There are four varying developmental levels in education from childhood to adolescence:

sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and the formal concrete operational stage.
Each stage can be identified with different characteristics, and gives educators multiple methods
of teaching to align with those stages. This paper will include descriptions of all four in relation
to my current and future music classroom using different examples of appropriate learning
experiences.

​ In the early stages of infancy, specifically ages 0-2 years, there are one or two important
music teachers in a baby’s life: their parents. In the sensorimotor stage, babies are dependent on
their environment and caretakers for every type of learning development as well as physical
safety and emotional security. They need to use all of their senses to learn, in addition to playing
and manipulating objects.

For example, my niece Haven is turning 2 this month, and watching her grow in her
developmental learning stage has been very interesting. Haven learned some concepts of music
through listening to her family sing nursery rhymes and lullabies to her over and over again in
nearly every interaction. She learned new words by hearing and seeing them in flash cards she
could insert into a toy that would say them outloud.

In terms of manipulation of objects and stimulating her senses, she used sight by
choosing which card she wanted, touch by inserting the cards and sound by listening to the
speaker. The most important part was that she would try and say the word back to the speaker
and would receive positive reinforcement from her family, which helped activate her oral
language development. She learned different shapes by fitting circle and square blocks into
specific holes in her toy. Because her parents put her in the living room while they work and can
keep an eye on her, she was able to crawl to the toy and play with the shapes. She learned how to
move by crawling towards someone or something, establishing her sense of emotional security,
then how to walk by standing on her own and walking with help first, establishing her physical
safety needs.

Learning and singing the ABC’s song would be a good learning experience for any child
in the sensorimotor stage. Cognitively, a visual representation of the alphabet in addition to a
physical alphabet, like blocks, would engage the senses and encourage the work and usage of
objects. The ABCs can be learned linguistically by being slowly, phonetically explained, and
sung with physical movement to reinforce memory and the physical element of the learning
experience. As for the social and emotional aspect, the lyrics are usually sung in a group and
encourage the singer to sing it again with the words “Now I know my ABCs, next time won’t
you sing with me?”. When it comes to the sensorimotor stage, this example would make a great
activity for infants. From personal experience, seeing my niece’s face light up when she learned
something new musically was very rewarding and exciting to witness.
 When children get to be between 2 and 7 years old, they transition into what is called the
preoperational developmental stage. This means that they have taken that curiosity and ability to
play and manipulate objects and turned it into characteristics and behavior like active
imaginations and asking questions. They are just beginning to develop their memory in their
earlier years, but their imagination continues to grow.

A real-life example that I have witnessed in my 4K class includes all of the appropriate
learning experiences, and methods I have learned to be useful as well as the changes I needed to
make in my teaching. The younger students and I tend to review what we looked at in the
previous music class to see if they remember. Oftentimes, most of these students have a vague
sense of what they have learned, but need to be reminded at most once or twice. They remember
characters, songs, and movements more than anything else.

When using imagination, children will use things they already know and understand, like
sounds of animals, types of food they like, or a creative combination of different things. My 4K
music class and I wrote a song together that included unicorns, hippos, and their favorite kind of
pizza, but their thoughts were pretty random and scattered. This activity lets them work together
as a group, incorporating their social and emotional learning experiences. Using a simple
structured format for music writing might be beneficial for this age group, while also making it
easier for them to create their own music.

Instructions are also very important for these students so they know step by step how to
achieve each given task or activity. Movement during our class time usually happens along with
music, so I always ask them to stand in their spot, stay in their personal bubble on the rug, and
dance in place. This ensures they are safe and not moving around the room or accidentally
harming others. The movement and music is something these students always enjoy, and they
love singing along once they know the song.

