Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Literature Review of Intentional Teaching Pedagogy in The Arts
Literature Review of Intentional Teaching Pedagogy in The Arts
specifically in Music.
A major consideration in education is the relationship between teaching and learning:
how to strike the most advantageous balance between teacher input or guidance and
student self-direction and applied discovery. Intentionality plays an important part in
this consideration, in the first place as it refers to the conscious decisions about
pedagogy, methodology and curriculum a teacher makes and in the second place as it
refers to the Habits of Mind as a set of valued intellectual dispositions (Costa &
Kallick 2008, p.42), that a learner may employ in the pursuit of new knowledge or
skills.
This paper will describe the understandings of Intentional Teaching found in
education literature and go on to analyze perspectives on Intentional Teaching evident
in relevant music education literature specifically. Within this area, it will focus on
the understandings of this concept as revealed Kodaly music teaching and highlight
any evident misapprehensions and confusion.
Literature was selected in the following areas:
to being intentional;
The Madeline Hunter model of intentional instruction, including its basis in
learning theory and application to arts education: The more we understand
the brain, the better well be able to design instruction to match how it learns.
(Wolfe, 200, p 2) The brain is what we have; the mind is what is does. In
other words, the mind is not a thing; its a process Its the process of
education; and
Arts Teaching pedagogy and methodology texts which reveal varying levels of
compatibility with the Madeline Hunter model.
look ahead towards the introduction of the National Curriculum in The Arts. For this
reason, the conclusion will be situated in the context of the ACARA document for The
Arts and current practice at Saint Stephens College.
The concept of intention in teaching
Ian Nance, in his paper Intentional Actions: Explanation and Epistemology (2011)
explains peoples actions in terms of their beliefs, desires and intentions. He goes on
further to confirm a stable causal connection between mental states and intentional
actions (vii).
unintentionally, [are] capable of explaining their parts. (viii) It follows from this that
a measure of intentionality in the classroom would be the ability of the teacher to
explain its parts. This definition of intentional action can include a variety of guided
teaching approaches. This review will focus on Madeline Hunters model which is
employed by the College as well a number of other approaches. This definition further
excludes various justifications for curriculum and pedagogy based on teachers
intuition or on variations of well, it just works for me. This premise also underlies
the research questions I will use to shed light on the intentionality of arts teaching at
Saint Stephens College.
Observers of the arts tend to hold a myriad of romantic notions: about talent, about the
intuitiveness of the creative process, about inspiration, and so on. Teaching, being an
art form on one level, is sometimes bundled in this pile. The notion of the talented,
gifted teacher is a persistent theme in popular culture: Mark Thackeray (Sidney
Potier) in the film To Sir with Love (Clavell, 1966), Sister Mary Clarence (Whoopie
Goldberg) in Sister Act (1992)
Holland's Opus (1995) are but three of the more popular examples. Somehow these
gifted individuals inspire their students to individual and corporate success intuitively,
via their charismatic personality and caring disposition. Not wanting to take away
from the importance of caring for our students and developing some classroom
charisma, I still agree with Madeline Hunter, who is quoted in Wolfe (2001, p.2)
commenting on teaching by intuition only: the problem with teaching intuitively is
that intuition is sterile: It cant be passed on.
An explicit
aboundonbothsidesandcommonalitiesofapproachexistswhichhighlightthe
ideological,ratherthanpracticalnatureofthisdialectic.
Both approaches begin from a basis of knowledge: the aim in both cases is to build on
what the student already knows and link this to new knowledge. At the risk of using a
concept from the black list of educational jargon, beginning with the end in mind is
quite securely common sense. Anyone who has baked a cake or build a shed will
recognise the wisdom in the approach. Wiggins and McTighe (1998) apply this to
education, encouraging "backward design": starting not with textbooks or favourite
lesson plans but rather with what students need to learn to take them onwards from
where they are to where they want to be in terms of understanding. Making
intentional decisions about teaching is not the prerogative of either the progressive or
the conservative side of education.
Intentionality, indeed, has been recognized as an important prerequisite to effective
teaching in areas across the curriculum. In literacy education, Pearson and Fielding
(1991) explained their concept of the gradual release of responsibility in reading,
Duffy et al., (1997) wrote on direct explanation, and Barton, Hamilton, & Ivanic
(2000) described literacy as social practice, including concepts of intentional
instruction.
Siegfried Engelmann and Douglas Carnine developed the Direct Instruction (DI)
model, which is described as carefully developed and thoroughly tested by Heward
(2012). This approach features very intentional and specific communication.
Engelmann and Carnine differ from other approaches to instructional design in that
they do not assume the learner will learn regardless of the communication (Lally and
Price, 1997).
Engelmanns model of Direct Instruction was tested during Project Follow Through 1
with the outcome that
1
Coombs, M. K. (1998). Honest follow-through needed on this project. The Washington Times, March 24, 1998.
Also retrieved December 29, 1998 from the World Wide
Web:http://www.mathematicallycorrect.com/honestft.htmWatkins, C. L. (1988). Project Follow Through: A story
of the identification and neglect of effective instruction. Youth Policy, 10, 7-11. Has a detailed
explanation.
"The results make a mockery of current reforms, because Follow Through clearly showed that
some approaches work well and some flop; however, the ones that flopped the most
emphatically are still alive today and still promoted vehemently by teachers' groups like the
International Reading Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. The approaches that did well were roughly the
opposite of the romantic notions and theories espoused by these groups. The better
performing sponsors presented highly structured instruction that had tight teacherperformance requirements and practices that are 'behavioral. (Engelmann, 1992, p. 4-5)
proposed five sequential steps for instruction, which gained much popularity
particularly in Japan. Herbart developed the doctrine of curriculum correlation, which
has become the foundation for much modern thought on curriculum, including a focus
on scope and sequence of concepts. The goal of instruction as proposed by Herbart
was to guide the student through the process of acquiring knowledge whereby the
learner would use the constant flow of ideas presented by the curriculum in order to
generate and process new understandings (Pollock, 2008, p. 61). Ironically, his ideas
were criticised by John Dewey and other progressives for supposedly turning
students into passive receivers of information rather than active learners. (Ornstein,
et. al.,p. 107). Ramsay (1990, p.477) traces what he believes be Madeline Hunters
adaptation of the Herbartian model.
Madeline Hunter developed a planning model based on teachers professional and
informed decision making. The model is called ITIP (Instructional Theory into
Practice). The model defines teaching as a series of decisions in three areas (Hunter,
1979, p.63) which in turn inform seven suggested elements of lesson planning:
Content: refers to the specific information, skill, or process that is appropriate for
students at a particular time. Teacher decisions about what content is appropriate are
based upon students' prior knowledge and how it relates to future instruction; simple
understandings must precede more complex understandings;
Student Behaviour: refers to decisions regarding learning behaviours, which will
indicate how a student will learn and show evidence of that learning. Decisions about
how students will learn must, of necessity, take account of the cognitive structures
which students have previously developed as these will affect how they will be
interpreting and making sense of, newly presented concepts.
Teacher Behaviour: Teachers must decide which research based teaching principles
and strategies will most effectively promote learning for their students (Hunter,
1994, p. 87).
Educational psychologist Robert Slavin asserts that, while there is no formula for
good teaching, the one shared attribute of outstanding teachers is intentionality, doing
things on purpose (Slavin, 2000, p. 160). He also supports Hunters emphasis on a
working knowledge of relevant research for teachers. (Slavin, 1987, p.17) This
knowledge will help teachers make analytical and critical decisions about their
teaching in order to be intentional. He provides the following questions as guides
(1987. p.11):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
For all the similarities between Slavins approach and the Hunter model, Slavin was
vehemently opposed to what he termed the hunterization of Americas schools
(Slavin, 1987, p.1). His main contention was with the large scale of implementation of
a stripped down shallow formula version of Hunters principles. Mishra (xxx) also
refers to the misuse of Hunters principles via school administrators.
