Estrategia de Comunicación integradas al Marketing

Having considered literature regarding the musical lives of adolescents, it is now important to review research pertaining to the secondary school music-learning culture. I first review literature that details how the enculturation process of music teachers through school-music educator training programs affects their professional activities. I then examine literature concerning adolescents’ experiences within the school music-learning culture, including performance ensembles and music learning activities. Part II concludes with an examination of how adolescents’ learning and developmental growth outside of school relates to their music learning in school.

The Effects of Music Teacher Enculturation

Ideally, music teacher training should be a fluid process tailored to the individual and his or her needs. In speaking about the label of music teacher, Desmond (1998) argues:

It is the second, basic half of the word which is modified by the first half. Therefore, we are not primarily dealing with the musician but with the teacher whose place of work is the school and not the concert hall. Everything else should follow logically and organically from this premise….However, the musical artistic training in both cases should reach a level which allows the students to experience the quality and intensity of artistic feeling. (p. 19)

Traditionally, music schools in higher education do not foster this sort of ‘logical and organic’ model of music teacher education. Rather, music teachers are enculturated through music schools that promote and maintain teacher preparation models that emphasize musical performance skills over teaching skills (see p. 5 in Chapter 1). This

process not only influences the types of music teachers entering schools, but also how they negotiate their professional careers.

After ten years of collecting more than 169 interviews with Swedish music

education students before and during their teaching careers, Bouij (1998) posits that there are four distinct professional musician identities that result from undergraduate music teacher training (see Figure 1).

Broad Musical Comprehensiveness

A: All-round musician B: Pupil- centered teacher C: Performer D: Content- centered teacher

Narrow Musical Comprehensiveness

Figure 1. Bouij’s (1998) Musician Role-Identities

The horizontal axis represents the professional role that the individual aims to assume, while the vertical axis describes the individual’s concept of musical knowledge or level of musical competence. The all-round musician wants to know a little bit about everything in music and would be considered a well-rounded educated person in music. The pupil-centered teacher is process oriented and wants to develop students through music. The performer wants to work as a musician and the content-centered teacher

models good musicianship, teaches at a high artistic level, and teaches to the music (i.e., ensemble director).

Bouij (1998) found that most pupil-centered teachers work as elementary school teachers, while content-centered teachers are attracted to positions with high school performing ensembles. To this end, Bouij posits that content-centered teachers are often not satisfied with their musical experiences in teaching because of the time and effort it takes to develop the skills of their students. Thus, they may become frustrated when their roles as teachers (pupil-centered) cannot fulfill their performance (content-centered) aspirations.

Bouij (1998) contends that during music teacher training, students have multiple identities and struggle to gain recognition for all of them. Unfortunately, due to limited time, energy, and resources, music students resort to developing only one identity. This conflict disables undergraduates from constructing a professional identity for themselves and forces them to model what is available and delineated by university faculty positions. Aspiring secondary music educators thus look to the roles and identities largely

determined by the performance faculty of the university or the available jobs found in middle and high schools, which are usually director positions of large ensembles such as bands, orchestras, and choirs (Woodford, 2002). These educators then pass down their expectations and norms to their students, which in turn, begins the cycle again. Thus, the enculturation process of secondary music teachers creates and maintains a perpetual cycle or ‘closed loop’ that is self-serving and disconnected from the ways in which many people learn and experience music in society.

The enculturation process of music teachers may also have an impact on their professional careers and aspirations (Hoffer, 1982). In her study of six elementary general music teachers, Bernard (2004) found that music teachers are often satisfied with

pursuing performing and teaching roles at the same time. By examining themes that emerged from interviews, Bernard was able to categorize three types of ‘role tension.’ One pair of teachers managed this tension as two separate roles. The ‘making music’ role worked to establish an emotional connection to music and people. Conversely, the ‘music teacher’ role was reserved for conveying the basic facts, information, and procedures needed to perform music. Thus, these teachers assumed a dichotomous relationship between their personal musical lives and the school music-learning culture. A second pair of music teachers took a single approach to the two different activities. These teachers approached both making and teaching music as valid ways of knowing music and ways of communicating that knowledge to others in the community. The final pair of teachers believed in transferring their experiences of music making to their students. They described their musical experiences to their students in hopes that the students would have similar experiences in the future. Hence, these teachers’ musical experiences outside of school informed their practices within school.

