The influence of musical production structures in group learning management

Abstract

Despite research indicating the advantages of collaborative learning, most formal music education continues to be in an individual format. However, collaborative strategies have been observed in other musical cultures. Through this research, we wished to study the differences in the management of group practices between three musical cultures (classical, modern, and flamenco), checking whether they originate in the formal/informal nature of their cultural tools or their mode of musical production. For this purpose, we analyzed three musical groups belonging to these three musical cultures. Each group comprised four musicians. Recordings of the rehearsal sessions and three dimensions of learning (outcomes, processes, and conditions) were categorically analyzed using the system for the analysis of instrumental learning developed by our research group. Chi-square and adjusted standardized residuals analyses demonstrated that the learning outcomes in each culture differed according to the cultural tool used (literacy, orality, or mimetic), but that the processes and social interaction differed according to the mode of musical production. The findings suggested that those who approach music from open production structures, such as modern musicians, are more collaborative than those who approach it from closed structures, such as classical and flamenco musicians. We conclude by reflecting on the origin of these production structures, highlighting the need to work from different modes of musical production in educational spaces.