Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of kindergarten teachers on
integration of music in the kindergarten curriculum. The theoretical perspectives of
the social cognitive theory of Bandura and Gardner‘s theory of multiple intelligences
were adopted for the study. The pragmatist philosophy underpins this study. This
study adopted the descriptive design using mixed-methods sequential exploratory
approaches. The target population for the study was the thirty-six public kindergarten
schools in the Shama District in the Western Region of Ghana. Simple random
sampling method was used to select a sample of ninety (90) teachers in the Shama
District. Structured questionnaires and semi-structured interview were used to gather
data for the study. The quantitative data was analyzed using frequencies and
percentages while the qualitative data was analyzed through thematic analysis. The
study revealed that early childhood educators perceive that children enjoy music
activities though they have limited content knowledge and support for music
integration. The teachers often lack confidence in integrating music due to inadequate
training and skills and educational resources. Age-teaching experience, motivation
and encouragement from head teachers, past experiences and gender were some of the
factors that influence teachers‘ integration of music in their teaching. It was also
discovered that the concept of student engagement is of paramount concern for
children‘s learning, teachers use music to gain the children‘s attention, motivate and
increase children‘s engagement. It was identified thatprofessional development is a
necessity for better teaching and that KG teachers should study music teaching
courses, training programmes should regularly be organized for KG teachers to
improve their knowledge in music integration.It is recommended, among others, that
early childhood educators are provided with intensive training to improve their
knowledge and skills in music integration.
Description:
A thesis in the Department of Early Childhood Education,
Faculty of Educational Studies, submitted to the School of
Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Philosophy
(Early Childhood Education)
in the University of Education, Winneba
JUNE, 2019