Optimizing Optimal Experiences: Practical Strategies to Facilitate Flow for 21st-Century Music Educators

2020 ◽  
Vol 107 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-41
Author(s):  
Leonard Tan ◽  
Hui Xing Sin
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Flow Theory ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Flow Experience ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Theory Research ◽  
Flow Experiences ◽  
Music Classrooms ◽  
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

In 1990, psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi warned against an excessive emphasis on how well music learners perform rather than on the experiential aspect of music in and of itself. Whereas the former approach is, in his words, “a source of psychic disorder,” the latter approach offers access to “flow”: the optimal, enjoyable, meaningful, and happy state. What might an approach to music education that aims to optimize optimal experiences (i.e., flow) look like? This article presents concrete strategies to facilitate flow experiences in music classrooms and rehearsal halls by drawing on flow theory, research findings, and the authors’ own professional and applied experiences. The authors clarify the nature of the flow experience, sketch the benefits of flow, and propose ten strategies to facilitate flow for music educators.

Trans Voices Speak: Suggestions from Trans Educators about Working with Trans Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 108 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-56
Author(s):  
Christopher Cayari ◽  
Felix A. Graham ◽  
Emma Joy Jampole ◽  
Jared O’Leary
Keyword(s):  
Identity Development ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Gender Nonconforming ◽  
The Past ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Trans People ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Music Classrooms

The social climate in the past decade has seen a rise in visibility of trans students in music classrooms and ensembles, leading to a need for scholarship on how to serve this growing population. Literature is being published to address this topic; however, the lack of scholarship by trans educators might lead many music educators to conclusions and practices that can be, at the very least, discouraging to some trans students and may disrupt their learning experiences. This article was written by four educators who identify as part of the trans community (a genderfluid and gender-nonconforming individual, a trans man, a trans woman, and a gender-nonbinary person) to fill this gap in the literature by illuminating some of the pitfalls inherent in the lack of discussion on (and by) trans people in music education. In addition, this article provides five actionable suggestions for working with trans students: (1) Learn about the trans community, (2) inspect your language and biases, (3) represent the diversity of trans people in your teaching, (4) promote healthy music-making and identity development, and (5) model allyship.

scholarly journals Improvisation in Elementary General Music: A Review of the Literature

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-48
Author(s):  
Michael D. Chandler
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Divergent Thinking ◽  
The United States ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Elementary Level ◽  
Instructional Time ◽  
General Music ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Research Findings

Improvisation is an area of interest to both music education researchers and music educators alike. The purpose of this literature review was to examine extant studies related to improvisation at the elementary level. Selected research included the nature of improvisation, the amount of instructional time and activity type used, the development of improvisation skills with age, and the effect of improvisation on other skill areas. Findings indicated that children chose their own musical and social roles when there was minimal teacher intervention. Most teachers agreed that improvisation was important, although at varying degrees and based on varying levels of experience and ability. Improvisation skills increased with age, particularly when considering rhythmic improvisation and phrase structure, and improvisation was found to increase creativity and divergent thinking while also reducing performance anxiety. Research findings are included from the United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland, Italy, Greece, Slovenia, Malaysia, and the United States. The review concludes with implications for practice and recommendations for further research.

scholarly journals Critically Assessing Forms of Resistance in Music Education

2019 ◽  
pp. 81-100
Author(s):  
Brent C. Talbot ◽  
Hakim Mohandas Amani Williams
Keyword(s):  
Critical Pedagogy ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Paulo Freire ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Multiple Forms ◽  
Consciousness Raising ◽  
The World ◽  
Music Classrooms

In their classrooms, music educators draw upon critical pedagogy (as described by Freire, Giroux, and hooks) for the express purpose of cultivating a climate for conscientização. Conscientização, according to Paulo Freire (2006), “refers to learning to perceive social, political, and economic contradictions and to take action against the oppressive elements of reality” (p. 35). This consciousness raising is a journey teachers pursue with students, together interrogating injustices in communities and the world in order to transform the conditions that inform them. Learning to perceive social, political, and economic contradictions often leads to multiple forms of resistance in and out of music classrooms. This chapter explores the following question: What do critical forms of assessment look like in music classrooms that use critical pedagogy and embrace resistance to foster conscientization?

Does Music Education Have a Poverty Problem?

2021 ◽  
pp. 875512332110360
Author(s):  
Tina Beveridge
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Teacher Attitudes ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Barriers To Participation ◽  
Participation Barriers ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Students In Poverty

In this literature review, I explore poverty, the barriers to participation that exist for students in poverty, and why this issue should matter to music educators. Research findings about students and poverty generally fall into three categories: logistics, teacher attitudes, and policy. I identify participation barriers in each of these categories and offer suggestions how they might be addressed. Overall, findings involving poverty and music education indicate that when teachers are well-supported at the micro and macro level by legislators, administrators, parents, and other teachers, most barriers can be reduced or eliminated, and participation increases.

Integrating Cantonese Nursery Rhymes Into Early Childhood Music Classrooms: A Lesson for Learning Music, Language, and Culture

2021 ◽  
pp. 104837132110262
Author(s):  
Yingying Pan
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Cultural Awareness ◽  
Lesson Plan ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
World Music ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Early Childhood Music ◽  
Chinese Music ◽  
Music Classrooms

As cultural diversity is increasingly celebrated in classrooms, multicultural learning in music education has become more essential and meaningful. Therefore, this article emphasizes the integration of Cantonese nursery rhymes into early childhood music classrooms by providing a detailed lesson plan and some teaching suggestions. This effort aims to enhance students’ cultural awareness and knowledge of world music by integrating Chinese music elements into general music learning. It also serves to provide inspiration and suggests possibilities for music educators who wish to incorporate multicultural elements in music education.

scholarly journals A theoretical model of piano sightplaying components

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Dneya Bunnag Udtaisuk
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Review Of Literature ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Fields Of Study ◽  
Analysis And Synthesis ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Extended Review ◽  
Observation Results

The goal of this study is to provide a theoretical model regarding sightplaying phenomena based upon investigation, analysis, and synthesis from a large amount of research findings, observation results, theoretical ideas, teaching methods, and perspectives from various fields of study including psychology of music, music education, psycho-musicology, and neurological science. Specifically, the focus of the study is on an individual's ability to sightplay on the piano. As a result of an extended review of literature, the author proposed a generalized picture about the possible components shown to be involved in the process of sightplaying development as well as sightplaying performance. With a qualitative philosophy as the research methodology and multiple perspectives in mind, the author believes that the model describing the four sightplaying components, CAPE: physical Coordination, musical Awareness, musical Potential, and musical Experiences, is useful as an instructional and experimental guideline for investigating and understanding a unique sightplaying ability in each individual as well as sightplaying performance in different circumstances. When using this model, music educators and researchers need to be aware that variations among levels or differences in the strengths of the component have not been predicted by this model. Any generalizations and implications need to be drawn with appropriate caution.

Music Education, Curriculum Design, and Assessment: Imagining a More Equitable Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 106 (4) ◽  
pp. 57-65
Author(s):  
Jennifer Mellizo
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Education Curriculum ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Planning Strategy ◽  
School Music ◽  
Music Classrooms ◽  
Content Pedagogy

Although it is not their intent, conventional curricula may place some students at a disadvantage in school music classrooms. This article offers a practical planning strategy that music educators can use to confront and resist some of these curricular tendencies in subtle yet important ways. By reimagining long-standing norms related to content, pedagogy, and assessment, we can build a system that provides more students with access to a high-quality, equitable, and personally meaningful music education.

New legislation in Brazilian music education: Studying the law and its implementation

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-92
Author(s):  
Dwight Manning ◽  
Marilia Kamil
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Educational History ◽  
National School ◽  
The Status ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Research Findings

In 2008, Brazilian legislators approved a law that added music on a mandatory basis to the basic national school curriculum. Despite the possibilities afforded by this legislation, music educators affirm that many questions remain due to its ambiguity. Given the 2012 deadline for the implementation of this law, there is a need to understand how it was enacted across diverse settings. This study considers the implementation from the perspective of music teachers. Thus, in this interview study, we seek to understand the status of music education throughout the country according to the perspectives of music educators from private and public schools. Such perspectives are situated within reviews of educational history, legislation, policy, and research. Findings point toward the need to (a) address a shortage of music teachers; (b) better define the preparation of professional music educators; and (c) identify pedagogies which are likely to have the greatest impact in implementing this new law.

Equity via relations of equality: Bridging the classroom-society divide

2021 ◽  
pp. 025576142110058
Author(s):  
Lauren Kapalka Richerme
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Cultural Capital ◽  
Academic Skills ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Community Formation ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Philosophical Inquiry ◽  
Relational Value ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Music Classrooms

Although music educators have asserted the importance of naming systemic inequities, the mechanisms through which practices within music classrooms, such as community formation, may directly challenge the systemic inequities beyond them remain undertheorized. The purpose of this philosophical inquiry is to investigate the nature of equity and to consider which music education practices might best support more equitable societal relations. Explaining the problems of paternalistically imposing one’s vision of equity on others, I offer that by functioning in “relations of equality,” members of society might collaboratively name and challenge contemporary inequities. In considering how music educators might best foster the skills and dispositions needed for lifelong relations of equality, I posit the possibilities of communicative cultural capital, which involves community members interacting effectively across cultural differences, and academic skills cultural capital. When music educators assume that students will develop academic skills through music making, rather than emphasize how to develop such skills, they may end up benefiting students who learn those dispositions in privileged home environments. I also consider how identifying as part of a musical community can motivate individuals to challenge inequities throughout their lives. Equity is not a stable end but a relational value.

A feminine and poststructural extension of cosmopolitan ethics in music education

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 414-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Kapalka Richerme
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Ethical Principles ◽  
Ethical Considerations ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Historical Factors ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Teachers And Students

The interconnected nature of 21st-century life demands that music educators and students consider those beyond their immediate communities in their ethical deliberations. While Appiah’s cosmopolitan ethical principles of universal concern and respect for legitimate difference may serve as a starting point for global ethical considerations in music education, they are potentially problematic for three reasons: their abstract nature can lead to the dehumanization of those about whom one claims concern; they can reinforce existing hegemonic divides between “legitimate” and “deviant” music-making; and they can lead to fixed understandings of practices and people. A feminine and poststructural extension of cosmopolitan ethics may assist music educators and students in addressing these issues. First, through a synthesis of the principle of universal concern and Noddings’ feminine ethics, music educators and students can resist dehumanizing others by aiming to “care for” and “care with” them. Second, teachers and students can use Foucault’s writings to consider how power-laden, socio-historical factors produce conceptions of legitimacy. Finally, drawing inspiration from Deleuzian ethical writings, music educators and students can challenge stagnant worldviews by promoting “legitimate differing” and imagining creative, evolving ethical futures.

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