Abstract
In the current study, 11 expert music teachers were asked to reflect on their own practice and compare their experience of individual and collective teaching settings. Adopting an approach based on grounded theory, two interrelated themes were identified in the raw data: teaching issues and professional development. In both categories, the notion of ‘presence’ emerged as a defining feature of the comparison. Teachers reported to be less present in collective settings, whereas one would expect that the higher (cognitive, teaching, etc.) demands associated with more learners would result in teachers being instead more involved in the unfolding dynamics of the lesson. Inspired by the conceptual tools offered by the Extended Mind (ExM) approach, we suggest that in collective settings teachers feel less present because they can offload the cognitive role of ‘teacher’ onto the learners, giving rise to a hybrid extended system that fosters a shared sense of responsibility, where pedagogical dynamics are functionally distributed across the whole group. In reporting excepts from music teachers, and adopting a novel perspective to frame our discussion, our research may contribute to existing literature in (collective) music pedagogy.
Highlights
The excerpts we report on here are necessarily specific to the limited sample of teachers who participated in our study, we consider how a theoretical framework based in the Extended Mind (ExM) hypothesis associated with contemporary cognitive science (Menary, 2010; Wheeler, 2011) might help us contextualize many of the key points that emerge from our data
We should note here that we conceive of ‘presence’ as a fluid notion – one continuous with the set of strategies that teachers might develop to modulate the unfolding dynamics of the classroom. This can involve their active participation in musicking with the students, the amount of suggestions and comments proposed, as well as the optimization of the right balance between flexible and rigid norms negotiated within the learning environment. This leads to important questions when reflecting on pedagogical practice: are these aspects always coherently implemented in both collective and individual pedagogical settings? And what kind of theoretical model can best capture the shifting relational domains stemming from the diverse ways educators inhabit their classes? We suggest that the theoretical framework of the Extended Mind (ExM) thesis can offer valuable resources to explore these pedagogical dynamics and address similar questions
The current qualitative study was originally designed to compare individual and collective music teaching with particular attention to the issues and challenges music teachers face when preparing and taking part in a collective music class
Summary
The objectives pursued during teaching are included. As a teacher rightly points out, the matter cannot be approached too – many variables and outcomes may influence a given objective: T8: ‘it largely depends upon the level of ability of the student. A balance of technique and understanding of the larger form and processes. Oscillating back and forth between the smaller and larger considerations.’. The focus on the individual may be beneficial in pursuing objectives associated with the development of traditional musical skills. One teacher reports a few examples of what a student might ask from the teacher in the context of individual tuition: T5: ‘how to make a piece sound more baroque? Does it fit a certain style of jazz? How to emulate certain styles, how to better tell a story while performing.’ One teacher reports a few examples of what a student might ask from the teacher in the context of individual tuition: T5: ‘how to make a piece sound more baroque? Does it fit a certain style of jazz? How to improvise, how to emulate certain styles, how to better tell a story while performing.’
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