Enriching the lives of children and families through music and singing: A professional learning journey with Orff Schulwerk at an early childhood centre in Australia

This paper discusses the impact of using an Orff Schulwerk approach to engaging children in music experiences in the early years. It considers the efficacy of this approach as a strategy for increasing enjoyment and participation in music and singing in one early childhood centre, the Brooklands Centre, located in an area defined as a low socioeconomic community. This project was part of a larger research initiative, Supporting Participation in Early Childhood Education (SPiECE), implemented by a team of early childhood academics from Macquarie University (Harrison et al., 2022)1. The music program discussed in this paper refers specifically to the Brooklands Centre's aims to 1) support children and families from diverse language backgrounds; 2) to strengthen relationships between children, families, and staff; and 3) to encourage greater attendance and therefore participation in early learning.