This thesis explores the Kodaly approach to music education. The study was motivated by an interest in exploring what is meant by the Kodaly philosophy of music education in the 21st century and whether it is a good approach for adopting in the school curriculum. The researcher's professional interests and expertise led her to investigate how the Kodaly philosophy of music education has been adapted from its roots in Hungary in the twentieth century to present day Hungary and by music teachers in the UK working in a variety of teaching settings. Questionnaires and case studies were used to explore these issues. The thesis also investigated whether a Kodaly approach to music education is an enjoyable one. Issues of motivation and attitudes to music lessons were explored in a case study carried out in Hungary and interviews with present and past pupils in a boys' school in the UK. Finally the thesis explored whether claims made for possible transfer effects of Kodaly training to other cognitive abilities could be substantiated. Results showed that Kodaly's philosophy was adhered to in a comprehensive way, but with some modifications in present day Hungary. His approach was still highly valued by the Hungarian trained music teachers. In the UK it was found that KodaJy teachers did not have the same music specialist background as in Hungary and the amount of time devoted to music teaching in Primary schools was much less. Responses from UK teachers about their approach led to a suggestion that it is more appropriate for teachers to say they take a Kodaly-based approach since there was considerable deviation from the programmes proposed originally by Kodaly. The results of the longitudinal study showed that length in Kodaly-based music classes did not result in any significant benefits to other areas of learning. However, a Kodaly approach to music instruction had benefits to acquisition of musical skills per se. Results also showed that pupils were highly motivated during Kodaly music classes and that they demonstrated positive attitudes to their music lessons.

The experience of engaging with music through listening, teaching and learning would be impossible without a bodily interface, through which movement and music can be physically produced, experienced and understood. Physical gestures form a central part of the communication established between the teacher-student dyad in the communication of symbolic and functional musical knowledge. Factors such as gesture types (forms and meanings) and their specific outcomes in the teaching and learning processes have been consistently overlooked in the instrumental music pedagogical context. This thesis prioritises such undervalued topics, focusing its enquiry upon piano teachers' hand gestures used to communicate with students during the teaching process and incorporates theoretical frameworks from disciplines such as: music-psychology, psycholinguistics, gesture studies, gesture-led educational research, imitation and observational motor-learning. Three investigations were carried out to investigate the role of teachers' gestures in piano teaching and learning. The first two combined qualitative and quantitative approaches - the results of which were used in establishing the first known categorisation of piano teachers' gestures. Amongst the most intriguing findings were the relationship between teachers' didactic intent and the forms of gesture they employed, and 'gestural scaffolding' (when teachers adapted particular gestural communicative channels to suit specific student skill levels). In the third investigation an experimental setting was used to observe and evaluate the role of teaching gestures in one-to-one instrumental tuition. Here different gestural teaching and learning conditions yielded multiple levels of learning effectiveness, implying a need for empirical understanding and establishment of gestural performance as a concept that can be applied to enhance learning across specific pedagogical contexts. As well as building a case for future investigations in this research area, this thesis opens a debate within studies of pedagogical practice in instrumental music teaching, whilst contributing more generally to discussions of how the body impacts upon music understanding.

This thesis examines what creativity means to a group of Taiwanese music teachers, and how it relates to their classroom experiences and teaching practices. The research followed a qualitative, interpretative approach. Interviews were used to gather data, and were analysed according to phenomenographic principles. Analysis of the interviews indicated that two main approaches were taken by teachers regarding their experiences of creativity: a product-focused, and a process-focused approach. In the product-focused approach, creativity was defined from the outside according to externally imposed factors, frames of reference, and motivating forces. In the process-focused approach, creativity was defined from the inside, from the point of view of the individual involved, and in which personal agency, inclusion, and collaboration were valued. From the two approaches, four categories were further identified that delineated the main focus of teachers’ experiences, namely curriculum, talent, knowledge, and dialogic. The approach taken by teachers towards creativity also showed a relationship to how music education was perceived. Teachers who had a product-focused approach to creativity saw music education in terms of content, while those who were process-focused had a meaning-oriented view of music education that valued the experience of students over the content that was taught. Similarly, a correspondence was found between how creativity was perceived and the nature of classroom interactions that varied between teacher-centred and learner-centred. The thesis concludes by questioning whether traditional approaches to music education still prevalent in Taiwanese classrooms can accommodate the democratic and universalized approach to creativity promoted by the Taiwan government. It is recommended that music teacher educators in Taiwan re-evaluate the goals of music education and how it is delivered if music education and creativity are to co-exist.

