A case study on parent participation in their child's musical development

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to study one family's role in their child's musical development. To explore the ways in which the parents participated in early childhood music classes and the ways in which they recognized their child's musical responses, a qualitative ethnographic case study design was used. Participants were one family (mother, father, and 18 month old son) enrolled in an early childhood music program in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Findings indicated that the parents chose to participate in early childhood music class for reasons beyond supporting their child's musical development. Family communication, bonding, and obtaining musical material for daily family engagement were positive outcomes of enrollment in early childhood music classes for the family. Both parents engaged in musicking with their child through tonal, rhythmic, and movement interactions. Musical engagement and attempted musical engagement with their child occurred almost solely in the form of movement interactions. The parents described several musical behaviors their child demonstrated during classes; however, they lacked confidence in their vocabulary to describe their son's musical behaviors. Having a greater understanding of early childhood musical development and terminology, as well as increased comfort with musicking may influence parental participation in their child's musical development. While conclusions from this study cannot be generalized, this exploratory research may have implications for further investigation in the field of early childhood music education and research.