Perceptions of and Reflections on Aesthetic Education Training from the Perspective of Taiwanese Preschool Educators

Abstract

Many studies have demonstrated that music has many benefits for children’s physical and mental development. However, many preschool educators have scant preparation for or a lack of experience in aesthetic education. The purpose of this study is to explore preschool educators’ perceptions of and reflections on aesthetic education training. We conducted a survey associated with three aspects: “aesthetics appreciation”, “aesthetics implementation”, and “aesthetics evaluation”. The results of the study show the majority of participants agreed that (1) musical participation would strengthen participants’ attitudes toward aesthetic appreciation through proper aesthetic training programs and (2) musical engagement would benefit young children by enhancing their aesthetic experiences. The attitudes toward aesthetic implementation for young children were more favorable among the middle-aged and experienced participants; (3) musical activities are also a good way to improve young children’s aesthetic abilities, which helps to create an aesthetic atmosphere in educational practice. These results indicate that it is vital for preschool educators to receive the appropriate training in aesthetics and continuous assessment to provide high-quality early education to young children.

1. Introduction

Music has a therapeutic effect on young children and enhances self-affirmation. Moreover, Froebel believes in the impact and value of music on children [1]. From the perspective of young children’s physical development, music can increase auditory acuity and body-movement sensitivity. In terms of young children’s psychological growth and development, music can change their emotions and behaviors and inspire the development of personality and temperament. In 2016, the Taiwanese Ministry of Education (MOE) released the Early Childhood Education and Care Curriculum Framework (ECEC curriculum framework) and its extension “Session 2 of the Five-Year Aesthetic Education Program (2019–2023),” which contains six domains. The aesthetic domain includes music, and its learning orientation is distinguished into “affective” and “artistic medium.” The term “aural art medium” refers to the medium or material utilized for creative expression based on musical rhythm, melody, or singing. This expression can take different forms, including singing, percussion, or body movements. Through these expressions, young children respond to basic elements of music (sound duration/rhythm, tone color, dynamics, pitch) and the form structure of music. To teach children how to respond to and express their thoughts about music as well as to recognize and appreciate its variations and characteristics, the guidelines for music appreciation place a particular emphasis on listening to music, singing, and percussion [2,3]. As a result, preschool educators should teach music in a way that is consistent with the guidelines and they should also possess musical training or a relevant background to provide suitable music teaching strategies for young children.

Although most preschool educators claim that children like to participate in musical activities, they also admit that they have little experience and lack the necessary music education training to inspire young children to become interested in music [4,5]. Moreover, only half of the preschool educators reported that they possessed the required abilities to engage children in creative activities, particularly music [6]. Unsurprisingly, music education consists of professional musical knowledge that can only be obtained with specific training and practical experience [7]. Furthermore, the preschool teachers’ lack of music education training has resulted in a lack of confidence when leading music activities; hence, they are unable to provide young children with diverse music experiences [8,9]. Thus, preschool educators should receive medium- to long-term training in music education [7,10].

The study has shown that preschool educators who have received professional musical training will always guide children to participate in music physical activities in various ways and design imaginative child-centered physical activities in their teaching practice [11]. Moreover, the curriculum, teaching materials, and strategies are also more varied [11]. In contrast, preschool educators with limited musical education training or experience appear less motivated to participate in musical events and complain that it is challenging to compensate for their missed training [12,13,14]. Pramling & Garvis [15] also argued that the preschool teacher’s role is tied to young children’s musical and artistic development.

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed people’s daily lives and learning modes, resulting in many kindergartens and schools switching to online teaching. This poses a new challenge to preschool educators with little music education experience or a lack of music education training. Thus, improving preschool teachers’ musical proficiency and self-assurance in music during the pandemic crisis has become an issue.

