Elementary music educators use a variety of strategies in classroom instruction. The purpose of this case study was to explore student perceptions of Curwen hand signs, a common instructional strategy in elementary music classrooms. Second- and third-grade students reported various challenges, benefits, and influential factors surrounding hand sign use. Results indicated that students enjoyed movement activities and benefited from visual and physical reminders of singing tasks during instruction. They described several challenges, including multitasking, required background knowledge, and distraction. Influential factors included a learning curve, accuracy, placement, pattern length and complexity, and enjoyment. The results of this study suggest that hand signs should be considered one instructional strategy in a toolbox of multiple approaches.
While scholars are interested in parent perspectives on early childhood (EC) music education, the perspectives of first-time attendees and non-maternal caregivers are relatively unexamined. Using phenomenology as both a method and a theoretical frame, we followed ten caregivers (three fathers and seven mothers) as they engaged in their first experience accompanying their children to play-based, child-led EC music classes. Through analysis of pre- and post-interviews, biweekly e-mail check-ins, memos and field notes from observations, we distilled four essences of first-time experience: being family, fitting in, engaging with others and having fun. In this article, we describe each essence and offer interpretation through our lens as mothers, scholars and EC teachers.
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