While the Madeline Hunter Model employs specific behavioural objectives for each
learning sequence (1994, p.90), it is apparent that teachers are encouraged to work
with, not against, their students current understandings and ways of thinking. Taking
this into account then, behavioural or outcome objectives are formulated before the
lesson. These clearly indicate what the student should be able to do when the lesson is
accomplished.
An engaging opening to each lesson, termed the anticipatory set, begins the
sequence of acts of input, modelling, and checking for understanding. Input involves
providing basic information in an organized way and in a variety of formats, including
lecture, videos, or pictures. Modelling is used to exemplify critical attributes of the
topic of study, and various techniques are used to determine if students understand the
material before proceeding. The teacher then assists students through each step of the
material with guided practice and gives appropriate feedback.
Closure reviews and organizes the critical aspects of the lesson to help students
incorporate
information
into
their
knowledge
base.
Independent
practice,
In her interview with Mary Ann Zupan (1991,p.97), Hunter further responds to these
concerns:
When the critics start talking about rigidity they start talking about lesson design. People have talked
about the seven steps.those seven elements were like a lifeboat that people clutched..and
thats where the rigidity came in. They were never steps, thats something somebody else
publicized. There was no rigidity. In fact one teacher went back to her principal and said
Madeline Hunter says these dont all have to be in every lesson and the principal replied I
dont care what Madeline Hunter says, theyve all got to be there!
10
11
Berg and Clough (1991) in Hunter Lesson Design: the Wrong One for Science
Teaching propose that Madeline Hunters model is too narrow and relies heavily on
teacher directed behaviour(p.77) but go on to complain that the model is not directive
enough as it aims to inform teachers:
too many propositions in the Hunter scheme are NOT translated into procedures. The
propositions described are often general and vague they fail to delineate appropriate
teaching behaviors and strategies. (p.73)
It again becomes apparent that the polemic in the literature about the need for
maximum or minimum expert input or guidance in the learning process is
2 (http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2203/Mathematics-Learning-MYTHS-MYSTERIESREALITIES.html)
12
Richard Slavin sensibly suggests that an intentional teacher should be familiar with
both constructivist and direct instruction models:
Constructivist approaches to teaching typically make extensive use of cooperative learning
the emphasis on the social nature of learning and the use of groups of peers[and] discovery
learning, in which students are encouraged to learn largely on their own through active
involvement with concepts and principles" (Slavin, 2000, p. 259). In direct instruction, on
the other hand, "the teacher transmits information directly to the students; lessons are goaloriented and structured by the teacher" (Slavin, 2000, p. 220).
13
In conclusion, we find what Jack Corbin (cited in Garman&Hazi, 1988, p.670) has
referred to as the love-hate relationship which educators have towards Madeline
Hunter and her teaching model.
Madeline Hunters main idea was to observe what good teachers did, synthezise this
with what emerging research in cognition provided and translate (Zupan,1991, p.98,
Goldberg, 1990, p.43) these observations and findings into a format that could be
applied to class room practice. In What is wrong with Madeline Hunter (Hunter,
1995, Educational Leadership), she lists what she perceives as myths which have
been created around her intentions and the problems which she admits have been
caused by compulsory and shallow implementation of scaled down versions of her
model. The is emphatic about the fact that her model is not suitable for teacher
evaluation (p. 58). She also reiterates the research connection which formed the basis
of her model: Every proposition of this model was derived from research in human
learning. (p. 57).
14
Even one of her fiercest critics, Slavin, writes that one of the first requirements of
effective teaching is that the teacher understand how students think and how they
view the world. (Slavin 2000, p.29) and that intentional teachers have a clear sense
of how they want students to behave. They consider behavioural learning theory as
one set of tools that can help to support positive change in students behaviour and
[] their learning.(p.160)
In this spirit, the Hunter model is a guide to pratice rather than a seven steps to
success short cut. It should also encourage educators to read into research on
cognition and brain-sciences. Working with this model far from absolves teachers
from thinking for themselves: it encourages reflective decision-making for every step
of the learning process. Without reflection, teachers must either implement every
single innovation and idea which administrators at school or state level throw their
way, implement a hodge-podge random selection of the same or jadedly decide not to
implement any new ideas or proposals. Evaluating what the Madeline Hunter model
might contribute to classroom practice could provide an authentic opportunity for a
teacher to model critical and engaged thinking rather than cynicism.
Clear and
rigorous inquiry into ideas should be particularly applicable to the Arts subjects.
.
15
to concepts such as aptitude and talent, but it will take a look at the concept of
talent in arts education as discussed by David Elliott (1995). He believes that
effective arts education can be severely hampered by popular notions of talent,
which assume that ability in a creative field is more innate than it is taught:
Although musicianship is a form of knowledge that is applicable to and achievable by the
majority of children, some teachers and administrators base their decisions about music
curricula on the false assumption that music making is possible and appropriate only for
special students; namely, the so-called talented. (Elliott,p.235)
He goes on to explain that this irrational tendency to label music a talent instead of
a form of knowledge (1995, p236) becomes the justification for political and
financial decisions both in the classroom and at an administration level, causing music
(and by implication other art forms) to be deemed inaccessible and unnecessary for
the majority of school children. If only some children will benefit from music
education, goes the thinking, it may not be necessary to hire qualified specialist
teachers in the field or provide enough curriculum time to make sure skills are learnt
effectively.
Intentional teaching supports the learning of all students, no matter what their
aptitude, because it takes stock of where students are and charts a course to the
desired outcome.
introduced, presented and practiced and skills to be honed are made by an intentional
music teacher.
The notion of aesthetic subjectivity
Another difficulty intentional arts teachers have to overcome, is the perception of arts
education as aesthetic education and the notion of individual taste. There has been a
persistent emphasis on music/arts education as aesthetic education, such as expressed
by philosopher Susan K Langer. She defines art as the creation of forms symbolic of
human feeling and concludes that if the arts objectify subjective reality, then art
education is the education of feeling (cited in Smith and Simpson, 1991, p. 94).
Other and more recent writers, quoted at length in Elliott (1995), have recognized this
historical perspective as reductionist and diminishing the meaning of artistic product.
Arthur Danto (cited in Elliott, p.29) suggests that this aesthetic concept segregates
the arts from real life, implying that aesthetic pre-occupation relegates the arts to a
pedestal which is too lofty to have an impact on anything real. The insidious nature
16
Pearson, 1998; Sacks,2007; Alluri et.al., 2012; Brandt et.al, 2012;Corrigall & Trainor,
2011; Rauscher et.al, 1997; Cuskelly, 2011). These benefits are qualified by the above
considerations about passive consumption and active participation however. Transfer
of cognitive benefits is only documented where young musicians were actively
involved in prolonged periods of music making, i.e. in programmes which take the
time to foster competency, even mastery, under the guidance of expert teachers.
Learning about music does not have these benefits: based upon hard-core research
data, meaningful learning occurs through personal encounters with music, rather than
through verbal substitutes. (Shehan 1985, p.43)
Teaching for skill development requires expert teachers. Bula and Szymanowsky
(1987) conjecture that arts teachers (specifically music teachers in this paper) are not
sufficiently well informed about learning theory as it applies to their subject, many
times basing decision making in the class room on intuition rather than on any
professional knowledge. While it has to be acknowledged that this assertion is
somewhat of a generalization, it may well be true where arts subjects are taught by a
generalist teacher who is perceived to be musical or arty, and is placed there by
administrators who have bought into the myth that the Arts are about passive
experience or personal experimentation and that talented kids will do well no matter
what they experience in the classroom.
The need for expert knowledge of both the subject to be taught and the process of
learning is recognized in the most widely used arts education methodologies. In
preparation for an analysis of arts teaching at Saint Stephens College, this paper will
look at the music teaching philosophy of Kodaly, although many others, including
Karl Orff and Emile Jaques-Dalcroze have much to offer in terms of adding to a
purposeful philosophy of music education. Music teaching at Saint Stephens College
is based on Kodaly principles, while the College as a whole has adopted Madeline
Hunters model of instruction.
Zoltan Kodaly (1882-1967), the composer and philosopher whose thoughts inspired
the Kodaly Method of music teaching, used newly emerging understandings of the
psychology of learning as a basis for his pedagogical considerations (Sinor, 1986).
