Posts tagged choir
Posts tagged choir
0 notes &
(reblogged from researchnews)
This is an interesting look in educational practices outside of the US — in this case, the UK, and it seems to reinforce the attitudes present in this op-ed from The Guardian. Here are some definitions for US visitors like me who were a bit confused—
Streaming meant splitting pupils into several different hierarchical groups which would stay together for all lessons.
Setting meant putting pupils of similar ability together just for certain lessons. So, for example, it would be possible to be in a top set for French and a lower set for mathematics. (BBC)
I’m pretty interested in the benefits of collaborative peer learning and how it can be positively used in the formal educational setting so this kind of research interests me.
I’m curious, though, about the implication that this has for education in the US. After all, what are Honors and AP classes if not a form of setting? The same BBC article describes the current state of education in UK schools as follows: “three-quarters of maths lessons observed by inspectors used ability sets and it was used in well over half of all lessons in science and foreign languages.” Indeed, my middle & high schools used setting for these subjects and I personally found them pretty beneficial. I actually have a hard time imagining mixed-ability classes in these subjects in the higher levels of K-12 education (this is probably because I’ve only read literature that looks at peer collaborative learning in the elementary setting) or even in other subjects.
On the other hand, most music classrooms in K-12 education can likely be described as mixed-ability classrooms. Band, orchestra, and choral ensembles are frequently mixed-age and, by extension, pretty mixed-ability, and students bring a varied background of pre-existing musical knowledge to the general music classroom at every grade level. What implications does the research on setting/streaming/etc in other subjects hold for music education?
0 notes &
Some quotes to start off:
“‘We knew that once the show started rolling it would be great… But to be honest, I didn’t think it would be this big this quickly. I thought it would take people a moment to catch up, but the reaction has been instant.’” - Billboard
and
“Cory Monteith… was walking down Fifth Avenue when a middle-age man and his wife stopped him. ‘He was more excited than his wife,’ Mr. Monteith said. ‘She is standing off to the side with this “I’m sorry” look on her face.’” - New York Times
both speak to how quickly and pervasively “Glee”, a feel-good jukebox musical in TV form that satirizes high school stereotypes and celebrates the underdog, has entered American culture. When talking to fellow music education students about the show, we frequently end up confirming that the show as a whole (a teacher sets up a glee club and kids find themselves and their place in a community through participating in a musical ensemble, all while having fun) “validates our career choices”. While it’s hard to say without any sort of surveying or research (there, my background as a psychology student comes out) whether “Glee” is inadvertently helping towards goals of musical advocacy and pushing the agenda that the arts (and music, specifically) can and is beneficial, it certainly is putting music education out there in a way that cannot be ignored.
When something as mainstream as “Glee” is out there in popular culture, it seems fair to generalize and say that many of the students in a music classroom have probably heard of and/or seen the show. How does this affect the way they approach learning music?
One big positive, first: music is seen as, well, an incredibly positive force in the lives of the student characters on the show. Characters frequently talk about what a haven the ensemble is for them, the friendships they have made, and the boost in self-esteem they’ve experienced. By noticing that these kinds of messages are out there in pop culture and drawing upon them in the classroom, it’s possible that music educators can connect to and encourage students to participate in music that normally wouldn’t.
One big negative, though, and this blog post says it better than I can:
“All the musical numbers, even songs JUST presented to the group, are polished and highly choreographed. Vocally, the presentation is VERY highly studio edited and the situations are just not realistic. I feel that ‘normal’ high school students may see the show and feel that they need to be able to come up to that level of quality in just a few short hours, rather than the hours of dedicated & focused practice that it does take to come up with elaborate production numbers (both vocally & choreographically).” - Rachel Velarde
When I first read this a month or so ago I partially agreed, partially disagreed; while I could see where she was coming from, I wasn’t sure that this lack of understanding about the learning process could really result from the show. As the show has progressed, though, I find myself turning repeatedly back towards this argument and it seems more and more compelling.
I have no problem, by the way, with the produced nature of the musical numbers and the songs themselves; this is a TV show, after all, and a TV show with a highly talented cast and a production team that loves to market (I’d like to see less of the pitch correction, but I digress). However, what I do think is possibly problematic is, as Ms Velarde points out, the way in which the show presents the learning process. I do realize, of course, that due to time constraints the writers have really had to pick and choose, but rehearsals have rarely, if ever, been touched on. I know the show’s main/manifest purpose is to entertain, but I’m concerned that there may be students who may get frustrated when the learning process doesn’t go as well for them because they’re comparing themselves to the latent messages they’ve picked up from the show’s portrayal of music education.
On “Glee”, students rarely make use of sheet music and seem to know and can perform the songs instantly. The rehearsals are rarely actually rehearsals. Characters frequently just get up and belt out a polished and professional cover of a familiar song. Now, while all of this sudden singing is familiar ground to fans of conventional musical theatre and, again, while it is a TV show, after all, and a lighthearted comedy to boot (I laughed when Kurt Hummel explained his sudden laying-down of the chord progression to “I’ll Stand By You” by saying he never missed a piano lesson; and how unrealistic was Finn Hudson knowing all the words to that song and singing the melodic line perfectly, by the way?), I can’t help but wonder whether some students might unconsciously compare themselves to the performances they see on their TVs. We never see the students working for their accomplishments; instead, their educational process can often be described as instant gratification. Now, then, the question becomes: how does the music educator, upon acknowledging that this is a pretty pervasive depiction of music education, deal with this in the classroom?
I am not writing this post with the intention of providing answers to this question, but rather, seeking help in finding said answers (and, of course, as a pre-service teacher I have yet to actually deal with this in the field). However, I do already expect that part of my personal teaching philosophy will include stressing the fact that while everyone has the capability to experience, participate in, and enjoy music, becoming a skilled performer takes a lot of work and a lot of time, regardless of how “talented” a performer may be. It may be called “playing music”, but it certainly is work. Like my own educational process through a music education program, the answers to issues like these are still in progress, but I look forward to seeing my own philosophies develop further just as much as I look forward to seeing whether Quinn Fabray and Finn Hudson will stay together (although I’m pretty sure the answer is “no”, they just keep hanging on).
ETA: I also have a few problems with how Will Schuester runs his ensemble, but that’s a whole other topic!
