Description
Musical activity as a vehicle for learning in the classroom has long been considered as essential (Paynter, 1982; Swanwick, 1994). In England, such musical experiences are, in part, determined by the bounds of curriculum programmes designed by music teachers. The dynamics of curriculum design processes and how these are realised in musical engagements by young people are often concealed and represent a set of unspoken practices.Activity theory (Engestrom, 2009) facilitates a research methodology for bringing unacknowledged influences and motivations to light and in this paper these will be applied to the social environment of the music classroom. In this way, the motivators that lie behind music as doing – music as activity – will be explored and the rationales for curriculum decision-making discussed. Such an approach reveals how curriculum doing (activity) and curriculum thinking (designing) are intimately connected. Ultimately a variety of activity theory models of music curriculum arising from the research will be presented. These have implications for music-making in schools and this research thereby has relevance across Europe and not only in an English context.
This research project is based on an analysis of curriculum programmes in 12 schools in England, supported by semi-structured interviews and observations. In addition, an on-line survey of 64 music teachers provided further contextual data. Interpretation of research findings indicate that classroom experiences of music are impacted not only by the musical experiences themselves, but by teacher conceptualisation of their nature at the planning stage. This critical, but often unrealised dynamic, its impacts and thematic implications will be developed in this paper presentation.
| Period | 21 Mar 2021 → 27 Mar 2021 |
|---|---|
| Event title | European Association for Music in Schools (EAS) Conference 2021 |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Freiburg, GermanyShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |