Young children, solitude and singing: self-directed singing and personal agency in three- and four-year-old children at home

ABSTRACT

This article uses explores how young children use self-directed spontaneous singing at home as a tool of personal agency. Although researchers are increasingly interested in spontaneous singing that takes place outside formal education and care settings, there remains little research into young children’s self-directed singing at home. With improvements in recording technology, it is now possible to continuously record children’s singing. Listening to and analysing singing that takes place when children are alone – and which would otherwise go unnoticed by adults – is a new development in the field of music and children studies. Fifteen children aged from 3:0 to 4:10 years were recorded at home using a continuous recording device and self-directed spontaneous singing was analysed using an interpretive framework of musical agency. The children used self-directed singing as a tool of personal agency to structure their experiences and to manage the self.

KEYWORDS:

• Home
• self-directed singing
• solitary singing
• young children

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bronya Dean

Bronya Dean is a lecturer in Te Kura Toi Tangata School of Education at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. Her research focuses on music in everyday lives, with a particular interest in the musical experiences of young children.