Music learning ecology: a holistic view of musical experience
The musical experiences of young children have expanded in recent years. Children between the ages of 3 and 6 interact more frequently with different music from different contexts in the course of their daily lives: first, the media culture represented in homes due to the strong presence of technological elements that facilitate the free dissemination and reproduction of the products it promotes (Young, Reference YOUNG2012); second, school culture, which continues to lag behind in its intervention on media culture as a key element shaping individuals (Ocaña & Reyes, Reference OCAÑA and REYES2010); and third, the participation of these children from increasingly younger ages in non-formal musical activities organised by music education professionals.
In this regard, Stauffer (Reference STAUFFER, Regelsky and Terry Gates2009) postulates that we need to look at the socio-musical practices within the environment in order to develop a more contemplated music education that reconnects schools with communities and with life experiences. Accordingly, teachers should keep in mind that musical practices are ‘fluid, dynamic, and contextual’ and recognise the need to consider interactions with people, places and experiences (p. 183). This ecological perspective can foster a better understanding of musical development and learning.
A learning ecology is defined as the set of contexts found in physical or virtual spaces that provide opportunities for learning (Barron, Reference BARRON2004). Each context is comprised of a unique configuration of activities, material resources, relationships and the interactions that emerge from them. A pedagogical approach based on the concept of learning ecology highlights the need to understand how learning outside school is related to learning in school and vice versa.
It is a fact as highlighted by Wallersted and Lindgren (Reference WALLERSTED and LINDGREN2016) that musical experiences and learning take place in quite diverse contexts. In spite of this reality, learning in and out of school is treated as separate and very different things, when the tendency often should be the integration of such learning. As claimed by Folkestad (Reference FOLKESTAD2006, p. 135), formal and informal musical education processes ‘should not be regarded as a dichotomy but rather as two poles of a continuum’.
The multidimensional nature of music education is abundantly evident. Musical learning should be considered in a broader context than that defined in most professional literature. ‘The majority of musical learning takes place outside schools, in situations where there is no teacher, and in which the intention of the activity is not to learn about music, but to play music, listen to music, dance to music or be together with music’ (Folkestad, Reference FOLKESTAD2006, p. 136).
Musical education occurs everywhere, both in and out of school. Finney (Reference FINNEY, Finney and Burnard2007, p. 11) pointed out that it is characterised by an enormous diversity, where ‘learning is both intentional and unintentional, formal and informal, casual, frequently private and variously directed by self [and] others’. In this view, we see the importance of studying music education from the learning ecology paradigm.
That Music Education occurs everywhere, both inside and outside the school, is accentuated by children’s curiosities, especially with the use of technologies. The media promote the exchange of music across communities along with interactions between local and other more global musical experiences (referred to by Giddens (Reference GIDDENS1991) as ‘glocal’). The proliferation of ‘brand’ characters throughout the media and their material elements are characteristic of the game cultures marketed for young children. The presence of ‘Disney’ musical products in homes forces families and educators to deal with the dilemmas and tensions aroused by commercial musical products, all the while coexisting with other musical cultures (Young, Reference YOUNG2012). The media context fosters a growing commodification of music at an early age (Young, Reference YOUNG2008, Reference YOUNG2012; Ilari, Moura, & Bourscheidt, Reference ILARI, MOURA and BOURSCHEIDT2011). Moreover, these changes in the lives of children brought about by new technological and cultural developments and the expansion of the market of musical products, ever influencing their habits, prompts us to reflect on their permeability and to identify soundtracks as a significant means of representing the world (Porta, Reference PORTA2007).
Thus, in child development and curricular research, it is becoming increasingly necessary to understand how these experiences are interiorised and used by children in their daily lives. Drawing on Barbara Rogoff’s (Reference ROGOFF2003) theory of socio-cultural activity, we find useful the notion of participatory appropriation, the process by which, through engagement in an activity, individuals change their subsequent participation. A parallel can be found in music education with the Flow Theory as adapted by Custodero (Reference CUSTODERO2005), according to which the participation is identified by a Flow Indicator defined as extension. Through participation, old music becomes new.
Musical experience and its implications for building identity
Musical experiences foster the construction of the subjectivities of young children and contribute to the construction of musical identity (Hargreaves, Miell, & McDonald, Reference HARGREAVES, MIELL, MCDONALD, McDonald, Hargreaves and Miell2002). The process of construction of musical identity, or musical identities as highlighted by Green (Reference GREEN2011), develops through the convergence of individual experiences with those stemming from membership in different social groups.
Therefore, knowledge of the musical tastes of young children and the role these types of music play in their lives can be an important starting point for understanding the processes of identity construction, processes connected with formal, non-formal and informal teaching-learning in different contexts. Thus, greater knowledge of idiosyncratic music learning can improve the way teachers approach music education (Green, Reference GREEN2011).
Hargreaves, McDonald, and Miell (Reference HARGREAVES, MCDONALD, MIELL, McPherson and Welch2012) claimed that the study of musical identities may be a key element for explaining musical development. They conceived musical identities ‘as ubiquitous, constantly evolving aspects of the self-concept that are negotiated across a range of social situations’ (p. 131). Herein lies the importance of understanding these construction processes in different socialisation contexts.
Although professional interest in the musical activity of young children from a broader perspective than that of the school is increasing and different researchers have broadened the framework of understanding to encompass the home, family and recreation spaces (Welch, Reference WELCH and McPherson2005a; Barrett, Reference BARRETT2009, Reference BARRETT, McPherson and Welch2012; Trevarthen & Malloch, Reference TREVARTHEN, MALLOCH, McPherson and Welch2012; Ilari, & Habibi, Reference ILARI and HABIBI2015; Ilari, Reference ILARI2016), this research is still rather limited, perhaps due to the ‘difficulties in accessing the intimate private worlds of children and their families’ (Barrett, Reference BARRETT2009, p. 116), with most research focusing on somewhat older young people (Green, Reference GREEN2001; Lamont et al., Reference LAMONT, HARGREAVES, MARSHALL and TARRANT2003).
This current research aims to contribute to our knowledge of the musical experiences of the less studied age group. The interpretation of ‘a favourite song’ has illustrated to us how boys and girls weave their musical experiences they offer insight into the way children absorb the cultural diversity in which they are immersed as well as the meanings and implications they attribute to their musical experiences. This article describes the musical experiences that develop in different educational contexts (formal, informal and non-formal) as well as the interactions that take place between those contexts. Our aim is to offer readers a vicarious experience of the processes observed during the research not only to help them understand our findings, but also to ask new questions and develop new interpretations from their own perspectives about this music learning ecology.
Methodology
The purpose of the present study was to learn about and understand influences of different musical contexts (media, school and family) in musical identity construction processes. The research considered the following questions:
(a) What are the characteristics of the music that selected 3-year olds are listening to in the different contexts comprised in their music learning ecology?
(b) In what ways are musics meaningful to them?
(c) What role do ambient musics play in building a personal music identity?
This work is part of a broader research study on Early Music Education and is related to two national research projects: one on music, media and childhoodFootnote 1 ; and another on expanded education and learning ecologies in multiple contextsFootnote 2 .
A research methodology based on case studies (Yin, Reference YIN1994; Stake, Reference STAKE1995; Bassey, Reference BASSEY1999; Gomm, Hammersley, & Foster, Reference GOMM, HAMMERSLEY, FOSTER, Gomm, Hammersley and Foster2002; Simons, Reference SIMONS2009) was used to evaluate complex educational innovations in their respective contexts, further enriching the field of educational research from an interpretive perspective.
The participants in this case-by-case inquiry were a group of 11 children (5 girls and 7 boys) aged 3–4, who participated in a non-formal music education activity (here called Gorgoritos)Footnote 3 developed at the University of Granada for early music education. The participating children began their musical training in this context at the age of 2. In these sessions, they began attending music classes for infants accompanied by an adult of reference. The children in the school course in which the study was performed had already begun a process of detachment from their families, and in October they had started attending the sessions on their own. Classes took place once a week and the duration of each class was 45 minutes.
This activity involved families, students, music education professionals, university teachers, researchers and professional musicians. The activities were based on the results of research in the areas of early music education, collaborative learning, development of skills for life, soft skills and social interaction processes. Methodological decisions were made based on the emphasis that musical experience is a shared experience. For this reason, the creation of a sonic community that provided musical situations of play, joy, confidence building and creativity in an informal environment that encouraged individualisation and socialisation was promoted.
As regards the methodology, in this space the methodological principles of active musical pedagogy were applied. The aim was to develop the musical ear in order to build solid interior musical foundations based on singing, rhythmic movement and knowledge of temporal and tonal patterns (Gordon, Reference GORDON1997). These principles were used as a means to develop and sequence the specific activities, since the objective was not solely musical training but also to offer the children a musically rich environment.
The present study also responded to the call by Welch (Reference WELCH2002) for researchers to be aware of the ‘need for ecological validity’ and ‘the proper accounting of educational context’ (p. 29). It took into account the influences of peers, families and teachers in the different contexts.
To study the formal context, we selected the school attended by 5 of the 11 children, a school of early childhood education.Footnote 4 It featured deepening democratic values and promoting happy, autonomous children capable of making decisions for themselves. Hopefully, they become critical and reflective citizens. The musical activity developed in this space was based on the active perception and hearing of musical works, the creation of songbooks in collaboration with the families, the use of songs to accompany routines and the organisation of special musical events such as the meetings held at Christmas and during Carnival.
Our informal learning context was a family context in which we were able to come into close contact with the children’s immediate environment. The media context is included here. With children of such a young age, parents still control media access. For the purpose of the present study, we selected three middle-to-upper class families who showed an interest in musical activities. They were actively involved in the proposals being implemented in the framework of the Gorgoritos workshop.
The information was gathered using the following techniques in the different contexts:
(a) Observation of the Gorgoritos’ workshop by recording classes using a video camera during a scholar course. In addition to the use of a fixed camera to obtain a global view of events, a junior researcher trained in music teaching methods took close-up recordings of the more significant events.
(b) Semi-structured interviews with families to identify musical preferences of children and adults, asking them about the music they listened to at home, where this music came from and what this music meant to them.
(c) Videos recorded by the families in which the children expressed themselves musically in their daily lives.
(d) Observations in the school context for over 4 weeks distributed throughout the academic year and an interview with the teacher responsible for the group.
With regard to the ethical issuesFootnote 5 of the research, informed consent was obtained from all families participating in the study. A briefing session was held to inform participants about the purpose of the study and the type of collaboration expected from them. Participants were informed that anonymity and data confidentiality would be respected at all times. After being fully informed, each family signed an informed consent form. In this way, a trust-based relationship was established that ensured a balance between the individual’s right to privacy and the public’s right to know (Simons, Reference SIMONS2009). Throughout the study, there was an ongoing negotiation of the information obtained using the different techniques. For the purpose of data triangulation and to minimise power relationships within the study, all participating families were invited to a meeting at which feedback on the findings was provided – all of which served to create a collaborative process of knowledge building. The children also played a major role in this process. They were informed at the outset that the activity in which they were taking part was of interest to the adults and that was the reason for them being filmed. The children also watched the videos, which were discussed in the group in class. The fact that the university was involved in the non-formal learning activity made it easier to engage the participants in the research.
Results and discussion
What do children hear in this learning ecology?
The weekly sessions in Gorgoritos were structured in a regular manner, articulating fixed sections (greeting and farewell) with a central section focusing on the individual development of melodic and rhythmic aspects, completed with a space dedicated to creative listening. These sessions were followed by melodic work, always using a diversity of tones and ways of promoting learning through difference. The complete melodies were presented before moving on to work with ‘patterns’ (melodic cells designed to develop musical thinking) by encouraging the learning of contextualised musical elements. Rhythmic work was developed in the same way as the melodic work through difference (two time, three time, compound time signatures) and context (complete structure, cell). All the work was developed within a context of play and fantasy.
