Volume 3,Issue 9
Children’s Musical Experience as Meaning-Making in Early Childhood Education
Music is commonly included in early childhood education and is often associated with children’s learning and development. In many educational discussions, music is primarily valued for its practical functions, such as supporting language learning, classroom routines, or social interaction. While this perspective helps explain the widespread use of music in early childhood settings, it gives limited attention to how children themselves experience music and how meaning emerges through these experiences. This paper explores children’s musical experience in early childhood education from a meaning-making perspective. Drawing on recent literature in early childhood education and music education, the study examines music as part of children’s everyday educational experience rather than as an instructional tool. Particular attention is given to children’s bodily, emotional, and social engagement with music and to the ways in which meaning is constructed through musical activity. By foregrounding children’s perspectives, this paper offers an educational understanding of music that moves beyond functional use and highlights its role in children’s processes of meaning-making. The paper concludes by discussing implications for early childhood education, suggesting that greater attention to children’s musical experience may contribute to more experience-oriented educational practices.
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