Music making and the potential impact for looked after children

This three-phase, mixed-methods exploratory study explored parents" and Children"s Centre practitioners" attitudes towards and perceptions of the role of parent-child music activities in Children"s Centres in England. A socio-cultural theoretical framework was adopted which views children"s learning as socially and culturally situated: cognitive development is interlinked with social activity. A qualitative interview study (phase one) generated initial themes that were investigated further in a questionnaire study (phase two) so as to establish a rationale for music groups in Children"s Centres from the perspectives of parents and practitioners. The themes to emerge were: social, emotional, learning, teaching, parenting, musical, links to home, and organisational. Differences were found between parents and professionals through analysis of the questionnaire study data. Although both groups were very positive overall in their attitudes to music, practitioners were more positive

Abstract By 2010 there will be 3,500 Children’s Centres in England, one for every community. The ‘one-stop shop’ approach to services offered through these centres to families with children under 5 has led to many professionals working and learning together in multi- professional teams. The co-working of health, social work and community practitioners brings a wealth of knowledge and skills together, along with diverse worldviews. This can challenge notions of ‘lay’ and ‘expert’ knowledge [Brechin and Siddell 2000 in Rixon 2008:222]. This paper will explore Wenger’s concept of ‘communities of practice’ [1998] where mutual engagement, joint enterprise and a shared repertoire are key dimensions to multi- agency group working. The transfer of musical skills such as listening, turn-taking, non-verbal responses, expressions of emotion and mood, eye contact and co-operation may all be useful means not only for encouraging interactions amongst families but also in creating new ideas for team cohesion and expression. Professionals working in early childhood are taking part in multi-professional training courses and music in early childhood is often included in such professional development. Musicians are finding innovative and accessible means to transfer useful skills to a range of professionals, however there may be questions about accreditation of learning and the ‘quality control’ of such training. How is excellence measured and against whose criteria? Conflicting worldviews at the heart of Children’s Centres can influence the focus of training offered, e.g., health models seem to prefer the scientific approach and social work models the social- constructionist paradigm. Keywords: music, multi-professional1, learning.

2013

Research Studies in Music Education

There is a growing body of evidence that early engagement in active music-making impacts beneficially on children’s wider development. Recent research indicates that individual and shared music-making in family settings contributes to positive parenting practices and identity development in young children. Children who participate in shared music-making at age 3 are better prepared for school experiences at age 5. These findings suggest music should be a compulsory requirement in any early childhood programme. This article reports the findings of a case study investigation of the provision of music in an Australian Early Childhood Education Centre. Findings suggest that music provision is best supported when there is a high value for music amongst staff, there is a range of value-added as well as integrated uses of music, and there is sustained music professional development for all staff.

Australian Journal of Music Education, 2010

The research described in this paper was carried out in an Australian early learning centre providing pre-school programs for children aged three years to six. The centre has specialist programs embedded and one of these is a music program led by a musician. A recent project, consisting of a staff singing group, was aimed at integrating the specialist music program with music initiatives occurring in the separate classrooms within the centre. The study culminated in a staff performance for the children. Participant observation was the main method of data collection for this qualitative study and observations were recorded as field notes, photographs, interviews and recordings of music practice sessions. The singing group, formed by the staff, was viewed as a collaborative activity and in this paper, the performance, which became a focus of the singing group project, has been used to interpret the shared musical experiences of the staff and the children.

Research Studies in Music Education, 2017

Children’s Centres are widespread in England and comprise multi-professional staff teams seeking to work with families with children aged 0–5 years. Although parent–child group music sessions appear frequently in Children’s Centre activity programmes, the rationale for their inclusion remains unclear. This article presents the results from phase two of an exploratory mixed-methods study which investigated the role of and rationale for parent–child (0–3 years) group music making activities in Children’s Centres. The perceptions of parents and practitioners were considered, and differences were found between them. The themes generated by the initial qualitative interview study (phase one) were investigated further in this quantitative questionnaire study (phase two), which involved 49 practitioners and 91 parents. Seven thematic categories of the perceived benefits of music—Social, Emotional, Learning, Teaching, Links to Home, Parenting, and Organisational—which had been identified in...

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Lay summary report. Ref: Kenny, A. (2017) Music at the Margins: Research Briefing. Mary Immaculate College: Limerick.

2014

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD

This MA paper describes a community music workshop project with three to five year old children and their carers, and investigates potential benefits that can be derived from participatory music activities. The research was carried out over six weeks, one hour a week, in Killarney, Co. Kerry, in early 2014. Seven children and their carers took part. Findings were based on facilitator observation and participant feedback – both verbal and written; existing literature and related research are also investigated. Music used in the project encouraged listening, repetition of words, actions and dancing, and choosing words for parts of songs. Turn taking was an important part of each session. Children were also given time to make their own music without guidance, which involved choosing their own instrument, and exploring the use of instruments that they had not seen before. The carers reported various changes in their children: the learning of new words, clarity of speech, better social participation and turn taking, less attention-seeking behaviour, and increased confidence being the main observations. The possible role of making one’s own choices, and how this may have a role in child development, is also briefly explored in the paper. Although limited, the research implies that focussed group music activities may be worthwhile for small children at this stage when they are nearly ready to attend primary school.