| Summary: | <p>Songs are a ubiquitous feature of early education, with recent surveys reporting that teachers
use songs every day or often in UK and international primary school settings. However, there is
little rigorously-gathered empirical evidence of songs’ pedagogical benefits. The stark mismatch
between carefully-controlled research and teacher intuition lead to this mixed-methods
investigation into how UK early years and primary teachers use songs. An online questionnaire
(n=103 participants) explored teachers' self-reported purposes for using songs and planning
behaviours. This was followed up by seven semi-structured interviews to explore teacher practice
and thought processes regarding songs’ educational value more deeply. In particular, how song
use varies across age groups taught within early years and primary school, teachers’ attitudes
towards singing as a pedagogical tool, and their belief in songs’ educational value were
investigated quantitatively through the questionnaire and qualitatively through the interview
phases. Participants also suggested research they would like to see regarding song use in
education. The discussion brings together research literature and teacher practice (as evidenced
by participants’ self-report in this study) and suggests future research directions that might guide
pedagogy. </p>
<p>This study’s findings indicate that teachers use songs less frequently after KS1, and less for
behaviour or social purposes than for teaching content as children grow older. Despite scant
research evidence, respondents report strong beliefs in the pedagogical effectiveness of songs.
Key areas emerging for future research were songs’ effectiveness as mnemonics and for
vocabulary acquisition. This study provides evidence that future transdisciplinary research into
songs’ educational value needs to be rigorously controlled and more widely (and reliably)
disseminated to practitioners.</p>
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