Abstract:
This paper reports a survey study that explores the relationship between teachers' beliefs and values regarding music and movement in early childhood settings. This study approached 200 randomly selected early childhood centres to invite them to complete a questionnaire regarding music and movement experiences in their centres. In addition to the questionnaire, a teacher in each centre was also invited to take part in an interview. The interviews were used to generate a deeper discussion and to ensure the validity of the questionnaire responses. The findings reveal there are a broad range of practices within music and movement education in early childhood settings, as well as highlighting the diversity of beliefs and attitudes regarding the place of music and movement in early childhood programs. These findings show what various teachers include within their definition of music and movement, what kinds of music and movement experiences they program, how these experiences are programmed and why they are programmed this way. The paper will present these findings which explore the relationship between teachers' beliefs and values regarding music and movement education, and their teaching practice.