Kinesthetic skills play a crucial role in young children’s growth development, yet this development had received less attention. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of song-based music and movement intervention on kinesthetic skills among elementary-age children. Ancillary purposes of this study were to investigate the contribution of kinesthetic abilities to 21st century learning skills. The participants for this study consisted of 60 students with ages ranging from 7 to 9 years from four different daycare centers in Malacca. This study conducted a randomized pre-post-test between-subjects experimental designs and participants were exposed to no treatment, song-based, music and movement, and song-based music and movement interventions. The treatment sessions were 30-minute session per week for an eight-week duration. The kinesthetic skills were assessed through researcher-adapted measurement forms, Kinesthetic Skill Test (KST). The results indicated that the song-based music and movement intervention significantly improved kinesthetic skills and the kinesthetic variables contributed to critical thinking and creativity skills. The suggested intervention is highly beneficial in preparing young children to become successful learners.
Career choice has received significant attention in recent years, with research indicating a strong correlation between individual intrinsic motivations and career decisions. This study investigated the intrinsic factors influencing music graduates’ decisions to pursue a professional career in music in Fujian, China, using the Exploratory Design research method. This research design involved two phases. In phase one, the influencing factors were explored through interviews seeking to obtain qualitative information (N = 18). In phase two, the codes derived from the qualitative study were utilized to build a Likert scale for the quantitative questionnaire (N = 221). The qualitative results revealed that music graduates’ professional career choices were intrinsically influenced by their commitment to the music profession, sense of self-worth derived from successful performing and teaching experiences, self-purpose in sharing and teaching music, interest in music playing and music teaching, confidence in music-playing skills, and working relationship between teacher and student. These variables were confirmed by the quantitative study to have an impact on career choice. Commitment to the music profession was the most influential variable, followed by a sense of self-worth. Confidence in music-playing skills was the least influential variable. These findings deepen our understanding of the variables impacting music majors’ job choices. Understanding these determinants can help educational institutions, policymakers, and career counselors better understand music majors’ particular needs and concerns, leading to more supportive career pathways for aspiring musicians in the region.
31 August 2023 in Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH)
Inclusive education strives to provide equal educational opportunities for all individuals. Special music education also aims to meet all students’ diverse needs. However, there are few studies using bibliometric to analyze inclusive music with special needs. The purpose of this study is to use Vosviewer and CiteSpace software to analyze the research on inclusive special music education from 2013 to 2022. Using the PRISMA protocol, the researchers extracted bibliometric data from Scopus database to analyze the development and research trends of inclusive special music education from various perspectives, including countries, universities, authors, journals, years, and publishers. This study found that the overall number of papers published in 696 studies that met the inclusion criteria showed an increasing trend year by year. The United States became the country with the largest number of publications (n=157). The keyword "child" emphasizes the current research hotspots in this field. Inclusive is an important research perspective of current special music education, and the integration of inclusive special music education with music therapy, psychology and other research fields is also the research trend in this field. The researchers discussed the research background of inclusive special music education, evaluated the research status, and provided theoretical inspiration for future research in this field.
1 July 2022 in Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education
Music-based approaches, including singing and movement, have received an extensive examination by researchers. Previous study results have revealed that music-based approaches improved young children’s music skills and enhanced social, linguistic, and logical thinking skills. This review characterizes and compares existing studies to investigate the use of music and movement to improve linguistic skills. This systematic review followed the SPIDER search tool by investigating the samplings (S), the phenomenon of interest (PI), design (D), evaluation (E), and research type (R). This systematic review includes studies published between 2001-2018 with participants ranging from 4 to 12 years old. The authors investigated the designs of 20 articles.
4 August 2023 in Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities
John Dewey (1859-1952), one of the western educational philosophers who significantly impacted modern Chinese education with his pragmatism philosophy which was widely spread during his lecture tour in 1919-1921. The objective of this study is to shed light on the historical development and impact of Dewey’s pragmatism in China’s educational reform. This article adopted a historical research method employing primary and secondary source materials, including letters, preserved documents, literature, and publications. The results demonstrated that Dewey’s pragmatism has an indelible influence across China on: 1. Chinese education theory, especially impacted the Chinese educator Tao Xingzhi’s “life education” theory and its application to school constructions; 2. reform of the “1922 New School System”; 3. practicality of general education curriculum in expanding students’ exposure to society and nature; 4. use of vernacular language as the medium of textbooks and revisions of teaching content based on children’s life and experiences. The findings reveal that Dewey’s educational theory had undergone a multitude of criticisms and revival processes adapting to the cultural needs of education in China. His educational philosophy has flourished persistently, cultivating the establishment of Dewey’s research centres by several Chinese universities in recent years.