The development of giftedness within the three-level system of music education in Poland and Serbia: Outcomes at different stages

Abstract

The character of this article is theoretical and practice oriented, therefore offering educational implications for music educators and music psychologists. Its main objective is to give an overview of the most important musical and developmental changes of musically talented children and youth, at different stages of the three-level specialized music education. The theoretical background of the article refers to stage theories of development of gifted with the intention to point out correspondence between stages of development and the specificity of music education stages. Theoretical conceptions are used as a framework to synthesize and to interpret empirical data and practice-related professional experiences of psychologists in music schools in Poland and Serbia. Both countries, though culturally distinct in nature and in the character of traditional music, are characterized by a very similar system of specialized/professional music education. Further on, the article presents a review of the wide range of benefits/outcomes experienced by music school students, as a result of the highly simulative, systematic and supportive environment of music learning. The article begins with an introduction to the context of the specialized music education system in Poland and Serbia and then presents how a particular system of education for the gifted contributes to the development in the field of acquiring musical knowledge and skills, as well as to benefits/outcomes of the education system for the personal, social and professional development of the musically gifted, indicating a wide range of positive experiences.

To be connected: Supporting self-regulated learning in higher music education before and during the pandemic

“…This is especially visible from students' letters where they demonstrated strong and diverse demands from the MMT -to give them instructions, to organize for them, to provide, motivate, and put in an effort. The list is long and indicates that students do not have highly developed SRL skills at the end of their three-level specialist music education (Nogaj & Bogunović, 2015). It also suggests that the studentteacher relationship is more of the 'master-apprentice' kind (Lehmann et al, 2007;Reid, 1997), which brings about difficulties in building students' responsibility for their own professional and personal development, as stated by Gaunt (2007).…”

13. The Lived Experience of Radical Acceleration in the Biographical Narratives of Exceptionally Gifted Adult Musicians

“…We raised this issue on the assumption that the experience of acceleration may greatly depend on the structure and organisation of music education (cf. Gagné & McPherson, 2016), which is different in Serbia from other investigated countries (see Nogaj & Bogunović, 2015). We also had in mind that musicians from Serbia who are now in their young adulthood were born and/or raised in politically and socially turbulent times which were characterised by a devaluation of culture-a fact that might have left a specific mark on their experience of developing a talent in classical music.…”

12. Motivation and Personality as Factors of Musical Accomplishments

“…In Serbia, several research projects over two decades were carried out in a quasi-longitudinal manner, following the developmental line of the three-stage specialist music education system for gifted children (14 years of schooling) that exists mainly in Eastern Europe (Nogaj & Bogunović, 2015) and the Western Balkans countries. The system (elementary, secondary school, MHEI) enrols musically talented children who are selected by entrance examinations at each stage based on their level of musical abilities, quality of performance, and/or selected musical competencies.…”