18
The question from here then is how to best translate expert knowledge on learning
theory into arts teaching practice: in the words of Dr Max Kaplan in what way does
the Kodaly phenomenon constitute a significant component between the technical and
the humanistic?(in Vikar 1985, p.9)
Zoltan Kodaly was a composer, ethnomusicologist, linguist and philosopher (Choksy,
1981) who throughout his career turned his attention to music for younger and
younger children. He was convinced that any real appreciation for and skill in the arts
must stem from earliest beginnings. In 1941, in an article titled Music for the Nursery
School, he likened school to a total cultural wilderness (Russel-Smith 1976). This
controversial message has perhaps set the tone for his work from then forwards.
Kodalys approach to music education featured an emphasis on audiation, the
development of music in the inner ear, or being able to think in music. He also
considered musical literacy, specifically the ability to sing music at sight without the
aid of an instrument, the basis of all music making. He considered music education a
fundamental right of all children and believed that the rhythms and sounds of the
native language should be the first repertoire children learn to sing. Kodaly himself
was motivated to think about childrens musical education by the sorry state of
general education and in particular the state of teacher education he observed. He
believed that only the best repertoire and the best teachers were good enough for
young childrens music education.
Kodaly did not involve himself greatly in developing these philosophical concepts
into a method or pedagogy, a task he left to his colleagues and students. Most
prominent among these are perhaps Jeno Adam (1896-1982) and later others,
including Erzsebet Szonyi (1973) Lois Choksy (1981,1986,1999,2001) and Philip
Tacka and Micheal Houlahan (1995).
According to Choksy (1986, p.8), what makes Kodalys ideas so significant in the
world of music education is that they are ideas: the embodiment of something much
larger than a bag of tricks by which to teach.
If one were to take away rhythm duration syllables, and hand signs, if one removed all the
visual aids that have become appendages of the method - if one removed even the solfa,
the ideas would remain:
19
Choksy (1986, p.8) goes on to point out that any pedagogical technique may be
misused in the hands of a poor teacher, but that a philosophy cannot be. This harkens
back to the problems that some have described with the implementation of Madeline
Hunters teaching model.
Misinterpretation of Kodaly as a method is quite frequent, however. Patricia Shehan
identifies Kodaly correctly as a deductive method of learning music and lauds this,
but , then goes on to extol the effectiveness of a creative-comprehensive approach
versus a more traditional folk song method. (1985, p.43)
Peter deVries (2001, p.26) is another writer who takes issue with the Kodaly
method, stating that one of the most limiting aspects of this approach is
its emphasis on specific musical skills, namely sol-fa, time-names, notation and in-tune
singing. Developing reading and singing skills is often emphasized to the detriment of helping
children behave as performers, composers and listeners of great music.(deVries, 2001, p.26)
Aside from the fact that behaving as a performer of great music (deVries, 2001,
p.25) is something which will come naturally to a well-trained young musician but
will never happen without the audiation and literacy skills discussed above, we have
seen that Kodaly did not intend for these skill development activities to stand in the
way of great music. He saw them correctly, as the keys, which unlock great music to
the understanding of children. No authentic artistic or critical engagement with any
music (great or otherwise) can occur without these keys (Kodaly 1941, 1957, cited in
Kodaly & Bonis, 1974).
Mary Anne Zupan (1991) has traced the similarities of the Kodaly approach to music
education and the Madeline Hunter model. She concludes that the methodologies
share the following principles of learning:
-Active Participation; -Motivation; -Reinforcement; -Whole vs Part Learning;
-Retention; -Transfer and -Practice Theory.
20
21
Sadly, Shehan (1985) finds herself in good company, as researchers line up to testify
to the effectiveness of active music making, learning by doing, deducing meaning
from context and experience, and so forth, but then turn on what they perceive of as a
traditional method which looks like it is teacher or subject centred. Kodaly comes in
for the same kind of ideology-based and logic-defying criticism that was discussed
above in terms of the Madeline Hunter model: ideological bias preventing teachers
from getting the most out of either model. Hanley and Montgomery (2005, p. 18) for
example, feel this way of thinking about curriculum is based on positivist
assumptions They do not believe that a view which is subject centred and
hierarchical in its organisation of knowledge meets the needs of a world that is
rapidly changing. Why developed skills are not seen as something other than tools
specifically appropriate for a changing world is unclear.
