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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.

An important part of Peep's role is to promote research about supporting families with their children’s learning. There is a dynamic relationship between research into Peep programmes, and their development and delivery by practitioners and families around the UK and beyond. Research findings can offer fresh insights for practitioners, while new and evolving ways of delivering the Peep programme continue to be evaluated.

In many countries, government and society are increasingly recognising the importance of parents’ and carers’ roles in children’s learning. There has been an increase, over the past couple of decades, in research in this area.

The following pages contain a few examples of research that might be of particular interest to those involved with Peep programmes.

The aim of this action research project was to make music accessible to families with preschool children, especially families who, for diverse reasons may not access mainstream services. Activities took place in Luton, Birmingham and Oxford.

Music leaders liaised with local children’s centre professionals including family support and health workers to:

• establish an integrated approach that helps families to access music provision, and which benefits services to support families
• promote music making as a valued part of provision for families
• raise expectations of what families can do and participate in musically
• develop practical strategies and approaches that are helpful and accessible to families.

Phase one involved interviews with parents about their existing musical interests and experiences with their children, to inform approaches and with professions about their views on using music with families. Phase two involved direct delivery of musical sessions with families over 20 weeks, and reflective sessions with the musical leaders.

Music Moves ran for two terms, from Sept 2011 to end of March 2012. The project was administered through St Thomas Centre in Birmingham, headed up by Cynthia Knight. It was funded by Youth Music and evaluated by Dr Susan Young from the University of Exeter.

The project contributed to the production of a CD of rhymes and lullabies and to the development of a training day in ‘Working with South Asian Families’. Dr Alison Street and Nuzhat Abbas reflected on this project in a paper they presented at the Music Educators and Researchers of Young Children (MERYC) conference:
> Music Moves: the development of intercultural approaches to engage musically with ‘hard to reach’ families

The aim of the Time to Play project was to improve the integration of young children of ethnic minority (particularly Muslim) families, into the services offered by Children’s Centres. The project developed culturally appropriate approaches for mother and child sessions, based on creative play as a foundation for learning. These approaches fostered communication, self-esteem, language and creativity, and built on successful practice evolved through Peep. Through participatory action research, the project arrived at recommendations for intercultural practice and materials that respect the mothers’ values and parenting styles, and support their children’s development in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage.

The Time to Play project was participatory in its approach. It involved parents in the design of what ‘works’ for them, as being culturally relevant and in tune with their aspirations, and in recognition of what they already do at home. It extended the Peep group provision by focusing on creative play for early learning within ethnic minority communities. These groups were based in Children’s Centres in Oxford, Bristol, Southampton and Birmingham, with a high proportion of Muslim families and different ethnic backgrounds in each city. The project ran in three progressive phases: Consultation/information gathering; Development and delivery of approaches; Dissemination/sharing of what we learned. The work in this project also led to the production of a CD: Singing Together in Urdu and Punjabi.

Implications for future practice and ways of working, along with practical approaches and ideas, emerged during the project. You can read more about them in the:

> summary of the Time to Play action research project 

> paper presented at the MERYC conference (Music Educators and Researchers of Young Children) by Dr Susan Young and Alison Street.

Time to Play was managed from the Peeple Centre in Oxford, and the approaches were researched in partnership with Dr Susan Young from the University of Exeter, who has extensive experience of similar projects.

Watch Nuzhat's presentation on the importance of Punjabi families valuing their home language and culture. (Part of a seminar at the Punjabi Mela in Sahiwal, Pakistan in April 2014; in Punjabi with English subtitles; 7 minutes.)

Room to Play was an innovative drop-in style provision in a community shopping centre, underpinned by the Peep ethos and programme. It aimed both to welcome and value all parents and carers, and to extend their existing parenting practices. Room to Play sought to appeal to ‘excluded’ or isolated families who, for a range of reasons, may not have accessed other services. The project was funded by the Sutton Trust and the Garfield Weston Foundation.

Several recent research studies point out that it is often the services themselves that inadvertently exclude families. As Oxford University’s evaluation (Evangelou, Smith, Coxon, Sylva, 2008) indicates, Room to Play has gone a long way towards overcoming these barriers and engaging with a wide cross section of families.

engaging families: approaches used in room to play

• Taking the service to the user, rather than expecting the user to come to the provider: Room to Play was based in a busy community shopping centre, and was open six days a week throughout the year.
• Effective engagement requires time, sensitivity and flexibility: relationship-building, friendship and social interaction were some of the successful ways of supporting parents and children. Staff also helped parents to ‘move on’ and access other provision.
• It is important to locate the service in attractive premises: parents said that they felt comfortable within the open-plan, home-from-home environment. They could relax with their child(ren), as well as joining in ‘messy play’ activities (such as painting, and playing with playdough, water, sand and ‘gloop’).

An independent evaluation of the project was carried out by the University of Oxford, in three phases. Download a brief summary or the final full research report of the evaluation here.

Peep-trained practitioners from any professional background can use the Learning Together programme with families in any context or setting. Follow the links for more information about our Learning Together Programme and Training.

Child health clinics are the  key place that practically every parent takes their baby or toddler to *, even parents who don't use any other services.  They can ask the health visitor or community nursery nurse any questions, and get reassurance about their baby's weight. The clinics are therefore an ideal place for Peep practitioners to get to know a wide range of families, while they wait. The practitioners chat and share child development ideas and activities with them, providing a rug and toys for their baby to play with, and can invite them to attend a Peep Early Explorers group. 

Professor Jane Barlow and Chris Coe at the University of Warwick carried out a two-year evaluation into this joint work: ‘Early Explorers: Integrating partner professionals to support parents with their children’s development from birth’ (2011) .

key findings

The study reported that this process of joint working provided a positive way of:

• promoting positive infant mental health and development
• working together to reach those most in need – identifying and supporting vulnerable groups
• over-coming barriers and building relationships, trust and confidence
• improving and extending the service offered to families, by working with a family support practitioner from another organisation.
  In this study, the Peep practitioners worked for the charity Peeple, but since then Peep-trained practitioners working in child health clinics have worked for children's/ family centres or family hubs etc, and health practitioners such as community nursery nurses also use Peep within their clinic sessions.

There were also positive outcomes in engaging families who access services infrequently, in supporting their children’s development.

• The Early Explorers clinics promote maternal mental health - supporting parents that they may support their infants.
• The child health clinic offers a unique opportunity to meet and forge relationships with parents in a non-stigmatising, non-threatening environment, in a place where they already go.
• The opportunities for social engagement created by an Early Explorers clinic offer an important opportunity to increase parental confidence and reduce social isolation.
• Parents reported spending more time in the clinic when the practitioners are there, learning new skills and having a better appreciation of infant development.
• Families can be sign-posted on to Peep and other local services.

You can download the research summary and an article published in Community Practitioner about the project and the benefits and challenges of partnership working.

"And I just thought, I’m going to go in there and everybody will judge you because all your baby did was cry…  just going to say ‘well, have you fed her, have you done her nappy, have you done this…?’. And that’s what you used to get from people walking round the shops.  But it didn’t bother nobody. And I thought Oh my god [laughs]! I’m in a place where nobody’s staring - because all she does is cry.... Because I didn’t know what to expect at first.… 

But then when we went to the first class they had duvets down and things, with treasure baskets.  And when they actually start singing the children are just… it’s amazing sort of thing to them. Their little faces [laughs].... she loved it!

She cried a lot for the first five months and then when we seemed to go to Peep she came out of her shell a lot more. She was more calm. More willing to be more patient in doing things.  And she used to have trouble socialising, because I don’t know many people with children her age… but she was gone.…  It was always calm and they always got parents talking to each other.  Because when I first went I thought Oh nobody will want to talk to me because… but no, they sit down and they introduce you and everything. And when we have the group discussion it was more that you feel like you’ve known people for a long time… we talked about the textures and things and how they help children learn and everything like that.  It’s… I don’t know how to word it really.… you feel more confident when you know you’re not the only one going through what you’ve been through sort of thing."  (Parent L)

Peep-trained practitioners from any professional background can use the Learning Together programme with families in any context or setting. Follow the links for more information about our Learning Together Programme and Training.

*  In May 2022, the Parent Infant Foundation and @first1001days campaign published a report 'Why health visitors matter', which makes a compelling case for the government to reverse the decline in public health funding - since 2015 there has been an estimated 30% decline in the number of health visitors, with significant negative consequences for babies and their families. 

This study followed 150 three- and four-year-olds, half of whom were participating in the Peep Learning Together programme, over a two-year period. The study showed that the Peep children benefited in learning and self-esteem.

These children made greater progress than others in:

• vocabulary
• language comprehension
• understanding about books and print
• number concepts.

The children’s self-esteem was also higher, and they felt more confident in what they could do both physically and mentally. 

The study was carried out by Dr Maria Evangelou and Professor Kathy Sylva at the University of Oxford (2004). You can download a research summary (26 pages) paper from the journal of Early Childhood Research & Practice.

Follow the links for more information about our Learning Together Programme and Training. The programme is also used in foundation stage, daycare and school settings, often as Transition Peep for a few sessions for the family before the child starts, or while the child is attending the setting.

This independent study examined the impact of the Peep programme for parents/carers. It compared 75 mothers who had attended a Peep group with an equal number of mothers who were individually matched on demographic characteristics and were living in an area with a very similar socio-economic profile, but with no access to Peep.

key findings

The study found that Peep parents, compared to the non-Peep parents:

• reported significantly greater awareness about how to help their child's literacy development
• improved their socio-economic status (as measured by their job)
• took more courses, particularly in basic skills.

Parents also considered Peep to be a source of support and encouragement.

The full report or key findings of the Enabling Parents Study can be downloaded here. The study was carried out by Professor Kathy Sylva and her team at the University of Oxford (2008).

Peep also offers parent accreditation based on everyday activities that parent and child do together, recorded in a portfolio or scrapbook. As well as being a lasting memento, the accreditation can also act as a stepping stone for parents’ own learning.

A small scale evaluation of the Peep Antenatal Programme (n=10) was carried out at the University of Warwick. The Programme (originally known as Peep Reflective Parenting Programme) aims to support strong parent-baby bonding and attachment relationships, helping develop parents' reflective function and confidence in tuning in to their baby’s feelings and behaviour.

The study followed 10 parents who received the intervention programme (in additional to their normal antenatal and postnatal care). Data was collected before the programme began, at the midpoint of the programme and shortly after the programme finished. The primary measures used were the Parent Development Interview, Parent Embodied Mentalising and the Crittenden Care Index. 

key findings

• Parents are less intrusive and more inclined to think about, and articulate, their baby’s thoughts and feelings, which is a key indicator of reflective functioning capacity.
• Improvements have been noted in parental behaviours associated with sensitive parenting.
• A reduction has been noted in parental behaviours identified as controlling and unresponsive.
• Parents who were in the clinical categories of risk or ineptness regarding their relationship with their baby, have moved to adequate and sensitive categories.
• Parents described the Programme as enjoyable, informative and non-stigmatising.
• Parents requested additional practical examples of activities, rhymes and techniques that they could practice with their ‘bumps’ and newborns in order to maximise the development of a positive attachment bond. They also asked for further information about infant development, including neurobiology and attachment. 

A research summary of the findings can be downloaded here.
Follow the links for more information about our Peep Antenatatal Programme and Peep Antenatal Programme Training.

The Birth to School Study (BTSS) is a longitudinal evaluation of the Peep Learning Together programme, with a sample size of 600 families. The Learning Together programme aims to encourage children’s early language, literacy and numeracy and to nurture their self-esteem by supporting parents. Consequently, the BTSS investigated the effects of the programme on parents as well as on children. The six-year span of the study allowed time for potential effects on the parents to ‘filter down’ to the children. The study was carried out by the University of Oxford (2005).

Families who had participated in the Learning Together programme in Oxford were compared to children who lived in a similar area in another city but had not received the programme. Propensity Score Matching was also used to refine the comparison. The children were assessed each year using standardised instruments including measures of language, literacy, numeracy and general cognitive ability. Their socio-emotional development, including self-esteem was also assessed.

Overall, the study found that children who participated in Peep made better progress in a set of skills related to early literacy development, and that they had higher self-esteem. As well as contributing to children’s own development and relationships, these characteristics help their school-readiness.

key findings

The effects of Peep on parents

Peep parents, compared to matched parents from the comparison area, reported a significantly enhanced view of their parent/child interaction when their children were aged one.

When the children were two years old, Peep parents were rated significantly higher on the quality of their care-giving environment.

The effects of Peep on the cognitive and socio-emotional development of children

Peep children made significantly greater progress over time than matched children from the comparison area in a range of skills related to language development and future literacy success:

• vocabulary
• phonological awareness of rhyme and alliteration
• letter identification
• understanding of books and print
• writing.

Children from the Peep group showed a significant advantage (aged 5), compared to the matched children from the comparison area, in the following measures related to self-esteem:

• peer acceptance
• cognitive competence
• physical competence
• general competence
• total self-esteem.

To read more about the Birth to School Study, download a research summary or full report (189 pages), or contact us if you'd like us to send you a copy of the Oxford Review of Education article about the Study. You can also read our Tracer study, for which five of the Birth to School study parents were interviewed, as their Peep children were starting secondary school. 

Follow the links for more information about our Learning Together Programme and Training.