The Inside Out research project, funded jointly by RCM and the Froebel Trust, is inspired by Froebel’s philosophy that children, as unique, autonomous and creative beings, whose inner and the outer worlds are connected, learn about themselves and the world around them through diverse experiences, centred around play, creativity and relationships. The research project will enable a deep study of children’s sound play – a central feature of the artistic pedagogy of Magic Acorns - its importance for practice, for giving children a voice and for shaping future expressive arts practice in early childhood education.
Barbara is an early childhood music practitioner and researcher, with a wealth of
experienced gathered over the past 20 years. Her research interests, acquired whilst
undertaking an MA in early childhood music education, lie in relationships, collaboration and reflection as a means to develop knowledge and understanding of music in early childhood.
She is passionate about giving children a voice and about exploring the use of musical play
to achieve this. She advocates for childhood as a unique phase of development, not as a preparation for later phases, and respects children as the instigators of their own learning, allowing them to connect with the world around them through play, curiosity and gentle scaffolding.
She is a mentor on the very successful level 4 CME:EC course, validated by Trinity College, as well as being a trustee of MERYC England a registered charity committed to advancing the musical education of children aged 0-5 in England. She also works, as an evaluator, with Creative Futures on their Sound Communities project.
We are really excited to be working with Barbara over the next few months as she delves into some of our past projects and explores them through a Froebelian lens. Look out for blog posts from Barbara about Inside-Out.
Comments