Analysis of the Children ‟ s Songs in 2017 Elementary School Music Lesson Curriculum in Terms of Universal Values

In this study, where the survey model is utilized, the aim is to analyze the compatibility of children songs available in Elementary School Music Lesson Curriculum, which was put into effect by the Ministry of National Education in 2017, with universal values. In line with this objective, qualitative research methods have been used. The data used in the research have been obtained through document analysis. Content analyses method have been utilized in the analysis of the collected data. Sample of the research represents the population. Research sample, on the other hand, consists of the children‟s songs in 2017 Elementary School Music Lesson Curriculum. The songs used in the study have been analyzed in terms of the twelve values identified by UNESCO in Living Values Education Program. Collected data have been analyzed in frequency (f) and percentage (%). The research has concluded that; “love, responsibility and happiness” values have been given an extensive place, while “respect and tolerance” have been included a little, and “honesty, humility and simplicity” are not existent. No negative values have been identified in the songs.


Introduction
Music education is a type of training offered to students as a part of formal education, starting from the pre-school period (nursery and kindergarten) until the end of high school.Based on the general definition of education, music education can be defined as the process of making intentional changes in the individual behaviors in instrument playing (Avcı Akbel, 2018, p. 171)."General music education", on the other hand, refers to the kind of musical training whose objective is to provide every individual with a common general culture required for a healthy and balanced life (Uç an, 2005, p. 31-32).Music education which is offered to every individual equally with an aim to ensure common culture also forms the basis for the musical education of those who are willing to be engaged in music as a professional or amateurishly.
General music education in our country dates back to Sübyan (elementary school) and Rüştiye (secondary school) classes in 1870s.When the curriculum of that period is analyzed, it is found that human sound was regarded as the only material for music lessons (Egüz, 1991, p. 124).Following the Republic period, these lessons started to be more organized; however it remained only in urban schools until 1948; then included in the curriculum of rural schools (Uç an, 2005, p. 51).In fact, creation of a national culture and musical union was only possible in the second quarter of the new Republic.Music lesson is one of the pioneers in terms of relaying this common culture and universal accumulation to students at schools.Music lesson plays an effective role in shaping students" lives in early childhood; just like storybooks or pedagogical cartoons.
Today, music lessons are conducted systematically, in accordance with a program and the age groups.However, the main objective of the music lesson is to have the child acquire the skills of reading notes vocally, and singing well with pleasure, by means of disciplining the child"s voice, pleasure and ear.According to Coşkuner (1955, p. 96), music reinforces the senses of love, mercy and affection in children towards people, all creatures and nature; as well as keeping away from the mischief.Sun (1969, p. 15) states that good music gives people tranquility, virtue, love, happiness, and pleasure; as well as healing people"s hearts and establishing friendships and unions between them.The first stage of a official general musical education corresponds to the period between the 1 st and 4 th grade of elementary schools.It is regarded as the most important period since it is the starting point of the whole music education.
Music lessons conducted in the elementary schools of our country are based on the child"s voice.The teacher starts the musical education by looking at the voice of the child.The songs used in these lessons must be such as to attract their attention and contribute to their general education (Egüz, 1998, p. 39).Purpose of such a vocal education is to enable the students to establish healthy relationships with their environment by means of singing correctly, with clear sounds and musical sensitivity and gain a musicalcultural identity within the class or individually (Çevik, 1999, p. 64).
The most important material used in elementary school, where is the primary musical education starts, is a children song.Musical pieces composed for children in terms of lyrics and melodies are called children"s songs.Repertoire of these songs used in the general music education in our country are mainly divided into four categories.These are: -Adaptation songs; referring to the songs where Turkish lyrics are written on foreign compositions.
-Imitated songs; referring to the songs created by Turkish school music composers however having its roots from the music of other cultures.
-Anonymous songs (nursery rhymes, lullabies, folk songs); referring to the songs created by the society of this territory in centuries and belongs to them by their scale, structure, lyrics, and sensitivity; after going through the filter of time and the society"s taste.By means of using Turkish music in music education, a transmission from national values to the universal ones becomes possible.In other words, "from near to far" principle is adopted (Avcı Akbel, 2018, p. 86).
-Turkish school songs; referring to the songs created by Turkish school music composers having its background from folk music (Sun and Seyrek, 2002, p. 26).
One of the most important aspects of this wide-ranged children songs is their lyrics.Lyrics of these songs must teach manners, be educative and appropriate for the pleasure and psychology of children (Coşkuner, 1955, p. 112).Children"s songs taught in elementary school music lessons have emotional connotations by their nature, which does not only use sounds but also benefit from their words and vocal patterns (Satır, 2009, p. 387).
Human selfness is made of two interwoven structures; one of them being urges and the other one ideals and values.Our natural inborn tendencies are called urges.Ideals and values, on the other hand, refer to the norms of the society and culture in which we grow (İstmem, 2014, p. 2).The word value is defined as "someone with superior and useful qualities" in Turkish Dictionary in lexical sense (TDK, 2005, p. 483).The concept of value, on the other hand, is defined as "principles establishing the judgments of people on objects, individuals, ideas and situations whether they are goodbad, rightwrong, desirable -undesirable" (Eğitim Sen, 2015, p. 7).Values are socialized phenomena related to any field, which provides the opportunity to internalize the experiences, bearing beliefs and habits; as well as being functional determinants (Korkmaz, 2014, p. 183).
Values education is defined as "Educational efforts in order to enable children and the youth to explore positive values and develop them; as well as making progress in line with their potential" by United Nations Education Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO) (Eğitim Sen, 2015, p. 7).There are studies conducted on the objectives and methods of value and ethics education since the beginning of the 20 th century.Value and ethics education was started in the beginning of 1960s in the USA by Sidney Simon and friends with the approach of value definition; which was followed by the development of alternative teaching methods to suggestion-based values teaching by Kohlberg and friends in 1970s.It was then continued with the transformation into conventional values including patriotism, family, responsibility, and trust in 1980s (Akbaş, 2008, p. 11).
Values education is based on an international project prepared by Brahma Kumaris for the celebration of the 50 th anniversary of United Nations in 1995, under the name Living Values Education Program (LVEP) (İstanbul Milli Eğitim Müdürlüğü, 2012).This education, which is supported by UNESCO and brings international educators together on a common sense, is called "Living Values Education".The project, which was launched with the perspective of "Let"s share our values for a better world", includes twelve values: cooperation, freedom, happiness, honesty, love, humility, peace, respect, responsibility, simplicity, tolerance and unity (Cihan, 2014, p. 433).These twelve values researched by Living Values Educational Program were mentioned in worldwide conferences such as United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child in 1989 and Aspen Conference in 1992, and was widely supported.
Educational activities in our country are conducted in accordance with the Fundamental Law on National Education (Law No: 1739) (Özbay, Karakuş, 2011, p. 24).Objective of this fundamental law is to raise Turkish citizens; who fully acknowledge their duties and responsibilities to democracy and to secular-social Republic of Turkey as a state of law; embrace the national, moral, and cultural values; and love their families, country, and nation (MEB, 1973(MEB, , p. 2342)).
Values education was officially included in Turkish National Education system as of 2000s and has become one of the objectives of music lessons since then.While preparing the curriculums, concept of these values, which are in line with the nature of the courses, are aimed to be taught to students through feelings and by making them experiential (MEB, 2017, p. 11).Accomplishment of the acquisitions also enable the acquisition of these values.2017 Music Lesson Curriculum gave place to the values that are both national and in parallel with the universal ones.
Purpose of this study is to analyze the children songs available in Elementary School Music Lesson Curriculum, which was put into effect by the Ministry of National Education in 2017, in terms of universal values.Within this context, the following questions are sought for answers: 1) Which universal values are included in the children"s songs available in Elementary School Music Lesson Curriculum, and what is the numerical distribution of these values according to the grades?
2) What is the status of these values included in the children"s songs available in Elementary School Music Lesson Curriculum?

Method
This part of the study focuses on the research model, population and sample, data collection tools, data analysis, and their interpretation.

Research Model
Model refers to the representation of a system and ideal, and is the summarized version of a fact covering only the variables that are considered significant (Karasar, 2009, p. 76).In the research, where the purpose is to analyze the children songs available in Elementary School Music Lesson Curriculum which was put into effect by the Ministry of National Education in 2017 in terms of universal values, qualitative research pattern has been utilized.Qualitative research is a type of research which focuses on qualities difficult to measure such as words or observations, and is based on the interpretation and analysis of these qualities (Glesne, 2013, p. 385).Yıldırım (1999, p. 10) defines qualitative research as researches where qualitative data collection methods; such as observation, interview, and document analysis, are utilized.In this study, document analysis has been adopted as data collection method.According to Yıldırım and Şimşek (2008, p. 187), document analysis refers to the analysis of documents produced within certain time periods regarding a specific problem state; or those created by several sources in different times related to the problem.

Population and Sample
Sample of the research represents the population.A total of 73 children"s songs available in the 1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd , and 4 th grade books of Elementary School Music Lesson Curriculum, which was put into effect by the Ministry of National Education in 2017, represents the sample and population of the study (MEB, 2017).The reason of selecting Elementary School Music Lesson Curriculum applied in 2017 in this research is that; it is provided to students free of charge throughout the country; both field teachers and academicians were involved in its preparation; and it is the official course book used in music lessons.The reason why UNESCO universal values have been chosen in this study is that it is the most commonly used and valid values worldwide.Purposeful sampling method has been used in the research, which is one of the most effective sampling types.It is a frequently used research method used by researchers in authentic studies conducted on a specific field in particular (Dolores & Tongco, 2007, p. 147).

Data Collecting Tools
"Value Identification Form" developed by the researcher has been used in this study, aim of which is to analyze the children"s songs available in Elementary School Music Lesson Curriculum of 2017.While developing the form, 12 universal values in the "Living Values Education" supported by UNESCO have been involved.These values are "cooperation, freedom, happiness, honesty, love, humility, peace, respect, responsibility, simplicity, tolerance, and unity" (Tillman, 2002, p. 12).Before applying the "Value Identification Form" to children"s songs, 3 academicians who completed their PhD degrees on pre-school music education were consulted for their opinions.The form was finalized upon the opinions of the specialists.Then, 73 children"s songs available in the curriculum were analyzed in terms of their compatibility with the 12 universal values of UNESCO.

Data Analysis and Interpretation
Texts of 73 the songs available in the 1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd , and 4 th grade books of Elementary School Music Lesson Curriculum, which was put into effect by the Ministry of National Education in 2017, have been analyzed; and the values they involve have been identified.Some of the values have been provided with sub-categories and the texts are listed according to the values present in these sub-categories.In the first stage, 73 songs available in the four grade levels were read without any analysis.In the second reading, the values were identified and marked on the form.Frequency of the values were specified and tabulated, and their percentages and frequencies were provided.For the reliability of the research, these texts were then read by three field specialists, and results of the "Value Identification Form" were evaluated independently.When the songs available in the 1 st grade curriculum, it is figured that a total of 19 (20.43) values have been included, and the values of love and responsibility turn out to be the most frequently used values by 10 (10.75%) and 4 (4.3%)respectively.20 (21.5%) values have been detected in total in the 2 nd grade curriculum.Happiness by 6 (6.45%), and love and responsibility by 4 (4.3%) of each have been found to be the most commonly used values.In the 3 rd grade curriculum, a total of 29 values have been identified, which the highest amount of values encountered within these four years.Most frequently used values have been found to be love by 7 (7.52%), and happiness and responsibility by 6 (6.45%) of each.25 (26.88%)values have been encountered in the 4 th grade curriculum.With 10 (10.75%) and 4 (4.3%),love and responsibility have been found to be the most widely used values, respectively.

Findings
The values of "honesty, humility, and simplicity" are not given place in neither of the curriculums."Peace and respect" are observed to be given little place, and the value of "tolerance" is only involved in the 4 th grade curriculum by 1 (1.07%).No songs with negative values were encountered throughout the curriculum.
When the curriculum is analyzed in sub-categories according to grades, it has been concluded that; "Love" is one of the most frequently used values in all grade levels.Sub-categories of this value are found to be "love of school, love of nature, love of country, love of animals, and love of Atatürk".
In the song "Okula Başladık (We Have Started School)", the phrases "The lessons are great, studying is great we love school heya we love life", or "My dear teacher, I love you so much" in the song "Öğretmenim (My Teacher)" emphasizes the love of school; while the phrase "Source of nature is love, love needs to be grown" in the song "Doğanın Kaynağı Sevgidir (Love is the Source of Nature)" emphasizing the love of nature.In the song "Bu Vatan (This Country)" the lyrics "Ankara, Karaman, Gallipoli, Tatvan, Anatolia, İzmir, Urfa, Van… This country is beautiful with its air, sea, and forests" refers to the love of country; and "My sweet dog come here and I will give you a bone come here and I will cuddle you" in the song "Cici Köpeğim (My Sweet Dog)" refers to the love of animals.The phrase "I love Atatürk, my heart is full of love" in the song "Atatürk"ü Severim (I Love Atatürk)", emphasizes the love of Atatürk.
Another value whose sub-categories can be analyzed is "responsibility".The sub-categories of this value have been identified as "public responsibilities and personal responsibilities".
When the lyrics of "Cumhuriyet Marşı (Republic Anthem)" is analyzed, it can be seen that the phrase "Let this glorious Turkish flag wave everywhere, our ambition is to protect and exalt these territories", or "You commended this Republic to us" in the song "Atatürk"ün Çiçekleri (Flowers of Atatürk)" refer to the public responsibilities.Personal responsibilities, on the other hand, are emphasized in the song "Bay Mikrop (Mr. Germ)" with the phrase "I wash my hands, I brush my teeth", or with "Do not idle, work a little" as in the song "Ağustos Böceği (Cicada)".