‘The teacher gently plays the melody, while making eye contact with the children and taking scarves out of a bag. The children move closer to initiate a musical dialogue. The teacher asks questions, following the relevant pattern. As each child responds, she hands him/her a scarf to confirm the affinity of the response given. When all the scarves have been handed out, the whole group stands and accompanies the intonation of the proposed melody with movement’. (Class observation)
In the family context, the parents usually listened to popular styles of music (rock, pop, indie, etc.), – either current melodies or music from the 1980s and 1990s. The music usually consisted of binary rhythms, major or minor keys, a strong beat and structures that mostly responded to alternating verse and choruses. Some of the songs they listened to were children’s songs performed by groups that have become popular on networks and channels such as YouTube.
Thanks to new technologies and their shared use by the families, the children tended to make their own choices. Mobile telephones and tablets were the devices used regularly to play videos with the ‘favourite songs’.
‘At home we usually listen to pop music, and [Raquel] loves it. Her favourite film is “Frozen”, she’s seen it many times and she knows all the songs by heart’. (Interview with Raquel’s father)
‘[Pedro] listens to all kinds of music, his grandfather loves classical music and he even knows how to sing some of Schubert’s Lieder. He likes songs in English because he’s bilingual – his father is American and I’m Spanish’. (Interview with Pedro’s mother)
‘Marta listens to all kinds of music at home, classical, pop, rock, jazz … She tends to have a good memory and remembers songs quickly. In fact, she began humming the song “Suéltalo” (“Let It Go”) the day after she saw the movie. She doesn’t listen to it very often and as she doesn’t know the lyrics – she’s invented them and sings the fragments she remembers. Sometimes she asks us to it put on the Tablet or the mobile phone’. (Interview with Marta’s mother)
During class observation in the school context, it was observed that the musical activity focused mainly on a songbook containing songs collected from parents and teachers. The songs in the songbook, mentioned earlier, had the following general characteristics: (a) popular children’s songs; (b) in two time; (c) in a major scale; (d) melodic range from C3 to A3; (e) AB (verse-chorus) song form; and (f) simple melodies without long intervals and syllabic with simple lyrics.
The songbook is routinely used on a daily basis, sometimes encouraged by the teachers themselves at morning assembly and on walks and sometimes by the children of their own accord.
‘The children form a circle for assembly at the start of the day. The teacher picks up the songbook (which they had created in previous years) and they choose one of the songs and sing it all together’. (Observation in class)
‘The children are performing free and autonomous work and a group of them, including Marta and Laura, sit down to look at the songbook and start singing some of the songs’. (Observation in class)
In most cases, when songs were sung, the tuning was extremely imprecise, depending on who sang and the time of day when the song was sung. This fact, perhaps, caused the children to recognise the songs more from textual and visual supports than from melodic elements. We observed how the textual and rhythmic component had more importance than the melodic.
The ‘favourite song’ as an element of mediation in the process of construction of identity
Gorgoritos was the space where we were able to access the contexts comprising this learning ecology and where the participants’ musical experiences took place. In order to determine which were the most important types of music for the children, an activity was designed in which they were asked to sing a melody that they chose freely. A vignette describing such a moment is presented:
‘All the children are relaxing on the carpet. A teacher picks up a key and says “I’ve got a microphone and we’re going to have a music competition”. She theatrically gives the impromptu microphone to the other teacher, speaking ceremoniously and using the polite “Usted” (third person) form in Spanish. Continuing with the game, she starts singing one of the melodies they usually work on in class. The children listen carefully. The other teacher starts applauding and then says: “Now, can you give the microphone to another participant?” Although Rafa and Raquel raise their hands quickly, the teacher gives the microphone to Ignacio, who timidly sings the first line of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”.
The teacher starts clapping, shouting “Bravo!” Pedro, Rafa and Marta immediately demand their turn. The teacher asks them to calm down and continues, ceremoniously giving the microphone to Rafa, who recites the phrase of a song while swaying from side to side. He seems to be listening to the melody inside but never reproduces it. At one moment he even sways without saying a word. After a few seconds the teacher acting as master of ceremonies asks him if he’s finished. He nods and the applause start again.
Next in line is Pedro, who continues with “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”, singing the whole song in perfectly pronounced English and completely in tune. Marta and Raquel are impatient, wanting to participate. They start jumping on their knees, vigorously waving both arms in the air. The teacher hands the microphone to Marta who starts singing the song, “Suéltalo,” (“Let It Go”) from the film, Frozen. She sings the first lines of the chorus and timidly urges Raquel to accompany her. Raquel prefers to play the lead, asks her for the microphone and starts singing the same song from the beginning. Marta shifts uneasily and rolls a strand of hair on her finger.
Raquel sings in tune despite the difficult pitch. The first part of the song is more a recital because of the bass notes and some loose syllables in the lyrics. Nevertheless, she remains concentrated on her performance. Marta joins in singing the final syllables. In the second part, with the melody more in the treble clef, she starts gesticulating with her arms, recreating the choreography of the film’s protagonist. She sings more comfortably forgetting the microphone. Marta moves restlessly next to her and although she gradually tries to join in signing the song, she eventually loses interest. After the applause, Marta recovers the microphone and starts singing “Mi burrito sabanero” (“Little Donkey from Bethlehem”). Raquel, wanting to reclaim the spotlight, says, “that one’s very long”. The teacher asks her to pay attention. Marta, on her knees and marking the rhythm with her body, sings sections A and B. When she returns to section A she can’t remember the text very well and everyone applauds and insists on participating. The song “Suéltalo” (“Let It Go”) is sung again, this time by Rafa, who sings the same part of the chorus that Marta began to sing’. (Classroom observation)
Here is our analysis of the songs performed by the children applying the instrument designed by Porta and Ferrández (Reference PORTA and FERRÁNDEZ2009).
The song ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’ is a popular English children’s song. It is written in four-four time and has a thetic beginning. The tempo is maintained and the dynamic is piano. It is in the key of C major with conclusive cadences and has a melodic range of six notes (from C3 to A3) and an ABA song structure.
The song ‘Suéltalo’ (‘Let It Go’) comes from the animated film Frozen produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, winner of two Oscars (Best Animated Film and Best Original Song for ‘Let It Go’ composed by C. Beck). The melody interpreted by a female singer is accompanied by instrumental music that increases in tonal density as the song progresses. Written in four-four time with a thetic beginning, the tempo is maintained as the song becomes progressively more dynamic. The key is A flat major. After a transient modulation towards the end of the song, it quickly returns to the main theme in the original tonality. It has a melodic range of 14 notes (from F# to E♭4) and is structured in a typical IABPAB pop style.
The song ‘Mi burrito sabanero’ (‘Little Donkey of Bethlehem’) is a popular Colombian children’s Christmas song. Written in four-four time with an anachronistic beginning, the tempo and dynamics are maintained throughout the song. It is written in G major and is characterised by its tonal stability. It has a melodic range of seven notes (from D3 to C4). The song has an AAABB ‘AAABB’ structure.
The ‘favourite song’ selected by each child was associated with different socialisation spaces, perhaps revealing the way in which the children constructed their identities. Pedro chose a song he knew well, one that the other children did not know. It belonged to his family environment in a language that only he knew.
Marta chose a song from school that she also knew well. It was the one that was fresh in her mind with barely a month passed since the Christmas party. Raquel chose a song that belonged to the collective imagination, the theme song from Frozen, a popular movie at the time and a song she often heard in her family context.
Each child was building his or her music identity in relation to the other children, seeking recognition and leadership in the group. Pedro sought recognition through differentiation. In contrast, Marta and Raquel seemed to seek that individual recognition but, in turn, created a space of connection with the rest of the group using melodies that the others knew. Observing the physical attitude of the children revealed how the two girls tried to integrate the others into the activity. Pedro performed an individual and isolated interpretation.
