Presentation

This subject is based on the didactic applications of music in preschool. In this course we will deepen in the procedures for children to achieve theoretical and practical contents for Music education, this is, we will focus on the practical way to achieve the mentioned objectives in the subject of music. To summarise, the objectives of this subject are focused on achieving enough competences in the use of different method for the students in the classroom to:

• Learn to value and enjoy the beauty of music.
• Know and use with enough ability musical language to be able to read without any difficulty and create partitures suitable for the school context.
• Know, value and be able to apply the music capacity for their intellectual, affective, physical and psychologic development.
• Use the most common didactic resources and perform happily the different musical tasks applied to the preschool classroom and its environment.
• Be able to achieve the objectives for this field that determine the current education legislation.

Competences

Basic competences

• BC2. Students know how to apply their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional manner, and possess the skills that they usually demonstrate through the development and defence of arguments, as well as the resolution of problems within their area of study.

General competences

• GC1. Know the objectives, curricular content and evaluation criteria of Early Years Education.
• GC2. Promote and facilitate learning in early childhood, from a globalising and integrating perspective of the different cognitive, emotional, psycho-motor and volitional dimensions.
• GC5. Reflect in a group about the acceptance of norms and respect for others. Promote the autonomy and uniqueness of each student as factors of education of emotions, feelings and values in early childhood.
• GC7. Know the educational implications of information and communication technologies and, in particular, television in early childhood.
  

Specific competences

• SC53. Know the fundamentals of music, visual arts and physical expression in the curriculum for this stage, as well as theories on the acquisition and development of the corresponding learning.
• SC54.Know and use songs to promote auditory, rhythmic and vocal education.
• SC56.Develop teaching proposals that promote musical perception and expression, motor skills, drawing and creativity.

Program

Unit 1. Foundations of teaching and their application in music education
How to study this unit?
Music in the classroom
Teaching to learn music
Strategies and techniques in music education
Teaching methods to develop children’s musical abilities in Early Childhood Education
The main task of a music teacher. Goals, attitude and characteristics
Rules of conduct in the music class
Motivational strategies

Unit 2. Teaching musical language
How to study this unit?
Experience of sound
Elements of musical language. Representation, reading and practice of sound
Teaching musical language through words, narratives and tales
Application of music teaching methods in learning music reading and language

Unit 3. ICT teaching applications for music education
How to study this unit?
Practical applications of ICT in music education
Editing musical scores for music education
ICT resources for the classroom
Critical assessment of ICT resources. Advantages and disadvantages
The use of the digital whiteboard in music teaching

Unit 4. Voice training and singing
How to study this unit?
The voice
Teaching resources and use of the voice
Application of music teaching methods in voice training and singing
Techniques for training vocal groups

Unit 5. Teaching instrument practice.
How to study this unit?
Rhythm and instruments
Teaching applications of using the body as an instrument
Musical instruments in Early Childhood Education
Strategies and techniques for instrument practice
Application of music teaching methods in instrument practice

Unit 6. Teaching movement and dance
How to study this unit?
Movement and dance
Applying psycho-motor activity to music
Teaching resources and the benefits of bodily expression and movement in Early Childhood Education
Teaching methods to develop children’s musical abilities in Early Childhood Education
Contributions of using world dances in the Early Childhood Education classroom

Unit 7. Educational applications of Music Therapy
How to study this unit?
Introduction to Music Therapy
Principles of music as therapy
The application of Music Therapy
Music in the stages of child development

Unit 8. Material means and resources in Music Education
How to study this unit?
The dilemma of the specialist classroom
Classification of music teaching material

Unit 9. Planning and assessing teaching for music education
How to study this unit?
Planning the process of teaching/learning in Music Education
Musical objectives and content.
Sequencing
Activities. Criteria and ideas
Approaches to diversity in Music Education
Evaluation in music education
Evaluation goals
Evaluation techniques and tools

Methodology

The different tasks and activities programmed during the semester have been developed with the goal of adapting the learning process to the different capabilities, necessities and interests of the students.

The activities included in the subject are:

• Work. These are activities of different types: reflection, case analysis, practice, etc.
• Participation in events. Events are scheduled every week of the semester: virtual face-to-face sessions, discussion forums, tests.

In the weekly program you can find the specific tasks you need to complete in this subject.

These activities are combined with the following aspects:

• Personal Study
• Tutoring. The tutoring class can be implemented through different tools and means. During the course of the subject, the teacher-tutor plans the individual tutoring on specific days for the resolution of academic-oriented doubts through “Consultation sessions”. Supplementing these sessions, students have also available the “Ask your teacher” forum through which they can formulate questions and check the corresponding answers on general aspects of the subject.  Due to the very nature of the media used, there are no fixed schedules for the students.
• Mandatory on-site final exam.

The hours dedicated to each activity are detailed as follows:

Bibliography

Basic bibliography

The necessary texts for the study of this subject had been elaborated by UNIR and are available in a digital format for consultation, download and print in the virtual classroom.

• Gómez, J. (2015). The theory of teaching music. Manual for Early Childhood and Primary School Teachers. Logroño: Unir Editorial.

Evaluation and assessment

The evaluation system is based on the following numerical chart:

The grade is made up of two components:

On-site final exam (60%). At the end of the semester, you need to assist a mandatory on-site final exam. You need to pass the final exam so the grade obtained from the assignments (continuous assessment) is summed up to the final grade of the subject. 

Continuous assessment (40%): this type of assessment will be measured through the different assignments you need to complete during the course:

• Active participation and involvement in forums, online classes.
• Tasks. The completion of the different activities the students need to send through our virtual classroom such as research, critical thinking, practice cases.
• Self-evaluation tests. At the end of each unit, students will find a short quiz which will help the students to check the knowledge acquired during the course.

Remember that you can check the points (value) of each assignment in the weekly program.

Take into account that the sum of the grades of the assignments included in the continuous assessment is 6 points. You can do as many as you want to until a maximum grade of 4 points (which is the maximum grade you will be obtaining in the continuous assessment)In the weekly program, you can find the grade of each assignment. .

Tips

Studying online means you can organize your study as you wish, as long as you meet the due dates of the different assignments (activities, tasks and tests). In order to help you, we propose the following steps:

1. From our online platform you will have access to each of the subjects you are enrolled. Apart from this, the virtual classroom of Lo que necesitas saber antes de empezar (All you need to know before starting). In this section, you have available all the documents on how to use the different tools included in the virtual classroom, how a subject is organized and you will also have the possibility to organize your study plan with the tutor.
2. Do not forget to check the weekly program. You will see which part of the content of the course you have to work on every week.
3. After knowing your work for the week, go to Temas in your virtual classroom. There, you will have access to the study material (theory and practice) from the unit you need to study throughout the week.
4. Start by reading the Key ideas of each unit, there you will find the specific study material and it will help you understand the most important points of the unit. Afterwards, check out the sections Specially Recommended and More Information where you will find more resources in order to deepen on the topic of the unit. .
5. Devote some time to the practical cases and tasks in the subject (assignments and test). Remember that in your weekly program you find all the information related to the schedule for each assignment and the maximum grade you can obtain in each of them.
6. We strongly recommend you to participate in the Events of the course (online classes, forums….). To know the precise schedule of the events, you need to check the communications tools in the virtual platform. Your teacher and tutor will inform you on the updates of the course.

Remember that in Lo que necesitas saber antes de empezar (All you need to know before starting) you can check how the different tools of the virtual classroom work: email, forum, online classes, sending the tasks, etc.