The purpose of this study was to develop a music-based
Psychomotorik program for improving young children's emotional
expression and emotion regulation and to examine its
effectiveness.
To facilitate program development, a needs assessment was
conduct...
The purpose of this study was to develop a music-based
Psychomotorik program for improving young children's emotional
expression and emotion regulation and to examine its
effectiveness.
To facilitate program development, a needs assessment was
conducted among parents of young children and early childhood
teachers working in educational institutions. The findings
informed the development of the program aimed at enhancing
young children's emotional expression and emotion regulation.
Based on a review of the relevant literature, the program's
purpose, objectives, content, and implementation strategies were
established, and implications and practical considerations were
identified. These insights were then used to design a preliminary
version of the music-based Psychomotorik program. The
preliminary version was then revised and refined through the
first round of expert evaluation using the Context, Input, and
Process components of the CIPP evaluation model, and a pilot
study was subsequently conducted to identify areas requiring
further revision and potential problems. Finally, the program was
finalized following the second round of expert evaluation using
the Product component of the CIPP evaluation model, together
with expert consultation.
To examine the effectiveness of the music-based
Psychomotorik program, 20 children aged 4 to 5 enrolled in a
childcare center participated in the study. They were assigned to
either an experimental group(n=10) or a comparison group(n=10).
Both groups completed pretests measuring emotional expression
and emotion regulation using questionnaires. The experimental
group then participated in the music-based Psychomotorik
program twice a week for eight weeks. After the intervention,
both groups completed posttests using the same emotional
expression and emotion regulation questionnaires. The findings of
this study were as follows.
First, the music-based Psychomotorik program produced a
statistically significant improvement in young children's emotional
expression. The experimental group demonstrated significant
improvement from pretest to posttest, and all children in the
experimental group showed higher emotional expression scores on
the posttest. In contrast, the comparison group showed no
statistically significant change in emotional expression.
Second, the program also resulted in a statistically significant
improvement in young children's emotion regulation. All children
in the experimental group demonstrated higher emotion regulation
scores on the posttest. However, no statistically significant
changes were found in the comparison group.
Third, posttest comparisons between the two groups revealed
that
the experimental group, which participated in the
music-based Psychomotorik program, demonstrated significantly
higher emotional expression scores than the comparison group.
However, no statistically significant difference was found between
the two groups in posttest emotion regulation scores.
Overall,
the
results
indicate
that
the
music-based
Psychomotorik program developed in this study had positive
effects on improving young children's emotional expression and
emotion regulation.
In light of the findings of this study, the following
recommendations are proposed. First, music facilitates movement
and influences emotions. For young children, music also has
unique significance as a medium for verbal, emotional, and
physical expression. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a wider
variety of Psychomotorik programs that incorporate musical
elements.
Second, Psychomotorik programs for young children have not
yet been widely implemented in Korea. It is expected that such
programs will become established in educational institutions,
providing young children with opportunities to freely express and
regulate their emotions through movement.
Third, music provides diverse experiences across all stages of
life. Future research and practice should explore the integration
of musical elements into Psychomotorik programs not only for
young children but also for older children, adolescents, adults,
and older adults, thereby contributing to the continued
development of Psychomotorik across the lifespan.