The infant audience: The impact and implications of child development research on performing arts practice for the very young
- Submitting institution
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Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- 2861823
- Type
- D - Journal article
- DOI
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10.1177/1476718X15614041
- Title of journal
- Journal of Early Childhood Research
- Article number
- -
- First page
- 292
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 3
- ISSN
- 1741-2927
- Open access status
- Out of scope for open access requirements
- Month of publication
- January
- Year of publication
- 2016
- URL
-
-
- Supplementary information
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-
- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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1
- Research group(s)
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-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- While recognising that ‘baby-friendly’ performances have been an important step forwards in terms of inclusion, they often benefit the caregiver (in that they can access art, with an infant who will probably not stay quiet for the duration, without fear of judgement) more than the infant. Allowing access to the arts for infants is very different from creating artistic experiences for infants.
Our aims in writing this paper were a) to highlight the relationship between the social sciences and the arts; b) to explore the way senses are used in infancy and how this can be harnessed for theatre experiences designed for this age group; and c) to examine Theatre for Early Years (TEY) as a developing praxis. We focused on a limited age range to provide a meaningful exploration of sensory development and point to examples of this being applied successfully in TEY.
The context for me comes from both theoretical enquiry (e.g. my exploration of language development and its relation to music, pursued through the lens of psychology) and through my Artistic Research practice in composing for specific developmental stages ('SensoryO' and 'BabyO', submitted to REF2014).
Through the article, we hope that readers will consider the benefits of cross-disciplinary approaches, the importance of creating evidence-informed artistic experiences (particularly for infants) and, conversely, the significance of artistic-experiences in providing evidence to inform child development research. The paper also hopes to challenge attitudes towards funding and provision in the arts for this age group: I have known (national) funding bodies suggesting that budgets for artists may be reduced to save costs when they are ‘only’ working with infants. At a more fundamental level, the article seeks to interrogate the rationale for TEY and examine the responsibility we have to provide high quality and informed artistic experiences for early years.
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -