Investigating Hong Kong Kindergarten Teachers’ Implementation of a Play-Based Approach in Music Education

Previous studies have suggested that musical play is a powerful medium for enhancing children’s holistic development. The Hong Kong SAR Government’s recently-issued Kindergarten Education Curriculum Guide (Curriculum Development Council, 2017) was themed ‘Joyful Learning through Play’, and stated that ‘play’ should be the focus of the curriculum. Despite arts education is recognized as a key area in the current curriculum framework and music is officially recommended as the kindergarten daily activity, early childhood teachers in Hong Kong did not receive sufficient training in music education and the application of play-based approach in music education in their pre-service education. The conceptions of music and play among kindergarten teachers may still be vague, and this may pose challenges for the application of recommendations made in the curriculum guide. Studies focusing on teachers' implementation of a play-based approach in music in Hong Kong are rare. To address this gap which is of relatively recent interest, we seek to: (i) examine the current ways in which a play-based approach in music has been delivered in kindergartens; (ii) investigate the perception and self-efficacy of teachers in the implementation of play-based approach in music; and (iii) explore the content knowledge, musical skills and pedagogical competencies that teachers need for implementing the approach.

This project will adopt a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design. The first phase will be a survey investigating teachers’ perceptions on the current conditions in which a play-based approach in music is delivered. By adopting Bandura’s self-efficacy theory, teacher self-efficacy will also be investigated. Using a cluster sampling approach, a questionnaire will be disseminated to kindergartens in Hong Kong. In Phase 2, a multiple-case study will be carried out in which 12 Hong Kong kindergartens will be purposively selected to cover a range of sizes, programme durations and kindergarten types. Interviews and observations will be conducted.

Our findings will fill an important gap in theoretical and professional knowledge about the implementation of a play-based approach in early childhood music education, which is notably an underexplored area. Significantly, they will provide teachers educators of the higher institutions with evidence-based recommendations on the development of music teacher training framework for addressing kindergarten teachers’ pressing professional needs, with wider implications to other creative arts with play-based elements. Ultimately, they may inform Hong Kong’s future policymaking in kindergarten
education by providing significant insights into the application of play-based learning which is currently included in the policy agenda of kindergarten curriculum.