Tihana Škojo, Kristijan akiæ
Academy of Arts in Osijek, University of Osijek
THE USE OF GAMES IN MUSIC EDUCATION TEACHING
Izvirni znanstveni èlanek/ Original Scientific Article
Abstract
This paper explores the presence of games in the current Music Education teaching. From the results
obtained, it is clear that teachers use games featuring singing, movement, rhythm and/or melodies,
as well as music games featuring listening. The research shows that teachers are not fully recognized
the possibility of implementing games in the teaching of Music Education and that they do not use
information-communication technology in their implementation. The need to encourage teachers to
implement games at all stages of the lesson has been updated, as well as the one to modernize the
music curriculum with new media and make the games as innovative following the achievements of
the modern era.
Keywords: Music Education, music teachers, elementary school, music arts teaching, music games
Izvleèek
Uporaba glasbeno-didaktiènih iger pri pouèevanju glasbene umetnosti
Namen naše raziskave je bil preuèiti prisotnost glasbenih iger pri pouèevanju glasbene umetnosti na
razredni stopnji osnovne šole. Raziskava je bila izvedena s pomoèjo anketnega vprašalnika.
Sodelovalo je 40 osnovnošolskih uèiteljev glasbe, ki pouèujejo na razredni stopnji. glasbe ne
prepoznavajo monosti implementiranja glasbenih Rezultati so pokazali, da uèitelji iger v svoje
pouèevanje glasbene umetnosti v celoti. Prav tako se je pokazalo, da pri implementiranju glasbenih
iger v pouk ne uporabljajo IKT sredstev.
Kljuène besede: glasbeno izobraevanje, uèitelji glasbe, osnovna šola, pouk glasbene umetnosti,
glasbeno-didaktiène igre
Introduction
In the last eighty years, instigated by Vygotsky’s research (1933), numerous scientific
works were aimed at emphasizing the positive effects of games on different development
aspects of the child. Piaget’s results (1962) point out the games’ significant influence on
the development of children’s cognitive abilities and the fact that games change together
with the intellectual development of the child (Nikèeviæ-Milkoviæ et al., 2011). Newman
(1990) emphasizes the positive effects of games on the children’s memory. Vidanec
(2006) points out the motivational role of games, while Tanis’s research (2012) focuses on
the games’ positive effects on the children’s emotional development.
Those insights were the basis for the study of the use of teaching games (Bognar 1986;
Kamenov 1997; Mahmutoviæ 2013; Aladroviæ Slovaèek et al., 2013). The authors
concluded that learning through games enhances the students’ concentration, resulting in
an evidently increased student interest and a more positive attitude toward specific
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Tihana Škojo, Kristijan akiæ, THE USE OF GAMES IN MUSIC EDUCATION TEACHING
teaching content. In addition, the authors emphasized the increase of student activity in
relation to other forms of learning, together by achieving better learning outcomes.
A variety of games is present at all levels of the educational process, from preschool to
higher education, regardless of the teaching subject (Moèiniæ, 2012; Skender and Kalas,
2017; Šulentiæ-Begiæ, 2016). They can be used at all stages of the teaching process, and
are mostly used to motivate students in the introductory part of the classroom or the
revision and evaluation of the teaching content (Škojo and Jukiæ, 2015). They can be
implemented in all social forms of work, from frontal and group work, working in pairs to
individual forms of teaching (Bognar, 1986; Nikèeviæ-Milkoviæ et al., 2011). Learning
through games, due to a natural way of learning and the dynamics of the activities
themselves, has an extremely positive impact on the social and emotional teaching
atmosphere and is therefore often included in the teaching methods of creative and
competent teachers.
Games in Music Education Teaching
In the Republic of Croatia, music games were first introduced in Music Education
teaching in elementary education in 1960 (Rojko, 1996), and to this day they have retained
their place in the current curriculum (Curriculum for Elementary Schools 2006). In the
fourth grade, when Music Education teaching begins to be performed by the subject
teacher, music games – together with singing, listening to and getting acquainted with
music, performing, and learning the music alphabet – are foreseen by the curriculum as an
equal teaching area based on a psychological principle, which points to the need for
appreciation of the fact that the students love music and wish to be actively involved with
it and that it is necessary to select those activities that will, following the acknowledgment
of diversity in development skills, result in the desired learning outcomes. The
implementation of this teaching area is entirely theoretically and methodically based on
the free creation of games of the teacher’s choice: free rhythmizing by imitating the
teacher, free and stylized movement with a musical background, playing (without
excessively high aims) on simpler instruments etc. (Curriculum for Elementary Schools
2006, 72). In the next educational cycle, which includes the fifth and sixth grade, music
games are implemented within the teaching area called free, improvised rhythmizing,
movement to music, dancing, and playing with respect to individual musical abilities and
preferences, with a view to targeting students to actively and musically perform the
rhythmic activities: moving to music, dancing, playing (Ibid. 2006). In the last cycle, the
seventh and eighth grade, music games are performed in classroom by playing
(synthesizer), creativity, computer (MIDI equipment) (Ibid. 2006), with the aim that the
students link music and music creativity in terms of the production and reproduction of
sound and music with modern technological devices that have become an indispensable
part of their lives and the modern, technically advanced society.
The open program, which has been present in Music Education teaching since the
introduction of the Croatian National Educational Standard in 2006, gives teachers the
freedom to act as responsible and competent experts in what they think is useful for
students of a specific class in terms of music (Rojko, 2012). In addition to the compulsory
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core curriculum related to the activity of listening and getting acquainted with music, the
teacher chooses music games and other music activities according to their personal choice
and creativity as well as to students’ interests, taking into account that the students’ music
activity, not only the teaching content, is of crucial importance.
In the content framework of Music Education, music games are most often present as
games featuring singing, rhythm and/or melodies, and listening (Manasteriotti, 1982).
Music games featuring singing belong to the kind of movement-related games in which
each specific games contains pre-established rules during singing (Šulentiæ-Begiæ, 2015).
As a singing background with this type of games, a quality and interesting song is used,
appropriate to the students’ age and previously adopted by the methodically established
way of learning a song by listening: getting acquainted with the song, analysing the lyrics,
learning and analysing the song, and music interpreting (Rojko 2005). In addition to these
games, the basic movements are implemented: walking, running, jogging, and arm
movement (Manasteriotti, 1978), as well as specially designed choreographies. They can
be performed in different formations, and are usually performed as games in a circle or a
line, as free or mixed form games (Manasteriotti, 1982). Music games featuring singing
can also be implemented as creative activities through which students will strengthen, but
also evaluate the knowledge and skills gained through singing activities (Lazarin, 1992).
Music games featuring rhythm/melodies help develop music abilities in a creative way. In
the initial phase, they primarily use imitation and later focus on the activities of musical
creation, in accordance with the students’ wishes and possibilities.
Music games featuring melodies can in an inventive way develop a sense of pitch,
strength, duration, metric, and tone, and influence the development of auditory attention
and melodic memory (Škojo and Jukiæ, 2015). These games, other than as independent
activities, can also be carried out for the purpose of warming-up, as methodical exercises
for expanding the vocal scope, or for influencing articulation.
Music games featuring rhythms can be used in practice in the form of rhymes, rhythmic
tables, questions and answers, resuming rhythm games, matching text and/or melody to an
existing rhythmic example (Šulentiæ-Begiæ, 2016) and improvisation of closed music
forms that can include the percussion instruments included in Orff’s instruments (Škojo
and Jukiæ, 2015).
Music games featuring listening, due to listening as the dominant activity in the open
model of Music Education teaching, are most common in teaching practice as a means of
consolidating musical knowledge. These games can be directed at the beginning of the
acquisition of musical knowledge toward encouraging the listening curiosity (Sam 1998),
and later toward detecting individual elements of musical expression, determining the
structure of musical works, composers, compositions, styles, etc. Music games featuring
listening are recently present in teaching through various products of information and
communication technology. Created inventively and in an interesting didactic way, as
computer games they can offer valuable factual knowledge, develop listening skills and
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Tihana Škojo, Kristijan akiæ, THE USE OF GAMES IN MUSIC EDUCATION TEACHING
positively affect the students’ musical preferences. In addition to having a nurturing effect
on the fulfilment of cognitive, psychomotor, and affective learning outcomes, the
implementation of such games entirely transfers the activity from the teacher to the learner
and achieves an overall departure from the traditional way of acquiring knowledge.
All the said types of music games are valuable lesson activities that, in addition to creating
musical knowledge and developing musical skills, contribute to the creation of a pleasant
and stimulating learning atmosphere, cooperation, and creativity, and most certainly
support the quality of Music Education teaching.
Research Methodology and Aims
This paper describes the research conducted to determine the extent to which teachers use
games in Music Education, which types of games they use, and for which teaching
purposes. The research was conducted with the aim of highlighting the wide possibilities
of using the games in the teaching of Music Education and enrichment of all teaching
stages with such an active way of learning and teaching.
In accordance with the set aim, the following issues were listed:
• Identify the presence of games in the current Music Education teaching
• Identify the types of games used by teachers
• Identify the teaching tools used by teachers when implementing games in Music
Education teaching
• Examine the teaching purpose of games in Music Education teaching.
Participants
The research was conducted with the help of a sample consisting of forty Music Education
teachers (90% female and 10% male participants) employed in Croatian elementary
schools in Osijek-Baranja, Brod-Posavina, Poega-Slavonia, and Vukovar-Srijem
counties. The average number of teachers’ week hours in direct teaching is 20.05 hours.
Most teachers (65%) are full-time workers in one school, 27.5% of teachers teach in two
schools, while 7.5% teach in more than two schools. Of the total number of teachers,
97.5% carry out extracurricular activities, while 2.5% are not engaged in any
extracurricular activity. The most attended extracurricular activity is the choir (61.70%),
followed by the orchestra (14.89%), a music workshop (6.38%), a dance group (4.25%),
and a drum group, folklore dancing, instrumental group, synthesizer, tamburitza
orchestra, and a music arts workshop (2.13%).
Methodological Approach
For research purposes, a survey consisting of two parts was devised. The first part of the
survey is composed of questions related to socio-demographic characteristics of the
respondents: gender, age, work experience, number of teaching hours in the immediate
educational work, number of schools in which the respondent achieves full-time work,
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and participation of teachers as heads of extracurricular activities. The second part of the
survey contains 23 closed questions in which respondents, by using the Likert type scale
and choosing the numbers from one to five, indicated their level of agreement with certain
statements. The estimates indicated the following: 1 - no, never; 2 - mostly not; 3 - neither
yes nor no; 4 - mostly yes; 5 - yes, always. After the survey and data collection, their
processing was carried out. The baseline statistical parameters for the research variables
(M, SD) were calculated using the IBM SPSS Statistics 20 Programme.
Results and Interpretation
The first group of questions related to the determination of the general attitude of teachers
towards games in teaching (Table 1). According to results, the highest mean values were
used by teachers to indicate that the purpose of using games in teaching is to create a
relaxed atmosphere (M = 4.03), achieve a more dynamic way of teaching, and avoid
monotony in class (M = 4.00). The established mean values, encompassing the statements
neither yes nor no, mostly yes, show that teachers are using games only to a certain extent.
Teachers determined that games help overcome individual differences among students
and encourage their socialization. They also concluded that, although the students’
successfulness in games is an additional means of praise, they generally do not evaluate
them based on the success achieved through games. In the light of the results, we can
conclude that students mostly do not design games that are implemented in class, but that
the games in Music Education teaching are designed and formed exclusively by teachers.
Table 1: Evaluation of the Teachers’ General Attitude toward Games in Class
Statements M SD
I use different games in class 3.43 .903
ghtI design games myself 3.23 1.074
Students design games that we implement in class 2.88 1.114
Games are more efficient than the regular learning 3.53 .933
I use games to create a relaxed class atmosphere 4.03 .800
I avoid monotony and contribute to interest in teaching contents 4.00 .816
Games help me overcome individual differences among students 3.61 .946
Games help me with the socialization of students 3.65 .949
In class, I evaluate students through their successes achieved in games 2.55 1.176
Students’ successfulness in games serves as an additional means of praise 3.50 .934
The second group of questions concerned the evaluation of the use of games from the
aspect of the educational process stages (Table 2). As can be seen in the table, it was
determined that the use of music games in teaching is most often used during the revision
or practice of the teaching content, as shown by the mean value (M = 3.56). The mean
value, concentrated on the estimate neither yes nor no, determined that games are less used
in class when introducing students to new teaching content, and least used as a method for
adopting new teaching content.
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Tihana Škojo, Kristijan akiæ, THE USE OF GAMES IN MUSIC EDUCATION TEACHING
Based on the answers related to the use of games with regard to forms of work in class, the
teachers evaluated groups games as the most common social form in which music games
were implemented (M = 3.38). Teachers’ answers, ranging between mostly no and neither
yes nor no, showed that games in pairs and competition games were least used in class.
Table 2: Evaluation of Games’ Use with Regard to Education Process Stages and Social Forms
Statements M SD
I use games as a method for adopting new teaching content 3.20 1.043
I use games when introducing new teaching content 3.25 .981
I use games when revising or practicing teaching content 3.56 .852
I implement games in pairs 2.88 1.067
I implement games in groups 3.38 .963
I implement competition games 2.72 .905
According to the answers on the evaluation of the use of music games types in Music
Education teaching (Table 3), teachers gave the highest mean value, concentrating on the
estimates mostly yes and neither yes nor no, thereby establishing that they most frequently
used music games featuring singing (M = 3.62) in their classes. With a somewhat lower
mean value, the teachers demonstrated that they sometimes use music games featuring
listening (M = 3.43) and motion-related music games (M = 3.35), while the lowest mean
value (M = 3.32 ) was given to the implementation of games featuring rhythm and/or
melodies in Music Education teaching.
