Early Childhood Music Education

The eighteen learning centres developed for this project were spread evenly between three age ranges: six early childhood (P/2), six middle primary (3/4) and six upper primary (5/6). Many of the learning centres that were constructed utilised composition as their starting point, however almost all of the centres concluded with some form of performance. The focus on the creative process was considered important as it was intended that students would benefi t from engagement with creative rather than re-creative activities, and that creative activities would enable students to complete learning centre tasks regardless of the level of their traditional note reading skills. In this sense students were to ‘be’ composers rather than to learn ‘about’ composition or composers, and were to therefore engage authentically in the process of musical creation. The performance component of many of the learning centres, which was often merely the process of performing a fi nished piece for a partner or friend, was also considered important to the integrity of the centres and was in many cases incorporated into centres as an authentic performance of understanding (Blythe & Associates, 1998).

The school director indicated a belief that many parents who were themselves musically inclined (music teachers, symphony members, etc.) would influence their children’s musical development, but parents who were not musically trained also preferred to bring their children to this particular pre-school. Out of the nine parents involved in this study, only four were themselves musicians. All of the children of the nine parents, however, were active musicians on various instruments. Eight of the nine parents had not sung or played in a musical group (such as church, choir, community band, etc.), and only one parent had sung in choir. It is important for parents to understand that the early learning period is the most crucial time for children’s developing brains. In addition, music is known as a powerful tool to help children learn many other subjects such as language and mathematics (Feierabend, 1990; Palmer & Sims, 1993). The first six years of a child’s life are also the most important in his or her physical, emotional, and social development (Turner, 1999). Many studies have found that musical experiences are an essential part of these very important developments in the early years (Katz, 1986). Moreover, musical experiences are creative in nature and will develop a child’s cognitive abilities (Walker, 1980; Orsmond & Miller, 1999). All these researchers indicated that the early years of life are a key time for musical growth (Turner, 1999).

The essay brings together studies around the poetic dimension of language in order to address the relationship between teaching young children and the listening experience as an aesthetic manner of coexisting in the world. This approximation between philosophy, arts and early childhood education begins with the meeting between music and education, and assumes that what we listen to is the sound that meaning makes, and not the meaning of a sound as an object of interpretation. Our text is inspired by Jean-Luc Nancy, who affirms that the sonorous invokes the sensible, and does so in a constant movement that never finishes producing a meaning. As such, it resists the privilege of the optical model in western theory. Nancy's Being in Listening associates resonance with the sound that the senses make deep in the body. Music as an interplay between sound and noise, as a poetic production, and a resonant organization of sensibility, encourages infants and young children to play with the sonorities of the world, and to live the poetics of noise as a form of empowerment. Children's appetite for the sonorous signifies a hunger for the deeply felt experience--the aesthesia-- of listening to the world in the plurality of coexistence. The gesture of listening with babies and young children is an educational one, which points to the world-constitutive experience of the resonances and reverberations of meaning that inhabit the sonorous. In listening with children, we are imbricated in sound, and experience ourselves as sharing in a sensible, polyphonic ground of voices, signs, gestures, forms and sensibilities, which act to situate us as being- with each other in the world.

According to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, teachers of early childhood education, elementary education and core academic subjects (English, reading, language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, the arts [art and music], history, and geography) must be highly qualified by June 30, 2006.

The Education Department offers undergraduate degree/certification programs in childhood which include: early childhood education (birth through grade 2); childhood education (grades 1 through 6); a dual certification program in early childhood/childhood education (birth through grade 6); a dual certification program in students with disabilities/early childhood (birth through grade 2); and a dual certification program in students with disabilities /childhood education (grades 1 through 6). Each of these five programs requires candidates to select a course academic concentration in one of eleven disciplines: English, mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, social studies, music, social justice, French, German or Spanish. Candidates enrolled in childhood education programs may elect to take two additional courses in middle childhood education and apply for an extension to teach in grades 7 through 9.

