IMPROVISED MUSICAL PLAY: A WAY OF FOSTERING GROUP PLAY AMONG HANDICAPPED AND NON-HANDICAPPED PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

The author examined the effect of improvised music and lyrics on the social play of handicapped and non-handicapped preschool children. The study sought to discover (1) how the teacher and children interact to create improvised musical play, (2) to understand the effect of improvised music and lyrics on the social play of the children, (3) to formulate a judgment as to whether this experience is beneficial for handicapped and non-handicapped children, and (4) to determine the implications of this approach to play for teacher training in early childhood special education.;Detailed analysis of the play of three different types of players--one highly skilled, non-handicapped player and two less skilled handicapped children--revealed that the children relate to improvised music and lyrics in qualitatively different ways, the skilled player being involved in the content meaning of the play and the less skilled children involved in a more peripheral manner, or in the general social and musical ambiance, as opposed to the specific content of the play.;New concepts related to the improvisation of play activities were delineated as a possible set of competencies enabling teachers to generate and maintain group play in mainstreamed preschool classrooms.;Fifteen videotapes were studied intensively using microanalysis techniques to analyze the improvised musical play (IMP) of two non-handicapped and ten handicapped children. Analysis of the videotapes revealed teacher techniques for initiating and maintaining IMP. Improvised musical play progressed in phases from less coordinated to more coordinated group play, with the largest number of participating children consistently involved in the most coordinated phase of IMP activity.