ABSTRACT. Teaching and learning in music often yield learners and graduates who are competent in aspects of music making. Graduates of music programmes are often acknowledged as music makers and music thinkers. With a curriculum that began in childhood, traditional music learning in several African communities yielded rounded musician performer-composer-technician-educator. These are four areas of music making that require different, yet perhaps complementary skills. One wonders how the indigenous education managed this, what it entails and how this can be applied in terms of a composite methodology-material package in learning to prepare players for the modern music industry.

This paper will examine the practice and teaching of two traditional Luo (Kenyan) music genres, orutu and dodo with a view to deciphering the place of resources and procedures of oral tradition in implementing literacy-anchored higher music education. The research interrogates the materials and procedures, which are analysed against the backdrop of modern educational practices and the skills needs towards an articulation of their role in meeting modern-day educational needs. The guiding questions are:

What are the technical skills required for performing the selected music genres? What are the curricula and procedures designed for teaching? How do learners tackle the learning in higher education spaces? What are the expected learning outcomes? How can traditional approaches inform modern education towards efficacy and quality in music education? The paper will investigate the psychological import and social impact of the learning procedures on higher education students to inform any recommendations on the use of indigenous resources in modern day education. This will guide the articulation of a principle to guide the selection and application of resources and procedures for music education that will respect traditional resources and practices, and speak to learners’ cultural identity.

ABSTRACT. Research methods used in music education often report on pupils' speech or a combination of verbal and non-verbal contributions to understanding what learning materialises in composition or ensemble work. This paper offers a different approach using a multimodal social semiotic theory of communication, in which silence has been defined as the absence of the mode of speech. I aim to discuss how we, as researchers and UK secondary school music teachers, could diversify our practice by understanding the value of pupils' learning through their instances of non-verbal (silent) communication during computer-based music composition.

Operationalising a multimodal social semiotic theoretical framework involved observing and recording four sequential music lessons in which Camtasia (a screen capture program) captured two Year 9 pupils (aged 14-15) work-in-progress. The video-based observations then enabled the generation and framing of data that created maps used for analytical purposes. Of the four lessons and amidst many instances of non-verbal communication, an in-depth analysis focused on sixteen instances of non-verbal communication. Each map differed and showed how the pupils’ choices of modes and resources of modes gave value and richness to understanding their learning.

The study found that during the pupils' instances of non-verbal (silent) communication, they initiated and interpreted different signs of learning, such as signs of interest, control and negotiation and other non-verbal communications, like disbelief and enthusiasm. The pupils’ interest and agency in the task evidenced their learning through their specific choices of modes and resources and whether or not they chose to engage and respond to each other's non-verbal communication. Extending our understanding of modes of communication beyond language shows us that pupils do learn through their ongoing non-verbal communication.

ABSTRACT. This research into digitally-mediated musical creativity seeks to better understand how musical products are created, that is developed, through and around tablet computers in UK-based, secondary school settings. A sociocultural, systems-based definition of creativity, which forwards goal-oriented mediated action after Vygotsky (1978), Wertsch (1991) and Engeström (2011) provides the theoretical basis which drove fieldwork. This approach broadly aligns with Small’s (1998) description of musicking and Csikszentmihalyi’s (1996) systems model of creativity, as expanded upon by Burnard (2006). Such an approach defines the systems-based, personal and socio-cultural conditioned unit of analysis developed, from which research questions and methodology emerge. A constructivist epistemological position promotes the situated nature of those meanings which emerge in each of two school communities. Therein, findings are presented as two separate case reports (after Stake, 1995, 2006). Five mixed-ability pairings are purposively sampled from each community to represent the broad range of musical experience present in that setting. A video-enhanced participant-observation method (after Jewitt, 2012; Heath et. al, 2011) is developed to ensure that systemic, multimodal (Kress, Van Leeuwen, 2001; Jewitt, 2006) musicking behaviours are captured as they emerge over time. Using longitudinally arranged tables and charts, data is mapped onto its system dimension of origin (e.g., student; partner; teacher; tablet) and then temporally arranged. This ensures that the development of a digitally-mediated creative musical idea (e.g. a riff or a chord progression) can be made tangible for inspection. The contribution of this research remains to ‘lift the lid’ on creative musical development and peer inside. Far from ‘pressing a button’, findings evidence that during tablet-mediated musicking, socially and culturally conditioned musical, technological and pedagogical knowledge emerge from a range of system dimensions (e.g., community rules; student; tablet; teacher) to ensure that student musicians develop a performance-enhancing musical product which has authentic meaning to them.

ABSTRACT. Researchers widely agree that human beings have the general capacity to perceive, produce, and enjoy music. However, the striking diversity of individuals’ musical competencies continually fuels the debate on whether musicians are born or made. In the present study, interindividual differences in physiological reactivity to music are considered as one of the more predisposing factors contributing to the broad interindividual variability in musical competencies. While environmental factors influencing the development of musical competencies have been well investigated, intriguingly, physiological reactivity to music as a varying natural factor across individuals has not been considered yet. The study aimed to analyze the relationships between physiological reactivity to music, musical engagement, and musical competencies to provide the first evidence of the relevance of physiological reactivity to music in the context of musical competencies. The sample consisted of 127 adults, and the procedure involved participants listening to 15 unknown soundtrack excerpts. Musical engagement was obtained through self-report prior to the music excerpt exposure. Next, physiological reactivity to music was measured through skin conductance during the music excerpt exposure. Finally, participants’ musical competencies were assessed through an adaptive test battery. The findings showed that physiological reactivity to music was positively linked with musical engagement, which in turn was positively related to participants’ musical competencies. Still, physiological reactivity to music and participants’ musical competencies were uncorrelated. Based on our result, we conclude that physiological reactivity to music is relevant for musical engagement and should be considered as a potentially important precursor for interindividual differences in musical competencies development. Music-educational approaches to emphasize this would be to address components of the musical communication process such as the composer’s inspiration, score, interpretation, etc., and to create situations in which students experience their individual expressive responsiveness to music by working out the relationship between felt and expressed musical emotions.

ABSTRACT. Researchers and psychologists have undertaken preliminary studies tracking the eye movements of expert pianists with at least 10 years of training to understand more about the top-down cognitive processes involved with eye fixations, pattern recognition and eye-hand span in effective sight reading. Although music educators have explored possible cognitive processes and teaching strategies to help novice musicians improve sight-reading skills, to date, few studies have explored the eye movements of beginning musicians to understand if such learning strategies alter these eye movements in ways that improve sight-reading performance.

