Browsing by Subject "musiikkikasvatus"
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(2020)The aim of this research was to map out the musical environments as well as the consideration of children’s musical preferences in early childhood education and preschool. Previous studies were mostly focused on the systematical music education, so with this study the goal is to create a general view of the musical environment and music-related activity in early childhood education and preschool by answering the following research questions: 1. In what situations and purposes is music used in early childhood education and preschool? 2. What pieces of music and music genres are used early childhood education and preschool? 3. In what ways and by who are the music choices made in early childhood education and preschool? a) What elements are considered important in music choices? b) How are the preferences and wishes considered in the music choices? The research utilized a mixed methods approach, that involved both qualitative and quantitative features. The data was collected with an online survey and the sample consisted of 90 individual survey participants who worked in an early childhood or preschool environment in February of 2020. The data collected with the survey consisted of both qualitative and quantitative information that was analyzed with different methods. The qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis with a phenomenographical method, which focuses on different experiences and thoughts about a specific subject. The quantitative data was analyzed with statistical methods like comparing means and medians, using frequency tables and cross tabulation as well as statistical tests like nonparametric Chi-square test and one-way analysis of variance. The results of the research indicate that music is a part of all daily activities in the early education setting, but its use is emphasized in adult-led activities as well as during rest. Music has an important role in everyday situations as well as creating a mood. Children’s music was listened to the most, especially during adult-led activities, but classical music was also used quite a lot, especially during rest. The most used children's music were old traditional songs like "Wheels on the bus" and "Twinkle twinkle little star". From other genres "Ikuinen vappu" by JVG was the most mentioned. Children's requests, the subject, own pedagogical experience as well as musical learning goals were the most important basis for making music choices. The choices were made by the early childhood education teachers, early education nurses as well as children, but the emphasis leaned towards the teacher, especially in preschool context.
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(2020)The creative production of music, which among other things means improvisation and composing, is a central goal throughout compulsory education within the musical curriculum. There is an ever-increasing emphasis on technology in education and within musical education it has a clear place in achieving the goal of creative musical production. Research has shown that despite this goal, teachers rarely utilize creative musical production or musical technology in their own teaching methods and that only a part of students completing their compulsory education have experience for example in composing. In a school context musical technology is usually a reference to moveable mobile devices, such as tablets or computers. In this thesis the emphasize is on iPads and the various musical apps available to the device. The goal of this thesis is to determine what does it actually mean to utilize iPads as a method of creative musical production and to provide practical tips on using iPads as a method of creative musical production by looking at what possibilities and challenges it presents. For this thesis four music teachers with experience in utilizing iPads as a method of creative musical production were interviewed. The thesis was conducted as a qualitative case-study and the research material was analysed using content -and thematic analytical methods. Research results were reviewed and compared to previous theoretical research, articles, professional literature and curriculum found in the theoretical background, regarding creative musical production and musical technology, which formed the basis for the deductions presented in this thesis. Research showed that iPads were utilized for both creating music to also musical improvisation using musical apps. Most teachers preferred the application Garageband for creating music, whilst other applications used were Launchpad, Chrome Music Lab and Thumbjam. Due to their easy use musical applications allowed students the possibility to create music regardless of their skill and thus also increased student agency and motivation whilst also learning environment permitting the possibility for musical differentiation. The challenges facing the uses of iPads foremost involve resources, such as the availability of devices and applications and their features. Musical technology appears to have a place as a way to provide creative musical production when it’s use can be justified from a pedagogical standpoint.
