Ah-eee-ah-eee-yah-eee, bum and pop, pop, pop: Teacher initiatives, teacher silence, and children's vocal responses in early childhood music classes.

摘要

With the intent of improving early childhood music education, the purpose of this qualitative study was to develop an understanding of teacher initiatives, children's responses, and the wait time (teacher silence) between teacher initiatives and children's responses in early childhood music classes. This study entailed naturalistic observation of the teachers (N=2) and the infants/toddlers (N=14) in two early childhood music programs. Data was collected via field notes, think-aloud interviews with teachers, teacher/parent interviews, and videotape analysis; a total of six class periods, three in each setting, were observed and videotaped for future analysis. The specific questions were as follows: (1) What teacher behaviors (intentional or unintentional) precede children's vocal responses? (2) What is the quality and length of the silence between teacher initiatives and children's vocal responses? and (3) What are the characteristics of children's vocal responses?; Data was analyzed for emerging themes. Teacher initiatives and behaviors that elicited children's responses were classified as: (1) use of breath, (2) body movement, (3) use of props, (4) teacher silence, (5) musical anticipation, (6) space, (7) individual instruction, (8) use of touch, (9) child joy, (10) parent-child relationship, (11) play, (12) teacher improvisation, (13) vocal timbre/vowel modification, (14) teacher-child relationship, and (15) the child as teacher. Teacher-teacher, teacher-child, and child-teacher interactions along with silence and space form what I have labeled an interactive response chain. The nature of children's vocal responses was complex and varied. Vocalizations occurred on a continuum from exploration to improvisation. In these settings, children responded with a higher degree of musical development tonally versus rhythmically. Other emergent themes were the importance of routine, child independence, and the role of community in eliciting children's responses. Findings included the following: (1) children respond vocally in an interactionist learning environment; (2) the use of a musical dialogue or interactive response chain encourages vocal responses; (3) the use of children's explorations in teacher improvisatory songs and chants encourages children's participation and engagement; (4) teacher silence elicits children's vocal responses; (5) play elicits children's vocal responses; and (6) the formation and nurturing of a class community is essential for encouraging children's vocal responses.