Music in Early Childhood

Dr Liz Stafford reviews a book by Susan Young

As soon as I started reading this book my immediate thought was that there should be a book in this format for every phase of education!

Here in one place are summarised all the theories, pedagogies and methodologies in common use in Early Years Music across the world. From Dewey to Montessori, Orff to Kodaly, Piaget to Vygotsky, there simply isn’t a topic that this book is missing. Furthermore it introduces readers to some more recent and/or lesser-known practices, providing an up-to-date picture of what is happening in Early Years now.

Each chapter takes a different practice and clearly and succinctly covers its history, key features, and pratical application in different contexts. This allows the reader to develop a really comprehensive understanding of the theory and philosophy of each pedagogy or practice, and how it might work for them in their setting.