Abstract
This paper is a pioneering attempt to bring together the notions of musical play and self-regulation and reports on a study aiming to explore 6-year-old children's self-regulation during musical play. While musical play is one of the first manifestations of musicality, a fundamental aspect of human functioning (Trevarthen, 2000), self-regulation is crucial in children's learning. Self-regulatory abilities flourish in playful contexts (Bruner, 1972), since play's specific characteristics promote self-regulatory development. Even though musical play shows these characteristics, its relationship with self-regulation is under-researched. This paper presents observations of ten 6-year-old children while they were engaged in musical play sessions. Having adopted a mixed-methods approach, the results suggested that musical play allowed for self-regulatory behaviours to emerge. An understanding of the link between musical play and self-regulation could inform not only the theoretical underpinnings suggesting a relationship between play and self-regulation, but also current teaching practice in relation to music education.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 116-135 |
| Journal | International Journal of Play |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 30 Sept 2015 |
Profiles
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Antonia Zachariou
- School of Education - Honorary Research Fellow
- Centre for Learning, Teaching and Human Development - Honorary Research Fellow
Person