They propose a new, reconceptualised curriculum but admit that the idea they are
about to promote started to gain momentum among educators in the 1980s a full
25 years before their paper which terms this approach new! Hanley and
Montgomery (2005) feel that music education has been slow to engage in the
paradigm shift called postmodernism (p.18). They go on to provide a clearly political
summary of postmodernism in education and society, allowing us to see from whence
their motivation hails. While there is of course nothing wrong with political discourse,
in the case of the literature about Madeline Hunter and Kodaly, we find that ideology
seems to cloud the issue and cast a shadow of doubt over whether teachers who wish
to use intentional, sequential skill development in their classroom can at the same
time be encouraging creativity and critical thinking.
Hanley and Montgomery (2005) set up a number of false dichotomies as they contrast
what they term a Positivist quest for improvement with the reconceptualised quest
for understanding; the process of action and results with the process of inquiry; a
focus on how with a focus on why and right and wrong answers with multiple
answers. Why, it must be asked, can we not have improvement through
understanding? Inquiry action with results? Multiple right and wrong answers? The
learning of how so that we can analyse why?
22
They quote Thomas Regelski who in this call for Action for change in music
education (n.d.) writes about the need to steer away from methodolartry and
taken-for-granted recipes as he concludes that this will be working towards an
endullment of students. He is correct of course, but the context in which he is cited
mitigates against a fair reading of his premise and again leads to a clouding of the
relationship between the technical and humanistic aspects of teaching in the arts.
Beckmann-Collier (2009) suggests that the why of music should be emphasised
along with the how (not instead of) by encouraging the analysis of pieces being
performed. In an analysis, the how (deconstruction) has to be abundantly clear
before the why can get an intelligent answer, and again, deconstruction is not
possible without the correct tools of understanding.
Hanley and Montgomery (2005, p.18) ask should we be trying to improve our
students personal musical taste (highly emotive language which is indicative of a
certain political position). Taste will undoubtedly be educated as students benefit from
a teachers remit to introduce new and exciting possibilities to students. We all like
things known better than things unknown in teaching, we begin with the known
and link to a new concept. This is the same principle we would use as we expand
students musical experiences and in doing so, inevitably, their tastes.
Abrahams (2005, p.66, advocates an approach to music teaching which takes into
account students musical tastes and breaks down the barriers that exist between
what students enjoy listening to outside the classroom and the music their teachers
want them to learn. I have to interject the observation that this is quite an
assumption; even if such a barrier should exist (emotive language again), why would
we not want to supplement and extend our students with music we want them to
learn? If students enjoy reading cartoons, will we give up on Shakespeare because it
is associated, in some peoples mind, with Western imperialist ideas? Or will we
provide access to these ideas, this cultural capital, on equitable terms in order to
empower learners to interact with this type of knowledge?
Abrahams (2005,p.63) dislikes the popular approaches of Orff and Kodaly,
contrasting them unfavourably with critical pedagogy. He advocates NOT using a
23
I would contend that learning about music in a social, political and cultural context
may have occurred, but that Music learning has not occurred and will not occur until
someone sings or picks up an instrument, at the very least.
It is instructive to study the specific example of a lesson which Abrahams provides in
the above article (2005, pp.64-67): a Madonna tune (provided by the students) is
contrasted with the Queen of the Night aria by Mozart (provided by the teacher).
