What is the root cause behind the frequent entry of "Internet celebrity" songs into children's classrooms?
How do salivary songs affect children's education and growth?
What confusion do kindergarten teachers have in terms of music teaching materials and resources?
What kind of children's songs do today's children need?
Recently, a reporter from the Beijing News had a dialogue with Wang Yiying, an expert engaged in the research of preschool children's music education, art education, aesthetic education and creativity, member of the "Kindergarten Curriculum and Teaching Professional Committee" of the China Preschool Education Research Association, and professor of the Department of Education of Beijing Normal University, Capital Normal University Xia Jing, associate professor of the School of Preschool Education, director of the China Preschool Education Research Association, and secretary-general of the Teacher Development Professional Committee, tried to find a solution to the "nursery song dilemma".
The teaching and singing of Internet celebrity songs in kindergartens is related to the lack of teaching materials
Beijing News: Nowadays, some kindergarten teachers teach kindergarten children how to sing with Internet celebrity songs and adult mouth-watering songs.
Why is this happening?
Wang Yiying: It has been an old problem for many years that Internet celebrity songs have entered kindergartens.
For example, songs such as "Mouse Loves Rice" and "You Are My Little Apple" that were popular a few years ago have been used by many kindergarten teachers to teach children how to sing.
Why do teachers like to use these Internet celebrity songs to teach singing?
To put it bluntly, it is easy to use.
Music is the art of sound, and certain sound materials must be used in music teaching, either the teacher sings or plays the piano; or plays recordings and videos, in short, there must be audio and video.
The overwhelming Internet celebrity songs are the most accessible audio-visual resources for teachers. As long as they have mobile phones and the Internet, teachers can obtain them at will and use them as they come, which is very convenient.
Furthermore, kindergarten teachers are relatively young, and they are the group most skilled in accepting and using Internet culture.
Some young teachers have very limited musical accomplishment and aesthetic level. They lack the basic ability to distinguish and judge the elegance and vulgarity, beauty and badness of online songs. Usually, they take what they like and what is popular now without distinction. Come teach the kids.
In fact, the selection of teaching materials is a very serious and important matter, and it is the foundation and foundation of education and teaching.
Only by choosing the best and most excellent teaching materials can we really play the role of teaching and educating people.
Junior high school and primary school are compulsory education, and there are strict requirements for teaching materials. The teaching materials entering primary and middle schools must pass the review and check of the National Textbook Committee.
Preschool education is not yet compulsory education. Although some provinces and cities have also organized efforts to compile kindergarten textbooks and teacher reference books, there is no unified requirement for teachers.
Therefore, kindergarten teachers have a lot of autonomy in the selection and use of teaching materials. In this way, kindergarten teachers use whatever is available on the Internet and what they like, without discrimination.
Don't Ignore the Potential Negative Effects of Internet Songs
Beijing News: Is Internet pop music suitable for teaching in kindergartens?
Wang Yiying: No matter from the aesthetic point of view, or from the age and psychological characteristics of children, these Internet pop songs are very inappropriate as singing teaching materials for kindergartens.
Because the range, melody, rhythm, speed and other musical expressions of adult songs and the emotional content it expresses do not meet the singing ability development level, cognitive understanding level and emotional experience level of children aged 3-6.
In layman's terms, letting such a young child sing the songs of the adult world obviously violates the law and original intention of early childhood education.
In particular, the mediocre aesthetic taste conveyed by these Internet celebrity songs is even more undesirable.
"Art" and "entertainment" are two completely different concepts. Art education has lofty missions such as cultivating sentiment, developing intelligence, and cultivating innovative ability-but the premise is that excellent, spiritually powerful, and beautiful works of art must be used. educate.
If children are taught shallow, mediocre, and vulgar songs from childhood, where does the noble emotion come from?
How to cultivate elegant taste and creativity?
As a part of people's daily entertainment activities, Internet pop songs are harmless for adults to listen to casually after busy work to decompress themselves.
But it is not suitable as a kindergarten textbook.
Because children's aesthetic ability, aesthetic taste, and beauty-loving nature can only be cultivated and stimulated through a large number of works of art that meet aesthetic standards and in truly aesthetic activities; children's art education can only be taught to children with truly beautiful works. It is possible to truly realize the educational purpose of "educating people with aesthetics".
Internet celebrity pop songs obviously fail to meet the aesthetic standards as music teaching materials, and cannot achieve the educational mission that music education should undertake.
Beijing News: What kind of influence will Internet songs and adult music have on young children?
Xia Jing: Personally, I am not in favor of listening to these online songs to children in kindergartens or at home.
A lot of content conveyed by some online songs is wrong, unhealthy, and not positive.
Although children may not be able to remember or understand all of these lyrics, long-term edification will have an impact on their cognition.
Human values, in fact, begin to be laid and formed gradually in childhood. If we lay a bad foundation for children at this stage, there will be some wrong orientations. Such an environment is obviously not conducive to children's growth.
Many people say that children are a blank slate, but they are not. They naturally have very strong learning ability and development potential.
When they come to this world, they constantly interact with their surroundings, and every bit of the environment will have an impact on the children, and they will combine and generate their own values based on this.
Therefore, if children hear songs like "Ace of Spades" every day, what the children look forward to, or what has the most profound impact on them, will be something like this.
Because music education not only involves artistic literacy, but more importantly, a kind of aesthetic taste, including the recognition of truth, goodness and beauty, and the cultivation of people's sentiments by music; in other words, it is a kind of self-improvement and self-cultivation.
Aesthetics is a big concept. Fundamentally, it also includes the formation of a person's morality and values.
Early childhood education (early education) is fundamental to a person's development. We say "children are nourished", so we must pay attention to environmental factors, and we should not ignore potential negative aspects just because Internet songs and adult songs have certain suitable characteristics. influences.
It is possible that some things are not manifested at the moment, but they have actually taken root in the young mind of the child.
The Beijing News: Some people think that "children can't understand the lyrics, but just like to dance to the cheerful rhythm of online songs, and excessive worry and resistance are overkill." What do you think?
Xia Jing: Indeed, these online songs have cheerful tunes, which are more suitable for children's morning activities or group exercises.
I feel it is very important that the lyrics are adapted and reworked if used.
In the adaptation, it is necessary to think about how to make the songs not only suitable for children's lives, but also convey correct values, and have a better enlightenment effect on children's aesthetics and other aspects.
Kindergarten children are developing in a morally heterogeneous period. There are two important authority figures in life, one is the parents and the other is the teacher. Things are the best, or even the only ones, which should be learned and absorbed.
So I think this kind of reflection is very necessary. This is not unfounded worry, it is just "preventing problems before they happen", which is worthy of vigilance not only by parents and teachers, but also by the whole society.
Many excellent classic nursery rhymes don't "innovate for the sake of innovation"
Beijing News: One of the reasons why kindergarten teachers choose Internet pop songs to teach children is because there is a lack of good and excellent children's songs?
Wang Yiying: Not entirely like that.
We have many excellent children's songs, including classic children's songs that have been sung for many years, nursery rhymes from all over the world, songs created by musicians, and so on.
So, why can't these good songs be heard now?
I think it is mainly a matter of communication channels.
Music is the art of performance, and performance is the second creation.
No matter how good the song is, if there is no singing by a singer, no well-made recordings and videos, and no extensive and convenient channels of communication, it is just the static notes written by the composer on paper, which the kindergarten teachers cannot hear or touch. If it is not convenient to use it immediately, it is unnecessary.
Obviously, compared with the powerful communication function of the Internet, these classic and traditional old songs are definitely not as convenient to use as Internet celebrity songs.
On the other hand, some teachers may think: these songs are nice, but they are too old!
If it is used for teaching, parents and principals may feel that it lacks new ideas and innovations.
This is actually a misunderstanding in education now - blindly seeking innovation.
In fact, no matter whether it is new or old, what is suitable is good, and "innovation" cannot be "innovated" for the sake of "innovation".
The Beijing News: In your opinion, what kind of songs are worthy of being sung by contemporary children?
Xia Jing: I think the songs are worthy of children's singing. First of all, the tune and style are very suitable for children's appreciation level. The artistic conception described in the lyrics and the values conveyed must be positive and healthy.
Second, it has diversity.
In the stage of preschool children, music education has a very important feature, which is to let children experience beauty and feel art.
For example, classical music and campus music, or revolutionary songs, the form and characteristics of traditional music are different, but let children experience and feel.
In fact, we have many excellent classic children's songs, such as "Let's Swing the Oars", "Little White Boat", "Orchid Grass", "Snail and Oriole", "Little Boy", etc., as well as some songs with modern flavor. Songs such as "Welcome to Beijing" are very suitable for children. We want to let children have a variety of experiences.
Take "Let's Swing the Oars" as an example, why has it been sung for so many years?
It has beautiful tunes, healthy lyrics, and artistic conception. It creates a very lively and yearning spiritual environment, and will plant beautiful seeds in the hearts of children.
On the contrary, the unhealthy lyrics in some online songs must definitely be eliminated.
Children's education is a very professional and systematic project
Beijing News: How to solve the problem of lack of music teaching materials for children?