While issues relevant to the current situation and the challenges faced by preschool educators in music education have been discussed, few studies have explored the preschool educators’ perceptions of and reflections on music education training, especially in the COVID-19 pandemic context. Three research questions are addressed in this study: (RQ1) Do preschool educators increase their experience in exploring and perceiving aesthetics through musical activity? (RQ2) Do preschool educators improve performance and creative work through musical activity? Additionally, (RQ3) Are preschool educators willing to appreciate different types of artwork and respond to their feelings? The findings are particularly useful for academics and musical professionals to understand how preschool educators perceive music education training and how they reflect on their experiences. Furthermore, this study represents a first step in providing preliminary quantitative information with regard to including the MOE’s curriculum aesthetic elements in creative musical education practices.

2. Theoretical Background

2.1. Aesthetics Education

Aesthetics is the study of things related to beauty and art, in addition to the sense of “beauty” of things around us in our daily lives. Crawford [16] defined aesthetics as “the branch of philosophical activities [that] involves the critical reflection on our experience and evaluation of art.” We believe that beauty can be learned through teaching and the accumulation of experience. Moreover, learning about beauty and life experiences will also influence an individual’s perception and judgment of beauty [17]. When considering the purpose of this study, we adopted the following definition of aesthetics education taken from [18]:

An intentional undertaking designed to nurture appreciative, reflective, cultural, participatory engagements with the arts by enabling learners to notice what is there to be noticed, and to lend works of art their lives in such a way that they can achieve them as variously meaningful. In summary, knowledge of aesthetics includes diverse knowledge of literacies.

([18], p. 6)

Accordingly, aesthetics education has a much larger scope and educates individuals to perceive natural and social beauty in an ideal manner. Additionally, it cultivates within the individuals the capacity to alter the reality of aesthetic action in line with the beauty rules. It takes a substantial amount of time for an individual to develop and enhance their aesthetic consciousness, attitudes, and behaviors. However, age and socioeconomic variables can affect the various phases and degrees of this procedure. Moreover, aesthetic education depends on the individual’s acquisition of society’s aesthetic culture and is conducted in different methods and forms.

2.2. The Importance of Music Education in Early Childhood

Recent studies of musical development in early childhood have benefited from the new insights added by educational, psychological, and neuroscience theory and practice. The medical professionals also use sonic monitoring technologies, such as ultrasound and intrauterine sound, to demonstrate that a fetus can recognize and respond to musical phrases in the mother’s womb [19,20,21,22,23]. The toddlers rapidly develop the ability to recognize, distinguish, and replicate diverse sound patterns in their early learning stage [24,25]. In addition, many studies have confirmed that a newborn pays more attention to a mother singing than to them speaking [20,23]. All brain processes necessary for receiving and analyzing sound cues are active when young children learn music [26]. In addition, the left cerebral hemisphere, which dominates language function, is more developed in people who engage with music regularly [27]. Blood & Zatorre [28] also reported that listening to and performing music increases activity in numerous brain areas and activates neural systems, some of which relate to motivation, biological reward, and other enjoyable events. These studies provide conclusive evidence that music significantly affects the brain.

Many researchers in early childhood education have suggested that sensory stimulation and emotions should be engaged in various music education activities and will enhance the whole child’s development [29,30]. MENC [31] asserted that early childhood is a good time for forming the basic concepts in music under prekindergarten music education guidelines and/or curricula. Accordingly, we know that music significantly affects a child’s academic performance [32], aids in the development of social skills [33], and provides a vital outlet for a child’s creativity. Importantly, all of these are essential for a child’s growth and development. In summary, the benefits of music education for young children are immeasurable and highly advantageous [34].

Music education refers to learning music knowledge, skills, aesthetics, cultural heritage, and social skills; thus, it should always be perceived as a crucial step in children’s education. In addition, to ensure that young children receive quality care and education, preschool educators must continuously improve their knowledge, skills, and strategies related to early childhood education. Early childhood education requires a comprehensive teaching strategy, including pedagogy, knowledge, tools, and skills/techniques that educators might employ to encourage the overall development of children [35]. However, the majority of preschool educators are unfamiliar with the prekindergarten music standards or ECE curricula.

Many studies have demonstrated that preschool educators have limited training in music education, including those from the United States [36,37], Australia [38], Brazil [39], Greece [40], Kenya [41], Taiwan [42], and Hong Kong [43,44]. This is because preschool educators typically receive contradictory information regarding their role as a facilitator of musical development [45]. Nevertheless, professional guidelines incorporate music throughout the early childhood curriculum [46]. In this way, the use of music would be appreciated by teachers. However, when questioned about the content with which they were trained in music education, preschool educators acknowledged being unprepared for including music in curricula [47].

Extant research has revealed that preschool educators should understand the essential musical aspects of pitch, duration, intensity, and timbre. Moreover, play activities, such as nursery thymes activities, singing songs, soundscape, and storytelling, can be utilized to augment early childhood teaching techniques. Hoy & Spero [48] demonstrated that educators who feel strongly about self-efficacy tend to use effective musical approaches and introduce new educational practices.

Music education approaches are also directly influenced by the learning environment. For example, children may be taught the significance of music in their daily lives through the quality, variety, and frequency of preschool activities [49]. In addition, many organizations, such as [31], encourage devoting at least 20 min each day to music, which should be segmented into multiple small intervals. According to the study by [50], music education can easily be included in a multidisciplinary education approach to enhance learning in other areas, such as early reading and early numeracy skills for young children. Furthermore, researchers have advised the use of training for preschool educators, as well as collaborative activities with music specialists [51]. Hence, music education training programs for ECEs must be evaluated and expanded in terms of their scope and domains [52].

3. Methods

3.1. Instrument Development

This study was guided by a questionnaire that included 12 questions categorized into 3 constructs (Appendix A). All items in this questionnaire were created by adapting measurement items from previous studies and MOE’s Early Childhood Education and Care Curriculum Framework and its extension program to fit the context of the study. The questionnaire started with a personal demographic section, including factors such as gender, age, education attainment, and number of years of working experience in early childhood education. This was followed by 12 questions grouped into 3 categories. The response options for all 12 statements were strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), neutral (3), agree (4), and strongly agree (5). Prior to the data collection, the instrument was reviewed by two experts from the early childhood field to ensure that the content validity of the questionnaire was satisfactory. To test the feasibility of the instrument, a pilot test was conducted with 53 users who reported having received music education training in their educational practice.

3.2. Sample and Data Collection

To realize the study, our research project was divided into two phases. In Phase I, we distributed the questionnaire via paper copy and an email with a web link to the prospective participants. In addition, a recruiting notice with a description of the study and an informed consent declaration was accessible via the same web link. Meanwhile, the participants were not required to have previous music education training experience. Then, we invited the respondents to continue participating in Phase II of conducting music education training. Before implementation, we explained its purpose and procedures to the participants and obtained their consent. In this music education program, a series of musical activities were designed to teach young children American English. For example, the preschool teachers will be required to learn American English by participating in diverse musical activities, including songs, music games, stories, and music and body movement.

Quantitative data were collected over ten weeks, starting in February 2022 and ending at the beginning of May 2022. Ultimately, we received 118 hits, of which 79 were valid (rate of return: 67%). Among these 79 respondents, 2 (2.5%) were male and 77 (97.5%) were female. Most of the respondents (n = 36) were aged 21–30 years, followed by the 31–40 year age group (n = 23). The average working experience of the respondents was 0–10 years (n = 54), while the remainder of the respondents had over 11 years of working experience as an early childhood educator (n = 25).

Table 1. Demographics of respondents (n = 79).

Category	Variables	n	Percentage(%)
Gender	Male	2	2.5
	Female	77	97.5
Age	Under 30	37	46.8
	31–40	23	29.1
	41 and above	19	24.1
Education attainment	High school or less	7	8.9
	Junior or technical college degree	5	6.3
	Undergraduate degree	57	72.1
	Graduate degree	10	12.7
Job title	Educare giver	57	72.15
	Preschool teacher	22	27.85
Year of working experience in early childhood education	Under five years	35	44.3
	Six to ten years	19	24.1
	11 years and above	25	31.6
Do you have any experience in aesthetic education training	Yes	27	34.18
	No	52	65.82

provides detailed demographic information about the participants.