In another session, with the song ‘Let It Go’, an improvisation stimulated creative work. All the children knew it to a greater or lesser extent.
‘The class was divided into three groups of four children each. They were asked to choose a song and to sing it accompanying it with instruments. The group formed by four girls including Marta and Raquel, played “Let It Go”. The rest, not finding agreement, did not complete the activity. The two girls have a close relationship, forged in the school context, while the other two in their group only interacted during the music sessions’. (Classroom observation)
‘Once the class was over, the song became the focus of attention once again when the children were waiting for their families to arrive. Spontaneously, Raquel re-captured the attention of the other children when she launched into a very expressive vocal and visual performance of “Let It Go”. All the children immediately turned around to look at her attentively, during a time when the children are normally dispersing’. (Classroom observation)
During the group performance of the song, the children managed to work in a cohesive manner despite not being able to develop musical creation through verbal dialogue. In fact, it was the song – interpreted by Raquel who momentarily assumed the role of conductor – that maintained unity and encouraged them to express their individuality. The song associated with the media and family context allowed them to use tacit learning skills that fostered the creation of group identity in the improvisation process.
On the other hand, in the workshop, it was the music from the informal and formal contexts that provided the children with a vehicle to position themselves individually and to build new alliances, giving rise to a different configuration of the group. When the music was introduced during periods of informal learning, not directed by a teacher but chosen by the children, they showed a tendency to express themselves with music that ‘they already know and understand, like, enjoy and identify with’ (Green, Reference GREEN2008, p. 10).
In this case, despite being children with rich musical contexts, commercial music was clearly the dominant type of music. The popular commercial song selected by the children presented specific characteristics of songs used in TV music programmes, making it difficult for us to interpret despite being of interest to them. Being able to sing a popular song may have allowed them to occupy positions of leadership, although little exclusion was observed if this was not achieved. As reported by Frith (Reference FRITH and Cruces2001), popular music in this context could be said to fulfil the function of managing feelings and creating identity, providing a way to manage the public and private emotional lives of young children.
These examples confirm that ‘the act of singing, whether as an individual or as part of a collective, can facilitate both musical and non-musical communication, a sense of belonging or being on the outside’ (Welch, Reference WELCH, Miell, McDonald and Hargreaves2005b).
Interaction between contexts: musical experience as a connecting link
The music played in Gorgoritos was sometimes interpreted in school as the children participating in the workshop sang the songs at different times of the day.
‘The children who go to music class sometimes later sing their songs and others express interest in learning them. Sometimes they get taught the songs without any problem but not on other occasions when they use the songs to play among themselves. Eventually, after singing them so many times the others end up learning them and thus become part of the group’s songs. Several of the songs were ones we sing with all the families at school parties’. (Interview with teacher)
A transfer to the school music context (formal education space) was also observed, thus influencing the configuration of the group. The music from Gorgoritos sometimes led to exclusion when the participants did not teach their classmates, resulting in manifestation of a special group identity fostered by shared music. Yet, while such music was initially appropriated, the affective component that existed within the school group favoured enculturation through audio communication. Paradoxically, the melodies that initially caused exclusion began to resonate with companions, fostering the inclusion of not only the group in the class, but also the entire school. Thus, music helped build a common reality, fostering cooperation and reducing reservations and fears about what is different (Reyes, Reference REYES and AróStegui2014).
The families mentioned that their children’s musical experience in the Early Music Education class encouraged moments of communication and play at home. In the videos provided by the families, we observed the children performing the greeting in music class, singing ‘Clear up’ to pick up their toys or even re-enacting a complete music class with their toy figures or dolls.
