Part 1: Read the “Introduction” section of Songs in their Heads (pp. 4-16)
1.How might the information the author provides on the nature of children’s musical culture and play inform musical learning experiences you create for or with children?
Children build up their nature of musical culture and play through their entertaining, thoughtful and expressive experiences in their first touch of music. The author found out that children are very active in making musical patterns in their playful movements, alone or together, both rhythmic and regular by her careful observation. Children’s musical development and understanding is already well on its way by the time of birth due to the auditory nerve developments to process sounds to their brain. Due to the musics that grows within children have great impact on their musical knowledge, values and needs, we need to create an educational plan which can be in touch with their lives and experiences, setting instructional intervention and enrichment for them especially using folk songs, Because children are great in imitating adults’ behaviors.
2.What was surprising, challenging, or inspiring for you about the author’s discussion of the serious study of children’s lives, musical or otherwise?
I found out some information in the author’s study state that, although children likes to imitate adult, they still want to become more than themselves and the children’s self-identification is very unpredictable for centuries. Moreover, children are cross-culturally connected in their commonalities, which represented in their musical needs and interests. The challenge for me is how can we make together an unison of children from different cultural experiences to find out their commonalities and build up their interests in music. On the other hands, how to satisfy children by giving them the music both related to their own culture or experience and also novel and meaningful to them.
Part 2: Read the excerpt (posted as a PDF to Blackboard) taken from the introduction to Ruth Crawford Seeger’s American Folk Songs for Children (Here she is describing how she used the folk songs in her collection with children and how one might go about using them in general).
1.Think about and describe Ruth Crawford Seeger’s approach to “musicking” with children. Was her approach child-centered or teacher-centered? How did she navigate student behaviors that some might describe as “off-task”? (Also note that this was written in 1948)
I think her approach was child-centered more. She navigated student behaviors by patience and do not be hurry to move one song to another. Have confidence do not be fear of losing control of a group. For her example of Carter, if a child leaves a singing group, he/she might be living through the meaning of song but not really lose the interest of song that we usually thought. So she actually observed Carter’s behaviors carefully without any hurry or stop and be ready for him back to the group.
2.What connections can you draw between Ruth Crawford Seeger’s and Patricia Shehan Campbell’s narratives on their experiences with children and their approaches to music for children?
They both believe：
Firstly, using folk song as an useful tool of teaching music well. Secondly, most children need or prefer action songs more than listening quiet song, but due to their auditory development, teacher should prepare to balance two types of songs well. Thirdly, children learned music from their experience and social interactions, for instance, the meaning behinds the lyric of song may remind their past experience and thought. Make sure to notice their behaviors and do not hurry the teaching process. Finally, children are good imitators, teachers need to be prepared of new thing during in class to face any unexpected sistuation.
William Bai 