A mixed-methods approach to studying co-regulation of student autonomy through teacher–student interactions in music lessons

Abstract

Interactions that occur between teacher and student during instrumental music lessons are complex and multifaceted and embrace a full range of promotive and demotive factors that not only underpin effective learning, but also have an impact on whether children will persist with their learning long-term (McPherson, Davidson, & Faulkner, 2012). Such interactions also provide the context in which students gain a sense of personal control and autonomy over their learning (Evans, McPherson, & Davidson, 2012). In this article, we present new ways of conceptualizing autonomy by taking the teacher-student interaction as a unit of analysis to examine the processes of co-regulation of student autonomy. In Study 1, we performed an in-depth qualitative analysis of four teacher -student dyads in individual string lessons. We found large differences between these dyads in the way autonomy is co-regulated from moment to moment. These differences are theorized to be in part connected to the general need for autonomy of the student. In addition, we found that teachers have different ways of dealing with students' expressions of autonomy in lessons. In Study 2, we tested whether large moment-to-moment differences between the teacher's and student's levels of autonomy ('out-of-synch' moments) contributed to macro-level student outcomes. Here, we found a positive relation between the amount of out-of-synch per lesson and, respectively, students' motivation and progress.

Análise Dos Estilos Motivacionais Em Professores Da Rede Pública Estadual De Ensino

“…(29,6%) tem de 1 a 10 anos, 10 (12,3%) têm de 10 a 20 anos e 2 (2,5%) têm mais de 20 anos de experiência. Pode-se verificar que o estilo Alto Promotor de Autonomia (AA) teve maior número de adesão no nível de concordância total e o estilo Moderado Controlador (MC) teve maior adesão no nível de concordância parcial, esses achados sugerem que embora a maioria dos professores da amostra tendam a concordar com as situações que incentivam a autonomia do aluno, há professores que concordam com situações que envolvam algum controle, isso reforça o que Kupers et al (2013) afirma sobre o professor poder ser promotor de autonomia em determinada situação e ser controlador em outra, de acordo com a situação. No que diz respeito aos itens referentes ao estilo Alto Promotor de Autonomia, a questão 13 -Ajudar o grupo a desenvolver maneiras de aprender o conteúdo abordado juntos -teve maior pontuação o que evidencia que os professores concordam que o trabalho em grupo é uma estratégia de incentivar o processo de ensino aprendizagem .…”

Changing Patterns of Scaffolding and Autonomy During Individual Music Lessons: A Mixed Methods Approach

“…In educational settings, teachers' behaviors can either foster or hinder the autonomy development of their students (see Kupers, van Dijk, van Geert, & McPherson, 2015;Reeve & Jang, 2006;Reeve, Jang, Carrell, Jeon, & Barch, 2004). Research shows that on average an autonomy-supportive teaching style is linked to a range of positive student outcomes, such as intrinsic motivation and engagement (see Stroet, Opdenakker, & Minnaert, 2013, for an overview).…”

“…Emotional scaffolding (rated as .6) refers to comments of the teacher relating directly to the student's motivation (for instance, expressing understanding when the student finds something difficult), and explicit autonomy-supportive expressions occur when the teacher offers the student a meaningful choice or responds positively to a student's initiative. The complete scale of teacher autonomy support is shown in Figure 1 (see also Kupers, van Dijk, van Geert, & McPherson, 2015). Student autonomy expression was rated as negative (−1), neutral (0), or positive (1).…”

Intrapersonal skills and music performance in elementary piano students in Spanish conservatories: Three case studies

“…Although the development of autonomy is seen to be important in music education (Küpers, Dijk, Van Geert, & Van McPherson, 2015), music teaching processes will not foster autonomy if the teacher leads and controls the entire music learning process without allowing the students to participate (Creech, 2012; McPherson, 2005). The teacher’s recognition of and attitude to students’ awareness is essential to promote and support their autonomy (Niemiec & Ryan, 2009).…”