A Study on the Direction of Early Childhood Music Education Based on the Essence of Music Education

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to understand what the direction of early childhood music education should be based on the nature of music education. After analyzing relevant literatures, it was found that the essence of modern music education is to pursue aesthetic education that emphasizes aesthetic experience from the perspective of absolute expressionism. However, the reality of early childhood music education in Korea is found to have sought to gain utilitarian usefulness as well as secondary benefits of child development, rather than to have put focus on the essence of music education. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct further study on the essential value of early childhood music education. In addition, in the teacher training process, teachers’ teaching competency for music needs to be developed by presenting a clear direction of early childhood music education based on a solid music education philosophy and by providing various forms of teacher education to practice aesthetic music education.