Browsing by Author "Ranta, Anni"

This bachelor’s thesis is intended to study the importance of music education in early childhood according to previous studies. The attempt is to find definitions and benefits to early childhood music education from earlier studies. Narrative literature review was used as a research method in this bachelor’s thesis. The theoretical framework of the research consists of presenting the guiding documents of early childhood education and a small review of the literature on music education. The research material consists of previous studies and research articles. The research material was searched using the Google Scholar search engine and electronic databases of University of Helsinki. In the analysis of the research data, the research questions led the pick of the material when intend was to find relevant information to this bachelor’s thesis. Related literature, as well as research articles used in the research showed that music education supports linguistic development of children and helps building social skills, and cultural understanding. The research material showed that high-quality music education is versatile and takes into account the physical, mental and social skills associated with the age of children. High quality music education thus supports the child's development in many other areas of development. In addition, child-based teaching methods seem to yield positive results according to the research used in the thesis. In addition to the children's musical development, the child-oriented approach of teaching seems to support their self-esteem and sense of belonging to the group. It is possible to apply the literature review and its results in further studies, for example, when studying the importance of music education only from the perspective of a teacher or a child. It is also possible to use the thesis when studying only a specific area of music education or children's development.