{"title":"Alternative seating practices: pedagogy of the back of the orchestra","authors":"T. S. Yi","doi":"10.1080/14613808.2023.2187042","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2023.2187042","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT\u0000 This three-year study aimed to investigate students’ experiences with alternative seating practices (ASP) in a public-school string orchestra program. Whereas education scholarship has long demonstrated that democratic classroom seating arrangements play a crucial role in the learning process, typical orchestra classrooms maintain a hierarchical seating format assigned to students on a competitive basis. In this study I set out to explore the relationship between anti-hierarchical seating practices rooted in social justice and the musical capacity of a classroom ensemble. Using interdisciplinary methods – ethnography, interviews, archival data collection and analysis –, I investigated ASP’s effects on the learning, motivation, and musical caliber of twenty-five string orchestra students from 8th to 10th grade in a diverse public school in the United States. My research findings show that anti-hierarchical ASP fostered students’ collaboration and increased their motivation and engagement. Moreover, ASP also improved drastically the musical capacity of all students, especially those with no prior music training, and it led the ensemble to win first place at statewide competitions against more affluent and advanced student orchestras for three years in a row. My study therefore suggests that pedagogy rooted in social justice can be instrumental to achieving excellence in music classrooms.","PeriodicalId":46798,"journal":{"name":"Music Education Research","volume":"25 1","pages":"190 - 204"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41746274","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Recognising intra-actions of music and pupil","authors":"Synnøve Kvile, Catharina Christophersen","doi":"10.1080/14613808.2023.2193204","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2023.2193204","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Music is deeply entangled with human activity and can play various roles in our lives, also in the lives of children. A large part of children’s day-to-day life in Norway takes place within a school context. However, research on children’s musical lives within a primary school context is scarce, and there is little knowledge of how pupils engage and interact with music throughout their school day. Building on classroom observations of 4th graders in a Norwegian primary school, this article addresses the intra-actions of pupil(s) and music(s) at school from a posthuman and new materialist perspective. Through a diffractive reading of data and a ‘thinking with theory’ approach, we investigate how pupils and music intra-act within material-discursive school practices. Our results show that the intra-actions of music(s) and pupil(s) are connected to the norms and rules regulating the classroom and that these understandings have material effects.","PeriodicalId":46798,"journal":{"name":"Music Education Research","volume":"25 1","pages":"205 - 215"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44789185","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Higher music education in Romania in the context of the European Higher Education Area: an analysis from the lecturer’s perspective","authors":"Oswaldo Lorenzo, Ioana R. Turcu","doi":"10.1080/14613808.2023.2183493","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2023.2183493","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The academic context of Romanian higher education music lecturers has not yet completely overcome the influence of the socio-political scenario from before the fall of the communist system. This contributes to the international isolation of Rumaniańs higher music education, marginalising its institutions from the European Higher Education Area. This paper presents a study featuring the opinions of 470 Romanian university lecturers at eight higher institutions regarding the overall situation of higher music education. About seventy percent of participants stated that the current higher education system is worse than 30 years ago. A cluster analysis showed that the most important challenges facing the Romanian education system are insufficient funding and the need to promote more postgraduate studies. The situation described could be useful to revise the curriculum in order to align Romanian higher music education with the standards of the European Higher Education Area.","PeriodicalId":46798,"journal":{"name":"Music Education Research","volume":"25 1","pages":"147 - 159"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44211619","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Using architecture to understand music: an interdisciplinary active learning pilot project","authors":"A. Malvano","doi":"10.1080/14613808.2023.2183495","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2023.2183495","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Few university students in Italy today possess the necessary skills to read a musical score. Consequently, alternative strategies are needed in order to visualize – and hence to memorise – music. This is the main reason underpinning the pilot laboratory of musical architecture, which was launched in 2019 as university workshop thanks to the collaboration of Matteo Pericoli. The educational project’s objective did not consist in the investigation of the stylistic analogies between architecture and music, but rather in the utilization of a plastic discipline in order to stimulate students to reflect upon musical writing, and to arrive to the point of creating three-dimensional models of the analysed compositions. The instruction of this teaching unit was based on the principles of brainstorming, peer learning, processing and the drawing up of a report of the acquired knowledge. The models created during the didactic module made it possible for the students to give an architectural form to musical solutions and concepts of a varying complexity, which facilitated their related visualization. The project demonstrated what advantages might be derived from tools which are alternatives to the musical score in order to photograph specific aspects of musical writing.","PeriodicalId":46798,"journal":{"name":"Music Education Research","volume":"25 1","pages":"216 - 230"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46506932","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Music teacher perceptions of modern band and Little Kids Rock: a qualitative study of programme outcomes","authors":"David H. Knapp, Bryan Powell, G. Smith","doi":"10.1080/14613808.2023.2167967","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2023.2167967","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Music education in the United States is typified by students in large ensembles, like band and orchestra, learning to perform pieces of Western art music. One organisation working to expand curricular offerings within the field is Little Kids Rock (LKR), which has invested millions of dollars training music teachers and providing instrument resources for popular music pedagogy. Though this organisation has demonstrated success in its ability to propagate 'modern band' programmes, the effects of its investment are not known. LKR administers an end-of-year survey to its participating teachers to assess teachers' perceptions of their music programmes. However, LKR do not publish meaningful information regarding the outcomes and impact of its activities. The present study examined free-response data from the 2018 end-of-year survey. Using the passive and active identity and learning realisation (PAILR) model as our analytical framework (Froehlich, Hildegard C., and Gareth Dylan Smith. 2017. Sociology for Music Teachers: Practical Applications. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315402345), the authors analysed themes using grounded theory to produce a logic model to describe the effects of LKR's investment. Results indicate participating teachers perceive a positive impact on students, including being more engaged in their learning, and more musically independent. Additionally, teachers believed they were more engaged and committed to their profession, and more able to teach previously disengaged students.","PeriodicalId":46798,"journal":{"name":"Music Education Research","volume":"25 1","pages":"121 - 135"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44029499","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The place of master theses in music performance education in Sweden: subjects, purposes, justifications","authors":"Nadia Moberg","doi":"10.1080/14613808.2023.2167966","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2023.2167966","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT While writing is undeniably an essential part of higher education, in music education, musical performance skills form the core of assessing students’ results. However, higher music education is experiencing growing demands on research activities parallel to heightened requirements on music performance students’ abilities to formulate themselves around their main field of study. This paper turns to theses as discursive acts embedded in higher music education. The present study investigates how master theses construct educational ideals by analysing written components of successfully completed theses within music performance programmes in Sweden. The paper shows that the theses treat a variety of subjects which are justified from five different perspectives: Improve, Succeed, Share, Acclaim or to Discover. Two diametrically opposed kinds of purpose statements are revealed; they appear as either impersonal and distanced or intimate and personal. Influences of traditional academic writing manifest themselves while conservatory ideals around craft, individualism and hierarchies are reproduced. It is argued that the self-exploratory approach – which is a characteristic feature on an overall level – excludes collective knowledge building as well as social perspectives on art and music.","PeriodicalId":46798,"journal":{"name":"Music Education Research","volume":"25 1","pages":"24 - 35"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43578722","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Proposing an assessment framework for Cantonese operatic singing after reviewing the current practices in Hong Kong and Guangdong, China","authors":"Yue-feng Luo, B. Leung","doi":"10.1080/14613808.2022.2156490","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2022.2156490","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT For decades, the transmission of Cantonese opera in Hong Kong and China has faced considerable challenges, including a lack of valid assessment. This study aims to propose a holistic theoretical framework for the assessment of Cantonese operatic singing after 1) analysing two graded examinations of Peking opera and Cantonese opera and 2) interviewing ten Cantonese opera experts and their students from Guangdong and Hong Kong. Findings reveal that the designs of the existing graded examinations in xiqu are still developing; multiple problems exist in the daily assessment practices including: 1) dependence on subjective perception, 2) a focus on the assessment of performance skills and a lack of multidimensionality, and 3) an inclination to momentary judgment and a lack of sustainability in assessing and documenting students’ progress. Suggestions include introducing criterion- and standard-based assessments and increasing cooperation between artists and education experts, which may further promote the inheritance, popularity, and development of this traditional art form.","PeriodicalId":46798,"journal":{"name":"Music Education Research","volume":"25 1","pages":"102 - 117"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2022-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44884405","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sound teaching: a research-informed approach to inspiring confidence, skill, and enjoyment in music performance","authors":"R. Powell","doi":"10.1080/14613808.2022.2146355","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2022.2146355","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46798,"journal":{"name":"Music Education Research","volume":"25 1","pages":"118 - 120"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2022-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44142621","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Becoming a ‘Trans Synth Queen’: YouTube, electronic music composition, and coming out","authors":"Christopher Cayari","doi":"10.1080/14613808.2022.2143489","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2022.2143489","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Educators can develop musical learning experiences that help trans students explore, develop, and celebrate their genders and identities through music. This case study explored how a well-established YouTube musician, Amie Waters, used social media platforms and her music to express herself as she came out as a trans non-binary femme person to her audiences online. Amie found trans resources and role models on online platforms, which helped her develop her identity as a non-binary person. Through observation of Amie’s YouTube videos and the comments left on her channel, conducting semi-structured interviews, and analyzing digital artifacts such as text blogs and screen captures, I found that she used online media, particularly YouTube, to present her self-image while interacting parasocially with others who provided her with emotional, creative, and financial support. Amie’s online content creation helped her understand her gender and emotions through music and text. This study might help musicians who are transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary as well as their teachers to see how social media and online content creation can lead to developing a support system as they express their genders and emotions through music.","PeriodicalId":46798,"journal":{"name":"Music Education Research","volume":"25 1","pages":"60 - 73"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2022-11-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47397218","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Thomas Breeze, G. Beauchamp, N. Bolton, Alex McInch
{"title":"Secondary music teachers: a case study at a time of education reform in Wales","authors":"Thomas Breeze, G. Beauchamp, N. Bolton, Alex McInch","doi":"10.1080/14613808.2022.2128320","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2022.2128320","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Current international trends in curriculum design tend to advocate an approach which defines broad ‘competences’ rather than disciplinary content or skills, encouraging the making of connections between subject disciplines. This article discusses the results of a survey of 75 secondary music teachers in Wales, a nation which is in the early stages of implementing a new curriculum framework. The survey sought to form an impression of the musical backgrounds and training of the teachers, their pedagogic beliefs about classroom music, and their attitudes towards the values embodied in their new national curriculum. The responses from music teachers suggested that the majority had been musically educated in the Western ‘classical’ tradition at university, but their beliefs about teaching music in the classroom indicated that they had moved beyond the conception of the subject embodied in their own higher education, to a more holistic, practical conception in which pupils learn by doing. While a significant body of literature suggests the existence of a gap between the musical values of classroom music teachers and those of their pupils, the teachers surveyed for this research indicated that they tend to prioritise the development of transferable creativity skills over the production of excellent musicians. .","PeriodicalId":46798,"journal":{"name":"Music Education Research","volume":"25 1","pages":"49 - 59"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43971150","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}