Music education through the lens of ITERS-R: Discussing results from 206 toddler day care groups

The article presents results from a large-scale quality investigation of Norwegian kindergartens, which was based on the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale – Revised (ITERS-R). The researchers have based their work on item 18, which measures the quality of music education in kindergartens. The researchers also discuss what kind of views on music the ITERS-R criteria are based on.

Research question:

1) What is the quality of music education in Norwegian kindergartens as seen through the lens of ITERS-R?

2) What perspectives on quality in music education does ITERS-R afford?

According to ITERS-R item 18, the results of the study indicate that the quality of music education in Norwegian kindergartens is low. The reason for the low score is the lack of access to musical toys and instruments. However, the use of song and recorded music scores higher. These results point to a musical education philosophy in ITERS-R that does not correspond to contemporary views on music education and the framework plan for Norwegian kindergartens. The authors discuss the potential consequences of this inconsistency.

Although ITERS-R consists of 39 items, this article focuses solely on results within music education in Item 18: Music and movement.

The participants in the study consisted of 2811 children from 206 children’s groups in 96 kindergartens in four Norwegian counties. As a result, the participants constituted a stratified randomly selected sample and therefore represented the entire Norwegian kindergarten population. However, public kindergartens were overrepresented (63% public versus 37% private). Despite this, the results show no significant differences in the total ITERS-R score between groups in public and private kindergartens.  

Fourteen researchers collaborated on the collection of data through systematic observations based on ITERS-R item 18.  The groups in the sample were visited by one of the researchers, who followed the procedures on the form. Based on three to four hours of observation of the group (children and staff) and a short interview with the pedagogical leader to gather information about aspects of ITERS-R that could not be observed, the group were given a score on the form. Staff were asked to conduct the kindergarten day as usual (without special adaptions for the presence of an observer). As a result, activities related to music only comprised a limited portion of the day.

Vist, T. & Os, E. (2019). “Music education through the lens of ITERS-R: Discussing results from 206 toddler day care groups”. Research Studies in Music Education, 42(3):326–346.