The learning experiences in order are:
In my opinion, no music learning has occurred during this sequence and students have
been presented with a task which sets all but the most experienced and gifted up for
failure as the composing tasks assumes detailed knowledge about
24
score reading
chord analysis (do they have to deduce these aurally?)
orchestration
melody reading skills
arranging skills (notation included?)
knowledge of genre
understanding of German and ability to translate to English
performance skills to sing and perform an aria (even re-written)
Before I can ask a student to rewrite Mozarts Queen of the Night aria for a
performance by Madonna, I have to ensure that the group has the background
knowledge and skills required. If I simply provide some class-room instruments,
software, and stationery, hoping the backwards and forwards process of real
thinking (Gibbony, 1987, p.50) will produce a quality rock arrangement of a classical
masterwork, I am irresponsibly kidding myself and my students. No amount of
collaboration will produce a musical arrangement if learners have been denied access
to the acquisition of the skills the task requires. Young people are not insensitive to
false praise. Being quite au fait with rock music by experience, they will quickly
realize that what they have produced will not be on Madonnas playlist for her next
world tour.
A well-known concept of motivational theory states that learners will be motivated to
strive if they believe that effort can make a difference to outcome (Dweck 2006). A
purely constructivist/experimental approach to such a complex task will condemn
those without a relevant skill background to failure and let those who happen to have
had the social or financial capital available to provide music lessons, succeed. The
success will have nothing at all to do with the teacher or the programme. The success
will, however, be unjustly interpreted as innate talent and demotivate all those who
were set up to fail by a teacher who could not, or would not, teach the skills necessary
before setting such a complex task or amend the task to suit the skill level of high
school students.
Abrahams also feels that if students do not have the skills to notate their
compositions, thats okay (p.65). No mention is made of the possibility of perhaps
teaching them how to notate their ideas. Is it really okay if students leave our
programmes illiterate in the discipline they have studied?
25
Specifically her article supports the notion of intentionally teaching for skill
development in order to affect the qualities Friedmann suggests:
Beckmann-Collier (2009, p.29) cites the Kodaly method as an example of teaching
towards the goal of helping students learn how to learn and chamber music,
sectionals, and singing inn ensemble as the way toward teaching authentic
collaboration (2009, p.28). Students who have the benefit of a teacher who is prepared
to plan learning experiences that are sequential and skill-oriented will be able to
participate ever more competently in these types of musical activities; as a result,
right-brain qualities such as artistry, empathy, vision, creativity develop through
successful engagement.
26
Friedmann cites the instance of the Georgia Institute of Technology, whose president
G.Wayne Clough (1994-2008) decided that the best engineers were not those who
could solve the calculus equation better than anyone else, but those who were
creative,
interesting,
multi-dimensional
thinkers.
Clough
noticed
that
disproportionate number of the most talented students were those who were interested
and active in creative endeavours. As a result, Georgia Tech changed its admission
policies, specifically recruiting excellent students who in addition to possessing good
grades also had ensemble music experiences in high school (cited in BeckmanCollier, p.28). Unfortunately it seems that the literature critiquing Intentional
Instruction (as exemplified by Madeline Hunter and specifically Kodaly) believes that
creative and multi-dimensional thinkers can be created without the input of people
who are experts both of subject matter and pedagogy.
and thus the political purpose of making sure education is securely based on
utilitarian outcomes is served. Friedman will have to wait for the curious, passionate
and intelligent Lebensknstler 3 he sees shaping our future for a while yet.
ACARA sees the five arts curriculum areas - Dance, Drama, Media Arts, Music and
Visual Artsas distinct but related(ACARA The Arts Curriculum Foundation 10,
p3). The document does not describe this relationship further. In this literature review
we have seen that there are distinct differences between various areas of the arts
(Zupan 1991), particularly between performing and visual arts and further between
aurally orientated and visually or movement orientated arts. The contention that there
is a particular connection between the arts is spurious and can only refer to the
aesthetic component they share. This aspect was discussed in detail above and is
seen as educationally weak.
Combining The Arts and making the curriculum accessible to the generalist teacher
will undoubtedly save money. This, however, is a saving which impacts on the equity
of arts/music learning opportunity in our State, where, thus far, every child had the
opportunity to be taught by a qualified musician (for example) and develop significant
practical skills (both aurally and instrumentally) which opened the doors for an
authentic lifelong engagement with music as a performer or audience member.