This study sought to compare the eye movements, pattern recognition and sight-reading performance between two groups of beginning adult piano students. All participants had been studying piano for 17 weeks prior to the experiment. A pretest was administered to gather baseline scores for individual sight-reading performance and t-tests revealed that control and experimental groups were comparable. During the experimental phase, the control group (n=30) rehearsed sight-reading examples without teacher support for 15 minutes, twice a week, for six weeks. Concurrently, an experimental group (n=30) used instructor-led chunking strategies for 5 minutes, prior to rehearsing the sight-reading examples independently. Students’ pretest and posttest data were gathered using the Aurora 250Hz screen-based eye-tracking hardware along with recordings of their performances on a Clavinova CVP 430 digital piano and video camera. Results were analyzed individually for eye fixations, pattern groupings, eye-hand span and performance accuracy; control and experimental groups were compared.

There were significantly shorter eye fixations, more musical chunks recognized, slightly larger eye-hand span and higher performance scores for the experimental group. These exploratory findings suggests that chunking drills employed in lessons might help beginning adult students improve sight-reading ability through pattern recognition. Sample eye movements from each study group will be shared and implications for teaching practice will be explored during the presentation.

ABSTRACT. Rhyme is frequently described as a “musical” device in song lyrics and poetry. It is also often considered to be an enigmatic, obfuscating and obstructive aspect of songwriting craft, with even accomplished songwriters such as Lady Gaga and Kurt Cobain taking to their own lyrics to complain of its difficulty. In this workshop we will explore themes relating to rhyme, education and creativity in songwriting, considering the extent to which deeper and more detailed understanding of the cognitive underpinnings of rhyme’s aesthetic effects and perceived “musicality” might be of value to both songwriters themselves and those working with them in professional and educational settings.

Drawing from my experience as a nationally competitive slam poetry champion successfully integrating concepts from music and language cognition into my own rhyming practice, I will offer key ideas as to how those working with songwriters can incorporate an academic understanding of what rhyme is, and how it interacts with the human mind, into their creative conversations around lyrical language. Participants are encouraged to likewise share their experiences of teaching and working creatively with rhyme, songwriting and lyricists.

In addition to more general discussion, participants will also have the opportunity to experiment creatively with rarer rhyme forms such as pararhyme, acrostic scrambling and reverse rhyme. Using lyrical examples from artists such as Bob Dylan, the Libertines and Public Enemy, I will further explore how the perceived “dissonance” of pararhyme can be explained with reference to academic literature on music cognition and speech perception. Similarly, I will examine perceived “pitch” differences between differing vowel sounds, and detail how these can be exploited creatively in song lyrics by musicians more used to considering melodic pitch. Throughout the workshop, we will evaluate how artists and educators alike may work towards “mastery” versus “mystery” when working within rhyme’s complex constraints.

ABSTRACT. This presentation will focus upon Green’s model of informal learning (IL) in music education. Green’s model is based upon how popular musicians learn music in the informal realm, valuing attributes such as student choice, aural learning and integration of musical components. The approach recognises that learning can be ‘haphazard’ at times, often acting as an antidote to problems attributed to the historical dominance of formal and traditional pedagogy, for example, low motivation and a lack of authenticity. Green’s IL approach has sparked vast debate in the literature, and the complexity of key themes that have arisen will be discussed, including teacher role, student autonomy and marketisation. Over 20 have passed since Green’s ‘How Popular Musicians Learn’ publication, and current music education policy in England often favours more formal, traditional approaches. Western Art music repertoire, values and knowledge permeate through documents such as the Model Music Curriculum and the Ofsted Research Review for Music, suggesting strain between dominant ideologies and IL. Impact of lockdowns due to the pandemic resulted in a switch to online learning, causing restriction to in-person IL for lengthy periods of time. However, despite adversity, IL continues to inform practice in schools nationally and internationally and continues to be supported by Musical Futures. This presentation will explore some of the factors which contribute towards the prevalence and success of the approach in many schools, drawing upon empirical research. IL can offer the utopia of freedom for some teachers and can have the appeal of revolutionary change to remedy historical problems. However, to what extent IL theory has evolved beyond the original under-pinning research in some settings will also be considered. To conclude, implications will be proposed for the sustainability of the IL approach. Continued debate will be invited about the place of IL in current music education.

ABSTRACT. Facing a “nexus of multiple crises”, societies seem on the verge of transformation. Music education needs a transformative approach as societies do, being essentially situated in and contributing to this social change. To reflect upon a possible transformative vision, a closer look at the fundamentals seems crucial. Having read widely on music’s role across disciplines, we understood that music is a way of being present in the world and coined a term for this state: MusicBeing. Looking at research on mindfulness and other practices of truly being present, so far music education falls short in systematically integrating this potential.

We conceptualize the neologism MusicBeing from the perspective of music as ubiquitous intra-action under the premises of fundamental connectivity and relationality of all beings. Thus, humans intra-act as musical affectors within dynamic, highly entangled ecosystems where musical practices embody subjectivation and imbue the formation of communities. This perspective leads us to consider that while societies generally place emphasis on the individual’s merits, the notion of musical intra-action mirrors a shift of perspective from ego-system to eco-system.

What does this change in perspective mean for music education? How are the phenomena of connectivity and relationality depicted in music education literature focused on holistic topics such as well-being, resilience, eco-literacy, and spirituality? Finally, what can be derived from these insights to conceptualize musical intra-action and eventually, a transformation of educational approaches?

We situate our search for answers in the literature on the various aspects of intra-connected musical practices that work together to create complex musical ecosystems. We systematically analyze this wide-ranging body of studies through a multi-layered, structured approach including focused Boolean keyword searches, tagging, journaling, and cross-literature inductive thematic analysis. We will present the preliminary findings of this meta-narrative review as an ongoing process of inquiry into MusicBeing.

ABSTRACT. Elementary-aged students likely participate in a school Community of Musical Practice (CoMP) in addition to other CoMPs outside of school; therefore, knowing a student’s entire Landscape of Musical Practice (LoMP) may help teachers better align in and outside music activities to better foster identity work. The purpose of this study was to identify how students engaged within a LoMP to determine to what extent a student’s identity was reconciled, renegotiated, or modulated by such participation. In addition to reporting the findings, we introduce three new concepts that may generate a deeper understanding of how children journey across a LoMP. The imaginary CoMP can be seen when a child plays or imagines participating within a musical community. Children may not know what types of activities they enjoy, prefer, or are competent; therefore, they may dabble within and between different activities, or try out and bounce between different activities without intention or understanding of full participation within a CoMP. Because children are minors and lack full agency, they cannot join CoMPs without permission and help from an adult. The steward, therefore, can be understood as someone who is responsible for managing the child’s LoMP, and is especially involved when searching out and locating access to participation in a CoMP. With these concepts, more might be learned about how a child’s LoMPs is different than that of adults, and how teachers might better understand how to align class activities with those of the child’s LoMPs. Findings suggest that teachers may wish to consider ways to encourage exploration in the classroom and to find ways to encourage students to dabble between activities that help them discover what kind of musician they want to be as well as what activities they might wish to engage across their LoMP.

ABSTRACT. As a significant national art heritage of China, Chinese Opera combines music, dance, and martial arts with unique vocal techniques, instrumentation, and visualization to reflect traditional Chinese culture and values (Ho & Law, 2019; Miller & Church, 2015). However, there is limited extant research examining the influence of Chinese opera on cross-cultural music education and pedagogical initiatives. The purpose of this historical research was to analyze pedagogical implications of two rare Chinese opera performance recordings located at the Indiana University Archives of Traditional Music. Questions guided the research are: Who were the performers and which repertoire was performed? What combination of vocal techniques and instrumentation unique to the Chinese opera tradition were employed? What are the pedagogical implications from this performance practice, and how do they impact a cross-cultural approach to music education? I employed immersion and saturation as the primary research methodology (Volk, 2003). Primary sources included the two Chinese opera performance recordings titled Hide Out for Life and Love and The Ruse of the Three Kingdoms, background information on the performing organization, a detailed synopsis of the stories of the two operas, texts and scripts, and instrumentation. Findings revealed two distinct Chinese opera genres that employed vocal qualities and techniques unique to Chinese musical traditions. The productions engaged traditional Chinese instruments, including Hsiao ku (small drum), Ta lo (big gong), Ching hu (short form of Er hu), and Er hu (long fiddle). The synopsis offered the historical context of the two Chinese operas and provided formative learning materials about China with historical and cultural relevance. The uncovering of the performance recordings contributes to the understanding and incorporation of non-Western vocal techniques. It offers new perspectives on establishing cross-cultural music pedagogies and curricula, valuing global educational exchanges, and promoting inclusive learning environments for culturally and ethnically diverse learners.

ABSTRACT. Historical trends in wind literature can be analyzed through published concert band literature lists, such as those of the Florida Bandmasters Association (FBA). Previous research revealed that the 2020 FBA concert music list was primarily comprised of Caucasian (96.4%) and male (98.4%) composers. The list included only 6 Caucasian female composers, 10 Japanese composers (9 male and 1 female), 4 Latinx male composers, and 2 African American male composers. The purpose of this study was to identify emergent trends in composer demographics to determine if there have been any changes over time.

A total of 3,277 compositions have appeared on the FBA list over the course of time. Approximately 57% of the compositions appearing on lists were composed specifically for the modern wind band, and the remaining 43% were transcriptions. There were 909 composers represented on the list. Only nine female composers’ works have ever been on the lists (1%). The first female composers to appear on the FBA list were Emma Lou Diemer in 1968, followed by Eugenie Rocherolle in 1972, and Anne McGinty whose works began appearing in 1981. There have been nine African-American composers (also 1%) to appear on the list, beginning in 1949 with Justin Elie and then in 1957 with William Grant Still, Julian Work, and Ulysses Kay. Eight Hispanic composers (representing Brazil, Cuba, and Mexico) had compositions on the FBA list including three on the original 1949 list: Antonio Carol Gomes, Alberto Nepomuceno, and Ernesto Lecuona. Eighteen Asian composers (2%) have appeared on the list starting in 1953 with Dai-Keong Lee and Cambodian Prince Norodom Sihanouk. The problem of grossly imbalanced representation of composers by sex and race is of great concern and should be addressed by the profession.

ABSTRACT. AP Music Theory is one of many subjects in American AP program. The purpose of this study is to explore differences in music theory exam participation and performance by analyzing data from AP annual reports in the past 25 years. To have a deeper understanding of the development of this international music exam, research questions are as follows: 1. Judging from the participation of candidates, what development and changes have AP music theory experienced? and 2. How do candidates of different genders, grades, and races perform differently on the AP Music Theory Exam? Results show that although the number of test takers has grown rapidly, test scores have shown an overall downward trend. At the same time, in the AP music theory exam, male candidates have more participants, and their scores are better than female candidates; although the number of 12th-grade candidates is significantly higher than that of 11th-grade candidates, the average score is not as good as 11th grade; Among the candidates, Asian American performed the most prominently. Compared with the similar music theory examinations in China, there are many aspects worthy of study in reforming the examination system and the statistics of examination data.

ABSTRACT. Inclusion is a term widely discussed in the field of education for the past decades, since children with disabilities are educated among their peers without disabilities, in mainstream schools. Considering the fact that musical learning and development is unique for each person and depends on interactions between the person and the surrounding environment (Gaunt & Hallam, 2016), music teachers need to focus on the individuality of students in order to create the best possible learning environments where all children learn and enjoy music (Jellison, 2015). Music, as a subject, offers many possibilities in modes of presentation and response to materials, through which music educators can motivate and engage their students meaningfully regardless of their abilities or disabilities (Darrow, 2010). The principles of Universal Design for Learning can be implemented at the beginning of the music curriculum design and lesson planning, in order to develop a more inclusive classroom for all students (Armes, Harry & Grimsby, 2022). This paper proposes a model on inclusive music education mapped on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system’s perspective, that synthesises Jellison’s five characteristics of inclusive music classrooms with the principles of Universal Design for Learning (CAST, 2018) and the Sounds of Intent framework (Ockelford, 2008). The proposed model could act as a valuable tool for the design of musical activities and educational environments which lead to meaningful musical experiences in inclusive music settings, enabling music teachers to reflect on their practice, analyse the musical activities they design in depth and provide opportunities which create meaningful musical experiences for all their students.

ABSTRACT. Whole-class ensemble tuition (WCET) provides primary school children with the opportunity to learn a musical instrument through their local Music Education Hub (MEH). England’s National Plan for Music Education (DfE and DCMS, 2022:29) states that ‘it is important that all children in the class take part’ in WCET or smaller-group tuition. However, children with additional needs can face significant barriers in taking part alongside their peers, with some cases of children being excluded from WCET altogether.

Employing a mixed-methods methodology across three MEHs situated within the English midlands, this paper reports on two successive evaluations which took place during the academic years 2021-2022 and 2022-2023. They explore the lived experiences of a range of participants including children, MEH music teachers, school-located teachers, parents/carers, MEH and Project Leads who took part in the Inclusive Access to Music Making (IAMM) project led by music charity The OHMI Trust (OHMI) in partnership with Creative United.

Considering a range of viewpoints, this paper will present several important findings from the evaluations highlighting the importance of the IAMM project and the work of OHMI. These findings include: the overall effectiveness and impact of IAMM’s programme of support for improving parity of access to music-making in WCET classes; how the IAMM project enabled young people with additional physical needs to progress in their musical learning, and how the innovative assessment approach adopted by OHMI highlighted previously unknown barriers to music-making, thus breaking down assumptions.

ABSTRACT. Eugenics is a racist living legacy, informing current ideas and practices in U.S. music education, education, and beyond —even though the connections to eugenics are not widely known today. Dr Koza documents psychologist Carl Seashore’s (1866-1949) substantial participation in the eugenics movement during the first part of the twentieth century and his instrumental role in effecting a host of eugenically informed education and music education reforms in the United States. Recognizing the racist roots of these reforms, Koza argues, can be a critical starting point for effective equity initiatives. Looking outside of the United States for new systems of reasoning and practices may be a helpful strategy for scholars and educators who seek to uproot and defund the racist living legacy embodied by eugenics.

ABSTRACT. The music specialist teachers come from a variety of musical backgrounds and qualifications. Their musical background, training, beliefs, and practice can influence the success of the warm-up. The purpose of this research was to investigate the beliefs and practical experiences of music specialist teachers in Hungary about the warm-ups in classroom music lessons and, in the children's choir rehearsals; and examine the correlation between teachers’ beliefs and teachers’ musical background, musical/choral conducting training, teaching practice. In the research process participated 260 music specialist teachers, and 125 of them have been conducting children's choirs too. Data were collected using the online questionnaire method. SPSS was used to process data using quantitative methods: descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and Pearson correlation. Factor analysis was employed to classify warm-up philosophies, and Pearson correlation to reveal correlations between dependent and independent variables. The results indicated that the music specialist teachers who conducted a children’s choir used warm-ups more often in classroom music lessons than those who did not lead a choir. The structure and proportion of warm-up exercises were variable and depended on the type of school, and the age and musical qualifications of the children. There was a significant correlation between music specialist teachers’ beliefs about the frequency and methods of warm-ups and teachers’ musical training. The length of choral singing practice of music specialist teachers was significantly correlated with their beliefs about the structure and purpose of the warm-ups. All music specialist teachers should address body alignment, breathing mechanisms, phonation of the vocal folds, and resonance while cultivating healthy singing mechanisms through a variety of warm-up exercises. It is important for music specialist teachers to acquire theoretical and practical knowledge and experiences of the mechanisms of children's vocal training and the structure of warm-ups during their university education.

ABSTRACT. Choral teachers in the United States tend to prioritize direct instruction, centering Eurocentric music while limiting democracy and student autonomy. Students of all ages have reported that learning informally in schools yields musical growth and feelings of ownership, autonomy, motivation, and engagement. However, research related to Informal Learning Practices and Processes (ILPP) within choirs remains scarce. Therefore, the purpose of this case study was to explore Informal Learning Practices and Processes (ILPP) within the context of one public high school choral program. Research foci included the exploration of the values, benefits, and challenges of students and their teacher when engaging with ILPP in a choral context. Using a conceptual lens that included both social constructivism and Wright’s adaptation (2015) of Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice (1986), the researcher centered questions such as: (a) How can music teachers place students’ musical identities at the foreground of the curriculum? and (b) How can music teachers value students’ habitus and capital?

In this case study, the researcher purposively sampled one school choral teacher who facilitates and plans for ILPP in his classes. Mr. Cohen and 24 of his high school students (ages 14-18) served as participants in this study. Data sources and types included three semi-structured teacher interviews, 39 semi-structured interviews with students, 30 hours of observation, and artifacts. To ensure trustworthiness, the researcher engaged in triangulation, member checking, and peer coding. The data analysis yielded multiple themes, including (a) We have a voice, (b) Explore music the way we want, (c) Teacher support is necessary, (d) Collaboration strengthens community, and (e) Skills transfer between formal-informal tasks. Results suggest that choir teachers consider challenging both the convergent structure of school as well as the large ensemble industry standard, instead choosing to prioritize place-based, reflexive teaching and student voice.

ABSTRACT. School music textbooks should present content in a gender-sensitive way and overcome gender stereotypes (Wollinger, 2022), however, research has found that they still show deficiencies in the representation of women composers (Heß, 2015). Following current approaches in gender studies, namely the concept of Doing Gender (West & Zimmerman, 1987), we consider gender as a social construct that is produced in social actions. Unlike former studies, our research pursues a qualitative approach and aims to discover (1) how women composers are presented in school music textbooks and (2) how Doing Gender and Doing Difference occur in this presentation?. To answer our questions, 18 school music textbooks were sifted to identify all pages on which women composers are presented. These pages were analyzed following the qualitative content analysis of Mayring (2015). The analysis included content-related aspects, e.g. biographical or historical information, as well as formal and linguistic features. Subsequently, we connected all of these aspects and interpreted the results in the light of musicological research concerning the women composers we encountered in the textbooks. We then also compared the presentation of women composers to that of male composers. In our presentation we would like to give an insight into the results of our study. We will show moments of Doing Gender, for example by pointing out the use of derogatory wording or the presentation of personal dependencies. Furthermore, we will discuss how school music textbooks can contribute to a more gender-sensitive representation of women composers.

ABSTRACT. Current international classroom research has shown that colonisation is furthered by the non-reflective use of materials for school lessons. As a result, attributions of culture are perpetuated unquestioningly. This also applies to the field of music education. The latter is affected by the need to find stronger approaches in educating teaching professionals that sustainably deal with topics such as hegemony and the understanding of handling diversity and racism critique. This is particularly true since Eurocentric perspectives have long shaped the classical canon of the teaching of music in Europe in the field of school without being questioned. This study will focus on a discourse analysis of German and English music textbooks for secondary school concerning the presentation of Jewish Music. Patterns of thought and action that follow colonial logic will be revealed. Decolonisation has become an increasingly important topic in Anglo-American and international music education. In Europe, however, there have been only few approaches to this topic in teacher education. The object of the study is to focus on cultural essentialisms in order to deconstruct monolithic understandings with a focus on Jewish culture in music education. Furthermore, the study qualitatively examines, on the basis of a group of students, whether decolonial awareness is stylised into an "additive" figure of teacher competence, which serves to valorise practices of difference, but in doing so accepts losing sight of the reflection of one's own orders of knowledge in thematizing “other cultures”. Divergences from narrowing traditionalised understandings and colonial structures as well as the reflection of stereotyping of Jewish music and culture are addressed against the background of the general discourse on heterogeneity, so that the results of the sub-studies contribute to professional research in inclusive teacher education.

ABSTRACT. Panel discussion

ABSTRACT. The purpose of this study was to examine a breadth of research literature on neuroscience to provide ways that these findings influence our understanding of music teaching and learning. Although our knowledge of the way the brain works is still in its infancy, neuroscientists have made tremendous strides in music brain research over the past few decades. This explosion of information has created unprecedented opportunities in many fields, not the least in education, generally, and in music education, specifically. While psychologists and other researchers have completed examinations into what people do to become expert performers, neuroscientists have been studying the brain to understand what happens when people learn. Music-making is an extremely complex action that involves many different brain structures. Music processing functions are distributed throughout the brain. The conscious perception of auditory, visual and somatosensory inputs relies on primary and secondary regions in the cerebral cortex, while most other parts of the brain are intricately involved in the automatic or unconscious facets of music-making. One needs the motor control and coordination to enable dexterity at playing an instrument; the emotional centers of the brain and the neo-cortex have to communicate well with each other to enable emotional exchange through music; one needs the capacity to be creative; and special structures for remembering music are required. Brain-based learning (BBL) is a comprehensive approach to instruction using current research from neuroscience. It draws upon the structure and functioning of the brain and takes into consideration the rules of the brain for meaningful learning. The examination of neuroscience and specific findings related to music learning will conclude with implications of brain-based learning in music teaching and learning. Conclusions will outline principles and strategies that enable music teachers to effectively teach the diversity of learners in the music classroom. Spoken paper.

ABSTRACT. This randomized controlled trial examined the effects of participating in a music-based intervention strategy implemented in a community setting. Specifically, we measured the direct and indirect effects of participation in a Music Early Learning Program (MELP) on parental sensitivity and socioemotional functioning in children aged 2 to 5. Given the results of previous studies, we hypothesized that participation in a MELP would promote parental sensitivity and that this improvement would positively affect child behaviors. To test these hypotheses, 38 families were randomly assigned to a MELP or to a no-MELP condition. To assess the different variables at the heart of this research, we conducted home visits before and after implementing the MELP. We used the Maternal Behavior Q-Sort (MBQS, Tarabulsy et al., 2009) to assess parental sensitivity and the Behavioral Assessment Scoring System (BASC-3, Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2015) to assess child socioemotional functioning.

Consistent with previous studies, we found that participation in a MELP showed greater and more positive changes in parental sensitivity during interactions with their children. However, participation in the MELP did not affect variables linked to child socioemotional outcome. These findings indicate that exposure to MELPs may have benefits for parent-child interactions and relationships in much the same way as attachment-based intervention. However, the absence of child-based, socioemotional results suggests that other factors are involved that either facilitate or hinder changes in child outcomes. More research is required to draw out the specific mechanisms involved in changes to parental sensitivity of mothers and fathers exposed to MELPs. Discussion focuses on the MELP-based mechanisms that may provide changes in sensitivity, as well as on the developmental processes that may be involved in such changes.

ABSTRACT. Numerous researchers have employed Likert-type scales to measure salient psychological constructs, including students’ self-efficacy beliefs, intrinsic motivation, and self-worth for music learning (Austin & Miksza, 2012; Evans et al., 2012; Renwick & McPherson, 2002; Ritchie & Williamon, 2011; Zelenak, 2015). However, few researchers have investigated the effectiveness of scales designed to measure self-efficacy and motivation among singers and the roles these constructs play in vocal music education. Building from three theoretical frameworks—Self-Efficacy (Bandura, 1997), Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985), and Self-Worth Theory (Covington, 1984)—the purpose of the pilot study was to assess the reliability of four adapted measures of psychological constructs. Participants included 31 middle school students (N = 31) who were enrolled in a public middle school choir in the Southwestern United States. The sample consisted of 63.9% female (n = 23), 16.7% male (n = 6), and 5% genderfluid (n = 2) students in the grade levels of 27.8% sixth grade (n = 10), 36.1% seventh grade(n = 13), and 22.2% eighth grade (n = 8). Each participant was provided a link to complete the questionnaire using the IU Qualtrics survey software. Cronbach’s Alpha revealed strong internal consistency of the items of the measures: Voice Performance Self-Efficacy Scale (α= .87), Self-Efficacy for Singing Questionnaire (α= .76), Intrinsic Motivation Inventory for Singing (α= .89), and Self-Worth Scale (α= .89). Pearson Correlation revealed a significant, moderate, positive correlation between students’ self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation for singing, r = .63, p < .001, 95% CI [ .35, .80]. The scales can be employed to examine the psychological constructs pertaining to adolescents’ singing experiences, which will help educators (a) understand how ability beliefs can impact vocal training and singing experience and (b) recognize potentially maladaptive student beliefs (e.g., anxiety, fear, self-doubt), which could lead to a variety of problems.

