Children's Participation in Ritualized Circle Time - Ritual in music sessions in the multicultural kindergarten: How does it comply with children's right to participation?

Abstract

This article addresses the possibly contradictory relationship between children's right to participate and ritualized circle time. It presents an analysis from an arts-based research inquiry within self-study, conducted during circle times in multicultural kindergartens (children aged three to six). The focus of the analysis is aspects of the ritualized song circle time that might enhance or undermine children's right to participation. Examples from videotaped material and interviews with kindergarten teachers are presented in the context of Small's (1998) and Dissanayake's (2008, 2014) notions of ritual, and of Bae's (2009) and Eide et al.'s (2012) understandings of children's participation. Results indicate that a structured and ritualized song circle time enhances children's participation in a multicultural kindergarten.