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(2020)The aim of this thesis is to describe, analyze and interpret the meanings that the administrative representatives of the City of Jämsä Education and Culture Department give to the Music Institute as part of the Education and Cultural Services. The study is a qualitative case study and the data is analyzed according to phenomenographic analysis. The research is motivated not only by the researcher's personal interests in music and musical hobbies, but also by the interest in decision-making and its preparation. The research questions are based on the history of the national music school system and the local music institute, research on folk and music school and their social significance, research on Finnish leisure music hobbies, documents and regulations governing the activities of the city and the Music School, their organization and strategy. Three administrative representatives of the Education and Cultural Services in the City of Jämsä were interviewed for the study. The theme interviews were recorded and transcribed. The analysis of the material proceeded according to the phenomenographic analysis. The results of the study show that the Music School has also cultural, service and collaborative responsibilities in addition to its educational duties. The music school’s strengths include competent, long-term and motivated staff, content and collaboration. Weaknesses are related to financial aspects. The life-cycle perspective of the Quality-of-life Services is comprehensively realized in the Music School. According to representatives of the educational administration, the Music School is an actor to prevent inequality and exclusion, although fees and entrance examinations limit the opportunities for participation. From a communal point of view, the Music School creates a community in itself and it has many successful partners. Related to health improving aspect, the Music School first and foremost improves mental health. According to the interviewees, the Music School strengthens both local music culture and cultural activities. Through its activities, the Music School has been a part of the nationwide history of music schools, for example, by training experts in important musical positions. There have been structural, operational, economic, political and cultural changes in the administration and services of the City of Jämsä. In particular, the Music School supports the fields of well-being and vitality of the “Jämsä 2025” strategy. Economic, cultural and operational challenges are mentioned for the future.
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(2016)Aims. The present national core curriculum of Finnish comprehensive school highlights creative music making, such as improvising and composing, as one of the main contents and aims of music education. Firstly, the primary aim of this research is to study how music teachers conceptualize creative music making and what kind of meanings they give for creative music making in elementary school context. Secondly, the study explores what are teachers' perceptions of their qualifications on teaching creative music making, and where they view that the qualifications originated from. Finally, the study finds out what kind of support are teachers getting for teaching creative music making, and what kind of obstacles are preventing them from teaching creative music making. Methodology. This research is a qualitative case study. It is based on five thematic interviews with teachers who teach music in elementary school. The analysis of the data includes features from content analysis and fenomenographic analysis. Results and conclusions. The interviewees expressed diverse conceptions about creative music making and their conceptions were similar to the forms of creative music making highlighted in previous literature and theory. The interviewees were able to adapt the exercises for different age levels. Furthermore, they experienced creative music making as a meaningful part of music education for multiple reasons. According to the interviewees, creative music making improved learning skills, joy of learning and skills of thought. It also strengthen the active role and creative self-expression of the pupil. Interviewees also highlighted the transfer effect of the creative music making. It was also experienced meaningful for grouping and developing social atmosphere. However, all the interviewees experienced their qualification for teaching creative music making at least partially insufficient. Qualifications were more often originated from hobbies and from prior work experience than from university education. Almost all of the interviewees experienced that new teaching material and updating training is needed. In addition, the interviewees experienced that the lack of resources in time, environment and equipment were obstacles for teaching creative music making. Also, the competence of the teachers and group related factors were seen as obstacles for creative music making. The study highlights that there is a need to pay more attention to the material and time resources as well as to teachers receiving better university level training for teaching creative music.
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(2021)Objectives. The objective of this pro gradu thesis is to survey what primary school music teachers think about songcrafting. I use the term songcrafting to reflect activities where a teacher is guiding or teaching composition or using it as an educational tool. In songcrafting the teacher is the leader but pupils are the composers. It has been stated that composition is a useful activity to include in music education. Also the Finnish curriculum demands to offer opportunities for composing. However, composing is found by many teachers challenging to implement. In this study I strive to find out what are the things that primary school music teachers consider important for the success in songcrafting. This study aims at collecting information about things that should be focused on in songcrafting and in teacher training to make songcrafting easier to implement. Methods. I collected the material of this study by interviewing four class teachers who are specialized in music education. The interviews were semi-structured thematic interviews. I analyzed the material by using qualitative content analysis. Results and conclusions. According to the interviewees' perceptions, teachers’ skills are the key to success in songcrafting. In particular, subject matter knowledge appeared to be important. Interviewees suggested that learning material could be a way to compensate for incomplete subject matter knowledge. Additionally, in-service teacher training was seen as a good way to develop teachers’ skills. Songcrafting was described as containing planning, evaluation, pupil participation and support of pupils. Teacher skills were described as being linked to all of these. According to previous research and this thesis, one should consider how teachers’ skills could be supported and developed in the best possible way. Providing quality learning material and in-service teacher training might be the solution. Therefore those should be explored and developed further, in order to make songcrafting possible for a growing number of teachers.
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(2023)Objectives. The objective of this master's thesis was to investigate music teachers' unders-tanding and experiences of teaching creative music production. Creative music production is an essential part of the latest Finnish National Core Curriculum for Basic Education, but ac-cording to research, creative teaching methods are implemented variably in music education and often overshadowed by more traditional teaching methods. Creative teaching methods are often perceived as challenging to implement, and many music teachers feel unprepared to teach them. This study aimed to determine the background factors that affect the success of teaching creative music production and the skills required of the teacher. Methods. The data for the study was collected by interviewing four music teachers who teach in primary schools. The interviews were semi-structured thematic interviews, and the data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results and conclusions. According to the music teachers who participated in the study, the most important factors that contribute to the success of creative music production in primary school music education are a safe and supportive learning environment, the teacher's subject knowledge, differentiated teaching, resources, the teacher's attitudes towards creative teaching methods, and planning and limitations. Strong subject knowledge was considered a prerequisite for pedagogically competent teaching.
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(2005)The purpose of this research is to study primary school teachers’ thoughts about today’s music teaching. The aim was to acquire information and understanding about music teaching in Finland nowadays. The idea was to carry out a study on experiences and skills of the teachers, planning and evaluation in music teaching and also integration of music into other subjects in lower primary school. The intention was also to investigate teachers’ attitudes to the curriculum, the highlights of music teaching and also teachers own ideas about developing the teaching of music. The research was carried out as a survey-research. Answers were received from 15 communities in Finland. There were both multiple-choice questions and open questions about music teaching in the survey form. That was addressed mainly for teachers specialized in music teaching. The survey form was published in the Internet and the answering was done by e-mail. The answers were collected during the spring of 2005 and altogether 96 teachers took part in the research. The research data was analyzed mainly quantitatively, but the open questions were analyzed also qualitatively. According the results the teachers at lower primary school are mostly quite satisfied with the state of the music teaching in Finland nowadays. The improvements were mainly desired in time and material resources, supplementary training (f .ex band and IT-skills) and sizes of teaching groups. The teachers are basically satisfied with the music teaching curricula, although they are considered to be challenging as the resources constantly diminish. According to the teachers’ experiences the evaluation of students in music teaching is difficult. Music is often integrated with other subjects. Many teachers point out the importance of practical and art subjects especially at lower primary school.
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(2011)The main purpose of the Master Thesis was to find out what kind of attitudes the pupils in the 9th grade of Finnish comprehensive school have towards music as a school subject and compare it to the attitudes of the principals at a school level. The theoretical context of the research is based on the former studies of the significance of music education in the comprehensive school, the connection between learning and attitudes and the motivational factors towards the study motivation of music. In addition to this, I have analysed the role of the evaluation and the assessment from the point of view of developing the educational system and what is the role of management and leadership in relation to the pupils' behaviour and attitudes. The data of the research is the Finnish National Board of Education's collected data of the assessment of the learning outcomes of arts education and it is nationally representative (N=5056 I phase and n=1570 II phase), both the Finnish-language and the Swedish-language pupil data. I have especially concentrated on the items of measuring the attitudes, the certain background variables and the questionnaire of the principals. The numerical data was analyzed using the multivariate statistical methods. The results of the research prove that in general the pupils and the principals think that music is quite significant as a school subject. The girls valued music on average more than the boys when comparing all the dimensions. The differences were systematic but the effect sizes were under 10 %. There were not statistically significant differences between the Finnish-language and the Swedish-language pupils. Comparing the grades of music in the 7th grade, the differences were growing linearly and the effect size was 15.7 %. There was a positive statistically significant correlation between the Significance of music and music as a hobby (Active interest in music, Informal interest in music, Taking part of music activities in the school) during free time. The strongest correlation were with the Active interest in music variable (r= 0.53, p= .000). Also the principals thought that music is important as a school subject considering the development of the pupil and the function of the school. The answers of the pupils were not clustering at a school level and there were no strong correlations between the attitudes of the pupils and the principals. A statistically nearly significant and a slight correlation (r= 0.21, p= .011) was found between the principals valuing the Significance of the music for school function and the pupils valuing the Benefits and hobbyism. The role of a well-motivated and active music teacher can be important from this point of view. The most important conclusion of the research was that the significance of music is a very personal individual level phenomenon. The results highlight also that in the pupils' opinion the most important thing about music lessons is to musical activity and learning as an experience.
