Title: The importance of music in the early childhood years
1The importance of music in the early childhood
years
2Overview
- The Australian Curriculum Phase 2
- Connections with the rest of the curriculum
- The need for advocacy
- The contribution of music education
- Practical suggestions
3The Australian Curriculum
- Phase 1 English, Mathematics, Science History
(phased implementation by 2013) - Phase 2 The Arts, Geography, Languages
4The Australian Curriculum cont.
- Development process timeline
- Curriculum Shaping established Reference Group
literature review initial position paper
completed April 2010 - Consultation National Forum draft Shape Paper
national consultation completed January 2011 - Expressions of interest appointment of writing
team and advisory panel (expertise in an arts
area an area of schooling)
5The Australian Curriculum cont.
- Development process timeline
- Curriculum development final Shape of the
Australian Curriculum The Arts published (June
11) Broad outline with scope and sequence
(September 11) Content descriptions (and
elaborations) and achievement standards
completed by December 2011 - Consultation during 2012
- Publication Digital publication date TBA
6The Australian Curriculum cont.
- The Arts Reference Group for the Shaping Paper
for the Arts (Years F-12) - convened in September 2009
- includes academics and curriculum, classroom and
Arts industry experts in the disciplines of
dance, drama, music, media and visual arts - Professor John OToole is the lead writer with
four arts discipline contributors Professor
Margaret Barrett, Dr Michael Dezuanni, Professor
Elizabeth Grierson and Mr Jeffrey Meiners.
7The Australian Curriculum cont.
- Key points in the draft Shaping Paper for the
Arts (Years F-12) - The Arts make distinct and unique contributions
to each young persons ability to perceive,
imagine, create, think, feel, symbolise,
communicate, understand and become confident and
creative individuals. - Students will experience study dance, drama,
media arts, music and visual arts
8The Australian Curriculum cont.
- Art making involves three processes to be used as
the organising strands - Generating using the elements of the art form to
imagine and design artwork from an expressive or
imaginative impulse, an idea, intention or
stimulus - Realizing communicating artwork for audiences to
experience (performing) - Responding apprehend the artistic experience
itself comprehend the artwork critically - Together these processes comprise aesthetic
knowledge. - The three strands or processes may occur
simultaneously.
9The Australian Curriculum cont.
- The Arts in F-8
- Will be presented in bands (F-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8)
- Assumes 160 hours per band for the total of the 5
art forms - Provides content descriptions and achievement
standards - Does not prescribe the school organisation of the
arts learning program - All art forms will be taught in F-8, with ability
to focus on one or more art form in greater depth - In F-2, the Arts are taught through a purposeful
play-centred approach, mainly integrated across
the curriculum
10The Australian Curriculum cont.
- Music in F-2 Children
- engage imaginatively in music-making
- draw on the resources of voice, body, musical
instruments and sound sources - create, experiment, explore, trial organise
musical ideas and material (pitch, duration,
dynamics, tone-colour timbre) - understand that music can be recorded in symbol
use invented and simple conventional notation - develop a repertoire of chants, songs, rhythms,
rhymes melodies
11The Australian Curriculum cont.
- Music in F-2 Children
- engage confidently in singing playing
- develop aural skills
- use music-specific language
- engage as audience members in music experiences
- respond to music and communicate personal and
shared meanings using language, movement, music
and visual presentations. - Music learning is continuous as children revisit
skills, knowledge and understandings.
12Connections with the rest of the curriculum
- The Australian Curriculum has three
cross-curriculum priorities - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories
and cultures - Asia and Australias engagement with Asia
- Sustainability
13Connections with the rest of the curriculum
continued
- The Australian Curriculum has seven general
capabilities - Literacy
- Numeracy
- Information and communication technology
- Critical and creative thinking
- Personal and social competence
- Ethical behaviour
- Intercultural understanding
14The Australian Curriculum cont.
- Keep up-to-date with developments by visiting the
ACARA website - www.acara.edu.au/curriculum
15The need for advocacy
- Music learning needs to be
- Continuous throughout the year
- Part of young childrens daily experiences
- Advocate for these organisational needs with
school administrators - Promote the importance of music learning to
parents - Provide practical help to early childhood teachers
16The contribution of music educationSupporting
young childrens learning
- Children are hard-wired for musical experience
(Trehub, 1997) - from birth to 6yrs is critical for the
development of audiation, vocal development,
rhythm movement (Levinowitz, 1998)
17The contribution of music education
- Supporting young childrens learning
- active engagement
- opportunities to learn independently and with
others - negotiation and opportunities to make choices
- sense of shared ownership
- interactions that provide feedback
- flexibility
- opportunities to use all senses
- sense of connectedness
- respect for all learners
- learning invites attention, exploration,
manipulation, elaboration imagination.
18The contribution of music education
- Learning development promoted by music
education - Facilitates learning of literacy skills (Adcock
et al, 2008) - Increases childrens vocabulary (Moyeda et al,
2006) - Increases auditory language (Gan Chong, 1998)
- Promotes spatial-temporal reasoning
(Schellenberg, 2004) - Assists learning mathematical concepts e.g.
counting, direction, attributes, patterning,
comparison (Humphrey, 1987)
19The contribution of music education
- Learning development promoted by music
education - Develops motor skills and focuses listening
skills (de Vries, 2004) - Increases socialisation amongst children
(Henniger, 1999) - Provides for release of energy (de Vries, 2004)
- Enhances emotional development and confidence
through self-expression (de Vries, 2004)
20The contribution of music education
- Learning development promoted by music
education - Can lift the moods of children (Jenkins, 1994)
- Develops concentration and focus (de Vries, 2004)
- Can be the first point of real contact for
children with special needs (Cass-Beggs, 1990
Samuels, 2005)
21The contribution of music education
- Quality musical experiences for young children
- Provide opportunities for children to improvise
with known songs, create and experiment with
music using voice instruments (Miranda, 2004) - Create a class/centre song-book and have it
accessible for children (de Vries, 2004) - In groups, accompany songs with musical
instruments, taking turns to play verses or
phrases - Sing songs, chants rhymes with actions as part
of routines and transitions (Melville-Clark, 2005)
22The contribution of music education
- Quality musical experiences for young children
- Involve children in music and movement
experiences, experimenting with movement,
manipulating props, creating their own movement
play to music - Make props (e.g. ribbons, scarves), musical
instruments and recorded music accessible to
children for their self-initiated play
(Melville-Clark, 2005 - Encourage, respond to and talk about childrens
spontaneous musical play (Fox, 2000)
23The contribution of music education
- Quality musical experiences for young children
- Regularly listen to a variety of music and
discuss personal responses (de Vries, 2003) - Provide diverse experiences, often linked to
dance story-telling (Niland, 2007)