Music and Physical Play: What Can We Learn from Early Childhood Teachers in Kenya?

Abstract

Sharing classroom practices across international borders can add new dimensions to anyone’s teaching methods, no matter where you call home. With this idea in mind, the authors (two U.S. early childhood teacher educators and a Kenyan-born U.S. early childhood teacher) have corresponded for several years through e-mail with a small group of early childhood teachers in Kenya. We have asked those teachers about their classroom beliefs and practices in an effort to understand their perspectives about our field (Freshwater, Sherwood, & Mbugua, 2007). In addition to the e-mail correspondence, the Kenyan teachers shared their classroom experiences and methods through videotapes. As we watched the tapes, we were struck by the children’s and teachers’ high level of physical activity while they played their musical outdoor games. We thought about how we might apply what we observed on the tapes to early childhood teaching in the United States.