Experiencing and creating contrasts in music

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia Wallerstedt
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Lesson Study ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Necessary Conditions ◽  
Variation Theory ◽  
Music Teaching ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Conditions For Learning ◽  
Intended Object ◽  
Point Of Departure

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine what are necessary conditions for learning the concept ABA form, a concept for analysing and composing music, and to discuss how the use of variation theory can contribute to the field of music education research. Design/methodology/approach – The method used is a form of lesson study, but with only one participating teacher. Three cycles are conducted with three small groups of children, aged eight to nine years old. Findings – The main findings are that the learning of ABA form requires first, awareness of the sequential form of the music, second, that the attitude to differences that appear between sequential parts of the music is consciously being re-direct from seen as “failures” to being interesting musical contrasts and third, that attention is being paid to different features within one musical aspect, that sounds (not only looks) different. It is found that a main contribution of applying variation theory to studies in the domain of music is the consideration of a part-whole relationship. When the teacher helps the children to create contrast and at the same time keeps focus on how it sounds, the children succeed in coming up with a composition in ABA form. To address the simultaneous relationship between acting and seeing, that is musical impressions and expressions, is crucial for learning. Originality/value – This study is pioneering since music teaching is studied with the point of departure in an intended object of learning.

Pedagogical and learning theories in lesson and learning studies – revisited

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 295-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulla Runesson
Keyword(s):  
Lesson Study ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Learning Theories ◽  
Variation Theory ◽  
Learning Study ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Content Type ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Point Of Departure

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss two theoretical frameworks, Pirie and Kieren’s work (Pirie and Kieren, 1994) and variation theory of learning (Marton, 2015) in relation to lesson/learning study and mathematics teaching and learning. Design/methodology/approach The point of departure is the article: “Folding back and growing mathematical understanding: a longitudinal study of learning” (Martin and Towers, 2016) where it is demonstrated how Pirie and Kieren’s work (1994) and particularly the notion “folding-back” can be used as the theoretical framework in lesson/learning study. By dealing with similar arrangements and different theories, the two frameworks are contrasted. Findings It is suggested that the theory appropriated must be in resonance with the aim and focus of the study the theoretical perspective taken since it has implications for what becomes the focus of the process and subsequently the results of lesson/learning study. Originality/value This paper contributes to the discussion about how a more theory-informed lesson study and a broader theoretically framed learning study would improve and change the scope and progress of the two.

You can only see what you have chosen to see

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 170-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mun Ling Lo
Keyword(s):  
Lesson Study ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Current Issue ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Variation Theory ◽  
Learning Study ◽  
Inherent Limitation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research On Teaching

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to suggest ways that we can widen our vision since our views are limited by our theoretical lens. Design/methodology/approach – The paper first draws on articles in the current issue to illustrate how limitations imposed by our theoretical lens can be partly overcome. It then draws on the insights from two recent papers by Svensson (2016) and Lo and Chik (2016) to discuss some ways forward. Svensson’s paper argues for integrating research on teaching and learning using case-based studies and the contextual analysis approach. Lo and Chik’s paper is about how our learning can go beyond the single case through attending to fusion in the external horizon. The conceptual lens from these two papers which are from the phenomenography, variation theory and learning study tradition is applied to look at some of the papers in this issue which are from the lesson study tradition. Findings – Although there is an inherent limitation to what we can see as a consequence of the theoretical lens that we take, we can widen our vision by learning to see from others’ perspectives and gain insights that would be useful to us. Originality/value – The conceptual lenses from the phenomenography, variation theory and learning study tradition is applied to look at some of the papers which are from the lesson study tradition to reveal alternative ways of seeing.

Spaces of performance: a storytelling approach to learning in higher education

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 410-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Mølbjerg Jørgensen
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Learning Organization ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Theoretical Discussion ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Approach To Learning ◽  
Conditions For Learning ◽  
Research And Teaching ◽  
And Control ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to provide a framework for reflecting on how different ways of configuring spaces in higher education (HE) condition the possibilities of learning. Second, the purpose is to construct a storytelling approach for the configuration of such spaces. Design/methodology/approach The paper’s conceptual purpose is achieved through a theoretical discussion of three concepts: performance, politics and storytelling. Findings Learning in HE needs reconsideration in terms of what kinds of learning are made possible through the discursive and material configuration of the spaces of research and teaching. In particular, the focus to some extent should move away from the management and control of learning toward what enables learning. Practical implications The literature on organizational learning and the learning organization comprise concepts, methods and tools that play different roles with regard to controlling, shaping and enabling learning. When the focus is on learning in HE, it is important to be aware of the tracks of learning these technologies enable. Social implications The interest in managing and controlling learning is often problematic in relation to the potential of HE to produce new and innovative forms of learning. Originality/value This paper introduces the term “spaces of performance,” which directs attention toward the material, discursive and relational conditions for learning. It also introduces a space of storytelling as a new principle for learning in HE.

