Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-995ml Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-27T11:53:45.849Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Teaching composing in secondary school: a case study analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2009

Benjamin Bolden*
Affiliation:
Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Faculty of Education, University of Victoria, PO Box 3010 Station CSC, Victoria BC V8W 3N4, Canadabbolden@uvic.ca

Abstract

This article reports a case study of an experienced teacher of composing working with secondary school students in a large urban centre in Ontario, Canada. Results suggest authentic assignments connect student composing to the ‘real world’, and so have meaning and life beyond the music classroom. Teachers can facilitate the development of theoretical music knowledge by supporting and enhancing the experiential learning that students accomplish on their own, through composing. Offering suggestions for change to compositions-in-progress, and cultivating a classroom ethos where students exchange this service amongst themselves, serves to enhance composing potential. By helping students infuse their work with personal knowledge, experiences, and interests, teachers can increase students’ meaningful involvement in classroom composing.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

AIRY, S. & PARR, J. (2001) ‘MIDI, music and me: students’ perspectives on composing with MIDI’, Music Education Research, 3 (1), 41–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BARRETT, M. (2001) ‘Constructing a view of children's meaning-making as notators: a case-study of a five-year-old's descriptions and explanations of invented notations’, Research Studies in Music Education, 16 (1), 3345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BARRETT, M. (2003) ‘Freedoms and constraints: constructing music worlds through the dialogue of composition’, in Hickey, M. (Ed.), Why and How to Teach Music Composition: A New Horizon for Music Education (pp. 327). Reston, VA: The National Association for Music Education.Google Scholar
BERKLEY, R. (2001) ‘Why is teaching composing so challenging? A survey of classroom observation and teachers’ opinions’, British Journal of Music Education, 18 (2), 119–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BERKLEY, R. (2004) ‘Teaching composing as creative problem solving: conceptualising composing pedagogy’, British Journal of Music Education, 21 (3), 239–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BURNARD, P. & YOUNKER, B. A. (2004) ‘Problem-solving and creativity: insights from students’ individual composing pathways’, International Journal of Music Education, 22 (1), 5976.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CARBON, J. (1986) ‘Toward a pedagogy of composition: exploring creative potential’, College Music Symposium, 26, 112–21.Google Scholar
CRESWELL, J. W. (1998) Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five Traditions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
DOGANI, K. (2004) ‘Teachers’ understanding of composing in the primary classroom’, Music Education Research, 6 (3), 263–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FAUTLEY, M. (2004) ‘Music teacher intervention strategies in the composing processes of lower secondary school students’, International Journal of Music Education, 22 (3), 201–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FAUTLEY, M. (2005a) ‘A new model of the group composing process of lower secondary school students’, Music Education Research, 7 (1), 3957.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FAUTLEY, M. (2005b) ‘Baseline assessment of pupil composing at Key Stage 3: an investigation’, British Journal of Music Education, 22 (2), 155–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FOLKESTAD, G., LINDSTROM, B. & HARGREAVES, D. (1997) ‘Young people's music in the digital age: a study of computer based creative music making’, Research Studies in Music Education, 9, 112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GOULD, E. (2006) ‘Dancing composition: pedagogy and philosophy as experience’, International Journal of Music Education, 24, 197207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KASCHUB, M. (1997) ‘A comparison of two composer-guided large group composition projects’, Research Studies in Music Education, 8, 1528.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KRATUS, J. (1989) ‘A time analysis of the compositional processes used by children ages 7 to 11’, Journal of Research in Music Education, 37, 520.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MAJOR, A. E. (2007) ‘Talking about composing in secondary school music lessons’, British Journal of Music Education, 24 (2), 165–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MELLOR, L. (1999) ’Language and music teaching: the use of personal construct theory to investigate teachers’ responses to young people's music compositions’, Music Education Research, 1 (2), 147–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MILLER, B. (2004) ‘Designing compositional tasks for elementary music classrooms’, Research Studies in Music Education, 22, 5971.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MUNBY, H., RUSSEL, T., & MARTIN, A. K. (2001) ‘Teacher knowledge and how it develops’, in Richardson, V. (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Teaching (4th edition) (pp. 877904). Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.Google Scholar
NILSSON, B. & FOLKESTAD, G. (2005) ‘Childrens’ practice of computer-based composition’, Music Education Research, 7 (1), 2137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ODAM, G. (2000) ‘Teaching composing in secondary schools: the creative dream’, British Journal of Music Education, 17 (2), 109–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PATERSON, A. & ODAM, G. (2000) Composing in the Classroom: The Creative Dream. High Wycombe, UK: National Association of Music Educators.Google Scholar
PAYNTER, J. (2000) ‘Making progress with composing’, British Journal of Music Education, 17 (1), 531.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PITTS, S. (2005) ‘Twenty-nine world premiers in two hours: the story of powerplus’. International Journal of Education and the Arts, 6 (11). Retrieved June 11, 2006 from http://ijea.asu.edu/v6n11/.Google Scholar
REESE, S. (1994) ‘Music technology: extending and sharing minds’, American Music Teacher, 43 (6), 1215, 90.Google Scholar
REESE, S. (2001) ‘Integration of on-line composition mentoring into music teacher education’, Contributions to Music Education, 28 (1), 926.Google Scholar
REESE, S. (2003) ‘Responding to student compositions’, in Hickey, M. (Ed.), Why and How to Teach Music Composition: A New Horizon for Music Education (pp. 211–32). Reston, VA: MENC.Google Scholar
RUSINEK, G. (2007) ‘Students’ perspectives in a collaborative composition project at a Spanish secondary school’, Music Education Research, 9 (3), 323–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SENYSHYN, Y. (2004) ‘Popular music and the intolerant classroom’, in Bartel, L. (Ed.), Questioning the Music Education Paradigm (pp. 110–20). Toronto, ON: Canadian Music Educators Association.Google Scholar
STAUFFER, S. (1999) ‘Beginning assessment in elementary general music’, Music Educators Journal, 86 (2), 2530.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
STAUFFER, S. (2002) ‘Connections between the musical and life experiences of young composers and their compositions’, Journal of Research in Music Education, 50 (4), 301–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
STAUFFER, S. (2003) ‘Identity and voice in young composers’, in Hickey, M. (Ed.), Why and How to Teach Music Composition: A New Horizon for Music Education (pp. 91112). Reston, VA: MENC.Google Scholar
STAKE, R. E. (1995) The Art of Case Study Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
UPITIS, R. (1992). Can I Play You My Song? The Compositions and Invented Notations of Children. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational.Google Scholar
WEBSTER, P. (2002) ‘Creative thinking in music: advancing a model’, in Sullivan, T. & Willingham, L. (Eds), Creativity and Music Education (pp. 1634). Edmonton, Alberta: Canadian Music Educators’ Association.Google Scholar
WEBSTER, P. (2003) ‘‘What do you mean, make my music different?’ Encouraging revision and extensions in children's music composition’, in Hickey, M. (Ed.), Why and How to Teach Music Composition: A New Horizon for Music Education (pp. 5568). Reston, VA: MENC.Google Scholar
WIGGINS, J. (1999) ‘Teacher control and creativity’, Music Educators National Journal, 85 (5), 30–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WIGGINS, J. (2003) ‘A frame for understanding children's compositional processes’, in Hickey, M. (Ed.), Why and How to Teach Music Composition: A New Horizon for Music Education (pp. 141–66). Reston, VA: MENC.Google Scholar
WIGGINS, J. (2006) ‘Compositional process in music’, in Bresler, L. (Ed.), International Handbook of Research in Arts Education (pp. 451–67). Amsterdam: Springer.Google Scholar
YOUNKER, B. A. & SMITH, W. H. (1996) ‘Comparing and modelling musical thought processes of expert and novice composers’, Bulletin for the Council for Research in Music Education, 128, 2537.Google Scholar
YOUNKER, B. A. (2003) ‘The nature of feedback in a community of composing’, in Hickey, M. (Ed.), Why and How to Teach Music Composition: A New Horizon for Music Education (pp. 233–41). Reston, VA: MENC.Google Scholar