.

References
Arús, E. & Pérez, S. (2008). La interpretación musical como conductora educativa en la
etapa infantil y la evaluación de su repercusión emocional. Eufonía 42, pp. 7-16.
Cantarero, J. (2000). Los materiales curriculares y descualificación docente. Análisis
interpretativo de las estrategias a través de las que el libro de texto regula el trabajo
del profesorado. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Valencia: Universidad de
Valencia.
Cantarero, J. (2001). De los libros de texto a los materiales curriculares: algunos elementos
para la reflexión. Kirikiri. Cooperación educativa, 61, pp. 19-21.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow. The Psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper
Perennial.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Creativity. The Psychology of Discovery and invention. New York:
Harper Perennial.
Gillanders, C. (2011). Los medios en la práctica docente del especialista en educación
musical en Galicia. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Santiago de Compostela:
Universidade de Santiago de Compostela.
Martínez, J. (1991). Proyectos curriculares y práctica docente. Sevilla: Editorial Diada.
Martínez, J. (2003). Políticas del libro de texto escolar. Madrid: Editorial Morata.
Parcerisa, A. (1996). Materiales curriculares. Cómo elaborarlos, seleccionarlos y usarlos.
Barcelona: Graó.
Parcerisa, A. (2001). ¿Servir al material o servirse del material? Evaluar los materiales
curriculares para su mejor uso. Kiririki. Cooperación educativa, 61, pp. 45-49.
Paredes, J. (1998). Análisis etnográfico de los usos de recursos y materiales didácticos en
educación primaria. Estudio de los casos de dos centros. Unpublished doctoral
dissertation. Madrid: Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
Pérez, J. & Malagarriga, T. (2010). Materiales para hacer música en las primeras edades: Ejes
del triángulo formación, innovación e investigación. Revista Complutense de
Educación, 21 (2), pp. 389-403
Rodríguez, J. (2009). Os materiais curriculares en Galicia. A Coruña: Editorial Xerais.
Rodríguez, J. & Vicente, R. M. (2015). The music materials in early childhood education: A
descriptive study in Galicia (Spain). International Journal of Music Education,
December 8.
Romero, J. (2003). Los medios y recursos para la educación musical en primaria. Unpublished
doctoral dissertation. Huelva: Universidad de Huelva.

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Vicente, G. (2009). Movimiento y danza en Educación Musical: un análisis de los libros de
texto de Educación Primaria. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Murcia: Universidad
de Murcia.

Researching the musical engagement of young children with

Retinopathy of Prematurity

Angela Voyajolu
Chiltern Music Therapy
Chesham, Buckinghamshire, UK
[email protected]

Rosie Axon
Chiltern Music Therapy
Chesham, Buckinghamshire, UK

Adam Ockelford
University of Roehampton
London, UK

Abstract
There is evidence that children with Retinopathy of Prematurity (RoP) are more likely than
their fully-sighted peers to show a strong interest in music, to develop rare abilities (such as
‘absolute pitch’), and to teach themselves skills such as playing an instrument by ear at an
early age (Ockelford and Matawa, 2010). However, beyond the anecdotal accounts of
parents and teachers (for example Ockelford, 2008, 2013) little is known about the nature of
the music-developmental trajectories that children with RoP take in the early years. The
research reported here takes the first step towards addressing this gap in our knowledge by
observing and assessing the musical development of four children with RoP (with varying
degrees of visual impairment: Stages 3, 4, and 5) over a period of two years.
Data are gathered through regular visits by a music therapist who interacts musically with the
children, and through videoed musical ‘diaries’ assembled by parents. The children are
assessed using the Sounds of Intent in the Early Years music-developmental framework
(Voyajolu and Ockelford, 2016), which offers quantitative and qualitative means of analysis.
Parent interviews are also taken to provide further information on the children’s musical
interests and experiences at home. Initial analysis of the data suggests that one of the
children displays levels of musical development that are broadly typical for their age, two of
the children’s general developmental delay is reflected in their musical development and
one child is showing early signs of being able to play the keyboard ‘by ear’ suggesting an
unusual musical precocity.

Keywords
Retinopathy of Prematurity. Music therapy. Musical development. Premature infants

Introduction
In the UK, approximately 54,000 infants are born prematurely each year. Of
these, around two thirds are likely to develop learning difficulties and 60%
have some degree of visual impairment, (although not all will need
treatment). Six per cent will have severe visual impairment due to retinopathy
of prematurity (Bliss, Statistics section, n.d.). Retinopathy of prematurity (RoP)
can occur in babies that are born early, particularly at less than 32 weeks, or
in those who have a low birth weight or where babies have needed oxygen

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treatment. When babies are born too early, their retinal blood vessels may
not fully develop. Abnormal blood vessels can cause scar tissue, meaning the
retina detaches. This damage is known as Retinopathy of Prematurity (RoP)
(Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), 2015).
Research with blind children born prematurely suggests that almost half will
develop exceptional music-processing skills such as ‘absolute pitch’ within
the first 24–36 months of life. This includes those with moderate or severe
learning difficulties (Ockelford and Matawa, 2010). Other studies have also
suggested a prevalence of absolute pitch in blind individuals, including
children (Hamilton, Pascual-Leone & Schlaug, 2004; Welch, 1988). Wan,
Wood, Reutens, & Wilson (2010) found that early-diagnosed blindness
(occurring at birth and shortly afterwards) was correlated with advanced
auditory perception.

Many children with visual impairment who were born premature

demonstrate more than exceptional auditory processing skill. A great interest
in listening to and creating sound and music during childhood, with the self-
motivation to learn an instrument ‘by ear’ has also been documented (Baker,
2014; Ockelford & Matawa, 2010). Non-musical benefits for early years
children with visual impairment have also been explored. For example, Metell
(2015) investigated the role of music within communication and social
development and found positive outcomes in terms of children’s bonding
and interaction with parents

The current project aims to build on the research by Ockelford and Matawa
(2010) to further understand the musical engagement and development of
children with RoP through longitudinal case studies over a period of two
years.

Method
Des ign
A longitudinal case study design with an emphasis on naturalistic observation
was used to understand how each child’s musical engagement has
developed over time. The use of longitudinal research has been noted as an
effective method when studying developmental change (Menard, 2002), in
particular to provide a glimpse into children’s ever changing daily
experiences (Green & Hill, 2006). Observing children in their natural
environment has also been suggested to provide valuable insight into
children’s development (Greene & Hogan, 2006). Dunn (2006) writes of the
importance of observation in terms of understanding children’s behaviour
within their relationships and states: ‘If we are to document the salient
influences on children’s development, we need to know not only how they
respond to standardized experimental procedures or situations, but what
happened to children in their family and school lives’ (p. 87).

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Observations for this project have been taken by a music therapist who
visited each child and their family at home four times a year. During visits the
music therapist interacted musically with the children, their parents and
siblings when present. The children’s musical activity was captured through
video, with the aim of observing and subsequently gauging the musical
engagement and development of each child. Families were encouraged to
use music with their children in between visits and capture moments of
musical engagement through video, whether with their immediate family,
including parents, siblings, grandparents, or family friends.

Video observations of the children were collected by parents with the use of
the EthOS app (ethnographic observation system), which allows video, audio
and photographic data to be taken with a smart phone or tablet and sent
directly to a secure cloud database. The music therapist collected video on
a designated project tablet using the EthOS app as well, allowing all video to
be stored and analysed in a central and secure database.

Participants
Four families were recruited in year one by liaising with charitable
organisations that work with families of children who are born prematurely,
through e-flyers and online media, and through contacts with hospitals and
medical professionals. One family dropped out of the study in the first year,
with two new families being recruited in the second year. Data have
therefore been collected on six children overall. However, in this paper, data
from four of the children from year one will be discussed.

Of these four children, one child was born at 23 weeks’ gestation with stage
4-5 RoP, one at 24 weeks’ gestation with stage 3 RoP, one at 24 weeks’
gestation with stage 4 RoP, and at 27 weeks’ gestation with APROP
(Aggressive Posterior RoP). At the start of the project in 2015 two of the
children were 24 months of age and two of the children were 36 months.

Analysis
Observations
The Sounds of Intent in the Early Years (SoI EY) framework of musical
development has been used to analyse observations and map the children’s
musical engagement over time (Ockelford & Voyajolu, 2016; Voyajolu &
Ockelford, 2016). In summary, the SoI-EY framework sets out six levels of
musical development and three domains of musical engagement. The
domains include reactive (listening and responding to sound and music),
proactive (making sound and music alone) and interactive (making sound
and music with others). Of the six levels of musical development, the four
which usually occur in the early years are summarised as:
an emerging awareness of sound and music and the diversity that is
possible, and a developing awareness of a sense of agency in
producing sounds
recognising and creating patterns in sound through repetition and

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 regularity, imitating others and enjoying being imitated
understanding and creating groups of sound that form musical ‘chunks’
or melodic motifs and
responding to and creating whole pieces that gradually become more
‘in tune’ and ‘in time’, in accordance with the child’s cultural
background.

Level one of the framework is a reference to the developmental level that

occurs before hearing starts to work and level six refers to musical maturity,
which usually occurs in adolescence. Figure 1 illustrates the SoI EY framework
model, depicted as a set of concentric circles starting with level one at the
innermost circle, opening outwards towards level 6.

A total of 233 observations of four children have been collected and

analysed over the first sixteen months of the project. As the project is still in its
second year, further observations are being collected by both the
researchers and parents and are yet to be analysed. However, the
preliminary analysis shows that one child is demonstrating a level of musical
development ahead of that typically demonstrated by full-sighted children.
For example, he has shown early signs of being able to play the keyboard ‘by
ear’ despite having a general developmental delay. One child remains at
much the same level of musical development as would be expected of her
fully-sighted peers of the same age, and two of the children’s general
developmental delay is reflected in their musical development. Figure 2
shows a comparison between the four children in the current study and the
musical engagement of a cohort of fully-sighted children, also analysed using
the SoI-EY framework (Ockelford & Voyajolu, 2016; Voyajolu & Ockelford,
2016)
Figure 1. The Sounds of Intent in the Early Years framework of musical
development

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Figure 2. Comparison of neurotypical and blind children’s musical
development

Parent Interviews
As well as observational evidence, during the four visits the music therapist
held semi-structured interviews with parents to gain further insight into the
child’s musical preferences, interests, and usual activities, as well as the

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parent’s experience of the project. Interview questions were based on the
questionnaire used in Ockelford and Matawa’s 2010 study on the musicality
of children with RoP. Interviews were audio recorded and are being analysed
qualitatively alongside observations. Initial parent comments are included
here.
On the child’s engagement with sound and music

“Every morning she comes down and the guitar is the first thing she
asks for.”

“We have never seen him so engaged for such a long-time. Usually he loses
interest in activities after a few minutes. It’s amazing to see how much he
enjoys it.”

“She is not interested in TV whatsoever. But she is [in] the portable DVD player.
She’ll ask for her music to be played… If we’re at home it will be in the kitchen
on the radio every morning. Otherwise if we’re out and about she’ll have her
portable one… It’s a comfort for her I feel. Because again, when we’re out or
she’s tired or in unfamiliar surroundings she’ll always opt to go to the push chair
and then she’ll say ‘Can I have my CD player?’”
“Hearing is very switched on. But generally, if we’re out and about, it’s people’s
voices. If it’s somebody that she hasn’t heard before she’ll say ‘Who’s that?
What’s that? Who are they? She’s very interested in the outside world .’”
On the use of music with their child

“We had a few toy musical instruments lying around the house but I would
have had no idea what to do with them. I’m so unmusical and the project
has given me the confidence to use my own voice and to make sure I take
her along to music groups and concerts now she’s a bit older. Having the
real instruments from you has been really good, as you can tell how they
have a better sound, particularly with her having no sight.”

“I think I would have done some singing but didn’t realise the benefits and how it
could help with his speech. Having the visits has been a good motivator as I’ve
learnt that what I’m doing with him is really helpful”

We are finding similar evidence to Ockelford and Matawa’s 2010 study that
children who are blind are highly engaged in listening to everyday sounds
and music. Therefore, one of the key factors in the project rationale has been
to encourage parents to use music confidently at home and to nurture their
child's engagement.

Conclusion
The data collected thus far provides a first look at the musical lives of these
four children with Retinopathy of Prematurity. We see that even within this
small sample, one child is showing signs of musical skill beyond that that
would be typically expected in fully-sighted children of the same age,
despite having a developmental delay. We have also seen, in relation to
earlier studies of children who are visually impaired (Baker, 2014; Adam

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Ockelford & Matawa, 2010), a high level of engagement with sound and
music, which we hope has been harnessed and encouraged by the visits,
and most importantly, as a consequence by the children’s families.
As observational data of the children continue to be collected, future
analysis will focus on their musical development over time in relation to the
children’s age and in comparison to their sighted peers.
Furthermore, the research team, with feedback from families, is developing a
resource of musical activities based the SoI-EY framework for children with
sight loss. The resource includes a set of cards, which will be paired with a
website to include video and audio examples of each activity as well as
downloadable versions of the cards, songs and activity suggestions

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are grateful to the British Humane Association, the Amber Trust and SEMPRE for their
support. We thank the children and families for their participation, time and dedication to
the project.

References
Baker, D. (2014). Visually impaired musicians’ insights: narratives of childhood, lifelong
learning and musical participation. British Journal of Music Education, (2014), 1–23.
http://doi.org/10.1017/S0265051714000072
Bliss (n.d.). Statistics. Retrieved from http://bliss.org.uk/pages/category/statistics
Dunn, J. (2006). Naturalistic observations of children and their families. In S. Greene & D.
Hogan (Eds.), Researching Children’s Experience (pp. 87–102). London: Sage
Publications, Inc.
Green, S., & Hill, M. (2006). Researching children’s experiences:methods and methodological
issues. In S. Greene & D. Hogan (Eds.), Researching Children’s Experience (pp. 1–22).
London: Sage Publications, Inc.
Greene, S., & Hogan, D. (Eds.). (2006). Researching Children’s Experience. London: Sage
Publications, Inc.
Hamilton, R. H., Pascual-Leone, A., & Schlaug, G. (2004). Absolute pitch in blind musicians.
Neuroreport, 15(5), 803–806. http://doi.org/10.1097/00001756-200404090-00012
Menard, S. (2002). Longitudinal Research (2nd Editio). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc.
Metell, M. (2015). A great moment...because of the the music ”: An exploratory study on
music therapy and early interaction with children with visual impairment and their
sighted caregivers. The British Journal of Visual Impairment, 33, 111–125.
http://doi.org/10.1177/0264619615575792
Ockelford, A. (2008). Music for Children and Young People with Complex Needs (Oxford Uni).
Oxford.
Ockelford, A. (2013). Music, language and autism: Exceptional strategies for exceptional
minds. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Ockelford, A., & Matawa, C. (2010). Focus on Music 2: Exploring the musicality of children
and young people with Retinopathy of Prematurity. London: Institute of Education.
Ockelford, A., & Voyajolu, A. (2016). The development of music-structural cognition in the
early years: a new study offering a perspective from zygonic theory. In G. Welch & A.
Ockelford (Eds.), Explorations in Zygonic Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Royal National Institute of Blind People (2015). Retinopathy of Prematurity. Retrieved from
https://www.rnib.org.uk/eye-health-eye-conditions-z-eye-conditions/retinopathy-
prematurity
Voyajolu, A., & Ockelford, A. (2016). Sounds of Intent in the Early Years: A proposed
framework of young children’s musical development. Research Studies in Music
Education, 38(1), 93–113. http://doi.org/10.1177/1321103X16642632
Wan, C. Y., Wood, A. G., Reutens, D. C., & Wilson, S. J. (2010). Early but not late-blindness
leads to enhanced auditory perception. Neuropsychologia, 48(1), 344–348.
http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.08.016
Welch, G. F. (1988). Observations on the Incidence of Absolute Pitch (AP) in the Early Blind.
Psychology of Music, 16(1), 77–80.

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The Branded Product and The Funded Project: Neoliberal policies
creating musical spaces in early childhood

Susan Young
University of Roehampton,
Applied Music Research Centre
London, UK
[email protected]

Abstract
Early childhood music education presents itself as a politically neutral space, concerned only
with micro worlds of practice and music in childhood and supposedly detached from the
macro worlds of economic and political processes. Educators generally hold liberal ideals,
but this is a weak position that fails to provide a robust critique of the political and social
order and tacitly serves to maintain the status quo with its unjust power relations.

