”Sing while you work" Situationality in singing of professionals in early childhood education
Keywords:
singing, formal early childhood education and care, situationality, UN Convention on the Rights of the ChildAbstract
The aim of the study is to find understanding about the situation of singing of a professional in the Finnish formal early childhood education (ECE). The study is based on the operational culture of formal ECE as enabling singing, Rauhala’s holistic conception of the human being, welfare influence of singing and UN Conventional Rights of the Child. Variation has been noticed in quantity and developing of singing both in ECE professionals’ education and formal ECE in Finland. Vocal self-image, a personal conception of one´s own singing, arises in the situation where one lives. Vocal self-image is related to oneself, body, feelings and Lived Time and Space and Other. The singing experiences of ECE professionals arise in the operational culture of formal ECE. The data was sampled through the questionnaire answered by 312 ECE professionals. In this hermeneutical-phenomenological study, in the mutual interaction of researchers´ previous understanding and the theoretical background were created five themes in the situation of singing at work. The analysis of the sampled data points that child-centred days in the operational culture of formal ECE, experience of the singing skill and abutment of others enable the singing of the professional in ECE. The barriers of singing at work lead to an experience: “I am a poor pitch singer”, to unfavourable feelings caused by singing, and a negative reaction of the other grownups.