Clinton (1997) also supports the idea that many teachers find reconciliation by performing and teaching. Clinton found that many fine arts teachers in Oklahoma enjoyed their full time teacher role and were satisfied with part-time performing roles. Moreover, they felt that the skills and knowledge from both performance and pedagogical domains complemented each other in their professional lives. After cross-examining the various fine arts disciplines (music, visual art, and drama), Clinton found that music

teachers more strongly identified with a singular educator role, while visual art and drama teachers perceived themselves as artists and educators concurrently. Considering the heavy performance emphasis music teachers experience during their undergraduate tutelage, these findings appear to contradict the Bernard’s (2004) research.

Adolescents’ Experiences within school music-learning culture

Performance ensembles. The choices teachers make, and the opportunities they afford their students, may have a direct impact on student achievement (Corenblum & Marshall, 1998). Hamann, Mills, Bell, Daugherty, and Koozer (1990) investigated how student and teacher perceptions of high school music classroom environments related to student achievement (as measured by state-sponsored contest performance ratings). High achieving groups were positively correlated with perceptions of classrooms exhibiting high levels of teacher support, order and organization, rule clarity, involvement, and affiliation. Low achieving groups reported high levels of task orientation, teacher control, competition, and innovation. While ‘innovation’ in the classroom may be an admirable goal for music teachers, it does not resonate with the traditional performance culture advanced by most high school ensemble directors. Innovative practices may detract attention from contest preparation and thus may lower performance ratings. These findings urged Hamann et al. to posit that high achieving music classrooms fostered a student-centered approach; however, this claim is quite a leap from simple correlations between five attitudinal criteria and performance ratings. It appears that Hamann et al. based their conclusions on positive classroom environments rather than actual ‘student- centered’ pedagogical approaches. Regardless, the authors promote that adolescents want

caring teachers, freedom and inclusion in the decision making process in music classes, and the possibility to develop friendships through music making at school.

Hylton (1981) sought to examine the meaning Pennsylvania high school students ascribed to school choral experiences. An open-ended pre-pilot study asked students to generate statements that described how and why the choral experience was meaningful to them. These statements were then grouped into four broad categories: psychological, communicative, integrative, and musical-artistic. A subsequent pilot study yielded a need to include two more categories: spiritualistic and achievement. These six categories were used to develop a Choral Meaning Survey (Hylton, 1981) which was administered to 673 choral students in 14 ensembles.

Students reported they gained a sense of achievement through noncompetitive opportunities in choir. Hylton (1981) argued that this sense of achievement may contribute to increased levels of self-esteem and well-being. Students also reported a strong religious dimension to their choral experience. Singing in the choir allowed some students to express their faith or acknowledge the “gifts God gave [them]” (Hylton, 1981, p. 297). A more attuned awareness of musical phenomena and the development of

musical skill were also reported as important dimensions of the choral experience. Other findings urged Hylton (1981) to claim that students view music as “a vehicle for

nonverbal communication and that this [communication] is a potent, valuable, and meaningful aspect of high school choral singing experience” (p. 298).

Students in Hylton’s (1981) study also reported many psychological aspects of the choral experience which contributed to their development of self, increased their personal satisfaction, and helped them identify their strengths and limitations. Finally, many

students commented on the integrative, or social, factors of singing with a group. In fact, Hylton argued that there was a strong relationship between being a part of a group and a sense of accomplishment. “For some students a meaningful aspect of their high school choral singing is expressed in terms of the integrative dimension that emphasizes their relationships with others members of the group and resultant feelings of belonging” (Hylton, 1981, p. 301). As Arasi (2007) reported, these extra-musical benefits of the choral experience may have a more lasting effect on the lives of participants than musical ones.

Although Hylton’s (1981) research could be considered survey research, an important aspect of this study was that the responses used for the questionnaire were generated by adolescents, not adults. Few quantitative studies have addressed musical phenomena using adolescents’ descriptions. However, Hylton only examined the meaning of the musical experience among students enrolled in a school choir and not other music programs or classes.

Adderley, Kennedy, and Berz (2003) interviewed 60 tenth through twelfth grade students enrolled in music ensembles at an upper-middle class suburban high school. They examined students’ motivations to join music ensembles, their perceptions of the ensemble, the meaning and value music engendered for participants, and the social climate of the music classroom. Participants reported that joining an ensemble was influenced by parents and older siblings, liking of the subject, the balance it provided in the school curriculum, and social benefits. Perceptions of the musical groups reflected a sense of personal pride and a view of innate talent. Students also viewed participating in music ensembles as a way of connecting to the larger school community.

At the same time, students viewed ensemble membership as a way to differentiate themselves from the larger school community by belonging to a unique and separate program. These students generally agreed that their hard work was underappreciated, especially when compared to athletes. Most importantly, students’ perceptions of identity changed significantly as they passed from middle school to high school. Participants reported that musical ensemble involvement during middle school was considered dorky whereas involvement in high school lacked such peer judgment and even bolstered support from peers. Many students took pride in belonging to a performing ensemble and felt they were even admired by other students in their school.

Student participants also reported psychological benefits of music, including increased self-confidence, self-knowledge, emotional outlets, and providing a supportive, relaxing, and fun atmosphere in which to learn. Social benefits, such as developing and nurturing friendships, were also mentioned. Some students even saw the ensembles as ‘homes away from home,’ while others saw them as any other class with a heavier emphasis on group-oriented work (Adderley et al., 2003).

The impact of school music-learning culture on the attitudes of adolescents toward school music may also extend beyond the traditional music classroom. In their three-year mixed-method evaluation of a partnership between schools and a local music center in the United Kingdom, Swanwick and Lawson (1999) found that students’ attitudes toward school music declined with increasing age regardless of their

participation (or lack thereof) in the partnership. However, students’ retained positive attitudes about music outside of school (i.e., with friends or at home). Swanwick and Lawson’s analysis revealed gains in students’ social maturity, valuing of music, a

positive regard for music and musicians from a wide range of styles, and musical skill development.

Swanwick and Lawson (1999) posit that a lack of ‘authenticity’ in school music may explain why adolescents have negative views of music classes. Training music teachers to be specialists in the enormous variety of music styles and genres currently available is virtually impossible; therefore, music teachers are trained to be generalists. This generalist approach may be turning adolescents off to music in school. However, Swanwick and Lawson (1999) advocate that local partnerships with music institutions outside of school may provide “a richness of resources beyond the school gates if we know how to find and utilise it” (p. 59). This research implies that music teacher preparation and current music class offerings in secondary schools may need to be critically examined in terms of both structure and function.

Music learning activities. Exercising student choice in the music classroom may foster students’ appeal and positive ratings of music as a subject (Green, 2008). This may be as simple as allowing students to select their performance repertoire. Renwick and McPherson (2002) found that adolescents may engage in higher level practicing strategies such as silent fingering, practicing for longer time periods, and persevering through difficulties when practicing self-selected repertoire. Similarly, Mercurio (2005) found that self-selected reading programs that are relevant to young people’s lives have the most impact on their reading skill development (see also Cook, 2005).

Increased appeal for learning music in school may also be related to the types of learning activities in which students engage during music class (Thompson, 1991). Rutkowski (1994) reviewed many studies that found students preferred active activities

(e.g., playing an instrument) rather than passive ones (e.g., completing worksheets on composers). Rutkowski also found that students enjoyed activities in which they were able to make decisions and exercise control. Specifically, students enjoyed classroom activities that included small group or individual composition and creative projects second only to playing an instrument. Rutkowski argued that these types of activities fostered students’ means of expression and afforded them opportunities to make their own musical judgments.