3.3. Validity and Reliability

To confirm the consistency of the instrument, we applied exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with the principal component method and the varimax rotation method for the entire scale. According to [53], minimum factor loadings should be set to at least 0.50 as a convergent validity criterion. The results indicated that the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) value was 0.90. In addition, Bartlett’s test of sphericity was statistically significant (p < 0.001), and the total variable explained was 77.55%, indicating that the scale of measurement was appropriate.

Table 2. Results of factor analysis.

Dimension	Items	Eigenvalue	Variance Explained (%)	Factor Loadings
Aesthetics appreciation	AEA1	7.90	65.86	0.84
	AEA2			0.87
	AEA3			0.86
	AEA4			0.82
Aesthetics implementation	AEI1	1.40	11.69	0.82
	AEI2			0.80
	AEI3			0.79
	AEI4			0.83
Aesthetics evaluation	AEV1	1.18	9.57	0.82
	AEV2			0.74
	AEV3			0.73
	AEV4			0.76

presents the details of factor loadings under the three dimensions (AEA, AEI, and AEV), complete with the eigenvalues and the explained variance (%). Cronbach’s alpha value was applied to confirm the reliability of the measurement scale, which should be >0.7. The results indicated that Cronbach’s alpha was 0.95. An internal consistency reliability analysis of the three dimensions of the scale exhibited high Cronbach’s alphas of 0.91, 0.96, and 0.91 for AEA, AEI, and AEV, respectively.

4. Results

4.1. Perceived Aesthetic Appreciation after Receiving Aesthetic Education Training

For RQ1, the aesthetics appreciation subscale (AEA) was used to access participants’ perceptions of aesthetic appreciation and experiences after receiving aesthetic education training. The mean scores of the four items across the AEA subscale ranged from 3.91 (AEA1 and AEA3) to 4.03 (AEA4). These findings suggested that participants perceived a positive attitude toward aesthetic appreciation through proper aesthetic education training. Therefore, it could be considered helpful for enriching their experience in the exploration and perception of aesthetics. More specifically, 75.9% of the participants agreed that musical activity would increase the tendency of young children to imitate or mimic the melody or rhythm they heard. Furthermore, 70.9% of the participants agreed that musical activity increased young children’s engagement in music, drama, or artworks and encouraged them to explore different sounds in their surroundings (70.9%). In summary, our participants had a significantly positive experience with aesthetic appreciation.

To identify which demographic variables were statistically significantly associated with the AEA subscales, we applied Spearman correlation analysis to test the association between them. The findings indicated that only age (r = 0.28, p < 0.05) was significantly correlated with AEA (

Table 3. Summary of Spearman’s correlation and one-way ANOVA on the AEA subscale.

Characteristics		n	Mean (SD)	Spearman’s Correlation (r)	One-Way ANOVA (F)
Gender	Male	2	18.00 (2.00)	0.13	0.01
	Female	77	15.60 (0.32)
Age	Under 30	37	14.73 (0.47)	0.27 *	4.17 *
	31–40	23	16.52 (0.53)
	41 and above	19	16.42 (0.56)
Education attainment	High school or less	7	15.29 (1.36)	0.05	0.01
	Junior or technical college	5	15.40 (1.40)
	Undergraduate	57	15.68 (0.35)
	Graduate	10	15.90 (1.06)
Job	Educare giver	57	15.47 (0.38)	0.08	0.89
	Preschool teacher	22	16.14 (0.55)
Years of working experience in early childhood	Under five years	35	15.40 (0.46)	0.18	3.16 *
	Six to ten years	19	14.74 (0.68)
	11 years and above	25	16.72 (0.50)
Do you have any training experience in aesthetic education	Yes	27	15.66 (0.50)	0.01	0.03
	No	52	15.64 (0.43)

* p < 0.05.

). Therefore, we subsequently performed a one-way ANOVA analysis to examine the differences between age groups. The results suggested a statistically significant difference between age groups in the AEA subscale (F(2, 76) = 4.17, p < 0.05). The participants in the age 31–40 years age group perceived their aesthetic appreciation the highest. In addition, participants with >11 years of work experience in early childhood education had the highest perception of aesthetic compared to younger preschool educators (F(2, 76) = 3.16, p < 0.05).

