Music practices and teachers' needs for teaching music in public preschools of South Korea

The present study aimed to investigate the current music practices and teachers' needs for teaching music in public preschools of South Korea. The data were obtained from the public preschools in South Korea, where 66.7 percent (n = 606) of the total sample (N = 908) responded. The online survey consisted of 42 questions: Likert-type scales, single and multiple-choice responses, and four open-ended questions. Focusing on the current music practices of public preschools, the 42 questions were divided into seven categories according to question content. The majority of teachers stated that their lesson plans included group music activities more than twice a week, lasting less than 30 minutes on average. The most important reason for including music in the curriculum was 'enjoyment and recreation'. Almost all teachers planned their music curriculum with a weekly theme, and they chose songs to complement the theme. Singing with finger play (a song, game or chant with finger action) was reported to be the most popular activity in public preschools. The teachers taught songs with piano accompaniment or a CD, and several common CD collections for music activities were employed. Although rhythmic percussion instruments were the most accessible in a music center, the piano was the most frequently used by teachers during circle time in the classroom. Teachers identified the difficulty of the lack of ideas for music activities in preschools. The majority of the participants requested more applicable and thorough preservice and inservice music education programs for preschool teachers.