YOUTUBE AS AN EARLY CHILDHOOD MUSIC EDUCATION RESOURCE: PARENTAL ATTITUDES, BELIEFS, USAGES, AND EXPERIENCES _______________________________________________________ A Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of Missouri-Columbia _______________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy _____________________________________________________ by MICHELLE Y. KO Dr. Wendy L. Sims, Dissertation Supervisor DECEMBER 2018 © Copyright by Michelle Ko 2018 All Rights Reserved The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the dissertation entitled YOUTUBE AS AN EARLY CHILDHOOD MUSIC EDUCATION RESOURCE: PARENTAL ATTITUDES, BELIEFS, USAGES, AND EXPERIENCES presented by Michelle Y. Ko, a candidate for the degree of doctor of philosophy, and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. _____________________________________________________ Professor Wendy L. Sims _____________________________________________________ Professor Brian A. Silvey _____________________________________________________ Professor Brandon Boyd _____________________________________________________ Professor Alice Dade _____________________________________________________ Professor Kathleen Unrath This work is dedicated to my biggest cheerleaders, Mia and Paul. To my mom, because her overflowing love, support, and encouragement have sustained me throughout my life. To my husband, for his devotion, patience, and unwavering support during the last five years. “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr. Wendy Sims for believing in me. This work would not have been possible with her guidance and bottomless support during my doctoral studies. Thank you for being a fantastic mentor, teacher, inspiration, and shining example of a scholar. I also want to express my appreciation to my committee members, Dr. Brian Silvey, Dr. Brandon Boyd, Dr. Kathleen Unrath, and Professor Alice Dade, whose expertise and enthusiasm fueled my curiosity during this dissertation process. Thank you for challenging me to expand my understanding of music education research and pushing my thinking as an artist, musician, teacher, and scholar. To my graduate colleagues, especially Chris, Jordan, Cynthia, Aaron, and Laura. Thank you all for your friendship, encouragement, and pre-seminar coffee hangouts. Sincere thanks to Dr. E. Michael Richards– thank you for taking me under your wing. You were instrumental in my career path and decision to pursue a doctorate. Finally, I want to thank my family. My most heartfelt thanks to my parents, Richard and Mia Ko, who taught me to shoot for the stars, for making my dreams their dreams, for instilling a love of learning, and for faithfully supporting me ever since the day I was born. Also, thank you to my wonderful bonus parents, Yong and Byong Kim, and sister, Nancy, for their love and support in this process. Most importantly, I wish to thank my loving and supportive husband, Paul, for going on this crazy journey with me. I truly could not have done this without you. Joey and Matty, thank you for always providing mommy with laughter, cuddles, and inspiration. You guys are my world and I hope I made you proud ☺ ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. ii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii ABSTRACT .........................................................................................................................x Chapter I. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................1 Overview .................................................................................................................1 Music in the Home ..................................................................................................4 YouTube as a Music Resource ................................................................................4 Statement of Purpose ...............................................................................................5 Need for the Study ...................................................................................................6 Conceptual and Theoretical Considerations ............................................................7 Research Questions ..................................................................................................9 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ...............................................................................11 Introduction ............................................................................................................11 Music in the Home .................................................................................................12 Describing the Early Childhood Home Music Environment .................................13 Digital Home Music Environment .........................................................................15 Defining Digital Home Music Environment..........................................................16 Music Material Selection .......................................................................................17 Summary ................................................................................................................17 Musical Parenting ..................................................................................................18 Toddlers .................................................................................................................19 iii Singing in Musical Parenting .................................................................................20 Parental Music Background ..................................................................................21 Young Children’s Music Exposure ........................................................................22 Digital Musical Parenting ......................................................................................23 Summary ................................................................................................................23 The Digital Age......................................................................................................24 Family Media Environment ...................................................................................24 Media Usage ..........................................................................................................25 Parent-Child Media Usage .....................................................................................25 Music Media Usage ...............................................................................................26 National Media Guidelines and Recommendations ...............................................27 YouTube and Today’s Parents ...............................................................................27 YouTube and Families ..........................................................................................28 YouTube in Music Education ................................................................................29 Parental Attitudes Towards Children’s Media Usage ............................................30 Concerns ................................................................................................................31 Summary ................................................................................................................32 III. METHOD ..............................................................................................................33 Research Design.....................................................................................................34 Participants .............................................................................................................35 Survey Instrument ..................................................................................................36 Demographics ........................................................................................................36 Digital Music Environment....................................................................................37 iv YouTube Usage and Experiences ..........................................................................38 Musical Parenting ..................................................................................................38 Pilot Testing ...........................................................................................................40 Survey Validity ......................................................................................................41 Survey Reliability ..................................................................................................41 Procedures ..............................................................................................................41 Data Analysis .........................................................................................................42 IV. RESULTS ..............................................................................................................44 Demographics .......................................................................................................44