Abstract:

Applying the contrast model of variation theory, the article analyses the ways in which the music teacher, as a mediator, communicates with preschool children encouraging them to understand, discern, and demonstrate the qualities of musical sounds (timbre, pitch) and their features both while listening to music and after listening to it. A qualitative strategy for learning study based on the variation theory as a new didactic approach in early childhood music education and the lesson study model as a strategy for participatory action research were applied.

The learning study was adapted to analyse the ways the music teacher uses to communicate with children in early music education. Three-cycle participatory action research was conducted in three early childhood education groups with 65 children of pre-primary age by three music teachers and the researcher. The learning study allows modelling the ways of communication applied by the music teacher as a mediator between the child and the music listened to, encouraging children to feel, understand, discern and demonstrate (by voice, body movements, or other means) the critical aspects (timbre, pitch of a music sound) and qualities of the learning object while listening to the music, and after listening to it. The obtained research data was analysed using a critical incident technique. The qualitative study highlighted two empirically based groups of communication ways employed by the music teacher (using the contrast model of the variation theory): the ways of music teacher's communication to encourage children to better understand, distinguish, name and demonstrate the perceived critical aspects of the learning object (pitch, timbre of a music sound) by creating situations of challenge, thinking together while listening to the music (group one) and dialogues after listening to music (group two).

Keywords:

Early childhood music education, variation theory, pattern of contrast, communicative teacher-child encounters, qualities of music sounds.