Don Lebler

Popular Music Pedagogy: Peer Learning in Practice.

The inclusion of popular music as a content area in music education is not uncommon. The musicological study of popular music is well established in higher education, and even the practice of popular music is becoming more common in both secondary education and the post-compulsory sector. However, when this occurs, it is likely to be taught in more or less the same way as other more established content areas like western classical music or jazz, with teachers being in control of the process and the curriculum, the feedback and the assessment. However, popular music is usually learned in the broader community as a self-directed activity, sometimes including interactions with peers and group activities, but rarely under the direction of an expert mentor/teacher. One Australian conservatorium has adopted the pedagogy of popular music through the creation of a scaffolded self-directed learning environment within its Bachelor of Popular Music programme. This paper argues that the pedagogical approach employed in this programme relates well to the prior learning activities of its students. It draws on the results of a survey of the learning experiences of students before they entered this programme, as a background to subsequent research into their participation in two course activities that provide opportunities for the provision feedback to peers. The study draws on data from surveys, online participation in the provision of work-in-progress feedback, and written feedback provided as part of formal assessment. Students are found to have usually engaged with multiple musical activities and used a variety of ways to enhance their musical abilities before commencing their conservatoire studies. These characteristics are also found to be present in students’ engagement with their degree studies. The paper concludes that these students are well prepared for this kind of peer learning activity and provide useful feedback through the structures provided by the programme.

Reforming a Bachelor of Music Programme: A Case Study.

In 2010, the authors conducted a formal review of the Queensland Conservatorium’s Bachelor of Music programme to determine to what extent the programme prepared graduates for professional life in the 21st century. The process was informed by comprehensive performance indicator data and substantial feedback from staff, students, and other stakeholders. Information was collected through meetings with staff and students, student evaluations, graduate surveys, and feedback from the music industry, along with benchmarking with other Australian and International tertiary music institutions. The review found that teachers at the Conservatorium were committed to striving for excellence yet strong criticism was made of the existing programme’s perceived limitations in preparing students for their likely futures. Following extensive consultation, consensus reflecting the review recommendations was reached, resulting in a new Bachelor of Music programme design. This article reports on the process undertaken and the major changes that are now being implemented.

Making music or gaining grades? Assessment practices in tertiary music ensembles

Participation in an ensemble is a significant aspect of tertiary music experience. Learning and assessment practices within ensembles have rarely been investigated in Australia and the perceptions of staff and students as to how they learn and are assessed within ensembles remain largely unexplored. This paper reports on part of a larger project that investigated learning and assessment practices within ensembles at an Australian Conservatorium of Music. Ensembles contribute to approximately 25% of student work in each semester, and the assessment contributes to a final grade for the semester. Using a case study methodology, four music ensembles were studied. The data generated were coded into themes including assessment practices and processes; collaborative learning practices; the development of the professional musician; and communication and transparency between participants and the institution. Findings revealed that both staff and student participants in this study perceived ensemble participation to be valuable to the development of a professional musician, but that assessment procedures did not always support this goal. Institutional demands were found to be an inhibiting factor in the assessment of ensembles, and both students and teachers had problems with current assessment procedures, resulting in confusion and lack of transparency about how ensembles are assessed. Approaches to the development of the professional musician became a dominant discussion point and a substantial finding of the research. By examining dominant and subjugated knowledge in this domain, institutional power relations were interrogated, existing practices were challenged, and assessment practices rethought.

Playing It Like a Professional: Approaches to Ensemble Direction in Tertiary Institutions.