4.2. Perceive Aesthetic Implementation after Receiving Aesthetic Education Training

The aesthetics implementation subscale (AEI) was used to determine participants’ perceptions of aesthetic performance and creativity after receiving aesthetic education training. For RQ2, we applied the AEI subscale to access perceptions of aesthetic implementation after the participants received aesthetic education training. The mean score of the four items in the AEI subscale was 3.91–3.80. These findings indicated that >66% of the participants strongly agreed that musical activities would enhance their aesthetic implementation after receiving appropriate aesthetic education training. In other words, appropriate aesthetic education training would stimulate participants’ creativity and imagination, enabling them to use different mediums to create artwork. In more detail, over 77.2% of the participants believed that musical activity would encourage young children to enhance and broaden their aesthetic experiences. Furthermore, 73.4% of the participants argued that musical activity would encourage young children to experience different elements of art. Finally, 69.7% of the participants argued that musical activity would cultivate aesthetic acuity in young children.

Next, we used Spearman correlation analysis to identify which demographic variables were statistically significantly associated with the AEI subscales. The results of correlation analysis demonstrate that age (r = 0.30, p < 0.05) and years of work experience (r = 0.25, p < 0.05) were associated with the AEI subscales (

Table 4. Summary of Spearman’s correlation and one-way ANOVA on the AEI subscale.

Characteristics		n	Mean (SD)	Spearman’s Correlation (r)	One-Way ANOVA (F)
Gender	Male	2	16.50 (3.50)	0.04	0.48
	Female	77	15.44 (0.38)
Age	Under 30	37	14.52 (0.56)	0.30 *	2.99 *
	31–40	23	16.35 (0.54)
	41 and above	19	16.26 (0.84)
Education attainment	High school or less	7	15.85 (1.45)	0.05	0.99
	Junior or technical college	5	16.80 (0.80)
	Undergraduate	57	15.09 (0.46)
	Graduate	10	16.70 (0.91)
Job	Educare giver	57	15.30 (0.42)	0.12	0.53
	Preschool teacher	22	15.91 (0.79)
Years of work experience in early childhood	Under five years	35	15.11 (0.55)	0.25 *	5.87 *
	Six to ten years	19	13.95 (0.85)
	11 years and above	25	17.12 (0.49)
Do you have any training experience in aesthetic education	Yes	27	14.69 (0.72)	−0.15	3.57
	No	52	16.02 (0.42)

* p < 0.05.

). One-way ANOVA analysis was then performed to determine the difference between the age groups and between the different numbers of years of work experience. The results of ANOVA indicated that the means of the three age groups were statistically different (F(2, 76) = 2.99, p < 0.05). The participants in the age 31–40 group perceived their aesthetic implementation the highest, followed by those >40 years and <30 years. Furthermore, participants with >11 years of work experience reported higher perceptions of aesthetic implementation (F(2, 76) = 5.87, p < 0.05) than other participants who had work experience of 6–10 years and <5 years. Thus, senior participants generally had positive attitudes toward aesthetic implementation for young children.

4.3. Overall Perception of the Aesthetic Education of Young Children

For RQ3, we applied the aesthetic evaluation subscale (AEV) to assess participants’ overall perceptions of aesthetic education training as a method for cultivating young children’s aesthetic abilities. The mean score of the four items in the AEV subscale from 3.63–3.91. These findings indicated that our participants (60.8–75.9%) moderately to slightly agreed that aesthetic education training would enhance young children’s aesthetic abilities. Furthermore, 75.9% of the participants believed that musical activities would increase the opportunities for young children to interact with various artworks and performances. Moreover, 74.7% of the participants reported that musical activities would cultivate young children’s curiosity and interest in the environment. In addition, 65.9% of the participants argued that aesthetic education is helpful for young children to express their thoughts and feelings to others, and 60.8% suggested it would be helpful for preschool educators to create an atmosphere of aesthetics in educational practice.

A Spearman correlation analysis was employed to identify which demographic variables were statistically significantly associated with the AEV subscales. The findings indicated that age (r = 0.28, p < 0.05) and years of work experience (r = 0.25, p < 0.05) were significantly correlated with AEV (

Table 5. Summary of Spearman’s correlation and one-way ANOVA on the AEV subscale.

Characteristics		n	Mean (SD)	Spearman’s Correlation (r)	One-Way ANOVA (F)
Gender	Male	2	18.00 (2.00)	0.16	0.01
	Female	77	15.13 (0.32)
Age	Under 30	37	14.41 (0.43)	0.28 *	3.09 *
	31–40	23	16.17 (0.48)
	41 and above	19	15.58 (0.82)
Education attainment	High school or less	7	14.71 (1.29)	0.11	0.27
	Junior or technical college	5	15.20 (0.80)
	Undergraduate	57	15.14 (0.38)
	Graduate	10	15.90 (0.96)
Job	Educare giver	57	15.18 (0.34)	0.07	0.02
	Preschool teacher	22	15.27 (0.77)
Years of working experience in early childhood	Under five years	35	14.89 (0.39)	0.25 *	5.23 *
	Six to ten years	19	14.00 (0.82)
	11 years and above	25	16.56 (0.50)
Do you have any training experience in aesthetic education	Yes	27	14.79 (0.57)	−0.09	0.42
	No	52	15.43 (0.40)

* p < 0.05.

). Therefore, we subsequently performed a one-way ANOVA analysis to examine the differences between the three groups of working experience within the early childhood sector. Identically, the ANOVA results demonstrated that the means of the three groups were statistically different (F(2, 76) = 3.09, p < 0.05). The participants in the >41 years age group had the highest overall perception of aesthetic education training, followed by 31–40 and <30 years age groups. In addition, there was a significant difference between the three groups in terms of years of work experience (F(2, 76) = 5.23, p < 0.05). The participants who had worked >11 years in early childhood education had a higher overall perception of aesthetic education training than the other two groups of work experience participants.

5. Discussion

According to previous studies, preschool educators play a vital role in the development of young children. Moreover, musical activities and other artworks can affect young children’s physical and psychological development. However, preschool educator’s ability of aesthetics has become a significant concern in early childhood education practice. Our study demonstrated that appropriate aesthetic education training (such as a musical activity) would increase preschool educators’ perceptions of aesthetic appreciation, implementation, and evaluation in aesthetic education. Hence, this would improve their teaching skills and capabilities when engaged in young children’s aesthetic education.

The preschool educators also reported that it is a challenge to integrate aesthetics into the MOE’s ECEC curriculum framework. To overcome this challenge, it is advisable to develop an early childhood education community where preschool educators can receive professional consultation in music and related aesthetic education. Moreover, it is crucial to provide regular aesthetic education training to support preschool educators’ teaching needs when engaged in educational practice.

Worryingly, the preschool educators reported low perceptions of creating an atmosphere of aesthetics in the classroom (M = 3.63). This is because most preschool educators are not familiar with the materials or pedagogy involved in aesthetics, lack aesthetic education training, or have low confidence when teaching aesthetics or music in the classroom. As a result, aesthetics in early childhood education is becoming weak, and encouraging preschool educators to continue aesthetic education training is essential. In addition, young children’s perceptions of expressing their thoughts and feelings (M = 3.77) are low. The preschool educators argued that they do not have professional knowledge of young children’s behavioral development. Thus, it would be beneficial for preschool educators’ aesthetic teaching practice to incorporate early childhood behavioral development-related theories into their aesthetic education training.

Finally, we applied MOE’s ECEC curriculum framework to evaluate preschool educators’ perceptions of aesthetic education. Two limitations of this study should be addressed. First, the questionnaire did not fully represent the practices of the preschool educators who responded to this study. Moreover, our study only focused on the musical aspects of aesthetic education, and the survey items were limited to links with aesthetic education, as they include diversified elements, such as visual arts, music, taste, and nature. Therefore, future research should be conducted on a larger scale and with more factors to examine the perceptions of preschool educators in various aspects of aesthetic education.