Aesthetic and Educational Dimensions of Songs and Chants in Children's Theater Performances

The present study consists of four sections. Section one tackles the problem statement that revolves around the idea of aesthetic and educational dimensions of songs and chants in children’s theater performances. The significance of the present study is manifested by clarifying the aesthetic and educational dimensions of the musical templates emp loyed in children’s theater performances due to their importance in Communicating those values to the recipient child. The present study aims to identify the aesthetic and educational dimensions of chants and songs employed in the performances of the child ’s theater. The section also presents the limits of the present study, and it is concluded by defining the key terms. Section two is subdivided into two subsections. The first subsection is entitled Aesthetics of songs and chants in children’s theater Perf ormance. The researcher studied the spiritual aesthetics included in lyrical and chanting forms in children’s theater performances. The second subsec tion is entitled The educational dimension of songs and chants presented in children’s theater performances . The researcher studied various educational values involved in lyrical templates employed in children’s theater performances. Section three includes the research sample, its tool and methodology, and an analysis of the selected sample. Section four includes the results, including: 1. The musical templates employed in this show came as an integrated aesthetic educational system rich in values that helped the child develop his/her intellectual and aesthetic spirit, 2. Music positively affected the academic performance of the recipient (the child), helped develop his/her social skills in all its forms, and helped create an outlet for creativity, which is crucial to his/her growth, 3. This sample included the various musical templates that permeated the movement of the actors' bodies and helped to show the educational and aesthetic values of the performances through their sensory components that can be explained through the sense and minds of children, 4. The various musical templates included in this show were presented in a variety of ways in terms of rhythm and melodies, or even in the form of solitary music and moved away from monotony, which prompted them to create an aesthetic distance between them and the child and 5. The rhythmic and melodic diversity in this show is the adjuster for the rhythm of the public show, especially the control of the actor’s movements, which helped develop the child’s sensory and intellectual awareness of the spirit of the show, and thus achieve the theory of broadcasting educational values.


Introduction
Songs and chants are among the lyrical, musical templates that include melodies supported by various rhythms and music. Therefore, they are among the educational, aesthetic arts sent to the recipient with a world of beauty and intellectual structures. Those arts address the feeling and minds of the recipient. Because of the importance of these templates, directors employ them within Their theatrical performances, especially children's theater performances. This theatrical type is active as an integrated system in which a group of elements interacts, including music and singing, which work within the play in an integrated manner with the other elements to achieve its aesthetic and educational goals. Here, the dialectical relationship between the recipient (the child) and these molds gives the child social privacy that is capable of preparing him/her for interaction within society; in addition to that, these molds are by nature expressive of the idea inherent in the content of the play and its support. Because of the importance of this art and its closeness to the child's spirit, it has become an element accompanying all performances of this theatrical form that is characterized by the diversity of musical instruments, as well as the variety of its maqams and rhythms. These templates are usually interspersed with the dialogues of the actors. The mold music in this theatrical genre is not rhythmic with simple melodies and accompanied by choral singing. It can be accompanied by performances of ballet or modern dance. Music plays an essential role in this art. Musical templates permeate this type of show so that the recipient can get the atmosphere and The required suggestion as it undoubtedly accompanies the art of dance. Children's theater is that distinctive theater that relies heavily on the use of songs and chants in it. Thus, it mixes theatrical dialogues with songs and other templates. These molds are effective in winning the minds and feelings of the child. In its way, stories and tales are told through songs and chants or through templates accompanying the dialogues of the actors. The child's theater is more like a show of songs and not like other theaters that rely on the acting. It depends on the voice, melodies, and distinctive dances, as well as the existence of the idea that belongs to theatrical work. This intellectual and artistic structure of the music is shown in a coherent artistic manner that is close to the audience.
Accordingly, the problem statement of the present study revolves around the idea of aesthetic and educational dimensions of songs and chants in children's theater performances.

The Significance of the Present Study
The significance of the present study is attributed to studying the aesthetic and educational dimensions of the musical templates employed in children's theater performances because of their importance in conveying those values to the recipient (the child), as well as their importance in the fine arts faculties and institutes by identifying the concept of musical templates (songs and chants), their role in Aesthetic and educational formation, the extent of its effect on children's selves and their upbringing, and the correct artistic and social education.

The Objectives
The present study aims to identify the aesthetic and educational dimensions of chants and songs employed in children's theater performances.

The Limits
The Temporal Limits; 2013.
The Objective Limits; Aesthetic and educational dimensions of songs and chants in children's theater performances.

Definitions of key terms
Dimension; It is one of the widely used terms in mathematical sciences, especially engineering. It is also used by the people of general philosophy. Today, it is figuratively used by modern linguists and critics. It is restricted to the elements of time and place as they are two dimensions of material existence (Al-Suwainet, 2010).
Aesthetics; It is mentioned in the Oxford Dictionary as a theory of taste, or it is a process of sensory perception of beauty in nature and art. It is defined as the study of beauty in nature and art (Mustafa et al., 2004). As for modern use, it involves much more, such as the nature of aesthetic experience, patterns of artistic expression, which is the process of creativity or tasting or both together, and similar topics (Harold, 1998).
Education; Plato defines it as giving the body and soul all beauty and perfection. It is also defined as everything that works to create human opportunities for the child to grow according to his/her nature, from his/her inclinations and interests.
Education is defined as a social system that determines the effective influence of the family or school in developing something from the physical, mental and moral aspects so that it can lead a normal life in the environment in which it lives (Al-Torji, 1990).

Aesthetics of songs and chants in children's theater performances
The sense of beauty occupies an important place in life and arts, especially in the art of theater. The subject of beauty in the theater has been of great importance in many philosophical theories from the Greek era until the present time. Many philosophers contributed to clarifying and formulating beauty in line with the stage that adopted the scientific and experimental analytical method.

