Holidays in Music Education as a Foundation for School-Family Partnership
Keywords:
holidays, textbooks, music education, school and family
Abstract
Holidays constitute complex cultural, affective, and educational phenomena whose ritual and symbolic dimensions provide a valuable link between family and school life. In the context of music education, they can function as a medium for integrating familial values with curricular objectives, thereby promoting students’ emotional development, cultural awareness, and sense of community belonging. The present study investigates the representation and pedagogical treatment of holidays in music education textbooks for the first cycle of primary education in Serbia, with particular attention to family and religious celebrations. Employing a qualitative content analysis of 34 textbooks published by different Serbian publishers, the research reveals a pronounced predominance of family and secular holidays - most notably birthdays and New Year’s - while references to religious holidays are comparatively scarce and largely confined to traditional Christmas and Easter songs. The prevailing methodological orientation emphasizes reproductive activities, such as singing and listening, whereas creative and analytical tasks are considerably underrepresented. Although holidays carry a strong affective and cultural potential for bridging school and family environments, the results highlight the need for their systematic and thematically diverse integration into teaching, in order to maximize their educational and cultural impact.
References
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Villodre, M. M. B. (2014). Cultural identity and using music in the intercultural educational process. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 132, 201–206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.04.292
Webster, P. R. (2011). Construction of music learning. In R. Colwell & P. R. Webster (Eds.), MENC handbook of research on music learning: Volume 1 (pp. 35–83). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780195386677.003.0002
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Zakon o državnim i drugim praznicima u Republici Srbiji (2001). Službeni glasnik RS, br. 43/2001, 101/2007 i 92/2011.
Ašković, D. (2025). Međusobni uticaji i prožimanja crkvenog i bogomoljačkog pevanja s početka 20. veka. Crkvene studije, 22(22), 759–773. https://doi.org/10.18485/ccs_cs.2025.22.22.45
Barna, G. (2017). Rites, feats, identity: Possible questions and answers on the present-day functions of rites and feasts. Slovenský národopis / Slovak Ethnology, 65(2), 158–170.
Bartleet, B. L., & Sunderland, N. (2016). Enhancing intercultural engagement through service learning and music making with Indigenous communities in Australia. Research Studies in Music Education, 38(1), 61–76. https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103X16667863
Belojica Pavlović, B., i Cicović Sarajlić, D. (2018). Nacionalno vaspitanje u nastavi muzičke kulture. Kosovska Mitrovica: Univerzitet u Prištini.
Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Handbook I: Cognitive domain. New York, NY: Longmans, Green.
Cox, G. (2007). The teaching and learning of music in the settings of family, church, and school: Some historical perspectives. In L. Bresler (Ed.), International handbook of research in arts education (Vol. 16, pp. 67–94). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-3052-9_5
Ćalić, M., & Đurđanović, M. (2020). Family and its role in the cultivation and preservation of traditional folk music at junior primary school age. International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education (IJCRSEE), 8(3), 103–112. https://doi.org/10.23947/2334-8496-2020-8-3-103-112
Edensor, T. (2020). National identity, popular culture and everyday life. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003086178
Epstein, J. L. (2011). School, family, and community partnerships: Preparing educators and improving schools (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Fitzpatrick, K. R. (2022). “Finding the Other Half of Me”: Culture-based approaches to music education in Hawaiʻi. Journal of Research in Music Education, 70(2), 174–198. https://doi.org/10.1177/00224294211018667
Fleer, M. (2004). The cultural construction of child development: Creating institutional and cultural intersubjectivity. International Journal of Early Years Education, 12(1), 43–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/0966976042000182375
Hallam, S. (2010). The power of music: Its impact on the intellectual, social and personal development of children and young people. International Journal of Music Education, 28(3), 269–289. https://doi.org/10.1177/0255761410370658
Hus, V. (2013). How teachers evaluate the environmental studies subject textbook sets. Education and Science/Eðitim ve bilim, 38(167), 289–299.
