The current status of singing in kindergartens in Norway: An exploratory study

Abstract

This study investigates the current situation regarding singing in Norwegian kindergartens. More specifically, how often kindergartens offer singing possibilities to children, in what situations singing is embedded, how valued singing is in such institutions, what singing methods and repertoires the teachers use, and whether teachers have certain underlying goals and beliefs connected to their use of singing. Furthermore, we are interested in whether there are contextual factors that influence the singing practice of a kindergarten/teacher. This exploratory cross-sectional study uses a webbased questionnaire, and the sample consists of 660 Norwegian kindergarten teachers. The statistical analyses cover standard descriptive and inferential statistics. The study’s main findings are as follows: (1) singing is highly valued in most kindergartens; (2) singing is done “very often” in most kindergartens, and the majority of teachers report that they sing with the children daily in a large variety of situations and using mainly Norwegian songs – however, the actual frequency and amount of singing depends on various factors; (3) one of the most important factors regarding singing praxis is musical expertise of teachers, regarding which most teachers rate themselves as below the population average; (4) the teachers mainly sing unaccompanied with the children; (5) they learn new songs mainly through streaming services; and (6) the teachers assume that singing leads to especially positive psychological, social, and cognitive effects on children.