Wang Yiying: In the face of the powerful communication function of the Internet, how to return children's music education to the law and original intention of education may not only be a problem that children's teachers can solve themselves, but also requires the joint efforts of education authorities, normal colleges, and even the music industry. work together.
I remember that in the early 1990s, the Beijing Municipal Education Commission and the Beijing Musicians Association took the lead in organizing a "children's song collection" activity, organizing composers to visit kindergartens, and collecting a batch of new songs, including " Clapping and Singing and Laughing" and other good songs were made into tapes and promoted to kindergartens.
Work like this makes a lot of sense.
Another example: in the early 1980s, the baritone singer Mr. Yang Hongji recorded a children's song "Bad Mouse You Can't Escape", which he sang very well and vividly.
At that time, Mr. Yang Hongji was in his prime, with such a beautiful voice, and he handled a short children's song so meticulously and expressively, which can be called a classic.
I think, today, if we can fully pay attention to the educational role of children's music teaching materials, we are willing to spend a lot of effort and work hard to select a sufficient number of excellent songs with real educational value. The production of audio and video recordings, with the help of the Internet, makes these excellent children's songs into wonderful audio-visual materials within the reach of teachers-then, our kindergarten teachers may not choose Internet celebrity songs anymore .
Beijing News: What do you think are the issues worthy of attention in today's nursery rhyme teaching practice?
Xia Jing: For children's music education and art education, the first thing to pay attention to is the training of preschool teachers.
In teacher education, we are also doing the job of enabling future preschool teachers to have more enlightenment and experience about music aesthetics and better understand children.
Like our college, some teachers are engaged in music education. They are trying to build a children's song library. I think it is very good. This is the source and foundation of kindergarten teachers.
If the teacher's aesthetics is not good, and only knows "Ace of Spades" and "Wild Motorcycle", then after reaching kindergarten, the only things that can be provided to children are obviously these things.
As a teacher, whether you are a normal student or a preschool teacher, what you undertake is educational responsibilities, and you still have to distinguish clearly between personal preferences and work objects.
Being a teacher by example should have professional commitment and professionalism.
In addition, in the current process of preschool teacher training, such as national training and provincial training, it is also necessary to strengthen the formation and acquisition of preschool teachers' musical literacy, including which songs are suitable for children mentioned above, the analysis of the aesthetic conception of songs, and What kind of activities can be carried out according to the song.
In fact, besides its rhythm can drive children's exercises, dance, etc., there are also many activities that can be extended.
For example, after listening to "Let's Scull", you can look at pictures of Beihai Park, draw pictures together, tell stories about rowing, etc., so it is diversified.
So, can our teachers do some activity design combined with children's experience based on the content of the song?
This is one of the important aspects of professionalism.
Beijing News: How to improve the artistic level of preschool teachers?
Wang Yiying: In my opinion, the Internet is a double-edged sword.
The emergence of new media and new technologies has fundamentally changed the way of dissemination and popularization of art. Rural areas and cities can receive almost identical art through the Internet.
We can also see it in various TV talent shows: Nowadays, the artistic expression of rural people covered by the Internet is indeed far beyond imagination.
Therefore, we must conduct in-depth research on the profound changes and impacts of new technologies and emerging media on music and art when we carry out art training for teachers, break the old methods of instilling art knowledge and skills in the past, and awaken the artistic instinct and innermost feelings of teachers. The desire to express guides teachers to consciously and actively tap their own artistic potential and improve their artistic level through convenient network and media technology.
Beijing News: For parents and the whole society, what can be done?
Xia Jing: Children's education is a very professional and systematic project. It cannot be sloppy at all. It cannot be said that many aspects are ignored because the children are young, or because they think it has nothing to do with learning.
On a larger scale, it is related to the improvement of the overall aesthetic quality of the Chinese nation.
If children can have a high-level and diversified aesthetic experience in the early childhood stage, vulgar things will not be able to enter their field of vision as adults; or they will have their own judgments instead of being completely addicted to them.
Therefore, it needs the joint efforts of the whole society to jointly create.
For parents, it is necessary to improve their own educational concepts and realize that the core of the enlightenment of artistic literacy for preschool children is to let children feel and experience the beauty of art works in life, rather than just sending children to some music and dance , Piano training courses.
Try not to expose and show all kinds of adult things in family life that are not conducive to children in front of children. You can carry out some family activities based on good music works.
For the public media, there are more channels to provide children with more resources.
Some children's channels or children's programs, even if the content has undergone basic censorship, should contain aesthetic and educational value.
Music workers (professors, songwriters, etc.) should also give full play to their professional strengths and create more works that are beneficial to children.
We also call on more professionals to join the songwriting team, including child psychologists and educators, so as to generate more good works.
(Beijing News reporter Liu Yang Luo Yan)