Joseph, D., & Southcott, J. (2013). So much more than just the music: Australian pre-service music teacher education students’ attitudes to artists-in-schools. International Journal of Music Education, 31(3), 243–256. https://doi.org/10.1177/0255761411434254
Karlsen, S. (2011). Using musical agency as a lens: Researching music education from the angle of experience. Research Studies in Music Education, 33(2), 107–121. https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103X11422005
Karlsen, S. (2013). Immigrant students and the “homeland music”: Meanings, negotiations and implications. Research Studies in Music Education, 35(2), 161–177. https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103X13508057
Kelly-McHale, J. L. (2011). The relationship between children's musical identities and music teacher beliefs and practices in an elementary general music classroom (Doctoral dissertation). Northwestern University. https://search.proquest.com/openview/de80548dbf794e38cf145595013d41e3/1
Ministarstvo prosvete, nauke i tehnološkog razvoja. (2017). Pravilnik o planu nastave i učenja za prvi ciklus osnovnog obrazovanja i vaspitanja i program nastave i učenja za prvi razred osnovnog obrazovanja i vaspitanja („Službeni glasnik RS – Prosvetni glasnik“, br. 10/2017, 12/2018, 15/2018, 18/2018, 1/2019, 2/2020, 16/2022, 1/2023 [ispravka], 13/2023, 14/2023, 11/2024).
Ministarstvo prosvete, nauke i tehnološkog razvoja. (2018a). Pravilnik o programu nastave i učenja za drugi razred osnovnog obrazovanja i vaspitanja („Službeni glasnik RS – Prosvetni glasnik“, br. 16/2018, 3/2019 i 13/2023).
Ministarstvo prosvete, nauke i tehnološkog razvoja. (2018b). Zakon o udžbenicima („Službeni glasnik RS“, br. 27/18 i 92/23).
Ministarstvo prosvete, nauke i tehnološkog razvoja. (2019a). Pravilnik o programu nastave i učenja za treći razred osnovnog obrazovanja i vaspitanja („Službeni glasnik RS – Prosvetni glasnik“, br. 5/2019, 1/2020, 6/2020, 7/2022 i 13/2023).
Ministarstvo prosvete, nauke i tehnološkog razvoja. (2019b). Pravilnik o programu nastave i učenja za četvrti razred osnovnog obrazovanja i vaspitanja („Službeni glasnik RS – Prosvetni glasnik“, br. 11/2019, 6/2020, 7/2021, 1/2023, 13/2023).
Pešikan, A., i Antić, S. (2014). How to train students for transfer of knowledge: The analyses of textbooks and instructional materials for students of agriculture. In Proceedings of the International Symposium on Animal Science (pp. 660–672). Faculty of Agriculture, Belgrade-Zemun.
Shaw, J. T. (2016). “The music I was meant to sing”: Adolescent choral students’ perceptions of culturally responsive pedagogy. Journal of Research in Music Education, 64(1), 45–70. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022429415627989
Stamatović, J. D., i Milošević, A. M. (2017). Mesto i realizacija vaspitnih programa u savremenoj školi. Zbornik radova Pedagoškog fakulteta, Užice, 19, 9–20.
Španović, S. (2013). Didaktički aspekti primene računara u nastavi. Novi Sad – Sombor: Univerzitet u Novom Sadu, Pedagoški fakultet.
Trbojević, A. R., Španović, S., i Vlasta, H. (2019). Kako učenici vide ulogu udžbenika Prirode i društva u usvajanju društvenih sadržaja. Zbornik Instituta za pedagoška istraživanja, 51(1), 128–161. https://doi.org/10.2298/ZIPI1901128T
Villodre, M. M. B. (2014). Cultural identity and using music in the intercultural educational process. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 132, 201–206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.04.292
Webster, P. R. (2011). Construction of music learning. In R. Colwell & P. R. Webster (Eds.), MENC handbook of research on music learning: Volume 1 (pp. 35–83). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780195386677.003.0002
Westerlund, H., & Partti, H. (2015). Teaching as improvisational experience: Student music teachers’ reflections on learning during an intercultural project. Research Studies in Music Education, 37(1), 55–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103X15590698
Zakon o državnim i drugim praznicima u Republici Srbiji (2001). Službeni glasnik RS, br. 43/2001, 101/2007 i 92/2011.
Published
2026/03/02
Section
Članci