Musical play and self-regulation: does musical play allow for the emergence of self-regulatory behaviours?

TY - JOUR

T1 - Musical play and self-regulation: does musical play allow for the emergence of self-regulatory behaviours?

AU - Zachariou, Antonia

AU - Whitebread, David

PY - 2015/9/30

Y1 - 2015/9/30

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

U2 - 10.1080/21594937.2015.1060572

DO - 10.1080/21594937.2015.1060572

M3 - Article

SN - 2159-4937

VL - 4

SP - 116

EP - 135

JO - International Journal of Play

JF - International Journal of Play

IS - 2

ER -