The purpose of this study was to observe, analyze, and document the range of young children’s interactions with sound-producing objects in order to better understand the nature of such interactions. Of particular interest was whether theories of cognitive play, social play, object play, and existing research on musical play could guide concurrently the interpretation of children’s interactions with these objects and whether the interactions were consistent with these theories. Two groups of participants, nine 3-year-old children and seven 4-year-old children, played with sound-producing objects for approximately 15 min once a week for 12 weeks. Participants interacted with the objects in rich and varied ways, including explorations of the objects’ sound-producing capabilities and other physical attributes, nonmusical and musical functional and pretend play episodes, and construction behaviors. Movement and singing often were layered upon the children’s interactions with the objects. Musical functional play was the most frequently observed behavior across both ages of participants. The children were more likely to engage in solitary/parallel behaviors than group interactions, and group interactions were more common among the 4-year-old children than the 3-year-olds. All behaviors that were anticipated via the conceptual framework were observed, with the exception of group nonmusic exploration.

Teaching to transgress, according to bell hooks, entails educators moving beyond an assembly-line approach to embrace integration of the mind, body, and spirit, and engaging in ways that honor the uniqueness of all students. The purpose of this study was to evaluate our music teacher education program in order to critically analyze how our practices may or may not transgress. In keeping with principles of S-STEP (Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices), we share the provocation for the study and its multiple overlapping stages. We present themes from the S-STEP process resulting from the data, and then reconsider those data using scholarly literature. Findings include the intellectual and spiritual growth of students and educators, and the challenges inherent in teaching to transgress within an online environment.

No abstract

There is evidence that, when given simple musical instruments, young children construct pretend play episodes centered on the shape of the objects rather than their sounds. This attention to shape has also been observed when children learn the names of novel objects. Such a "shape bias", when engaging in pretend play with instruments and during linguistic tasks, may indicate the possibility that shape is a perceptually important attribute across contexts. The aim of this study was to determine whether children favor shape, color, or sound when identifying a novel object. In two studies, 3-to 5-year-olds were shown target objects that were given a novel name and shared one attribute (e.g., shape, sound) with test objects. During one trial, the objects were shaken to produce sound, and during another, the children manipulated the objects in order to produce sounds. In both experiments, children selected based on shape significantly more often (p < .001) than chance rates, indicating a strong bias toward the shape of a novel object rather than the sound it produces during a cognitive task.

Tv~~ s .~;~vomen have led MENC: The National Association for Music Education, including current presi n Brinckmeyer-six of them in the first fifty years of MENC's history. Frances Elliott Clark, kno he &dquo;Mother of the Conference,&dquo; oversaw the founding of the Music Supervisors' National Conf (MSNC) in 1907 at a gathering in Keokuk, Iowa.l Two women served the organization as presi uring its first quarter century: Henrietta G. Baker (1912-13) and Elizabeth Casterton (191< This article highlights the other three female presidents of the Music Educators National Confererice (as renamed in 1934) who served in the first fifty years of the organization: Mabelle Glenn (1928-30), Lilla Belle Pitts (1942-44), and Marguerite V Hood .The recent election of Lynn Brinckmeyer to the MENC presidency encouraged us to consider the role that other women presidents had played in the development of the organization. Glenn, Pitts, and Hood were particularly interesting to us because their presidencies coincided with periods of enormous growth within our profession. As we reviewed MENC's history and looked toward the future, it seemed important to introduce a new generation of music educa-~ tors to the contributions of these visionary women. NThe period from the 1920s to the 1950s saw great~ expansion in the membership, structure, and ideals of thẽ~ organization as it was forced to confront issues of relevancy and purpose. A number of pivotal events of the twentieth century occurred during the presidencies of the women profiled in this article, including the Great Depression, which began in 1929 (Glenn), and the United States' entry into World War II (Pitts). During Hood's presidency, MENC began to consider its global role in music education while reaffirming its commitment to music education for all pupils in the United States. Growth and change did not always occur easily during these decades, and vigorous debate filled the pages of MENC publications. In recognition of MENC's centennial, this article is focused exclusively on the writings of these women published in the Music Supervisors' Journal (later renamed Music Educators Journal), and the organization's various proceedings and yearbooks. These presidents contributed a combined total of more than sixty-six significant writings to MENC, each of which was systematically analyzed for this article. The themes and topics presented here offer a glimpse into the significant i influence these women had on music education before, during, and after their presidencies.