Children's subject positions in discourses of music in everyday life: Rethinking conceptions of the child in and for music education.

Abstract

In this article I discuss children’s everyday uses of recorded music (such as CDs, Mp3-files) in the light of sociological notions of “children” and “childhood”. The discussion provides perspectives on musical engagement and musicality that supplement perspectives within developmental psychology. The study is based on observations and interviews with 3- to 6-year-old children, kindergarten staff and parents, situated in two kindergartens and nine family homes. The results show that two contradictory narratives of children’s musicality are available simultaneously; the everybody-can narrative and the only-the-talented-can narrative. The subject positions made available by these narratives are challenging because they create a split between enjoying music (a pleasurable natural capacity) and learning to play an instrument (burdensome work). I argue that the subject position “musicker” would work as a better alternative, because this position encompasses both playing an instrument and enjoying it.