Documenting “The Early Childhood Music Collaborative,” A Multi-Organizational Response to Early Childhood Music in the Time of COVID-19
Abstract
When COVID-19 hit, music education professional organizations mobilized to provide remote teaching suggestions and interpret new research related to minimizing the virus spread in music-making settings. In the United States, the largest national organization related to music education is NAfME (National Association for Music Education). On June 20, 2020, NAfME released a set of recommendations for music teaching, but discussion of young children and recommendations for early childhood settings were noticeably absent.
A group of individuals from three national and international early childhood music entities recognized the need to equip early childhood colleagues during this time of crisis. On July 9, 2020, 21 music educators from several continents gathered to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing early childhood music in the time of COVID-19. We brainstormed in three breakout rooms--research, teaching, and policy, each group delineating at least one action item. Subsequent actions included (a) closed Facebook group in order to share resources and continue the dialogue, (b) meetings with leaders of several national organizations resulting in the publication of a policy statement with early childhood-specific curricular suggestions, (c) involvement from the broader early childhood music community in the project; (d) bi-weekly Zoom calls to facilitate ongoing discussion, and (e) the addition of a diversity, equity, access and inclusion focus.
The purpose of this article was to document the process by which the entities and individuals came together to address a pressing societal reality that affected all aspects of our work as early childhood music specialists. We also include reflections on the way this collective might serve the profession when we adapt to a post-COVID-19 society and beyond through bringing together individuals from many professional organizations and continuing to use structures put into place, including open Zoom meetings and social media interactions.
