Beyond a constructivist curriculum: a critique of competing paradigms in music education

Abstract

The distinction between learning to perform on an instrument or voice and learning music in a wider sense is one that is made in many countries, and is especially pertinent in England in the context of recent policy developments. This article argues that, whilst this distinction has come to represent curricula based on the opposing paradigms of behaviourist and constructivist approaches to learning, this opposition does not necessarily extend to the pedagogy through which the curricula are taught. A case study of the National Curriculum in England highlights the characteristics of a curriculum based on constructivist principles, along with the impact this has when taught in a behaviourist way. It is argued that conceiving the curriculum in terms of musical competencies, and pedagogy in terms of musical understanding, would provide a basis for greater continuity and higher quality in the music education experienced by young people.

Student-Centered Pedagogies in the Singapore Music Classroom: A Case Study on Collaborative Composition

“…Mr Smith used the strategy of posing a central question (Pedersen & Liu, 2003;Thompson, 2013), which involved the creation of original musical pieces, specifically interlocking rhythms, using any combination of instruments. This strategy resonates with the work of many music educators and researchers who, in the past decades, have pushed for collaborative composition to become the heart of music pedagogy (Garnett, 2013;Loane, 1984;Odam, 1995;Paynter, 2002;Paynter & Aston, 1970;Swanwick, 1979;Winters, 2012). The activity was student-centered as it allowed the learners to collaborate and actively solve a concrete musical problem (Stavrou, 2006).…”

“…In the past decades, a number of music educators and researchers-for example, Paynter and Aston (1970), Swanwick (1979), Paynter (1982), Loane (1984), Odam (1995), Glover (2000), and Winters (2012), among many others-have argued that collaborative composition activities should be at the heart of music pedagogy, underpinning the development of students' musical knowledge, skills, and dispositions. This body of work assumes an experiential learning approach by focusing on creative classroom music-making, and it builds on the inter-relatedness of three key activities: listening, composing, and performing (Garnett, 2013;Winters, 2012). These ideas, mainly originated in the United Kingdom, have strongly influenced the development of curriculum frameworks in many nations, from West to East, including countries such as Singapore.…”

Teaching for learning or teaching for documentation? Music teachers’ perspectives on a Swedish curriculum reform

“…In this study, the impact of a new assessment regime is explored. Garnett (2013) describes how the English national curriculum, although aiming at understanding, is often transformed into behaviouristic attainment descriptions, be they definitions of concepts as assumed evidence of understanding or specified performance standards. Assessment as a pedagogical tool focused on pupils' continual learning has been studied, among others, by Black and Wiliam (1998), Sadler (1998, Black et al (2003), Stobart (2008) and Hattie (2009).…”

Construcción de un instrumento de valoración de la expresividad musical en profesorado y alumnado en la Enseñanza Superior de Música

“…Esto es destacable ya que la expresión musical y su aprendizaje depende también en gran medida del movimiento y la expresión corporal del intérprete (Massie-Laberge, Cosette y Wanderley, 2020). Así, pese a que se aprecia una intención en el ámbito de la enseñanza musical hacia un cambio de paradigma desde un enfoque en la acumulación de conocimientos y el virtuosismo hacia posiciones constructivistas (Torrado y Pozo, 2008), parece que la mayoría de los profesores de música siguen apegados a una enseñanza tradicional centrada en adquirir resultados supervisados por el profesor (Bautista y Pérez Echevarría, 2008; López Íñiguez, Pozo y de Dios, 2014), sin que el mensaje constructivista explícito haya supuesto un cambio efectivo en el aula (Garnett, 2013;Karlsson y Juslin, 2008).…”