The Children's Club: Articulations between Music in childhood and Education as a common good

What is it about?

The action research project "Children's Club" Took place in a non-formal education context in northern Portugal, involving children aged 8 to 10, in 2022. This initiative was integrated within the SMOOTH Project, founded by the European Union, with the central aim of reflecting on the potential of Education as a common good in addressing inequalities among vulnerable groups, through the promotion of intercultural and intergenerational dialogue, as well as the development of social and personal skills to create spaces of democratic citizenship founded on principles of equality, collaboration, sharing, and care. This article explores how the epistemological premises of Education as a common good align with a critical perspective of childhood and a contemporary view of Music Education in early childhood, aiming to comprehend the social dynamics that unfold within musical practices in this project.

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Why is it important?

The findings underscore the significance of co-constructing spaces and times wherein children act as active agents in their musical practices within this setting. We discuss aspects of creative musical work – exchange, collective creation, open sharing, diversity, and freedom – and their association with the values of Education as a common good – a more liberated, egalitarian, open, diverse, just, and collaborative social practice – arguing that there is a convergence between these theories and practices. This allows us to estate that the assumptions of Education as a common good offer a potentially valuable contribution to the understanding of Music Education in this type of project.