Pracademic productive friction: boundary crossing and pressure points

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
John Paul Mynott ◽  
Michaela Zimmatore
Keyword(s):  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Lesson Study ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
The Self ◽  
Boundary Object ◽  
Boundary Crossing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
School Based ◽  
Spatial Approach

PurposeProductive friction (Ward et al., 2011) can exist as pracademics cross between boundaries of their different identities. Through an exploration of the self-perception of two collaborating pracademics, this paper will consider that organisational and occupational (Evetts, 2009) elements exist that generate professional friction for pracademics.Design/methodology/approachUsing two consecutive Lesson Study cycles as a boundary object, the authors will consider their pracademic identity through a spatial approach. Their perceptions are expressed through semi-structured qualitative interviews and subsequent thematic analysis. This analysis is then explored through Engeström's (2001) learning stages to consider how pracademics interact within the contradictions of their identities and within their context and their work.FindingsTime, purpose, integration and collaboration are all elements that impact on pracademic identities. For each one of these themes, pracademics both experience friction and find resolutions. As these themes vary, there are also moments of unresolved friction, where the pracademics maintain their work based on their enthusiasm alone. Constraints on time and the visibility of pracademic emerge. Exploring these pressure points and their resolutions is key to understanding how pracademics can be further supported by other professionals.Originality/valueWhile it is not possible to draw large conclusions from the experiences and perceptions of two primary-school-based pracademics, their experiences and understanding of contextual pressure points may facilitate the support of other pracademics and resonant with their experiences, particularly if they are using Lesson Study.

Making and breaking the manual – a case of tests and rapport in an interdisciplinary team

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-188
Author(s):  
Helene Ilkjær ◽  
Mette My Madsen
Keyword(s):  
Private Sector ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Interdisciplinary Team ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Interdisciplinary Teamwork ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Private Sector Organizations ◽  
Point Of Departure

PurposeThis article engages the concept of tests–here understood as social tests of collaborative abilities in the interdisciplinary teamwork–to examine how they are central to an applied anthropologist's positioning and influence within an organization.Design/methodology/approachPresented as an auto-ethnographic methodological exploration, the article takes its point of departure in ethnographic material from the work by Helene Ilkjær as an Industrial Postdoc with an interdisciplinary team of engineers, scientists and designers in a Danish technology start-up company.FindingsWithin this ethnographic context, the article examines not only the case of “the manual” to unfold how the dynamics of careful development but also notorious circumvention of manuals came to serve as social tests–moments that fundamentally changed the anthropologist's position within the interdisciplinary team. Analytically, the manual serves as a prism through which it explores the slippery and negotiable nature of the anthropologist's professional position as an Industrial Postdoc–suspended between anthropology “for” and “of” the company, officially employed by the company while also engaged in academic research.Originality/valueThe article offers anthropologists a tool to visualize the different movements and placements within continua of professional positionality while working as applied researchers with(in) private sector organizations.

scholarly journals The paratext of digital documents

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roswitha Skare
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
Scholarly Work ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Digital Documents ◽  
Screen Level ◽  
Point Of Departure

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to provide a discussion on how to apply Genette's concept of the paratext to analyze digital documents. The article argues that the concept, despite its shortcomings, is useful because it gives us the terminology to analyze elements often ignored and overlooked.Design/methodology/approachBy taking Gérard Genette's concept of the paratext as point of departure, the paper focuses on three controversial issues in the scholarly work about paratext and digital documents: the division of paratext into peritext and epitext, the explosive growth of paratext and the question of authorization of text and paratext.FindingsQuestions related to the spatial division of the paratext into peritext and epitext, the difficulty of where to draw the line between text and paratext and the question of authorization are not new for digital documents but did already occur in the analog world. Even if many decisions like what to include and what to exclude in an analysis are left to the researcher, this does not mean that Genette's concept is unsuitable for digital documents. On the contrary, the concept gives us the terminology to analyze elements of often ignored and overlooked, also for digital documents.Research limitations/implicationsAs a scholar in the humanities the author can only relate to and therefore analyze what the author can experience and observe on screen level.Originality/valueIn providing a discussion of digital documents and some of the controversial issues discussed by other researchers, this article shows the relevance of Genette's concept, also for our work with digital documents.

Lesson study outcomes: a theoretical model

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Paul Mynott
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Lesson Study ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Potential Outcomes ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
Educational Setting ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Lesson study (LS) research is disadvantaged by a lack of clarity surrounding the potential outcomes an LS cycle can produce for participant learning. The purpose of this paper is to set out a model of the potential outcomes an LS cycle can achieve. The model identifies the limitations that can occur in LS groups and how these limitations impact on the overall outcomes for participants. Design/methodology/approach Case studies are used to exemplify the different outcomes in the model taken from five years of LS work in a primary school in England. The case studies shape the four different outcomes of the model, defining and contextualising the attributes and characteristics of each outcome. Findings The model presented indicates that there are four key outcomes for LS cycles, with the most common outcome being a form of limited learning. The paper explores the limitations of time, collaboration and expertise to articulate how each of these limiting factors has a bearing on the overall outcome for an LS cycle. Research limitations/implications The model is currently based on a singular educational setting. This means that each outcome needs further exploration through wider LS work in order to clarify and refine the outcome model. Practical implications The outcome model will support the development of a shared vocabulary for discussing LS cycles. By articulating where on the outcome model an LS is, it is possible for researchers to discuss how to reduce the impact of limitations and other challenges to LS, enabling research to develop a more evaluation-led approach to using LS. Originality/value The outcome model supports LS researchers in articulating the outcomes of their LS cycles with a shared vocabulary. It addresses understudied areas of LS research, namely failed and dysfunctional LS cycles and identifies that while an LS can bring the potential for participant learning, the cycle outcomes are the starting point for participant change.

Lesson study with didactical engineering for student teachers in Brazil

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-138
Author(s):  
Aluska Dias Ramos de Macedo ◽  
Paula Moreira Baltar Bellemain ◽  
Carl Winsløw
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Lesson Study ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Strong Potential ◽  
Didactical Engineering

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to experiment with ideas from didactical engineering (DE) in student teachers’ first experience with lesson study (LS). Design/methodology/approach This is a case study. Findings LS in pre-service education can be enhanced by elements from DE. Originality/value The idea indicated in the purpose is new and holds strong potential for the use of LS in teacher education.

How teachers’ practice knowledge is used and challenged in a Learning Study using Variation Theory as a tool

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 274-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anja Thorsten
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Variation Theory ◽  
Learning Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Video Recordings ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
Practice Knowledge

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss how teachers’ practice knowledge is used as a tool in a Learning Study and how teachers’ practice knowledge is challenged by using Variation Theory as a tool in the process? Design/methodology/approach – The analysis is based on data from the research process in a Learning Study. The data consists of meeting notes of ten research meetings, field notes of the research meetings and from the enactment of the lessons, video recordings of the lessons and reflective notes after and between the meetings. The analysis is qualitative and the findings are described in themes. Findings – Teachers’ practice knowledge was used and challenged in different ways in the process. This is described in five themes. Teachers’ practice knowledge was visible in the process since it enabled relevant questions to be addressed and subtle signals from students to be taken into account. It also ensured that the activities used were suitable for the students. The theory provided a focus on the object of learning and a language to talk about teaching and learning. It also challenged teachers’ assumptions about teaching and learning and allowed them to be discussed. Originality/value – The paper addresses both teachers’ practice knowledge and Variation Theory in relation to a Learning Study. It focusses on how practice knowledge of teachers can be used and challenged in the same process. The perspective is from the inside, from a teacher researcher’s point of view.

Teachers developing teaching

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 383-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Björk ◽  
Gunilla Pettersson-Berggren
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Mathematical Thinking ◽  
Number Line ◽  
Learning Objects ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
Variation Theory ◽  
Test Design ◽  
Learning Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Critical Aspects

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate what might be relevant to younger children’s understanding of a number line and how teaching can be designed according to variation theory to give pupils the opportunity to develop an understanding of the number line as a tool for mathematical thinking. Design/methodology/approach – A Learning Study was conducted by mathematics teachers at Sjöstadsskolan in Stockholm. Variation theory was used as a theory of learning. In order to use the number line as a tool in mathematical thinking, pupils have to discern what is important for this form of representation of the numeral system. Critical aspects from other studies with similar learning objects have been taken into consideration for pre-test design. These aspects supplemented and enhanced the analysis of the results and the results were consistent with earlier learning studies’. Findings – Four critical features, for younger pupils’ understanding of how the number line can be constructed, have been established in the study: the number line can have a different range (e.g. 0-20 or 30-60), correlation between the distance and value, two reference points are needed to place a third number and determine the scale, and the correlation between a part and whole. Originality/value – Learning Study is emphasized as a powerful and structured model for teacher driven research aiming to develop the praxis. The use of experiences and results from other studies is recommended.

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