In this presentation I aim to raise awareness of the macro issues of politics, power and
economics and how they operate to shape and constrain early childhood music education.
I will argue that far from being neutral and detached, early childhood music education is
deeply imbricated in current political structures and that the trick of neoliberal policies is to
make this process invisible. Or, if the process visibly breaks surface now and then, to ensure
that the ‘political’ appears to be simply common sense, unavoidable and uncontestable.

I build an argument drawing on two sources; writings from critical pedagogy and documents
such as project reports, blogs, web-pages and policies. I will reveal how the neoliberal
concepts of competition, choice, individualism and enterprise permeate early childhood
music education and have resulted in a two-tier, socially divisive system, one publicly and
the other privately funded. While my descriptions and discussion are rooted in the English
context and neoliberal policies have a particularly entrenched position in the English system,
the core argument that education is a political enterprise whether we acknowledge it or not
holds for all European countries. Many of the issues and controversies will be similar across
Europe, albeit played out in culturally inflected ways.
Raised awareness of the economic and political processes which shape early childhood
music education will equip educators to actively critique the status quo and to argue for
systems and structures that have the potential to reduce inequalities.

Keywords
Early childhood music, neoliberal, politics

Introduction
This paper focuses on the socio-political context in the UK and how it shapes
early childhood music education. The specifics I describe arise from the
relationship between political ideology and early childhood music education
that reflect broader trends common across the Western world. So although
the topic is confined to the UK, the discussion and analysis can, I hope,
provide an example which will stimulate similar considerations in other
countries.
The UK political system is defined by neo-liberal ideology which, in simple
terms, places value on the free market. The free market is accompanied by
concepts of competition, choice and enterprise (Rose, 1999, pp141-142). As
policies issued by government have shifted to privilege the free market, so

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has the state cut funds for social services and increased the emphasis on
individuals taking full responsibility for their own situations. The period
following World War II had seen a rise in the welfare state in the UK, but since
the Thatcher-Reagan era this has been gradually dismantled. No longer is
poverty understood to be caused by structural inequality, or social
responsibility something that is shouldered by us all, instead, poverty,
inequality and all that ensues, are attributed to individuals who have, in some
way, succumbed to individual weaknesses and failed.
Neoliberalism and free market principles bring privatisation. There has been a
huge increase in the private provision of early childhood education in the UK,
both in general childcare and education and early childhood music
specifically. As Davies explains (2014), private provision introduces market-
based principles and techniques to institutions that traditionally lie outside the
economic market, in our case to arts and educational institutions. These
institutions are remodelled according to neoliberal principles and take on
certain characteristics associated with the market. Thus arts organisations
and education have to ‘produce’ something that has a certain value,
whether it is cultural artefacts, artistic activity, or educated children who will
go on to serve the market as productive workers. Adopting market-place
characteristics, these institutions emphasise delivery, targeting, specifying
inputs and measuring outcomes: all highly rationalised, controlled processes
associated with economic thinking that are couched in a matching
vocabulary of production. This rational language of production has become
so commonplace that we have become immune to its true meanings and
implications.
Neoliberal policies have resulted in early childhood music education splitting
into two main forms that I call the ‘funded project’ and the ‘branded
product’. The funded project refers to early childhood music work that is
usually paid for by a charitable or other donation and is free of cost to the
‘consumer’. It is typically established in the short term and usually works
within the (shrinking) state sector of nurseries, children’s centres and
preschools. As I will explain in sections that follow, the ‘funded project’ is a
direct outcome of market processes being extended into public institutions
and of the socio-economic inequalities that result from neoliberal
governance. The ‘branded product’ refers to the private music classes set
up and run by entrepreneurial businesses and purchased by parents for their
babies and small children. Private music sessions are to be found in almost
every middle class area of the country taking place in locally rented spaces.
The ‘branded product’ is a direct outcome of the increased emphasis on
privatisation, competition and choice, but it is also tied in to changes in
parenting. I describe each form in turn in more detail.

The branded product

In the branded product early childhood music has become a tradable
commodity provided by businesses ranging from the single entrepreneur to
nation-wide franchises, jostling in a competitive market place. The parent
becomes the customer, making choices based on her (invariably the mother)

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own decisions between competing products. She is purchasing a
commodity to meet the perceived needs and best interests of herself and
her child. It goes without saying that the mother has no concern beyond her
own family and child and the music provider no concern beyond her own
business. Liberal ideals of social duty or equality of access have no place
here. Entrepreneurs adhere to a business model that provides choice,
efficiency and value for money, but only for those who can afford to pay.
Entrepreneurs must invest where profit is most likely and so choose to invest in
areas where more affluent families live. Competition, in economic theory,
supposedly ensures that good provision flourishes and stimulates innovations
that meet consumer demands. Private provision is volatile, however, for it is
dependent on local clients for uptake of places and at the same time on
reducing local competition.
Market forces supposedly ensure certain standards are maintained because
poor quality provision is not purchased and therefore does not thrive.
However making enough money is the first priority over and above the child’s
needs. A commodity product caters to parental demands and perceptions,
rather than follows research-led practice. ‘Research’ in the form of sound-
bites, usually exaggerated and reductionist claims for the benefits of music
that appeal to mothers’ desires may be called upon as a sales ploy, but it is
unlikely that the practice is based on carefully thought-out research-informed
practice. What has emerged is a large private ‘for profit’ sector of
competing entrepreneurial businesses selling a highly commodified version of
early childhood music that caters to mothers’ perceptions rather than
children’s needs.
This opens up a debate about contemporary middle class parenting, about
what mothers desire and seek from a music class for their children and, as a
follow on from these debates, about their understanding of what good
provision looks like. The private early childhood music class, designed for
middle class mothers, is a place where a particular image of babyhood and
early childhood is constructed with and for the parents. The marketing often
uses brand names (monkey music, little tots, bumble bees) that present small
children as cute and cuddly. The names may alternatively emphasise
traditional, conventional music learning (little notes, rhythm-time, mini
maestros) that carry connotations of educative value for middle class
parents. The session strives to be a place of innocence and happy fun that
replicates a long-standing cultural construction of early childhood as
innocent, pure and natural. There is a determined effort to create an
enclosed space, with cushions, light fabrics, props and small toys that is
disconnected from real life in its emphasis on little furry animals, rural,
nostalgia-tinged, lifestyles and elements of surprise and magic. A
sentimentalized intimacy for the youngest becomes animated, ‘party-style’
fun for children a little older. Careful observation (of Youtube clips) reveals
that parents often manipulate quite small children to participate in ways that
seem to capture the notion of children being formed musically in the sessions
to fit a particular image. The way the session constructs childhood and
babyhood embody contemporary middle class adult desires and anxieties

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for their children rather than careful thought for what young children may
need or even want. From a children’s rights perspective, the children are not
being thought of as people with genuine needs, wants, feelings and
perceptions that deserve to be met.
Co-operation and sharing between private providers does not take place,
with many keeping a tight guard on their materials and methods. This pool of
‘trade secrets’ is their main commercial asset. The business model aims to be
long term and very stable. Providers stick with the ‘tried and tested’ because
innovation represents a business risk. Websites typically state how long the
business has been operating as evidence of its durability and success.

Divided provision 1
So the ‘branded product’ represents one side of the neoliberal picture that
encourages marketization of provision and individualism, choice and
freedom for the purchaser. The poor and/or minority mother, is unlikely to
have access to the ‘branded product’. It will be costly and probably not
take place locally within walking distance. Even if both those limitations were
surmountable, the private music session is unlikely to be a comfortable
experience for mothers outside the white middle class circle with its very
particular model of parenting and images of childhoods that it reconstructs
and sells. Poor and minority mothers living in less affluent areas are targeted
by the ‘funded project’.

The funded project

Funded projects typically prioritise access to music for children living in areas
of economic deprivation. They are short-term and temporary in contrast to
the branded project above and expect ‘quick returns’. They are often
couched in a language of innovation and experimentation but in reality,
however, because they are short-term and driven by predefined outcomes
and measurable standards, can rarely take risks and tend to be cautious and
unadventurous.
There is a public policy assumption that has become accepted as a truism
that children who do not belong to middle class families, be they working
class or minority ethnic, are at risk and need publicly funded programmes to
intervene early and set them on the correct pathway. The assumption has
seen a shift to a social interventionist agenda in which music provision has
become deeply entangled. These children are clearly marked out in a
discourse of ‘deprivation’, ‘vulnerability’ and ‘disadvantage’ that has
become so widespread that its indiscriminate use and the way that it
disguises the harsh truths of poverty with soft-edged euphemisms is not
questioned.
Moreover funded projects face a serious difficulty because they are
perpetually incomplete. They chase social interventionist aims that are illusive
because the problems they seek to remedy are fundamentally the result of
structural problems – economic and political - that never can be solved by
small children attending a music group. And so the endlessly compelling and

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worthy rhetoric is recycled, the introduction of new organisations, new
networks and partnerships with catchy, creative titles that out-source the
work, will always be chasing the moon.
At the same time the mothers are to be ‘engaged’ in the funded project,
thus taking away from them the right to choice that they may be exercising if
they do not participate. For middle class mothers, this right is assumed and
presumably there is no concern as to whether these mothers engage or not,
or are ‘hard to reach’.
These projects cannot escape the all-pervasive public sector management
that is another outcome of a belief in market processes. The projects are
rationalised, adopting target setting and audit which, at core, are about
efficient use of funds and returns on investment.

Divided provision 2
The split system makes it difficult to have any kind of overview. Each one
ignores the other as if it does not exist and both are working to different
agendas, adopting different discourses, in different places, with different
groups of children and different styles of practice. They have created and
perpetuate a segregated, two-sided provision that reflects a deeply divided
society. Both models have become part of the problem, perpetuating
inequality, and neither is part of the solution.
The key issue here, and the main thrust of my argument, is that neoliberal
principles, whether implementing government policy through the funded
project or reflecting policy through the branded product are driving and
shaping developments in early childhood music. These two forms of early
childhood music have evolved, defined not by national professional bodies
informed by academic theory and expert, artistic practitioners, nor by
institutions that have the interests of the very young child at heart (as with
music therapy for example) but by unregulated markets on one side and
policy-controlled administrators on the other. The continuing focus in public
policy on early intervention as a solution to structural inequality distracts
attention from critical analysis of the real political and social situations that
underpin it. It distracts attention from asking questions about the real aims
and purposes of early childhood music, what babies and small children
genuinely need or even want, and crucially, what they have a right to. Thus
any deeply unsettling discussions or the imagining of radical solutions that
might bring about genuine change are avoided.

Roles as defined by a neoliberal outlook

There is a group who have thrived in the current climate. These are the
administrators and managers who design, measure, produce, control and
assess (Ball and Juneman, 2012). A layer and system of management has
taken over that takes genuine stakeholders out of the picture and
disempowers them. The disempowered include the parents and children
who are ‘targeted’, the experienced music educators who will merely

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‘deliver’ and the music education academics who are reduced to
producing ‘evidence’ that is pre-specified by the policy-led project aims.
The early childhood music specialist, the professional educator who often has
long experience, expertise and commitment to their work, loses out. They
have no choice but to become workers in either the funded project or the
branded product. In both options they are employed on insecure, part-time,
temporary conditions with no benefits. They must court the one who pays by
moulding their practice to either the policy-led demands of the funded
project or the market-led demands of the branded product. In neither
situation can the early childhood music specialist, as artistic, creative, skilled
musician-educator, find much freedom to work in ways that are born of their
own skills, knowledge and artistry or the freedom to be responsive to the
children’s needs and rights.
Academics also have no place unless we become part of the regimes that
measure, produce, control and assess, using our skills and knowledge to
validate rather than challenge. Oppositional views are repressed in a
climate where everyone is, understandably, fearful over future funding and
income. Active debate is rare and when it happens may only tinker around
the edges, framed by the current discourse. Deep critique and seeking of
alternatives is discouraged and those who engage in it are usually side-lined
and not invited to the central networks where decisions are made and
money allocated. Thus any oppositional centres of practice and thought are
deliberately weakened.
The managers are not truly independent either as they are dancing to the
tune of policy makers or purchasers, but they are the ones in the employed
posts who hold the power. They are part of the new ‘knowledge economy’
who strive to be innovative in devising new approaches. They are to be
flexible and team orientated with a set of core, transferable skills that they
adapt as they move through different ‘funded projects’ (or set up their
franchises). Certain high profile approaches get passed on enthusiastically,
superficially and without scepticism in this marketisation of new ideas. The
managers are typically committed to the ideology and techniques of
accountability, measurement and management and have the power to
enforce them.
As Moss explains (2014) a neoliberal outlook ‘depoliticizes’ everyone and acts
as if there were no alternative. Its approaches and principles are so taken for
granted that they become invisible and we do not ask the democratic,
deeper, difficult questions about aims, directions or purposes.

Ways forward?
Is there a recognition of the problem, of the need for change? Is there a will?
Is there a commitment for practices that have the capacity to transform?
Can we find new forms of early childhood music defined not by unregulated
market entrepreneurs and policy-controlled administrators, that strive to
challenge the status quo, not reinforce it.
I suggest a multi-levelled approach. Firstly, there should be more readiness
for honest, brave, open dialogue based on a genuine commitment to social

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responsibility and justice. The dialogue should struggle to find a new
language to articulate change, not fall into familiar discourse. From a critical
theory perspective language is not a neutral conveyor but serves to
construct the world in certain ways, thus the language we adopt is key. This
would include debate that acknowledges the economic and political at the
macro-level that shape our work, including the erosion of the welfare state
and the imposition of rampant freedoms given to the market, and how they
impede us all. Once a problem is understood as shared, it creates an
immediate shift in perspective. There would be a genuine recognition of how
class, income and cultural difference operate to mediate access to music
provision and, importantly, how that disadvantages us all - in solidarity - not
just some (cf. Apple, 2013, p.64). All mothers, irrespective of social position,
are understood empathetically with care and respect. Debates about social
class, cultural variation in parenting and child upbringing styles should draw
on theoretical understandings, provided by academics who are valued as
critical thinkers, not straitjacketed into being servants of technocratic
processes. These theoretical accounts need to avoid the micro-level,
reductionist, determinist arguments for music in the early years, or ‘benefits of
music’ rationales, but scale up to the macro-level socio-political context.
A fairer resource distribution should tackle structural inequality. In music
provision this would be for long-term, stable provision accessible to poorer
families and importantly provision that focuses on music process, content and
pedagogy in a much more in-depth way. It continues to surprise me how the
funded project has come to neglect the in-depth, detailed process of young
children doing music, so focussed is it on project structure, social-
interventionist aims and outcomes: likewise the branded product and its
empty focus on ‘what sells’. Loosen the regulation of the funded project and
allow experienced, knowledgeable music educators more of a role in
shaping the aims of the work according to context and in developing music-
rich possibilities through content and process. This would give room for
children (and mothers) themselves to voice and articulate what they need,
want and have a right to, to replace the top-down, outcome-driven
approaches based on interventionist assumptions that currently dominate.
Fairer resource provision also provides higher pay and better employment
conditions for the early childhood music specialists.
Neoliberalism drives market capitalism under which inequality and children
living in poverty is rising not decreasing. It favours competition not
collaboration, individualism not social conscience, and excess consumption
(that threatens human life on earth) not sustainability. We need to find a
more socially just and responsible, less politically compliant and more
genuinely democratic way forward to an equally shared and sustainable
future. Is this unrealistic, ‘pie in the sky’ thinking? No, I don’t think so. But it
does call for an honest, brave scrutiny of the current situation.

References
Apple, M.W. (2013). Can Education Change Society? New York: Routledge.

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Ball, S.J. & Junemann, C. (2012). Networks, New Governance and Education. London: Policy
Press.
Davies, W. (2014). The Limits of Neoliberalism: Authority, Sovereignty and the Logic of
Competition. London: Sage Publications.
Moss, P. (2014). Transformative Change and Real Utopias in Early Childhood Education: A
story of democracy, experimentation and potentiality. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
Rose, N. (1999). The powers of Freedom: Reframing Political Thought. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.

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BabySong

Vanessa Young
School of Teacher Education, Canterbury Christ
Church University,
Canterbury, Kent UK
[email protected]

Abstract
There is a weight of evidence suggesting that babies are born with a pre-disposition to music
and furthermore that they prefer listening to Infant Directed Singing than to normal speech
(e.g.: Trehub 2003 & Trehub and Nakata, 2001). The BabySong Project*, co-directed by
Professors Kathy Goouch and Sacha Powell, emerged from previous Baby Room research
undertaken by the team at the Research Centre for Children, Families and Communities. The
project challenged what was perceived as a growing functionalism in baby care. A key aim
of the BabySong project was to develop a closer, more intimate approach to interactions
between practitioners and the babies in their care. During the project, we worked with local
baby room practitioners to explore ways in which singing and song could be incorporated into
their everyday tasks and activities with their babies. In the project, we developed a ‘Spectrum
of Song’ to encourage practitioners to think beyond nursery rhymes and children’s songs. We
fostered exploration of all aspects of vocal expression and sought ways to turn a range of
vocalisations - through playful, imaginative and spontaneous approaches - into ‘singese’ (or
‘singing’) opportunities, integrating them into regular interactions with their babies. We
discussed the value of ‘stillness’, and songs to soothe as well as enliven (including vocalisations
and improvisations), but noted that although lively ‘play songs’ seemed to be encouraged by
managers, ‘closeness’, and ‘being still’ with babies could be seen as problematic in baby
rooms in day-care contexts.

Two Vignettes
Evie has just woken up in her cot. Mum comes in and leans over the cot. She
greets Evie by gently singing: ” Good morning, good morning, the sun is shining
in the sky, good morning, good morning to you” Evie responds with obvious
pleasure, stretching, squirming and waving her arms. She smiles and makes a
variety of small sounds in response to her mother’s singing. Mum continues to
communicate, moving from song to motherese “Hello – wakey wakey beautiful
girl. Did you have a good sleep? You’ve been awake for hours and hours and
hours… ”

Baby Harry is lying on his changing mat. Looking up at his dad he starts making
noises. Dad responds by imitating Harry. Harry smiles in acknowledgement and
tries another sound which his dad also imitates. He tries slightly different versions
of the sound and each time dad copies. The exchange continues…
These are just two tiny, intimate glimpses of where ‘song’ is a significant
medium for communication and bonding between baby and parent.

Why Sing?
It seems that people have always sung with their babies. Every culture has its
lullabies and children’s songs. These get handed down through the
generations, and, as with any oral tradition, get slightly altered with each
sharing. They become a rich seam within the culture (Trehub 2001; Mithin 2005;
Simkin 2013). Whatever the cultural differences in these songs, there are certain

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universals in terms of their features and characteristic. These songs are
designed to aid bonding and communication, to relax and soothe babies, or
to entertain and amuse them. But if we think beyond the straightforward song
we see that music and musicality have a much more subtle, and significant
part to play.
Babies are hyper-sensitive to the rhythms, melodies and terms of speech long
before they understand the meanings of actual words. Indeed, there is a
weight of evidence to show that babies much prefer listening to ‘infant-
directed speech’ (‘IDS’) than to normal speech (Trehub 2001; Mithin, 2005). A
characteristic of this kind of speech is the exaggerated ‘ups and downs’ in
pitch. This form of IDS, known as ‘motherese’ is often accompanied by larger,
exaggerated movements of the head and facial expressions.

There is also a wealth of evidence that this kind of ‘musical’ speech is universal
practice. It happens the world over, in all cultures – no matter what the
language. Indeed Chinese mothers break the rules of their tonal language in
order to convey the ‘tune’ of motherese rather than the words. (Powell,
Goouch & Werth, 2014; Bryant & Barrett 2007; Fernald, in Mithin 2005). This is not
altogether surprising when we realise that babies are, it seems, predisposed to
engage in the rhythmic movement of music and other regular sounds, to
exhibit tempo flexibility, and demonstrate positive displays of affect towards
music (Zentner & Eerola, 2010). Babies appear to be even more responsive to
carers’ musical interactions than to IDS, whether their carers are singing known
songs, made up songs or just simply making musical sounds (Trehub, 2001).
Malloch and Trevarthen (2009) coined the term “communicative musicality”
to describe this kind of communication with infants.
To return to the vignettes right at the beginning of the paper, clearly Evie’s
mum initiated what Trevarthen calls a ‘proto-conversation’ - a turn-taking
exchange with a non-verbal infant (Trevarthen 2002). Bergeson and Trehub
(2007) show that mothers use specific signature tunes when talking to their
infants. These tunes not only identify them as individuals but also identify ways
of expressing emotion in particular contexts, communicating and conveying
emotional messages between carer and infant without words (Zeedyk 2006;
Malloch and Trevarthen 2000). Another study by Bigelow and Rochat (2006)
has shown that infants, by the age of two months, have become familiar with
and sensitive to their own mother’s way of timing her behaviour when socially
engaging with them (in Gratier & Magnier 2012).

As well as contributing crucially to an important developing relationship, this

kind of interaction is seen as beneficial developmentally for the baby. It
activates ‘large swathes’ of both sides of the brain and helps to foster
language development and emotional well-being (Young 2008; Goddard
Blythe, 2011). Trainor and Schimdt (2003) speculate that it may have an effect
on the brain’s emotive processing functions, before the development of
language skills. Mithin (2005) suggests that music has a developmental, if not
evolutionary, priority over language.

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If we turn our attention to the vignette of Harry now, we see that it was he
who actually initiated the exchange, not his father. Each vocalization he
offered was rewarded by an imitative response from his father, giving Harry a
powerful sense of agency. Encouraged, Harry was motivated to repeat the
exercise, creating what clearly became a highly pleasurable exchange.
Gratier and Magnier (2012) make the point that infants have a strong desire
to share meaningful experience. They intend meanings and they do so
through interpersonal coordinated timing that is motivated, from birth.
Gratier and Magnier (ibid) interestingly draw a parallel between the
phenomenon of such rich and nuanced infant/parent communication and
the processes involved in the improvisations of jazz musicians.

“When jazz musicians feel they are playing well together, they are able
to sense each other’s movements and expressions, they sense how the
tempo might progress and, at the same time, they anticipate harmonic
progressions and melodic lines... both infants and improvising musicians
achieve a sense of belonging through the process of getting into a
groove, or achieving interpersonal synchrony, which opens up spaces
for co-constructed meaning and the sedimentation of dynamic cultural
forms of interaction.”
(Gratier & Magnier, 2012, pp.53-56)

By the second month, babies’ vocalizations finely match to the acoustic

properties of adult speech. Parents perceive their infants to be taking part in
dialogues. Just like jazz musicians, they feel they have something to ‘say’. The
infant is highly motivated to communicate with close others through
“coordinated timing, emotive expression and sympathetic mirroring across
sense modalities…” (Gratier & Magnier, 2012, p48). They also cite Stern (1982)
who refers to mother-infant interaction as a ‘duet and a dance’ and Condon
(1982) who talks of the ‘orchestration and choreography of communicative
behaviour’ (p48).
There seem to be distinct benefits too for parents and carers in this kind of
communication. The importance of this was recognised by Goouch and
Powell In their summary of the important Baby Room Project 11 (Goouch &
Powell, 2015). MacKinlay & Baker in their education programme specifically
looked at creating positive experiences for first-time mothers through lullaby
singing. They concluded that the experience of singing enables the singer to
see their babies react and respond to singing and creates a sense of
empowerment and achievement (MacKinlay & Baker, 2005). In the Limerick
Project, Corolan and colleagues (2012), considered the benefits of mothers
singing with their babies while they were in utero, and when newly-born. This
research found that singing lullabies benefited the mothers in four distinct
ways:
1. It enabled them to feel closer to their infants;
2. It developed their confidence with their babies;

11 Funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation (2009-2012)

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 3. It enabled them to make connections with others, and
4. It provided them with an additional tool for communication post-birth.
(Corolan et al. 2012)

The BabySong Project12

Out of the Baby Room Project from the important Baby Room Project (2009-
12) emerged a project more specifically focused on singing and song: the
BabySong Project (2014-16). A key aim of the Project was to address what was
perceived as a growing functionalism in baby care where the overriding goal
seemed to be completion of a task – for example feeding or changing a
baby’s nappy. 15 nurseries from East Kent were recruited. The Project involved
professional development sessions over five academic terms, and nursery visits
to see the practitioner working in context and meet the managers. The Project
culminated in a BabySong Conference at the Turner Contemporary Gallery in
Margate. Working with these practitioners, we aimed to develop a closer,
more intimate approach to everyday baby room interactions between
practitioners and the babies in their care, and we saw ‘song’ as a crucial
medium through which to achieve this.

The Spectrum of Vocal Utterances

It is important to consider here what we mean by ‘song’. The Spectrum of
Vocal Utterances (Fig 1) illustrates that musical communication can be very
broadly defined.

Motherese 'Singese'

Vocalisations Formal song

'SONG'

Figure 1: Spectrum of Vocal Utterances

The notion of ‘Song’ in this context covers a range of vocal musical utterances.
These utterances or vocalisations do not necessarily need words – they can
include any sounds that can be made with the human voice. Ordinary speech
can become the musical speech of motherese which in turn can be
manipulated into the spontaneous, extended rhythmic and melodic phrasing
that characterises what Dionyssiou calls singese (Dionyssiou, 2009). So-called

12 Funded by the Ragdoll Foundation (2014-2016)

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Formal songs - those that we learn from our culture or that we ‘acquire’ as
finished ‘products’ - form an essential part of our regular repertoire too. We
knew however that these were already being sung in baby rooms. What we
wanted to particularly highlight were the first three components of the
spectrum. We explored vocalisations and sought ways to turn motherese -
through playful, imaginative and spontaneous approaches - into singese,
integrating them into regular interactions with the babies.

A child who complains about a stone in her shoe, for example, could be
distracted by a quickly improvised melodic chant: “Ooh aah! I’ve got a stone
in my shoe, a stone in my shoe, a stone in my shoe. Oh no! I’ve got a stone in
my shoe and I don’t know what to do - ouch!!” More subtly perhaps, when a
baby yawns, the downward sliding pitch of the yawn itself (a glissando) can
be imitated, manipulated and ‘played with’ in a reciprocal way, creating a
musical dialogue between practitioner and baby. In order to promote this kind
of approach it is important to have a clear understanding of this; to move
beyond the straightforward (though clearly important) singing of songs, to see
the huge potential the human voice in terms of fostering meaningful, musical
communication.

During the Project, It was clearly important not only to develop the conceptual
understanding of the practitioners in this way, but also to develop the kind of
confidence needed to engage in these kinds of interactions. We needed to
boost the skills and confidence of the practitioners in this kind of spontaneous
vocalisation and song making. We sought to do this through practical
workshops. Participants were then encouraged to apply their learning in their
own baby room settings.

Play Songs and Lullabies

One of the key considerations during the project was choice and application
of ‘repertoire’. It is surprising to realise that even very young babies can have
strong musical preferences. In one particularly powerful video clip, the baby
unequivocally shows which song she prefers. She smiles and gurgles when her
mother sings Incy Wincy spider. This turns to loud wails and grimaces when her
mother switches to ‘Lady in Red.’
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FMPM5TqkMU&index=9&list=PLHTKyB1JN5ed5_L1WL6k
HhHcS4aATq7g8))

Infants are highly sensitive to the underlying affective message contained

within songs, in terms of their musical content, regardless of the lyrics. Different
kinds of songs produce different behavioural responses. For ease of distinction
we referred to these as ‘play songs’ and ‘lullabies’. Lullabies tend to be slow,
low-pitched and quiet, whereas play songs are more likely to be fast, high-
pitched and loud (or have sharp variations in dynamics). Most important
however, is the way the song is sung. We should not underestimate this last
factor. In technical terms, both the tempo (or speed) of a song, and the timbre
(or tone of voice) have been found to be related to specific emotional or
affective messages (Tsang & Conrad, 2010). The true expressive effect of a

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song is highly dependent on the manner of singing: a loving tone of voice and
slow tempo usually conveys soothing or comforting messages, whereas fast,
clipped utterances can express excitement, fear or surprise. Another
interesting distinction was made by Rock and colleagues who found that 6-
month-old infants directed their attention outward and looked more often at
their caregivers while listening to play songs, whereas their attention was more
directed inward while listening to lullabies. (Rock et al., in Tsang & Conrad
2009).

During our Project we encountered a proliferation of ‘play songs’ and a dearth

of ‘lullabies’ being regularly used by practitioners. (This echoes the findings of
Powell et al., 2014). Drawing on the important principle that it was the way
songs are sung, rather than the song itself, a key feature of our workshops was
exploring how we could turn ‘play songs’ into ‘lullabies’ and vice versa, simply
through the playful manipulation of musical dimensions such as tempo,
dynamics and timbre. We encouraged the participants to ‘take liberties’ with
the musical materials of song; to adapt them, spontaneously, to the needs of
the babies and the needs of the situation.

BabySong in Practice
We gathered a good deal of data from the practitioners (and also their
managers) about how they were responding to the Project, how their thinking
was being influenced and how this translated into practice. There was a clear
suggestion of some positive developments in their baby rooms. We had
noticed, for example, that the playing of commercially produced CDs of play
songs and lullabies was quite prevalent. This was a practice we were trying to
move away from as we felt it did not necessarily promote the kinds of intimate,
bespoke, responsive interactions we were trying to foster. We urged
practitioners to use unaccompanied song in all its forms. Persuaded to eschew
the CD, they took take particular notice of how the babies responded in a
markedly different way to the unaccompanied human voice. They also found
that they were listening more closely to the utterances of their babies so that
they could respond by mirroring their gestures and vocalizations, or turn them
into song fragments. Some practitioners made resources that would prompt
and stimulate singing ideas during functional activities such as nappy
changing and feeding.
The practitioners also started becoming aware of the sheer amount of noise
babies were subjected to on a daily basis. After a careful listening exercise we
gave them to do in their baby rooms, they realised that their nurseries were
actually quite noisy places. They were keen to share some of these new insights
with their managers and some changes in practice were considered at whole
staff meetings. Practitioners were challenged with the notion that there are
times when ‘stillness’ might be desirable to enhance moments of closeness
and peacefulness. Although we heard one or two ‘vignettes’ of stillness
occurring in their baby rooms, it seems that ‘closeness’, and ‘being still’ with
babies can be problematic. Participants talked about the difficulties of
justifying ‘stillness’; of the need to ‘jolly up’ and to ‘look lively’. One said it was

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‘hard to find the moments’. There seemed to be an imperative to ‘keep busy’
and be seen to be so – busyness and activity apparently being an overt sign
and presumption of ‘hard work’. We hypothesised that opportunities to be still
and quiet within these baby room cultures could in practice be compromised.
It is important to remember that practitioners (and their managers) are
politically, culturally and practically ‘situated’. ‘You go by Ofsted most of the
time’ was a comment that exemplified the ‘top-down’ pressure felt by many
of the practitioners and their managers. This gives rise to significant questions
about who is legitimising pedagogies; about the culture of performativity in
care settings. What counts as engagement on the part of both practitioners
and babies? Are silence or stillness and opportunities for those ‘special
moments’, realistic options in baby rooms? What opportunities are there for
intimacy and closeness? Are we even allowed to use that language in the
context of the nursery setting? There is much potential work to do here.

Recommendations
So what can practitioners or parents do to capitalise on the power of singing
and song in developing this kind of synchronicity? The key strategy involves
awareness and alertness allowing practitioners to look for every opportunity to
engage with and respond to babies in this way:
Listen out for and imitate any of the baby’s vocalisations. Exaggerate,
repeat, make bolder. Create a ‘musical dialogue’.
Take turns to make up a sound - copy and ‘play’ with it. (change it
slightly each time in a kind of ‘sound ping pong’)
Mirror the baby’s actions and add some matching sounds
Mirror the baby’s utterances or vocalisations (e.g. a yawn) and add
actions and gestures
Play with sounds. Use an exclamation such as ‘Ouch!’ or ‘Yippee!’ or
‘No!’ or ‘Yay!’ or ‘Ugh!’ Repeat in a playful way. Exaggerate the
pitch/volume/tempo…
Convert instructions or suggestions into ‘singese’ e.g.: Let’s go and get
some lunch; shall we change your nappy? Repeat and make into a
kind of chant or chorus.
Manipulate and change songs or bits of songs to create different
moods e.g.:
- Convert songs e.g. turn play songs into lullabies
- Change the song’s narrative e.g. sing very quietly or very slowly (e.g.
Grand Old Duke of York to create some very weary soldiers)
contrasted with loud and lively.
All this practice, whilst highly desirable is not without challenges. Its success is
entirely dependent on the willingness, engagement and skills of the
practitioner in the first instance. A practitioner who was, for example, reluctant
to sing or experiment with their voice would be problematic (“can’t sing, won’t
sing”). Having a positive attitude to singing or vocal work, and a willingness to
go beyond tired repertoire are, one could argue, more important than musical
skills per se. The more generic skills of observation and listening and the ability
to communicate effectively with young children are much more crucial here.

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The practitioner needs these skills together with a confident and perceptive
knowledge of the child in order to recognise opportunities for such
engagement in the first place, and then to capitalise on those opportunities
and ‘improvise’ together.

Having an enthusiastic, motivated, willing, skilled practitioner on its own

however is not enough. Early years managers and, importantly, policy makers
have to recognise and value the worth of such activities and actively promote
this kind of practice, eschewing the idea of practitioner as performer. They also
need to understand that such engagement does not always have to be lively
and up-beat. Armed with this knowledge, we should be prepared to justify,
foster and fiercely support these precious moments of musical communication.

References
Bergeson, T.R. & Trehub, S.E. (2007). Signature Tunes In Mothers’ Speech to Infants, Infant
Behavior and Development, vol. 30, 2007, p. 648-654
Bigelow, A.E. Rochat, P. (2006) Two-Month-Old Infants’ Sensitivity to Social Contingency.
Mother–Infant and Stranger–Infant Interaction, Infancy, vol. 9, 2006, p. 313–325 (in
Gratier 2012)
Bryant G.A., & H.C. Barrett, (2007). Recognizing Intentions in Infant-Directed Speech,
Psychological Science Volume: 18 issue: 8, page(s): 746-751 August 1, 2007
Corolan, M. et al (2012). ‘The Limerick Project: an intervention to relieve pre-natal stress’
Midwifery 28 (2012) 173-180
Goddard Blythe, S. (2011). The Genius of Natural Childhood, Stroud: Hawthorne Press
Goouch, K. and Powell, S. (2013) The Baby Room: principles, policies and practice.
Maidenhead, Berkshire, UK: Open University Press
Goouch, K & Powell, S. (2015). The Baby Room Project: Findings and implications EYE Volume
17 No 1 May 2015
Goouch, K., Young, V. Powell, S (2017). BabySong, Research Centre for Children, Families and
Communities, Canterbury Christ Church University
Gratier, M. & Magnier, J., (2012). Sense and Synchrony: Infant Communication and Musical
Improvisation Intermediality 19 (2012): 45–64.
MacKinlay, E. & Baker, F.,(2005). Nurturing Herself, Nurturing Her Baby: Creating Positive
Experiences for First-time Mothers through Lullaby Singing, Women and Music, A
journal of Gender and Culture, Vol 9, 2005, pp 69-89
Malloch, S. and Trevarthen, C. (2000). The Dance of Wellbeing: Defining the Musical
Therapeutic Effect Nordisk Tidsskrift for Musikkterapi, 9(2): 3-17
Malloch, S. and Trevarthen, C. (2009). Communicative Musicality: Exploring the Basis of
Human Companionship, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Mithin, S. (2005). The Singing Neanderthals: the origins of music, language, mind and body
London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson
Powell, S, Goouch, K and Werth, L (2014) Mothers’ Songs in Daycare for Babies. London: The
Froebel Trust
Simkin, P Beautiful Music Issue 38 - Summer 2013
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FMPM5TqkMU&index=9&list=PLHTKyB1JN5ed5_
L1WL6kHhHcS4aATq7g8)
Trainor, L. J. and Schimdt, L.A. (2003). Processing emotions induced by music, in Peretz, I. &
Zattore, R. (Eds.) The Cognitive Neuroscience of Music, Oxford: OUP
Trehub, S.E.,(2001). Musical Predispositions in Infancy: an update, Annals of the New York
Academy of Sciences, 930(1), pp. 1-16. July 2001
Trevarthen, C. & Malloch S., (2002). Musicality and Music before Three: Human Vitality and
Invention Shared with Pride,” Zero to Three, vol. 23, 2002, p. 10-18.
Trevarthen, C. (2002). Making Sense of Infants Making Sense Intellectica, 2002/1, 34, pp. 161-
188

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Tsang, C.D., Conrad, N.J. (2010). Does the message matter? The effect of song type on infants’
pitch preferences for lullabies and play songs Infant Behavior & Development 33 (2010)
96–100
Young, S., (2008). Lullaby light shows: everyday musical experience among under-two-year-
olds. International Journal of Music Education, 26(1) 2008, pp. 33-46.
Young, V. (2015). Be Still: The BabySong project Nursery World Issue 22 July 2015
Young, V. (2017).You sing, I sing, we both sing, we all sing: communicating with babies through
song, in Goodliff, G., Canning, N., Parry, J. and Miller, L.K. (eds.) Young Children’s Play
and Creativity: Multiple Voices, Routledge, Abingdon (in press)
Zeedyk, S. (2006). From Intersubjectivity to subjectivity: the transformative roles of emotional
intimacy and imitation issue, Infant and Child Development, 15(3), 321-344.
Zentner, M. and Eerola, T. (2010). Rhythmic Engagement with Music in Infancy, PNAS, vol. 107,
2010, pp. 5768-5773.

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Spoken Sessions

Part IV

Symposia

324
 Symposium 1
Who are the Practitioners in Early Childhood Music in the United
Kingdom?

Discussant: Alison Street

Parents Early Education Partnership (Peeple,Oxford, UK
[email protected]

Zoe Greenhalgh
Early Years, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, Lancashire UK
[email protected]

Karen Eaves
Independent, Devon, England
[email protected]

Jane Parker
Take Art, South Petherton, Somerset, England
[email protected]

Abstract
The practitioner in early childhood music plays a fundamental role in creating musical
spaces, and yet there is no pre-requisite training required for early years music specialists in
the United Kingdom, no measure of musicality or minimum standards, and studies show that
practitioners are from many different backgrounds. This symposium will consist of three
research papers relating to the identities, background, qualifications, training, beliefs,
assumptions, and purpose of specialist and non-specialist practitioners who “music” with
young children aged 0-5 years. The aim of this symposium is to collate a picture of who is
making music across early childhood, including all forms of practice, and explore what this
means for children and families engaging in this practice.

Paper no 1: The Big Picture: Exploring Early Childhood Music Groups: the aims, background
and experience of leaders. Presented by Zoe Greenhalgh this research paper focuses on the
leaders of early childhood music sessions and groups across the United Kingdom, exploring
their aims, knowledge, attitudes and prior experience in relation to music and early
childhood education.
Paper no 2: The Close Up: The Musical Identities of Early Childhood Music Specialists: an
exploration of the contributory factors and how these identities relate to practice. Presented
by Karen Eaves this paper explores the musical identities of those who specialise in
supporting early musical interactions, identifying differences between personal musical
identities and musical identities within educational roles.
Paper no 3: The Other Side: An Exploration of the Beliefs, Assumptions and Knowledge of
Early Childhood Practitioners towards Early Childhood Music. Presented by Jane Parker, this
paper examines the background, beliefs and assumptions of non-specialist early childhood
practitioners in England and their musical practice.

We ask: How do these notions of identity and beliefs influence the children and families who
are engaged in such practice? What implications may be drawn for training and continuous
professional development?

Keywords
Practitioner training, music education, musical identity, early childhood, early years

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Symposium: Who are the Practitioners in Early Childhood Music in
the United Kingdom?

Exploring early childhood music groups: the aims, background

and experience of leaders: The Big Picture.

Zoe Greenhalgh
Early Years, Faculty of Education,
Edge Hill University,
Ormskirk, Lancashire, England
[email protected]
Abstract
This research focused on the leaders of early childhood music groups for children aged 0 to 5
years and their parent/carer. Using a questionnaire qualitative and quantitative data was
collected from 137 leaders from across the United Kingdom to explore their aims, knowledge,
skills, attitudes and prior experience in relation to music and early childhood education. In
addition to providing information about their qualifications, leaders were asked to identify
their main focus; early education, enjoyment or music learning.

This study has expanded understanding of early childhood music groups and their leaders in
the United Kingdom, revealing how little is known and understood about the sector and how
varied it is. It has exposed the huge scale of group provision across the country and the
apparent dominance of freelance, self-employed leaders. The diversity of data; aims,
backgrounds, qualifications and experience made analysis complex and identifying any
reliable overall trends difficult. It has made plain a lack of shared vision of what an “early
childhood music group” is; there are at least three different types of group yet all of them use
the same descriptor. From the outside it is often difficult to distinguish a group that is purely
enjoyment based from one with early childhood music learning at its heart. In terms of those
that actually aim to teach children musical skills and knowledge, some form of quality
assurance and qualification framework would greatly aid consistency and quality, and raise
awareness of the particular nature and requirements of being an early childhood music
educator.

Keywords
Early Childhood Music; Preschool Music Groups; Preschool Music Educators; Training;
Qualification

Background and introduction

Within the UK there are a huge number of people who lead early childhood
music groups for babies, toddlers and preschool children accompanied by
their parent/carer on a weekly basis. The providers of these groups range
from individuals working independently in their local geographical area to
large commercial national or international franchise and licensing
organisations, professional music and arts companies, Local Authority library
services, Museums and Art galleries and many others in between. Whilst
many leaders are self-employed, others are employed or commissioned by
other organisations or venues. As government funding for music in early
childhood is not universally available, most these groups have to either be
financially viable in order to generate an income or provide some other form
of benefit for the provider. Many independent providers will be concerned

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with providing a quality educational experience but will still need to be
business minded in order to generate an income upon which to live. Others
with a more commercial agenda may want to run their own business and
choose children’s music groups as their chosen “commodity”. This is a
completely unregulated sector where anyone, regardless of musical,
educational or early childhood knowledge, skills or background can set up
and lead music classes for young children (Young, 2007). The sector as a
whole is consequently fragmented and unmapped, and is apparently also
unconnected with national early years policy and the professionally
accepted notions of best practice in early childhood education and
settings. There is a complete lack of cross-sector cohesion which, coupled
with the lack of necessary prerequisite knowledge, skills or qualifications,
results in the absence of professional accountability and, anecdotal
evidence suggests, a wide variation in quality. My previous study
(Greenhalgh 2013) supports this view finding the aims and objectives of such
groups to be diverse, and the skills, knowledge and experience of the
leaders to be wide ranging and not necessarily relevant. Contrary to
expectations it also became apparent that in some cases neither the aims
and objectives nor the leader’s knowledge and skills were related to music in
spite of all groups being promoted as “Music” sessions.
My previous study examined a small number of practitioners in detail. The
intention with this study was to expand the sample to a large number of early
childhood music group leaders and providers to gain a better understanding
of the nature of the sector as a whole; the aims and motivation of the lead
practitioners and what skills and understanding they possess to enable them
to fulfil their role as Early Childhood Music Educators.

The research questions:

What do the leaders of early childhood music groups (for children aged
birth to 5 years and their parent/carer) aim to achieve in their work?
Are these aims supported by the leader/practitioner’s knowledge, skills,
attitudes and prior experience in relation to music and/or Early Years
education?
In order to address these questions a large sample from a cross-section of the
population of early childhood music group leaders/providers was contacted
predominantly via an electronically circulated questionnaire to gather
relevant data from a variety of early childhood music practitioners in the UK
from those working with large national franchises (such as Jo-Jingles,
Kindermusik, Music with Mummy and Caterpillar Music for example) to
independent sole-traders in the UK.
I was concerned that the questionnaire should be representative of the UK
population of early childhood music leaders and practitioners rather than
recruited via my personal networks and online communities. Most of the
sample was therefore sourced via an online parenting organisation,
“Netmums” (http://www.netmums.com/) which, among its many functions
for parents, lists information about activities for children under 5 years old by
geographical area. This is the way that many parents access children’s

327
music classes in their area and so this seemed a logical place to start. The
early childhood music sector is indeed large, far larger than I had ever
realised! The first two of the 12 “Netmums” regions in the UK (North West and
South West England) yielded over 300 individuals advertising music sessions,
most of who provide multiple numbers of classes throughout their area. This is
big business involving huge numbers of children and families and yet remains
somehow invisible on a national scale.
In such an under researched area it is difficult to know how representative
the sample is of the sector as a whole. Whilst there were many freelance and
self-employed respondents, providers of music groups within arts or cultural
settings such as those provided by professional orchestras, opera companies
and the like as part of their education programme were not apparent. Early
childhood music sessions were perhaps at the time a more recently adopted
activity within these organisations and form only a small proportion of
national provision. From person experience I would also suggest that this
activity is often through a project or performance style of engagement with
families and young children rather than regular weekly classes.
The expected questionnaire return rate of 70 was exceeded with 137
questionnaires completed, far more than expected generating large
amounts of data.

Findings
Nature of employment:
The largest group by a considerable margin (58%) identified themselves as
“Self Employed/ Freelance/ Sole Trader” with leaders who owned a Preschool
Music Franchise or Company Licence forming the next largest group; 18% of
all leaders. Approximately 775 invitations to participate were sent out by
email of which it is estimated 34% fall into the Franchise/Licence Company
category and yet only 17% of respondents claim to be from this group. There
are two possible explanations that immediately spring to mind. One is that
those who have invested money, time and effort into buying into a franchise
or licence company and building up their clientele are very protective of
their business. This is a highly competitive world where music group providers
are vying against each other to fill their classes and be commercially
successful. Any request for information or observation within these groups is
likely to be treated with a great deal of suspicion as the content of the
classes is copyrighted and fiercely protected from theft. The owner of one
franchise that received my email request to participate did query the
legitimacy of this research for these very reasons and instructed all her
franchisees not to complete the questionnaire.

The major franchises are also generally very self-contained with little contact
with other early childhood music group leaders. Leaders are often recruited
from parents within the group and training is generally in-house. It may be
that engagement with the wider sector is not seen to be a priority or
particularly relevant and considered at best to be unnecessary or possibly at

328
worst, a threat to commercial and economic success. In the last ten years of
attending a large number of early childhood music workshops, conferences
and events I am not aware of ever meeting a single franchisee colleague.
Aims and objectives:
Enjoyment and “Having fun” was the main objective of nearly half of the
sample. Children’s learning from sessions was primarily perceived to be in
social skills, followed by confidence, with fun and music skills equal in third
place. Communication and language was a common priority which supports
the belief that song, rhyme and rhythm support language acquisition, literacy
and communication skills (Young, 2007)

Background and training:

While a third of respondents had qualified teacher status, nearly 40% claimed
to have no experience of working with young children. 10% had no musical
experience or knowledge. In general, many leaders appeared to have some
qualifications or experience to support their given aim.

While many leaders indicated the importance of “teacher knowledge”,

surprisingly few, only 8 out of 638 responses, made any reference to the need
for training of which only half suggested this should be specific to early
childhood music as opposed to general music or teacher training.

Discussion
The findings of the seminal EPPE study (Sylva,K. Melhuish,E. Sammons,P. Siraj-
Blatchford and Taggart,B., 2012) stressed the importance of early childhood
practitioners being well-trained and skilful which, as has been shown, is often
not the case within early childhood music groups. Many of these leaders
however do not claim to be “instructing” children but rather aim to provide a
fun session, entertainment for them to enjoy with a parent and possibly do
not consider music or early childhood knowledge and pedagogy to be
necessary; they provide a service which parents are happy to attend with
their child. In a society were young children are often seen to be subjected
to too much “formal” educational practice and assessment (House, 2011)
some harmless fun might be what some feel is needed. This view point may
well have some validity, but harmless fun still demands leadership that is of
good quality and well informed.
So, if leaders are providing sessions that are about “enjoyment and having
fun”, is it necessary for them have musical or early childhood experience or
qualifications to support their aim? This may be a challenging question to
answer and two particular thoughts come to mind. It seems that there is an
issue with calling all these group music groups which clouds any clear vision
of what they really are. From the outside, they are all early childhood
“music” groups but in reality there are at least three different sorts of group in
which the main visible commonality is likely to be music and singing. Some
are “just for fun”, some are about early education in general and school
readiness, and the others really are about music and music learning. Perhaps

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the leader’s motivation for running these groups has some relationship with
their level of appropriate qualifications and expertise. Highly skilled leaders
who are passionate about this area of work are perhaps more likely to be
aware of current notions of good practice and to develop their knowledge
and skills by attending courses and events or participating in cross sector
networks. Other leaders may enjoy music and working with young children
and find running music groups a convenient and flexible way to earn a living
that fits well into their life, where there are no standard employment
procedures and they are answerable to no-one but their “customers”, the
parents and children who attend. Since it is the parent, not the child who
decides whether or not to attend, it could be that the leader will aim to fulfil
the parental expectations. Parents pay for a service and part of that service
is the expert knowledge and experience of the leader whose role is to strike a
balance between the fulfilment of parent/child expectations and employing
informed and high quality practise models based on their own knowledge
and skills of music and early childhood pedagogy.
In some situations, the leader may be employed by an organisation where
the motivation is centred on people and increasing service use rather than
on income generation. Early childhood music groups that are situated in
Libraries, Museums and Arts Centres and venues may function as part of the
organisation’s marketing strategy, aiming to entice a different “audience”
into their facility and encouraging them to engage with their core services
again in the future by attending concerts, joining the library and so on.
From this then comes the thought that if their music group is not actually
about music learning, does the leader need to have any musical knowledge
or skills? To some degree I would say it depends, but knowing that children
learn from what and who is around them and these are all “music” groups, it
is surely reasonable to expect leaders to have a reasonable level of
proficiency in music and singing in the same way that they do with
numeracy, literacy and spoken language. Unfortunately, music does not
seem to be valued in the same way and whereas teaching a child that two
add two equals five would cause great consternation, teaching children to
sing incorrectly or out of tune may go unnoticed.
It is intriguing that there are many references in within the data that suggest
that fun, enjoyment and energy are both necessary and important elements
in Early Childhood Music groups whilst these words are rarely used in Early
Childhood literature. Where they do appear, it is most commonly in relation
to the role of play and play, in turn, is used in the context of children’s
learning. In this literature play is seen as an important process which is
independent from any sense of end result or outcome not as an end in itself
(Fisher, 2013, p138).
During the analysis of this data I have found this frequent opinion that music
groups must be “fun”, often at the exclusion of all else, highly perplexing.
After hearing yet another advert on local radio for some children’s activity
which was dominated by assertions of how much “great fun” the children
would have, I wonder if “fun” has become something of an obsession in
popular culture, something that is seen to be desirable in itself, a commodity

330
available for purchase. Have we all become “Play Junkies” who see fun to
have value while learning and experience do not? When early childhood
music groups or other early childhood activities for that matter, market and
describe their activities as “great fun”, are they trying to appeal to the
psyche of the popular masses (“we just want to have fun”) in attracting
customers with this message, thereby negating the need for a strong
knowledge base to support well founded pedagogical content? Is a “fun”
activity something that is not serious, a bit of “fluff” that is not related to any
form of learning? This is an interesting question that would bear further
investigation.

Conclusion
This study has expanded what little is known about early childhood music
groups and their leaders in the United Kingdom. Quite apart from responding
to the specific research questions, it has exposed the huge scale of group
provision across the country and the apparent dominance of freelance, self-
employed leaders. From the data, it appears that in general, many leaders
appeared to have some qualifications or experience to support their given
aim. Whilst qualifications and experience may improve a leader’s
knowledge base this data cannot reveal is whether it is utilised or indeed
effective in providing children with a quality experience.
What has also been revealed is how little is known and understood about the
sector and how varied it is. There is such a diversity of data; aims,
backgrounds, qualifications and experience which has made analysis
complex and identifying any reliable overall trends difficult. It has however
made plain the lack of shared vision of what an “early childhood music
group” is and here I suspect is the nub of the matter: there are at least three
different types of group yet all of them use the same descriptor. From the
outside, it is often difficult to distinguish a group that is purely enjoyment
based from one with early childhood music learning at its heart. A better
form of classification for these music groups would be useful, some way to
make the aims clear and transparent and so that parents can differentiate
between group types and understand what children may gain from
attending. In terms of those that actually aim to teach children musical skills
and knowledge, some form of quality assurance and qualification framework
would greatly aid consistency and quality and raise awareness of the
particular nature and requirements of being an early childhood music
educator.
Whatever the aim of the leader however, I would suggest that leaders should
have at least a minimum level of knowledge relating to early childhood
approaches and music; to be able to sing in tune and provide a good
musical role model. It is impossible from this data to shed much light on these
leaders’ everyday working practises and would strongly recommend that
more in depth research is undertaken across the sector to gain a better
understanding of the nature and quality of early childhood music groups and
those that lead them.

331
References
Fisher, J. (2013). Starting From The Child: Teaching And Learning In The Foundation Stage.
Maidenhead: Open University Press. [Available from: htt://www.mylibrary.com?ID=459405
[viewed on 7 March 2014]
House,R. (2011). Too Much, Too Soon?: Early Learning and the Erosion of Childhood. Stroud,
Hawthorne Press.
Siraj-Blatchford, I., Sylva,K., Muttock,S., Gilden,R. & Bell, D. (2002). Researching Effective
Pedagogy in the Early Years. Norwich: The Crown Copyright Unit [Available from
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/https://www.education.
gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/RR356.pdf ] [Viewed on 10/04/2013 11;53]
Young, S. (2007). Early Childhood Music Education in England: Changes, Choices, and
Challenges. Arts Education Policy Review, Vol 109, No 2, pp. 19-26.

332
Symposium: Who are the Practitioners in Early Childhood Music in
the United Kingdom?

The musical identities of early childhood music specialists: An

exploration of the contributory factors and how these identities
relate to practice: The Close Up

Karen Eaves
Independent
Devon, England
[email protected]

Abstract
Our musical experiences from birth help shape our identity and this research examines the
musical identity of those who specialise in supporting these early musical interactions. What
do we know about their musicality and how musical they are? What are their perceptions of
the relevance of their own musical identities to their work within early childhood?

A survey of 86 practitioners provides quantitative and qualitative data detailing musical skills,
professional levels, genres and importance of various attributes in practice. Case studies of
three independent practitioners provide qualitative detail of life history and musical identities
within practice. Early years music specialists have strong musical identities, for which there
are a number of contributory factors. The majority were performers and teachers.
Differences were found between personal musical identities and musical identities within
educational roles. The early years music specialist sector had clear genre affiliations as
musicians but made changes to these within the context of their early years practice.

The findings of this research hold important implications for early childhood music education.
In particular consideration must be given to the mutuality of identity formation. Significant
points in early childhood are found to be contributory factors and turning points in the
development of early years music specialists’ musical identities, including familial
relationships, togetherness and environment. These might in turn be motivating factors in the
development of young children’s musical identities, and I call for further research into the
mutuality of identity formation between young children and practitioners.

Keywords
Identity, Musical Identities, Early Childhood Music

Introduction
This paper explores the musical identities of early years music specialists.
What do we know about their musicality and how musical they are? What
are their perceptions of the relevance of their own musical identities to their
work within early childhood?
Specialists in early childhood music often have no obvious musical
identity beyond that of the nursery rhymes and children’s music
stereotype, and no obvious common identity as a sector. The content of
sessions may be entirely dependent on the individual running the session
and their musical background and experience. There is no standardised
music training (Young, 2007; Greenhalgh, 2014) and no defined
occupational standards. The Early Years Foundation Stage Framework

333
incorporates music within Expressive Arts and Design (Department for
Education, 2014, p. 8) in the expectation that practitioners will observe
sound making behaviours and introduce children to music listening
(Parker, 2013).
In order to explore how early childhood music specialists identify
themselves musically, and how they feel this translates into their practice,
a sector perspective was gathered through a survey and was reinforced
with individual case studies detailing musical biographies and self-
perceptions of how these relate to practice.
The central research question asked: “What are the musical identities of
early childhood music specialists?” There were two sub questions through
which the main question was explored. Firstly the research explored the
construction of musical identities in early childhood music specialists
through the sub question: “What are the contributory factors?” Secondly
the research examined the contributory factors identified within the
context of practice using the sub question: “How do these relate to
practice?”

Survey findings and discussion

The findings of the survey component present a profile of the early years
music specialist sector, detailing not only the musical identities of the
individual practitioners, but also representing the musical identity of the
sector as a whole. The survey gathered information in four main areas: (i)
demographic information containing profile of practice, enabling
comparisons across groups and informing case study criterion; (ii)
identification with culturally defined roles in music, including perceptions of
ability and professional level; (iii) measures of musicality and perceptions of
important aspects of musicality for early years practitioners; and (iv)
exploration of engagement with genres of music, including a profile of genres
incorporated in early years practice.

(i) Profile
Basic statements of identity were sought in the opening survey questions. The
first presentation of musical identity was in response to the question, “Are you
a musician?” MacDonald, Hargreaves and Miell noted that the identity of
being a musician is acquired socially and culturally (2009, p. 464). There were
85 responses of yes, and there was only one response of no. So the first
statement of musical identity is that 99% of early years music specialists do
consider themselves musicians.
The remaining demographic and background information gathered
provided a baseline profile of a typical early years music specialist as a
female musician from a Western classical background who identifies strongly
with the educational knowledge and expertise aspects within her role.

(ii) Culturally defined roles and professional level

The findings of skills level across culturally defined roles; (performer,
teacher, composer, listener, producer, facilitator, creator, improviser)

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shows clear areas of high skill, as well as clear areas of skill gaps across
the early years music sector. 95% felt they were skilled or highly skilled as
teachers. 95% felt they were skilled or highly skilled as listeners and 87%
were skilled or highly skilled as performers. Although 77% identified
themselves as skilled or highly skilled creators, a significant 64% had only
basic skill or no skill as composers, 51% had basic skill or no skill as
improvisers and 65% basic skill or lower as producers, including 24% of
whom had no skill at all as producers.

The perceived areas of high skill correlated with the professional levels the
respondents recorded they were working at within the different roles.
These included 88% active as performers, 100% as teachers, 82% as
facilitators and 79% active as listeners. However there were some
discrepancies found when comparing lower perceived skill level with the
professional level of the respondents. Although there was a perceived
lack of skill in the field, 51% indicated they were active as producers, of
whom 20% were working at a semi-professional or professional level as
producers. 45% were active or above as composers, and 54% were
active or above as improvisers.

(ii) Measures of musicality

Early childhood music specialists were extremely good at singing in tune
and keeping time, they had an extremely good sense of rhythm and their
musical feel was extremely good, with over 50% scoring themselves the
maximum in each of these categories. Their musical expression was
good, their memory for melodies was good, and they were good at
picking up new melodies. They were not so good at creating music with
technology, songwriting, composing, or improvising and they were
average at recognising chord progressions by ear.

Moving then to examine the importance of the same skills within the context
of their early years practice, the attributes that were considered to be most
important for early years music specialists were musical expression, musical
feel, keeping time and singing in tune. Chord knowledge, songwriting,
composing and production skills were not considered important for early
years music specialists.

Early years music specialists’ perceptions of their own skill level matched what
they felt to be important attributes for early years music sessions, with a few
exceptions. Interestingly, 65% of early years music specialists considered
improvisation to be very or extremely important, even though only 54% were
active improvisers and 47% viewed themselves as skilled or highly skilled in
improvisation. The perception that feel and expression were of greater
importance than melodic or rhythmical accuracy is significant and may be
reflective of the communicative musicality employed within early childhood
music. The changes instinctively made by a mother when communicating
with her infant, creating an inviting singsong manner, can be described as

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infant directed speech. When using infant directed speech vocal pitch is
expressive, curving up and down, the voice softer in tone, and speech is
slower (Bergeson & Trehub, 1999). There is also increasing research about
singing for affect regulation such as increasing pleasure, and promoting sleep
(Trehub, Ghazban & Corbeil, 2014). This increased importance by the early
years music specialists of emotional attributes over technical attributes within
practice may therefore be reflective of the instinctive nuances of
communication with infants.

(iv) Engagement in genres

Early years music specialists responded to questions surrounding which genres
of music they employed in each of the different cultural roles. In addition, in
order to explore the connection between musical identities and early years
music practice the respondents were asked to select all the genres that they
incorporated into their early years music practice, both in a live and a
recorded capacity.

Children’s music was proportionally the genre most engaged in by all cultural
roles with the exceptions of listener and performer when classical was the
genre most engaged in. Although early years music specialists did not
consider themselves skilled improvisers, composers and producers, or
perceive themselves to be working at a high professional level in these roles,
there were still 51% improvising, 45% composing and 19% producing within the
genre of children’s music.

Overall the top five genres incorporated in early years music practice were
children’s music, classical, vocal, folk and world music. That classical and folk
music are included in the top five genres incorporated into early years music
practice reflects the musical identities of early years music specialists, with
classical and folk being the top two genres the respondents affiliated
themselves to as musicians. Taking live music and recorded music
separately, the same five genres of children’s, classical, folk, vocal, and
world, were the top five most frequently incorporated in both formats. When
Burke undertook a study of recorded music with non-music specialists she also
found that nursery rhymes and classical music were the top two styles
incorporated within early years settings (2013, p. 31). Burke suggested that
the choice of music in settings was adult directed, and that practitioners
were creating audio environments (2013, p. 67). I find it particularly
interesting that the non-specialist adults in Burke’s study and the specialist
practitioners in this study made similar audio selections of recorded music.
This concurs with Lamont’s experience sampling study that found classical
music was mostly chosen by teachers and mothers (2008, p. 255). World
music was not prominent in the musical identities of the early years music
specialists in this study and yet this is one of the top five most popular genres
in both live and recorded music. This would indicate that the genre within
early childhood music activities comes from a pedagogical motivation.

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What does this tell us about musical identities? A musical identity constantly
evolves according to social constructionist views (Lamont, 2011). Early years
music specialists present different skills and genres according to cultural roles
they are undertaking.

Case study findings

The case studies represent three different early years music specialists typical
of different strands within the sector. Case study Pam was taken as a
representation of the typical practitioner with a teaching and education
background. Case study Betty was taken as a representation of a typical
practitioner of a specific early years music method. Case study Matilda was
taken as a representation of a typical practitioner who developed her own
approach. The case studies presented the musical identities of the
practitioners and the contributory factors to these musical identities.
Furthermore they considered these musical identities and contributory factors
within the context of their early years practice.

For each case study semi-structured interviews took place between the
practitioner and researcher. Clear themes began to emerge as contributory
factors within the case studies, including familial relationships, aptitude,
togetherness, environment and confidence.
These contributory factors of their musical identities appeared as the key
characteristics they described in their practice. Each practitioner recalled
significant opportunities and key events from their childhood that could be
found directly reflected in the musical identities of their practice.

In the case of Betty, singing was a dominant aspect of the musical identities
in her home, childhood and family life. She described how her grandfather,
“Had a song a day”, her dad, “Was always singing, he wasn’t a particularly
good singer and he sang completely different stuff, he sang sort of, you
know, ridiculous things”, and her mother, “She was always singing”. Betty
also had a recollection of someone singing ‘sol-fah’ in her early childhood at
primary school. She said it wasn’t a very conscious thing but that she was
aware of it. She recalled enough to know it was Curwen sol-fah, and that the
Oxford Song Books with the hand systems in were used. This dominance of
singing, and the echoes of Curwen’s sol-fah are central to the musical
identities within Betty’s early years work, as she is an advocate of the Kodaly
method.
Matilda described two significant opportunities that contributed to her
musical identity and both relate to accessibility to instruments. Firstly a family
piano was located in the centre of her house. She played the piano with her
sister and spent hours doing different things at the piano. Secondly Matilda
received the gift of a flute from a lady in her church, who knew she played
but didn’t have one. Matilda cites that one of the things she is ‘known for’ in
respect to her approach to early years music practice is the inclusion of lots
of real instruments in sessions for the children to get hands-on with. She brings
in instruments such as harp, gamelan, and bassoon, and hopes that

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“Children that got hands on with instruments and familiar with things are
more likely to return to them later on”.

Pam asserted strong views about the conception of musical talent. She was
uncomfortable and embarrassed with the notion that she was considered
talented in her childhood. She explained how one of the most significant
opportunities she had was receiving a bursary to a music college in London
where she learned improvisation. Both of these aspects of her musical
identity feature in Pam’s early years music practice. Her practice is
underpinned with her philosophy that everybody is equally musical. Within
the practice she incorporates activities such as mirroring, which encourages
and reinforces improvisation within young children. She also improvises
during sessions on guitar and piano in imitation of children’s movements, and
with other visiting musicians.

The case studies, and in particular significant or transformative events as

retold by the participants that have contributed to the construction of their
musical identities, show that the musical identities of the practitioners are
clearly present and reflected in the practice they have developed. These
findings demonstrate environmental and wider cultural influences are fulfilling
roles in self perceptions of musicianship, and in an individual’s sense of
developing identity, as found by Hargreaves, Miell, & MacDonald (2002). In
particular, in each case it is possible to see that the practice incorporates
facets from, and mirrors these musical identities, to create the fundamental
principles held by the practitioners towards their practice.

Conclusion
Through surveys of the early years music specialist sector and life history
based case studies of three typical practitioners from different strands of
early years music it was possible to explore perceptions of skill level and
professional level within different cultural roles, along with perceptions of
the importance of these in early years music. Early years music specialists
have strong musical identities, for which there are a number of
contributory factors. The survey findings showed that UK early years music
specialists predominantly came from a Western classical tradition and
their musical identities were largely related to the cultural features within
this. The majority were performers and teachers, but placed emphasis on
the educational aspects of their role. They played orchestral instruments,
classroom instruments, and many were multiple instrumentalists including
piano or guitar. The early years music specialist sector had clear genre
affiliations as musicians but made changes to these within the context of
their early years practice.

Clear themes emerged through the case studies in relation to the

construction of their musical identities, namely musical family relationships,
togetherness, environment and aptitude. Significant transformative events in
relation to these themes were dominant in the musical identities of the case

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studies and occurred as fundamental principles within their early years
practice.

The findings showed the professional educational musical identities afforded

greater musical freedoms and enabled the three subjects in the case studies
to fulfill their motivations. While it could be considered that the early years
sector is so diverse it is facilitative of a range of skills which can be
transferable, it could also be argued that the three case study subjects
evidently felt comfortable in a range of media, and were sophisticated in
articulating their motivations.
This study exposes some encouraging indications. Early childhood music
specialists focus upon communicative musicality and creating opportunities
for togetherness and connectivity through music. They shift cultural roles in
the context of their early years practice, striving to be experimental, perhaps
even forward thinking. Furthermore, practitioners embrace their educational
role, constructing musical identities within this role, and look to research to
inform practice.
This holds important implications for early childhood music education. In
particular consideration must be given to the mutuality of identity formation.
Significant points in early childhood are found to be contributory factors and
turning points in the development of early years music specialists’ musical
identities, including familial relationships, togetherness and environment.
These might in turn be motivating factors in the development of young
children’s musical identities, and I call for further long-term research into the
mutuality of identity formation between young children and practitioners.
Furthermore I call for a standardised framework of training to support the
early childhood music sector in the interpretation and implementation of
research, to mutually inform for the benefit of young children and their
balanced education.

References
Bergeson, T.R. & Trehub, S.E. (1999). Mothers singing to infants and preschool children.
Infant Behaviour and Development. 22 (1) pp. 51-64.
Burke, N. (2013). The use of recorded music in early childhood settings. (Unpublished). MA
Dissertation. CREC: Birmingham City University.
Department for Education (2014). Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage:
Setting the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to
five. Downloaded from:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/335504/EYF
S_framework_from_1_September_2014__with_clarification_note.pdf (Accessed: 2/4/15).
Greenhalgh, Z. (2014). Exploring early childhood music groups: The aims, background and
experience of leaders. (Unpublished). MA Dissertation. CREC: Birmingham City
University.
Hargreaves, D. J., Miell, D. & MacDonald, R. (2002). ‘What are musical identities, and why are
they important?’ in R. MacDonald, D.J. Hargreaves, and D. Miell, (Eds) Musical
Identities. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lamont, A. (2008). Young children’s musical worlds: musical enagement in 3.5-year-olds.

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 Journal of Early Childhood Research. 6 (3) pp. 247-261.
Lamont, A. (2011). The beat goes on: music education, identity and lifelong learning. Music
Education Research. 13 (4) pp. 369-388.
MacDonald, R., Hargreaves, D.J. & Miell, D. (2009). ‘Musical identities’ in R. MacDonald, D.J.
Hargreaves, and D. Miell (Eds) The Oxford Handbook of Music Psychology. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Parker, J. (2013). An exploration of the beliefs, assumptions and knowledge of early
childhood practitioners toward early childhood music. (Unpublished). MA Dissertation.
CREC: Birmingham City University.
Trehub, S., Ghazban, N. & Corbeli, M. (2014). Musical affect regulation in infancy. Annals of
the New York Academy of Sciences. 1337 (1) pp.186-192.
Young, S. (2007). Early childhood music education in England: Changes, choices and
challenges. Arts Education Policy Review. 9 (2) pp. 19-26.

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An exploration of the beliefs, assumptions and knowledge of Early
Childhood Practitioners towards Early Childhood Music: The Other
Side

Jane Parker
Take Art,
South Petherton, Somerset, England.
[email protected]

Abstract
This study accounts for a research project aimed at exploring the beliefs and assumptions of
early childhood practitioners towards their own musicality and their beliefs, assumption and
knowledge about the musicality of young children under their care. The aims and origins of
the project are explained within the context of training early childhood practitioners.

The research combined quantitative and qualitative data collected from a questionnaire
with 82 respondents and follow-up semi-structured interviews with four individuals. The results
of this research identified that early childhood practitioners in the small cohort investigated
had low levels of training with 62% having no specific music training at all. The early
childhood practitioners displayed a wide range of beliefs and assumptions regarding their
own musical ability. 13% of early childhood practitioners perceived themselves to not be
musical. The majority of early childhood practitioners believed young children in their setting
were fairly musical, yet the music activities they offered the children are either mainly adult-
led or leaving the children to explore instruments on their own.

My exploration of beliefs, assumptions and knowledge may help inform future interventions
for training at a time when there is a real need for more high quality early childhood music
education for early childhood practitioners. It is important for trainers of early childhood
practitioners to understand all these aspects if they are to provide appropriate and
meaningful early childhood music training.

Keywords
Early childhood music, early childhood practitioner, training

Introduction
In this study I seek to explore the beliefs and assumptions of early childhood
practitioners (herein after referred to as ECPs and are adults employed to
work with young children) towards early childhood music. Central to this
research is the exploration of what the adults, as the educator in a young
child’s setting (a variety of early years organisations examples of which are:
pre-school, nursery, and children’s centre) believes and assumes what young
children’s music looks like. It reflects on my own learning journey as a trainer
to early childhood practitioners. I question whether one size fits all when it
comes to empowering early years practitioners to use music effectively in
their setting and if I need to take a different approach in my role as a trainer.
This exploratory research is the first step in helping me understand the
complex beliefs and assumptions of an early childhood practitioner
regarding their own musical ability, as well as the musical ability of young
children. I also hope to highlight a need for specialised early childhood music

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training. I intend to explore how much training practitioners receive as part of
their professional development. Young is concerned about the absence of ‘a
proper, preliminary professional qualification to equip practitioners...’ (2009,
p. 10). It is important for educative practices to understand how essential
training is, if they are to recognise the importance of music in early
childhood.

I have approached the research design as a quantitative and qualitative

account of early childhood practitioners’ beliefs and assumptions towards
early childhood music. The research questions I posed were:

1. What beliefs and assumptions do ECPs hold about their own musicality?
2. What beliefs, assumptions and knowledge do ECP’s hold about the
musicality of young children in their setting?

The second question addresses my interest in the gaps in knowledge,

assumptions and beliefs ECPs hold about the musicality of young children.
The first question helps me to explore ECPs’ beliefs and assumptions about
their own musicality to possibly identify the influence that this may exact on
the second question.

Background
What beliefs and assumptions do ECPs hold about their own
musicality?
To understand ECPs’ approach to music in their early years setting, it is vital to
try first to understand their beliefs and assumptions and to take into account
how these beliefs and assumptions have developed over time (Stavrou,
2013). Day (1999) reminds us why it is important to explore beliefs and
assumptions. He asks '...can we really understand teachers' work without
understanding their understandings of it?' (p. 55). The first research question
essentially asks if ECPs believe they are musical.

A number of researchers believe that humans have innate musical abilities.

According to Blacking (1971) all human beings possess a capacity for musical
competence. Welch (2005) agrees with Blacking in his article entitled ‘We are
musical’, explaining that our musical development begins pre-birth and it is
part of our ‘basic human design’ (p.1). There is also literature that debates
whether musical ability is innate or learned (Hallam & Prince, 2003). Malloch
and Trevarthen (2009) suggest that musicality is an innate human drive.
However, as a society we may impose the labels of musical and non-musical
through a cultural identity (Gracyk, 2004). ECPs may perceive that they are
musical novices and this perception may be derived from the feeling of
musicality being educated out of them (Young, 2009). These fears were
previously identified by Mark (1996) in that music in schools is still only
appropriate for the talented few.

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Am I musical? The link to the concept of talent
Some ECPs may believe they are not musical as perhaps they associate
musicality with having a musical talent (Ouvry, 2004). This perception has
been challenged by a number of researchers within music literature (Mills,
1989; Hennessy, 2000). All these researchers share the view that music is not
something that is elitist or for the chosen talented few. Young suggests we
need to ‘break the cycle’ of the perception of musical talent (2009, p. 13).
However these beliefs may well be deeply ingrained amongst practitioners as
‘gifts that are only attainable by, or given to, a chosen few’ (Henessey, 2000,
p. 183). Equally the belief may well have been reinforced over many years
during the musical experiences of the practitioners themselves.

What beliefs, assumptions and knowledge do ECPs hold about the

musicality of young children in their setting?
Music in the UK in the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (EYFS)
ECP’s in the UK consult the EYFS curriculum when they plan their music
activities. It has not changed greatly from a previous curriculum when Young
commented the EYFS (music) curriculum ‘....still holds on to some
conservative versions of practice...’ (2009, p. 9). She adds ‘.....the
expectations of how children will make music with instruments in Foundation
Stage curricular documents are, to be frank, very low...’ (Young, 2009, p. 90).
It would appear that the curriculum concentrates on observing children
making ‘sound’ rather than ‘music’. There is no helpful suggestion to
practitioners that they even join in with children’s music, yet alone model,
copy, mirror or synchronise with the child’s musical play.

Musical Play: a specific area where ECPs lack pedagogical

knowledge
The current UK Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework supports a play
based curriculum. Haughton and Ellis write ‘...a powerful element of this (the
EYFS) is that children have ownership of play...’ (2013, p. 76). The Department
for Education states in EYFS that practitioners should shape their practice on
the principle that ‘every child is a unique child’ and that they ‘learn and
develop in different ways and at different rates’ (2012, p. 2). According to
‘Development Matters: Characteristics of Effective Learning’ practitioners are
encouraged to ‘...play with children... join in with play sensitively, fitting in with
children’s ideas...’ (2012, p. 6). We are given the impression that the EYFS is
based on best evidence from research and experience that young children
learn best when they are engaged in play. This should mean that fewer
activities are provided where children are simply directed by adults. Yet Young
(2003) observed that the mainstay of early music childhood practice continues
to be the adult-led collective singing session. Despite the knowledge that
young children learn best through play, it appears that musical play, which
involves interactive music play between practitioners and children, is much less
developed (Young, 2003). A view held by a number of ECPs is that children’s
own initiated music is merely just noise, as their efforts do not sound like ‘real’

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music unless the adult intervenes and guides them (Ouvry, 2004; Tafuri, 2009). If
play is viewed as something so important that it is embedded and established
in the EYFS, I need to consider why some ECPs choose to separate music from
general play activity and instead approach it as a general group singing
session.

Music as a management tool

Some ECPs may use music as a management tool. The term management
tool indicates music being used for other reasons apart from its intended
purpose. Examples of this could be: the use of singing in a circle as a
mechanism to keep young children occupied in a large group to release
ECPs to do other things, as a way to manage behaviour by bringing children
back to an adult led activity, as a time- filler when other tasks have been
completed when there are no alternative activities to hand and as a fun
activity to break up more academic work (Goddard, 2002; Ouvry, 2004).
Through this, I question whether music is being valued in its own right by ECPs.

Do ECPs view music as a servant to other areas of the curriculum?

It is important to recognise how music can support other areas of learning.
For example, ECPs may sing a song because it helps fine motor skills, count
to10 or pronounce a phonic sound. In addition young children can learn
through music, by doing music (Hargreaves, 2013). The question here is
whether ECPs value music as a subject in its own right or whether they view
music as a servant to other areas of the curriculum (Young, 2003). It could be
amongst some ECPs that music is marginalised in favour of more important
subjects in the curriculum such as maths and English. Therefore the only way
to cover music in EYFS is to link it with subjects. Early years curriculum materials
often recommend a music activity that can support learning a number,
phoneme, historical or physical concept. This then leads to less time available
for music in the curriculum, further eroding music’s value as a subject in its
own right.

Research Design, Findings and Discussion

A total of 82 EYP participated in this research study (80 female and 2 male)
by completing a questionnaire during a one day conference at which I
presented. Four ECPs (pseudonyms Louisa, Pam, Libby and Cheryl) from four
different settings were chosen to be interviewed. All four were known to me
through project work or working in the same locality. Whilst this may appear
to be a sample chosen for convenience, these four ECPs had offered a
diverse range of responses regarding their beliefs and assumptions in the
questionnaire.

The need for training?

It seemed a necessary starting point to ask ECPs in the questionnaire how
much music training they had received as part of their training. The results are
shown in Figure 1.

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 Number of Responses

Nil
0 Hours 1-2 Hours 3-4 Hours 5-6 Hours 6+ Hours
Response
Question 7 51 17 6 2 6 0

Figure 1. Frequency distribution of hours of early childhood music training

Out of 82 responses, 51 ECPs (62%) claimed to receive no training at all. Only

6 ECPs (7%) had received one day of training during their entire career as an
early childhood practitioner.

Interview qualitative data on training

All four ECPs interviewed mentioned the need for more music training. One
commented that her staff would not have received any specific training for
their level 3 qualification to work with young children. Regarding her own
training, she said:

The only training I had was very structured as in this is a music lesson
and that’s how you deliver it. Thinking about the training county puts
on, well there is no music. It’s all about Ofsted. Let’s face it, when
Ofsted comes in, they don’t look for music (Pam)

I was aware from the literature that in order to train ECPs I need to
understand their requirements (Ouvry, 2004; De Vries, 2004; Mackenzie, 2007;
De Vries, 2011; Gluschankof, 2011). However I was surprised from the data
how little music training ECPs have received as part of their early childhood
training. If many perceive themselves as lacking knowledge (Ouvry, 2004)
then I need to look at the data for underlying and deeply ingrained beliefs
and assumptions that will give an insight into this lack of knowledge.

Theme One: How musical am I?

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I gathered quantitative and qualitative data to enable me to explore and
understand the beliefs and assumptions of ECPs regarding their musicality.
Of interest from the findings is that the majority of ECPs did not rate
themselves as fairly musical, with the mean response being 2.76. Indeed 13%
did not rate themselves as musical at all. There were others that rated
themselves higher than the mean however their judgement may have been
derived from differing views of what it means to be musical. This was
identified from the open question on the questionnaire asking the ECPs to
explain their choice in terms of musicality. The responses included: the ability
to read music, to play an instrument, to have a loud voice or even to have a
special lady come in and deliver music.
Am I musical? The link to the concept of talent
Regarding the issue of talent, there were a number of responses that indicate
differing belief and assumptions. For example:

I found out that my birth father was a jazz musician. I never met him. So
there’s something there. Got it in my genes I guess! (Louisa)

This implies that talent is inherited rather than the view that talent can be
developed with a different mindset (Dweck, 2006) or that it is developed
through a process (Coyle, 2009). As Lawrence (1946) comments: ‘.....who is
musical? Why everyone’s musical, psychologically speaking....we know that
all of us are invested with some musical talent....’ (p.167). However in our
Western culture, musicians are regarded as musicians because of their talent
rather than their hard work and training (Walker, 1987).
Am I musical? The link to self-confidence
When asked about their abilities to sing, lead and support a music session the
results were varied. From the questionnaire most respondents seemed happy
to lead a music session, however 21% of ECPs rated himself or herself as
unable as a singer.

Confidence clearly influenced the participants’ beliefs about their musical

ability. Data from the semi-structured interviews implied that ECPs
demonstrated different levels of confidence in their ability to lead, sing and
support music in their setting. Pam and Libby were very vocal regarding their
lack of confidence in singing and making music in front of their peers. Cheryl
believed her staff lacked confidence as they were reluctant to join in circle
singing sessions.

These findings concur with those of Hennessy (2000), De Vries (2004), and
Suthers (2008) who all identified a general lack of confidence amongst many
non-music specialists. Even though all those interviewed agreed music was
important in the early years, a lack of confidence may have been a barrier
to fully implementing a more child led music approach.

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Theme Two: What beliefs, assumptions and knowledge do ECPs
hold about the musicality of young children in their setting?
This question essentially explored my second major theme. Data in the
findings helped me understand what knowledge ECPs had regarding the
musical capabilities of the young children in their setting. The findings gave
an insight into beliefs and assumptions concerning children’s musical play,
the use of music as a management tool, music as a servant to other areas of
the curriculum and the assumption that children have limited musical
capabilities. It highlighted gaps in ECPs’ knowledge as well as it offered an
insight into what knowledge the ECPs already have.
Assumptions and beliefs regarding musical capabilities of young children
Of interest from the findings is that none of the 82 ECPs rated any child
‘unmusical’. The majority rated young children in their setting as fairly musical,
with the mean response being 3.37. Therefore respondents, in general, rated
the children in their settings as more musical than themselves as adults. There
were differing views of what it means to be a musical child. This was identified
from the open question on the questionnaire asking the ECPs to explain their
choice. The responses indicate a range of beliefs and assumptions. Some
ECPs consider involvement in a circle singing session as a sign of a musical
child, whilst others possibly consider children are too young for music.

There also appears to be a lack of congruence in the data. The majority of

ECPs believe young children in their setting are fairly musical, yet the music
activities they offer the children are either mainly adult-led or leaving the
children to explore instruments on their own. This was evident from ECPs’
beliefs and assumptions regarding young children’s musical play as well as
their knowledge regarding children’s musical capabilities.
Assumptions and beliefs regarding children’s musical play and children’s
limited musical capabilities
The discussion of musical play had emerged in the semi-structured interviews.
Negative beliefs and assumptions had surfaced regarding the use of
instruments. This would confirm Marsh and Young’s (2006) suggestion that
certain forms of musical play are not encouraged by adults who are being
influenced by the level of unacceptable noise or that they ‘view of play as a
trivial, lightweight, random, and somewhat useless activity’ (p.289).

Interestingly no one mentioned young children playing musically with their

voice. The spontaneous vocalisations of young children in their setting had
not been thought of as music to any ECPs who participated in this research.
This could have been a flaw in my data collection methods as I had not
asked for evidence where music was happening in their setting.
Music as a management tool and music as a servant to other areas of the
curriculum
Only 2% of ECPs indicated that they use music as a management tool (to
manage behaviour or engage children) in the open ended question in the
questionnaire. This is a very low proportion of people. However a respondent
in a semi-structured interview alluded to the use of music as a management

347
tool. My evidence appears to be questionable in supporting the view of
Goddard (2002) and Ouvry (2004). This may be due to ECPs not wishing to
admit to having poor behaviour in their setting, or that music is viewed as a
time-filler. Some ECPs do view music as a servant to other areas of the
curriculum. The most popular answer to why music is important in their settings
is to develop social and language skills. Only 9% of respondents believed
music was important to develop music skills.

Conclusion
This research study aimed at making a valuable contribution to the growing
body of knowledge regarding the beliefs, assumptions and knowledge of
Early Childhood Practitioners. It explored these aspects in relation to not only
their own musicality but also towards the musicality of young children under
their care. The results reveal a wide range of beliefs, assumptions and
knowledge related to the two aims. It is important for trainers of ECPs to
understand all these aspects if they are to provide appropriate and
meaningful early childhood music training. My exploration of beliefs,
assumptions and knowledge may help inform future interventions for
specialised music professional development at a time when there is a real
need for more high quality early childhood training.

References
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Man: Anthropological essays in honour of O. F. Raum. Cape Town: Struik
Coyle, D. (2009). The Talent Code: Greatness isn’t born, it’s grown. New York: Bantam.
Day, C. (1999). Developing teachers: The challenges of lifelong learning. London: Falmer
Press
De Vries, P. (2004). The extra musical effects of music lessons on preschoolers. Australian
Journal of Early Childhood. 29(2), pp. 6-9.
De Vries, P. (2011). The first year of teaching in primary school: Where is the place of music?
International Journal of Education & the Arts. 12 (2), pp. 1-25.
Department for Children, Schools and Families, (2012). ‘Development Matters in the Early Years
Foundation Stage’. Early Education, London.
Dogani, K. (2008). Using reflection as a tool for training generalist teachers to teach music.
Music Education Research. 10(1), pp. 125-139
Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York: Ballantine Books.
Gluschankof, C. (2011). Musical Behaviors of Young Children: Perceptions and Constructions
of Undergraduate and Graduate Early Childhood Practitioners. Perspectives. 6(4), pp.
1-17.
Goddard, L. (2002) Music in the early years curriculum. Unpublished BEd. University of North
London.Gracyk, T. (2004). Does everyone have a musical identity? Reflections on
Musical Identities. Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education. 3 (1), pp. 1-21.

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Hallam, S., & Prince, V. (2003). Conceptions of musical ability. Research Studies in Music
Education. 20(1), pp. 2-22.
Hargreaves, D. (2013) What do young children learn in and through music? Keynote address
in the 6th conference of the European Network of Music Educators and Researchers
of Young Children, The Hague, Netherlands, 18th July, 2013.
Haughton, C., & Ellis, C. (2013). Play in the Early Years Foundation Stage. In I. Palaiologou
(Ed.) The Early Years Foundation Stage: Theory and Practice (2nd ed.). London:SAGE.
Hennessy, S. (2000). Overcoming the red feeling: The development of confidence to teach
music in primary school amongst student teachers. British Journal of Music Education.
17, pp. 183-196.
Lawrence, S. J. (1946). Everyone's musical: psychologically speaking. Clayton F. Summy Co.:
New York.
Mackenzie, K. (2007) Calling the Tune: Who should lead early years music-making and
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Malloch, S., & Trevarthen, C. (2009). Musicality: Communicating the Vitality and Interests of
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Marsh, K., & Young, S. (2006). Musical play. In G. McPherson (Ed.), The child as musician: A
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Mark, M. (1996). Contemporary music education, (3rd ed.). Schirmer Books: New York.

Mills, J. (1989). Generalist primary teachers of music: A problem of confidence. British Journal
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Ouvry, M. (2004). Sounds like playing. London: Early Education.
Silverman, D. (2010). Doing Qualitative Research: A Practical Handbook. (3rd ed.), London:
Sage.
Stavrou, N. E. (2013). Fostering musical creativity in pre-service teacher education:
Challenges and possibilities. International Journal of Music Education. 31(1), pp. 35-52.
Suthers, L. (2008). Early childhood music education in Australia: A snapshot. Arts Education
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Tafuri, J. (2009). Infant musicality. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.
Walker, R. (1987). Musical perspectives on psychological research and music
education. Psychology of music. 15(2), pp.167-186.
Welch, G. (2005). We are musical. International Journal of Music Education. 23(2), pp. 117-
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Young, S. (2003). Music with the Under Fours. London: RoutledgeFalmer.

Young, S. (2009). Music 3-5. Abingdon: Routledge / Nursery World

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 Symposium 2
The Viennese Approach of Elemental Music Making

Veronika Kinsky
Department of Music Education Research, Music Didactics and Elemental Music Education
University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna
Vienna, Austria
[email protected]

Eva Königer
Department of Music Education Research, Music Didactics and Elemental Music Education
University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna
Vienna, Austria
[email protected]

Mario Smetana
Department of Music Education Research, Music Didactics and Elemental Music Education
University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna
Vienna, Austria
[email protected]

Michaela Ulm-Aram
Department of Music Education Research, Music Didactics and Elemental Music Education
University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna
Vienna, Austria
[email protected]

Abstract
In 2016 the former department of music education of the University of Music and Performing
Arts in Vienna was renamed: “Department of Music Education Research, Music Didactics
and Elemental Music Education”. This shows the growing influence of the work the Elemental
Music Education-team developed as a group of professionals dedicated to Elemental Music
Education.
Our approach – the “Viennese approach” – has a clear dedication to creating musical
spaces for all ages and all levels with the focus on making music together from the
beginning. Our chief concern is to stimulate and promote enjoyment of making music in a
group and to experience music as an artistic form of expression in relation to other artistic
forms.

This contribution gives an overview of the structure and offered courses. To get an insight of
our special way of working we want to focus on three different fields:

(1) Elemental Music Making with child-parent groups with focus on an equal partnership
offering musical input for children as well as for parents (Mario Smetana)
(2) Elemental Music Making with children picture books in different aged groups
(Veronika Kinsky, Michaela Ulm-Aram)
(3) different forms of cooperation with primary schools (Eva Königer)

Keywords
elemental music education, elemental music making, child-parent groups, adults and
toddlers, make music to make music, picture books, storytelling, primary school, art and
language

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Introduction
During its nearly 50-year history, Elemental Music Education (EME) at the
University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw) has evolved from initial
preparatory instrumental lessons to its own multifaceted department and is
still crucial for discussing teaching methods, further education and research
in the field of general musical education.
The programmes we offer are, on the one hand, inherently tied to
instrumental and vocal education studies - either as mandatory classes or an
optional focus – whilst on the other hand are intended to provide further
education for people working in social and educational fields.
The students’ own experience with Elemental Music Making (EMM) is
regarded as the cornerstone of our classes. They experience various
processes of making music in close relationship and interplay with language,
motion, and sound visualization. They receive impulses on a wide variety of
topics in order to go on their own to search for sound and to find more ways
to express themselves. Additionally, they are taught all sorts of vocal skills,
percussion instruments, piano and guitar and deepen their methodological
knowledge.
The core element of the study programme is made up of about 40 groups:
EMM for people of all ages, from toddlers to seniors, where our students can
observe, reflect, contribute to and finally conduct the lessons themselves as a
way of learning.

The motto of all our classes is: “We make music to make music!”13
According to our understanding, EME does not need to be justified as a
means of personality development, it does not serve another purpose than to
realise our desire to express ourselves through music. In EMM, every
participant is actively involved in the teaching process with his or her whole
body and soul and therefore experiences music in its many shapes and forms
first-hand. We also believe that the ability to express oneself through music is
innate to every individual. Technical skills are not required, but naturally
develop by finding more and more differentiated ways of expressing
ourselves through music. EMM is possible at any age and level of ability, and
is not at all limited to beginners’ lessons, but enriching and meaningful for
both amateurs and professional musicians. We make music exactly as our
abilities allow, we follow our independent wishes and are closely connected
to our own music (Schneidewind, 2011).
Classes for adult professionals in particular often allow the discovery of new
ways to access their own musical creativity – in an environment where they
need not fear failure nor judgement.

Our classes can be divided into three groups:

(1) Basic courses provide basic experiences with music and music making and are

13 German: „Wir musizieren, um zu musizieren!“

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 generally targeted towards children of the age of four to five years. Each of the
approximately 100 annual instrumental (voice) education students at the mdw is
obliged to take part in a basic course for the duration of one semester in order to
gain first teaching experiences.
(2) Advanced courses expand and deepen the experience of EMM and also focus
on specific topics like the voice, instrumental play, composing, improvisation or
musical theatre.
(3) Special courses are targeted towards specific groups: parent-child-courses,
courses for adults, courses for professional musicians or courses for mixed-age
groups (e.g., for siblings).

The following paragraphs will introduce several topics in order to provide an

insight into the working methods of EMP at the mdw.

Parent-Child-Groups: Taking adults seriously in their artistic-

aesthetic demands
Parent-child-groups are a special feature in EME. In many courses the focus is
solely directed at the children. The accompanying adults support the
children in their tasks rather than caring for their own artistic and aesthetic
demands. This contradicts the basic idea of EME that every participant
should contribute with his individual, own abilities. In the case of baby
courses, the adults’ artistic musical play is possible: children experience music
by listening and feeling. As soon as the children crawl or try their first steps, the
musical behaviour changes. The children explore the music instruments with
all their senses, and parents are intuitively very keen to promote their child
musically. Hence, the adults’ independent musical play is often neglected. If
one wants to satisfy the artistic-aesthetic demands of both age groups in this
constellation equally, one encounters a problem. The close relationship
between children and their parents makes it difficult for both participants to
remain independent. According to the motto: "If my child is doing well, I am
also well," adults often neglect their own needs.
But also the children often cannot tolerate their parents taking a different
musical role. Frequently it can be observed that children take away the
music instrument from their parents as soon as they begin to play.
The presented approach provides a two-step process: The first EME lessons
address the children’s needs, whereas the parents take an accompanying,
supporting and motivating role. Through joint experimentation with the
instruments and other materials, through free movement in the room and
contact with other couples, safety and security are created for the children
as well as for the parents. If sufficient security is established for the largely
independent musical play of the children, the focus can be directed on the
creative and aesthetic needs and abilities of the parents as equally
independent musicians. Social forms become more flexible: e.g., the group
plays for a moving couple, or parents play for listening or moving children,
and vice versa. Also musical forms become more variable: e.g., the children
play a rhythmic accompaniment, while the parents take more complex
harmonic and melodic functions.

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Elemental Music Making based on a picture book
In most of our lessons, a non-musical topic will be the starting point for musical
improvisation and creation. Day-to-day events and topics, such as the
environment, the seasons but also art, like paintings and poetry, are popular
choices. Picture books with their distinctive characteristics offer special
possibilities for an Elemental Music lesson:
A picture books artistically connects art with language. Visual impression can
add to things that language cannot quite express and words can supply
information that cannot be found in the pictures (Thiele, 2003). In this way
the book serves as inspiration to both the teachers and the pupils and
appeals to them on several emotional levels, intensifying the musical and
dramatic impressions for them.
Picture books that are based on a story furthermore provide a structure and
plot which can be useful for organizing a captivating session with its own arc
of suspense. This leads to the children paying closer attention and allows
them to be interested and actively take part in the lesson until the very end.
This intimate storytelling, in addition to the imagery, is also characterized by
an atmosphere of utter concentration and intense absorption of the subject.

“By reading, what was written about, gains a voice, the text becomes alive. The
reading shifts between oral and written language and builds a bridge between
the story and the children listening. If it succeeds, a dense atmosphere is created
which leaves space and time behind.“14 (Kretschmer, 2009, p. 43)

Thus words easily become rhythmic chants, rhymes turn into songs, or a
situation is turned into a vocal and instrumentally accompanied scene that is
acted out dramatically.
Words and images evoke musical improvising, new creations and ways of
playing. We think of musical pieces that can be connected to the story,
which allows us to listen to them with more attention to the details and
motivates us to create moving scenes and to be part of the music.

Practical example based on “Die Brücke”15 by Heinz Janisch.

Heinz Janisch (2017) in his blog about picture books says the following:

“I admit it: I am 56 years old, and I am reading picture books. I love picture
books. I also like to gift picture books, especially to children, because they’re
champions at observing, exploring and reading… you get a story and an
exhibition. An exhibition of twelve, fourteen magical, enigmatic, fantastic
pictures. Often, a picture book is the first art exhibition that children get to see…
a picture book sets unique stories into motion, picture by picture.”16

14 original: “Beim Vorlesen erhält das Geschriebene eine Stimme, der Text wird lebendig. Das
Vorlesen bewegt sich zwischen Mündlichkeit und Schriftlichkeit und schlägt eine Brücke
zwischen der Erzählung und den zuhörenden Kindern. Wenn es gelingt, entsteht eine dichte
Atmosphäre, die Raum und Zeit vergessen lässt.“ (Kretschmer, 2009, p. 43)
15 engl.: “The Bridge“
16
Original: „Ich gestehe: Ich bin 56 Jahre alt, und ich lese Bilderbücher. Ich liebe
Bilderbücher. Ich verschenke auch gern Bilderbücher. Besonders gern an Kinder, weil sie
Weltmeister im Schauen, Entdecken und Lesen von Bildern sind ... Man bekommt eine

353
In this context, “sound by sound” has to be added. At first, there is the sound
of the person telling the story. Words and sentences contain melody and
rhythm; an essential feature of stories are repetitive sentences which
encourage you to repeat them, hum them and sing along. The story-teller
and the listener form a special bond. Pictures and illustrations present
additional possibilities for free association. For Frenzel, Müller and Sottong
(2013, p.192) the success in telling a story depends on anticipating the
associations of the listeners. At first it maybe seems contraindicative to
combine what spontaneously occurs with a plan, but this is a vital
component of EMM.

Plot of the book

“Die Brücke” is about a river that knows many stories but never changes – it
always stays the same, a small bridge and two equally strong protagonists: a
bear and a giant. Both want to cross the bridge at the same time.
Unimpressed by mutual aggressive posturing, they confront each other,
unable to step back. Looking for a solution, they come up with cooperation.
They grab each other by their shoulders and slowly spin across – like a pair of
dancers.

Musical aspects
The river is a catalyst for transformation. It has been flowing before the story
begins and will flow after it ends. A whole tone scale is not associated to a
mode, it provides openness and mystery at the same time. This opens many
paths of music making. The flowing river is characterized by metallophone
chime bars. The sounds can be arranged and rearranged freely and can be
played with different affects. The children move like the waves of a river, they
add instruments of their choice and many personal river images flow into
one.

The first protagonist is a bear: big, strong and fierce. For a group where the
children are not yet familiar with each other, the bear needs an additional
authentic, yet lovable characteristic. We decide that the bear wants to cross
the bridge because there is something on the other side which he loves
dearly: honey.
In her second guitar lesson, Juen, a Chinese student, develops a
characteristic four-bar motif in e minor, which is accompanied metrically.
The bear motif gets repeated and is played to accompany movement. The
honey-collecting swarm of bees is characterized by kazoos, their exhilarating
flight forms the counterpart to the bear’s sluggishness. Graphical notation

Geschichte geschenkt – und eine Ausstellung dazu, eine Ausstellung in zwölf, vierzehn
magischen, rätselhaften, phantastischen Bildern. Oft ist ein Bilderbuch die erste Kunst-
Ausstellung, die Kinder zu sehen bekommen. ... Ein Bilderbuch setzt eigene Geschichten in
Gang, Bild für Bild.“

354
makes the daring flight repeatable, possibly by voice or by a finger moving
across the paper.

The second protagonist is a giant. Pictured with impressive head-gear,

reminiscent of the middle ages, he could be a king who is used to being right.
He wants to cross the bridge because he is the king. A rondeau by Jean
Joseph Mouret demands royal strides, singing along to the bass lines.
Active listening is an additional characteristic of practical EMM. In this case,
two characteristics are emphasized: the pompous instrumentation and slow
meter. Both enable the players to transform into striding kings and queens.

The conflict takes place on the same level. If two xylophones are set up by
touching themselves at the highest tone, a bridge can be created. At the
center of this bridge, there’s literally thin air. Two children, facing each other,
can play out this conflict with their instruments. First, the slow approach
towards each other is played on the instrument - the quarrel really permits a
multitude of musical expression, ranging from imitation, a play on dynamics
and the repetitive playing of certain notes.

Finally, resolving the conflict begins with physically getting closer. As

described in the book, both protagonists cling to each other, providing the
security not to fall off the bridge. Then, step by step, they turn and dance
across the obstacle, finally reaching the other side. Children will find a large
variety of solutions for this. If they enact this scene dancing, there’s mostly an
accelerando towards the end. If they play it out musically, they tend to savor
their steps across, and very often a joyous dance music emerges.

Picture books are without doubt are artefacts in themselves. If they serve as a
base for further associations, they enable the multiple facets of EMM to shine
even brighter.

Elemental Music Making in primary schools

Collaborations with primary schools are a field of practice that is become
increasingly important for EME. The Austrian primary school curriculum calls for
a weekly music lesson, normally held by the primary school teacher who has
a general education covering all primary school subjects.
In the collaboration I am introducing, the music pedagogue comes in as an
external expert. In this context, Peter Röbke (2012) compares the pedagogue
with a native speaker in language teaching, and uses the term “native artist”
for the external music pedagogue.
An important focus of the collaboration is the active involvement of music as
the core of the lesson, and to create a diverse encounter with music.

The following questions arise out of our understanding of EMM in regard to

school classes:
Is EMM possible in a larger group/ school class? If so, then how?

355
 How can we, on a voluntary basis, with interest and joy in making
music, integrate making and creating music together into the school
routine?
Is it possible for a group of 25 children, with different needs and abilities
to make music together and experience individual expression and
creativity?
EMM is the core of every music lesson in the collaboration. The central
commitment in music making is seen as “music-making for the sake of
making music”. The gained knowledge and experience in the course of time
is not the point of focus. Therefore no specified learning objectives are
formulated but the path that leads to making music.
In this context Ruth Schneidewind speaks of the “process of music making”
(2011, p. 35).17 Participation in this process does not require any skills or
experiences. Every school child can take part in making music together from
the beginning, bringing in his or her own abilities and experience.
The EME teacher is responsible for creating a stimulating work environment,
for providing impetus and guidance during the process.
Due to the large class groups at schools, new methods are needed to
implement our understanding of Elemental Music. Proactive participation of
each single child in a large group is hardly possible. The music making
process is therefore mostly initiated in the large group, but then continued in
smaller groups.

From the very beginning the EME teacher provides many impulses, making it
possible for the participants to find their individual expression. So every child is
given the possibility to independently engage with his or her voice or an
instrument.
As this procedure becomes familiar, it is possible to work in duos: to become
musically interactive, to make arrangements and find solutions together
requiring a social as well as an advanced musical experience.
After a while, working together can become more complex. The children
work together in small groups creating musical arrangements and
compositions. Material for these compositions comes from previously created
elements, from a theme, from pictures, poetry, stories as well as songs and
music pieces.
At first, the teachers and students guide the small groups, but the adults
withdraw more and more as the children become more independent and
inventive in creating their own music.
The students are part of this collaboration and witness some realities of their
future profession. Since their teaching practice at the mdw is usually held with
smaller groups, the larger groups prove to be demanding at first. Through
intensive reflection and discussion of each lesson, the students increasingly
grow with their tasks. Eventually they work on their own and hold lessons
towards the end of the semester.

17 German: “Musizierprozess”

356
Collaboration between the mdw and the University College of Teacher
Education Baden (PH Baden) was formed to offer primary school teachers a
two-year extra-occupational training, specialising in music. This course will
now become part of the educational programme offered by the mdw.
The exceptional quality of this course is the emphasis on the participants’
artistic self-experience. EME is a major artistic subject and is therefore an
important part of the curriculum.

A broad range of active and participatory music making at primary schools

level has been created: for the children as an active experience and for the
teachers as a gained competence in initiating and guiding the music making
process with children.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you Monika for your expertise and extra time…

References
Frenzel, K., Müller M., & Sottong, H. (2013). Storytelling – Das Praxisbuch. München: Carl
Hanser.
Janisch, H., & Bansch, H. (2010). Die Brücke. Wien: Jungbrunnen.
Janisch, H. (2016).
http://www.wirlesen.org/blog/heinz-janisch-bloggt-bilderbuecher-fuer-alle,
(10.03.2017, 23:18).
Kretschmer, C. (2009). Bilderbücher in der Grundschule. Braunschweig: Westermann.
Röbke, P. (2012). Bericht: Musikalische Bildung für Alle.
http://www.musiceducation.at/berichte/detail/artikel/musikalische-bildung-fuer-alle/
(05.05.2016, 14:02).
Schneidewind, R. (2011). Die Wirklichkeit des Elementaren Musizierens. Wiesbaden: Reichert.
Thiele, J. (2003). Das Bilderbuch: Ästhetik – Theorie – Analyse – Didaktik – Rezeption.
Aschenbeck & Isensee: Universitätsverlag.

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 Part V

Poster Sessions

358
Foundations that support school readiness: Using music to
enhance language and executive function development in
preschool children growing up in challenging circumstances

Alice R Bowmer
Department of Culture, Communication & Media, UCL Institute of Education, London, UK
[email protected]

Kathryn Mason
The Deafness Cognition and Language Research Centre, UCL, London, UK

Graham F Welch
Department of Culture, Communication & Media, UCL Institute of Education, London, UK

Abstract
Cognitive and emotional control systems emerge around the age of three and, although
these systems continue to develop into adulthood, the foundations laid in early childhood
exert strong influence in almost every domain of psychological functioning and behaviour
later in life (Crone & Dahl, 2012; Moffitt et al., 2011). Brain research has also revealed early
sensitive periods in which the developing brain is maximally susceptible to environmental
influences and it has become increasingly clear that some aspects of early development are
predictive of longer-term outcomes (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000; Sirois et al., 2008)(Howard &
Melhuish, 2016, p. 2).
For example, executive functions EFs (specifically the subcomponents of self-control and
focused attention) are critical for school readiness (Carlson, 2005; Hughes & Ensor, 2008;
Kochanska et al.,1997; Morrison et al., 2010) and children from lower SES and at-risk
backgrounds have poorer EFs (Hackman et al., 2015; Ursache & Noble, 2016). Indeed, EFs are
more strongly associated with school readiness than are IQ or entry-level reading or math
(Blair, 2002; Blair & Razza, 2007; Normandeau & Guay, 1998; Diamond, 2014). EFs refer to a set
of cognitive skills that allow us to maintain and update information (working memory), to
adjust our behavior according to changes in the environment (cognitive flexibility), and to
suppress irrelevant responses (inhibition) (Jurado & Rosselli, 2007). EFs are of central
importance to much human behaviour. It is now clear that they can be improved at any
age through training and practice, and that those with the poorest EFs consistently gain the
most from programmes that set out to improve them (Diamond & Ling, 2016).

This research is investigating the relationship between music, language and executive
function development in a cross-section of preschool children growing up in challenging
circumstances. Possible relationships are being addressed via a training study, which aims to
answer the question of whether language-poor music training or language-poor art training
have any measurably significant impact upon executive function and language
development.

The second objective related to the above was to evaluate critically the effects of the two
different types of training. To achieve this, an appropriately selected battery of preschool
tests are tracking changes in participants’ EF and pre-literacy skills at multiple time points
throughout the training study.

The final objective will determine whether longitudinal music training has a significantly
increased impact on EF and language development, in comparison to short training.
Mid-point results will be determined by June 2017.
Keywords: Music, executive function, language, education, cognition

359
Investigating music and language development in preschool
children

Alice R Bowmer
Department of Culture, Communication & Media,
UCL Institute of Education, London, UK
[email protected]

Graham F Welch
Department of Culture, Communication & Media,
UCL Institute of Education, London, UK

Abstract
Evidence for a link between music and language has been reported at both sub-cortical
(auditory processing) and cortical (implicit processing) brain levels (Moreno et al., 2011), and
musicians have shown enhanced language skills compared to non-musicians across several
domains, namely, vocabulary knowledge (Forgeard et al., 2008), pitch processing in speech
(Schön et al., 2004), selective attention for speech in noise (Parbery-Clark et al., 2009; 2010),
and prosody perception (Thompson et al., 2003). Perceptual abilities in the musical domain
have been shown to correlate with early reading skills and phonological processing in pre-
readers and primary–age children (Anvari et al., 2002; Peynircioglu et al., 2002). In addition,
musical training has been demonstrated to relate significantly to academic performance,
specifically reading ability (e.g. Willatts, 1994) and mathematical achievement (Hoch &
Tillmann, 2012). Furthermore, musical training has been linked to altered brain structure and
function (Herholz & Zatorre, 2012; Moreno & Bidelman, 2014) (Zuk et al., 2014, p. 2).

In addition, according to the ‘rise time hypothesis’ (Huss et al., 2011), developmental
relationships between musical and linguistic processing depend in part on shared underlying
neural processing of strong and weak beats and the patterns that they form. While beat and
meter in music are periodic, metrical structure in language depends on the alternation of
strong and weak syllables in order to avoid stress clashes, and so language has nonperiodic
metrical or prosodic structure related to the patterning of strong and weak syllable “beats”.
The patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables in language may thus be processed by the
same neural mechanisms used for processing patterns of strong and weak beats in music, at
least in childhood (Verney, 2013).

Using the Sounds of Intent in the Early Years framework (Voyajolu & Ockelford, 2016) and
established methods of pre-literacy testing, this research is evaluating reactive, interactive
and proactive musical behaviours against receptive and productive language ability, in a
cross section of children taking part in short-term music intervention.

Keywords
Music, language, preschool education

360
The networked flow to read children’ interactions in musical
experience with the MIROR

Laura Ferrari
Dept. Education Studies “G.M. Bertin”, University of Bologna
Bologna, Italy
[email protected]

Anna Rita Addessi

Dept. Education Studies “G.M. Bertin”, University of Bologna
Bologna, Italy

Abstract
In the last decade some studies underline as the IRMSs (Interactive Reflexive Music System), as
the Continuator first and the components of the MIROR platform then, can be defined as ‘flow
machine’ (Addessi & Pachet, 2005; Pachet, 2010) and tools to ‘enhance a state of flow in
children’ (Addessi, Ferrari & Carugati, 2015) during musical exploration and improvisation. From
the original concept of flow as optimal experience (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990), Gaggioli et al.
(2011) propose a wider framework, deriving from Sawyer (2007), to understand group creative
dynamics, linking the flow with the concept of social presence: The intuitive perception of
successfully transforming intentions into actions (Riva, 2009). A further development is
described by Triberti et al. (2016) on the application of networked flow with new technologies.
The results of the MIROR Project have already shown the closed relation between the MIROR
components and the state of flow in children, considered as an individual and personal
experience (Addessi, Ferrari & Carugati, 2015). The aim of this study is to apply the concept of
networked flow as a framework to analyse the interactions between the couples of children
during the musical exploration and improvisation, and to verify whether and how the MIROR
Impro could foster and maximize the musical creative potential of the couple.
Six 8-year-old children were involved divided in three couples. They played together with and
without MIROR Impro for three sessions. The play-activities were carried out in a primary school
and the participation of the children was free. There was no pre-fixed duration of the session
and the children were free to play as long as they wanted. The conditions described by
Gaggioli et al. (2011) are used to guide the analysis of children’ musical interactions
with/without the MIROR Impro: group’s goal, close listening, complete concentration, being in
control, blending egos, equal participation, familiarity and communication. A particular
attention is given to the content of communication between the two children in the couple
and their musical intentions.
Several conditions, among those described by Gaggioli et al. (2011), are present in the musical
interactions among children. For two couples, the presence of the MIROR Impro (activated)
implies: a) a strong concentration in children, b) the communication becomes more frequent
as c) the close listening of the partner and d) making the couple’s goal clear. Implications for
the use of the new technologies and the role of the teacher will be described.

Keywords
Group creativity, music technologies, MIROR, flow

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On-line training courses for early years educators, specialists and
musicians

Emma Hutchinson
The Music House for Children
306 Uxbridge Road, London W12 7LJ UK
www.musichouseforchildren.co.uk
[email protected]
www.musichouseforchildren.co.uk
Abstract
The Music House for Children (TMHFC) has noted the growth in popularity of online training
courses since 2007. The reasons for this phenomenon include
Improved digital technology
More affordable than on-site training 

Accessible for hard to reach communities 

More flexibility

TMHFC has provided practical training since 1998. Five training courses were adapted as
online courses and endorsed by CACHE (www.cache.org.uk) in 2015. CACHE is recognised
world-wide. Each course has a music focus and can work in conjunction with early
childhood studies at levels 1 – 4 (UK) or degree equivalent. The courses comprise an
introduction to music in early childhood and include:

First steps into music – a detailed insight into the significance, background and influence that
music has on young children.

Music with additional needs – an introduction to how music can be delivered to young
children with varying needs as part of learning, as well as intervention and communicative
play.

Applying music with movement – Exploring the multi-sensory learning through movement and
musical play, and how this impacts on learning and life skills.

Delivering music in the early years – Using a music template to immerse into all areas of the
curriculum with accessible music practice in and out of a setting.

A guide to resources – top tips on accessible resources including instruments for young
children to learn, explore and communicate in musical ways.

We present ‘An introduction to music in early childhood: First Steps’. This course gives students
accessible skills to provide music activities with young children from babies up to 6 years old.
Several modules explore specific topics. At the end of each module students answer
questions which have to be correct before the next module is accessed. Video examples,
questions and answer sheets and practical activities are included throughout, with
suggested literature for reading. The course is approximately 12 hours in total with a 6 month
completion time.
Once completed the student is given a CACHE endorsed certificate. Ongoing support is
provided via web-links. All five courses are affordable, easy to navigate around and will
enhance knowledge and understanding of what music means to young children, and how
to support life skills, communication and learning through music making.

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 Published Online by
© MERYC-England
on behalf of EuNet MERYC
(European Network of Music Educators and Researchers of Young Children)
http://meryc.eu/

First published June 2017

Layout and design by Jessica Pitt & Alison Street
Cover design Lorna Berry
http://www.fledglingmusic.com/about/

ISBN 978-1-5272-0922-0

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