MUSICAL PLAY AND WHANAUNGATANGA: MUSIC'S CONTRIBUTION TO YOUNG CHILDREN'S LEVELS OF WELLBEING AND INVOLVEMENT IN THEIR EARLY LEARNING SETTING

Music is instinctively used by children to communicate their ideas, feelings, experiences, and culture. This is recognised in Mana reo, the Communication strand of Te Whāriki. He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa (Ministry of Education (MoE), 2017), the early childhood curriculum of New Zealand. In this study, I observed and recorded the ways children, with the help of music, became deeply involved in their play. From these observations, I considered the emotional and cognitive benefits to wellbeing and holistic development resulting from musical play. The significance of music for children with Autism Spectrum Diagnosis (ASD), was an integral part of my research. My case study approach followed a qualitative method of narrative-based data collection, over two months, capturing the sociocultural context of a small, play-based early learning centre in Aotearoa, New Zealand. I drew on the psycho/socio-cognitive theory which informs the Experiential Education Movement (EXE). Laevers’ work promoting children’s wellbeing and involvement in their learning settings, (Laevers, 1994a), was explored in depth. As part of an interpretivist approach, I recognised the importance of the various ‘funds of knowledge’ (González et al., 2005; Hedges & Cooper, 2016), which teachers, children and their whānau brought to their interactions and experiences. I recognised a commitment to the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi made by educators in Aotearoa New Zealand and used a kaupapa Māori assessment framework, Te Whatu Pōkeka. Kaupapa Māori assessment for learning. Early childhood exemplars (MoE, 2015) in my study of wellbeing and involvement in a musical context. I explored the important role of kaiako, who, alongside whānau, nurtured the Ngā hononga ki te tauparapara, Ways of knowing, (mōhiotanga, mātauranga and māramatanga) and Ngā āhuatanga o te tamaiti, Ways of being, (mana, wairua, and mauri) (MoE, 2015) of the tamariki in my case study. I was able to construct a picture of the mōhiotanga, the knowledge children bring with them into their learning centre. Through music, and alongside trusted kaiako, tamariki were recorded accessing new learning challenges, mātauranga, and entering into “dynamic developmental” (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 87) learning situations or māramatanga. From my ethnographic study as a teacher, participant-researcher, and co-player, I found that Ways of being, Ngā āhuatanga o te tamaiti (MoE, 2015), wairua, (spiritual and emotional being), mana, (potential power of Ngā Atua, their ancestors) and mauri, (their life force), were especially linked to musical experiences. I concluded that a focus on whanaungatanga, where children, their whānau and kaiako worked as one, was an integral part of music-making and musical play. This focus on relationships, through music, contributed to children’s wellbeing and involvement in the early learning setting. I found the whanaungatanga which music promoted particularly important for increasing the wairua, mana, and mauri of the children in my study who had ASD.