For some early childhood educators, play is understood as an activity that arouses the interest of children. For example this is how an early childhood educator defined play; it is a process whereby children participate in a game in a form of music, rhyme etc, to arouse and sustain their interest. Another educator also defined play as; an activity that is interesting, intriguing and motivating to children. For those who saw play as an activity of arousing interest also saw it as an instrument of arousing enthusiasm. This is how an educator puts it; play encompasses a continuum of activities which in any form trigger children’s enthusiasm in carrying out designated instructions during lessons. Again an educator adds; play is what children want to do and what they choose to do when given the freedom, independence, time and space. Overall, what interests the child with regards to what activities to engage in for some early childhood educators constitutes play.

1A. demonstrates current knowledge of integrated learning experiences for children from birth through grade three and understands the central concepts and tools of inquiry in each of the following content areas: language and literacy (English language arts); mathematics; science; health, safety, nutrition, and movement (physical development and health); art, music, and drama (fine arts); and social science.

According to Hannaford (1995), learners tend to remember more when they are actively involved in the learning process than when they are passively involved. According to this model, also known as: ments.htm), we tend to remember 10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear, 50% of what we hear and see, 70% of what is discussed, 80% of what is experienced and 95% of what we say and do . Therefore, we tend to learn more when we r do real things in the learning process. It is on this basis that this paper advocates for the use of music, movement and drama in early childhood education – a learner centred method that encourages total participation through seeing, hearing and doing. In this regard, Hannaford observes that music gets the whole child involved in the process of learning. In Kenya, Early childhood education degree programs are offered by various universities. In particular, Moi of Education in Early Childhood and Primary Education. In the four year program course, there are only four courses which focus on the use of music, movement and drama in early childhood education. The first course, which is done in second udy, introduces students to the very basic fundamentals of music, drama/play, movement/dance with reference to their efficacy in early childhood pedagogy. Thereafter, two courses follow in third year: one discusses methodology of using music, movement and drama in early childhood education and the other focuses on creation, choice and use of music, movement and drama materials in early childhood education. The last course zeros in on elementary techniques of nd drama with particular reference to early childhood education. It is last course in the series and is offered in fourth year. It builds on the earlier third year course by introducing relatively advanced techniques in music composition and script , and interpretation in drama/play and dance/movement in early childhood education. This paper discusses challenges and shortcomings in the programme offered at Moi University and

The aim of the AECE Qualitative Study was to build on existing research, using a qualitative framework, to gain insights beyond those that could be identified with currently available information. In particular, this project built upon the research undertaken by AIFS in the earlier Access to Early Childhood Education project. Findings from that project were published in Baxter and Hand (2013). The AECE project incorporated analyses of international literature and stakeholder perspectives around what constitutes “access”, and also drew upon these sources as well as a range of datasets to explore factors associated with different rates of participation in ECE by children in the year before full-time schooling. The datasets analysed included the National Survey of Parent’s Child Care Choices, the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) and the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI).

14 This concept is borne out in the open ended (Question 16B) What do you most like about the early childhood education your child current attends, or most recently attended? Responses to this question were detailed. Of the 72 respondents to this question 52 specifically mentioned the staff as a factor. These 52 answers reflected that a welcoming, inclusive response is important and that parents appreciate a ‘nothing is too difficult’ approach. Below are some responses to this question:

evaluation of Sure Start programmes produced early fi ndings (NESS, 2005) that indi- cated that Sure Start programmes were not having the impact hoped for. Also, evidence from the EPPE project indicated that a type of early years provision, integrated children’s centres, was particularly benefi cial to children’s development. Th erefore the government decided that this combination of evidence justifi ed changing Sure Start programmes into children’s centres, which off er comprehensive early education and family support services in the most deprived communities. Following the change to children’s centres, the results for the evaluation of Sure Start improved with better outcomes for parenting and child social development at 3 years of age (Melhuish et al., 2008; NESS, 2008). However when the same children were followed up at age 5 the benefi cial eff ects for child social develop- ment had disappeared (NESS, 2010). Th is was probably because almost all children in the country, whether in Sure Start areas or not, were receiving free part-time early childhood education from age 3 onwards. Th is early childhood education probably led to an equalis- ing of development for children whether in Sure start areas or not. Th e latest results from the Sure Start programme indicate positive eff ects upon parents but no signifi cant eff ects upon child outcomes overall up to age 7 years (NESS, 2012). However a study of 1,000 children in Sure Start children’s centres did show that where the quality of preschool cen- tre provision from age 3 to 5 years was of higher quality then there was better language development at the start of school whether this was measured by researchers using stan- dardised assessments or by teachers using a national assessment called the Foundation Stage Profi le, which assesses children overall on development related to school readiness (Melhuish et al., 2010). Th is strongly indicates that to produce better language develop- ment the quality of early childhood education needs to be improved. Also earlier research (Melhuish et al., 1990) showed how higher quality childcare 0-3 years also was associated with improved language development.

Parents’ expectations have also contributed to the success of technology education. Having long been influenced by Confucianism, most parents highly value children’s academic achievement (Hsieh, 2004; Lin & Tsai, 1996; Zhang & Carrasquillo, 1995). Children in their early ages are taught to read, write and do simple arithmetic before they start school (Schneider & Lee, 1990; Zhang & Carrasquillo, 1995). Also, children attend skill developing classes after school to meet their parents’ expectations in dancing, drawing, mental arithmetic, piano, English, or even computer classes. Not only has English been requested as a common course in kindergartens but also computer classes have been included to recruit new students in many private kindergartens. Many young children also have ample opportunities to access computers at home (Fang, 2003). Young children already have background knowledge related to multi-media and computer technologies before they attend preschools or kindergartens.

The mission of the Professional Education Unit is to prepare teachers and other professionals educators, including school counselors, principals, reading specialists, supervisors, superintendents, school psychologists, and other related personnel. The mission of the unit also includes a commitment to continuing education opportunities for teachers and school personnel in a wide range disciplines.

This is the last practicum! This final practicum focuses on professionalism. The class is broken into two (2) sections. One portion is the instructional time, which is 1 hour a week. During this time the students meet with an instructor and discuss various top- ics related to young children. The other portion of the class, which is 6 hours a week, provides the student with an opportunity to work in an early childhood setting. Before beginning the clinical experience each student will create a short biography about himself/herself to share with the cooperating teacher and other staff at the clinical site. Throughout the clinical experience the student will keep a journal that will be used throughout the remaining clinical experiences as well. The purpose of the journal is for the student to reflect upon the student teaching experience and assess self growth. Students should record their personal successes and accomplishments as well as dif- ficulties and disappointments. There must be one entry per clinical session recorded. Suggested entry topics may include: classroom dilemmas, relationships between student and or staff, personal views, new ideas to improve instruction, planned activities. Beginning on the second week of the clinical experience the student will begin to create and implement activities in the classroom. Two activities must be carried out each week. The activities may be implemented with the group or on an individual basis – depending upon the age level and the activity itself. An activity form has been provided in this handbook. The student must make copies of the activity form. The coop- erating teacher will be evaluating each activity and will fill out an activity evaluation form also provided in this handbook. Copies must be made of this form as well.

dents will synthesize their graduate studies for a master’s degree in elementary education. Prerequisites: 30 hours of Program of Study courses which must include SEPy 705, SERM 700, SEFN 744 and SEDL 715 or SEDL 720. SEDL 783. Advanced Study of the Teaching of Math- ematics in the Middle or Junior High School (3) His- torical developments and recent innovations in curricula, resources, and techniques in the teaching of mathematics in the middle or junior high school. Investigative research into the improvement of instruction is required.

This work is copyright. Provided acknowledgment is made to the sources, schools and early childhood services are permitted to copy material freely for communication with teachers, staff, students, parents, carers or community members. Apart from such use, no part may be reproduced by any process other than that permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 without prior written permission from the Commonwealth. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Commonwealth Copyright Administration, Attorney General’s Department, National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600 or posted at http://www.ag.gov.au/cca.

The reflections around teacher training and the means by which it is treated in the educational contexts have major importance, due to the urgency of the topic as well as the multiplicity of ways to be dealt along with the teachers. From researches of images production, developed with children and teachers in the ambit of early childhood education, this text will reflect on the formative processes of teachers in the childhood education. In this context, there are a few relevant questions: what can the image do in the formative processes? In which ways may the teacher training help us to think about the childhood and the educational practices with little children? By which means may the childhood help us to think the work of teacher training. In this way, using the produced images, this text aims to operate in the circulation movement of the thought itself, in which the thought can, in its exteriority, experiment with words (language), childhood, image and teacher training, enabling ruptures to think about the child, the educators, the school, the knowledge, the doing, the powers, the action protocols, what to do with the children and how to deal with them, composing possibilities that overflow what is

Reflections on the imaginative manifestations of children and the ways in which they are / can be worked out in educational contexts are of great importance because they can derive various contributions to pedagogical work and consequently to child development. In this field, the following questions are relevant: Is the daily routine organized by the educator for children rich and challenging? Are there invitations to the manifestations of the children regarding the routines, the times and the spaces instituted? Is the educator capable of a sensitive listening and an attentive look at these manifestations? What do children produce in the actions and interactions that occur there is linked, in a powerful way, to the sphere of the imagination? In general, the answers to these questions are negative. For this reason, the group that developed the research and the pedagogical work carried out by their teacher was considered an instigating field and object of investigation because they represent atypical forms of valuing the children's imaginative capacity. The purpose of this work is to identify mediations in the teacher-child relationship that support in different ways, the development of the imagination (within a historical- cultural perspective) and highlight aspects of the structure of daily education, prioritizing possibilities of choice by children as an important condition in this field.

"I felt suffocated in that damned, judgmental system of my settlement. I swore I would return only after that feeling has disappeared and I have a stronger position against those opinions that have labeled me and others like me. For example in the first grade, Ronen, Oded and Shabi were taken out of class for lessons given in a small groups for slow learners. They were oriental kids who came from a nearby village. The system labeled them as slow learners before the school year has even started. I don't believe all three had the same learning disabilities what they had in common was the color of their skin and oriental origin. At that time, exams for learning disabilities were not used in Israel. The three pupils were marked by the system that had adopted a colonialist cultural attitude. Later I met one of these three pupils Oded, again in high school at a high achievement class where he succeeded in spite of the system that had labeled him as a slow learner in an early age.

Five teachers agreed to be interviewed: Jonas, Linus, Karl, Per and Geir. Four were working in preschools and a fifth (Geir) had worked as a preschool teacher for ten years and had then become a lecturer in teacher education. The interviews were all conducted in the men’s workplaces, audio recorded and then transcribed. They followed the phenomenological research tradition, aiming to access the men’s experiences of and perceptions about, their professional preschool lives. The interviews were dialogic and reciprocal (Blaise, 2005; Holstein & Gubrium, 1995; Lather, 1991) driven by the researcher’s intention to gain insight into these men’s gender awareness (or gender blindness) in tandem with the men’s own agendas and interests within the broad topic of gender concerns in the preschool. Specific questions were asked about the men’s implicit theories of gender in relation to being male teachers of this age group. What had motivated the adoption of this professional role? How far were they trying to model gender flexibility? Or was gender perhaps quite low down their list of priorities within their teaching aims? Following transcription, the five stages of data analysis were then undertaken according to the procedure devised by Smith, Flowers, and Larkin (2009), known as interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). IPA is