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(2024)Relationship with music develops significantly during primary school. Different experiences with music are seen as important because they determine the pupil’s perception of their own skills and abilities in music. Pupil’s positive musical self-efficacy is an essential part of their musical development and a necessary component of musical involvement. Music education in primary schools is often the responsibility of the class teacher. Through a varied and supportive music education, the class teacher can provide pupils with a solid foundation for a musically active life. In this thesis, I delved into the perceptions of class teachers implementing music education about the meaning of students’ musical self-efficacy and ways to support students’ musical self-efficacy. The thesis was conducted as a qualitative study. The research data was collected through semi- structured thematic interviews and analyzed using a theoretical content analysis. Three class teachers who have taught music to their classes were interviewed for the study. The results of the study indicated that the class teachers perceived musical self-efficacy as important for pupils’ well-being, musical relationships, musical development, and the experience of the community. Class teachers felt that it was meaningful for students to feel successful and capable in music. The experience of competence gives the pupil the confidence to engage in music, both individually and collectively, while maintaining the joy of music. The results also showed that the class teachers support student’s musical self-efficacy in a variety of ways. In particular, class teachers aim to influence the pupil’s personal experiences in music, for example, through the amount of practice and the content of the tasks, and by ensuring that each pupil is able to participate. The class teachers viewed even small successes by students as significant and sought to help students see their own progress as well. Class teachers perceived that in music education it was important to maintain an optimistic atmosphere with opportunities for positive emotions. Positive feedback, support, and the experience of the development of musical skills were important as well.
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(2004)This study examines the impact that the Tapiola choir has had on its singers under its four decades. This pedagogical meaning was studied through the former singers of the Tapiola choir, their life choices and their choice of profession. The purpose of this study was to find out how the Tapiola choir has influenced its singers in the long run - their individuality and personality as well as their world view. The target group of this research were all the former members of the Tapiola choir. Altogether 400 individuals have sung in the Tapiola choir. One hundred of them could be reached and 87 of them answered the enquiry. The enquiry was divided in to the following sections: 1) background, 2) years in the choir, 3) hobbies, 4) statements, 5) complete the sentences and 6) with your own words. The main emphasis in this enquiry was on the 50 statements, which were used to study the respondents' attitudes towards the choir as a hobby, the choir's working methods and music education. Through the analysis of this section the researcher was able to generalize the impacts that Tapiola choir has had on its singers. The theoretical base of this study examines the subtext of musicality and musical development as well as music as a hobby. Communal music hobbies and the requirements for a functioning music community were also accentuated. This was connected to my hypothesis of an educative music community. A music community can't be truly educative if its members are unable to collaborate in different situations of practicing and performing. The research results support my hypothesis of the educativeness of a children's choir. The former choristers are socially skilled and self-confident individuals, who are well prepared for the challenges in life. In the Tapiola choir every member is a responsible individual as well as an important part of the whole. The different tasks given in the choir teach the choristers to trust their own skills. Working in a group for its part develops social skills. Many of the respondents also felt that singing in the Tapiola choir was more than a hobby, almost like a way of life. Many of them impress that they would be totally different persons without this period in their life.
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(2020)The goal of this research is to explore the perceptions kindergarten teachers, working with children under the age of three, have on the execution of musical education within early childhood education and its significance on a child’s overall growth, development and learning. The research is limited to concerning only the opinions of kindergarten teachers, as for the teachers work as the groups pedagogical leaders and are responsible for the planning execution of high-quality early childhood education. Musical education is included as a part of other fine arts subjects and musical expression is a typical way of functioning and thinking for a child. Music has been proven to have an influence on the development of a childs’ personality and therefor it is necessary that various ways of musical expression are supported through musical education in early childhood education. The study has been carried out as a qualitative research, in which the material has been formed with an electronic questionnaire. The questionnaire was sent with an accompanying letter to 30 early childhood education centers in the city of Helsinki. The final sample consisted of the answers of 10 kindergarten teachers. The material was analyzed by using recurring themes and finding similarities and resemblances in the answers and studying the differences. According to the results, kindergarten teachers saw musical education as a significant support for the development of linguistics within children under the age of three. Musical education was also seen as creating the feeling of secureness for the child while basic needs were attended to like in toilet and clothing situations. Music was seen as a natural form of interaction with small children. Teachers experienced musical education in their training leading up to their job as a kindergarten teacher differently. The teachers saw for example their lack of skills in accompaniment and the scarce knowledge of musical theory as a challenge for accomplishing adequate musical education.
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