Practice in music and movement: a study of music teaching in selected pre-schools in Nairobi province

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the practice in music and movement which goes on currently in pre-school classes/learning. The emphasis was to establish how music helps in learning and teaching all the activities in pre-schools. The study sought to satisfy the following objectives:  To find out which objectives of music and movement are applied in pre-school acitivities;  To identify proposed curricular activities in the guidelines of teaching and the actual curricular activities in class;  To determine the suitability or appropriateness of the music and movement activities;  To identify various problems of content activities and implementation.  To make recommendations for improvement and progress.

The study was carried out in four divisions: - Westland, Kamukunji, Makadara and Embakasi in Nairobi Province. By means of questionnaire, observation and interview schedules, the necessary data were collected from a sample of four pre-schools in the area. The selection was done through systematic random sampling where the 21 public pre-schools were arranged in alphabetical order and every 6th school chosen.

Data obtained in the study revealed that some activities were taught with music more than others. It was also found that lack of training in music and resources to get more relevant songs for each activity were the main weaknesses in effective teaching using music and movement.

Further findings revealed that training the teacher had received and his/her interest in teaching affected the use of music activities for its effectiveness. Also the guideline book did not give much help, for it is not detailed.

On the basis of discussion, findings conclusion and recommendations were generally made for the whole area of resources, facilities, quality of teachers and types of songs and dance that needed improvement.

For further research there is need to look into the training of pre-school teachers in the use of relevant music in teaching other activities. Therefore, more research should be done on the training of pre-school teachers in colleges.