Enhancing learning and teaching in the tertiary music studio through reflection and collaboration

ABSTRACT

This paper reports on a multi-institutional project using reflection and collaboration to enable one-to-one music teachers to improve their professional skills and foster deep learning in music students. The benefits of reflection and collaboration in student learning and teacher development are reported on in depth within higher education. Less researched is their relevance to the one-to-one tertiary music context. This project comprised several initiatives around professional development activities for teachers and reflective exercises for students. The outcomes indicate the potential for the transformative approaches of reflection and collaboration to improve student learning outcomes in one-to-one tertiary music settings. This would appear to be dependent on two factors: students receiving support and guidance to reflect in such a way that enhances their learning outcomes; and teachers receiving support and guidance on how to foster students’ reflective capabilities. One recommendation from the study is that greater professional development opportunities in these areas are made available to one-to-one music teachers.

KEYWORDS:

• Transformative learning
• reflective practice
• student engagement
• studio music teaching
• higher music education
• tertiary music education

Acknowledgements

With thanks to the team members and partner institutions involved in the project and to the staff and students who participated in the research. Thank you to the Office for Learning and Teaching and to the host institution for funding.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Professor Gemma Carey is Deputy Director (Learning and Teaching) and Head of Pedagogy at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University. Gemma's expertise and research interests are in the area of Performance Pedagogy, Curriculum and Learning and Teaching. She has presented and published papers in the field of instrumental pedagogy both nationally and internationally. Recent publications include ‘Enacting transformative pedagogy in the music studio: A case study of responsive, relational teaching.’ (Carey and Grant 2016). Gemma is a National Grant recipient and was awarded an Australian National Award for Teaching Excellence in 2016.

Dr Leah Coutts is a Senior Research Assistant and Tutor at Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, and a Piano Teacher at Open Conservatorium. Her practitioner-based research focuses on adopting transformative pedagogical approaches in one-to-one piano lessons with adult novices. Her research interests include reflective practice, student and teacher engagement with learning and teaching and their practical application within both community and tertiary music teaching and learning contexts.

Dr Catherine Grant is Senior Lecturer in Music Literature and Research at Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University. Her research interests are tertiary music teaching and learning, music and cultural sustainability, and music and social justice. She is author of Music Endangerment: How Language Maintenance Can Help (OUP, 2014).

Professor Scott Harrison is Director of Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University. Scott is recipient of a 2010 Australian Award for Teaching Excellence in Humanities and Creative Arts, and in 2012-2013 was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship to investigate innovative strategies for supervision and research education in music.

Dr Rachael Dwyer is a scholar of music learning and teaching, having held positions at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, The University of Queensland and University of the Sunshine Coast. She is the author of Music Teachers’ Values and Beliefs (Routledge, 2016) and editor of Narrative Research in Practice (Springer, 2016). Rachael's other research interests include teacher education, arts education and advocacy, and narrative inquiry.

Notes

1 Readers are invited to access professional development programmes, example activities and relating to the initiatives reported on in this paper by visiting the project website: [removed for peer review]. This website also contains resources for students, teachers and institutions that may be of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching [grant number ID14-3815]. The views in this project do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching.