The significance of music in early childhood education and care of toddlers in Finland: an extensive observational study

Figures & data

Table 1. The importance of music in everyday education by learning environment and age; evaluation given by the caregivers/adults.

	1 year	2 years	3 years	4 years	5 years	6 years	Total
Describes mostly fairly well	47.6%a	43.1%b	57.7%c	73.8%d	80.8%e	84.2%f	69.4%
Describes well	52.4%a	56.9%b	42.3%c	26.2%d	19.2%e	15.8%f	30.6%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Notes: Each subscript letter denotes a subset of the variable Age in Years, the proportions of which do not differ significantly from each other at the .05 level.

Table 2. Children’s observed involvement (learning), emotions, social relations and the activity of the immediate caregiver cross-tabulated with the evaluated importance of music.

	Music fairly important at most	Music important	Total
Children’s observed involvement (learning)
Simple	7.2%a	8.5%b	7.8%
Frequently interrupted	16.9%a	15.8%b	16.4%
Mostly continuous	32.3%a	30.7%b	31.5%
Mainly continuous	34.7%a	34.2%a	34.4%
Sustained, intense activity	8.9%a	10.9%b	9.9%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
Children’s observed emotions
Neutral	45.1%a	43.9%a	44.5%
Surprise, alertness	20.4%a	20.0%a	20.2%
Happiness, satisfaction	18.5%a	20.0%b	19.2%
Joyfulness, cheerfulness	9.9%a	10.5%a	10.2%
Frustration, irritation	3.3%a	3.0%a	3.1%
Other emotion	1.4%a	1.4%a	1.4%
Sadness, depression	1.1%a	0.8%b	1.0%
Fear,anxiety	0.3%a	0.3%a	0.3%
Anger	0.1%a	0.0%b	0.0%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
Children’s observed social relations
Adapting	35.6%a	39.0%b	37.2%
Participating	38.5%a	36.5%b	37.5%
Dominating	5.2%a	5.0%a	5.1%
Withdrawing, non-social	16.8%a	16.3%a	16.6%
Other role	3.9%a	3.1%b	3.5%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
The activity of the observed child’s immediate caregiver
Receives and accepts	12.5%a	14.5%b	13.5%
Participates	17.5%a	19.5%b	18.5%
Goal-oriented	16.4%a	16.6%a	16.5%
Neutral	28.4%a	25.8%b	27.2%
Negative	0.3%a	0.1%b	0.2%
No adult attention	24.9%a	23.3%b	24.1%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Notes: Each subscript letter denotes a subset of variable Music Importance, the proportions of which do not differ significantly from each other at the .05 level. Above, our focus was on the connections between music emphasis evaluation and independently conducted observation. Next, we will look at how music is connected the pedagogical learning environment characteristics at large. The most positive correlations between music emphasis and other evaluated learning environment characteristics were evaluated with the same instrument.

Table 3. Characteristics of the pedagogical learning environment that correlated most positively with the importance of music + Characteristics of the pedagogical learning environment that correlated most negatively with the importance of music.

	Partial* correlation with music importance	Sig. (2-sided)	N
Deep and versatile planning describes well the team’s work.	0.3	<.0005	23,062
Multidisciplinary and multi-professional cooperation supports children’s needs well.	0.26	<.0005	23,142
Children’s basic motor skills and mobility are central in our activities.	0.244	<.0005	23,142
There are also plenty of opportunities indoors for physically active play.	0.243	<.0005	23,062
Educators actively develop outdoor activities with children.	0.228	<.0005	23,142
We are constantly working on ways to help parents become more involved in developing activities.	0.219	<.0005	23,024
The child’s individual plan is the most important guideline for the whole team.	0.217	<.0005	23,062
The children are clearly satisfied and learn during eating situations.	0.21	<.0005	23,017
Pedagogical leadership should be strengthened in our unit.	−0.153	<.0005	23,142
Pedagogical leadership should be strengthened in our group.	−0.128	<.0005	23,142
The work is more about surviving from day to day than long-term development.	−0.074	<.0005	23,142
Children document their activities extensively.	−0.073	<.0005	23,062
For some reason, joy and wellbeing has somehow been missing in the group.	−0.053	<.0005	23,062
Children follow the rules without adult supervision.	−0.046	<.0005	23,062
Development of the staff’s own work should be strengthened in our unit.	−0.04	<.0005	23,142
The group’s team has a planning meeting every week.	−0.032	<.0005	23,142

*The correlations are partial correlations controlling children’s age.