Music education through the lens of ITERS-R: Discussing results from 206 toddler day care groups

This article presents results from a large-scale Norwegian study that examines the quality of early childhood education and care, using the research tool ITERS-R. Although ITERS-R consists of 39 items, this article focuses solely on results within music education in Item 18. Music and movement. According to ITERS-R, results from 206 toddler day care groups reveal that the quality of music education in Norwegian day care is low. Our in-depth study of a single item reveals that a lack of musical toys and instruments is what yields such a low score. The quality of singing and the use of recorded music, however, scores better. These results point to a music education philosophy in ITERS-R that diverges somewhat from contemporary music education philosophies and curricula. The article therefore also discusses some potential consequences of this difference.

Investigating the possibilities of ocarina crafting in music education

This research features the history, characteristics and particularities of the musical instrument ocarina and proposes to stipulate models of ocarinas that can be crafted in classrooms by children with the teacher’s guidance. The study is based on authors Coleman (1927), Ramos (2011) and Matsunobu (2013). At the end of the research, we chose three models of ocarinas, as well as three types of clay and three types of tools that can be used for crafting this instrument in a classroom. Furthermore, we point to the possibility of students crafting their own instruments with quality superior to musical toys.