‘Martha is in pyjamas and on her knees placing some of her dolls in a semicircle in front of her. Waving her arms she begins to sing the greeting song normally used in her music class. Her movements are reminiscent of those made by the teachers, although she moves much more energetically. When she sings the general greeting part, she starts pointing at the dolls, greeting them individually saying: “Hello duck, hello bear, hello girl, hello duck” … It is striking that, in addition to the eye contact, she caresses them gently’.(Video recorded by Marta’s family)
In the analysis of socio-cultural activities, participatory appropriation (Rogoff, Reference ROGOFF2003) refers to the identification of experiences that are used by learners in contexts other than those in which they were learned. Similarly, Custodero (Reference CUSTODERO2005) highlights expansion as one of the Flow Theory Indicators. This study corroborated that the musical experiences at Gorgoritos have an impact on both family and school contexts. With confidence, we can state that such experiences are meaningful to the participants. We observed how music became a mediation for communication and for building social relationships (Threvarten & Malloch, Reference TREVARTHEN, MALLOCH, McPherson and Welch2012)
Conclusions
This present study shows that the musical contexts of young children are reciprocally permeable spaces. Children experience and perceive their environments in a holistic manner. Their ‘favourite songs’ are part of a common language through which they recognise, find, censor and accept themselves and each other, both individually and collectively. Hence, it follows that sharing music means considerably more to them than the musical act itself. Their attitudes in the situations described reflect relationships of power, affection, self-esteem, complicity and distance. They seem to use their musical expressions to build links and reflect their positions within the group, in line with the findings reported by Green (Reference GREEN2011) and Hargreaves, McDonald, and Miell (Reference HARGREAVES, MCDONALD, MIELL, McPherson and Welch2012).
Certain contexts are conducive to certain types of music becoming favourites. In the same way that music belonging to the family context (informal education space) was incorporated into Gorgoritos (non-formal education space), the music in the latter context was also eventually embraced in the family context.
This research reiterated that musical learning is multidimensional, as reported by Folkestad (2016), occurring naturally in informal contexts in which the goal is not learning but musical experience. This non-formal space is a link between formal and informal learning. Despite being organised by teachers, the way in which learning took place in the Gorgoritos workshop had many of the characteristics of informal processes, especially those identified with socialisation and enculturation.
The research allowed us to examine how the dialogue between music from different contexts takes place, the non-formal context being the hub articulating relations and the space for understanding sonic imaginations and their influence in the construction of young children’s identities.
We concur with Georgii-Hemming and Westvall (Reference GEORGII-HEMMING and WESTWALL2010) on the need for schools and teachers to take into consideration the role that media culture plays in the lives of young people. The present study shows that this concern is amplified in early childhood. Music education needs to include popular culture from a critical perspective in formal contexts. In this research, non-formal contexts were presented as a space capable of facilitating interaction between ‘the familiar and the unfamiliar, between the individual and the collective, and an opportunity for the local and the global to meet. Music education is both a personal as well as collective matter’ (Georgii-Hemming & Westvall, Reference GEORGII-HEMMING and WESTWALL2010, p. 31). There is a need to address music learning processes from an ecological perspective and from a holistic vision that integrates the different musical experiences to which children are exposed on a daily basis.
One of the challenges of this study was to discover the participants’ private musical worlds. Understanding of this context was gained from an adult perspective, particularly through videos provided by the families and from interviews with adults. The inquiry did not extend to understanding a more global experience, given that we did not make observations in homes or play spaces. Further, because of their young age, the participants were little able to verbally elaborate on their experiences. Accordingly, their significance was mediated by the way in which we adults interpreted them. A further challenge was to describe, in writing, a musical experience that is dynamic and processual. We invite the reader to visit the project’s website for further acquaintance.
Professional music education contributes to sonic comprehension in the audiovisual world, a world that facilitates the construction of musical learning and enables us to decipher what music is in the minds of young children. As with Hallam and Lamont (Reference HALLAM and LAMONT2004), individual differences in enculturation processes are there to be observed influencing a stream of social factors. Understanding musical activity in the daily lives of children fosters the need to advance the bases of music education in early childhood. More attention is warranted on student educational experiences attuned to the vast contemporary sonic environment (Ocaña & Reyes, Reference OCAÑA and REYES2010).
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of the Government of Spain for financing the projects mentioned, the ICUFOP research group and all the participants in the Gorgoritos project. Also, we express our gratitude to Robert Stake for all his comments and suggestions as well as his inestimable help in the text edition.
