I feel uncomfortable about leaving students unsupervised, what should I do?
The informal learning model is not about ‘unsupervised’ learning – you should have a strong presence in the groups on a regular basis. A good teacher in this situation will regularly go into the spaces in which the students are working for short periods of time meaning that the students are aware of the teacher’s presence, yet they still feel able to work independently and be trusted. It can help to have an extra pair of hands in this situation, but many teachers do this approach successfully on their own.
At what point should I intervene and help the students?
Unfortunately there is no straightforward answer to this! The point at which intervention happens (i.e. whether this is five minutes into the first lesson or halfway through the third lesson) will depend entirely on your students’ needs. It has to depend on your judgment as a teacher.
Sometimes teachers can ‘stand back’ for too long, where some students could have used help and support earlier, whereas sometimes teachers can intervene too early, taking some of the ownership of the learning away from their students.
The key is to consult with the students about what help they need and when they need it, and to offer/model help/guidance in such a way that when you leave the room you have enabled the students to take on board what you have just modelled for them, at their own level.
Avoid a situation where you stand over the student until they ‘get it right’.
As a teacher I like to be in control all the time – how will I cope with this?
It can be difficult for teachers to stand back and let the students take control of their learning. However, you are not ‘out of control’ or redundant in any way in the informal learning model. You are critical in establishing the right environment for this to succeed – for example one where students can work independently but within a classroom situation that does still retain control. Some teachers find that
spending time standing back and observing students, especially if this is something that they don’t normally do, can be quite liberating and has enabled them to learn something new about their students.
SECTION 3: INFORMAL LEARNING
ON STUDENTS
What if students group themselves into a large group?
Students sometimes want to work in a group of eight or nine. If possible, allow students to do this as large groups can sometimes be productive. However, it is likely that students will soon realise that working in a group of that size can become unmanageable, and they will decide to split up into two smaller groups themselves. Also, you may find that in larger groups it is more likely that there will be a student who doesn’t have a part, or an instrument, and finds it difficult to establish their role in the group (especially if other, more confident students dominate in a group situation). If this happens, consider offering help and support for what that student could do, or encourage them to double drum parts, keyboard parts, etc.
What if a student refuses to play an instrument or sing?
Some individual students tend to spend time sitting and watching, especially during the first few lessons. Learning by listening and watching peers is an important informal learning practice and forms part of one of the five key principles on which the informal learning model is based. Usually in this situation, after a few lessons of assessing what their role is, students will start to pick up an instrument,
vocal part, etc, or one of their peers will encourage them to do so.
Alternatively, some students take on a ‘non-performing’ role – for example the task of organising and leading the group, balancing sound levels, offering advice for refining performances to the rest of their group, etc – which are all perfectly valid and acceptable skills and tasks.
I have a student who doesn’t have a friendship group, what should I do?
Although this is fairly rare, some students find it difficult to integrate into a friendship group, or are not initially accepted into a group by their peers. Consider dealing with this in a number of ways:
q See if the student is happy to initially work on their own on their favourite song, and allow them to work individually
q After a number of lessons, ask a member of one of the groups if they would consider accepting the student into their group, and giving them a part to play. Ask the student to try to make it work, and to integrate the student into their group, but assure them that if it doesn’t work you will work with them to find an alternative q Ask the student if they would assist you with recording work in
progress. Show them how to use audio recording equipment and set them the task of recording their peers’ work
q Alternatively, ask the student to prepare reviews of what other students are doing, and to blog about this on NUMU (www.numu.org.uk) What about students with poor behaviour?
It is essential that you establish clear ground rules concerning behaviour at the beginning of the process, to ensure that an atmosphere of trust is established. If students break these rules and persistently misbehave then you must intervene and consider not
SECTION 3: INFORMAL LEARNING
allowing them to do practical work. Usually the threat of stopping practical work is enough to encourage them to improve their behaviour. There have been a few instances where teachers have had to stop students from working on the practical activity due to inappropriate behaviour, but this is a tiny minority compared to what teachers would normally expect. Few detentions are handed out, and few students have to be disciplined.
How does this meet the needs of gifted and talented students?
In this way of learning students set their own challenges and
objectives, therefore gifted and talented students challenge themselves accordingly. They certainly don’t feel that this way of working is in anyway inferior to what they would have experienced in ‘normal’
music lessons. Additionally this is a different way of working for many students – working independently and by ear – which in itself can be a new challenge. Consider using students who are particularly talented to help coach others, enabling these students to develop leadership and peer coaching skills. See the section on Gifted and Talented students on page 24, for strategies for challenging these students.
How does this meet the Special Educational Needs of some students?
Students with poor behaviour, lower ability or special educational needs aren’t necessarily weak musically, and in these environments those students can often excel where they aren’t always able to in the rest of the school, or where they may not have excelled in previous music lessons. However for some students the focus on informal, independent learning can prove to be a challenge, and based on this you need to assess additional levels of support these students may require, and whether you need to adapt the approach in any way.
STRUCTURE
Wouldn’t it be better to start with Modelling Aural Learning, which seems more structured?
In some cases, Modelling Aural Learning (page 149) appeals more to teachers as a starting point, as it provides more structured guidance.
However, part of the reasoning behind In at the Deep End (page 144) is that it encourages students to experiment, and to explore music and learning in their own way. While Modelling Aural Learning follows the principles of informal learning by aural copying and group work, it provides much more structured guidance, and if this is the first approach to the informal learning model for students, it may seem much more like a ‘normal lesson’, and contain less appeal. In at the Deep End is designed to motivate, inspire and enthuse students about music learning, but also to enable them to discover for themselves what they need to do in order to progress in their music learning.
Modelling Aural Learning then provides a much more structured approach to help develop specific musical skills. Also, having done In at the Deep End first, students have a better understanding of what skills they are developing in Modelling Aural Learning, and their motivation therefore tends to remain high.
FURTHER READING
Musical Futures and Special Educational Needs is available for download from www.musicalfutures.org.uk/c/
reports+and+articles and provides some advice and guidance based on work carried out during the pilot years in three SEN schools. Also see the section on Special Educational Needs students on page 25.
SECTION 3: INFORMAL LEARNING What about learning musical terminology?
Terminology is introduced throughout the informal learning model, but it is integrated with the practical activity. For example students won’t spend a lesson learning about the term ‘ostinato’, rather they will be learning ostinatos/riffs in their music making, and teachers are then able to articulate this to them during the course of their lessons.
What about notation?
Notation is used in different forms throughout the informal learning model. However it is rarely a starting point – the music comes first, and notation is usually introduced as a means of helping students remember and record what they have done. Students may also wish to download notation, guitar tab, chord sheets etc from the Internet, which is completely within the spirit of this approach.