Play Songs in Kindergarten Curriculum in Sefwi Wiawso Municipality, Ghana

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue I, January 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186

Play Songs in Kindergarten Curriculum in Sefwi Wiawso Municipality, Ghana

Benjamin Conduah and Emmanuel Obed Acquah
Department of Music Education, University of education, Winneba

Abstract: The purpose of the study was to examine the uses of play songs in the kindergarten education and factors confronting teachers in the use of play songs in kindergarten teaching in the Sefwi Wiawso Municipality of the Western Region of Ghana. Convenience and Purposive sampling techniques were used to select the participants for the study. In all, twelve (12) teachers from six (6) kindergarten schools in the municipality were sampled and used for the study. Using interview and observation as the main instruments for data collection, it was revealed that a child’s language, cognitive, physical, social, moral and emotional developments are usually enhanced through the use of play songs and its constituent music and movement experiences. It was realized that kindergarten teachers are not conscious of the significance of play songs as an integral part of nurturing their pupils’ total development. It was recommended among other things that the use of play songs in the kindergarten classroom cannot be overlooked, therefore, pre-service training courses for early childhood teachers in the various teaching institutions should include portfolio building of play songs as teaching materials and resources.

Keywords: Play songs, Kindergarten, Sefwi Wiawso, curriculum, pre-service

I. INTRODUCTION

Kindergarten education has developed over time from the ideas of a philosopher such as Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel (1782-1852). He describes the word Kindergarten as “children’s garden”. The name kindergarten as chosen by Friedrich Froebel, who is also regarded as the father of kindergarten, was hinged on his development of curriculum and educational methodology for young children and thought of young children as tender plants rather than as miniature adults. In this regard, Froebel felt that a school for young children should be different from a school for older children. He planned many children’s activities which are still persistent in our current trend of kindergarten education. Some of these activities include: the study of animals and plants, fingerplays (poems and rhymes which were acted out with the hands), stories, music and art work. In Ghana, Kindergarten schools were first established by the missionary bodies, notably, the British Basel Mission, which attached Kindergartens to some of their primary schools and later by other missions such as the Wesleyan mission. Later, the government joined in the establishment and operation of kindergarten education (Rivera, 2009).

Read More