Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T00:52:02.908Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Students' experiences of collaborative creation through songcrafting in primary school: Supporting creative agency in ‘school music’ programmes1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 July 2016

Sari Muhonen
Sari Muhonen*
Affiliation:
Viikki Teacher Training School, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 30, FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland. sari.muhonen@helsinki.fi
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The study reported in this article investigates students’ experiences (n=41) of their primary school songcrafting, examining the potential to support creative agency within school music education programmes. Songcrafting refers to a collaborative composing practice in which everyone is considered to be a capable creator of melodies and lyrics, and where negotiation, collaboration, and openness to the situation are essential. Through semi-structured individual interviews with students who had experienced songcrafting in the past, analysed with qualitative methods, it was found that the students' narration of songcrafting included meanings related to general agency, creative agency, musical participation within the classroom community, and documented and shared collaborative musical products, or ‘oeuvres’.

The results of this study illustrate the various often unforeseeable meanings produced through participation in collaborative musical activities. Furthermore, they highlight the potential to enrich meaningful teaching practices and pedagogy through the examination of students' experiences, and exploring the potentials in narrating one's musical stories. These findings suggest that music education practices could benefit from the inclusion of a broader range of opportunities for the students to create their own music, and the sensitive facilitation of collaborative music creation processes.

Type
Research Article
Information
British Journal of Music Education , Volume 33 , Issue 3 , November 2016 , pp. 263 - 281
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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.)

Footnotes

1

This article is a subproject of Creativity, agency, and democratic research, CADRE (2009-2013), and part of an article based doctoral study concerning songcrafting. This work was supported by the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters.

