Self-Examination of Music Methods Teaching in a Reggio Emilia-Inspired Learning Community

Music teacher educators have taken different approaches to enrich teaching-specific reflective practice through peer collaboration. In this study, three music teacher educators examined their experiences with the process of pedagogical documentation, a form of collaborative professional development from the Reggio Emilia Approach (REA). They met via video conferencing over the course of a semester to review key concepts related to the REA, share student artifacts, and discuss teaching contexts and considerations. Through this collaboration, participants found space for sharing successes, supporting personal reflection, troubleshooting, and revisiting ideas related to teaching and learning. They deepened their attunement to how teaching contexts continually shift and the affordances and challenges of incorporating the hundred languages (a concept from REA) in higher education.

Characteristics of Early Childhood and Elementary General Music Methods Coursework for Preservice Music Teachers

Although many music teacher candidates begin university studies planning to teach secondary ensembles, most will ultimately be certified to teach younger children and may be called to do so. The purpose of this study was to examine how music teacher education programs prepare preservice music educators to teach music to children from birth through elementary school through coursework. We emailed survey invitations to representatives from 512 institutions accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music to prepare music educators. We received 134 usable responses (response rate = 26%). Nearly all respondents offered elementary general music methods (EGMM), and over three quarters required EGMM for all students in initial licensure programs. Only about one in ten responding institutions offered early childhood music methods (ECMM). We describe findings on EGMM and ECMM course structures, content, and materials as well as the employment status, degree background, and other qualifications of the person who typically taught this coursework

Teaching as Improvising: Preservice Music Teacher Field Experience With 21st-Century Skills Activities

The purpose of this study was to examine how preservice music teachers navigate 21st-century skills in their lesson planning and field experiences. Among the various skills, we focused on the Partnership for 21st Century learning and innovation skills. Over 8 weeks, 10 preservice music teachers designed lesson plans focused on creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration, and peer taught their lessons in an elementary music methods class as well as in their field placements. Our data sources included participants’ post-field teaching self-evaluations and post-project reflective essays, as well as instructor and supervisor field notes and face-to-face participant interviews. Through the data analysis, we identified three central concepts: (a) Curriculum-as-lived: Teaching like improvising, (b) Balanced in-betweenness: Structure and freedom, and (c) Collective efforts: Stepping away from comfort zones.

MUSIC AND SONGS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING

Under consideration are main methods and approaches to teaching foreign languages, the main element of which is music and songs. The latest research and scientific publications on the use of musical material in teaching various aspects of foreign languages – grammar, vocabulary, speaking, listening, writing – have been analyzed. The main ideas and stages of introducing musical methods in the educational process have been described. The role of musical material in teaching foreign languages has been determined. The paper highlights basic skills of foreign language proficiency which can be improved by means of music methods and approaches. There have been indicated advantages of each of the presented methods. The effectiveness of the use of music and songs in teaching foreign languages has been proved.

1-2-3-4! Measuring the values of live music: methods, models and motivations

PurposeThis paper sets out to compare different methodologies for measuring the value(s) of live popular music and to explore the different motivations amongst a range of organisations engaged in that work.Design/methodology/approachThe authors analyse how the values of live music are measured, who does it and why. Based on this analysis the authors present a model that visualises the myriad of organisations, methods, aims and objectives involved.FindingsThe authors identify three approaches to measuring the impact of live music (economic impact studies, mapping and censuses and social sciences and humanities) and three types of actors (industry, policy and academia). The analysis of these demonstrates that measuring live music is not a neutral activity, but itself constructs a vision on how live music ecologies functionPractical implicationsFor cultural organisations, demonstrating the outcomes of their work is important in acquiring various forms of support. The model presented in this paper helps them to select adequate methodologies and to reflect on the consequences of particular approaches to measuring live music activities.Originality/valueWhile the number of studies measuring live music's impact is growing, theoretical and methodological reflection on these activities is missing. The authors compare the different methodologies by discussing strengths and weaknesses. This results in a model that identifies gaps in existing studies and explores new directions for future live music research. It enhances understanding of how different ways of measuring live music affect policymaking and conceptions of what live music is and should be.

