musical partnerships in play (MERYC)

Reflections from Alison Street on the 2014 MERYC-UK conference in Cambridge

MERYC stands for Music Education and Research with Young Children - a network of musicians, teachers and practitioners interested in the interface between practice and research in the musical lives of young children and their families. The themes of the conference, Music, Partnership and Play were explored through two keynote presentations by Dr Sue Rogers (see her chapter in Pretend Play and its role in Young Children’s Thinking) and Professor David Hargreaves (who wrote The Developmental Psychology of Music). Current issues and practice were discussed through eleven practice papers, ranging from music with neonatal at-risk babies, to music in the everyday lives of young children, to music in the EYFS.

The research papers presented included the playful musicality of two year olds, our PEEP action research with South Asian families, exciting work on music and children’s self-regulation and research on the purpose and influence of music in children’s centres. The workshops took us through practical activities, conversation, reflection, dance, stories and laughter. Titles like 'Every song tells a story’ and ‘Let’s move, let’s ride, let’s sing, let’s laugh’ explored how playfulness can be inspired by musical forms, while laying a foundation for listening, language, movement, social and spatial awareness and expression.

Nuzhat and I presented a paper on the Action Research projects involving PEEP with South Asian families in Oxford. Nuzhat continues to work with women with pre-school children – women who have felt isolated for any number of reasons. Some feel lonely and far away from family support especially if they are newly arrived; some are depressed because they feel under pressure of household duties and family expectations; some are ashamed of their home language because (for colonial and historical reasons) Punjabi does not receive the same status as English and Urdu. With conference delegates we explored ways of breaking down this sense of isolation through collectively re-constructing memories of songs and stories from our childhoods. The warmth and accessibility of Nuzhat’s singing voice bring these back to life in the PEEP CD Singing Together in Urdu and Punjabi which contains songs remembered by Oxford parents.

We can see how powerful singing can be in recreating childhood memories, how talking about songs and stories can articulate the values dear to individuals’ family lives, women’s own self-awareness and their aspirations for their children in the UK.

In this presentation of Nuzhat’s work through PEEP we could witness how music is meaningful to families in playful games and songs, and how it is used in partnership between practitioner and families. It also provides a medium in which the ORIM framework can be explored with parents:

• Opportunities to sing and talk about childhood memories and stories
• Recognition of music’s expressive role in enhancing and supporting children’s home language
• Interaction through playing and singing together
• Modelling the gestures and words of songs both old and new.

MERYC-UK is part of a wider European network which will hold its biennial conference in Estonia in May 2015 (see www.meryc.eu).

Brief reflections about another research presentation on the value of action songs.

how action songs help

Reflections from Julia Shay on the 2014 MERYC-UK conference in Cambridge

Another session particularly relevant to Peep practitioners focused on observational studies in a Children’s Centre, undertaken by Jessica Pitt as part of her doctoral research.

Jessica had compared what went on in outdoor play, art activities and parent-child music sessions. She was trying to understand what is actually going on at a deep level when parents and children engage in action songs and rhymes in a group setting. Her conclusion was that during the practitioner-led music sessions everyone is doing the same thing at the same time, and that with action songs everyone can join in at least a bit. She referred to many interesting concepts such as the role of music in ritual and culture, Turner’s writing about rites of passage, stepping over a boundary and becoming someone else in the group, and also the idea of experiencing group flow.

Jessica also talked about the role of smiling and laughter as social release. So a music session in a Children’s Centre can provide a useful emotional and social function for adults and children as well as developing children’s knowledge of language. Something that on the surface might appear to be a simple enjoyable interlude can be an extremely powerful opportunity for learning, growth and integration.