References

BARNES, B. (2000) Understanding agency. Social theory and responsible action. London: SAGE.Google Scholar
BARRETT, M. S. & STAUFFER, S. L. (2009) Narrative inquiry: From story to method. In Barrett, M. S. & Stauffer, S. L. (Eds.), Narrative inquiry in music education. Troubling certainty (pp. 7–29). London: Springer.Google Scholar
BENDIEN, E. (2012) Remembering (in) the past perfect: Ethical shifts in times. Memory Studies, 5 (4), 445–461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BOEIJE, H. (2010) Analysis in qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE.Google Scholar
BRUNER, J. S. (1996) The culture of education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
BRUNER, J. (2004) Life as narrative. Social Research, 71 (3), 691–710. [orig. publ. Social Research, 54(1).]Google Scholar
BURNARD, P. (2006) The individual and social worlds of children's musical creativity. In McPherson, G. E. (Ed.), The child as musician: a handbook of musical development (pp. 353–374). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
BURNARD, P. & YOUNKER, B. (2008) Investigating children's musical interactions within the activities systems of group composing and arranging: An application of Engeström's Activity Theory. International Journal of Educational Research, 47 (1), 60–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BURNARD, P. (2012) Musical creativities in practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
CADRE. Creativity, Agency, and Democratic Research in Music Education 2009–2013. (Poster) Retrieved 10 October 2015 from http://www5.siba.fi/documents/10157/a673448c-39d8-4e15-8ca4-a7d6b576f63f Google Scholar
CAMPBELL, p. S. (1998) Songs in their heads. Music and its meaning in children's lives. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
CLANDININ, J. D. & CONNELLY, M. F. (2000) Narrative inquiry: Experience and story in qualitative research. San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
CLANDININ, J. D. & CONNELLY, M. F. (1994) Personal experience methods. In Denzin, N. K. & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 413–427). Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE.Google Scholar
CHAWLA, L. (2006) Research methods to investigate significant life experiences: Review and recommendations. Environmental Education Research, 12 (3/4), 359–374.Google Scholar
COCHRAN-SMITH, M. & LYTLE, S. L. (2009) Inquiry as stance: Practitioner research for the next generation. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
CSIKSZENTMIHALYI, M. (1997) Creativity. Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention. New York: Harper Perennial.Google Scholar
DE NORA, T. (2000) Music in everyday life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
DEWEY, J. (1916) Democracy and education. An introduction to the philosophy of education. In Dewey, J. (2003). The Collected Works of John Dewey, 1882–1953. Electronic edition. Charlottesville, Virginia, USA: InteLex Corporation.Google Scholar
DEWEY, J. (1938) Experience and education. In Dewey, J. (2003). The Collected Works of John Dewey, 1882–1953. Electronic edition. Charlottesville, Virginia, USA: InteLex Corporation.Google Scholar
Ethical principles of research in the humanities and social and behavioural sciences and proposals for ethical review (2009). Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity. Retrieved 10 October 2015 from http://www.tenk.fi/sites/tenk.fi/files/ethicalprinciples.pdf Google Scholar
FNCC. (2004) The Finnish National Core Curriculum for Basic Education. Helsinki: The Finnish National Board of Education. Retrieved 10 October 2015 from http://www.oph.fi/english Google Scholar
FNCC. (2014) The Finnish National Core Curriculum for Basic Education pre-primary and basic education. Curriculum reform 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2015 from http://www.oph.fi/english/education_development/current_reforms/curriculum_reform_2016 Google Scholar
GRIFFIN, S. M. (2009) Listening to children's music perspectives: in- and out-of-school thoughts. Research Studies in Music Education, 31 (2): 161–177.Google Scholar
HARWOOD, E. (1998) Music learning in context: A playground tale. Research Studies in Music Education, 11 (1), 52–60.Google Scholar
HOFFMAN, A. M. & HOFFMAN, H. S. (2008) Memory theory: Personal and social. In Charlton, T. L., Myers, L. E. & Sharpless, R. (Eds.), Thinking about oral history. Theories and applications (pp. 33–54). New York: AltaMira Press.Google Scholar
HUBERMAN, A. M. & MILES, M. B. (1994) Data management and analysis methods. In Denzin, N. K. & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 428–444). Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE.Google Scholar
JUNTUNEN, M-L. (2011) Music. In Laitinen, S., Hilmola, A. & Juntunen, M-L. (Eds.), Assessment of the learning outcomes in music, visual arts and crafts in the final 9th grade of basic education (pp. 36–95). Report 2011:1. Helsinki: The Finnish National Board of Education.Google Scholar
JUNTUNEN, M-L., KARLSEN, S., LAES, T., KUOPPAMÄKI, A., & MUHONEN, S. (2014) Envisioning imaginary spaces for musicking: Equipping students for leaping into the unexplored. Music Education Research, 16 (3), 251–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KARLSEN, S. (2011) Using musical agency as a lens: Researching music education from the angle of experience. Research Studies in Music Education, 33 (2), 107–121.Google Scholar
KARLSEN, S. & WESTERLUND, H. (2010) Immigrant students’ development of musical agency—exploring democracy in music education. British Journal of Music Education, 27 (3), 225–239.Google Scholar
KASCHUB, M. & SMITH, J. (2009) Minds on music. Composition for creative and critical thinking. Lanham: Rowan & Littlefeldt.Google Scholar
KVALE, S. & BRINKMAN, S. (2009) Interviews. Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE.Google Scholar
LAVE, J. & WENGER, E. (1991) Situated learning. Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
MACDONALD, R. A. R., HARGREAVES, D. J., & MIELL, D. (2002) Musical identities. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
MARSH, K. (2008) The Musical Playground: Global tradition and change in children's songs and games. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
MARSH, K. & YOUNG, S. (2006) Musical Play. In McPherson, G. E. (Ed.), The child as a musician. A handbook of musical development (pp. 289–310). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
MUHONEN, S. (2004) Helping children to compose: Song crafting. In Karppinen, S. (Ed.), Neothemi—Cultural Heritage and ICT, Theory & Practice (pp. 204–210). University of Helsinki: Studia Paedagogica.Google Scholar
MUHONEN, S. (2010) Sävellyttäminen – yhdessä säveltämisen luova prosessi viidesluokkalaisten oppilaiden muistelemana [Songcrafting – co-operative composing recalled by the fifth graders]. (Licentiate thesis) Helsinki, FI: Sibelius Academy.Google Scholar
MUHONEN, S. (2014) Songcrafting: A teacher's perspective of collaborative inquiry and creation of classroom practice. International Journal of Music Education, 32 (2), 185–202, first published on October, 2013 DOI: 10.1177/0255761413506657 Google Scholar
MUHONEN, S. & VÄKEVÄ, L. (2011) Seizing the dynamic moment in situation-originated learning: The origin of songcrafting examined through Dewey's theory of inquiry. Nordic Research in Music Education, 13, 151–169.Google Scholar
PAYNTER, J. (2000) Making progress with composing. British Journal of Music Education, 17 (1), 5–31.Google Scholar
PARTTI, H. & KARLSEN, S. (2010) Reconceptualising musical learning: new media, identity and community in music education. Music Education Research, 12 (4), 369–382.Google Scholar
POLKINGHORNE, D. (1983) Methodology for the human sciences – systems of inquiry. Albany: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
POLKINGHORNE, D. E. (1988) Narrative knowing and the human sciences. Albany: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
POLKINGHORNE, D. E. (2005) Language and meaning: Data collection in qualitative research. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52 (2), 137–145.Google Scholar
REAY, D. (2006) ‘I'm not seen as one of the clever children’: Consulting primary school pupils about the social conditions of learning. Educational Review, 58 (2), 171–181.Google Scholar
RIESSMAN, C. K. (2008) Narrative methods for the human sciences. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE.Google Scholar
SAHLBERG, P. (2015) Finnish lessons 2.0: What can the world learn from educational change in Finland? New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
SAWYER, R. K. (2006) Explaining creativity: The Science of Human Innovation. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
STENHOUSE, L. (1975) An introduction to curriculum research and development. London: Heinemann.Google Scholar
STAKE, R. E. (1994) Case studies. In Denzin, N. K. & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 236–247). London: SAGE.Google Scholar
STAUFFER, S. L. (2002) Connections between the musical and life experiences of young composers and their compositions. Journal of Research in Music Education, 50 (4), 301–323.Google Scholar
SUNDIN, B. (1997) Musical creativity in childhood: A research project in retrospect. Research Studies In Music Education, 9 (1), 48–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
The responsible conduct of research (2012) Finnish Advisory Board on Research Integrity. Retrieved 10 October 2015 from http://www.tenk.fi/en/responsible-conduct-research-guidelines/responsible-conduct-research Google Scholar
VAN MANEN, M. (1990) Researching lived experience. Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. New York: The State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
VYGOTSKY, L. S. (1978) Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
WENGER, E. (1998) Communities of practice. Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
WESTERLUND, H. (2002) Bridging experience, action, and culture in music education. Studia Musica 16. Helsinki: Sibelius Academy. Also, http://ethesis.siba.fi/ethesis/files/isbn9529658982.pdf Google Scholar
WESTERLUND, H. (2008) Justifying music education. A view from here-and-now value experience. Philosophy of Music Education Review, 16 (1), 79–95.Google Scholar
WIGGINS, J. (2011) When the music is theirs: Scaffolding young songwriters. In Barrett, M. (Ed.), A cultural psychology for music education (pp. 83–113). London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
WINTERS, M. (2012) The challenges of teaching composing. British Journal of Music Education, 29 (1), 19–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar