DOW 99097

Draft 30/11

AARE-NZARE CONFERENCE 1999 ON

RESEARCH IN EDUCATION

GLOBAL ISSUES & LOCAL EFFECTS:

THE CHALLENGE FOR EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Early Childhood Education Section

MARY R DOWNIE Dip T (Primary) B. Ed M Ed Studies

Abstract:

IMPLICATIONS OF THE ACCREDITATION REQUIREMENTS IN MUSIC PROGRAMS FOR LONG-DAY CHILD-CARE CENTRES

ON THE EDUCATION OF CHILD CARE WORKERS

Government funding of Childcare Centres is being tied to the achievement of Accreditation. This produces major challenges for Centres on many criteria, including delivering Arts programs. A DEd research project was conducted into methods of providing valid music experiences in Long-Day ChildCare Centres, and it sought to use an "apprenticeship" approach to up-skill centre staff. From this experience factors that influenced outcomes are suggested. Some broad extrapolation is made from this narrow experiential base.

The delivery of many Arts programs, especially music, dance, drama and some visual arts has a "performance aspect". The ability of a performer to perform often relates as much to personal confidence as to skills. Thus (formally or informally acquired) entry-level attributes of staff members, their skills and confidence in performance areas, are believed to be significant success factors.

ChildCare workers come from mothercraft nurses, kindergarten teachers, TAFE-trained carers or unskilled people. Most of a child’s contact may be with only one or two carers, with little chance of appropriate levels of Arts skills. It is concluded that educators of ChildCare workers need to develop a broad-based program of professional development for most of these. Some lines of research to help guide this are suggested.

PAPER

In 1993, Australia became the first country in the world to develop a National Childcare Quality Improvement System, which was initiated, funded and supported by the

Commonwealth Government. The main thrust of the system has always been to improve the quality of care given to our greatest asset, the very young.

Accreditation is the culmination of the quality improvement process, and recognizes centres that have adopted a well considered, integrated and professional approach to centre management. This Government initiative was initially "feared" by many proprietors who were confronted with government intervention into what was basically a private industry. But the spirit of the system was fundamentally designed to improve the most common early childhood learning environment: the long day care centre.

It must be stated that Government intervention grew out of many years of concern the public had about the quality of care that was available for very young children. People in the childcare industry were told that the system would assist childcare providers and parents with the advice, support and training that was necessary to assist them in developing an understanding of the system and ultimately gaining accreditation.

To be eligible to participate in the Commonwealth Childcare Assistance Scheme long day care centres must:

Operate at least eight hours per working day for at least 48 weeks per year;

Be licensed by the relevant State or Territory licensing authority;

Register with the National Childcare Accreditation Council and participate in the Quality Improvement and Accreditation System.

The Childcare Rebate Scheme is available for eligible families using registered centres. (Section 2: What is Child Care )

As most centres rely heavily on government subsidization, most centres began a process towards change as soon as practical. Childcare is very expensive and for many working mothers a large percentage of their pay packet is spent on care. Only those centres eligible for Child Care Assistance would survive in all but the most affluent areas.

The implementation has been slow and an arduous task for all concerned. Jackson (1996, p.19) cited in Lyons (1997) reported that over 60% of the child care workers survey found the implementation of the QIAS to be demanding, largely due to ‘lack of time’ and ‘high staff turnover.

The process towards Accreditation is a difficult, lengthy and arduous one and has caused much concern. Below is a progress chart that outlines Victorian Centres in the Quality Improvement and accreditation System as of 23rd March 1999.

Accreditation Status Number Percentage

Accredited with 1 year between reviews. 179 20.5

Accredited with 2 years between reviews. 59 6.8

Accredited with 3 years between reviews. 493 56.4

Working through a Plan of Action 35 4.0

In Self-study, in Review, in Moderation or awaiting Council Decision

108 12.3

TOTAL 874 100

National Childcare Accreditation Council Inc. As of 23 March 1999

The Australian Government’s decision to adopt a National framework for child care centres spelt out quite clearly directives on health and safety issues, care of the child (emotional and physical) and (curriculum) program development.

Government intervention of this nature offers what Mander (1998), referring to the view expressed by Elmore and Sykes, (1992) on curriculum, speaks of this perspective as a

"View of curriculum policy within the context of the public policy arena: working from this context they see it in terms of laws and regulations relating to program development administration of Early Childhood P.1

It was from these directives that management of child care centres developed policy documents which identify the intended, written curriculum, the publicly advertised fare of schooling It is interesting to note that child care centres during this time constantly referred to curriculum as the "program" and were mandated to publish and display their programs. To gain accreditation these programs were to be scrutinized by an outside moderator (advisor) who reported back on how these policies were implemented.

The arrival of the newly mandated Quality Improvement and Accreditation System (QIAS) was designed to create benchmarks for quality long day care. Many proprietors went into a state of panic. Staff worked overtime (unpaid) to develop policy statements and documentation that meet the 52 Principles of Quality. Each of the Principles was specifically designed to address what Lyons (1997) calls "the ‘determining’ factors of improved quality care. Parents were invited to play a key role in the what was called the Self-study and Review process of the QIAS and were encouraged to work with staff so that together they developed the basis of the centre’s philosophy and "their" goals for their children. Staff and parents attended regional videoconferences which were organized by the National Government to ensure a smooth transition.

I was delighted that at last the arts were part of the core principles and that centres would now have to consider what they did to foster this much neglected area of the early learning program. Accreditation grew out of public disquiet at the child care industry and was most welcomed by parents. The National Childcare Accreditation Council supported and guided centres throughout this period. The Commonwealth Government’s Childcare Accreditation System makes it mandatory for accreditation purposes that centres comply with Accreditation Principles. These guiding Principles must be evident if a centre wishes to gain accreditation. For the purpose of the delivery of music educational programs in early learning I have considered the following principles as relevant:

Principle 3: There is a balanced and developmentally appropriate program.

Principle 7: Staff shows respect for children’s developing competence, and foster their self-esteem and independence.

Principle 17: The program incorporates learning experiences appropriate to each child, as indicated by individual development records maintained by the staff.

Principle 18 the program gives children the opportunity to make choices and take on new challenges.

Principle 21: The program fosters creative development and aesthetic awareness.

Principle 25: The program provides a wide range of individual and group experiences.

The Australian National Training Authority provides teaching and learning modules that address the principles stated above. Some Movement and Music courses offer assessment criteria which consist of a series of assignments and practical exercises and when assessed are ungraded. Providers are told that if a graded assessment is preferred, extra criteria must be developed to outline pointers on which grades will be determined. This suggests to me that there is an underlying assumption that the courses require an extension of activities in order to gain more than a surface level of knowledge. This view is reinforced by a remark by a lecturer at Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE who told me that she recognizes that their course can only be an entrée into the realm of learning in this area. She places much emphasis on developing in her students the confidence to "have a go".

Accreditation was a catalyst for change in the child care industry and dominated the thinking of management for some years as they spent much time, effort and in some cases money to develop strategies, policy documents and then implement any necessary changes to practice. Many centres genuinely wanted to provide "High Quality" care for their children and set out to implement changes. Many staff welcomed work practice change and saw the changes as actually benefiting the children, whilst some others were critical and were uncomfortable with the change process.

I had a particular interest in this change process for a number of reasons. I had been the proprietor of a Child Care Centre; I was a professional musician and had worked as a specialist Music Teacher in a number of settings, from early Primary through Secondary to preparing people at Tertiary levels. I was aware that there was a paucity of skills and support in the area associated with delivery of valid musical experiences at the preschool level I was also aware that the people working in many childcare centres were under immense pressure. For example, my own centre had been situated in an inner Melbourne suburb, and our multicultural clients were generally a mix of single mothers and recently arrived migrants. We had enormous difficulty getting our parents to pay their fees and getting them to be involved in the education of their child. Often I would be left waiting with a child hours after closing for their parent to come. Occasionally I took a child home until morning, because of the difficulties some of our mums found themselves in, mums with no extended family support to turn to.

There had been a vast increase in the placement of children in long day childcare centres over the past two decades, and I felt that music was an important component in developing children socially, emotionally and culturally. I therefore decided to carry out a research project into the ways in which music programs might be effectively delivered in long day child care centres, and this project has been conducted in the framework of a D. Ed at the University of Melbourne. The full results of the project are contained in my thesis, the writing up of which I hope to complete in the next few months.

All pre school centres in Australia are State Government controlled in terms of regulations and registration. Regulations require proprietors to provide a trained teacher present for 75% of the operating time of the centre and have stringent regulations regarding staffing ratios.

Pre-schools must be registered and comply with the regulated standards. This is all documented in Victoria in the Children’s Services Centres Regulations 1998. Proprietors have to undergo a police check and have references and a set of interviews by the pre school officer as to their suitability to run a centre. Each centre is subject to "spot" inspections without any notification to the centre and this was done to ensure that the Regulations were carried out in an effective and efficient manner.

Every twelve months a thorough inspection takes place in which the inspector records and reports on the condition of the centre. It was mandated that a centre must be kept in good order and had to comply with the current regulations. Advisors were impressed if a centre had made some tangible improvement since the last visit inspection. If a regulation was preached the centre received a " non compliance" infringement notice and a date given when any misdemeanor had to be rectified. There is not the same level of control, however, on the content or effectiveness of curricula or programs.

In many centres, a pre-school program was designed specifically to prepare the children for school. Pre school programs are a very important part of the total curriculum offered at these centres as they are used as a marketing tool for the promotion of the centre and may offer a particular focus to their programs. This emphasis may be placed on music; physical education, art or drama and the various activities may be described and carried out in either a structured or unstructured way. Some centres by virtue of their title suggest a particular emphasis e.g. early learning centre or pre-preparatory level, are often used in the elite private schools.

When I started out to do this research, I had three particular concerns.

The first arose from my perception that the need for professional development in teaching is different to the need for almost all other professions or crafts or trades. Whereas engineers, lawyers, accountants and the like generally work in teams, teachers in their normal working environment teach alone, isolated in their tiny cells and tucked away from other teachers. Once a teacher enters the profession, the monitoring and supervision of a teacher is minimal.

Teachers, especially those teaching in the pre-secondary arena, have to be generalists. A teacher is expected to teach many things to children and it’s quite difficult to do that. In the main stream of teacher education, much time is spent developing an understanding of the reading, writing and mathematics. As time passes by, the practicing teacher (particularly in the early childhood area) may not get easy access to people who are up to date in educational philosophy and changes in practice. Ground breaking ideas on curriculum development, implementation and maintenance may not be readily articulated and disseminated and thus new approaches and methodologies, especially in the more peripheral areas, may become neglected. How is the generalist teacher to keep up to date in specialist areas of professional interest?

Secondly, teachers work with a collection of people younger then them and their success is significantly dependent on their ability to capture the imagination and the attention of the children in their charge. This is all carried out in an environment where they have little to no ongoing peer support in the actual practice of teaching.

Thirdly, there are certain types of things people teach and do which are culturally/traditionally associated with having talent, and so the teacher in this group is expected to be a talented artist; musician, actor or dancer. Teachers trained in arts can feel quite comfortable with this expectation. However, it is unfair that the generalist early learning teacher be expected to provide physical education or arts programs without a firm

foundation in the fundamental skills of the area, which take years to develop. The generalist teacher has a right to feel uncomfortable and inadequate about the prospect of having to provide such a service. By contrast, it would be rare to find a teacher who felt distant from English (language) or Mathematics, because everybody does it at school.

Let us now put these concerns in the context of the problem one has, if teaching in the pre-school environment, where the children have varying experiences in the arts and some are already ahead of the others. Some of the children may already attend instrumental tuition or other music sessions with their parents. It then becomes a particularly difficult issue for the generalist early childhood teacher to deliver meaningful music activities for these children.

Clearly then, there is a real need to understand how the outsider (specialist) can help the insider (generalist) deliver music education experiences that support and assist the individual needs of the children. How do I deliver this music program? What can I do to assist the generalist pre-school teacher to do so also?

A consideration of these thoughts led me therefore to start an investigation of a potential practical foundational methodology for pre-school music programs in which the concentration was as much the delivery to the pre-school music teacher as on delivery to the pre-school child. It is very important to understand that this is not a case of a specialist music teacher coming in and delivering to the children a music program but rather of developing a methodology for an institutional approach and the narrative accounts crystallized by institutions in which I worked. The experiences of the artiste, regular teacher, assistant and children all making music together, are the basis of the project.

It seemed to me that I had to make sure when I was planning activities that I added an aspect to the program which incorporated what was happening at each centre in terms of: birthdays, community celebrations, incursions and excursions and other topical important social matters pertinent to each milieu. This was done so that collectively the program could:

Incorporate a multicultural perspective (if necessary)

To make the program more personal and meaningful.

To enhance other learning aspects of the total program

To involve the staff

To foster a learning and develop a cohesive learning community.

I felt it was an important element in planning a program to make sure that the program addressed the Quality Improvement and Accreditation System requirements.

As an example of the thrust of the Principles, the following is quoted.

PRINCIPLE 21

The program includes an integrated creative arts component that links all areas of the program.

The program emphasizes a wide variety of areas for creative expression, and children are brought into contact with the creativity of others through visits from musicians, artists, dancers, puppeteers and drama groups.

The program includes many creative experiences and exposes children to the music, songs, and artistic forms of expression of Australian Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders.

The program includes excursions to exhibitions and performances, and these may later serve as a stimulus for children’s own creativity.

There is a sense of enthusiasm as children experiment in various forms of creative expression.

The environment is very pleasing to the eye and the ear, as well as to the other senses; the smell is pleasant, there are soft cushions and mattresses for sitting, lying and sleeping on, the food is pleasant in smell and taste. The outdoor area has some trees and shrubs where possible.

PRINCIPLE 25

The program places a major emphasis on ensuring that resources and experiences represent the diversity of background of Australian children and families and are free of gender bias.

Program planning reveals thorough knowledge of children’s development and effective strategies for encouraging children’s learning in various areas.

Handbook of Quality Improvement and Accreditation System – First Edition 1993.

The following table outlines the centres I spent time in delivering music sessions and working as a participant observer during the course of this study and I have included the table to display the variety and diverse settings I found myself in. The accounts that come in the later chapters have been drawn from my experiences as a researcher and it is through my experiences in each centre that I draw my data.

The methods used to carry out this research were drawn primarily from Schon (1983) The Reflective Practitioner; Tarr (1996) A Study into the Creative Process and I was also inspired by the high profile Gardner [1993) placed on music as an intelligence, and capitalizing on his popularity, I dared to write to twenty pre-schools and child care centres in Victoria with a proposal. I wrote offering Directors the opportunity to be part of a study on music curriculum and offered two approaches.

In one alternative, I offered teachers on their staff the opportunity to participate in on-site professional development. This was conceived as an inservice approach, where the provider came to their centre, and worked with them and their children to improve music programs offered by the centre.

In the other, I offered the opportunity to participate in the application of a purpose built learning package, using original materials produced by me, and devised in collaboration with them. All resources used were to be chosen with their own particular needs and interests in mind.

The response was minimal, but the six centres that did respond were all interested in my coming and working with them. My plan was to place myself as a visiting artiste with the teachers, selecting the materials they would like to use. I, as an the artiste would provide the music skills and, using the six creative processes devised by Tarr (1992), assist them in gaining an understanding of arts pedagogy and thus make the experiences enriching,

meaningful and useful for them. The six key areas of the creative making process are identified by Tarr as follows:

1. Free exploration with materials or concepts or ideas 2. Stimulation from external sources 3. Specific skills and techniques 4. Conducive work environment or context 5. Reflection on the process 6. Presentation

I did however find that many of the teachers I commenced discussions with, felt threatened by the concept of modelling the application of a theory. I therefore eventually chose not to disclose Tarr’s model, but rather to merely apply the model such that the requirements for arts education to flourish were satisfied, and then to wait and see if a transformation occurred.

In my interviews with the teachers subsequent to beginning the research, I did talk about them as researchers. I spoke of the need for them to value themselves as researchers. As Eisner (1995) commented "we found that once teachers began to perceive themselves as action researchers, they developed a greater tolerance of gaps between aspirations and practice". He also makes the point that point an outside participant observer can do much to help teachers develop this alternative self by treating them as partners in research activities. He postulates that improving practice involves jointly considering the quality of both outcomes and practice. Eisner further suggests that the collaborative approach tends to reduce the anxiety level and consequent defensiveness of teachers. In my reflective collaborative study, both the teachers and I were involved in a kind of joint reflection about the relationship of outcomes and practice.

Initially my intention was to expect teachers to develop a music program and to implement and integrate the music program into their everyday program. However, this proved to be an unrealistic expectation, and had to be abandoned soon after the study began.

Pre-schools, like all other places of learning, are busy places doing complex work, and improvement to practice grows out of practitioners having the capacity to emancipate themselves by sharing and exchanging ideas with others. Stenhouse’s view is that teachers should change their own practices in the light of their own reflection. I warmed to the confidence that Stenhouse expressed in the integrity of teachers; his words are powerful, encouraging and empowering. I must confess however that the results have been mixed. An analysis of the reasons for this, and any implications for the confidence expressed by Stenhouse will have to wait for a further study.

After discussion with the participating centres, this action research project was eventually designed as a co-operative, collaborative, reflective venture between one artiste (researcher) and a number of pre-school teachers. All teachers (or their Directors) working at different locations expressed interest in improving the music elements of the program offered at their respective centres.

The aim of the study revolves around developing an understanding of pedagogical practice in relation to the teaching of music in the pre-school context. The approach taken was designed to assist artiste and teacher to reflect on the six creative making processes defined by Tarr (1995) and reflect on the value and practice of music in the pre-school area.

We are all familiar with the finger painting, pasting, and other creative visual and tactile art experiences which form a significant component of the "work" children do every day, in the

home as well as in the early learning environments. Musical expression nurtured in young children provides further important opportunities for creativity to bud. This is done in the hope that the children will grow in a multi-faceted way and that their lives will be enriched by the whole set of experiences.

Music can be a key to unlock the right hemisphere of the brain, the creative side and the study of music contributes to the development of the whole person. The intellectual development of the child is enhanced and music provides opportunities for children to develop higher orders of thinking and listening skills, extend their vocabulary and pre-reading and writing skills. The study of music can assist the development of spatial intelligence. Music offers opportunities for children to express their emotions through dramatizations, singing, dancing and playing musical games. Music also offers children opportunities to further develop their gross and fine motor coordination skills as they learn to move and dance with confidence.

The successful music teacher in any setting is often fundamentally an artist and performer. The classroom is centre stage, and as an artist brings elements of all other art forms into play if that artiste wishes to be a competent performer. In my performances, music is always central to the action, but from time to time I use props to support and give encouragement to younger performers whilst they try to dance, sing, draw, act, compose or improvise. It is not performance if the artist has no audience; at times I become part of the audience and my students become the performers.

Performers work with an audience and quite often that audience participates in the making of the music. Steve Dillon (1996, p.38) views students as "makers" as noted in his work in progress. I see the student as "maker"; this being what Bruner (1960) terms essentially transformative. I also concur with Dillon’s perspective that

Music curriculum ought to focus on music per se, rather than to any particular style or emphasis. (Walker, 1990 quoted in Dillon) states that "a pan cultural approach to music can use cultures to emphasize elements of music, which are best represented by examples of that culture and context period.

I conducted my research in a variety of childcare centres, deliberately chosen to test the alignment of results across the varied environments. The centres are summarised in the following table:

Suburb Socio/Econ Ethnicity Proprietor Music Program

Surrey Hills Middle Class Anglo Saxon Church User Pay System-Private Provider offered lessons at a given rate and this was an optional part of the total program. Many of the children could not afford

the extra cost for these lessons.

Glen Waverley Upper Middle, Mobile

Mainly Anglo Saxon

Church Planned Curriculum Teacher Delivered

Thomastown Child Care Centre

Working Class Multi Cultural European

Private Ownership

Nil

St.Kilda Child Care

Centre

Working Class Multi Cultural Many Russian

Private Ownership

Nil

Rosebud -

Mornington

Peninsular

Seaside Resort Middle And Working Class

Mainly Anglo Saxon

Community Based With State And Local Govt. Financial Support

Teacher Initiated

Werribee Working Class Anglo Saxon Italian

Private Ownership

Nil

Collingwood Working Class – Many Very Poor Families Recent Immigrants.

Multi Cultural Mainly Timorese, Vietnamese and Cambodian

Church Nil

Fitzroy Working Class – Early Intervention /Trauma Centre

Multi Cultural Charity Planned Curriculum Teacher Initiated -Specialist Wanted.

The research was conducted over three years. Its design was based in part on questions and concerns drawn from a preliminary research project conducted by the researcher in Melbourne metropolitan early-learning centres during 1995t in the early-learning centres in Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula, including:

(a) Kindergarten,

(b) Child Care Centre,

(c) Community Based Care and

(d) Pre-Prep centres attached to a P-6 or P-12 school.

The preliminary study was based on an initial concept of providing leadership in collaboratively developing curricula in pre-school centres which did not have music programs. This proved to be a very difficult process, and one in which success was too dependent upon other people’s sustained level of interest and commitment, and was adversely affected by simple factors such as changes in the staffing situation at a centre.

From the preliminary study, I noted that many teachers felt that music was a difficult area of curriculum to explore and develop. Some teachers expressed feelings of anxiety and concern at the prospect of having to sing and perform in front of others. Some teachers felt that their pre-service training had ill equipped them to take on such a daunting task. Teachers often spoke about their lack of talent and their skill deficiencies, both vocally and instrumentally.

They generally did not feel confident or competent to provide music experiences much beyond using the tape recorder. Those that felt confident and competent in the area of music were all too willing to show me how to go about providing meaningful experiences in music. These were great moments to experience as they were some splendid examples of sound pedagogy in classroom management, the organization of materials and resources and I gained useful additional strategies for the management of students. However, occasionally there was the odd teacher who presented music lessons with little evidence of any grounding in the discipline of music education. These teachers displayed difficulty with pitch, so could not sing in tune and many also could not keep a regular beat. Consequently their children sang out of tune and had difficulties in keeping time.

I found some kindergarten teachers felt that although I was good at my craft I was not "one of them" a proper teacher. This perception of specialist teachers in the arts not being "proper teachers" tends to exist across all levels of schooling and is not unique to this teachers at the pre-school level.

Teachers spoke about the lack of time available to create, to focus on developing a suitable music program. Most felt that the ‘music specialist’ was the one who ought to be the provider. For many teachers, their own orientation into classroom music was most likely to have been presented by some qualified music educator trained in arts education.

An additional complication arises from the fact that historically music at all levels of education has been an expensive extra, available to few (often privately), rather than being a core area. Society has often expected a separate rationale for the existence of music in the curriculum. However, this approach has often influenced educators to present music as serving some utilitarian function, one that could assist the growth and development of other area in the curriculum, rather than be a valued for aesthetic development alone.

