Quality in Norwegian Early Childhood Music Education – a discussion on structural and processual factors for musical practice.

This article aims to discuss quality criteria of musical practice in Norwegian ECEC. By affiliation, we present and analyse material from two quantitative studies on quality in Norwegian ECEC; the European Quality Seal (EQS) and the Better Provision for Norway’s children (BePro). Policy demands has led to multiple large-scale quantitative studies on quality in Norwegian ECEC (Tuastad et. al., 2020), which often include music as a subject-specific area of quality (Vist & Os, 2019). An ecological framework drawing from theories of affordances (Gibson, 2014), children’s play (Sutton-Smith, 2009), and teacher agency (Priestley et.al., 2016), lays a foundation for the complex structure of relations between teachers, children, and the environment and materials they share. We implement hermeneutical methods within an interpretive paradigm (Cresswell & Cresswell, 2018). By isolating music and movement from both studies, we make a descriptive and comparative analysis. Even though data materials are quantitative and analysed only as numbers, value issues of quality can lead to ethical dilemmas for participants. To avoid such issues, steps were taken to maintain confidentiality and anonymity for everyone involved. Our in-depth analysis shows quality in music practice in Norwegian ECEC is shaped between structural and processual factors. Findings include methodological issues with survey tools in studying factors in music practice. Results show ECEC-teachers perceive music as important but fails to facilitate for a well-equipped environment with materials promoting music and children`s play. These findings suggest implications for studies on music practice quality in ECEC and developing sound and professional teaching practices.