Music and Communication in Early Childhood: Learning, Enculturation, and the Classroom Ecology

• In Event: 31.091 - Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: 31.091-16 - Qualitative Studies of Music Teaching and Learning

Abstract

This study investigated the role of music in preschool children’s lives. Four main research questions guided the study: (1) What are the functions and uses of music for preschool children? (2) How do preschool children perceive themselves as singers and instrumentalists? (3) What formal and informal methods do preschool children employ for learning music? (4) What types of music studies do preschool children engage in their school, religious, and ethnic cultures? The study included taped interviews of children (N=20) from a variety of socioeconomic and ethnic-cultural groups, parent/guardian surveys, and observations. Results of this study indicate that children use music in various functions within their own multifarious and pluralistic musical culture based on experiences, with methods to enhance classroom ecology.

Authors

• John Michael Seybert, Seton Hill University

• Kathleen I. Harris, Seton Hill University