The importance of music in the early childhood years

1
The importance of music in the early childhood
years

• Carolyn Harrod

2
Overview

• The Australian Curriculum Phase 2
• Connections with the rest of the curriculum
• The need for advocacy
• The contribution of music education
• Practical suggestions

3
The Australian Curriculum

• Phase 1 English, Mathematics, Science History
  (phased implementation by 2013)
• Phase 2 The Arts, Geography, Languages

4
The 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)

5
The 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

6
The 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.

7
The 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

8
The 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.

9
The 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

10
The 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

11
The 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.

12
Connections 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

13
Connections 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

14
The Australian Curriculum cont.

• Keep up-to-date with developments by visiting the
  ACARA website
• www.acara.edu.au/curriculum

15
The 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

16
The 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)

17
The 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.

18
The 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)

19
The 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)

20
The 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)

21
The 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)

22
The 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)

23
The 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)