This paper draws upon research that investigated the extent to which theory in developing language reading fluency (Kuhn et al., 2010) can inform and extend theory in music reading fluency in the context of choral practice in Irish children’s choirs. Language literacy has developed deep theoretical understandings to inform its practical approaches (e.g., Ehri, 2005, 2014, 2020; Castles et. a., 2018; Perfetti & Stafura, 2014; Pikulski & Chard, 2001). Music reading has retained a largely functional approach informed by a heritage of practice rather than overarching theories (Gudmundsdottir, 2010; Hodges & Nolker, 2011).

Using a mixed methods qualitative approach drawn upon constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz, 2014) and creative research methods (Kara, 2021), the research provides perspective of researcher as research instrument investigating theories and ideas from language reading literature whilst working with a group of children in a ‘choirlab’ context; perspectives expert practitioner choral director participants in three in-depth interviews, and indirectly, perspectives of the children who participated in the choirlab. Key concepts from language reading fluency (word recognition, decoding, fluency, and comprehension) were explored in relation to their potential for music reading with the 16 choral directors of children’s choirs from four distinct Irish choral contexts: cathedral choirs, conservatoire-based choirs, community choirs and school choirs.

In this paper, two aspects of the research findings and their implications are discussed; the first, echoing socio-cultural theories of language reading, is the potential that children’s musical sound worlds (Campbell 2010, Davis, 2015) have for developing music reading fluency, the second is that, similar to children’s expressive use of language, the role that children’s use of musical language plays in developing their musical understanding and meaning-making in music reading. Recognising children’s musical experience and encouraging multi-modal musical expression have significant potential for unlocking children’s fluency in music reading.

The Cantar Mais Project is an initiative by the Portuguese Association for Music Education that aims to make singing a central experience in children's musical education and development. This innovative program utilizes the online platform www.cantarmais.pt as a foundation for various artistic-musical projects and activities, including:

Cantar Mais Liberdade (Sing More Freedom)

This project explores Portugal's democratic ideals and history through collective songwriting. Key features include:

• One-week artistic residencies in three schools
• Collaboration with singer-songwriters and musicians
• Collective creation of new songs with students and teachers
• School concerts and song recordings
• Commemorative concert featuring 90 children, singers, and musicians.

Canção à espera de Palavras (Song Waiting for Words)

This pedagogical competition combines music with literature and poetry:

• Partnership with a visiting composer who provides a lyric-less song
• Students create lyrics and perform the original song
• Annual participation of approximately 450 classes and 9,000 children
• Enhances the cultural and artistic dimension of schools

Through these initiatives, the Cantar Mais Project establishes a strong foundation for music-making, singing, songwriting, and fostering creativity in Portuguese schools, enriching the educational experience of thousands of students annually.

With the experience we already have and the data that has been collected, we believe we can contribute to discussing, arguing for, and reinforcing the relevance of musical practice in the early years of schooling and the possibility of its regular implementation with quality human and pedagogical resources.

Just as in many other countries, the number of school choirs in Flanders has dwindled dramatically over the past 50 years. On the one hand, this seems attributable to the more general, well-documented disappearance of music from public-educational curricula. On the other hand, I want to venture the hypothesis—for this paper on a purely speculative, philosophical-educational level—that the inverse might equally hold true: namely, that this disappearance is itself (partly) attributable to the increased difficulty to appreciate the choir as pre-eminent form of ‘school music’. Departing from Theodor Adorno’s (in)famously scathing pedagogical critique of “community music”, including (par excellence) choir-singing, I show how today his arguments have adapted, even within community music, so as to emphasize the uniquely personal and expressive voice of the individual student as ultimate starting-point and only ‘remedy’ for all public music education. Building on Adriana Cavarero’s philosophy of vocality, I problematize this popular, supposedly progressive notion of the student’s “voice”, as both deceptively simplistic and dangerously neoliberal. At the same time, I propose an alternative, non-student-centred approach, which conceptualizes the musical voice of the student—the student’s voice at school—as essentially a choral voice, whose unicity takes shape in the process of being studied in common with others.

Cavarero, A. (2005). For More than One Voice: Toward a Philosophy of Vocal Expression (P. Kottman, Trans.). Stanford University Press.

De Baets, T., & Geudens, T. (2022). Een kleine kroniek van de ‘schoolmuziek’ in Vlaanderen. Cultuur+Educatie, 20(59), 8-22.

Kertz-Welzel, A. (2005). The Pied Piper of Hamelin: Adorno on Music Education. Research Studies in Music Education, 25(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103X050250010301

Louth, P. (2022). Student-Centered Teaching and the Large Ensemble: Educators’ Perceptions and Concerns. Contributions to Music Education, 47, 61–80.

Masschelein, J., & Simons, M. (2013). In Defence of the School. A Public Issue. E-ducation, Culture & Society.