Conclusion and Discussion
A total of 93 values have been identified in this study whose aim is to analyze 73 children"s songs available in the 1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd , and 4 th grade books of Elementary School Music Lesson Curriculum, which was put into effect by the Ministry of National Education in 2017, in terms of "UNESCO Universal Values".Values involved in children"s songs the most are "love, responsibility, and happiness"; while the least compatible values have been found to be "peace, respect, and tolerance"."Honesty, humility, and simplicity" values could not be found in any of the songs.There are parallel findings identified in the study where the periodical "Meraklı Minik" published for children by TÜBİTAK is analyzed by Alabay, Can, Kandemir, and Güney (2018); in terms of values.In the books analyzed within the period of 2012-2016, "love and responsibility" were observed to be the most frequently used values; while "humility and honesty" were not available in any of them.In the research conducted to identify the values available in the illustrated story books of Feridun Oral, Dilek (2017) analyzed a total of 14 books written for 0-6 ages.Dilek analyzed these books in accordance with the values control list of Ministry of National Education, and found similar findings in this regard.The most frequently used value in the books was found to be "love"; while "humility" was not included in any of them.In their studies, Gönen, Katrancı, Uygun, and Uçuş (2011) analyzed 100 books published for the 1 st grade elementary school students between 2005-2009; in terms of their contents, illustrations, and physical features and also concluded that "love" is the most compatible value in these books.In addition to that, Kılıç and Aktan (2015) studied the values stressed in 100 basic essential songs recommended for Elementary Schools, and also concluded that "love" is the most emphasized value.Doğan and Gülüşen (2011) conducted an analysis on the 6 th , 7 th , and 8 th grade Turkish lesson course books published by the Ministry of National Education in terms of values, and found that the books contain the values of "love of nature and animals".In the study conducted by Yiğittir and Öcal (2010), value tendencies of the students have been explored, and the students were found to give importance to the "love of nature".In the study where the cultural perceptions of the 8 th grade students have been analyzed, Ünlü (2012) reached to the conclusion that the students pay attention to the values such as "love of country and Atatürk".
Another value often included in children"s songs is "responsibility".In the research where Aladağ (2012) analyzed the impact of values education approaches while teaching social sciences in elementary school, on the students" acquisition of responsibility value on cognitive level, 55 5 th grade students were applied an experimental process, and the process was concluded in favor of the experiment group on "responsibility" value.Sapsağlam (2017) studied the sample of responsibility value, where he analyzed the value perceptions of pre-school children by looking at their paintings and verbal expressions, and concluded that they have positive perceptions on this value.Analysis of the songs revealed that the values of "humility, honesty, and simplicity" are not included at all.In their research, Kılıç and Aktan (2015) examined the values emphasized in the 100 essential songs recommended for Elementary Schools, and they concluded that the value of "humility" is included in these songs."Humility" value, which is tried to be imposed on children through literary works beginning from early ages, have been found not to exist in children"s songs.The reason for the non-existence of "humility and simplicity" values in such songs might be the possibility that its involvement could be difficult in a song with an established theme, and within the harmony of lyrics and music.Children"s songs written for early ages must be within a certain vocal range, and consist of short and clear lyrics for its comprehension.Humility and simplicity are abstract values and their expression in short songs with such limitations may be preventing composers of children"s songs from focusing on this domain.
The following suggestions may be proposed for the research: -Children"s song composers can write books containing songs which consist of national and universal values covering values education.
-Acquisition of humility, honesty, and simplicity values which are present in both universal and national values, within the scope of music lessons is of high importance.
-Like all kinds of education, values education also starts in the family.Children may get confused if the values they learn at school and the ones they learn at home show consistency, and their acquisition might not be possible.For such cases, certain seminars can be conducted at schools, for parents.
-Lecturers of courses where the composition of educational songs is taught, must be directive on values education and ask for products.
-Values education is of great importance for children who grow away from street culture day by day and get trapped in technological devices at home.Values such as love, cooperation, and tolerance are becoming difficult to be taught to children who are getting lonely every day.Further studies are needed for children in the fields of not only music but also literature or painting education for early ages.

Table 2 .
Numerical distribution of UNESCO Universal Values in children"s songs according to grades In Table2, a total of 93 values have been identified in 73 children"s songs available in the 1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd , and 4 th grade course books of Elementary School Music Lesson Curriculum.When frequency of these values are sorted from the Yükrük and Akarsu (2017)analyzed the songs present in 1 st -4 th grade Elementary School Music Lesson course books according to the Ministry of National Education Directive on Values, where they obtained findings in parallel with this study in terms of UNESCO universal values.According to the directive of Ministry of Education, "love and patriotism" are the most commonly used values, while "being fair, humility, empathy, hospitality, kindness, and greeting" are not involved at all.