Music, Informal Learning and the School: A New Classroom Pedagogy (Ashgate Popular and Folk Music)

This pioneering book reveals how the music classroom can draw upon the world of popular musicians' informal learning practices, so as to recognise and foster a range of musical skills and knowledge that have long been overlooked within music education. It investigates how far informal learning practices are possible and desirable in a classroom context; how they can affect young teenagers' musical skill and knowledge acquisition; and how they can change the ways students listen to, understand and appreciate music as critical listeners, not only in relation to what they already know, but beyond.It examines students' motivations towards music education, their autonomy as learners, and their capacity to work co-operatively in groups without instructional guidance from teachers. It suggests how we can awaken students' awareness of their own musicality, particularly those who might not otherwise be reached by music education, putting the potential for musical development and participation into their own hands.Bringing informal learning practices into a school environment is challenging for teachers. It can appear to conflict with their views of professionalism, and may at times seem to run against official educational discourses, pedagogic methods and curricular requirements. But any conflict is more apparent than real, for this book shows how informal learning practices can introduce fresh, constructive ways for music teachers to understand and approach their work. It offers a critical pedagogy for music, not as mere theory, but as an analytical account of practices which have fundamentally influenced the perspectives of the teachers involved.Through its grounded examples and discussions of alternative approaches to classroom work and classroom relations, the book reaches out beyond music to other curriculum subjects, and wider debates about pedagogy and curriculum. Contents General Editor’s preface Acknowledgements 1 Introduction The aims and rationale of this book Background research: how popular musicians learn The underlying principles of the project The project in historical perspective Research methods The beginning, and the ends, of the project 2 The Project’s Pedagogy and Curriculum Content Stages 1–7: overall pedagogy and content Teachers’ initial responses and the apparent conflict with official approaches The role of the teacher: an overview The start of Stage 1: chaos, its aftermath and the questions it raised 3 Making Music Social distinction and the emergence of ‘natural music learning practices’ Listening, choosing and beginning to copy: an example from the first lesson Listening and choosing the song Singing A note on the availability of instruments in the classrooms Playing untuned percussion Finding pitches on instruments Progression: getting worse before you get better The authority of the CD as distinct from the authority of the teacher ‘Flow’ and ‘play’ ‘Feel’ and ‘musicking’ A note on musical composition, improvisation and creativity What counts as learning in music-making? Pupils’ and teachers’ views of thelearning outcomes 4 Listening and Appreciation Pupils’ musical vocabulary Pupils’ aural approaches to the task: purposive listening The further development of pupils’ listening capacities Listening beyond the project Music appreciation The progression of listening and appreciation through Stages 1–5 Music appreciation and the development of ‘critical musicality’ Teachers’ views on listening Listening, musical meaning and experience in the classroom 5 Enjoyment: Making Music and having Autonomy Bobby’s group: ‘’cause it was boring’ Enjoyment, ‘fun’ and the ‘normal’ curriculum: learner autonomy and curriculum choice Learner autonomy and pedagogy Stage 2 and on Enjoyment, motivation and application: teachers’ expectations and views 6 Group co-operation, ability and inclusion Group learning and peer-directed learning in the music classroom Group co-operation, group learning and peer-directed learning as learning outcomes Ability, achievement and differentiation Disaffected pupils 7 Informal Learning with Classical Music The rationale, pedagogy and curriculum content of Stages 6 and 7 Pupils’ views of classical music Observations and interviews in Stages 6 and 7 Did pupils’ views of classical music change? The ‘normal curriculum’, classical music and ‘other’ music Teachers’ views of the classical stages Why did pupils’ views of classical music change? 8 Afterword Appendix A: Information about schools Appendix B: The project stages in brief Bibliography Index This pioneering book reveals how the music classroom can draw upon the world of popular musicians' informal learning practices, so as to recognize and foster a range of musical skills and knowledge that have long been overlooked within music education. It investigates how far informal learning practices are possible and desirable in a classroom context; how they can affect young teenagers' musical skill and knowledge acquisition; and how they can change the ways students listen to, understand and appreciate music as critical listeners, not only in relation to what they already know, but beyond. It examines students' motivations towards music education, their autonomy as learners, and their capacity to work co-operatively in groups without instructional guidance from teachers. It suggests how we can awaken students' awareness of their own musicality, particularly those who might not otherwise be reached by music education, putting the potential for musical development and participation into their own hands. Bringing informal learning practices into a school environment is challenging for teachers. It can appear to conflict with their views of professionalism, and may at times seem to run against official educational discourses, pedagogic methods and curricular requirements. But any conflict is more apparent than real, for this book shows how informal learning practices can introduce fresh, constructive ways for music teachers to understand and approach their work. It offers a critical pedagogy for music, not as mere theory, but as an analytical account of practices which have fundamentally influenced the perspectives of the teachers involved. Though its grounded examples and discussions of alternative approaches to classroom work and classroom relations, the book reaches out beyond music to other curriculum subjects, and wider debates about pedagogy and curriculum. -- from back cover Reveals how the music classroom can draw upon the world of popular musicians' informal learning practices, so as to recognize and foster a range of musical skills and knowledge that have long been overlooked within music education. This book investigates how far informal learning practices are possible and desirable in a classroom context.