Confusingly, the curriculum recognized the special status of Music later on in the
document as not having a direct relationship with the other Arts (p.19). Drama, Visual
Arts and Media, make use of our common language (English) for communication.
Music however, has its own language, which must first of all be experience and
learned before it can be used successfully and authentically in a creative context. The
preamble acknowledges this by stating that: Learning the language, skill,
techniques, processes and knowledge of each Arts subject is sequential and
cumulative. (ACARA 2012, p.3)
Lebensknstler.- a German word which connotes a person who approaches life with the zest and inspiration of
an artist, although he or she may not be working recognizably as an artist.
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The way that this draft curriculum is organized lacks indication as to how levels of
achievement are to be arrived at. I am left wondering how a generalist teacher will
achieve aims such as:
By the end of Year 4, students sing and play music demonstrating pitch and rhythmic
accuracy,
when the only stated learning activity which may lead to this outcome is in 4.4
Practising music to develop skills in singing and playing by EXPLORING and
TRIALLING sound possibilities, working together to sing in tune, keep in time and
listen carefully to blend their sound with other[emphasis mine].(ACARA, 2012,
p.100)
The pitch and rhythm accuracy do not develop by exploration and/or trial. Like the
ability to speak well, it depends on much excellent modelling and/or explicit teaching.
Students may have had these in their family or cultural background, but they may not
have. This is not an equitable road into musicianship because it relies too heavily on
students being lucky enough to come from a certain cultural background. If families
do not read at home, reading development will be hampered, if families do not speak
well, language skills will be hampered we know this and we address these
difficulties carefully in our curricula. We train our teachers well in order to facilitate
the equitable teaching of reading and language. We explicitly teach our students how
to do these things in our schools. Equally, if families do not sing and/or dance,
children will not be able to sing or dance unless we teach them. Is the generalist
teacher able (or confident enough) to provide an excellent model?
The content descriptors in this draft curriculum do not offer a sequential pathway for
skill development, despite the encouraging mention of sequential development in the
preamble of the document. The draft curriculum tests childrens cultural and
economic background in terms of what musical knowledge they are able to
demonstrate in the classroom. It does not provide a sequential strategy for
(particularly the generalist) teacher, which might give all children equitable access to
this knowledge. The draft curriculum at present is focused on childrens cultural
capital, not teacher skill. This is unacceptable and makes a mockery of recent and
legitimate emphases on thorough teacher training. In order to ensure equitable
provision of arts education, the curriculum should outline specific skill sequences in
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every Arts subject, particularly if it is envisioned that these areas be taught by nonspecialists. At present, the draft document seems to expect skills to appear due to
natural talent or rely on cultural and economic circumstances of a students home
environment.
ACARAS rationale for learning Music encouragingly speaks about intention. The
rationale refers to the fact that Music enables students to listen with intent. In fact
this statement needs to be corrected to read musicianship enables students to listen
with intent (ACARA, 2012, p.91). Music itself does no such thing. Developing
listening skills enables listening with intent.
Finally, the draft syllabus features a lack of regard for embedded content knowledge
and skills, while foregrounding personal emotional responses. While it is important to
include the formation of authentic and intelligent personal responses, these will not be
possible unless one has first acquired the tools for aural analysis and then listened
with intent.
Conclusion
In my literature review I was not able to discover many examples of extended and
well-argued examples of professional discourse about either Intentional Teaching or
arts pedagogy. Publications tend to address one particular philosophical or theoretical
perspective and only rarely give voice to an opposing or contrasting point of view.
Careful, respectful and nuanced discussion of important concepts seems to become
lost in political and ideological entrenchment. Instead of a jostling for intellectual or
philosophical superiority, a desire for a real understanding would support our (surely)
shared aim to identify the implications of content, challenges, extensions,
redefinitions, and the refocusing of arts education as it is presented to us in the
incoming National Curriculum. Each of the teaching approaches I reviewed briefly
comes with its own set of problems, yet the analysis of these in the context of
classroom experience was shallow at best. If it is the continued standing of arts
education, as an academically valuable addition to students education, that we have at
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heart, our discussion needs to become less partisan, less panicked and more deeply
thoughtful.
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