The App Scavenger Hunt

The chapter focuses on projects designed to enhance student engagement with, and exploration of, mobile devices. Helping preservice teachers manage the often steep learning curve that goes hand in hand with connecting theory to practice is but one aspect of music teacher preparation. For the methods student and university professor alike, staying abreast of the current PK-12 school population’s musical needs poses unique conditions for curriculum development. Learning how to use technology while working with a diverse range of students presents challenges for all who are involved in teaching music with technology. The App Scavenger Hunt is an introductory project intended to foster collaboration by exploring the variety of apps available for later projects such as spontaneous musical jam sessions, group composition, and the (re)creation of cover tunes. These musicking experiences, in conjunction with field experiences in music methods classes, aided university students’ embrace of the potential for creative music making with mobile technology.

Organizational and methodical features of classical aerobics and rhythmic gymnastics

The study is devoted to the problem of terminological confusion in the concepts of “rhythmic gymnastics” and “classical aerobics”. We present a comparative description of two types of motor activity: rhythmic gymnastics and classical aerobics. The comparison is carried out for 12 criteria: the content of the classes (equipment); specific exercise technique; the physical qualities developed in the classroom; method of exercise; the structure and content of parts of lessons; music; methods of constructing combinations of the motor; pedagogical control; the predominant nature of the energy supply of muscle activity; requirements for equipment; equipment of the hall; instructor’s commands. On the basis of the conducted pedagogical experiment, the methods of the effectiveness of rhythmic gymnastics and classical aerobics is shown. Changes in the indicators of physical fitness of high school students taking part in the experiment are revealed.

The fourth area of musicology (to the problem of the debatable discourse)

The article reviews various schools of thought studying the Kazakh traditional music in Kazakhstan and abroad. The goal – to reveal different scientific areas of studying the Kazakh traditional music, to determine their significance in Kazakhstan and foreign ethnomusicology. There was a compelled cultural and scientific isolation of each country due to suspension of a book-exchange during the Perestroika (Reconstruction) period. As a result, each national school of ethnomusicology has gone its own way. Research in this area underline the need in the overall review of knowledge accumulated by schools of thought with a single representation. Authors give examples of review of various sources using a comparative-typological method, compare their significance and define the general trend of studying the Kazakh traditional music methods, and unite this knowledge in a uniform common school. Local and foreign sources of pre-revolutionary (end of XIX – beginning of ХХ centuries), Soviet and modern writers of the period of Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan were used. Main existing areas of Kazakhstan musicology were assessed, and conclusions were drawn on the birth of Kazakh ethnoorganology. The main aspect of the article is a focus on emergence in XXI century of the problem of a new cycle in the Kazakhstan science, which presence we can assume because we have written sources about the Kazakh musical culture in foreign languages, and information on materials from far and near abroad. Authors, based on the concept of Alma Kunanbaeva, an ethnomusicologist, formulate new statements about opposition between the Russian-speaking and Kazakh-speaking schools, supplementing it with opposition to foreign-language schools. As a result, an assessment was given to three main existing areas of the Kazakhstan musicology science and the emerging “Fourth” school, which has all prospects of further development not only in Kazakhstan, but also abroad. Examples were shown of a comparative study of sources of the pre-revolutionary period, and merits of each scientist were assessed. The conclusion was drawn on the birth of Kazakh ethnoorganology in the beginning of XX century. Keywords: the Kazakh traditional music, ethnomusicology, school of thought, verbal tradition, foreign materials, the fourth school, the fourth science, an empirical method, a comparative-typological method, interdisciplinarity.

Music and Biomarkers of Stress: A Systematic Review

Objective: The purpose of this paper is to review literature on music and biomarkers of stress in order to (1) Identify music interventions and (2) Detail the biomarkers of stress associated with music. Methods: PRISMA guidelines were followed in performing this systematic review. Studies published from January 1995 to January 2020 that pertain to biomarkers of stress and music were identified through the use of the PubMed database, using the keywords: ‘music’ AND ‘biomarker’ OR ‘marker’ OR ‘hormone’. Two authors independently conducted a focused analysis and reached a final consensus on 16 studies that met the specific selection criteria and passed the study quality checks. Results: The reviewed studies were all randomized controlled trials. Reviewed music interventions included Music Listening (ML), Meditational Music (MM), ‘Guided Imagery and Music’ (GIM), and Singing. The studies showed that music is associated with a decreasing trend in cortisol, salivary α-amylase, heart rate, and blood pressure, as well as an increasing trend in Immunoglobulin A (IgA), oxytocin, and EEG theta wave, while testosterone was associated with sex-related differences. Conclusion: Music is associated with significant changes in biomarkers of stress, suggesting that it could be utilized for the development of stress reduction tools.