Connections between children's speaking and singing behaviours : implications for education and therapy

Abstract\ud The putpose of the study was to investigate potential connections between children's\ud speaking and singing behaviouts, as well as to explore the potential use of such\ud connections in speech or voice therapy and in educational settings. The objectives of the\ud study were addressed through an exploratory approach.\ud In the literature review, potential connections between the two vocal behaviours were\ud investigated theoretically from the physiological (including neurological), voicedevelopmental,\ud psychological and sociological perspectives. Based on the theorising, a\ud model of children's vocal functioning was generated. The model advocates the\ud interconnectedness of all vocal functioning and provides arguments towards the idea of\ud musical elements possessing an enhancing effect on children's vocal functioning.\ud In the empirical phase of the study, the theoretical model was exposed to empirical\ud testing. The pre-pilot study consisted of interviews with eight professional speech and\ud voice therapists. The procedute for the pilot and the main studies consisted of: voice\ud recordings, questionnaires, interviews, observations and a psychological test. The\ud procedure was conducted with four classes of children. Initially, all the participants were\ud treated as one group and, subsequently, each class was looked at separately and treated as\ud a case-study. In total, 76 7-10-year old children participated. In addition, interviews were\ud carried out with the teachers of each class .\ud ..\ud Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were used. The main findings were that\ud children's speaking and singing behaviouts are connected through physiological,\ud psychological and sociological routes, but not through the developmental route.\ud Particularly strong evidence for the interconnectedness of the vocal behaviouts was\ud found from the voice-scientific, psychological and sociological perspectives. The findings\ud imply that children's speaking and singing behaviours are related and, therefore, it may be\ud possible to enhance the quality and functioning of one vocal behaviour through the\ud other. The findings also imply that children's vocal health is connected to a variety of\ud holistic factors and that singing can potentially be used as a means to target these factors.\ud Such findings have significant implications for both educational and therapeutic practice

Researching the Impact of the National Singing Programme 'Sing Up' in England : Diverse Approaches to Successful Singing in Primary Settings

This report presents findings from research carried out with seven Chorister Outreach Projects from Cathedrals across England as part of the Choir School Association's Chorister Outreach Programme (COP). In total, data were collected from fifteen Primary Schools working with these Chorister Outreach Projects. This data set was supplemented by similar teaching and learning of singing data from an additional five (non-COP) Primary Schools who were working with aspects of the SingUp Programme. In total, 48 singing sessions were observed, of which 28 (58.3%) were in COP schools and 20 (41.7%) in non-COP schools. Overall, the observation data on learning and teaching of singing within and outside the COP school sessions demonstrate that high 'quality' experiences can be found in any school context, whether urban or rural, with older or younger children, ethnically diverse or not, and whether led by musical specialists or generalists

The National Singing Programme for primary schools in England: an initial baseline study

The ‘Sing Up’ National Singing Programme for Primary schools in England was launched in November 2007 under the UK Government’s ‘Music Manifesto’. ‘Sing Up’ is a four-year programme whose overall aim is to raise the status of singing and increase opportunities for children throughout the country to enjoy singing as part of their everyday lives, in and out of school. As part of the Programme’s research evaluation, a key focus has been to build an initial picture of singing in Primary schools across England. This information could then be used as a ‘baseline’ by which the programme’s subsequent impact could be judged, including ‘before’ and ‘after’ measures of schools that receive particular ‘Sing Up’ input. This paper reports an overview of key outcomes of first five months of baseline profiling (October, 2007 to February 2008), embracing analyses of the singing behaviours of 3,472 children in 76 Primary schools. These findings are complimented by additional analyses of children’s views on singing in and out of school; and the self-efficacy of their class teachers’ (n=90), both as singers and as teachers of singing

Connections between children's feelings of social inclusion and their musical backgrounds

Social inclusion is considered to be a key element in maintaining a balanced society (such as in preventing high rates of unemployment). Music and arts programmes in communities have been found to facilitate feelings of social inclusion in citizens, in particular amongst the youth. The exact influence of such activities on social inclusion is not known, however, nor are there any formal, empirically-tested comprehensive assessment instruments for the concept. The current study (see footnote 1) explored the connections between children’s musical backgrounds and their feelings of social inclusion, as well as developed and tested an instrument for assessing social inclusion with children. Data were gathered with 110 8-11year-old children in the UK and Finland. Statistical analysis was carried out on the social inclusion instrument in order to assess its reliability, validity and effectiveness. Statistical analysis was also conducted on potential connections between the children’s musical background factors and their feelings of social inclusion. The results indicated that the new instrument can be used in educational and clinical settings with children when assessing their feelings of social inclusion. In addition, children felt more socially included when they played a musical instrument or sang with their family or friends every few days

Perceptual Connections between Prepubertal Children's Voices in their Speaking Behavior and their Singing Behavior

Traditionally, children's speaking and singing behaviors have been regarded as two separate sets of behaviors. Nevertheless, according to the voice-scientific view, all vocal functioning is interconnected due to the fact that we exploit the same voice and the same physiological mechanisms in generating all vocalization. The intension of the study was to investigate whether prepubertal children's speaking and singing behaviors are connected perceptually. Voice recordings were conducted with 60 10-year-old children. Each child performed a set of speaking and singing tasks in the voice experiments. Each voice sample was analyzed perceptually with a specially designed perceptual voice assessment protocol. The main finding was that the children's vocal functioning and voice quality in their speaking behavior correlated statistically significantly with those in their singing behavior. The findings imply that children's speaking and singing behaviors are perceptually connected through their vocal functioning and voice quality. Thus, it can be argued that children possess one voice that is used for generating their speaking and singing behaviors

Should Singing Activities Be Included in Speech and Voice Therapy for Prepubertal Children?

Summary: Customarily, speaking and singing have tended to be regarded as two completely separate sets of behaviors in clinical and educational settings. The treatment of speech and voice disorders has focused on the client's speaking ability, as this is perceived to be the main vocal behavior of concern. However, according to a broader voice-science perspective, given that the same vocal structure is used for speaking and singing, it may be possible to include singing in speech and voice therapy. In this article, a theoretical framework is proposed that indicates possible benefits from the inclusion of singing in such therapeutic settings. Based on a literature review, it is demonstrated theoretically why singing activities can potentially be exploited in the treatment of prepubertal children suffering from speech and voice disorders. Based on this theoretical framework, implications for further empirical research and practice are suggested

The Chorister Outreach Programme of the Choir Schools Association : A Research Evaluation (2008-2011)

Under the umbrella of the National Singing Programme, one major strand was the Chorister Outreach Programme (COP) that was funded by the Government at £1m per year from the Autumn of 2007 through to the Summer of 2010. The programme was designed to enable ‘professional children’s choirs to work creatively with primary school children in their local area’. The programme was overseen by the Choir Schools Association (CSA), usually in partnership with the local music service and Sing Up team, and was open to all their members, as well as other professional choirs with choristers that were connected to a religious establishment. As part of the evaluation of the programme, a research team from the Institute of Education were appointed to undertake a structured research evaluation of certain features of the programme in the academic years 2008-2009 and 2009-2010, with a follow-up in 2010-2011