Table 3: Evaluation of the Use of Types of Music Games
Statements M SD
I implement music games featuring singing 3.62 .990
I implement music games featuring listening 3.43 1.107
I implement motion-related music games 3.35 1.272
I implement games featuring rhythm and/or melodies 3.32 1.047
Although it is difficult to imagine contemporary teaching without the use of
information-communication technology, teachers have given an extremely low mean
value (M = 2.32) to the implementation of music games with the help of ICT. From the
results obtained, it is obvious that teachers do not use computers, mobile phones, nor
mobile applications (Table 4).
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Table 4: Evaluation of the Use of Music Games with Regard to ICT
Statements M SD
I use computers in games implementation 2.32 1.185
I use mobile phones in games implementation 1.70 .992
I use mobile application in games implementation 1.83 1.083
Conclusion
Although the research has identified a number of positive effects of games on different
aspects of teaching activity, it shows that the teachers Music Education are only partially
using games in their classes, mostly with the aim of creating a relaxed atmosphere and
avoiding monotony.
Based on the results, it is obvious that teachers use games as group activities through
which students most frequently revise or practice the teaching content. All types of games
featuring singing, listening, movement, rhythm and/or melodies are equally used by
teachers in their classes. The teachers’ answers clearly show that they do not use
information technology in the implementation of games and that they have not recognized
the possibility of introducing computer media into this teaching segment.
We can conclude that the use of games is an important step towards a more interesting,
active, and didactically diverse teaching and that it is necessary to additionally encourage
teachers to further refine their teaching methods through these activities. We point to the
need for a permanent updating of the Music Education curriculum with new media and
contemporary strategies in order to gradually didactically innovate the teaching in line
with the needs of the modern age and students who wish to actively participate in teaching
activities.
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Povzetek
Odprti kurikulum pouèevanja glasbene vzgoje v trenutnem izobraevalnem sistemu
Republike Hrvaške je omogoèil hrvaškim uèiteljem glasbe, da lahko uporabljajo številne
metodiène in didaktiène rešitve, s katerimi lahko izvedejo pedagoške dejavnosti na
ustvarjalen in zanimiv naèin. Ena izmed dejavnosti, ki prinaša pozitivne uèinke na nivoju
pridobljenega znanja in motivacije uèencev, so glasbeno-didaktiène igre (GDI). Monosti
izvajanja GDI so mnogotere in raznolike. GDI lahko vkljuèimo v vse faze uènega procesa.
Omogoèajo nam individualizacijo in diferenciacijo uènega procesa, zato so zaelen
sestavni del sodobne glasbene vzgoje.
Na Hrvaškem je GDI prviè predstavil leta 1960 Pavel Rojko (Rojko 1996), ko so GDI
postale tudi del kurikula glasbene vzgoje v osnovnih šolah in to mesto ohranile do danes
(Kurikulum za Osnovne šole 2006).
Cilj naše raziskave je bil preuèiti prisotnost in naèine uporabe GDI pri pouku glasbene
umetnosti v nijih razredih osnovne šole. V ta namen je bil oblikovan anketni vprašalnik.
V raziskavo je bilo vkljuèenih 40 uèiteljev glasbene umetnosti na niji stopnji osnovne
šole.
Kljub temu, da so rezultati pokazali številne pozitivne uèinke GDI na razliène vidike
pouèevanja glasbe, nakazujejo tudi na to, da uèitelji glasbe le delno izrabljajo uèinke GDI
pri svojih uènih urah. Najveèkrat uporabljajo GDI za ustvarjanje sprošèujoèe atmosfere in
v izogib monotoniji uènega procesa. Vse vrste GDI, vkljuèujoè petje, poslušanje, gibanje
ter ritem in/ali melodijo so enakovredno zastopane pri njihovi uporabi v uènem procesu.
Odgovori uèiteljev jasno kaejo, da pri izvedbi GDI ne uporabljajo sodobne raèunalniške
tehnologije in ne prepoznavajo potrebe po vkljuèevanju IKTja v process izvedbe GDI.
Zakljuèimo lahko, da so GDI pomemben korak proti zanimivemu, aktivnemu in
didaktièno raznolikemu pouèevanju. Zato bi bilo potrebno uèitelje glasbe v nijih razredih
osnovne šole spodbuditi, da preoblikujejo svoje metode pouèevanja, vkljuèujoè veè GDI,
pri èemer bi bilo zaeleno tudi sledenje trendom sodobne raèunalniške tehnologije, ki je
uèencem blizu.
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Tihana Škojo, Kristijan akiæ, THE USE OF GAMES IN MUSIC EDUCATION TEACHING