Music activities in Hong Kong kindergartens and stakeholders’ perspectives on quality musical practices /

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Student Theses

2024

Ho, Yan Lam

Hong Kong : The Education University of Hong Kong

Thesis

Early exposure to quality musical activities benefits children’s holistic development and learning. It is, therefore, crucial to ensure kindergarten teachers can provide such activities for children. In Hong Kong, the Education Bureau (EDB) designed the Kindergarten Education Curriculum Guide (Curriculum Development Council, 2017). While music is included as a subdomain in the official curriculum, with specific learning objectives and expectations for children, there is a dearth of research on the musical activity types kindergarten teachers conduct in practice. Similarly, no research has been conducted to explore the perspectives of local kindergarten stakeholders (e.g., quality assessors) on quality music education. Investigating these topics is vital to guide subsequent professional development (PD) efforts in kindergartens.This dissertation portfolio draws on Campbell and Scott-Kassner (2019)’s theoretical framework of quality music education in early childhood. The overall objective was to explore the provision and types of musical activities in Hong Kong kindergartens and stakeholders’ perspectives on quality musical practices. This dissertation comprises three empirical studies. Study 1 was a large-scale survey study with kindergarten teachers (n = 1,019), investigating the provision of musical activities in kindergartens and the potential differences in musical activities among teachers with different teaching experience. Descriptive, non-parametric, and parametric statistical analyses were performed. Study 2 was a content analysis exploring the types of musical activities mentioned in 164 Quality Review (QR) reports published by the EDB. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistical analyses, word frequency, and co-occurrence analyses. Study 3 was a content analysis of 323 QR reports, exploring the positive and negative feedback and recommendations for improvement regarding music pedagogical practices mentioned by quality assessors in the reports. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistical analyses. The three studies, altogether, inform stakeholders on the status of kindergarten music education in Hong Kong kindergartens.Findings revealed important discrepancies between the Hong Kong local music education curriculum and actual practices in kindergartens, particularly pertaining to the limited use of music to develop children’s creativity and self-expression. Additionally, teaching experience emerged as a crucial variable that affects the provision of musical activities. Beginning teachers reported conducting significantly fewer musical creativity and self-expression activities than Advanced teachers. However, quality assessors seemed to have overlooked these curriculum/practice discrepancies. It is worrisome that the assessors might not notice that musical practices are insufficient to achieve the curriculum objectives and, hence, their feedback is inadequate for practitioners to make further improvements.This dissertation portfolio enriches the limited literature on early childhood music education in Asia, providing important baseline information on the status of music education in Hong Kong kindergartens. Findings raise stakeholders’ (i.e., curriculum designers, teachers, and principals) awareness of the discrepancies between curriculum and practices. Teacher educators and PD providers can design PD initiatives that respond to the training needs of teachers with different teaching experience. In turn, such initiatives will allow teachers to design and implement their music lessons more strategically, ultimately enhancing the quality of music education provided to children

LG51.H43 Dr 2024eb Hoyl

https://educoll.lib.eduhk.hk/records/zDrNbtyk