PLACE IN RETURN BOX
to remove this checkout from your record.
TO AVOID FINES return on or before date due.

 

DATE DUE

MTE DUE

DATE DUE

 

our 418309145

.
A

 

 

 

Her: 0 6 e09

 

 

 

{1101 who

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1M WWW“

REHEARSING IN THE CHORAL CONTEXT: A QUALITATIVE
EXAMINATION OF UNDERGRADUATE CONDUCTOR/TEACHER PLANNING
PROCESSES AND RELATIONSHIPS TO EMERGENT PEDAGOGICAL
KNOWLEDGE EVIDENCED IN TEACHING
BY

Sandra Lea Snow

A DISSERTATION
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Music

1998

ABSTRACT
REHEARSING IN THE CHORAL CONTEXT: A QUALITATIVE EXAMINATION
OF UNDERGRADUATE CONDUCTOR/TEACHER PLANNING PROCESSES
AND RELATIONSHIPS TO EMERGENT PEDAGOGICAL KNOWLEDGE
EVIDENCED IN TEACHING
By
Sandra Lea Snow

Development of pedagogical knowledge in relationship to an
understanding of musical content is a central concern for choral music teacher
education. This study investigates an alternative model of preparation and
planning for music teaching and learning in the choral rehearsal. The model
emphasizes brainstorming and imagining for teaching as documented by a
visually-oriented map of student thinking.

The qualitative study can be described as a strand of formative research
whereby the teacher functions as researcher in the investigation of one proposed
curricular model. The research participants included 6 junior-level
undergraduates in a choral methods class at a large mid-western university over
a 15-week period. A 15-week pilot study preceded the project. Data collection
during the project period included: 1) written teaching plans, 2) video footage of
conducting episodes, 3) teacher/researcher field notes, and 4) student written
assignments. Analysis occurred both alongside data collection and more
exhaustively at the culmination of the project. Analytical tools included the

coding of teaching plans and a profiling of narrative for themes and patterns

relevant to the process.

The results of this study supported increased attention to the preparatory
process for teaching based on rich musical understandings gained through
immersion in score study and analysis. The alternative brainstorming model
seemed to foster expansion of novice conductor/teacher thinking in the
preparation for teaching, including both teacher decisions about the music and
imagined teaching strategies to carry out musical objectives. Planning was seen
as organizing for instruction and an outgrowth of the more intensive preparatory
process.

The brainstorming model reflected the following features: 1) the
exercising of an “expert-like” mindset towards development of expertise, 2) a
linking of musical content knowledge to growing pedagogical knowledge, and
(3) the improved attention towards teaching for contextual, particularized
understandings of the music.

Implications of the study for improved classroom practice included a re-
definition of the preparatory process for teaching to reflect a three-part process:
1) score analysis and study, 2) brainstorming as represented by a visual map,

and 3) planning for instruction.

Copyright by
SANDRA LEA SNOW
1998

To my students past and present who infuse my teaching with meaning and
bring joy to my music-making.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Without the unswerving enthusiasm of my students at the University of
Michigan and Northern Illinois University, this project would not have been
possible. Their insight, openness, and wisdom shaped the ideas contained
herein.

I am indebted to my doctoral committee for assistance and guidance
throughout the project. Representing music education were Dr. John Kratus,
Chair; and Drs. Judy Palac and Cynthia Taggart. The conducting area was
represented by Dr. Charles K. Smith.

I am deeply fortunate to have a community of colleagues who make up
my “professional family.” The teaching associates, faculty, and composers-in-
residence of the Choral Music Experience professional development paradigm
are central to this study by providing years of apprenticeship and practicum.
Special thanks to Lee R. Kesselman (College of Dupage), who taught me to view
a score through the eyes of a composer and whose ideas permeate the way I
approach score analysis and preparation for teaching.

The CME founder and director, Dr. Doreen Rao (University of Toronto), is
the single most important influence in my professional life. Thank you Doreen

for your active and ongoing mentorship, for giving me opportunities to grow and

vi

learn as l was ready for them, and for years of professional collaboration and
personal friendship.

Dr. Lori-Anne Dolloff from University of Toronto and her writing on choral
expertise was a direct influence on this project. Thank you Lori for the generous
time and wisdom you have shared with me. Special thanks to two colleagues
who informally guided me, challenged me intellectually, and provided much-
needed support through the writing process: Dr. Patricia O’Toole, The Ohio
State University; and Dr. Carol Richardson, The University of Michigan.

Thank you to student assistants who kept me sane: Lauren Abrams,
Marella Briones, and Laura Woodruff.

My family has supported me in my musical journey from my earliest years.
My parents, Jack and Polly Snow and my sister Michelle Snow are very much a
part of this study. Likewise, I am deeply grateful to Lee Murphy for his
unconditional support and computer graphics assistance.

Finally, a special note of gratitude to Dr. Jonathan Reed (Michigan State
University) whose approach to teaching is a reminder that music-making is for

livers of life and not museums of art.

vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................... xiii
LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................... xiv
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION: BECOMING A TEACHER ................................. 1
Choral Teacher Education ......................................................... 3
The Research Problem ......................................................... 3
Overview of the Study ..................................................................... 5
Purpose of the Study ................................................................. 6
Qualitative Inquiry and the Project .................................................. 7
Formative Research as Qualitative Inquiry ................................ 8
Validity, Generalizability, and Reliability ................................... 10
Design and Triangulation ......................................................... 11
Professional Philosophy of Teacher Education:
Issues of Neutrality ....................................................................... 12
Outline of the Chapters ................................................................. 13
Summary ...................................................................................... 15
CHAPTER 2
FRAMING THE RESEARCH: OPERATIONAL PHILOSOPHIES. 16
Conductor/Teacher and Expertise ................................................ 16
Expertise as Process-Based ................................................... 20
Musicianship, Educatorship, and Improvisation ............................ 22
Reflection-in-Action ....................................................................... 24
The Influence of Ralph Tyler and Research on Conductor
Thinking ........................................................................................ 27

Tylerian Thinking and the Choral Music Context:

An Examination of Teacher Training .................................... 32
Summary ...................................................................................... 39
CHAPTER 3
TEACHER THINKING IN MUSIC EDUCATION ........................... 41
Past Research Efforts ................................................................... 41
Critical Thinking Studies ............................................................... 43
Studies of Expertise and Music Teacher Thinking ........................ 45
Expertise vs. Expert Model ........................................................... 48

viii

Research on Conducting and Choral Methods ............................. 50

Behavioral Studies .................................................................. 51
Leadership Studies ................................................................. 52
Related Qualitative Studies in Instrumental Music Education. 54
The Choral Music Education Context ........................................... 55
Objectives-Based Choral Rehearsals ........................................... 58
The Reflective Practicum .............................................................. 62
Developing Conductor/Teacher Expertise .................................... 64
The Expert Music Educator: Additional Ways of Knowing ...... 64
Formal Knowledge .................................................................. 64
Informal Musical Knowledge ................................................... 65
lmpressionistic Musical Knowledge ........................................ 66
Supervisory Knowledge .......................................................... 67
Improvisation: The Bridge from Knowledge to Practice ............... 68
Planning vs. Preparation ............................................................... 69
Challenges in Undergraduate Choral Teacher Preparation .......... 71
Summary ...................................................................................... 74
CHAPTER 4
TEACHER THINKING AND EDUCATION .................................... 75
Defining Teacher Knowledge ....................................................... 76
General Pedagogical Knowledge ............................................ 77
Subject Matter Knowledge ...................................................... 77
Pedagogical Content Knowledge ............................................ 78
Knowledge of Context ............................................................. 80
Current Areas of Research on Teacher Thinking ......................... 81
Teacher’s Practical Knowledge, Personal Narrative
and Classroom Knowledge ........................................................... 81
Expertise ....................................................................................... 83
Teacher Planning and Relationship to Teacher Thinking ............. 88
The Tyler Model ...................................................................... 88
Summary ...................................................................................... 92
CHAPTER 5
PILOT STUDY: METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS ...................... 94
Establishing the Research Context ............................................... 94
The Setting .............................................................................. 95
Profile of Student Participants ................................................. 95
Ethical Considerations ............................................................. 96
The Conducting Class: An Overview of Structure .................... 97
Conducting and Conducting/Teaching Projects ................. 98
Description of Score Analysis System ..................................... 99
Illustrations of Student Work ....................................................... 101
Data Collection ..................................................................... 101
Written rehearsal plans .................................................... 101

Portfolio materials including written

and peer reflections ........................................................ 102
Written assignments ....................................................... 102
Videotape as triangulation .............................................. 102
Teacher/researcher field notes
and personal reflections ................................................. 103
Reporting the Data ...................................................................... 104
Analysis: Alongside Reporting and Meta-Analysis ...................... 104
Evolution of the Planning/Preparation Experiment ..................... 105
Pilot Study: Original Research Question
and Subsequent Modifications .................................................... 106
Developing Pedagogical Knowledge ...................................... 112
Confounding Factors ...................................................... 114
Development of the Non-Linear “Bubble” Model .................... 114
Confounding Factors ...................................................... 115
Additional Student-Directed Suggestions for Planning .......... 116
Non-Linear Imagining ............................................................. 1 17
Student Experimentation with the Model .................................... 117
Adjustments to the Written Plan ................................................. 123
Evaluation of the Pilot Study:

Implications for the Upcoming Project ....................................... 127
Positive Results ..................................................................... 127
Limitations .............................................................................. 129
Areas for Improvement .......................................................... 130

Summary .................................................................................... 1 32
CHAPTER 6
THE RESEARCH SETTING AND METHOD .............................. 133
Overview of Reporting and Analysis ...................................... 133
The Setting ............................................................................ 134
Profile of Student Participants ............................................... 135
Methodology ............................................................................... 1 36
Rehearsal Plans: Initial View of Data ..................................... 137
Post-Project Analysis ............................................................. 139
Rehearsal Plans: End of Project Analysis ................................... 140
Data Observation Form: Three Identified Categories
Grouping Researcher Observations ...................................... 142
Characteristics of Teaching Plan ................................................ 142
Teaching Ideas Incorporated in Student Visioning ................ 143
Relationship to Impending Teaching ...................................... 144
Triangulating Data ................................................................. 144
Reporting Procedure of Within-Case Analysis ............................ 144
Across-Case Analysis ................................................................. 146

CHAPTER 7
WITHIN-CASE ANALYSIS: SARAH, LINDSAY, AND DENISE.. 148

Summary Analysis: Sarah ........................................................... 153
Examination of Teaching Plans ............................................. 155
Depth, Breadth, and Fluency ................................................. 155

Summary Analysis: Lindsay ........................................................ 162
Examination of Teaching Plans ............................................. 163
Improvements During the Project Period ............................... 166

Summary Analysis: Denise ......................................................... 172
Constraints of Linear Planning for Improvisatory Thinkers 176

Concluding Thoughts .................................................................. 181

CHAPTER 8

AMONG-CASE ANALYSIS:

MOZART’S AVE VERUM CORPUS ........................................... 183
Dimensions of the Teaching Plans:

Breadth, Depth, and Fluency ................................................. 183
Breadth ............................................................................ 184
Depth ............................................................................... 185
Fluency ............................................................................ 188

Mode: Presentation of Teaching Ideas ................................. 190

Spectrum of Teaching Ideas .................................................. 191

Imagining for Teaching .......................................................... 197

Summary ............................................................................... 199

CHAPTER 9

THE META-ANALYSIS ............................................................... 201

Summary of Findings of Within-Case

and Across-Case Participants ..................................................... 201
Features of the Co-Created Model ........................................ 202
Expansion of Novice Conductor/Teacher Thinking ................ 204
Mental Conception of Music and Teaching ............................ 204
Linear and Spiral Thinking as Generative Thought ................ 205
Representation of Thinking Over Time
and Student Conception of Preparation for Teaching ............ 207
Role of the Conductor ............................................................ 208

Analysis of the Methodology ....................................................... 209

Implications for Classroom Practice ............................................ 211
Model for Teaching ................................................................ 212
Cultivation of the Expert-Like Mindset ................................... 212
Research Applications and Limitations .................................. 213

Concluding Thoughts and Recommendations ............................ 214

xi

APPENDICES

Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
Appendix E
Appendix F

Appendix G
Appendix H

REFERENCES ..

Project Consent Form .................................... 217
Self or Peer Evaluation Form ........................ 218
End of Semester Reflections ......................... 220
Score Study and Analysis ............................. 222
Syllabus: Music 340 ...................................... 225
Teacher/Researcher Coding Exercise:
Organizing Analytic Possibilities ................... 229
Data Observation Form ................................. 230
Across-Case Analysis: Teaching Plans
Plan One ....................................................... 234
Plan Two ....................................................... 235
Plan Three .................................................... 236
Plan Four ...................................................... 237
Plan Five ....................................................... 238
Plan Six ......................................................... 239
......................................................................... 241

xii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Identified Musical Features in Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus
By Individual Plan

Table 2 Composite Teaching Strategies Represented in Mozart’s
Ave Verum Corpus

xiii

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11
Figure 12

Figure 13

LIST OF FIGURES

Melissa’s first teaching plan: Similarities with the Tyler model of
instructional planning.

Michelle’s first teaching plan: Inclusion of musical actions by
ensemble.

Earliest version of class-constructed brainstorming model.

Karen’s plan: Teacher decisions implicit; few teaching
strategies represented.

Michelle’s plan: Conductor/teacher decisions and
teaching strategies vague and undefined.

Suggested refinements of bubble model linking teacher decisions
and teaching strategies.

Example of student work utilizing refined model.

Sarah’s plan: Linking of musical knowledge and pedagogical
knowledge.

Sarah’s initial plan: Similarities with objectives-based approach to
lesson-planning.

Lindsay’s earliest teaching plan: Few teacher decisions or teaching
strategies represented.

Lindsay’s improved teaching plans: Sequence evident.
Denise’s Early Teaching Plan

Denise’s conception of preparation and planning.

xiv

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTIONIngCOMING A EACHE

A fourth-year student in vocal music education has just completed all pre-
service teaching requirements and expresses the following in her daily journal:

For all the times l have been in front of the choir, for all the
discussion about teaching choral music and studying conducting l
have been engaged, for all the eagerness and motivation I have for
learning about how to teach, I feel distinctly unprepared to student
teach next week.