This article reports on a case study of three directors of large ensembles within a large conservatoire and the ways in which they attempted to scaffold their students into professional music careers. The core aim in this article is to respond to the question “What is the role and function of the ensemble experience on the training of the professional musician?” The study reported on here formed part of a larger project into ensemble assessment practices. However as the study progressed, it became clear that each director perceived that their responsibilities to their students extended well beyond the institutional imperatives of reporting on progress and assessment practices. The sub-questions that relate to this aspect of the study therefore included: “What is the rationale for activities within the ensemble?” “How does the ensemble director facilitate and enable this learning experience?” and “What activities does the director see as intrinsic to the overall ensemble experience?” Using a case study approach, the ensembles involved were observed and their directors were interviewed. Artifacts were also used to support the data generated. These included course outlines, detailed rehearsal expectations and other university prerequisites. The data are presented as narrative accounts of each director. While Directors centered their practices on short-term rehearsal and performance outcomes, they were also keenly aware of the need for students to develop generic musicianship skills and to ensure the development of self-management strategies for life after the conservatoire.

Participatory assessment and the construction of professional identity in folk and popular music programs in Finnish and Australian music universities

Assessment in music is of considerable importance in the context of higher music education, with major projects focusing on assessment principles and practices in a number of locations, including the European community and Australia. This instrumental case study explores assessment practices in two higher music education contexts, namely within folk music education in Finland and popular music education in Australia. While each of these two instances have significant individual characteristics, they share a focus on understanding assessment as learning and the development of a professional identity through the active participation of the student community in the assessment processes. Drawing on current theories of communities of practice, the narratives of the leaders describing the practices in each context are analysed to draw attention to the intended learning value derived through the participatory assessment practices.

Future Directions for Assessment in Music

After drawing attention to some of the key literature on the importance of assessment for learning, this chapter provides a brief outline of some of the topics and approaches that are included in this publication. The role of self-assessment and peer assessment is discussed, along with the common practice in higher music education of assessment by juries or panels of experts. The importance of external factors such as national, professional and institutional regulations is discussed in both the European and Australian contexts. Holistic assessment is discussed, including the established practice of relying on predetermined criteria as well as using the specific strengths and weaknesses of each assessment activity as the basis for grading and feedback. A range of practices are introduced that provide examples of assessment in music that will be of interest to all those working in higher music education and assessment in the creative and performing arts more broadly.

Popular music pedagogy: Dual perspectives on DIY musicianship

Popular music is a growing presence in education, formal and otherwise, from primary school to postgraduate study. Programmes, courses and modules in popular music studies, popular music performance, songwriting and areas of music technology are becoming commonplace across higher education. Additionally, specialist pop/rock/jazz graded exam syllabi, such as RockSchool and Trinity Rock and Pop, have emerged in recent years, meaning that it is now possible for school leavers in some countries to meet university entry requirements having studied only popular music. In the context of teacher education, classroom teachers and music-specialists alike are becoming increasingly empowered to introduce popular music into their classrooms. At present, research in Popular Music Education lies at the fringes of the fields of music education, ethnomusicology, community music, cultural studies and popular music studies. The Ashgate Research Companion to Popular Music Education is the first book-length publication that brings together a diverse range of scholarship in this emerging field. Perspectives include the historical, sociological, pedagogical, musicological, axiological, reflexive, critical, philosophical and ideological.

The BoPMAT: Bachelor of Music Popular Music Program

This chapter provides a description of the functions of an innovative bespoke online assessment application. As such, it is possible to read this as being about technology, which, to an extent, is true. The technology deployed in this application is an impressive result of a substantial investment of resources on the part of Griffith University. However, it is the learning associated with the assessment process that is the central benefit, and the most significant aspect for others interested in participatory assessment practices. In this instance, self-assessment and peer assessment are deployed, along with assessment by teachers, in a multi-faceted approach to assessment as learning. It is the learning that is produced by the process that is important, rather than the technology that is deployed to enable a complex set of activities to be undertaken on a large scale.

Assessment in Music in the Australian Context: The AiM Project

There are a number of implications of recent imperatives in the Australian higher education sector to ensure that all institutions offering coursework degrees have clearly defined graduate learning outcomes, mapped against individual units of study. The implications in terms of providing evidence that graduate learning outcomes have been met presents challenges for institutions and disciplines. In this chapter, we consider the consequences of regulations in the broader context for the discipline of music, and report on some of the findings of the Assessment in Music project (AiM), which has explored the constructive alignment between assessment and learning outcomes statements of various kinds at the Bachelor degree program level.