ABSTRACT. Motivation and praise-seeking behaviors in university-level music students Evaluative feedback is an essential component of learning to perform music at a high level, and this feedback often includes praise. While praise can have a positive impact on student motivation to learn, it can also result in praise-seeking behaviors, which have been attributed to anxiety, egosystem motivation, and other maladaptive outcomes. Additionally, the seeking of praise may be associated with other maladaptive learning patterns in relation to achievement goals, including performance-approach and performance-avoid orientations, which have been associated with performance anxiety and intentions to quit music in previous research. However, relationships between motivations to pursue music and praise seeking behaviors have not been explored in music studio contexts. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore relationships between music students’ motivations to pursue music performance and praise seeking behavior from their studio teachers. Methodology Data for this study were collected from a large, preeminent conservatory style school of music via survey. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, an English translation of the praise seeking and rejection avoidance scale, and the 12-item Revised Achievement Goal Questionnaire (R-AGQ) which evaluates each achievement orientation from the 2 X 2 framework (mastery approach, mastery avoidance, performance approach, and performance avoidance). Results Results indicate significant moderate correlations between the praise seeking subscale and both performance approach and performance avoid orientations. We believe the results of this study could have important implications for music studio pedagogy, as understanding students’ motivations to engage in performance and how they seek praise from their teachers can help to develop interventions to prevent maladaptive motivational patterns, anxiety, and to positively impact student wellbeing.

ABSTRACT. Former research in Swedish context indicates that music teachers are likely to avoid assessing musical qualitative aspects in there grading. There is little research done in the Swedish upper secondary school that deals with courses that mostly are conducted through one- to-one teaching. My project is about how music teachers teach and assess music qualitative aspects in the courses Instrument or Singing 1 and Instrument and singing 2 at upper secondary school’s aesthetic program in music. For my PhD project I have formulated following research questions: • What aspects of aesthetic knowledge do music teachers include in their teaching and grading? • What didactic considerations do music teachers in secondary upper school do regarding aesthetic aspects of students’ music making and music creation? • In what ways do teachers relate their musical quality concepts to the syllabi writings and how do these interact when grading? The participants are music teachers at four different schools located in the middle of Sweden and the data for the study is produced through interviews and observations. The instruments represented are guitar, piano, drums and singing. Every teacher is interviewed two times and their lessons are observed 2-3 times. Interviews and observation are filmed, and they are transcribed verbally with comments on both musically and bodily movements, pausing and gestures. The last interview is based on a thematic analysis of the teacher’s preceding interview and observations. For processing the data, thematic analysis will be used.

ABSTRACT. Ashley (2016) considers the core notion of improvisation “that of constraint: of the scarcity of [cognitive] resources, in real time, that humans can utilize for making music when they are not following a predetermined plan of action.” Early research on improvisation focused on the cognitive machinery, mainly in adult expert (jazz) improvisers and on the installment of an improvisational grammar. From the turn of the century, improvisation pedagogy gradually came detached from jazz and broadened its scope to other genres, aims and assumed competencies. The vision a teacher adopts when implementing improvisation in instrument lessons is often grounded in his or her personal values, subjective theory, intended purpose and own educational experiences on the subject. Moreover, the vision will guide the didactic practice for instance in choosing didactic aims and strategy. However, when setting up efficient and effective learning processes, learner characteristics should also be taken into account. Instead of adopting a “one-size-fits all” approach for all students based on a comprehensive theory on musical improvisation, it might be fruitful to modify improvisational practice according to the learner’s characteristics in order to increase his task involvement. To find out the differentiated effect of improvisation instruction on student’s flow, we conducted a field experiment in instrument classes. Participants were sixty intermediate level instrument students who did four improvisation tasks in small groups. The tasks differed on two constraint variables: the amount of freedom in use of musical parameters and the amount of preparation time (independent variables). After each exercise, pupils were probed for three flow indicators: sense of control, positive emotion response and absorption of concentration (dependent variables). Data were analyzed with pupils' personality traits and level of self-regulation as covariates. The presentation will feature the results and implications for improvisation didactics from the perspective of constraint-led pedagogy.

ABSTRACT. Women band director experiences have been a topic of interest among music education researchers over the last 10-15 years. Many of these studies have highlighted the common experiences of women in the profession and challenges related to masculine gender expectations associated with this historically men-dominated profession. As a result, women participants have shared significant challenges and obstacles related to career entry, harassment, motherhood, mentor relationships and challenges related to professional identities. There is a need for further research on women band director experiences in order to better understand what other factors influence their experiences and their decisions to leave the profession or move out of band directing. In my dissertation study of former women high school band directors, I will be exploring the experiences of women who have left the profession, or moved within the profession to teach at another level (i.e., elementary, middle school, or collegiate music education). Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis along with a feminist theoretical framework, I will seek to understand the lived experiences of former women high school band directors and their reasons for leaving or moving within the profession, while also exploring how their experiences may have been impacted by psychological constructs such as, but not limited to, Impostor Phenomenon, vulnerability, and perfectionism. As a former woman band director, it is my hope that this research work will aid in informing preservice teacher education. Music teacher educators must seek to better prepare women for what they will experience in the field, while also equipping them with the tools to be successful, and ultimately prevent music teacher attrition. In this paper presentation, I will share further background and specifics of my study design, as well as preliminary findings, discussion, and implications for further research.

ABSTRACT. The subject of newcomers and music education is a broad topic, spanning numerous potential scenarios including the ages of the newcomers and the different kinds of displacement in which they find themselves. Each of these varying scenarios bring about their own sets of considerations and implications. While there has been much research to date on young refugees and newly arrived immigrants (e.g. Marsh, 2012), displacement numbers remain at an all-time high globally (Karlsen & Westerlund, 2010; Pollock & Emberly, 2019), and given the many benefits of making music with newcomers, this area of study and practice is only increasing in importance. This paper will present on a program that explores the partnership between a Canadian university research music education team with a Newcomer Youth Engagement Program supported by an Industry Education Council to deliver a program once per week during the fall and winter school terms that facilitates English language learning through music at a local high school. The class consists of approximately 10 students between the ages of 17-21 who are enrolled in the Skills Development for Refugees and Immigrants program and seek to develop their language skills as newcomers to Canada. The music facilitators have developed original curricula and engage the students each week in musical activities of singing and playing instruments that connect to themes of their language studies to develop their language skills in written and oral communication. In this presentation we will address the aims of music-making with newcomers which fall into the categories of goals related to education, therapeutic or wellbeing, social, and integration. The value of music-making with newcomers will also be highlighted, in addition to considerations for music-making with newcomers, and finally the common themes noted in various music-making contexts with newcomers.

