Social life among toddlers in kindergarten as communicative musicality

Abstract

Through micro-ethnographic analysis of video observations in two Norwegian kindergartens for children below the age of three, this study explores some of the complexity of the social lives of young children in institutions. Drawing on the theory of communicative musicality, the analysis adds to existing knowledge on early childhood education (ECE) by showing some aspects of young children’s social capacities. Before or alongside the use of speech and conventional words, they can develop and use a large repertoire of sounds, rhythms, expressive bodily movements, and melodic elements in order to interact with their peers. Through communicative musicality, they can balance between the need for togetherness and being singled out, gathering in crowds and making space for themselves. Although this is more audible among toddlers, since their verbal capacity is limited, the study underlines the role of non-verbal musical elements in human interaction in general.