‘Now can I watch my video?’: Exploring musical play through video sharing and social networking in an early childhood music class

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to explore factors influencing musical play of preschool children in home and class settings through the use of video sharing by parents and teacher in an early childhood music course. Six families, all of whom had participated in at least one semester of prior research, attended a 45-minute music class each week for nine weeks and completed and documented assignments via a private online social network. Research questions explored musical play-enhancing and play-inhibiting factors as identified by parents, teacher, and outside observers, and how the behaviors varied across settings. Data included field notes, parent-written posts on the social network site, video footage of children in home and community settings, class video, and transcripts of exit interviews. Results of qualitative data analysis suggested that the expression of child’s agency was a key element in play-enhancing behaviors; adult involvement fell into both categories, but was more often play-enhancing when paired with child agency.