My thesis is presented in the form of Narrative Enquiry. Mary Beattie (1995, p.54) talks about Narrative Inquiry as

Allowing researcher and teacher the opportunity to describe and represent the human relations and interactions inherent in the complex acts of teaching and learning, and to validate their many dimensions.

Furthermore, Beattie suggests that Narrative Inquiry

Allows us to acknowledge that educators know the situation in general, social and shared ways and also in unique and personal ways, thus validating the interconnectedness of the past, the present, future, the personal and the professional in the educator's life.

It is in the collaborative nature of Narrative Inquiry that drew me to this type of research. For as Beattie says

A narrative approach to teacher education allows for the kinds of collaborative programs and research venture where teacher/researcher and teacher/participants raise questions of their practices, and choose from multiple possibilities and co-create new meanings as they bring about growth, change, and reform in those practices and in their own lives.

I come from a Celtic background were the spoken word and music become inextricably entwined and form an integral part of our personal and communal life. In such a tradition, the interaction of the two forms is a source of great personal pleasure, forming an important social mechanism; one that fosters the sort of social cohesion and camaraderie which people recognize, for example in the great cultural archetype, the Irish pub. In these settings, music acts as an integral element in a particular "community", and allows people to interact on a level different to that which other elements in life allow. These positive elements of the use of music can be translated to an educational environment, for they are part of the lived experiences of a culture.

One "bud in bloom" for music, and arts education in general, lies in the field of early learning. There is a belief that early learning experiences in music are very important to developments later in a person’s life. Music is an "intelligence" on its own (Gardner 1993), but needs nourishment to develop and grow to its full potential.

Music may also enhance the other intelligences and can have a positive impact on other areas of learning. Early childhood teachers provide an aesthetic component to these programs.

Patton et al (1991), although not familiar with the Australian context of early childhood education, cites the first directed attention toward early childhood as important foundation years for learning were noted in the works of Montessori. Froebel and Patton notes that "widespread interest in early childhood education, however, did not develop until the 1960’s when psychological research began to reveal that the early years are indeed most critical for a child’s future development".

Many teachers have been ambivalent about the potential of arts education. Many believe music to be an important component in early learning. But many others are reluctant and unsure about how to provide and sustain an effective music program. Even teachers coming into pre service courses with a musical background are sometimes confused about what ought to be taught to pre-school children. Some teachers believed their pre-service music methods centered round the student teacher acquiring executive skills in choral and instrumental areas. They saw no problems with this because they enjoyed the choral and instrumental ensembles they were involved in. However for some teachers this experience proved to have a negative impact on them, as they felt less comfortable with applying their newly gained skills on the children.

For many educators the structuring and teaching of music has remained a mystery. No clear guidelines or curriculum supports have been readily available and until recently little locally produced materials were available. Staff in early learning comes from a variety of professional and sub-professional streams, including mother craft nurses, kindergarten teachers and childcare workers. Some are university trained whilst others are TAFE trained.

Others are untrained all together. All need some guidance and direction in program development, and this is rarely available.

Thus, in Victoria, except where a staff member has specialist skills music education is left to the so-called "experts". These experts, mainly private providers, often come into a centre at an additional cost to the parent and deliver music lessons only to those who can afford to attend.

Areas that are economically deprived are not always able to access music. I see, therefore, a very strong need for the current situation to be re-examined. Teachers in early learning ought to be educated at teachers college to be able to teach music. They ought to be able to design, deliver and maintain a music program that is contextually appropriate to the needs of each centre.

As a reflective practitioner I have come to terms with Dewey (1910) warning that reflective thought is troublesome, not least of all because it leads to reflection on the broad consequences of beliefs. He proposed that teacher education ought to assist students engage in reflective thought, which he viewed as a way of thinking that prevented inertia, replacing it with perplexity and a drive to inquire. Because my students cannot fully verbalize their thought processes, my engaging them in activities where they contribute an action or a word to describe their feelings is my way of involving them in the process.

For many years, Australian pedagogical resources and methods have been imported from abroad. These methods or approaches are excellent in the main. However, many of these approaches are adopted but not adapted to suit local needs and are contextually awkward at times. Much material is culturally imbedded and immediate transfer is not always appropriate. One example is Christmas songs, with references to snow and sleigh bells. Until the most recent decades, most music teachers in Victoria neglected "home grown" resources.

Although many teachers will say "I tried it out on my five year old and it worked", many new methods and approaches to early learning are, in effect, incorporated into programs without critical analysis regarding the general suitability of materials. One important aspect in early learning centres is that material and resources used must meet the needs of our multi-cultural society. Some materials may also intrude on religious beliefs. For example it would be insensitive and totally inappropriate to be singing Christian songs about "Little Baby Jesus" in a centre with Jewish or Muslim children present unless presented in the context of a wide-ranging multicultural program. It may be appropriate if appropriately explained as "this is a song XYZ sing at one of their important festivals".

It is interesting to note that in 1995 Arts education throughout Australia was beginning to find a legitimate place in the curriculum. A statement on the Arts for Australian Schools identified dance, drama, media, music and the visual arts as the five strands of the arts. Frank Bansel (1995, p.1) writing in The Primary Educator commenting on the newly published statement and offered the following comments:

"It strongly asserts that each strand has its own characteristics and body of knowledge and makes it own distinctive contribution to learning". Bansel defines the arts strands as ‘unique strands and asserts their vital place in learning programs.

At first there was fear among many of the arts educators about integration and talking about arts subjects as a collective group. Many teachers felt that their own discipline might become diluted and lose its unique characteristic. However, some educators drew strength from this

amalgamation, although Weidenbach (1995, p.10) cautioned music educators about retaining a definable identity by the following comments"

"The push for integrated learning experiences in current pedagogy, particularly at the primary school level, is worthy and will undoubtedly enhance arts integration across various disciplines but let us not lose sigh of the essential importance of each arts discipline as a specific and very particular means of developing expressiveness and sensitivity in young children. Let us not overlook the value of music as a discrete art form.

I welcomed the integration of the various components of Arts Education as I felt the combination of the various strands offered a desirable pathway for me to teach music to early learners. I knew that children learn to interact with music initially through singing and playing much as they acquired speech and language and believed that by adding other components of arts education that I could possible offer the children a richer pathway to learning music.

The early learning centres that form the narratives for this thesis had a stated desire to provide some form of aesthetic appreciation for music in their programs. In some instances, however, this seemed more a product of Government regulation than a genuine belief in its role.

Each milieu offered a different working environment. Some centres provided a comforting, relaxing and peaceful atmosphere while others appeared tense. In the former group staff morale were high and a sense of purpose and excitement permeated the place. I found that when staff was happy the children reflected the mood of the staff. In centres where staff morale was high I found myself a welcomed guest greeted and treated with genuine warmth and staff were always appreciative of me.

In other centres where staff was disaffected, unhappy or whispering among them or worse were not talking to each other the children tended to bicker, fight and cry a lot. It surprised and puzzled me that staff other than the those that I worked with never questioned or asked me why I was at there. I thought could have been somewhat dangerous, as I could have been anyone. I could have been a person who might have harmed the children and the teacher’s trusting acceptance of my presence amazed me.

Many of the untrained assistants did not appear to welcome conversations about child development, psychology, sociology or curriculum and I spent a lot of my time talking about them or about the type of parents the children had. I wanted to discuss their views and experiences on early childhood but often found that they either could not or would not articulate their own perspectives. Many staff mentioned that through accreditation they were reviewing work practices and program development but this seemed remote from what they did each day and anyway they were doing it for "Community Services" so that they would not be closed down and lose their jobs.

In the case studies, I have portrayed music education in long day care centres as being, with few exceptions, in an impoverished and deplorable state.

Child Care centre staff come from a variety of professional, sub-professional and untrained streams including mother craft nurses, kindergarten teachers, TAFE trained carers and what is known in the industry as untrained assistants. Many of these streams have no arts element at all in their training, and even those degree level courses that do, often contain a mere 30 hours or so in the whole course effort (about 2% of the course content) for music, drama and movement generally.

Pre service courses need to provide time for early learning undergraduates to develop sequences of units that will provide them with the structure to develop and implement an appropriate music curriculum for pre-school children. Course providers make it mandatory in some programs that pre service students have completed a sequence of units in a strand of the arts and that is a start. But in addition, programs need to be developed for teachers to use in the classroom; programs that are sequential, useful, have an Australian content and take account of the context in which early learning takes place.

Since most of young children’s contact in a long day Childcare Centre may be with only one or two significant adults, they may have little chance to be exposed to appropriate levels of arts skills in their early years of learning. It therefore seems important that pre service educators of Child Care workers need to develop a broad-based arts program with a built-in, ongoing professional development element in their courses which allow their workers opportunities to receive continuing education. This is vital if there is to be any likelihood of attaining the desired outcomes espoused in accreditation requirements and not just pay lip service to the ideal of establishing a cultural foundation to an arts education with an affinity to literacy and competence in the performing arts. However, the varied backgrounds of the people in the industry, and the minimal hours of training available to most of them, requires a different approach; to supplement whatever formal training in the Arts they have received. Musical skills come after many years of practice and performing and there must be an acknowledgement that certain levels of skills are a requisite for the successful delivery of arts experiences.

My contention is that, although 30 hours study in learning how to deliver an arts program is a start, it ought to be considered as only the first component in an on-going, professional development program for workers involved in the arts education of our young.

It takes years, indeed generations, to develop exemplary teaching skills in the arts and no matter how engaging the content of short courses may be, I believe they can not have sufficient content to develop adequate confidence and skills to deliver a meaningful arts program. What is often developed in such courses is a superficial understanding of the complexities inherent in the delivery of arts experiences and this may be more of a deterrent than an aid in improved delivery by the staff. Courses often neglect to acknowledge that prior learning and skills are a necessary ingredient, and what is offered is the icing without the cake, so to speak.

Gardner (1998, P.43) in his book "Extraordinary Minds" discusses how Asian societies approach the education of their young.

There is less consensus in Asian societies about whether scholastic mastery should be targeted in the first years of life. But in the case of art, music, and dance, it is commonly believed that the first years of life are crucial. Therefore it is accepted practice to train children in wielding the paintbrush, executing formal or folk dances, telling a story with poise, or singing in a chorus.

Some of the essential elements in preparing a teacher can be distilled from the way piano students are taught. For many years I have worked as an instrumental teacher teaching piano. I would start my pupil with a series of keyboard explorations, move to reading the notes, playing five finger exercises and then playing scales in their myriad of forms. Rhythmic and aural training took place each week, beginning with simple short exercises and moving to more complex and more difficult exercises. All of these activities were done to develop the student’s musicianship skills. Easy tunes were followed by longer and more complex tunes; then at last, often years later than the first lesson, I would be teaching my

student a movement from a Beethoven Sonata and later move them to learning the entire sonata.

Through this process, I will have taken into account my student’s own personal taste in music and sought to fulfill their need to also play and experience music of their own choosing. I would have also considered the size, shape and expanse of a student’s hand when choosing repertoire (a technique I learned from my favorite music teacher, Alison Cohen). All of this requires curriculum planning; conceiving the complete development of a single individual’s learning, from beginnings to maturity, including considering how to guide my student through the inevitable periods of discouragement. These are the two hurdles an instrumental music teacher has to contend with. As the student’s skills grow the educator becomes more like a coach, a facilitator who is charged with sustaining the students desire to continue.

It takes many years to reach mastery and the teacher must develop a good relationship with the student if the student is going to grow musically and be aesthetically and intellectually sustained on this sometimes perilous and hazardous journey.

The creator of a very successful marketer of early childhood provides one approach that uses many of these threads music programs in Melbourne. Jenny Fogarty’s early learning music curriculum offers an Australian perspective and context and provides curriculum materials that are creative and attend to the intellectual, personal and physical development of the child.

