A Qualitative Investigation of Early Childhood Teachers' Experiences of Rhythm as Pedagogy

Autor/inn/en	Matthews, Douglas R; Ubbes, Valerie A; Freysinger, Valeria J
Titel	A Qualitative Investigation of Early Childhood Teachers' Experiences of Rhythm as Pedagogy
Quelle	In: Journal of Early Childhood Research, 14 (2016) 1, S.3-17 (15 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1476-718X
DOI	10.1177/1476718X14523745
Schlagwörter	Teaching Methods; Qualitative Research; Phenomenology; Elementary School Teachers; Music; Dance; Motion; Play; Interviews; Teacher Attitudes; Early Childhood Education; Ohio + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Qualitative Forschung; Phenomenological psychology; Phänomenologie; Psychologie; Elementary school; Teacher; Teachers; Grundschule; Volksschule; Lehrer; Lehrerin; Lehrende; Musik; Tanz; Bewegungsablauf; Spiel; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Lehrerverhalten; Early childhood; Education; Frühkindliche Bildung; Frühpädagogik
Abstract	Rhythm has been found to enhance not only biological functioning (e.g. balance, timing and coordination), but also to facilitate learning across sociocultural contexts. That is, rhythm may be a method of supporting child development and well-being. Hence, to the extent that children are not exposed to or engaged with rhythm, their development or the realization of their full potential may be limited. However, little research has explored the use of rhythm in early childhood education--a major context (in terms of time and importance) of children's lives--or teachers' experiences with rhythm in their pedagogy. Therefore, we conducted a qualitative study to investigate elementary teachers' experiences of rhythm in their classroom teaching specifically, and in the teaching--learning process generally. A phenomenological approach that assumes that peoples' perceptions present us with evidence of the world not as the world is thought to be but as it is lived was employed. Our goal was to understand the everyday pedagogy of a group of elementary school teachers, specifically, to understand how they experienced and constructed the role of rhythm in elementary education. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with study participants to probe and generate a rich description of the phenomenon of rhythm in the teaching--learning process. Results consisted of nine themes that convey (1) what rhythm meant to the teachers, (2) what they saw as the importance of rhythm in their teaching, and (3) the challenges they faced in incorporating rhythm in their teaching. Findings suggest that a broader and more inclusive range of activities (i.e. because rhythmic activities such as music, dance, oral rhymes, and other bodily movement) in the academic curriculum is important as such activities have the potential to improve the learning, development, and well-being of elementary school-age children and enhance the lived experiences of schooling for both educators and their students. However, a number of challenges also confront elementary educators who seek to incorporate rhythm into their pedagogy. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01