Promoting interconnections between reflective practice and collective creativity in higher arts education: the potential of engaging with a reflective matrix

Abstract

Reflective practice has long been understood to be integral to the arts, but has predominantly been conceptualised in terms of tacit or individual activity. Identifying the need to reimagine and deepen reflective practice in higher arts education as explicit, collaborative, and integrally connected to artistic practice, this article explores the potential of a reflective matrix focused on ensemble practices, teamwork and collaborative learning in the arts for promoting interconnections between reflective practice and collective creativities. The article reports on a collaborative research approach based on in-depth interviews with 12 professors and lecturers of dance, music, theatre, and visual arts from the University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland that were analysed in stages using the reflective matrix. The results demonstrate how working with the matrix provided opportunities for extending understandings of ensemble practices and particularly of the collective creativities within them. Insights gained include the ways in which our iterative and dialogic way of engaging with the matrix challenged our initial expectations and deepened our understandings of two professional dilemmas: engaging with an audience and navigating correctness. The article concludes by attending to the implications of our approach for both research and practice in higher arts education.

Musicians as “Makers in Society”: A Conceptual Foundation for Contemporary Professional Higher Music Education

“…Equally, reflective practise is continuing to grow in higher education as part of supporting employability and sustainable practise (Barnett, 2012;Boud and Molloy, 2013;Coulson and Harvey, 2013). However, it has been more emergent and contested as an explicit part of HME (Alix et al, 2010;Tregear et al, 2016;Georgii-Hemming et al, 2020;Kruse-Weber and Hadji, 2020;Treacy and Gaunt, 2021), and even considered antithetical to practical learning and the real work of making art (Guillaumier, 2016). Part of the challenge here concerns the myriad possible forms of reflection, and the complexity of transcending purely descriptive reflection or reflection within a very narrow lens.…”

“…They require slow and reflexive work, with space for multiple perspectives to be voiced and considered. Development of reflective practise, therefore, that engages reflexively (both in-action and on-action) is beginning to be understood in music (Carey et al, 2017;Treacy and Gaunt, 2021;Westerlund and Gaunt, 2021) as in the arts more widely (Gielen and de Bruyne, 2009;Coles, 2012). This aligns with a conceptualisation that points beyond "effective" and "reflective" professional practise toward the importance in contemporary contexts of "enquiring" and "transformative" professionals (Gale and Molla, 2016;Carey and Coutts, 2021).…”

“…In recent decades research agendas in HME have been broadening and deepening, with a particular focus on research rooted in musical practises, including practise as research (European Association of Conservatoires, 2010;Borgdorff, 2012;Duffy and Broad, 2014;Skains, 2018). Furthermore, there has been considerable investigation of the interface and interconnections between research and reflective practise, connecting both with research through practise and ethnomusicological methods (NAIP Strategic Partnership, 2017;Treacy and Gaunt, 2021). A shared developmental core has been nurturing a research mindset in emerging musicians, which according to Saetre et al (2019) means a mindset that champions curiosity and skills of exploration, and connects individuals more closely with their own artistic sensibility and voice.…”

“…Embracing failure may feel diametrically opposed to the concept of "perfect" performance that can often be assumed to be the expectation. There is thus inherent tension to navigate in embracing failure and seeking excellent performance (Treacy and Gaunt, 2021). This is likely to be a feature across a diverse range of music, and certainly in improvised music, and requires careful contracting and ground rules for the interactions involved.…”

Signature Pedagogies in Collaborative Creative Learning in Advanced Music Training, Education and Professional Development: A Meta-Synthesis

“…Several researchers have explored and piloted innovative pedagogies that challenge the traditional apprenticeship model associated with instrumental teaching and learning (e.g., Rakena, 2016;Treacy and Gaunt, 2021;Zhukov and Saetre, 2022). For example, Treacy and Gaunt (2021) explored the role of reflection in making explicit artistic values, traditions, practices and aspirations.…”