Home Musical Environment of Children in Singapore: On Globalization, Technology, and Media

• Published in: Journal of research in music education 2008-07, Vol.56 (2), p.101-117
• Main Author: Lum, Chee-Hoo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Children; Children & youth; Childrens songs; Computer & video games; Context Effect; Cultural Capital; Cultural groups; Cultural identity; Culture; Elementary education; Elementary School Students; Environmental technology; Ethnicity; Ethnography; Family Environment; Field study; Foreign Countries; Global Approach; Globalization; Grade 1; Grade 5; Homes; Influence; Information Technology; Learning Processes; Mass media; Mass Media Effects; Music; Music Activities; Music Education; Music teachers; Musical performances; Musical register; Parent Participation; Popular Culture; Popular music; Singapore; Technology; Vocal music
• ISSN: 0022-4294; 1945-0095
• DOI: 10.1177/0022429408317517

The home musical environments of a class of 28 first-grade children in Singapore were examined in this ethnographic study. Technology was an integral part of the soundscape in the home. The musical repertoire gathered was closely associated with electronic and pop-influenced music, approaching the styles favored by teens and adults. Particular musical styles and selections that the families listened to and watched through the media also fueled these children with a sense of ethnic identity and nostalgia. Children's popular media culture was part of these children's broader social repertoire, creating a shared frame of reference for their musical play and generating cultural capital that was valued within their peer groups. Consideration of the various contexts in which these children learn about music, where their musical identities are being shaped under the influences of their techno-, media-, and ethnoscapes (dimensions proposed by Arjun Appadurai), has implications for music education classroom practices.