The lessons are highly interactive and are meant to be ever evolving. The resources and music content are generally familiar to the pre-school child. The curriculum is sequentially developed and children are placed in small groups (up to eight) according to their particular age grouping, and lessons generally last forty-five minutes. Materials and resources are attractive, entertaining and props are used to stimulate the children’s creativity and imagination. There are tapes available for follow up activities at home that also reinforce the concepts learned in the classes. It is the structure, planning and content that make this particular program successful.

Students need fresh challenges to sustain their interest and need to be introduced to many styles and forms of music. The long term vision should be that older students ought to be able to play current "pop" material and it is the role of the teacher to arrange music to an appropriate order of difficulty so that it is possible for the student to perform it. Students also need to listen to, and perform, for others. They ought to listen to performances given by their peers and attend concerts. Free exploration through improvisation (an art form dating back to Baroque times) develops a sense of control over an instrument and explorations of this kind may lead to composition. Each of these activities, and others, lead to the development of a mature and energetic interest in music making and music appreciation as essential elements of life’s experience.

The integrated curriculum approach to program development seems the most feasible. It can be a very exciting method for the delivery of early learning programs, is immediate, accessible and contextually relevant to the children’s learning and the music specialist coming in can quickly adapt to a program that is "up and running" if funding permits. When I was involved in this process at the best centre, I felt confident that music played an important role in the entire program was not severed from other experiences or remote from the daily living experiences of the children. It was rather, a vital ingredient to the total program. None of the other institutions I worked in had an "up and running" integrated curriculum.

Teachers must learn to love the arts and feel confident and competent to deliver lively, informative and enjoyable lessons. For those who love the arts, and are skilled in delivering lessons of this nature, it can be a rewarding experience rather than being an onerous teaching duty. Most of the staff I worked with saw the arts to be outside their duty of care and teaching competence, and disliked it. We need to find a solution to this unsatisfactory situation.

The music specialist seemed to be the only cornerstone whereby the general childcare teacher can be supported in developing and delivering early arts education. I learned recently from a very young South African teacher how to control a class of xylophone players and how to get their attention. The strategy used was for the teacher to raise rather large mallets over her head and begin to tap them together rhythmically, and slowly the children would join her. After she had completely engaged them, the children were led to begin playing more complicated, often syncopated, rhythmic patterns and were able to continue with the music making process. When she finally placed her mallets to the side, that was the signal for silence. The result was wonderful- a new experience for the children, the beginnings of many new skills and understandings of rhythms and sounds, and a sense of the achievements of teamwork in a self-disciplining environment.

For many years now, it has been argued by some that any good teacher can teach music to the young, whether or not he/she is a musician. This is rejected by most of the specialist researchers in the field, but I do not believe the solution for improving the delivery of music in early learning rests entirely in the hands of the music specialist. We do need to look at an integrated approach. I am advocating that the music specialist and the childcare teacher should be encouraged to work collaboratively to create an artistically rich environment, whilst transferring basic skills to the generalist teacher. The person who teaches the very young ought to be highly skilled, attend continuing educating and be in "tune" with current influential performers and trends.

If this were to happen, employers must make "time" beyond initial training to develop skills introduced in the pre service period or during the short courses available for professional development in the area of arts education. Consultants should be available to assist childcare centres implement and teach sequentially developed programs and relate these activities contextually to those already established at a centre. The music specialist could organize workshops on a local level where teachers are provided with opportunities to exchange ideas, activities and "ways of doing music" and these exchanges could be copied and circulated among those who attended the workshop.

In the State of Victoria there are private providers- early learning music specialists, consultants, subject associations and children’s performers, all of whom are influential in different ways on very young children with whom contact is made.

For many children, their first music teacher comes in the form of a TV presenter who teaches them to count through funny songs, often with catchy lyrics. Some popular children’s entertainers such as Peter Coombes from Adelaide, and a local Melbourne musician and composer Susie Davies, have both been most successful in providing children’s concerts that are fun and educational. These concert performances attempt to allow children the opportunity to participate, thus becoming an integral component in the total (live) performance.

Although talking about well developed playgroups in particular, Denise Lucey (1999, p.10) makes the following interesting comments about adult expectations about going to concerts

Going to concerts seems as much part of being a parent or carer of young children these days as going to playgroup. And adult concertgoers take the performances very seriously! Visit any playgroup and you’re sure to hear conversations about how a performer was more interested in crowd control than in entertaining or the children/interacted well with the crowd and was even better live (or worse!) Let’s face it for adults to take young children to paid entertainment, their expectations need to be met as well.

I found I could capitalize on the various approaches taken by these performers and utilise many of their songs and recordings. Some of these artists also provide additional activities and units of work that are practical and most useful.

We need teachers who are tuned in to the current young pop culture as well as acting as stewards and conservationists of what is good and wholesome from the past. There has emerged over the last decade a "pre-school hit parade" of video’s and CD’s of various artists and these are readily available. The fact that the concerts on which these are based are regularly sold out, establishes that these have real appeal to the children. The song "Dorothy the Dinosaur" is one such song and from it the children also learn to spell the noun and do the Dorothy dance. In "The Bear Hunt", children learn to sequence concepts and come to experience the idea of a verse/chorus and a bridge passage. Many of these entertainers provide an Australian perspective and our children begin to experience songs and activities that have local issues and a flavor to them.

Some of the more successful commercial pre-school music programs offered here in Victoria are now available as business franchises. Many of the franchises offer a particular, developmentally appropriate program and the original owners of such businesses usually continue to provide the franchisee with new curriculum materials. The franchisee often has contractual commitments to attend professional development sessions and continue to purchase up graded materials. These businesses provide information and materials that are cognizant with current curriculum trends in early childhood music education and offer advice regarding fee structures and customer negotiations. They usually offer a tried and tested product that is reliable in meeting its objectives.