This study presents the concept of ‘hidden learning’ and examines this in relation to data gathered from interviews, observation and questionnaires with participating staff, students and instrumental/vocal teachers at a UK university music department noted for its practically-orientated approach to academic study. The study builds on existing knowledge of one-to-one teaching to create understanding of the ways in which hidden learning contributes to music students’ instrumental/vocal development. A preliminary survey gives rise to five cases representing a range of pedagogical approaches, differing degrees of learner autonomy and offering diversity of musical genre, operating within individual, social, student-initiated and departmental contexts, and involving varied personnel. The studies explore reasons for the existence of hidden learning; examine how the learning contexts operate in practice; discover the values that students attach to hidden learning; and reveal how hidden learning relates to the one-to-one lesson. The findings suggest that hidden learning may be unseen by instrumental/vocal teachers and departmental staff and can provide motivating and enabling learning experiences. These develop skills relating to competence, cognition, practice and performance. In addition, more complex learning involving cross-cultural influences may not be consciously articulated by students, thus remaining, to an extent, hidden to the individual as well as to instrumental/vocal teachers and the institution. Through a three-phase process of analysis five meta-themes emerged: 1) disjunctions of values between students and instrumental/vocal teachers, including musical tastes and aims for learning, and between students and the institution; 2) dialogue deficit between students, teachers and the institution; 3) the purpose of instrumental/vocal learning; 4) responsibility for learning, and 5) reflection on learning. The findings illuminate the contribution of hidden learning to instrumental/vocal development, and suggest that there is scope for further pedagogical consideration of provision for instrumental/vocal learning and the role of hidden learning within higher music education.

This study concerns the purposes of music education in English secondary schools at key stage 3 (age 11-14) and the role of music educators: whether it is to provide an experience of music or whether it is to develop musicianship in young people; how far teachers understand what it is to be musical and how musicianship can be developed. Music teachers will come from a range of diverse backgrounds, though research data would suggest that most seem to have been educated as ‘classical’ music performers which will have an affect on what they perceive to be central competences in the development of musicians. In turn, this will determine, to some extent, what is taught and learned in the classroom, as tensions can frequently arise between teachers’ expertise and the musical interests and needs of their pupils. This study explores how far the biography of secondary music teachers determines the approach they take to musicianship and the activities which are presented to young people in the classroom. A mixed methods approach has been taken which has focused principally on the competencies and learning contexts required for the development of musicianship and how far these have been observed in practice in the classroom. The outcomes of the study have suggested a clear link between teacher biography and classroom practice but that there are potential tensions which can arise out of school practices, national policy, curricular organization, teachers’ education and training, and the musician-teacher identity. The study concludes by suggesting a range of recommendations for action to the ‘stakeholders’ responsible for the delivery of music education in English secondary schools.

Studies comparing musically trained and untrained children and adults provide evidence of structural, functional and behavioural changes associated with experience-specific adaptation within the cortical and subcortical sensory-motor neural networks. Researchers have suggested that changes associated with musical learning may transfer to near domains (e.g. fine motor ability) and/or far domains, such as general intelligence. However, few studies have considered the concomitant development of a range of cognitive, behavioural and socio-emotional measures reflecting emerging musicianship. No other study has attempted to situate these findings within the context of adult musicians’ experience. Two studies are presented here; firstly a quantitative longitudinal quasi-experimental investigation of multiple measures of musicianship. 19 children received only statutory school music group lessons over one academic year, and another 19 children received additional extracurricular musical instrument lessons for the first time during that year. A battery of tests included measures of aptitude, intelligence, memory, motor abilities and parental and teacher reports of socio-emotional behaviours. Results showed musical training enhanced hand-eye coordination and fluid intelligence, replicating and extending previous studies. The second study is a qualitative grounded theory investigation of a range of 28 adult musicians reflecting contemporary working musicians in the U.K. This includes nonconformist and popular musicians as well as conductors and music producers. They reflected upon what it is to be a musician, and what qualities they were aware their experiences had brought to their lives. A musicians’ model of musicianship emerged which challenges assumptions relating to the concept of transfer effects. The data generates new hypotheses that musical learning supports and encourages flexible cognitive and behavioural skills and creativity that are further enhanced by the concomitant experience of nonverbal communications encompassing music and socialisation.

No description available.