Literature review
The aesthetic concept in theatrical work in all its forms is the possession of its pure and special beauty. The judgment on it becomes clear through achieving the factor of compatibility and harmony in it, as well as its direct influence on our depths when we realize it. So, the beauty becomes harmonious for a purely aesthetic purpose that is devoid of benefit through compatibility between imagination and perception. Hence, pleasure, acceptance, and contentment are produced.
The philosopher Schopenhauer stipulated that pleasure be achieved through the realization of the duality of self-knowledge and perception. The first represents awareness and the subjective aspect of aesthetic vision, and the second represents its objective aspect (Tawfeeq, 1983). According to this vision, beauty relates to the self and represents its awareness. Hence, a variety of theatrical performances constitutes psychological indications that form a power that attracts the child and motivates him/her to embrace the idea and work according to it, which leads to his/her ability to learn more easily and with greater benefit as the child's mind passes from beauty to the aesthetic content easily, smoothly, and with pleasure.
The realization of beauty in all forms of theater is in the senses of hearing and sight that receive it within the framework of the organized relationship of the performing arts on the one hand and the link between the show and the audience on the other hand. Then, the aesthetic aspect becomes dependent on the awareness of the recipient of these tangible aesthetic elements. The present study is an attempt to identify the aesthetic dimension of songs and chants in children's theater performances.
Singing templates are considered one of the essential arts for societies of different forms and genders throughout the ages. Man instinctively tends to sing and listen to music because singing touches his/her conscience, nourishes his/her feeling, and fills his/her being with vitality, activity, and emotion. Man does not resort to singing except for his/her need to express his/her feelings and emotions, to spend his/her emotional energy, to entertain him/herself at the time of work and movement, and to fill the soul with enthusiasm and activity. It is also meant to put the child to sleep or to make him/her stop crying in order to pet him/her and pamper him/her (Abu Saad, 1974).
If singing is important for adults, it is more important for children because it is in harmony with their abilities, which gives them joy, so they react to it and interact with it. Nations gave a great deal of interest to formulating literature that contributes to educating children. Ancient people resorted to this type of education through grandmother's tales, mothers' and fathers' stories, and songs that carry simple educational concepts that seek to guide children and satisfy their inclinations and psychological needs. Directors and producers of children's plays employ songs and chants within their theatrical performances to create aesthetic distances between the show and the recipient (the child), provided that the rhythmic melodies are in a way that makes both the ear and the mind comfortable. The composer and writer should be fully aware of the characteristics of the age stage to be able to achieve The sensory beauty of the child. Thus, the researcher concludes that musical art is one of the arts that are rich with aesthetic aspects. Music is the unified human language as it penetrates into the soul of the listener regardless of his/her gender and social differences. Since ancient ages, music has been related to the psychological education of the child. Therefore, the historian Plutarch talks about the success of Greek education, which he attributes to their musical upbringing, by stating that no matter what, he who grows up in the study of music and grows up with a musical education appropriate to his formation, regulating his inclinations, will stick to everything that is noble and dignified and is far from every ugly act (Mokhtar, 2007). Philosophers in the Greek era were interested in the aesthetic and formal value of organized musical training in the process of education. Plato placed musical education in a high position within the educational system. He states that if music is the only educational method that is most useful, then this means that rhythm and harmony. They have the great ability to nourish the soul and elevate it to the realm of beauty, provided that education follows its natural course. Otherwise, the opposite happens (Kaddouri, 1999).
The researcher believes that there is a high aesthetic value presented by music that has a clear influence on the creative aesthetic thinking of the child. It is an educational method that activates the human soul by transforming this music into known melodies that are close to him/herself. The melodies work to improve the child's attention and attraction to it, which leads to enriching his/her knowledge and thus developing creativity, so he/she can reveal what is going on in his/her mind through it (Abdulhadi et al., 2001).
Huda Kinawi summarizes the dimensions of children's singing and chanting as follows (Kinawi, 1990): 1. Songs are a means of persuasion, entertainment, and bringing pleasure to the child.
2. Songs may be a way to express the emotions of the child.
3. Songs are a way to raise the literary taste of the child. 4. Songs are also a way to improve the child's language. 5. Songs are the means of growth and the formation of trends and values.
Second; the educational dimension of songs and chants in children's theater performances Musical templates are among the fine arts that have played an important role in human life throughout the ages. They have been associated with religious and worldly rituals, including social and educational matters. They are an extension of the inherent desire to express and communicate with the human environment. Their function is to communicate emotions and feelings with aesthetic frameworks and psychological incentives. They are artistic mediums that are subject to physical laws that govern the orderliness and consistency in the arrangement of tonal materials and melodic tracks.
Music is one of the most independent arts. Its material is not extracted from nature directly. But, it is created by means that are specially prepared for its creation. It is not directly related to its subjects, nor does it provide a direct prescription for any particular subject (Zakaryia, 2015).
Despite the importance of music for the elderly, it does not reach the importance of singing or chanting. Schopenhauer believes that songs or chants may have strong aesthetic and gratifying effects on us as they provide us with unity between two ways of perception, one of which is direct, which is music, and the other is indirect, which is Poetry, which uses visualizations. The origin from which the song or chant arose is that man felt the need to embody music, which expresses the total will, so he resorted to words (Shehata, 2006). Hegel believes that lyrical music is superior to instrumental music because adding language as an expression of the mind to the formal movement that rhythm adds to the melody makes the music full of meaning after it was imaginary. It becomes defined after it is vague, so it becomes mental after it is purely emotional. This applies to songs or poetry in general as it acquires a specialty in songs and chants directed to children as it is formulated in a special lyrical mold that distinguishes it from other songs and poems because it addresses a special segment of society (children). It also seeks to achieve very important goals by exploiting its demand for it because they are attracted to it. In their nature, there is a genuine willingness to sing and what takes over their hearts from the melodious musical speech (Al-Dabaa, 2001).
The use of songs, and even music, in education is not a matter of luxury, nor is it just for entertainment. Children's songs, especially those found in school curricula for the early stages of education, are an important means of forming a child's culture, upbringing him/her, and building his/her personality as a material Educational and cultural means, which plays a major and effective role in building the child's value, knowledge, and cultural system, and contributes to the refinement of his/her artistic and aesthetic taste. Children love the homeland and know mores and traditions. The chant is part of society's history and folklore because it is an inquiry into the depths of the human soul, a vivid embodiment of that soul's convulsions, and an indication of its ambitions and aspirations toward a happy future. It is also an expression of a certain lived situation through the popular songs that children chant in their games (Al-Fattal, 1974).
Because songs are of great importance in planting educational values for children, it is required that their themes, contents, and words be positive to implant religious and moral values that strengthen the bonds that bind the child to his/her community and control his/her behavior and direct him/her in a correct direction, whether with his/her family members or with his/her neighbors or other members of society, which notifies him/her of his/her responsibility towards them, his/her commitment to good social values, such as charity, cooperation, affection, and respect, as well as the love of the homeland, religious tolerance, and other good values. Although these values can be inculcated through preaching and guidance or by a strict methodological teaching method, songs are able to intensify and present them in a poetic form that is loved by the child because of the music and rhythm that attract him/her and make the words and meanings firmly rooted in his/her mind and familiar on his/her tongue. Songs are one of the important educational methods in the lives of children as they address their minds and conscience and evoke beauty in them.
The importance of songs in children's education can be stated as follows (Shehata, 1994): 1. They contain a wealth of language that develops the students' outcomes and helps them acquire sound Arabic language and mastery of expression. They also elevate their style and increase their understanding of standard Arabic.
2. They help students to improve their pronunciation and produce the correct letters.
3. They have a strong influence on giving the child noble qualities and ideals. 4. They contribute to training them on a good performance, quality of delivery, and representation of meaning.

