E Hoʻokani Kākou: Insights for the advancement of early childhood multi-cultural music education during the COVID-19 pandemic, with Dr. Chet-Yeng Loong.

In Department News, Faculty News, Music Education by General Entries

Dr. Chet-Yeng Loong, a native Malaysian Chinese, serves as Chair of the music education area at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She has completed all levels of Orff Schulwerk Teacher Education and is certified in the Kodály Method.

As a conference speaker, Dr. Loong has presented at local, state, regional, national, and international conferences. She has also presented internationally, in a series of Early Childhood Music workshops in China (Chang Sa, Inner Mongolia, Shandong, Shanghai, Suzhou, Xian and Xinjiang).

Moreover, her research on early childhood and elementary music has been published in several leading journals (Bulletin of the International Kodaly Society, Early Childhood Connections, Early Childhood Spotlight – MENC, Kodaly Envoy, Perspectives – ECMMA, Triad and Orff Echo).

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The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly brought many challenges to different spheres of our society. Music education is no exception, especially when dealing with Early Childhood Music Education, so the question is, “How to engage young children in an interesting yet safe environment during the many lockdowns and strict social gathering guidelines?”

Dr. Loong showcased alternative virtual methodology-resources at the Korean Music Education Society (KMES) 2020 Conference, where through her own personal teaching experiences, educators could become more familiar with how to address varied issues brought by the closing of schools, such as, healthy screen-time exposure to young children, engaging activities, to name a few.

Additionally, in 2020, Dr. Loong wrote “Communicating with young children through active music making (以主動參與音樂作為與幼兒溝通的模式),” for the Taiwan Orff Journal. The article presents active listening and engagement at a young age, as imperative tools to be explored within the field of early childhood music teaching.

Furthermore, her book “Spice Up Phonics Instruction with Music: Singing and Chanting through the Alphabet,” introduces a variety of musical activities, where children are exposed to sample words for each letter of the alphabet. The primary goal of these activities is to guide children to learn phonics using aural, oral, visual, and kinesthetic modalities. Through the stimulation of different senses, children are better able to store a warehouse of sample words in their long‐term memory. 

For further information on Dr. Loong’s publications “Spice Up Phonics Instruction with Music: Singing and Chanting through the Alphabet.”, “Let’s Play ‘Ukulele. E Hoʻokani ʻUkulele Kākou!”, and “Ni Hao! Sing and Chant your Way to China!”, as well as additional resources, please visit: https://www.impeltraining.us/

For access to Dr. Loong’s Korean Music Education Societyʻs Conference video materials and PDF Handout, please visit: https://www.cyloong.com/kmes2020/

龍籍瑩. Loong, C. (2020). Communicating with young children through active music making (以主動參與音樂作為與幼兒溝通的模式). The 14th Premium Edition of Taiwan Orff-Schulwerk Association, 14, 89-105.  https://www.cyloong.com/publications/

For further video resources, please visit: https://www.cyloong.com/publications/videos/