The object of this research study is to consider the role of music in adult education as part of a continuing lifelong process. It looks into the personal aims and needs of adult non-vocational music students in the Greater London area, and makes recommendations for the years that lie immediately ahead. VOLUME ONE Part I presents an historical background of music education for the People. The research includes evidence of a previously unknown instrument invented by Sarah Glover and used for educational purposes in the nineteenth century (see published article). Nineteenth and twentieth century pioneers of music education have been chosen to emphasise the significance of - The People's Sight Singing Movement, The Choral Movement and The Music Appreciation Movement. VOLUME ONE Part II is concerned with 'The Practice - Present and Future'. It seeks to relate the philosophy and psychology of teaching music to adult students. VOLUME TWO is the empirical research where statistics, facts, figures and opinions are studied and presented in depth. It includes the 'findings' from over 2,150 three paged questionnaires and evaluates them. One distribution was made to students in the large music departments of three London Literary Institutes. Another was carried out in a selected number of ILEA Adult Education Institutes. An overall evaluation has been made from the total information collected. CONCLUSIONS: 'Principles and Recommendations for the 1980's', arise from the overall research. Recommendations are made for future planning of adult music classes, advisory services and special provision for retired students. Attention is drawn to the professional status required of music tutors, the need for structured teaching, integration of classes and the size of teaching groups. Suggestions are made regarding classes linked to H.E., varied course lengths and paid study leave. Information has been 'fed back' to the field through regular meetings, discussions and published articles. It is hoped that the research may offer some practical suggestions both in the short term and in the long term planning for a continuing and life-long adult music education.

The aim of the thesis is to make explicit the criteria of aesthetic appraisal: how teachers and pupils perceive how sounds are shaped into musical form, the values they hold and the language they use. The participants in the fieldwork were 154 children from ages 9-13 years (spanning upper Key Stage 2-3 of the National Curriculum) and 62 teachers on respective generalist/specialist teacher training courses. The research approach is constructivist yet the design combines both quantitative and qualitative methodologies deriving from research in aesthetic education, music education, the psychology of music and personal construct psychology. In Part I [Pupils' Perceptions of Compositions], the quantitative results show significant differences with respect to age, gender and categories of perception. The qualitative results give a more differentiated picture with examples of the language used. In Part II [Teachers' Perceptions of Pupils' Compositions], the quantitative results confirm trends emerging in the qualitative data to show similarities/differences in the way specialist/non-specialist teachers of music use criteria when assessing children's' compositions. The findings suggest that the effects of training predispose music teachers to assess compositions in a technical way using a highly specialised language whilst generalist teachers and children assess compositions in a global way using a rich metaphoric language. In addition, generalists use criteria for assessment more consistently than specialist teachers. To a certain extent these differences may account for the decline in effectiveness of music education between Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3. On the basis of this research one way forward for music education might be to address the importance of how teachers and children form aesthetic perceptions so that criteria for assessing compositions can be shared, mutually respected and meaningfully applied.

Music history is a core requirement for most undergraduate music degrees. The purpose of this study is to investigate the status of music history teaching in music degrees in Higher Education (HE) in four different countries (Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Greece and England). It also aims to evaluate a new music history teaching model that was developed for a university in Cyprus. The new model consists of approaches focused on a student-centred learning method that introduces the use of primary sources and cooperative learning. Three studies were conducted: a qualitative study (Study 1), a mixed methods study (Study 2) and a qualitative evaluation study (Study 3). In Study 1, music history teachers (N=6) were recruited from universities in Cyprus. Study 1 employed Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) using the data from semi-structured interviews. In Study 2, music history teachers (N=11) were recruited from the Czech Republic, Greece and England to participate in a qualitative study, and their thinking was compared to a further sample of undergraduate music students (N=86) who were recruited from the Czech Republic, Greece and England. Study 3 designed and tested an intervention in Cyprus evaluating a new approach to teaching music history. The study was evaluated through a pre-test and a post-test questionnaire. Engeström’s culturalhistorical activity theory was used to analyse the findings of all three studies. Results revealed that the most frequent teaching approaches used in music history courses are lectures, the use of audio and audiovisual materials and discussion. While teachers from the Czech Republic, Greece and Cyprus use a teacher-centred learning approach, most teachers from England apply student-centred learning approaches to music history courses. Students from the participating countries generally perceive music history as having relatively little value and they are not satisfied with the existing teaching approaches. A number of them further question traditional approaches to teaching music history. Upon completion of the qualitative evaluation study in Cyprus, students gained a more positive opinion of music history and approved of the new teaching approaches that were used.