Skip to content
1981
Volume 17, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 2516-1989
  • E-ISSN: 2516-1997

Abstract

Music-making is a natural childhood activity. This is evidenced by the increase in research and scholarship covering diverse aspects of children’s interaction with music. This keynote address invites us to reflect on the ways in which music shapes young children’s self-knowledge and identity by considering their musical needs, their interactions with music, what they and their adult caregivers experience as they participate in musicking and how this entire encounter may nurture their growing musicality. Acknowledging the influence of context in nurturing musical childhoods, four settings of home, school, church and the community activity of performing arts are examined through lenses of social and cultural psychology and African Indigenous knowledge systems. The discussion ends with a call for educators, researchers and practitioners to consolidate ongoing and future efforts in nurturing musical childhoods, particularly by adding the sub-Saharan Africa perspective to the kaleidoscope of global activities that constitute children’s musical journeys

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/ijmec_00043_1
2022-05-01
2024-09-09
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Akuno, E. A.. ( 2005), Issues in Music Education in Kenya, Nairobi:: EMAK;.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Akuno, E. A.. (ed.) ( 2019), Music Education in Africa: Concept, Process, and Practice, Abingdon and New York:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Andang’o, E. J. A.. ( 2009), ‘The use of song and movement to create a multicultural curriculum for early childhood music education in Kenya’, unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Nairobi:: Kenyatta University.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Andang’o, E., and Pacheco, C. B.. ( 2016;), ‘ Belonging and identity: Exploring gendered meanings of musicking in seven year olds. ’, in B. Ilari, and S. Young. (eds), Children’s Home Musical Experiences across the World, Bloomington, IN:: Indiana University Press;, pp. 6679.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Barrett, M. S.. (ed.) ( 2011), A Cultural Psychology of Music Education, New York:: Oxford University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Campbell, P. S.. ( 2011;), ‘ Musical enculturation: Sociocultural influences and meanings of children’s experiences in and through music. ’, in M. S. Barrett. (ed.), A Cultural Psychology of Music Education, New York:: Oxford University Press;, pp. 6681.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Faria, J.. ( 2021;), ‘ Household size in Kenya 2019, by county. ’, Statista, 29 March, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1225097/household-size-in-kenya-by-county/#. Accessed 11 May 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Folkestad, G.. ( 2002;), ‘ National identity and music. ’, in R. MacDonald,, D. Hargreaves, and D. Miell. (eds), Musical Identities, Oxford:: Oxford University Press;, pp. 15162.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Herbst, A.. ( 2019;), ‘ Tear open and enjoy eating. ’, in E. A. Akuno. (ed.), Music Education in Africa: Concept, Process and Practice, Abingdon and New York:: Routledge;, pp. 3158.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Ilari, B.. ( 2016;), ‘ Middle class musical childhoods: Autonomy, concerted cultivation and consumer culture. ’, in B. Ilari, and S. Young. (eds), Children’s Home Musical Experiences across the World, Bloomington, IN:: Indiana University Press;, pp. 92105.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Ilari, B., and Young, S.. ( 2016), Children’s Home Musical Experiences across the World, Bloomington, IN:: Indiana University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) ( 2003), Guidelines for Early Childhood Development in Kenya, Nairobi:: KIE;.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Kidula, J. N.. ( 2013), Music in Kenyan Christianity: Logooli Religious Song, Bloomington, IN and Indianapolis, IN:: Indiana University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Lum, C.-H., and Whiteman, P.. (eds) ( 2012), Musical Childhoods of Asia and the Pacific, Charlotte, NC:: Information Age;.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Macdonald, R. A. R.,, Hargreaves, D. J., and Miell, D.. (eds) ( 2002), Musical Identities, Oxford:: Oxford University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Marsh, K.. ( 2011;), ‘ Meaning-making through musical play. ’, in M. S. Barrett. (ed.), A Cultural Psychology of Music Education, New York:: Oxford University Press;, pp. 4160.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Miya, F. N.. ( 2005;), ‘ Educational content in Kenyan performing arts: The case of Isukuti performing arts. ’, in E. A. Akuno, and C. N. Orawo. (eds), Proceedings of the East African Symposium on Music Education, Refocusing Indigenous Music in Music Education, Kenyatta University, 16–18 May, Nairobi:: EMAK Music Services;, pp. 8091.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Nzewi, M.. ( 2019;), ‘ Pertinent concepts for advancing Indigenous epistemological integrity for African musical arts education. ’, in E. A. Akuno. (ed.), Music Education in Africa: Concept, Process and Practice, Abingdon and New York:: Routledge;, pp. 7691.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Woodward, S. C.. ( 2016;), ‘ Musical childhoods in South Africa: The times they are a-changin. ’, in B. Ilari, and S. Young. (eds), Children’s Home Musical Experiences across the World, Bloomington, IN:: Indiana University Press;, pp. 12038.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Andang’o, Elizabeth Achieng’. ( 2022;), ‘ The role of music in shaping children’s self-knowledge and identity: Perspectives from an African setting. ’, International Journal of Music in Early Childhood, 17:1, pp. 6575, https://doi.org/10.1386/ijmec_00043_1
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1386/ijmec_00043_1
Loading
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error