There are many different models. Hing (1993) developed an inservice program using a German curriculum model that proved to be most useful for the participants involved. Hing researched the curriculum model with a number of volunteer teachers. These teachers attended an inservice program in their own time and met at regular intervals to report back to the group about their progress of the implementation of the German music program in their kindergarten.

In each state in Australia, the federal government supports a "model" early learning centre, and these are known as Lady Gowrie centres. Lady Gowrie provides inservice training programs for staff working in early learning. Staff in long day care, kindergarten, family day care, out of school hours care and occasional care services are all welcome and inservice programs are offered to meet the needs of a particular service, region or individual centre. Costs are kept to a minimum at this Government funded centre to encourage participation and continuing education. The sessions are held in the evenings so that those teachers and their assistants can attend.

I have attended a number of these inservice programs and have found them to be most valuable, non-threatening sessions. One such program that I attended ran over a ten-week cycle and participants were encouraged to bring along a music activity that worked and share it with the group. The presenter, Susanne Khalek, treated each participant as a colleague, and encouraged sharing ideas and activities and discussion of those things that worked or didn’t work. Most of us shared our resources and it was during the course that I

was introduced to cued articulation. Many of the songs and activities I already knew, but I learnt a delightful Japanese song about fireflies titled "Hotaru Koi" which I have used over and over again.

The teacher who introduced me to Hotaru Koi was Japanese and she made paper mache fireflies for us to hold as we sang the song sitting in a circle together. This was a lovely cultural exchange and one that I will never forget. Most of the staff who attended the course were either kindergarten teachers or directors. However, there appeared to be no child care assistants attending, and I think this was a great opportunity lost.

I believe that the Government ought to do even more to encourage retraining and continuing education. One way to do this would be to reimburse the costs incurred in training staff. Perhaps private centres could be reimbursed once their staff had completed the course as a way of minimizing waste of funds. This approach has been used with success for many years in industry generally. Reimbursement to the employer of subsidies paid to employees would be an incentive for quality improvement, as professional development may add value to the service offered by a centre.

As an incentive for staff to attend inservice programs, the skilled teacher could be rewarded by a higher rate of pay, by time-release to attend inservice training or to attend network meetings. At these meetings staff could exchange ideas and meet in a social setting away from the work environment. Changes of this sort would signal a major change for many centres and staff. As an example of the poor industrial environment operating in some centres, a kindergarten teacher recently told me that at her centre staff had to sign a contract that included a clause that they agreed not talk to each other in the yard during outdoor play activities. They could only talk to each other if it was completely necessary and the safety of the children was at risk.

I feel that the music teacher is accountable for making sure that whatever is taught to the children is developmentally appropriate and creatively presented. Teachers of the arts need to develop the patience to work slowly through each concept stage by stage to develop programs that are workable, contextually relevant and enhance musical understandings. They ought to tell the children what is expected from them during music so that the children can adjust to the different attitudes and expectations they may be confronted with. We know from experience that to acquire skills in the arts requires plenty of repetition, but teachers must disguise this repetition by varying their method of presentation, in order not to bore the more gifted students.

As a music teacher I must create a particular and special environment, a place where music can be made freely. Open space is conducive to music making for it is flexible and any odd bits of furniture can be used, moved and changed around as the need arises. The atmosphere must suggest that all styles of music are welcome and that "noise" can be made. The centre must make available all sorts of music resources- instruments, books, tapes and people, and the music teacher must make time to talk with the children.

I have found that I must listen to the children’s problems, consider their ideas and their suggestions as to how to improve or change a particular aspect of music, For example I could ask the children how they think they could make the music different. Listen, respond and then include any suggestions the children might have made to enhance the music. Instruments must not just be on display, but rather ought to be available for playing.

If we reflect together, then we can turn the music experience into a body of meaningful knowledge. In doing this, teachers may observe a change in the way their children think and

know what they know, inextricably linking reflection and assessment together. Dillon (1996, P.40) tells use that

When we allow the total environment to educate the student then it is our monitoring of the experiences designed to take place in that environment that allow the student to reach beyond the information given.

I found that most pre school children love music and seem to have an enormous sense of fun. They enjoy any activity that has a funny side to it. They love their teachers to be seen in a funny light and simple things make them laugh with delight. They love to participate, to make and create music and movement. They love to perform and have to be held back at times and taught to allow others to take centre stage. They often engage in spontaneous music improvisation and make up lyrics to tunes that are clever and humorous. They also model contemporary video pop stars such as the "Spice Girls" and can sing lengthy verses and the choruses of their songs.

Many of the children aged three to five could put dance movements to their singing and their coordination was extraordinarily good. Their response to music is complex and it appears to me that they think about how to make music and can verbalize why they like the music. Their responses are often surprising as they may say something like "I like it because it makes me a tingle". or "I like the grumpy sound of the big trumpet," (meaning Trombone) They are reflective on their own musical experiences and can articulate quite well how the music makes them feel. This reflection is valuable in both a cognitive and in an artistic sense.

Teachers and centre administrators need to recognize that the music specialist has a music curriculum to teach. The music curriculum has its own set of sequences that need to be attended to, so that the foundations for later learning are laid. One of the valuable contributions that music and other arts subjects can make is by assisting in reinforcing learning in other areas of the pre school curriculum.

Because of the economic constraints in early learning centres, I am advocating what I call "on site" inservice programs, where the consultant comes to work with teachers and children as part of an ongoing program of professional development for teachers. We need to be able to share the use of the music specialists.

I believe we cannot allow poor standards of musicianship in teachers to continue uncorrected in early learning centres if we are serious about offering our children an educational experience that is effective and efficient and includes valid musical experiences. Rather, continuous improvement to curriculum must be supported and encouraged. The Accreditation Program can provide the incentive to improve- the profession, and the educators of teachers, must provide the tolls and the experiences for it to happen.

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