The child learns how to use his/her voice in tune.
The researcher believes that music and its forms have an important role in the educational process as it effectively contributes to emotional growth and the aesthetic sense, which in turn works to recreate the soul. The association of composer music with emotions gives a decisive role in the upbringing of the child properly through which he/she can learn positive values, such as cooperation and self-confidence, to feel pleasure and joy, to satisfy many of his/her needs and desires, and to develop his/her imagination towards creativity, to become more able to express his/her emotions and not be repressed, which is reflected in the development of his/her artistic and aesthetic taste and critical sense, and thus his/her personality in all its aspects. Directors employed musical molds in their theater performances to contribute to raising the child on an intellectual and aesthetic level. The molds in those shows are characterized by characteristics that distinguish them from those presented to the elite in terms of clarity of idea and logical sequence of melodies, moving away from encryption and implicit meanings that are difficult for the child to decipher. Its codes, in addition to its inclusion of educational and aesthetic meanings and ideas related to the living situation and its strong upbringing, as well as including the vocabulary of the educational curricula so that its sober and educational aesthetic goal is achieved.
Songs and chants as linguistic material, with the intellectual value of their content and the musical rhythms and educative aesthetic value that they contain, are capable of achieving many educational goals and achieving childhood demands by mixing fun and learning, thus building the children's personality and realizing their selves. Based on that, Attention should be paid to the importance of songs and chants to include everything that would contribute to the education and upbringing of children as the content plays an important and significant role in educating young people and building generations as future orientations firmly established may be impossible or difficult to change or even modify.

Indicators of the theoretical framework
1. Children's theater is a form of semi-lyrical theatre. It combines acting, poetry, singing, music, and all the components of theatrical performance. It does not depart from the field of theatrical arts except by some techniques represented in the intense embodiment of songs and chants.
2. Children have a great response and are clearly affected by songs at the beginning of their upbringing because songs can show them the way to the most beautiful and the best aspects.
3. In the children's theater, the dance that accompanies the lyrical and chanting melodies and the acting scenes, and also sometimes the folk singing, is mixed in its performances.
4. Children's theater employs traditional songs transmitted in its performances as they are in harmony with its nature and taste, and they bear aesthetic and educational features, approaching the child's feelings.
5. Musical templates of songs and chants, which are employed in children's theater performances, are nothing but the language of emotions. These molds are the sounds most closely related to emotions. Therefore, they constitute the strongest excitement and influence on the child's soul.
6. Musical and chanting templates offer templates with high educational values that have a clear influence on the aesthetic thinking of the child. The other is an educational means that activates the human soul by transforming music into well-known melodies.
7. Music and its singing forms are a means of venting through which the child can vent what is going on inside him/her. 8. Music and its forms are a multifaceted field that contributes to each child's social and personal development, achieving for them what we may call his/her social individuality. 9. The link between singing and chanting with emotions plays a crucial role in the proper educational upbringing of the child through which the child can learn positive values such as cooperation and self-confidence, feel pleasure and joy, and satisfy many of his/her needs. 10. Musical and lyrical forms achieve high educational results represented in developing the spirit of innovation in the child, in addition to creating literary audacity by accustoming the child to confront and address people.
11. Music and its musical forms play an important role in the educational process as they actively contribute to the child's emotional growth and aesthetic sense, which in turn works to recreate the soul.
12. The child's theater is important in the life of (the students) in the process of awareness and guidance they receive from watching shows that remain in their minds for a long time, especially since they are supported by songs and chants.
13. Music has direct goals in developing the child's taste, deepening his/her musical sense, and enjoying its melodies. It may push the child to study music and learn to play a musical instrument.
14. There are indirect goals for songs and chants as a means of developing the learner's memory through memorizing chants and songs. Plato simply and clearly stresses that he has given great importance to musical education as a form of intellectual and aesthetic education for the child.

Methodology
This section includes the methodological procedures taken by the researcher to answer the question that the researcher put in his research problem in order to obtain the objectives of the present study and reach the exact methodological results.

The Research Sample
The sample of the present study consists of one theatrical text, as shown in Table (1). The sample was intentionally chosen for  several reasons, including: 1. There is homogeneity in the research population in terms of the aesthetic and educational characteristics of the show.
2. The sample has not been analyzed before.

The Research Methodology
The researcher relied on the descriptive analytical method, i.e. (content analysis) in the present study.

The Research Tool
The researcher built the research tool by reviewing the studies and literature as well as the indicators of the theoretical framework. So, he relied on the artistic characteristics included in this show, represented by (lyric poetry, songs, and chants in all their forms) as a basis for the analysis process. This theatrical performance is one of the performances presented to the children. The idea of this operetta expresses the civilization and heritage of Iraq and a statement of the importance of this country from the beginning of history until now. In terms of its importance on the intellectual and scientific level, the show talked about the scientific data that produced This civilization, especially in the enactment of laws brought by King Hammurabi. It also touched upon the most important historical figures. Scheherazade and Shahryar were among the most important figures it dealt with. They represented the idea of happiness and beauty, as well as embodying the values of strong will. This play also dealt with The aesthetic values that Baghdad was and still possesses. It represents the place of intellectual and civilized creativity, in addition to being a center for the convergence of immigrant people, especially as it was characterized by those navigable nights free of calamities and defeats. Scheherazade used to weave stories in her imagination. Ideas are borrowed from the servants who were working in the palace, as mentioned in the archaeological city of Babylon. Its importance has emerged through the ages as this show includes the Babylonian characters who had a clear influence on Its flourishment. Among these figures was Hammurabi, the inimitable military-administrative figure. He is the legislator of laws and lays the foundations for fair dealing among humans. The show talks about Abu Nuas, the Iraqi poet, in detail, in the era of the Abbasid Caliphate and his creativity at the level of poetic thought and its systems. He is one of the most famous poets of the Abbasid era. He was nicknamed Abu Ali, Abu Nawas, and al-Nawasi. Abu Nawas was known as the poet of wine. Some said that he repented of what he was in and turned to asceticism. He recited a number of poems that indicated what they mentioned about him.

Analysis of the sample
This show included various aesthetic performing and sensory techniques, including singing musical melodies accompanied by the dances designed for these melodies. The show was able to create the general psychological atmosphere for the show and thus pleasure for the recipient, in addition to the ability of the musical templates to express the spirit and idea of the show, especially as it was distinguished by its aesthetic and educational role due to its closeness to the recipient (the child), where it came as a composer and with considerate words For their intellectual and sensory level, then its distinction in the nature of diversity that added the entertainment aspect to them, which prompted it to create a psychological, educational atmosphere so that this music would be an introduction to the song (Sinbad has returned to love in Baghdad), to be its conclusion a dialogue about (The Story of Shahryar and Scheherazade). The song has a lot of educational values sent to the child by explaining the story of the civilization through which it was made. Thus, this show has combined dialogue, singing, dancing, and musical forms. The song (Al-Rawaa) was from the rhythm of (Fox), which is characterized by its lightness on the human ear, especially (the child), as well as (Ajam), which is considered a maqam. It is very close to the child. Thus, its melodies and musical forms are of an aesthetic nature. Therefore, they are educational because of their influence on the human soul. This song also came to accompany the dances designed for it. This song was loaded with educational values by including the importance of the Babylonian civilization and the most important scholars in it. It is noticeable that the director in this show has employed the national song and anthems because of the lovely moral and educational values they carry as their importance in instilling patriotism and how to preserve it in the child becomes clear. The musical templates came with songs and melodies associated with the spirit of the idea of the show. They were interconnected breaks with the dialogue sections in this work. It is noted that the musical templates adhere to the nature of diversity throughout the duration of the show to create a spirit of joy and pleasure in it and keep it away from the boring monotony. The commitment to templates is also noted. The musical nature of lightness and ease in order to create an aesthetic distance between it and the recipient (the child) achieves the distance that contributes to creating aesthetic and educational structures for them. It has been linked to the emotions of the child. Thus, the molds have achieved their goal of getting rid of the child's negative energies and meeting his/her needs. They are considered an educational means that activates the spirit of the child and thus achieves educational structures by venting the emotions that are going on in the child's mind. It also instills in him/her the spirit of cooperation and love through collective performance at the level of dancing or singing. It is noted in this show that the lyrics of the songs and chants also carried the educational values represented in creating a spirit of sacrifice and patriotism, as well as other educational values. The musical templates included in this show, whether they were melodic songs or the solo music accompanying the dialogues, sought to Achieve a spiritual and psychological balance for the child, including adding joy, pleasure, and psychological calm, which leads to the discharging of his/her emotional energies, and thus creating a mental and emotional balance for him/her, especially enhancing his/her self-confidence, which leads the child away from all that is negative in life such as shyness, fear, and difficulty in speaking. It is also noted that the lyrical texts in it were also distinguished by the balance and diversity of the syllables, as well as containing soft words with soft letters that allow for elongation, which facilitates the process of composing them, and thus facilitates acceptance by the child. Thus, its melodies are easy melodies that can enter the child's soul and interact with them easily. In addition, the lyrical texts in this show reinforced the feelings of belonging to the homeland and its love, with the inclusion of intellectual and scientific premises.