ABSTRACT. Professional development is a long-term process that begins in childhood and continues into adulthood. Research depicts that artistic education and a professional music career are associated not only with many general development benefits, but also with negative psychological consequences. Therefore, the characteristics of professionals and their beliefs about themselves will be shaped, right from the start of their education. Factors affecting students' well-being and progress are the students' perceived quality of the teacher-student relationship and self-efficacy, which is also the best predictor of musical achievement. Accordingly, a qualitative study was designed to increase knowledge of the specifics of music education, from the perspective of currently working professional musicians, and to determine what they believe may be responsible for the formation of a musician's sense of self-efficacy, and what, therefore, may determine their choices of career paths as an artist. A qualitative study was designed in the form of an individual in-depth, semi-structured interview conducted by one person - the author of the text. The interview data were analyzed using reflective thematic analysis to develop a perspective on the importance of self-efficacy in career path selection. Qualitative analysis demonstrates that in the formation of a musician's sense of self-efficacy and in their subsequent career choices, the image of the relationship with the lead teacher and the distinctive characteristics of music education are of greatest importance. The results are juxtaposed with previous research in educational psychology and pedagogy, emphasizing the importance of building an appropriate teaching atmosphere and strengthening a favorable teacher-student relationship in order to increase students' self-efficacy and the emergence of self-conscious artists.

ABSTRACT. Although much research has been done on the phenomenon of entrainment and rhythmic synchronisation in young children, little has been devoted to the children’s own perspectives on the process. I have brought a sociocultural perspective to this research question, emphasising how the children learn within a network of peers and adults. Relevant theoretical concepts such as joint attention, embodied learning and groove were also used. This study presents an exploratory case study of two Year 2 classes (age 6-7) in a classroom music setting in England. The Mosaic Approach provided a methodology to foreground the children's lived experience. Four contrasting curriculum interventions focused on rhythmic entrainment were observed and followed by reflexive group interviews, and data was further triangulated by a focus group and interviews with class teachers. Thematic analysis was then used to interpret central themes of the children’s experience, and these were shown to intersect in productive ways with different social perspectives through changes in attentional focus. Although the children's experience of steady beat entrainment is varied, the social aspect of entrainment forms an integral part of the experience for most and cannot be separated from the response to the music itself. The reflexive elements of the research showed how children can develop a more nuanced and metacognitive understanding of entrainment, with implications for both classroom music teachers and researchers of entrainment.

ABSTRACT. Previous music trainings have shown to facilitate improvement of linguistic (e.g., phonological awareness, categorical perception) and cognitive processes (e.g., phonological working memory) in children with reading disorder. Entrainment-focused trainings have shown improvement in phonological and reading skills. Our study aims to assess the effectiveness of a newly developed training for the improvement of linguistic and cognitive deficits related to reading disorder. For this purpose, we conducted a Randomized Control Trial (RCT, Clinical Trials ID: NCT05137353) with three phases: pre-training phase, training phase, and post-training phase. Children between 8 and 11 years old with reading disorder were recruited for the purpose of the RCT trial. Neuropsychological (i.e., Raven’s Colored Matrices and digit span task from WISC-IV), behavioral (3DM-H: Differential Diagnostics of Dyslexia Maastricht - Hungarian adaptation, and a lexical decision task) and electrophysiological (Event-Related Brain Potentials (ERPs) measurements were conducted. The children were randomly assigned to a music or a spelling intervention; they received weekly sessions in a 3-month timeline. The music intervention consisted of a series of music activities (e.g., nursery rhymes, rhythmic stimulations, music reading). The spelling intervention consisted of activities which focus on practicing spelling words in a computerized environment. Finally, the post-training phase, which matched the pre-training phase, was conducted. In the pre-training phase, we expect low scores in digit span task, reading fluency, pseudoword reading tasks, and not statistically significant Mismatch Negativity responses during the ERPs measurements. However, in the post-training phase, we expect the positive effects of the music intervention in the following domains: auditory discrimination of phonemic changes within pseudowords, phonological encoding/decoding, reading fluency. With this study, we will be able to highlight the significance of music interventions as a remediation tool aimed for children with reading disorder; in this way, such types of interventions could be established as frequent practice in evidence-based practices.

ABSTRACT. This paper is a case study examining the authors’ work co-facilitating collaborative songwriting with singers in an independent children’s choir meeting online during the COVID-19 crisis. We identify elements of the Zoom setting that shaped the students’ experience of songwriting, most notably by allowing students to interact casually through the chat while simultaneously engaging in the lesson presented by the teacher. We explore the phenomenon that we characterize as synchrony that emerged as our goals for teaching, our student’s goals for participating, and the affordances of the technology appeared to have aligned. Examining data in the form of video recordings of sessions, transcripts of the chat, student questionnaires, and the song they wrote and performed as an artifact, we identified four themes: -Students engaged casually with each other in parallel conversations throughout their work. -Students strongly affirmed and supported each other. -Students created a “public domain” of ideas, with fluidity of ownership -The teacher acted as a facilitator seeking coherence.

With narrative excerpts illustrating each theme, we reflect on how the technology and other aspects of the learning environment impacted students’ experience of songwriting. We explore the relevance of our findings for teaching songwriting in person as well as online. We also reflect on the significance of collaborative songwriting as a form of social justice work in the classroom, one that was especially salient during the COVID-19 crisis.

ABSTRACT. Conducted at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when almost half of the world’s students continued to be impacted by partial or full school closures (UNESCO), this phenomenological study examined the experiences of four high school music educators in Toronto, Canada engaged in emergency remote teaching (ERT). The pandemic fundamentally altered the experience of teaching and learning music, particularly in Toronto, Ontario during the 2020-21 school year, when schools were closed to in-person learning for twenty out of forty instructional weeks. Participants’ experiences of ERT are analyzed through the lens of the uncanny (Freud, 1955; Carrington, 2005; Loveless, 2019): of something familiar made strange. Emergent themes included the impact of ERT on participants' sonic environments; personal and pedagogical approaches; and the impacts on music teaching, learning, and performing through teleconferencing platforms. Findings have implications for pandemic-emergent music education, applications of technology, sound studies, pedagogy, and mental health and wellness.

ABSTRACT. Music teaching and learning were substantially affected by the transition to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic due to its reliance on multisensory and auditory-motor interactions requiring theoretical and applied (practical) skills. Due to the restrictions imposed by lockdown measures, music teachers were required to not only adapt to new technologies but also immensely modify their pedagogies within this new context. The purpose of this project was to investigate teachers’ self-perceptions of identity, adaptability, and knowledge of teaching with technology since COVID-19, and how teachers may have incorporated newly acquired technologies and pedagogies along with possible transformed identities into their teaching practices. Extending the Technology, Pedagogy, and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework to include teacher identity and adaptability, in addition to teacher knowledge, a researcher-developed measurement tool was distributed to music teachers which also included open-ended questions on the type and role of technology in their teaching and what teaching or technology practices they intended for future use. The quantitative and qualitative results demonstrated significant differences between the participants' ages and gender in terms of pedagogy knowledge, identity, and adaptability. The implications of this project inform teacher education by providing a means to critically examine the intersections between knowledge, identity, and adaptability when assessing the effective use of technology in music teaching and learning.

ABSTRACT. In recent years, and in an attempt to move towards a more inclusive and democratic Music Education, some scholars have criticized hegemonic Eurocentric approaches to music teaching and learning, suggesting instead a departure from sound and sounding phenomena as larger categories that might incorporate children’s diverse trajectories and life experiences. Following this initial quest, in this paper we aim to investigate what strategies and tools might more easily afford young children with meaningful interactions with sound and the sonic environment that surrounds them in educational contexts. To attain this goal, we developed an exploratory study focused on the implementation of a “Sound centred approach to Music Education”, evolving through an action research project in a Portuguese non-profit association with 12 children aged from 12 months to 4 years old. Data for this paper refers to 10 forty five-minute sessions carried out between April and July 2022, and includes participant observation, field notes, informal conversations with children and video and audio recordings. Data analysis was developed using the lenses of the concept of musical affordances, and the related concepts recently developed by Schiavio and colleagues (2017) of “teleomusicality” and “teleomusical behaviours”. The analysis suggests that the development of teleomusical acts was conveyed through a set of “key experiences” (Denzin, 1990, Stringer, 2005), characterized by moments of profound engagement and prompted by those tools and strategies that fostered new opportunities for children to interact with sounds through processes focused on attentive listening and on creative exploration and experimentation. A discussion will follow about the major implications of this study, specially focused on the concerns already mentioned before respecting a more inclusive and democratic Music Education in early childhood.

ABSTRACT. In music education research involving socio-constructivist and cognitive theory, language is a dominant indicator of engagement and knowledge within a music classroom setting. Language-centredness can be a barrier for some children, especially for a neurodivergent child who may use language differently. Therefore, there is a need to interrogate and reframe what engaging in a music setting looks like for a neurodivergent child to be viewed as a capable and competent learner. This in-depth case study explores and examines how a neurodivergent child engages with an individualised music curriculum beyond language. Post-humanist positioning and a new materialist approach were adopted, expanding understanding and knowledge generation of materials, non-materials, and objects, as well as humans and why they are significant to a diffractive pedagogy. A diffractive pedagogy was applied, meaning a greater analytical gaze is adopted and all materials and matter affect knowledge generation within the education setting. Methodology was challenged as well as UK educational discourse in a music class, and data was collected by questionnaire, video observations, semi-structured interview, and diffractive research journal. Slow motion was used as a unit of analysis. Themes to emerge from the study were engagement; materialism; attunement; musical play and flow experience. Findings show that engagement for a neurodivergent child involves reframing how materials, music, musical play and setting all impact and expand knowledge and how this could apply to wider practice. Flow experience was an important indicator of engagement. Implications from this study affect wider educational practice, policy and research. This research highlights the challenges faced in Western UK education settings for neurodivergent children, but more importantly informs what using a diffractive pedagogy involves, and how this positions neurodivergent children as capable and competent learners.

ABSTRACT. Elementary general music education serves many purposes. Children develop musical skills, learn musical concepts, and acquire musical dispositions. Music teachers also aim to welcome students into social groups, cultural practices, and traditions. These two functions are described by educational theorist Gert Biesta as qualification and socialization. Biesta further suggested that both of these domains of educational purpose ought to serve a more fundamental, existential purpose: subjectification, by which a student begins to emerge as the subject of their own life, rather than as an object in the lives of others. Biesta argued that teachers ought to aid students in the process of claiming this subject-ness, and especially the mature subject-ness of those “in the world and with the world, and not just with themselves” (Biesta, 2020, p. 37), by pointing students toward the world through teaching. Such redirections serve as interruptions through which the student becomes aware of the relationship between their own desires and the limits of the natural and social world—transforming their desires into something the student can consider critically. In this presentation, I share a critical action research project through which subjectification and world-centeredness were explored in the context of elementary general music education in the United States. As part of this project, I developed and taught several lessons designed to point Kindergarten students (ages 5–6) toward the world through general music. Through the use of dialogic pedagogy along with a spiraled approach to data collection and analysis, further lessons were then responsively designed and taught. Data collected and analyzed as part of this project included: teacher-researcher journal entries; observations; group interviews with student-participants; artifacts; and research notes. Preliminary findings suggest that dialogue enabled student understanding of subject-ness while actively contributing to the emergence of subject-ness.

ABSTRACT. The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) is the policy framework implemented in 49 countries for the development of every higher education program; thus, similarities could be expected between them. However, regarding music teacher education, this is far from being true. Just a glance at the different programmes shows major differences between them--potentially due to the high degree of university autonomy and the lack of connection between teacher education and school curriculum reforms. In the end, the quality of teaching of all in-service teachers, music teachers included, depends on the pre–service education received and their skills to adapt their teaching to the school policy reforms. In this symposium, we will introduce research projects from five different European countries (Finland, Germany, Greece, Spain, and the United Kingdom) to discuss how pre¬–service music teachers are being educated. Carried out separately, these five research projects enquired educational practices received by pre–service teachers who enrolled in their programmes in each country. After introducing the current state of music teacher education in each country, we will analyse both the commonalities found among programmes as well as the differences according to the peculiarities of each setting. Thus, the symposium will consist of: introduction; the individual research projects from Finland, Germany, Greece, Spain, and the UK; and, a closing presentation to discuss potential implications for music teacher education.