Additionally, we use movement and stimulate multiple senses through playing

The concrete operational stage is the next developmental stage that includes the 7-11 year
age group. After one year of teaching, this age group might be my favorite as they are starting to
understand not everyone has the same opinions, thoughts, feelings, or beliefs. They are
developing their empathy and understanding for others, as well as knowing cause and effect and
consequences for certain actions and behaviors. Many of my 4th and 5th grade students
connected well in music class due to the successful methods of teaching I used.
 Out of all the different strategies I used for a successful classroom and relationship with
my students, being honest and open with them was very important in earning their trust and
respect. We started the year with classroom expectations that we wrote together, and each student
had a say in what their time in music would look like. We were able to accomplish a lot of
musical concepts, work on many independent and group projects, and with extra time left we
played a lot of team building games. The students really enjoyed their time because they were
able to understand and be engaged with me whenever I matched their energy, and I always
embraced their questions and checked in to see if they all understood the specific material. If
even one student didn’t, the class would encourage me to cover it again.

In my fourth grade classes, we would start the class by reviewing our previous
knowledge with a verbal quiz. This engaged the students, as it was a challenge to make sure
everyone could answer all of the questions at random. If someone didn’t know the answer, they
could phone a friend and call on someone to help them. I worked hard to foster a sense of
community and collaboration, and oftentimes the students were able to encourage each other to
be successful in each activity. An example of appropriate learner experience that uses cognitive,
social and emotional, linguistic, physical, and oral language was our unit on articulation. We
defined the topic together, watched a video on the concept, they grouped off and created their
own tongue twisters for the class, sang a fermata as a group (a symbol that tells a musician to
play the note longer than normal until the conductor cues them to stop), used hand gestures and
oral clues to remember the difference between staccato and legato, and talked about the
applications and significance of articulation for future music they will have in either band or
choir.

​ As for the 5th grade choir, a sense of routine was very helpful for them to stay engaged
and active in class. One day, I decided to test out a teaching method my choir director used once
that I found very interesting. That method was that I did not speak at all: not to answer questions,
not to explain specific measures, and not even to show the next activity. All I used was hand
gestures and words written on the whiteboard. The students found it very strange but fun and
were able to understand me 95% of the time. They worked together if there was confusion, and
stayed active in their music throughout the class time. While this might not be a completely
appropriate approach to their specific needs, they were able to use collaboration to accomplish
their goals, as well as cognitive and logical reasoning to know what was expected.

Once a child reaches the age of 12 or older, they have hopefully grown into the formal
operational stage of development. Their logic improves, they are able to ask “what-ifs” and use
hypotheticals, but most relevant in their development is their desire for social acceptance and
connection with their peers.
 My middle school choir students exhibit varying levels of pressure for social acceptance
and peer group acceptance. It can be hard to engage with some more than others that have an
importance of themselves and a lack of the people and world around them.

My main objectives in our classes are to establish a sense of trust, which I do by giving
them time to work as vocal sections in their own practice rooms to accomplish the goals we set
that day, and also allowing them an entire month to submit a video of them practicing
independently in their own time. This encourages them to be responsible, while also knowing
that if they don’t get something done, they can always advocate for themselves to have more
time, or just receive a 0 for their grade. I try to allow the students to choose how much effort they
put into our class, and will also reiterate the importance of their grade and the growth they get
from music.

I know my students during this stage will often lead their lives with emotions, so giving
them the space to show emotions while also providing a logical perspective is crucial in building
a strong relationship and a level of respect. If my students ask for games or rewards, I typically
will attempt to have them earn it. It is a way to provide flexibility, while still trying to
accomplish the work on our music that needs to get done.

I also encourage collaboration for different assignments and concepts in class. One
example was for the students to get into their vocal sections and come up with a fun or silly
dance for one of our songs. It became a competition, and some groups really worked together on
it. Another collaborative project was their music for solo and ensemble. They had the ability to
work as a soloist or in groups, and many were able to work as a team for the success of their
performances.

Overall, the four development levels of learning for infants to teenagers are understood as
separate but continuations off of each other. They also require similar and different methods of
teaching and learning experiences that activate their engagement and stimulate their senses.
Moving forward as a music educator, the information I have obtained from researching this
assignment will be applied to the second year of teaching as well as in my private lesson studio. I
enjoy working with all of these stages and look forward to growing more as a musician and
teacher.