Research by Lamont, Hargreaves, Marshall, and Tarrant (2003) supports Rutkowski’s (1994) assertions and provides additional clarity on the topic of music learning activities. Lamont et al. grouped student participants into three categories according to their musical engagement and interests. ‘Training’ students were those students who were receiving musical training outside of class; ‘aspiring’ students were not receiving training, but expressed an interest in doing so; and ‘non-aspiring’ students were not receiving musical training and did not express interest in doing so. The

researchers found that students with an interest in music (i.e., training and aspiring groups) enjoyed active musical activities such as playing an instrument or composing, whereas non-aspiring students enjoyed listening activities despite not showing an interest in pursuing instrumental training. Regardless, all students consistently liked learning abstract facts about music the least (i.e., music theory and history lessons). Similar findings were reported by Boal-Palheiros and Hargreaves (2001), Davis (2005), and Finney (2003).

While this research suggests that adolescents desire active and creative learning opportunities in which they can exercise choice and autonomy, music programs in

secondary schools do not traditionally foster these types of learning opportunities (Seidenberg, 1986). Rather, music classes in secondary schools typically emphasize performance, replication, and conformity over creation and independence (Wilson, 2003). Campbell et al. (2007) reported that adolescents’ negative comments about music in the curriculum primarily concerned the lack of opportunities to study rock and popular music and instruments as well as the multiple aspects of the music profession (e.g., music business). Some respondents suggested offering opportunities to form small ensembles where students would learn more relevant music in informal ways. Students also expressed an interest in learning about song writing and composition. A few students complained of boring classes or music that was not challenging or relevant.

Unfortunately, little is known about how incorporating these practices may influence secondary music classrooms in the United States. However, relevant work in this area is being conducted by Lucy Green in the United Kingdom.

Based on her previous research with popular musicians (Green, 2002), Green’s (2008) study introduced five principles of informal learning into British secondary music classrooms. These principles include: (1) informal learning starts with learner-selected music, (2) skills are developed by copying recordings by ear, (3) informal learning occurs alone and through peer-directed, self-directed, and group learning, (4) skills and

knowledge are acquired through trial-and-error and holistic ways, and (5) informal learning integrates listening, performing, improvising, and composing. After being immersed in this project, Green found that adolescents who played together for extended periods of time, often experienced ‘flow’ (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990), engaged in enjoyable music making and learning, and played with appropriate ‘feel.’ Although somewhat

controversial to the formal learning practices emphasized in most music classrooms, Green (2008) maintains that the principles resonate with the authentic practices of

professional musicians and were “developed by learners, through learning, rather than by teachers through teaching” (p. 22).

Through Green’s (2008) work, one can see the potential polarity and/or disparity between the musical lives of adolescents and school music-learning culture. This is not only evident in terms of content (i.e., bringing popular music into the school), but also in the nature of learning itself (i.e., ‘learning’ as opposed to ‘teaching’). Green

acknowledges this disparity and in no way advocates that music educators should abandon all of their existing practices and traditions. Rather, Green contends that including informal learning principles in schools may connect the musical worlds of young people to school music, making learning relevant, deep, and enjoyable. Adolescents’ Learning and Developmental Growth Outside of School

Schools may not be able to provide all of the developmental learning needs of adolescents (Vadeboncoeur, 2006). According to Heath and Roach (1999) an institutional gap exists between what traditional institutions (e.g., schools or churches) can offer and what youth between the ages of eight and eighteen need. Therefore, some adolescents may use alternative places to supplement their education and development. This gap is often filled by community-based organizations (CBOs). Fine, Weis, Centrie, and Roberts (2000) describe CBOs as “not just a set of geographical/spatial arrangements but, rather, theoretical, analytical, and spatial displacements – a crack, a fissure, a fleeting or

the borders of traditional schools and similar institutions and are places where adolescents thrive.

Community-based organizations may contribute to adolescent development by providing young people multiple opportunities for expression, allowing youth and adults to interact in constructive and meaningful ways, and building young people’s self-esteem