Surely every student must feel this way, yet, I somehow have the
feeling that something has been missing. I am so afraid of being in
this new situation and having no idea what to do before the
students. I have kept every lesson plan I have ever written, I have
kept every observation form of my teaching from peers and
professors, yet I know when I step before the choir Monday
morning, it will be a brand-new ball game, just like it has been each
occasion I have taught these past semesters.

I only wish I felt like what I know inside, who I am as a musician,
could translate into my teaching. My professors tell me experience
is the only thing that can help this occur, but I feel there is so much
more of me to share than anyone has ever seen. Why is it I don’t
feel like my own strengths as a musician intersect with my
teaching? I know I can do better, but I just don’t know how.
This narrative account is a composite of concerns I expressed in my
personal journal the semester before student teaching. It captures a familiar
ambivalence observed in many of my college students, namely, that the

integration of one’s musicianship and newly developing educatorship feels

inadequate before the impending student teaching experience.

Teacher preparation remains a central concern of the music teacher
education profession. As educators are held increasingly responsible for the
educational crisis facing the United States, teacher preparation will remain a
critical site of inquiry (Apple, 1995). The persisting focus on the teacher as
incompetent can only cloud progress towards educational reform in an
environment in which the educator is already subjected to countless varieties of
institutional control, systematic de—skilling by “teacher-proofing” curriculum, and
waning or misdirected resources (Apple, 1993; 1995). According to Lanier and
Little (1986, p. 542), research indicates both prospective and practicing teachers
have low expectations for their professional knowledge or improvement of
practice:

The desire for serious and continued learning for improvement purposes

is understandably low in light of growing declines in extrinsic and intrinsic

rewards for the occupation of teaching itself. Further, aspirations to
employ new understandings and intellectual insights while remaining in
teaching are often perceived as dysfunctional, because opportunities to
exercise informed judgment, engage in thoughtful discourse, and
participate in reflective decision making are practically nonexistent as
teaching is presently defined.

It is in the transition from student to emerging professional that the choral
music education profession can hope to have its greatest impact. Teacher
preparation requires a critically reasoned examination of the way in which choral
music educators are prepared in the university setting, as well as establishing a

strengthened platform from which new teachers can survive and grow in the

current educational environment.

Choral Teacher Education
In choral music education there has been a growing interest in research
on teacher education, most notably in the areas of developing teacher expertise
or musicianship (Davidson & Scripp, 1992; Dolloff, 1994; Standley & Madsen,
1991), the examination of power relations in the choral ensemble (O’Toole,
1994), as well as considerable philosophical grounding for practice from
philosophers/practitioners (Bowman, 1998; Elliott, 1995; Rao, 1988, 1987;

Reimer, 1989). At a 1996 conference, Retreat for Choral Mgsic Education held

 

at the University of Illinois and dedicated to choral teacher education,
distinguished educators and beginning collegiate teachers alike compared
experiences in the quest for better ways to teach choral methods and conducting
courses. The conference represented an important effort by the profession to
come together in dialogue to stimulate research and provide networking of
professionals for resources and support.
The ReseaLdt Problem

This study grew directly from my experiences with beginning and
advanced choral conducting and methods classes during my first three years
teaching at the collegiate level. Teacher research can be thought of “as
systematic, intentional inquiry by the teacher" (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, p.4).
Emergent issues at both the beginning and advanced levels began to take shape
as l documented both the successes and challenges encountered by my
students and as I began to examine my role in facilitating their learning and

growth.

I made the following related observations: students often taught with little
or no regard for the musical sounding presented by the laboratory chorus,
frequently employing a “laundry list” approach to rehearsing; teaching actions
regularly appeared unrelated to personal musicianship as demonstrated in
ensemble or studio contexts; experiments with planning for rehearsals did not
seem to adequately facilitate student comprehension of the teaching process nor
did it seem to increase understanding of the music under study.

As an example, one conducting class student had planned to teach a
warm-up sequence that utilized solfege syllables, which she hoped would solve
an interval problem in the upcoming repertoire. She had the singers replicate a
solfege pattern, using hand signs until the intervallic relationships were
approximated. The choir, however, sang without breath support, which
adversely affected tone and pitch. The result was the establishment of bad
vocalism for the very place in the repertoire the student wanted to solve.

In deconstructing the event, the student was unable to identify the bad
vocalism, focusing instead on the fact that the choir was able to replicate her
modeling. The student did not seem to listen in the actual sounding but rather
focused on progression through a sequence of teaching activities. Her method
of evaluation took into account only those instructional steps she planned prior to
the teaching event.

As an educator, I wanted to better understand my role in these
observations in terms of course structure and content, environment established

by my words and actions, and the influence or lack of influence my model

provided in conducting class and in the choirs many of the students participated
in alongside conducting and choral methods course-work. The development of

this project is an initial foray in exploring these issues.

Overview of the Sum

Six students in an undergraduate choral methods course at a large mid-
western university served as participants over a 15-week semester. One year
earlier, a 15-week pilot study preceded the project in which a similar class
developed and experimented with a co-created model of teacher planning. The
model is best described as a brainstorming inventory of student thought in
relationship to upcoming teaching. It emphasizes linking personal understanding
about a musical score to development of teaching strategies to carry out teacher
decisions about the work. As a means of examining teacher planning practices,
analysis of the pilot project encouraged further attention and refinements to the
preparatory process which shaped the development of the research project.

Data collection during both the pilot study and research project reflects the
teacher/researchers interest in participant experience and includes collection of
written teaching plans, video footage of conducting episodes, and
teacher/researcher field notes and journal entries. Also collected were student
written assignments such as reflections on teaching and planning processes,
assigned topics for short answer, and self and peer reflections.

Narration of the pilot study and research project includes a description of
the class experience, explication of the system of score analysis used in

relationship to the planning process, and documentation of student experience in

the form of narrative vignette. Data display is accompanied by interpretive
analytic commentary and features an in-depth analysis of written teaching plans.
The analysis views both within-case and across-case examples as a means of
viewing both breadth and depth of participant experience.

Analytic tools include a coding process developed to order observations of
written teaching plans, the use of narrative to explicate primary themes emerging
from participant experience, and interpretive commentary derived from
researcher observations about student experience and the teaching plans in
particular.

Purpose of the Study

The study explores ways to better prepare undergraduate
conductor/teachers for real-world teaching experiences. Growing out of my own
questions about teaching conducting, I began to recognize common difficulties
my students encountered. As a teacher, it was apparent to me that students
who excelled in the studio or choral ensemble often floundered when conducting,
particularly when rehearsing the laboratory chorus. While I felt confident in
addressing gestural issues related to conducting study, I became increasingly
uncomfortable in my inability to provide links between their musical knowledge
and emerging teacher knowledge.

The area of primary dissonance for me became the rehearsal planning
question. I understood well that students must have an adequate process of
planning for rehearsal rooted in score study. This process needed to include

ways of bridging the musical discoveries students were able to make with an

ability to present and teach the material to the laboratory chorus. I began to
notice that in the construction of rehearsal guides (lesson plans), without specific
coaching from me, students organized their plans from the behavioral objectives
model and more often than not taught according to a “laundry list” of activities to
accomplish.

When the students approached rehearsing in this way, they often
disregarded the actual sounded musical challenges, even at times appearing not
to “hear” the sounding at all. As a teacher, I needed to adopt the researcher
perspective in order to better understand the phenomena I observed and to
rethink my role in the process, as well as ways of adjusting the class to better
meet the needs of my students.

The primary focus of the study was the development of an alternative
process for rehearsal planning in the choral teaching context. Following an initial
pilot study in which various approaches to rehearsal planning were cultivated, the
project narrowed to a co-created, non-linear model of rehearsal planning which
became the central focus for the teacher planning question. This non-linear
model emphasizes brainstorming and generative thought represented by
visually-oriented maps of student thinking. Student self-perception and
researcher observation played an important role in the emergent model as

documented throughout the project.

_ualitative lnguirv an_d the Proiect
The research questions are embedded in personal experience, in

individual perception, as well as in culturally shared understandings among class

members. According to Rubin and Rubin (1995, p. 35), “interpretive researchers
seek thick and rich descriptions of the cultural and topical arenas they are
studying and try to develop an empathetic understanding of the world of others.”

Music education has only recently begun to recognize qualitative studies
as scholarly investigations on par with well-established quantitative paradigms.
Qualitative research can be considered “multi-method in focus, involving an
interpretive, naturalistic approach to its subject matter” (Denzin & Lincoln, 1994,
p. 2). It is particularly suited to investigations of shared experience and socially
constructed meaning, and acknowledges the researcher as inextricably
embedded in the context to be studied.

Qualitative methodology, or strategies of research, differ significantly from
a positivist, quantitative approach. The application of common terminology such
as triangulation, validity, generalizability, and reliability further confuse the reader
as usage differs widely between the two paradigms. Qualitative investigation
implies an emphasis on process and the cultivation of an interpretation of the
experience rather than on methods of measurement to describe a research
hypothesis. According to Denzin and Lincoln (1994, p. 11), quantitative
research results are often generalized to the larger population while qualitative
results emphasize local, small-scale theories fitted to specific problems and

specific situations.

Formative Research as Qualitative Inquiry
Formative research or development research is a disciplined, systematic

examination of an educational product or program within the natural classroom

environment (Bresler, 1994). According to Bresler, its explicit purpose is
improvement of the product or program under study, or of the developers’ ability
to design and produce similar products or programs in the future. “Such
examination should focus on teachers’ perceptions and adaptations of the
materials to the existing curricula, as well as students’ interactions and
experiences with the materials” (p. 11).

When formative research functions as a strand of action research, the
researcher and teacher become one in the context of the researcher’s classroom
setting. Drawing on the pragmatist tradition, the goals of action research are
fitted, local, and specific to the research question at hand. Formative research
frequently contributes to the generation of theory, drawing on scholarly literature
for its conceptualization (Bresler, 1994). According to Bresler (p. 13), “It can lead
to the generation of new theories which are rooted in specific programs and
immediate, particle concerns. Because of the goals and nature of formative
research, its audience includes practitioners as well as academics." The
generated theory is the result of an examination of local, practical, contextual
issues broadened to larger issues of teaching practice.

Viewed differently, the teacher/researcher strives to become what Eisner
(1991) terms an educational connoisseur. The development of this form of
heightened sensitivity to the classroom environment serves as . . the means
through which we come to know the complexities, nuances, and subtleties of

aspects of the world in which we have a special interest” (p. 68). He identifies

educational curricula, textbooks, and materials as important for assessment by
educational connoisseurs as a way of satisfying educational aims and goals.
Following Bresler’s (1994, p. 15) definition, this study can be
characterized as formative by meeting her stated criteria: the research is applied
and concerned with improvement of teaching, it is interactive and involves
student perception and experience, and it contributes to practice in such a way
that others can interpret for themselves the applicability to their own teaching

circumstances.

Validity, Generalizability, and Reliability

In the qualitative paradigm, validity refers to whether the description of the
observed phenomenon credibly explains the phenomenon. A central way to
check for validity is to seek participant review, which occurs both during and
more comprehensively at the culmination of the project. According to Erickson
(1996), there tends to be a bias towards typical or frequently occurring events
when ascertaining validity. Rare events are also important, and internal validity
is strongest when it accounts for patterns across both rare and familiar events.

I It is commonly understood that generalizing results of a qualitative study
can be done insofar as a future reader can identify with the experience. The
careful framing of patterns with respect to certain themes becomes a central
challenge (Carter, 1993). The researcher will make no attempt to generalize
results to all undergraduate conducting study, instead painting as rich a portrait
of the specific case as possible. Future readers may target areas of

commonality, examining their own situations in relationship to the findings.

10

Bresler (1994, p. 23) addresses the issues of validity and generalizing
results in formative research:

Since formative research is contextual and naturalistic, development

researchers build upon the uniqueness of personal understandings,

offering a credible account and a vicarious experience. Researchers also
ask each reader to incorporate the account into prior experience and
belief. By reporting the kind of detail that enables readers to bring their
developed faculties ofjudgment into play, it facilitates inferences by the
reader regarding other situations. Readers transfer insights from a study
to other situations based on the similarity they perceive between the
situations, intuitively weighted as to what is important and unimportant in
the match.

Reliability, with emphasis on replication of results in a new setting, is not a
particularly useful concept in most qualitative research. According to Lee and
Yarger (1996, p. 32), “It would seem almost contradictory to specify procedures
for data collection and analysis when so much of the nature of the study
depends on personal experiences of researchers and subjective meaning

making of the phenomenon as the study progresses.”

Design and Triangulation

Qualitative methodology is by nature emergent. In a discussion of
interviewing techniques, Rubin and Rubin (1995) note that design should be
flexible, iterative, and continuous rather than rigid. Flexibility refers to the ability
to react to emerging data as new themes or directions present themselves.
Iteration is the process of continually examining data towards ever-refined
understandings of the major themes presented. Continuous design reflects the
nature of the process as well as the open-mindedness of the researcher toward

the project.

II

Triangulation in qualitative research, unlike in its quantitative counterpart,
is concerned with a multi-method approach to research strategies rather than a
means of validating data. The use of multiple methods “reflects an attempt to
secure an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon in question” (Denzin &
Lincoln, 1994, p. 2).

The emergent process is evident throughout the project as data are
simultaneously collected and initially analyzed through examination of field
notes, content analysis of rehearsal plans, and personal reflection in the form of
written assignments, and self and peer evaluations. The area of rehearsal
planning, as shaped by student experience during conducting/teaching rounds, is

a central focus of the study.

Professional Philosophy of Teacher Education: Issues of Neutrm

When the researcher is also the teacher, issues of objectivity invariably
arise. l have not engaged in this project with the intent of distancing myself;
indeed my role as teacher is central and germane to the questions asked.
Clandinin and Connelly (1988, p. 25) define personal practical knowledge a
teacher’s “reconstructing the past and the intentions for the future to deal with
the exigencies of a present situation.” To this end, image is important within
experience, embodied in us and expressed and enacted in our practices and
actions. It affects choices teachers make with regard to teaching and curriculum
(p. 60). Finally, these images serve as metaphors: “We understand teachers’
actions and practices as embodied expressions of their metaphors of teaching

and of living” (p. 71).

With this in mind, an explicit philosophical emphasis was placed on the
development of conducting/teaching in which the role of the classroom teacher
was that of facilitator or mentor, in which overt attempts were made at redefining
the power structure of the choral classroom towards shared inquiry, and in which
reflective thinking on the part of the novice teacher was at the heart of decision-
making and problem-solving. Equally important was the guiding belief that
students brought to the class various degrees of musicianship and artistry that
could be directed toward the conducting/teaching process.

As both instructor of the course and primary researcher, I am inextricably
embedded in the study, and my beliefs form the basis for the investigation. I am
not a neutral party and therefore define my experiences in the class alongside

those of my students.

Oifline of the Chapters

In answering the research questions, the discussion is anchored in the
wider literature on teacher thinking and expertise. Chapter Two establishes
operational definitions and philosophies of teaching and conducting, particularly
as it relates to the various kinds of thinking required to carry out both musical
and teaching actions. Chapter Three situates the discussion in the music
education research base as it pertains to studies of teacher
effectiveness/teacher competency, expertise, and conducting/choral methods.
The chapter traces rehearsal planning considerations from the general music

domain and specific to the choral teaching circumstance.

 

The review examines various forms of knowledge that are particular to
thinking in music. The role of reflection is explored as a central feature to the
development of conductor/teacher expertise. Planning for rehearsal counts as
an important dimension of reflection about upcoming teaching.

Chapter Four describes research in the field of education on teacher
thinking. Research on teacher thinking, interactive teaching, and teacher belief
systems is more developed in education than in music education. Taken as a
whole, these studies provide important links to understanding and defining
teacher knowledge, describing the role of improvisation in the teaching process,
identifying ways experienced teachers plan for instruction, and exploring how
interactive decisions are made in the teaching act.

The unfolding of the 15-week pilot study is documented in Chapter Five
including a description of the class experience, methodology utilized and
adjusted during the project, presentation of the data and emerging rehearsal
planning model.

Chapter Six establishes the research setting and method, including a
description of upcoming analysis of within-case and across-case examples of
participant data. Within-case analysis will examine teaching plans and
supporting data in a single participant’s output over the course of the project.
Across-case analysis will examine a single teaching plan across all class
participants for comparative purposes. Chapter Seven reports within-case
analysis of three students which view all teaching plans submitted during the

project period. Chapter Eight examines across-case analysis of all class

14

 

participants by viewing the teaching plans of a single piece submitted mid-
project. In “telling the story” of both within and across-case examples, several
modalities are presented including narrative story-telling, visual presentation of
the data, and reflections of the researcher.

The narration illustrates emergent patterns and themes of student
experience in relationship to the rehearsal planning process. Analysis and
interpretation includes the development of categories that enable grouping of
themes and patterns through a coding process. A comparative examination of
both within-case and among-case student work adds breadth to the analysis.
Triangulation through student narrative and researcher observation provides
further depth.

Chapter Nine, a meta-analysis, includes practical implications for the
improvement of the researcher’s classroom practice as well as possible
considerations for choral music education and future research in

conductor/teacher thinking.

Summagy

The study is expected to provide a rich description of the conducting
class experience and illuminate central areas of dissonance and consonance as
students negotiate the ideas underlying the rehearsal planning, process. It is not
expected nor intended to serve as a broad generalization of how to approach
conducting study at the undergraduate level but is hoped to serve as a single

strand in the growing discourse around teaching thinking in music education.

15

CHAPTER 2

FRAMING THE RESEARCH: OPERATIONAL PHILOSOPHIES
This chapter examines what it means to think as conductor/teachers
towards development of teaching expertise. Operational definitions of terms
such as musicianship, educatorship, improvisation, and reflection-in-action will
establish philosophical parameters of the study. The perceived influence of a
behaviorist orientation towards choral teacher training, as originally developed by
Ralph Tyler (1950) mid-century, will further establish theoretical framework for

the research problem and subsequent project.

Conductor/Teacher and Expertise

Conductor/teacher preparation necessarily involves at least two distinct
areas of knowing: musical knowledge and teaching knowledge. In this study, the
term conductor/teacher will be employed simultaneously to deliberately highlight
both functions. Part of my premise is that the choral profession has unnaturally
separated musical understanding (self) from the teaching of musical
understanding (others) in the undergraduate education of young conductors. A
recent conversation I had with one of my students highlights this point:

“Jeff” approached me after the first conducting class of the semester. He

was concerned whether he had signed up for the right course. Jeff is a

junior level vocal performance major and is required to take conducting

study as part of his curriculum. When asked what the concern was, he

replied “After reviewing the syllabus, and talking in class, I think the

course must be for music education majors because the focus seemed to

be on teaching. I was hoping for a class that focused on conducting, you
know, to get me ready for a church choir job when I graduate.”

16

Jeff was clearly operating with the assumption that teaching was a subsidiary
function of the conductor and that his time would be better spent focusing on
gesture alone.

Thinking in music and thinking in teaching require rich, complex, and fluid
forms of understanding. Recent research about these cognitive processes has
3 bed new light on the general nature of knowledge as well as domain specific

cognition (Carter, 1990; Gardner 1983; Grossman, 1990, Shulman 1987;
Sternberg 1988).

Dolloff (1994) examined the nature of music teacher expertise in the
choral music education context. In a study that focused on continuing
professional development issues for choral educators, she drew on literature

1:rom educational research and cognitive psychology to identify and trace strands
of the related but separate domains of musicing and teaching. Following Elliott’s
( 1 995) view of music teaching and learning, Dolloff asserts music is a complex
1term of situated knowledge, and the teaching of this knowledge requires not only
1ihe base of musicianship but also situated knowledge of educatorship. The term
expert in music teaching, then, refers both to a highly developed level of
musicianship as well as the abilities to develop such in others.

Why is expertise a concern for conductor/teacher preparation at the
undergraduate level? After all, novice teachers can hardly be expected to be
characterized as such in a comparatively early stage of development. One of the
ways in which the question of conductor/teacher expertise can be explored is to

turn to research outside the field of music for consideration, deconstruction, and

17

possible portability to the choral music education circumstance. Much research
exists about expertise as it relates to cognitive bases, behavioral and social
manifestations, and examination of domain specific experts in fields as diverse
as medicine, chess, sports, arts, and education (Bereiter and Scardamalia, 1993

Berliner, 1986; Ericsson, 1996; Hoffman, 1992;).

Bereiter and Scardamalia (1993) make useful distinctions between an
expert and an experienced nonexpert. In the teaching context, an expert teacher
wi II approach teaching as the constant search for new ways in which teaching
Challenges may be addressed. This “growing edge” of learning characterizes the
c3F>enness, self-reflection, and continual sense of renewal evidenced by the

expert:

Our conjecture is that in order to be experts, people must choose to
address the problems of their field at the upper level of the complexity
they can handle. And they must make this choice early in their careers, or
perhaps even earlier, as school children. For it is through such working at

the upper edge that people develop the deep knowledge that makes
expert performance possible (p. 20).

It is important to distinguish the comparison between the experienced nonexpert
and expert rather than traditional comparisons of the novice and the expert.
Bereiter and Scardamalia are concerned with expertise as process-based, and
as such, drawing distinctions between those with similar backgrounds and
experience levels.

Elliott (1995) likens the process approach of learning to teach music to
improvisation, through which the musician seeks new ways of expressing herself
rooted in a rich base of procedural knowledge (know-how). The expert teacher’s

paradigm is enlargement of the existing base of knowledge and experience in

18

the quest to facilitate learning and growth, both in terms of teacher and student.

Thus, while the teacher continually pushes her upper limits of challenge, she is

likewise engaged in the facilitation of a sense of collective expertise on the part
of the ensemble.

The experienced nonexpert, instead of improvising, attempts to reduce
the set of possibilities in the teaching act to single or familiar responses. As a

course of habit, the experienced nonexpert will ritualize teaching so that it
req uires progressively less independent thought to carry out the teaching action.
The experienced nonexpert shares similarities with the novice teacher as the
r1<>vice does not yet have the procedural knowledge or experience to anchor
improvisation in the teaching instance.

The cultivation of an expert-like model, based on a process-oriented
Understanding of developing expertise, might provide the novice teacher with
Ways of exercising musical content knowledge (musicianship) and teacher

knowledge (educatorship) towards ever spiraling integration of the two. Further,
it is important to acknowledge that expertise is relational in nature. As Howard
notes, “ what counts as understanding for the novice may only approximate that
of the expert. Yet, because he is able to go on and do better we say of the
novice he understands” (1982, p. 62). Such understanding can be thought of as
expert-like, akin to a work in progress, in contrast to “an expert,” one at the upper
level of a field.
Pre-student teaching experiences might be structured in ways that

emphasize the development of expert-like thinking. In the choral educator

19

professional development paradigm, Dolloff (1994) notes expert-like thinking will
be most likely to develop when the opportunities are sustained over time,
context-driven in a community of learners, and include observation of a master
teacher. Curricula for undergraduate conductor/teachers could follow a similar

approach as will be examined in this study.

Expertise as Process-Based
A process view of expertise has important implications for choral music
ed ucators. When expertise is examined as a process, not a product, it may be
developed and exercised, and the mind-set for such development encouraged.
As emerging conductor/teachers, our students can be taught to think of their
growing educatorship as a process of integrating their already substantial
musical understanding (or musicianship) with their emerging understanding of
the teaching process. The integration of musicianship and educatorship is a
Critical concept, for conductor/teachers must depend on their rich musical
Understandings as the basis for developing a specialized form of improvisation in
the conducting context - that of teaching.

By design, in fact, university training often separates the development of
musicianship and educatorship. Choral conducting is frequently taught as a
gesture-based course in which mastery of gesture is prerequisite to the teaching
of rehearsal planning, score study, or the rehearsing of choral music.
Conducting gesture is one of the most powerful teaching tools at our disposal,

emphasizing non-verbal knowing, but the approach to the fundamental teaching

20

 

of gesture can be technique-based, largely separated from the personal
demonstration of musical understanding and expression.
Similarly, choral methods study can be structured in such a way that
isolates the physicality of conducting from the teaching of music. In this case,
“methods” or pedagogy is a-contextually examined during which actual
conducting may be limited to a few micro-teaching instances, and rehearsal
planning is discussed generically and outside of a particular musical instance.
I: u rther, choral methods study frequently emphasizes the practical
Considerations of administering a choral program, which decreases instructional
time allocated for development of teaching. The implicit message to students
may be that their musicianship and educatorship are separate considerations, if
not unrelated.

Complicated issues certainly imbue ways in which conducting and
methods courses are typically structured. Conducting gesture is a kinesthetic
form of cognition that requires sophisticated bodily knowledge as well as serving

as a rich reflection of non-verbal musical understanding. But, the challenge to
integrate conducting gesture with such understanding is a central concern.

Noted conducting pedagogue Elizabeth Green (1997) writes:

It is wise to build your technique away from the podium, for as soon as the
music starts, in rehearsal or performance, the full powers of your mind
switch over to the music, and your hands are left to their own skilled (or
unskilled) devices . . . In one short, spicy sentence, musicianship is what

your ear hears while you are conducting (p. 2).

21

Musicianship, Educatorship, and Improvisation
Several terms need to be operationally defined at this point. Musicianship
is a rich form of situated knowledge expressed by the music-maker in
relationship to specific standards and traditions of musical practice, and as active
mental constructions cultivated by the music listener. Articulated by Elliott
( 1 995), this view represents a praxial approach to music education in which
m usicianship is developed through the act of music-making, or musicing.
According to Elliott:

Musicing in the sense of musical performing is a particular form of

intentional human action. Performing depends on the deliberate

formulation of purposes in a definite context. A musicer acts by selecting

a particular situation or condition with an intention in mind; by deploying,

directing, and adjusting certain actions to make intended changes of

certain sounds of a certain kind; and by judging when the intended
changes have been achieved in relation to standards and traditions of

musical practice (1995, p. 50).

Elliott (1995) draws on the research of cognitive psychologists Bereiter
and Scardamalia and the writings of philosopher Gilbert Ryle (1949), and
identifies five kinds of knowledge that constitute musicianship: procedural

(know-how), formal musical knowledge (knowing about), informal musical
knowledge (gained through immersion into particular standards of musical
practice), impressionistic musical knowledge (intuition which urges one towards
particular musical decisions), and supervisory musical knowledge (the ability to
monitor one’s actions, musical and extra-musical, in the act of music-making).

Musicianship, then, can be seen as situated knowledge based in

particular standards of musical practice. This in part explains why

conductor/teachers are successful in some musical genre, say Baroque-era

22

 

music, and less so in others outside their experience, perhaps American jazz.
This has important implications for the breadth and depth of music chosen in
conducting and choral methods classes, as well as for ensemble experiences
during the collegiate experience.
If one applies the same principle to defining educatorship, situated
knowledge embedded in the act of teaching, it becomes apparent for the
conductor/teacher that musicianship and educatorship are mutually dependent
rather than separate considerations. This seemingly obvious concept has
important meaning as teaching must occur in relation to content, and content in
m usic is not static or fixed, but directly related to the conductor/teacher’s ongoing
musical understanding. Conducting is both active, personal music-making and a
real-time direct link to the music-making of others. As such, the continued
development of individual expertise, or musicianship, impacts the ensemble’s
Collective efforts towards musical understanding. Likewise, music-making occurs
in a specific cultural instance with context dependent needs of the learner,
demanding situated understandings of what it means to think in teaching.
Improvisation gives particular meaning to the process conductor/teachers
must employ in a given musical instance. Alperson (1994) posits that musical
improvisation includes composing in real time, interpreting, and performing.
Teaching can also serve as a form of improvisation. Kennedy (1987) asserts
that teaching requires the selection of a strategy that is codependent on the
interpretation of that strategy in the teaching instance. This form of reflection-in-

action has been written about extensively by Schon (1983, 1987) and will be

23

explored below. The teacher is improvising in the sense that she must
“compose” or select a focus from many problem-setting possibilities, decide how
to exercise the focus in real-time, carry out the focus based on her

understanding of the context at hand, and evaluate in-action the decision made.

Reflection-in-Action
The notion of reflection, or reflecting-in-action has become central to
discussions of teacher expertise. In his seminal account of the relationship
between reflection and the work of professionals, Donald Schon (1983)
describes what it means to “know” something and be able to reflect on this
khowledge both in the action and independent of the action.

Knowing-in-action is the “characteristic mode of ordinary practical
knowledge” (Schon, 1983, p. 54). Such procedural knowledge is so internalized
that it can be carried out spontaneously, without thinking about it prior to

e)tecution. He describes knowing-in-action as often beyond verbal description

and knowledge that does not necessarily stem from a prior intellectual operation.
As it applies to music, this concept is fully outlined in Elliott’s discussion of what
constitutes musicianship (1995, p. 55).

As Schon (1983) notes, it is possible to evaluate what we are doing as we
are “in-the-action.” This “thinking on one’s feet” can be termed reflecting-in-
action, which occurs in real time. It differs from reflecting on one’s actions either
prior to or following an experience. He argues that reflecting-in-action is often far

removed from conventions of professional practice. Schon describes:

24

 

When someone reflects-in-action, he becomes a researcher in the
practice context. He is not dependent on the categories of established
theory and technique, but constructs a new theory of the unique case (p.
68). . . Many practitioners, locked into a view of themselves as technical
experts, find nothing in the world of practice to occasion reflection. They
have become too skillful at techniques of selective inattention, junk
categories, and situation control, techniques which they use to preserve
the constancy of their knowledge-in-practice (p 69).

Note the similarity here between Bereiter and Scardamalia’s (1993) discussion of
the experienced nonexpert who progressively ritualizes knowledge in a given
domain and Schon’s description of professionals who do not actively reflect on
their actions.

Schon (1983) describes the relationship between reflection-in-action and
musical improvisation as one in which musicians make on-the-spot adjustments
and new constructions based on their musical knowledge at both the individual

and collective level. Such knowledge is the result of prior experience, but also of

reflecting-in-action towards a new evolution of musical sound and structure. Far
from a verbal reflection, this “feel for the music” seems to “focus interactively on
the outcomes of the action, the action itself, and the intuitive knowing implied in
the action” (p. 56).
The practice of teaching, then, might be described as a particularized form
of reflection-in-action. Put differently, one must stimulate imagination as a
primary tool of the reflective act. Howard (1982), discusses the ability to re-direct
action in relationship to imagination. “In effect, it is imagination that enables us
to adjust our know-how to particular cases and even to revise it radically or

transfer it to new realms of application” (p. 135). He describes imaging, in the

heuristic sense, as both the construction of a mental image, and the

25

performance of the image (p. 138). Both views hold important implications for
the approach to teaching.

There are considerable problems to be faced in the domain of music with
regard to the cultivation of reflective inquiry among music professionals. Music is
foremost a nonverbal form of procedural knowing. Procedural knowledge in
music, as explained by Schon (1987), may involve thinking that does not result in
verbal concepts or need to be mediated by language. This know-how may be so
internalized that it defies explanation, indeed may supersede explanation. When
one considers how to teach or model reflecting-in-action and how to evaluate
whether it is occurring in the novice conductor/teacher, one necessarily relies on
language as the primary route of communication between persons.

Equating reflecting-in-action with verbalization about music and teaching
is a persistent challenge. Verbalization, making formal tacit or nonverbal musical
understandings, potentially re-situates the experience outside the music, away
from the musicer and musicer’s personal understandings. As Stubley (1996)
notes, “It. . . leads me to wonder how many times we as music teachers have, in
the name of developing critical thinking skills, asked a question, and in so doing,
prevented the students from creating their own musical magic” (p. 7). Interrupting
the musical experience with verbalization carries the risk of disrupting the potent
nonverbal Iearnings that take place in the musical action.

Reflection in or on action is r00ted in the larger research base on critical
thinking. Indeed, in educational research a significant body of research exists

about critical and reflective thinking (Richardson, 1992, p. 551). As it is a fairly

26

recent site of inquiry in music education, the distinctions between these terms
and a concomitant philos0phical grounding remains to be articulated
comprehensively. Richardson outlines four areas of research studies that
examine critical thinking and music: descriptive studies that focus on musical
problem solving, correlation studies that focus on musical problem solving,
correlation studies of the relationship between musical and nonmusical variables
and measures of critical thinking, and verbal protocol analysis of musical thinking

in the musical encounter (p. 553).

The Influence of Ralph Tyler am Research on Conductor Thinkinq

Music teaching, learning, and research have been influenced heavily by
the behavioral objectives movement codified in mid-century by Ralph Tyler
(1950) at the University of Chicago. Tyler was one of many responding to the
call for school reform and teacher accountability. Writing about curriculum and
instruction, Tyler’s model of planning for instruction through the use of behavioral
objectives can be traced in any number of curriculum projects in music, in ways
that pedagogy is addressed in general and choral/instrumental methods classes,
in basal text series, even in the construction of recent national standards
endorsed by the Music Educator’s National Conference (1994).

Bradford Wing (1992, p. 200) provides a widely agreed on summary of
Tyler's principles:

1) Decide the aims of the curriculum.

2) Express the aims as explicit learner behaviors or objectives.

27

3) Devise and provide experiences likely to enable the learner to behave
in the desired way.

4) Assess the congruence of pupil performance and objectives.

5) Vary the “treatment” until the behavior matches the objective.
Tyler’s approach, originally conceived as an evaluative and assessment vehicle
for educational programs, widened to dominate thinking about how students
should learn and who was ultimately responsible for directing such learning.
Considerations of Tyler’s ideas focused nearly exclusively on his writing on
evaluation and assessment though Tyler himself wrote far more broadly about
educational issues. The timeliness of writing on evaluation and assessment
likely encouraged this bandwagon effect as educational policy makers were
increasingly held accountable for ways of “proving” educational products or
programs mid-century.

In education, the Competency Based Teacher Education movement
culminated in the 19705, solidifying Tyler’s approach such that instruction was
crafted into discrete units which could be observed and measured (Kennedy,
1987, p.134). “Although interest in CBTE peaked in the 1970s, the movement
left its mark in the form of an almost universal concern with the importance of
competency-based objectives, a legacy of technological innovations in
classroom instruction, and an increased emphasis on field experiences”
(Verrastro & Leglar, 1992, p. 680).

Elliott (1992) further contextualizes the Tyler approach to music education

by describing the “technical rationality” philosophy, which he believes has had

28

profound influence on teaching during the last several decades. “Technical
rationality holds that expertise is a matter of solving well-formed problems by
applying theories and techniques based on theoretical (especially “scientific”)
knowledge” (p. 8). He goes on to argue that technical rationality fails to
recognize key problems teachers must solve that do not present themselves in a
generalized way and that practice should inform theory rather than theory
dictating specific (highly verbal) instructional strategies in practice.

In music, large scale curriculum projects such as the Aesthetic Education
Program (AEP) of the Central Midwestern Regional Education Laboratory
(CEMREL) have advanced Tylerian thinking. This is evidenced by a focus on
behavioral objectives designed to teach identified elements of music such as
melody, rhythm, timbre, harmony, and form. More recently, Discipline Based Art
Education (DBAE), funded by the Getty Center for Education in the Arts, has
followed suit with a curriculum development project for comprehensive study of
the arts emphasizing aesthetics, criticism, history, and art production based on
pre-determined learning outcomes. A notable difference in the approaches is
the interdisciplinary focus inherent in DBAE curricula.

Pedagogical approaches, such as that espoused by Edwin Gordon,
illustrate the Tylerian notion of sequence and concept-building (Gordon, 1989).
Perhaps the greatest impact of widespread curricular influence in the school
settings are basal text series that dominate elementary general music learning
(Bradford Wing, 1992). Regardless of philosophical intent inherent in different

basal text series or curriculum projects, the instructional activities in some way

29

embody Tyler’s ideas with particular emphasis on music learning as sequential,
based on predetermined musical concepts.

This may explain in part why studies of teacher thinking are largely absent
from the music research paradigm. Given the consistency with which university
programs prepare students using this framework, researchers are trained to think
through the behaviorist lens and it is little surprise that so much extant research
reflects this paradigm. Some approaches to curriculum in the latter half of this
century have de-emphasized the role of the teacher and significantly diminished
teaching by delivering predetermined material often selected by external
curriculum experts or set forth as specific lesson plans in basal series textbooks
(Apple, 1995). In these instances, the content is static and the teacher's
manifest role is to present the material and evaluate whether learning has taken
place.

When music learning is viewed as the acquisition of skills based on
sequential activities designed to teach particular musical concepts, music
teaching is necessarily defined within this paradigm. The “thinking” required to
choose concepts to be taught, to construct instructional activities, and even to
evaluate musical learning is often determined by persons outside the particular
musical classroom. Teachers are de-professionalized in the sense that curricula
is externally imposed. Certain curricular materials go as far as specifying step by
step, word by word, what the teacher must say to deliver the instructional
sequence and how to check for student learning (Apple, 1995). At the university

level, novice teachers experiment with the behavioral objectives model of lesson

30

planning such that objectives are chosen, activities designed, and outcomes
evaluated in micro-teaching or in-service experiences.

Central to the behavioralist purpose of music teaching, then, is to teach
musical concepts by advancing the knowledge and skills needed to organize
sound according to its elements. “All responsible teaching emphasizes the
intentional sequencing of activities that lead to pre-established learning results”
(Froelich, 1992, p. 562).

One consequence of this approach may be that novice teachers do not
learn what it means to think inside the teaching action, to react to the particulars
of situated contexts, and to learn how to readjust the teaching instance in
relationship to student needs. Viewed from the expertise paradigm, novice
teachers are being taught how to reduce musical problem-setting into specific,
observable, replicable concepts, how to teach in direct relationship to a concept,
and how to teach in a linear, step by step sequence.

This approach may encourage novices to place their imagination on hold
in favor of controlling the teaching act in a general, predetermined, a-contextual
manner. Further, effective teaching in this way of thinking requires working out in
advance of the teaching instance the specific path of instructional delivery which
may or may not be suited to the actual teaching instance.

Research on teacher thinking can contribute significantly to understanding
how teachers operationalize their knowledge in the teaching instance and begin
to distinguish between personal musical understandings and the generalized

body of music teaching knowledge.

31

Tylerian Thinking and the Choral Music Context: An Examination of Teacher
Training

With respect to choral music education, Tylerian thinking is clearly evident
in the rehearsal planning component of many choral methods or conducting
courses as evidenced in standard textbooks (Brinson, 1996; Collins, 1993;
Hylton,1995). Choral methods or choral pedagogy appears to be modeled after
general methods courses where lesson planning follows the basic philosophy
articulated by Tyler (1950), whether explicitly cultivated or implicitly implied. In
some universities, secondary methods courses absorb the choral component of
the curriculum and both are addressed within a single course framework further
supporting this trend.

An example of explicit cultivation of the behavioral objectives approach is
apparent in a text geared for choral methods and/or conducting classes (Collins,
1993, p. 95-107). The author links the teaching of choral music to theories
espoused by Thornburg representative of the Competency Based Teacher
Education movement of the 1970’s (p. 96-97). This theory includes a curricular
focus on well-written behavioral objectives, learning activities, and assessment of
learning. Collins introduces the model from the educational realm as a
foundation upon which to cultivate mastery of teaching (p. 95). He illustrates
ways in which the choral classroom can incorporate Thornburg’s instructional
model when devising teaching strategies by narrating a fictitious choral rehearsal

utilizing Thornburg’s structure (p. 104-106).

32

By layering on the general music methods planning model of behavioral
objectives, a choral conductor would select a musical objective or concept within
a piece, devise exercises to teach the objective, and evaluate whether the
objective was met. Rehearsal plans are frequently written in a step by step,
linear fashion and often submitted in advance of the teaching instance to the
major professor. Conductor/teachers may be evaluated on whether the plan was
executed as written and whether the plan adequately addressed the concept(s)
to be taught.

Examples of planning for choral rehearsals with the behavioral objectives
mindset is evident in choral methods textbooks. These lesson plans no doubt
are constructed with the intention of giving students specific instructional
strategies in the quest to best prepare teachers for real-world teaching
encounters. The following is a representative account of a choral rehearsal plan
(Bnnson,1992,p.136x

V. Chanson on “Dessus le marché d’Arras” (twelve minutes)

A. pp. 3-4
1. Review notes from the monophonic model (SATB in unison) on
“dah” and remind them of breaths.
2. Speak French for them, phrase by phrase, and have them echo.
3. Speak French in unison and in rhythm
4. Sing on French, slowly
5. Sing at a slight faster tempo.
B. pp. 5-6
1. S and T sing S line on “dee”

2. A and B sing A line on “dee”
3. Sing as written (pp. 5-7) on French

33

This example, even out of the context of the larger rehearsal plan
presented by Brinson (1992), demonstrates an emphasis on a linear construction
of rehearsal planning. Each step is carefully laid out in advance of rehearsal, the
steps are logical and sequential, and if followed by the student, are likely to result
in a “well-rounded” rehearsal sequence. While there is arguably value in
teaching students to conceive of teaching as progressive sequencing, that form
is important to the teaching interaction, there is at the same time little emphasis
on teaching novice teachers how to respond when the needs of the students are
in obvious conflict with the Iesson’s objectives. This example is more implicit
than the former in that behavioral objectives are not stated. The shape and form
of the behavioral model, however, is apparent in the construction of the
rehearsal plan.

Unlike general methods planning, choral conducting planning involves
intensive score study, which ideally informs the conductor/teacher of those
musical concepts salient to a particular work of music. The behavioral objectives
model, however, has a determinant effect not only on how teaching will be
approached, but also on the very way in which music is defined.

In this view, music can be deconstructed as a series of musical concepts
represented in the behavioral model by identified musical elements such as
form, harmony, timbre, rhythm, among others. Perception of these elements
would be a central goal for instruction as evidenced and assessed through

performance.

34

A paradox exists at this nexus for the conductor/teacher. The global
nature of the behavioral method encourages a sameness of approach to
considerations of instructional content and delivery. The music, in this case,
serves the instructional paradigm, namely the teaching of musical concepts such
as melody, timbre, harmony, form, and rhythm. More importantly, the teaching of
choral pieces is regulated by an underlying philosophy that suggests learning in
the choral context is sequential, can be layered on idea by idea, and is
generalizable across musical practices.

This operating philosophy might be illustrated in the following fictitious
vignette:

A conducting student is assigned a Bach motet to teach with a university
laboratory chorus. This student knows much about Bach as she is an
organ major and plays the Bach repertoire on a regular and sustained
basis. Because of her background, she knows both tacitly and explicitly
about the musical practice, and in performance demonstrates great
sensitivity to style, articulation, tempi, and expressive devices.

Following score study of the motet, which includes playing through and
singing as is her custom, the student feels she "knows” the score and
would be prepared to play the accompaniment for a choral rehearsal or
sing the work as a choral member with ease and understanding.

When preparing for the teaching rehearsal, the student faces a blank
page and struggles to identify what to teach and how to teach the motet.
She thinks “I’ll focus on rhythm as an organizing concept and teach the
characteristic motive of the opening movement.” She decides to employ
rhythmic syllables she learned in the Kodaly approach in her general
methods course as a way of teaching the characteristic motive. By the
time she teaches, she has constructed other such exercises for the ten
minute experience with several extra “in reserve” in case she runs out of
things to do.

During the teaching instance, she discovers that the singers execute the
rhythmic challenge without problem. In somewhat of a panic, she quickly
realizes that the exercises she has worked out to teach are not necessary.
With little else to go on, however, she employs the exercises anyway.

35

She is somewhat aware as she teaches that the primary melodic motive is
not quite accurate, especially as it returns with some variation in the tenor
and alto sections. She makes a mental note to explain later to the choir
that the intervals are incorrect but continues with her plan.

Following her experience, she expresses frustration to a peer after class.

“There wasn’t time to accomplish much,” she complains, “and the choir

seemed, well, unengaged. Maybe I need to be more energetic.

This vignette, though fictitious, certainly reflects both my own experiences in
learning to teach and the difficulties faced by many of my students. In this case,
the student already knew much about the musical practice presented by the
Bach motet. Her own rich understandings, however, had little or no involvement
in either her planning or rehearsal of the piece. Her score study process was
likely far richer than her considerations of potential teaching directions.

This phenomenon is not uncommon. It is as if students are expected to
turn off their internal musical understandings in favor of finding ways to teach
global, generalizable concepts. These concepts are organizing umbrellas under
which teaching strategies are devised. In the Bach example, she mentally
thought through musical elements or categories (e.g., Rhythm, Melody,
Harmony) and selected the one she believed most appropriate to the work. She
was “stuck” at how to organize the teaching possibilities within the category she
chose. Why would a student with such rich musical understandings flounder
when considering how to present the piece? An obvious answer is that her

musical understanding and emerging understanding of teaching are related but

not synonymous.

36

There is yet more to the story. The student went on to teach the motet,
discovering that the very exercise she had devised was not needed as the
chorus sang the targeted rhythm correctly. Her recourse was to rehearse the
strategy anyway as she knew she did not have enough material prepared to fill
the ten minutes, and because it was expected that she follow a lesson plan. As
she rehearsed, she became aware that the choir was missing a melodic interval
and made a note to speak with the choir about it at a later time. Her intuition
may have urged her to go to the sounded musical challenge, but her
understanding of the teaching experience overruled intuition for the sake of
appearing prepared and able to execute her planning ideas.

As she discussed the experience with a peer afterwards, she assumed
that her personality (or lack thereof) was responsible for what she intuitively
knew was a disconnected experience for all involved. She was left with the
impression that her inadequacies overshadowed the experience.

What if, instead, the experience had taken the following form:

After careful score study, she begins to imagine how she might present

the Bach motet in an initial teaching experience. These imaginings

include thinking about the special qualities of this particular motet: the
relationship of text painting to choice of melody, the movement of motive
and countermotive from voice to voice, the arched shape of the form
which corresponds to the textual climax, the quality of key center and the
effect of instrument choice on texture and timbre.

When musing on how she might teach the motet, she considers what

might be expected of a first reading and decides her most important goal

will be to give the singers a flavor of the work rather than centering in on
technical issues from the start. From her understandings of what makes
this motet special, she brainstorms ways to introduce these ideas to the
ensemble, writing down action words to guide her: sing the motive from

part to part, read aloud the text, describe the instrumentation, conduct as
a class to find the “dance.” She writes not in prescribed steps, but in free-

37

form with no particular order or structure from thought to thought. She

revisits the score, singing each part and noticing how the part “falls” in the

voice. She conducts in front of her mirror, imagining and evaluating how
she can impart the “dance” of the piece in her gesture.

When she teaches, the ensemble sings the opening ‘A ‘ section without

interruption even though several students get lost in the texture along the

way. She immediately calls on her mental Visioning of the rehearsal and
decides that of the possibilities, everyone should sing the primary motive
for the best sense of the piece. Once this is accomplished, she asks
them to describe how the motive progresses through the various sections,
and then has them sing each their own part, standing whenever they sing
the motive to highlight its function. Following this, they all conduct and
sing their own parts.

The fluency in this example is clearly more evolved: There is active
merging of personal musical understandings about the piece and the teaching
actions she employs. She considers teaching not solely as instruction to be
delivered, but also considers how to involve the singers actively at each point in
the rehearsal. She reflects in action, allowing the previous sounding to inform
upcoming decisions. She had potential directions to pursue, and made her
decisions upon her best judgment of what would benefit the singers following
their first sounding of the piece.

In direct comparison of the planning phase of each example, one
distinction is critical. Learning in the choral context is situated, complex, and ripe
with multiple teaching opportunities that emerge in relationship to the ensemble’s
collective knowledge, the conductor’s artistry and interpretation, and other
contextual factors. One is not likely to observe a master choral conductor who
approaches teaching a work by the isolated, methodical layering of concept by

concept. Expressive considerations such as dynamics, rubato, and articulation

can be introduced alongside the sorting out of rhythmic and melodic relationship,

38

and indeed this may facilitate learning when the musical “whole” is presented.
For this reason, the behavioral objectives model runs the risk of
decontextualizing the potent learnings that can take place in the music-making.
The second example is obviously more likely to be characteristic of an
experienced teacher. The question becomes whether novice conductor/teachers
can learn to teach from the sounding, to integrate musicianship which will inform

improvising on one’s feet, and to reflect on and around the teaching action.

Summam

In terms of music education programs, the behavioral objectives view is
enforced in the name of “comprehensive musicianship.” Demands for
accountability for learning in the performance classroom leaves
conductor/teachers searching for ways in which to make evident student learning
and for ways to increase ownership by choral musicians (Hylton, 1983; 1995). It
may well be that the Tyler approach to lesson or rehearsal planning inhibits the
growth of teacher knowledge through emphasis on verbal, sequential, and global
teaching strategies.

A central justification for this approach of learning to teach is that novice
teachers, without real world experience, need to plan in advance of instruction
with intentional, elaborate, and specific forethought. Few, if any, would argue
that novice conductor/teachers should be put in a position of “thinking on their
feet” with no way to prepare for teaching. Research indicates, however, that
experienced teachers do not utilize the Tyler model of planning and that teaching

actions are instead adjusted during instruction according to the needs of the

39

classroom (Clark & Peterson, 1986). More significantly, experienced teachers
report planning as a form of mental imaging or active imagining whereby
visualization of how material will be taught is key to actual presentation of the
material (Yinger & Clark, 1982, 1983).

The role of imagination is important both in forethought and the teaching
action itself. It is this nexus that suggests improvisation and creative imagining
may be central to development of teacher expertise. In light of these ideas,
teacher education must rethink the nature of planning to include alternate ways
of engaging musical knowledge, helping to grow pedagogical and teacher
knowledge, and examination of the role of reflection before, during, and after the

teaching instance.

40

CHAPTER 3

TEACHER THINKING ANQMUSIC EDUCATION

As viewed from the larger educational research paradigm, research on
music teacher thinking is in its infancy both as a source of information about how
music teachers effect their practice and as a way of understanding the complex
and rich knowledge required of music teaching. The chapter examines research
connections evident in music education relating to music teacher thinking and
knowing. Expertise in music teaching is discussed as is knowledge required to
effect expert teaching practice. The discussion includes an examination of choral
texts influencing conductor teacher training and concludes with identification of
current challenges surrounding preparation of choral conductors at the

undergraduate level.

Past Research Efforts

Until recently, the scientific paradigm has dominated research efforts in
music education as evidenced by numerous studies that can trace focus and
method to behaviorist constructs. As it relates to the examination of music
teaching, these studies typically include research on teacher competencies or
teacher effectiveness. Of central importance in these studies has been
identifying behavioral competencies that define good teaching (T aebal, 1992).

Other important strands of research on music teaching include identifying
characteristics of outstanding music teachers with particular focus on personality

attributes. Studies of teacher classroom performance have led to rating scales

41

and checklists of observable teacher behaviors and ways of categorizing
observable actions of music teachers during teaching (Taebal, 1992).

Other process-product studies evaluate the effect of music teacher
behavior on student achievement (Grant & Drafall, 1991). An examination of the
contents of the first Hancflmok of Research on Music Teachingflg_LearnirLg
(1992), the most comprehensive summary of research in music education to
date, reveals little attention to the thinking processes of the music teacher.
Indeed, studies on the decisions teachers make in the act of teaching, the
planning and reflective habits of expert music teachers, the effect of classroom
context on teaching, or investigations of relationships between music content
knowledge and generalized teacher knowledge are noticeably absent.

Increasingly important to the investigation of music teacher education is
the qualitative or interpretive research paradigm. A continuing rift between
research and its applicability to practice supports research efforts that are geared
to local, rich, and situated understandings of teaching which stern directly from
the voice of the teacher. The focus on multiple interpretations in specific
teaching contexts and away from wide-scale generalizations may motivate
practitioners to come to their own interpretations of their unique teaching
situations (Bresler & Stake, 1992, p. 79).

Further, these particularized composite pictures of teaching need
investigation at each step of teacher preparation. Research is scarce on how the

novice teacher begins to assimilate teacher knowledge as well as target or direct

42

musicianship in the teaching circumstance. Qualitative or interpretive

investigations may be well suited to this research need.

Critical Thinking Studies

The term “critical thinking” is evident in the literature of both educational
theory and psychology. In music, Richardson and Whitaker (1992) note that
consensus has not been developed in terms of defining critical thinking. Critical
thinking is sometimes used synonymously with reflective thinking, musical
problem solving, or in the realm of perceptual thinking as associated with art
criticism. The authors note that it is yet to be determined whether all critical
thinking is reflective in nature, or whether procedural aspects of knowing might
also include non-reflective ways of understanding.

Richardson and Whitaker (1992) cite three studies that can serve as a
guide to considerations of teacher thinking and potential directions of future
research in this area. DeLorenzo (1987) conducted a descriptive study of
musical problem solving focusing on the process by which students make
musical decisions. Using naturalistic observation techniques, she engaged sixth
grade students in group composition activities designed to provide musical
problem solving opportunities. Results indicated that students demonstrating a
high degree of personal involvement appeared to organize problem solving
around expressive qualities of a musical problem. DeLorenzo found that the
fewer choices students had before them, the less involved in problem solving
they appeared. The idea of restricting musical choices, in this instance, proved a

limiting factor in the problem solving ability of the students.

43

Richardson (1988) investigated the thinking of the music critic engaged in
criticism of musical works. Using verbal protocol analysis, she examined the
stream of consciousness narrative and subsequent written commentary of a
music critic and his criticism of an orchestral concert. Richardson determined
that musical judgment involved at least four distinct functions: expectation,
comparison, prediction, and evaluation. The verbal protocol analysis would be
well suited to investigations of teacher thinking in the act of teacher planning and
perhaps suggests a model for examination of the actual teaching instance.

Whitaker (1989) investigated reflective thinking as evidenced in stream of
consciousness talk and written commentary of two pianists, two arrangers, and
two instrumental conductors. Written commentary was analyzed for problem
statements that supported John Dewey’s (1933) phases of reflective thinking.
Stream of consciousness talk was subjected to verbal protocol analysis while the
musicians were engaged in activities such as selecting music, studying the
score, and rehearsing. Results indicated that five of the six participants showed
reflective thought processes in keeping with Dewey’s ideas about reflection.
“Reflective thinking did not seem to be tied to any particular type of funded
knowledge or problem, but appeared in a variety of forms, in response to the
experience each individual brought to the data-gathering settings” (Richardson &
Whitaker, 1992, p. 556). Implications from this study towards examination of
teacher thinking include the idea that reflection is a key element to problem

solving, that reflection is an individual and context specific activity, and that

44

previous experience, both cognitive and affective, is important to reflective
activity.

Boardman (1989) compiled resources from sources outside and within
music education to identify dimensions of thinking related specifically to musical
content knowledge. Especially important is the editor’s acknowledgment that
thinking in music is special and apart, schema-dependent, and an ever-changing
body of knowledge. Discussions outside music that are applied to musical
thinking include metacognition, creative and critical musical thinking, and a
composite list of thinking skills drawn from the cognitive science domain.
Chapters on musical thinking in the early years, the general music classroom,
the choral and instrumental classroom, and teacher education programs are
included. This resource is an important first attempt to distinguish between
musical thinking and other forms of cognition. Not addressed within the scope of
this project is the thinking processes of the music teacher as it pertains to
decisions made in the teaching act, of how to develop metacognitive skill
required to negotiate teacher knowledge, or a rich description of what it means to

know in music.

Studies of Expertise and Music Teacher Thinking
An area of burgeoning research in music teacher education is teacher
expertise. Multiple investigations of expertise are evident in the educational and
cognitive science domains but only recently emerge as a site of inquiry in music
education. Standley and Madsen (1991) used a behavioral approach to

differentiate between teaching experience and expertise. Is experience the

45

same as expertise? This is a useful question as it relates to understanding what
is meant by expertise. If not, what distinguishes what Bereiter and Scardamalia
(1993) term an experienced non-expert with an expert? If such a distinction
exists, is it possible to teach novice conductor/teachers an expert-like mindset
that will eventuate in the music teaching expert?

Standley and Madsen (1991) suggest that a global concept of teacher
expertise needs to be examined in a systematic and analytical way. The
observation task of the study required music professionals of various levels to
write extemporaneously about classroom interaction presented by videotape.
These writings were then analyzed for accurate factual and inferential
statements about the presented interactions. Results indicated that as
experience and expertise increased, group means were increasingly
differentiated. Further, scores between experienced and expert teachers were
apparently not due solely to years of experience indicating other factors might
determine distinctions between experts and experienced teachers.

The researchers went on to suggest that the “score on this task was
indicative of sensitivity to pedagogical expertise and values and therefore can be
used as one component in a battery of assessment measures for screening and
selection at various levels of the degree program, from the undergraduate major
to the Ph.D. candidate” (Standley & Madsen, 1991, p. 9-10). As noted by
Grossman (1990), it is crucial that research on teacher thinking take into account
that pedagogical expertise, knowing how to teach specific content, is not

synonymous with that content knowledge. Put simply, knowing how to teach

46

music is not the same as knowing music. Generalized observations of
teaching/performing by non-participants may do little to illuminate the decisions
teachers make in the act of teaching, describe how such knowledge is
generated, or explicate the role reflection plays in the development of teacher
expertise.

Dolloff (1994) examined in-service professional development as the
continued honing of teacher expertise. In a longitudinal three-year case study,
Dolloff traced evidence of reflective thinking by teachers in one school district as
they interacted on a regular basis with a master teacher who modeled and
demonstrated with representative school children in a choral setting. Rooting her
findings in the wider expertise literature, Dolloff concluded that teacher growth
was evident when teachers had the opportunity to implement ideas from the
master teacher as a form of “cognitive apprenticeship,” when teachers could
revisit the professional development or in-service paradigm on a regular basis,
when discussion and observation of the master teacher included targeted
reflective activities for the teacher, and when ideas were immersed in and
around actual teaching practice.

The master teacher sought active participation in rehearsals by both the
children and teacher participants. Alongside the master teacher’s rehearsals,
Dolloff analyzed modeling/ teaching strategies, noting they were based in action-
oriented ways and included observable verbal and non-verbal action requests of
children, often resulting in increased musicianship and understanding. Through

interviews and written reflections, teachers indicated the three-year experience

47

yielded increased teaching capabilities and self-esteem. This study of expertise
represents the first substantive qualitative inquiry into music teacher expertise
with emphasis on the reflective process.

Dolloff’s research is important in that it reveals a relationship between
self-reflection by the teacher and growing expertise. Her findings suggest
important implications with regard to knowledge of teacher thinking and may be
an important link in the preparation of novice conductor/teachers between

individual musicianship and emerging educatorship.

Exgertise vs. Expert Model

It is important when discussing teacher expertise to distinguish between
expertise and the “expert model” of conducting that has dominated the field of
choral music for decades, if not centuries. Indeed, the propagation of the expert
model mode of teaching has significant implications for this study. O’Toole
(1994) has closely investigated this paradigm through a feminist poststructural
analysis of power relations within the choral setting. According to O’Toole, a web
of power relations exist within the ensemble structure that bears directly on our
experience as ensemble members.

Consider the traditional role of the conductor in front of the choir,
responsible for musical interpretation and decision-making. Applying Foucault’s
theory of power relations and the lens of poststructuralist feminist
deconstruction, O’Toole (1994) makes a strong case that hegemonic power
relations have so defined notions of conductor/student as to become

“normalized” and as such, accepted conventions of choral pedagogy.

48

According to O’Toole, the body as a site of power negotiation through
choral pedagogy can be viewed through the systematic “disciplining” of the body,
as defined by Foucault (1979). Examples might include the privileged position of
the conductor architecturally before the rows of singers, the expectation that
singers will monitor themselves by raising hands before speaking, various
approaches to posture and ways of exercising the voice, and individual
conductor expectations of blend, tone, and balance.

It is important to understand that power relations are not always negative
in a hegemonic or oppressive sense, but serve to define knowledge in a
particular context (Gore, 1993). In the case of choral pedagogy, however,
unexamined power relations may contribute to a patriarchal discourse that
discourages singers from taking ownership over musical decision-making,
problem-setting, and interpretation.

As it relates to development of teacher thinking, power relations imbue
implicit theories held by prospective teachers. Lortie (1975) refers to these
images as an “apprenticeship of observation” and argues that prospective
teachers already have thousands of hours of observations logged prior to
undergraduate experience. Prospective novice conductor/teachers will likely
have sung for conductors since junior high or perhaps even grade school. The
expert model mode of teaching, if experienced as the dominant paradigm, is
likely to be re-enacted by the novice.

In her analysis of choral pedagogy through feminist critique, O’Toole

examines the way in which power relations are patriarchal in nature, including

49

 

 

traditional assumptions of the conductor as expert. In this sense, the term expert
implies the granting of power to the conductor such that ensemble members are
expected to carry out their directions with little or no input into the process. This
constitutes a product view of expertise where the conductor provides both means
and ends towards the musical product through content knowledge.

Aside from the hegemonic implications of the “expert model” and
considerations of the teaching of conducting, O’Toole’s study is important for
other reasons. Her methodology included writing a narrative representation of
her students’ experience, her own thoughts and emotions, and those of her
colleagues. Through her narrative, one begins to glimpse the importance of this
situated account of conducting and teaching as a way of making sense of the
experience of both the conductor and singer. The interpretive approach stands
as a model for those seeking new ways to understand the choral setting, the role
of the conductor and student, and choral pedagogy.

In this study, the terms expertise and expert-like refer to a process that
encourages growth at the upper level of one’s complexity in the domains of
conducting/teaching. The expert model of conducting refers to dynamics of

power between conductor and ensemble in the choral classroom.

Research on Conggctingfll Choral Method_s
Research in the conducting domain has focused in large part on musical
works and historical or descriptive analyses of such works in relationship to
conducting considerations as evidenced by a wealth of articles in the Choral

Joumal. Choral methods research includes pedagogical issues pertaining to

50

conducting technique or strategies such as the effective use of videotape
feedback in conducting instruction (Fleming, 1977; Jordan, 1980; Yarbrough,
Wapnick, & Kelly, 1979). Other representative studies have taken a behavioral
approach examining such areas as effective communication or nonverbal
conducting behavior, effectiveness of particular conducting gesture and
development of conductor competencies, and effect of intensity behaviors by
conductors on the choral ensemble (Byo, 1989; Lewis, 1977; Madsen &
Yarbrough, 1985; Osman, 1989; Watkins, 1986; Warner, 1986; Yarbrough,
1975, 1987).

A smaller number of studies of conducting include examination of
leadership style and models for the choral leader (Apfelstadt, 1997; Caldwell,
1980; Harris, 1979). Scarce research exists with respect to the role of
conducting as choral music education. Similarly, choral methods research is
fragmented and narrow at best and represents an area in need of study (Hylton,

1983).

Behavioral Studies
Byo (1989) examined whether beginning conductors could be trained to
differentiate and incorporate low or high intensity gestures and whether
observers were able to recognize intensity and rate level of intensity. Results
indicated, among other things, that nonverbal conducting skills could be taught in
term of gestural contrast and could be interpreted by others as low or high
intensity gestures. Presumably, the author believes high intensity is a feature of

effective teaching. Madsen and Yarbrough (1985), among others, developed a

51

list of competencies particular to the choral conductor that are observable and
desirable. Yarbrough (1975) measured a choral conductor’s intensity: vocal
inflections, facial expressions, rehearsal pacing, eye contact, and general
excitement level. No differences in performance level were observed but student
attitudes did change positively as a result of level of intensity.

Watkins (1986) examined the effect of three types of verbal behavior by
high school choral conductors on attentiveness of students as well as the ratio of
conductor talk to ensemble singing. While the time was divided nearly evenly
between conductor verbalization and ensemble performance, less experienced
directors talked more than did experienced conductors. The three modes of
verbalization: modeling, musical/technical language, and metaphorical language
appeared to have no significance to student on-task behavior which was high in
eachtnal

Osman (1989) devised a Communication Skill Evaluation Instrument to
determine whether specific communication skills would be judged as more
effective by amateur choral members than a conductor who did not exhibit
identified skills. Yarbrough (1987) examined behavioral self-assessment in the

acquisition of basic conducting skills.

Leadership Studies
Apfelstadt (1997) addresses issues between effective teacher knowledge
(specifically leadership skill) and content area knowledge. Applying a business
model of situational leadership, she argues that leadership skills can be

deconstructed and taught to students, that fostering leadership is an intentional

52

and teachable process. Apfelstadt describes leadership in the choral conducting
context alongside other rehearsal considerations and within a model of
preparation, presentation, and evaluation of rehearsal strategies. Teaching
leadership is amorphous and difficult and the author suggests considerations
such as “wording directives, tone [of] voice, calling people by name, and
acknowledging the accomplishments of individuals and the ensemble” (1997, p.
28). Other suggestions included use of eye contact, moving off the podium to
establish closer physical proximity to singers, praise, and acknowledging
personal, non-musical efforts.

Other leadership studies have equated leadership with effective teaching
techniques or strategies. Caldwell (1980) analyzed proportions of time given
selected musical elements in a conductor’s choral rehearsal as well as
observable verbal and non-behaviors. Allotted by percentage, the results
indicate phrasing and dynamics, diction and text, and vocal production issues
were the most consistently addressed elements in the rehearsal. Of actual
rehearsal time, 81.2 percent was devoted to exercising vocal parts. The
conductor’s verbalizations were to give music instructions, to provide a musical
illustration, and to evaluate musical product respectively. The author believes
this study might serve as a guide when considering the nature of rehearsing and
allotment of rehearsal time to verbal and nonverbal behaviors.

Taken as a whole, this body of research is small in scope and indicates
conducting and conducting/choral methods pedagogy are areas ripe for

investigation. An extensive review of literature revealed no studies in choral

53

 

 

music that examine conductor thinking in the conducting act, which sheds light
on the impact of nonverbal gesture on the development of ensemble
musicianship, or about ways to prepare novice conductor/teachers in the
teaching act. Further, there has been little research emphasis on the

relationship between conducting and the teaching of choral music.

Related Qualitative Studies in Instrumental Music Education

A recent study in instrumental music education examines effective
rehearsing in the instrumental music ensemble through case study (Buell, 1996).
Three factors were examined: the role of conducting gesture, related movement,
and verbal communication in effective teaching; distinctions between teaching for
conceptual understanding (broader goals) and technical development (required
to produce music); and evidenced student understanding of teaching concepts
from the master teacher.

The case study methodology included researcher observations, videotape
and audiotape of selected rehearsals, interviews with selected students, and
interview of the master teacher. Analysis of data included a moment-by—moment
analysis of teaching as represented on video-tape, as well as the coding of
interviews and researcher observations.

Among the results of the study was a characteristic application of teaching
strategies to instructional goals by the master teacher. The researcher
distinguished conceptual goals, broader musical aims, from the technical goals
required to carry out playing. The master teacher routinely used verbal

instruction to address performance details inherent in technique but reverted to

54

 

non-verbal instruction to introduce conceptual goals. The teacher would often
sing, conduct, or use the body to illustrate a conceptual goal. Technical goals
were often accomplished by quickly pointing out the detail through verbal means.
The prominent use of nonverbal behavior was seen by the researcher as a
primary characteristic of effective teaching by the master teacher.

The researcher concluded effective teaching was the result of many
factors including the establishment of a positive atmosphere for learning, an
emphasis on broader, conceptual goals, varied use of nonverbal and verbal
strategies, and the musicianship demonstrated by the master teacher as
evidenced by time spent in score study and the conductor’s mental template of

sound against which student performance was constantly compared.

The Chore; Music EMation Context

Undergraduate training in choral music education typically consists of at
least three primary experiences: conducting classes, methods courses (often
specifically choral), and choral ensemble experiences. Requirements vary from
university to university, as do the content of these courses. Some
generalizations may be made, however, by an informal examination of textbooks
that typify instruction in these settings.

Conducting study is often sequenced into at least two semesters of study.
A cursory glance at the table of contents of seminal conducting texts support the
position that many conducting courses focus primarily on the teaching of gesture.

Max Rudolf’s seminal conducting text The Grammar of Conducting (1950),

55

devotes 30 chapters to conducting gesture before allocating a chapter towards
the discussion of rehearsal technique.

Another highly respected text by Elizabeth Green, The Modem Conductor
(1997) devotes significantly more time to issues of score study, spending the first
11 chapters on conducting technique and the remaining 5 on approaches to the
musical score. Missing from the author’s discussions, however, are links from
score study practices to the rehearsing of such music from the perspective of a
conductor/teacher. This is presumably left for methods classes.

Two recent conducting texts include Basic Techniques of Conducting
(Phillips,1997) and Evoking Sound (Jordan,1996). Jordan approaches the
teaching of gesture in a less sequenced way, focusing instead on understanding
the body and it’s relationship to sound. Issues of score study are addressed,
and rehearsal technique comprises the latter third of the text. In Basic
Techniques of Conducting, Phillips establishes a careful course of study focused
on skill-building and musical examples to carry out skill development.

Choral methods texts often focus on choral techniques designed to aid
students in initial teaching experiences. A wide variety of philosophical
approaches imbue these texts, but many include issues of choral tone and
diction, choral style, selection of repertoire, building a concert program,
administrative issues related to managing a choral program, and score study.

In the examination of three texts targeted toward choral methods classes,
the spectrum of various philosophies can be examined. Choral Music: Methods

and Materials by Barbara Brinson (1996) is structured as a “how-to” practical

56

manual. Topics include recruitment and retention of singers, auditions and
placement of singers, development and evaluation of a choral program,
repertoire, programming music, score preparation, rehearsal plans, behavior
management, vocal techniques, the changing voice, pop ensembles, and the
construction of a personal philosophy.

Choral Music Education, by Paul Roe (1983), takes a similar approach but
includes a short chapter on conducting. A widely used text, Choral Techniques
by Gordon Lamb (1988), begins with a section on conducting and score study
leaving the “how-to” chapters to flow from a musical focus.

Obviously, no text can address the needs of students completely. It can
be noted, however, that approaches to the teaching of conducting have been
largely separated into either a gesture-based focus (conducting courses), or a
techniques-based focus (choral methods courses). Further, some universities
assign conducting instruction to performance area faculty and choral methods
classes to music education faculty, fostering little interaction between the faculty
toward course content. Course syllabi are as individual as instructors, and many
attempt to integrate conducting and teaching by providing concurrent practicum
experiences or micro-teaching opportunities (MENC, 1991). Even in these
instances, however, it can be noted that the development of educatorship, or
thinking-in-teaching, is frequently associated with a “how-to” approach to
rehearsal planning. This techniques-based focus often assumes a linear, step

by step approach to choral rehearsal planning based on pre-defined objectives.

57

Objectives-Based Choral Rehcgraafi

Lesson planning or rehearsal planning figures prominently in developing
teacher knowledge or educatorship in novice conductor/teachers, whether
experienced in conducting class, methods class, or both. Musical
understanding, developed through score study and knowledge of the specific
musical practice at hand informs the teaching instance. The critical step for
novice conductor/teachers then becomes the integration of one’s artistry with the
ability to react to the musical sounding as it occurs through the lens of teaching.
Applying Kennedy’s (1987) earlier construct of teaching as expertise, the
conductor/teacher must select a musical focus or set a musical problem in direct
relationship to the musical sounding, exercise the focus, and evaluate the
action(s) deployed.

By nature, this is a non-linear, spiraling approach that takes into account
context: the abilities of the students, the experience of the teacher, the
classroom environment, the nature of the repertoire, time and place, among
others. A serious dilemma is presented when the novice conductor/teacher
employs a pre-conceived, a-contextual lesson plan that bears little or no
relationship to the musical sounding in the actual teaching situation.

Secondarily, the focus on meeting pre-determined musical objectives may
de-emphasize the potential artistry of the moment such that expressive
considerations are artificially layered on once objectives are met. An example

from my own experience illustrates this idea:

58

The training chorus director of a prominent children’s chorus had planned

a rehearsal around challenging rhythmic patterns in a piece. The text,

from Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, was in Hebrew. A young Jewish boy

raised his hand during the lesson to eagerly make the connection
between the text, and his experience of the same text in his synagogue
through a cantor. Rather than acknowledging the cultural meaning the
boy had ascribed the text, and providing real-world connections for the
ensemble members to make meaning collectively towards a more
expressive understanding of the music, the conductor nicely but firmly
asked the boy to save his comments for another time as the rhythmic
challenge at hand had not been executed accurately.

Habitual exercising of this objectives-based approach leads the student
down a path of reductionistic thinking that ultimately discourages reflective or
critical thinking on the part of the conductor/teacher and away from developing
improvisatory skills in the teaching act. Behavioral approaches to lesson-
planning have deeply affected ways in which we approach the teaching of music
and choral music is no exception (Elliott, p. 244). As with other music education
methods courses, an objectives-based approach to the choral rehearsal
permeates the profession’s consideration of teacher development.

Examples of an objective-based choral plan would include identifying, in
advance of rehearsal, specific areas for potential musical challenges and
prescribing a solution to exercise the challenge in a step by step, or linear
fashion. This prescription, in the case of novice conductor/teachers, necessarily
relies on external techniques (often suggested or modeled by the master

teacher) as novice teachers do not have a wealth of experience from which to

create their own solutions. Often, a specific concept is targeted, and vocal

59

warm-ups may be fashioned to exercise the concept, or the concept becomes
the goal of instruction during the teaching instance.

An example from a recent choral methods textbook publication, in a
discussion of short-term rehearsal planning, illustrates how novice
conductor/teachers are taught to conceive planning and instruction. In this case,
Tyler principles are more implicit than explicit, particularly with regard to

construction of objectives. The objectives in the following example are not
behavioral, that is, do not focus on explicit student learning outcomes and
assessment. Similarities, however, include writing out in a step-by-step fashion
anticipated rehearsal strategies executed in a sequential way (Hylton, 1995,
953-54). Rehearsing a series of steps is evident in the suggested plan Now I
Walk In Beauty and O Come Let Us Sing Unto the Lord. Every Valley describes
rehearsal objectives identified by the conductor without prescribing a particular
rehearsal progression. There is, however, no identification of strategies to carry
out conductor decisions. This is evident in the warm-up plan as well.
Warm-ups (see Chapter 1):

Stretching

Breathing exercise

Vowel-shaping exercise.
Resonance-creating exercise.

9.9!”?

“O Come Let Us Sing Unto the Lord,” Emma Lou Diemer, Carl
Fischer,
no. CM7903 (first reading)

1. Read through from beginning to end.

2. Point out large sections of piece (mm. 1-48, mm. 49-65, mm. 96-
11, mm. 112-135, mm. 135-167).

3. Work on choral tone in opening unison section.

60

.09.”?

Discuss style of piece: biblical text, contemporary American
composer, dramatic accompaniment.

“Every Valley,” John Ness Beck, Beckenhorst Press, no. BP1040
(detailed rehearsal)

. Work for dynamic contrasts: pianissimo men, piano women, using

dynamics to shape phrases in mm. 4-36. Full, sustained sound,
mm. 36-end, building from mezzo forte to fortissimo.
Diction—vowel unification throughout, ending consonants—exalted
(m. 7), straight (m. 16), Lord (m. 24), and so on.

Discuss relation of texture and dynamics to text—expressive
aspects of the piece.

“Now I Walk in Beauty,” arr. Gregg Smith, G. Shirrner [sic], no.
12374 (review previous work)

Sing from beginning to end.

Sing the melody together (mm. 1-8)—review shaping of phrase.
Work toward maintenance of phrasing when split into four-part
canon (mm. 9-end).

Discuss the Native American origin of the melody and its model
character.

This example vacillates between highly specific instructions, as in the
rel"earsal of the last piece, to general instructions as demonstrated in the vocal
Wal'mup section. A dilemma occurs when the rehearsal plan is implemented and
the musical sounding presents different challenges than previously identified. In
the quest to follow the rehearsal plan, actual musical challenges may be ignored.
EVen more problematic is the ritual of following a rehearsal plan step by step that
may ultimately lead the conductor/teacher to “turn the ears off,” in favor of a
mLISical sounding construct that is theoretical in the conductor/teacher's mind.

A central issue, then, is how to teach novice conductor/teachers to plan

for rehearsal with flexibility to monitor and adjust teaching in-the-action of music

61

The Reflective Practicum

A reflective practicum in the context of teaching a conducting course
might be defined as a curricular structure that allows the novice
conductor/teacher sustained opportunities for reflection both in and around the
teaching/musicing actions, interaction with an expert mentor, and the building of
a community of reflective practitioners among class members. A central goal of
a reflective practicum would be to model and exercise the process for
development of expertise so that students are able to transport the expert-like
mindset to new teaching instances.

Specific pedagogy or techniques would serve as a means rather than an
end, and conducting/teaching would be viewed as an improvisatory process
geared towards enlargement of knowledge base rather than one in which
problem reduction is emphasized. This would necessarily require redefinition of
traditional roles of conductor/student, means of lesson planning, and an explicit
emphasis on integration of musicianship and educatorship.

Elliott defines a reflective practicum in relationship to a school music
curriculum (1995, p. 270-293). The emphasis is on the induction of students into
authentic musical practices by placing productive musical action at the center of
the curriculum. Apprenticeship and emphasis on reflective thought likewise are
central tenets to Schdn’s conception of the successful practitioner (1987). In the
conducting class context, a reflective practicum would situate teaching and

learning around numerous opportunities for conducting/teaching, observation of

62

the mentor teacher, and multiple ways of thinking critically or reflectively on
teaching/musicing actions.

No less important than the novice conductor/teacher’s personal interaction
with this model is the concomitant emphasis on the reflective practicum as a
curricular model for their future teaching. In other words, that conductor/teachers
would structure their future choral ensembles as reflective practica, redefining
traditional expectations of conductor and ensemble member. In a choral
classroom in which the conductor is viewed as facilitator, coach, guide, or mentor
rather than dictator, future students then might have the freedom to take
ownership over the development of their individual musicianship.

Bennett Reimer (1989) makes a strong case that traditional performance
programs in the schools have unfortunately emphasized the performance
product (the concert) over the process of music-making and learning. He
convincingly argues that the concert should not be the central goal of music
curricula. His views support the idea that conductors traditionally assume the
central place of power in the classroom, and that students often participate in
ensemble experiences with a growing adeptness for following instructions, but
little sense of their own musicianship, which is evidenced by a lack of
participation in musical activities beyond high school. A reflective practicum, in
which shared inquiry is central to the singing experience, might help to transform
students’ beliefs about the role of the conductor towards more meaningful

participation and personal exploration of artistic potential by ensemble members.

63

Developing Conductor/Teacher Expertise

A closer examination of the development of novice conductor/teacher
expertise is warranted in light of current research about ways teachers begin to
operationalize their understandings. It has been established that the music
education research base has not yet explored the area of teacher thinking or
processes such as teacher planning and reflection to any substantial degree.
Drawing on writings in music, education, psychology, and philosophy, it is hoped
preliminary understandings of what it means to think in the conducting/teaching

action will emerge.

The Expert Music Educator: Additional Ways of Knowing

Music teaching requires rich, complex, and fluid forms of understanding in
both music and teaching as outlined previously. In addition to the situated,
procedural knowledge involved in each of these domains, Elliott (1992) has
identified four other kinds of knowing that influence expert music teaching.
Following psychologists Carl Bereiter and Marlene Scardamalia (1993), Elliott
identifies formal knowledge, informal knowledge, impressionistic knowledge, and
supervisory knowledge as essential to the development of music teaching
expertise.
Formal Knowladga

Formal knowledge can be thought of as verbal facts and principles about
a domain. Textbook knowledge such as performance practice, historical, and
theoretical knowledge are examples of formal knowledge in music. In the

conducting context, formal knowledge might include an understanding of the

64

historical genesis of a particular work, the source of text and text meaning,
physiological information relating to vocal production, knowledge of notational
systems, varieties of score study systems, and performance practices
appropriate to the musical work. Formal knowledge is verbal and can often be
measured and provides a form of currency for identifying and transmitting
accumulated knowledge in a domain. As Elliott (1992, p. 10) notes, formal
knowledge by itself is inert and unmusical until it is contextualized through music
listening and/or music making.

Informal Musical Knowledge

Informal musical knowledge can be thought of as the practical “savvy”
persons develop in a specific domain (Elliott, 1995, p. 62). Informal knowledge is
best gained through experience, though experience alone does not equate with
informal knowledge. Elliott (p. 63) explains:

lnforrnal musical knowledge involves the ability to reflect critically in

action. Reflecting critically depends, in turn, on knowing when and how to

make musical judgments. And knowing how to make musical judgments
depends on an understanding of the musical situation or context. the
standards and traditions of practice that ground and surround a particular
kind of music making and music listening.

It is likely that novice conductor/teachers will bring to the initial conducting
experience a rich base of informal knowledge in specific, situated conditions.
From years of ensemble singing, for example, these students will likely
demonstrate a deep understanding of what it means to follow a conductor, the
expectations associated with the community music-making experience in the

choral art, perhaps a heightened sensitivity to the relationship between text and

music, as well as grounded understandings of particular musical practices and

65

traditions experienced as choral members. These same students, when
assuming the conductor side of the podium, may not be able to make transfers
between informal knowledge gained as ensemble member to the new situation
of conducting.

Elliott (1992, p. 10) believes informal knowledge is gained from two
sources: one’s personal modifications of the formal knowledge of a practice and
one’s thinking in and about the musical context in which one makes music.
Thus, informal knowledge is closely related to music-making or musical action.
This situated condition for knowledge growth points directly toward the
importance of multiple, sustained, and meaningful opportunities to exercise in
the conducting/teaching context throughout the undergraduate experience.
l_r_npressionistic Musical Knowledge

Referred to as “intuition,” impressionistic knowledge is a felt sense of
directionality in musical decision making. “Music-makers acquire nonverbal
impressions (a “sense of things”) while doing, making, and reflecting in musical
contexts” (Elliott, 1992, p. 11). Further, this intuition involves “knowledgeable
feelings” which acknowledge the role of affect in the music-making process
(Elliott, 1995, p. 64). Cognitive scientists now believe thinking and feeling are at
least interdependent and likely inseparable (Dennett, 1991). The filtering of
experience in relationship to personal understandings, emotions, and feelings
give meaning to the music-making process. In the conducting/teaching
circumstance, impressionistic knowledge would help guide the student in a

rehearsal towards decisions about what to address. Not having a “sense” of

66

what to rehearse or an inability to choose deliberate action is partially a response
to the highly situated condition of conducting/teaching.
mewisorv Knowledga

Supervisory knowledge is a form of metacognition, or the ability to monitor
one’s actions in situated circumstances. “This form of musical knowing includes
the disposition and ability to monitor, adjust, balance, manage, oversee, and
otherwise regulate one’s musical thinking both in action (“in-the-moment”) and
over the long-term development of one’s musicianship” (Elliott, 1995, p. 66). In
the teaching context, this would also involve the ability to monitor oneself in
relationship to the specific conditions of the classroom, including the cultural and
local considerations of a particular time, location, group of people, and space.

The monitoring of supervisory knowledge has immediate and profound
implications for the novice conductor/teacher. Simply standing before a group of
people is a form of risk-taking of a highly personal nature. It is difficult to access
other ways of knowing when one’s senses are filled with concerns about how
one might be viewed, or how one is coming across to the choir. Stage fright is
an excellent example of how one is paralyzed in the performing action, unable to
monitor or access musicianship due to ovewvhelming nervousness.

Supervisory knowledge in music is complicated due to the deeply
revealing nature of music-making. A conductor takes enormous emotional risk
as sharing one’s musical vision is inextricably bound up in personhood and the
world as viewed through the lens of the conductor. It is a sophisticated idea that

one remain “open” to an ensemble while at the same time finding a certain

67

“distance” in which to function. Supervisory knowledge is central to monitoring
this delicate balance. The examination of the role of supervisory knowledge in
initial conducting/teaching experiences may provide important information about

structuring instruction during the undergraduate experience.

Improvisation: The Bilge From Knowlegge to Practice

Musicians understand improvisation as a specialized skill involving
elements of composing, interpreting, and performing in real-time (Alperson,
1994). Improvisation is an essential skill in the difficult gap between inert
teacher knowledge and actual teaching practice. Improvisation connotes an
active, constructivist process that may provide important links to developing
conductor/teacher expertise. Having provided a basis for understanding the
dimensions of thinking in music and teaching, the actions that guide the
conducting/teaching circumstance need to be examined. Improvisation is useful
in describing a way of thinking that is evidenced in the teaching instance.

As Elliott notes (1995, p. 169), however, misconceptions abound as to the
nature of improvisation. Spontaneity is often described as the central feature of
the improvising act. It occurs not as free-form creative wanderings, however, but
in direct relationship to the perforrner’s rooted musical understandings. Elliott
describes jazz great John Coltrane as able to compose in real time at mind-
boggling speed, noting in preparation Coltrane spent years studying the
improvisations of great musicians before him as well as having an extraordinary

understanding of the harmonic language of the bebop jazz tradition.

68

lmprovising, in this sense, is dependent on the formal, informal,
imp ressionistic, and supervisory understandings of the performer in the
Improvising instance. In music teaching, teaching action will follow from the
Situated understandings of musical content knowledge, pedagogical content
knowledge, general pedagogical knowledge, and knowledge of the context at
hand. Ideally, based on these understandings, the conductor/teacher would
select a musical focus, set a musical problem, construct opportunities to exercise

the challenge, and evaluate in-action the results.

Planning vs. Preparation

It is at this juncture that rehearsal planning becomes critical to the
potential for improvising in the conducting/teaching circumstance. When
students are encouraged to follow a preconceived lesson plan, with strategies
determined in advance of the rehearsal, improvising is not likely to factor into the
event.

Yinger (1990, p. 85-86) has written extensively about improvisation in the
teaching act. His principles are closely aligned with Elliott’s (1995) ideas:
1. Improvisation is a form of action especially suited to situations that

discourage or prevent deliberative processes such as planning, analysis, and

reflection.

2. Improvisation is a compositional process using as building blocks a set of
situationally (contextually) grounded patterns for thought and action.

3. These patterns are holistic configurations of “embodied thought,” called upon
to be composed and enacted (live) within the special constraints of the
context.

4. The working method of improvisation is primarily “retrospective,” using
patterns from past action to other future action.

69

5. Skillful improvisation is based on the incorporation of patterns and pathways
in a way that is continually responsive to changing exigencies and purposes.

6. lmprovisational patterns are structured by action and include constellations of
knowledge, beliefs, and goals.

7. lmprovisational skill is synthetic and compositional, not analytic.

8. Improvisation is primarily directed toward the establishment and maintenance
of relationship: between actor and material, between actor and instrument
(tool), between actor and other participants.

Yinger addresses the central paradox between planning in advance of instruction

and improvising in the teaching action. He makes a distinction between

planning, a framework for future action and preparation, the “getting ready” or
receptivity for future action by focusing on oneself.

According to Yinger (1990, p. 88-89) planning is the deliberate formulation
of action toward a future experience. Traditional approaches to rehearsal
planning reflect this idea. “The range of possibility is prescribed, choices are
made about parameters for action, the future is narrowed. Planning seeks to
deal with uncertainty by controlling action and outcomes” (p. 88).

Preparation, however, “acknowledges our limited ability to predict and the
constructive nature of life. Preparation expects diversity, surprise, the random,
and the wild” (Yinger, 1990, p. 88). Preparation would likely involve musing and
imagining of the teaching instance in relationship to personal understanding
gleaned through score study, contemplation of previous teaching, or in
relationship to informal and formal musical knowledge of the material to be
taught. It might involve considering potential directions a rehearsal could take

without prescribing the exact steps or sequence in the teaching act.

70

Yinger believes that both preparation and planning are important to the
teaching process. “Every practitioner will both plan and prepare, implement and
improvise, reflect and contemplate” (p. 89). He makes a deliberate distinction
between planning as the pulling away from thinking-in-action and preparation
which draws one towards thinking-in-action.

Yinger’s (1990) ideas help frame what teachers must accomplish in the
teaching act, valuing both the necessity of planning in advance of instruction as
well as identifying the flexibility needed in the teaching instance if one is to

respond authentically to the live classroom/ensemble circumstance.

Challenges in Undergraduate Choral Teacher Preparation

There are significant issues surrounding ways in which choral conductors
are prepared at the undergraduate level that stem from philosophical, structural,
and cultural underpinnings. These barriers are embedded in tradition and
practice such that the teaching of conducting and choral methods courses may
be uncritically examined in the university setting. My own conducting study,
along with choral ensemble experiences, comprised the most exciting
component of my undergraduate curriculum and largely influenced my decision
to pursue conducting and teaching as a central focus of my career. Exposure to
an inspiring master teacher who served as an early mentor no doubt was the
seed of my inspiration. Yet, in these experiences and in those of my own
students, I remain uncomfortable with the seemingly artificial split suggested

between conducting as gesture and methods as teaching.

71

As I have considered reasons for this, I must conclude that a powerful,
tacit philosophical canon colors most of our experiences with conductors and
spills over into considerations of teaching conducting, the role of the conductor,
and the role of the ensemble member. The “expert” model of the conductor, one
In which the conductor is granted authoritative power in the ensemble, has
potent textual meaning in the discourse around choral pedagogy (O’Toole,
1994). Ensemble members are accustomed to choral situations in which the role
of the singer is to increase musicianship through the conduit of the conductor. It
is no surprise, then, that conductors operate from the basis of previous
experience and take ownership over the conducting/teaching process.

It is important to reiterate that this situation is not necessarily a negative
one. For example, at the doctoral level, my most significant learning towards
increasing knowledge as a conductor came through tacit, daily, sustained
observation of the choral conductor in whose ensemble I sang. Far from a
negative experience, I awaited the choral hour in anticipation of what I knew
would be important learnings from a master conductor/teacher. The ratio of non-
verbal teaching, his expressive understanding of the music and his ability to
communicate it, far outweighed “talking about” the music in any given rehearsal.
The give and take between conductor and singers happened in the musical
sounding and there was little need for verbalization beyond the sounding. When
the conductor functions as the sole keeper of musical decision-making,
interpretation, and execution, less experienced musicians are potentially

disempowered from ownership over their developing musicianship.

72

Following Elliott’s (1995) views, it is when one has the ability to exercise
musical decision-making in relationship to a musical challenge that musicianship
can be increased. Bereiter and Scardamalia (1993, p. 21) highlight an important
concept when they suggest that groups of people, a choral ensemble as an
example, can develop a collective expertise whose knowledge is greater than
any of its single members. The choral ensemble, then, could function as a
knowledge-building community in which members are encouraged to think and
reflect nonverbally and verbally, in which explicit focus is placed on the role of
the conductor as facilitator, and in which musical-decision making is at the heart
of choral pedagogy. Likewise, the undergraduate novice conductor/teacher can
be encouraged to think in this way both to increase their own expert-like
knowledge or musicianship, and to consider models of teaching for musical
understanding when they take the podium.

Outside these philosophical and cultural considerations, conducting study
at the undergraduate level is subject to structural impediments. One of the most
obvious is simply that vocal music education majors and vocal performance
majors often share requirements for conducting study such that choral methods
class is the logical vehicle to teach content more suited to a classroom teacher.
If one takes the view, however, that all conducting is teaching, then a focus on
mastering physical gesture does not necessarily need to be divorced from the
idea that such gesture is nonverbal teaching. Neither does it preclude the

recognition that a conductor is always in a teaching role of some form. As such,

73

it can be acknowledged that all students, regardless of major, might consider

conducting inSeparable from teaching.

Summagy

The preparation of novice conductor/teachers must account for the rich
dimensions of musicianship and educatorship necessary to effect practice.
Practice depends on this situated knowledge and requires ever-new paths of
thinking constructed in relationship to contextual factors, particularly the needs of
the learners and the culture of the classroom. Adequate preparation of
conductor/teachers for practice necessarily includes an understanding of teacher
planning processes and ways in which traditional approaches to
conductor/teacher planning have potentially limited teacher thinking.
Improvisation appears to be a central feature of the conducting/teaching act and

is informed by reflection in and around teaching actions.

74

CHAPTER 4

IEACHIi THINKING AplD EDUCATION

The chapter explores research in education related to teacher thinking.
Research on teacher thinking is broader in scope than can be documented in
music education. Examined in this chapter are studies defining teacher
knowledge, current areas of research, studies of teaching expertise, as well as
teacher planning processes.

Studies on teacher thinking historically have focused on two primary
areas: training, feedback, and field experiences based on observable behaviors,
and personality or developmental perspectives that emphasized attitudes,
teacher concerns, and motivation. These studies laid the foundation for current
research that continues the tradition of examining teacher biography, attitudes
and concerns. Current research is examining the nature of teacher knowledge,
descriptions of learning processes for beginning and experienced teachers, and
identification of ways in which subject matter knowledge is acquired, transmitted,
and received (Carter, 1990).

Other areas of current research include examination of teachers’
interpretive frames, content knowledge and changes to that knowledge through
time, studies of teaching expertise, examination of pre-teaching implicit beliefs,
and effect of personal experience or context on teaching knowledge.

According to Carter (1990), there is still a lack of understanding about

teacher preparation and learning to teach, in part explained by the

75

preponderance of descriptive research on teacher characteristics that does little

to uncover the process by which teachers learn.

DefinirLg Teacher Knowleaga
Teacher knowledge can be thought of as situated understandings that
informs the teaching instance. Shulman (1987) has identified the following
knowledge base constitutive of teaching:
1) content knowledge
2) general pedagogical knowledge which transcend subject matter

3) curriculum knowledge defined as the ability to grasp the materials, resources,
and programs requisite to a domain

4) pedagogical content knowledge which is highly specialized to the content
area and that reflects pedagogy which relates specifically to the content area

5) knowledge of learners

6) knowledge of educational contexts from the localized classroom to the larger
community and culture

7) knowledge of educational ends, purposes, and values and their philosophical
and historical grounds (p.8)

This construct of teacher knowledge implies that distinctive bodies of knowledge
exist within each domain.

The idea of a knowledge base for teaching has in the past consisted of
basic skills, content area knowledge, and general pedagogical skill. As in music
education, studies of teacher effectiveness have followed the behaviorist model,
which assumes complex forms of situation-specific human performance can be
understood on a generic, generalized basis. This research base generalizes

observable teaching behaviors in relationship to student performance.

76

Classroom context, content knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge

have not been carefully examined (Shulman, 1987).

General Pedagogical Knowledge

Grossman (1990) supports Shulman’s (1986, 1987) conception of teacher
knowledge but condenses such knowledge into four primary areas: general
pedagogical knowledge, subject matter knowledge, pedagogical content
knowledge; and knowledge of context. According to Grossman, general
pedagogical knowledge includes beliefs and skills related to teaching, knowledge
and beliefs concerning learning and learners, knowledge of general principles of
instruction, knowledge and skills relating to classroom management, and
knowledge and beliefs about the aims and purposes of education.

In music education programs, students are likely to encounter instruction
in general pedagogical knowledge in foundations and methods classes taught by

music faculty and/or by faculty in the education department.

Subject Matter Knowledge
The question of subject matter knowledge (or content knowledge) is of
current interest in the educational research community. There is little agreement
in the research literature as to the relative importance of content area knowledge
on future teaching effectiveness (Evertson, Hawley, & Zlotnik, 1984). For music
educators, this question is nearly unthinkable, because the ability to make music
is central to our conception of music teaching. Indeed, acceptance into music

teacher education programs is dependent on an established level of performing

77

proficiency. This is not necessarily so in other domains. One might conceive of
a science educator who does not practice science on a regular basis beyond the
curricular demands of the teaching context or an English educator who does not
write poetry, novels, or short stories.

Against this backdrop, music education training can be seen both in terms
of its commonalties with general teacher education training as well as for the
special circumstances music engenders. For music education majors, content
knowledge is likely far richer and more deeply rooted than in their general
education counterparts. These students will have studied music for most of their
lives and will have participated in a vibrant music-making community while in a
university which further situates musical understanding. Many music education
majors would have sufficient musicianship to pursue performing as a career, and
some universities are accommodating the teaching/performing question by
providing five-year majors that combine education and performance degrees.
Music education might provide an important site of inquiry in the quest to
understand the relationship between content area knowledge and general

teaching knowledge.

Pedagogical Content Knowledge
Pedagogical content knowledge is pedagogy specific to a subject matter.
This might include understanding the best way to represent such knowledge to
others, what makes the content accessible or challenging, and instructional

strategies specific to the domain (Grossman, 1990).

78

Grossman ( 1990) identifies sources from which teachers develop
pedagogical content knowledge. The most influential appears to be what
Grossman terms the “apprenticeship of observation” phenomenon that
represents the years that novice teachers have spent observing their own
teachers. Novice conductor/teachers have likely spent thousands of hours in the
choral ensemble or voice studio and have constructed a lore of teaching
practices representative of their composite experience.

Another source of pedagogical content knowledge is disciplinary
background defined as the larger sense of the collected knowledge in a content
area, as well as professional course-work and individual experience. Disciplinary
knowledge for choral music students might include ensemble and studio
experiences, accumulated listening experiences, observation of
conductor/teachers, and tacit cultural understandings of what it means to be a
musician in various contexts.

In a case study of three beginning English teachers, Grossman (1990)
discovered that all three novice teachers equated subject matter preparation with
planning for teaching. These students understood planning to be the extension
of their subject matter knowledge and had no awareness of the need to plan for
how such knowledge might be transmitted. She concluded that subject matter
knowledge and “apprenticeship of observation” played the largest roles in the
novices’ conception of what it meant to teach even when students had

completed a professional teacher education program.

79

In music education, pedagogical content knowledge would include
exposure to major pedagogies in the field such as the Kodaly, Orff-Schulwerk,
Dalcroze, and Gordon approaches. Basal text series provide another kind of
model for establishing pedagogical content knowledge particularly in the
construction of specific instructional strategies functioning as lesson plans.

In choral music education, this knowledge is not easily defined. There
does not seem to be a single approach that is representative of instruction nor
are codified instructional strategies available specific to the choral ensemble. It
appears, instead, that choral music educators adapt general music educational
practices to the choral classroom. The “apprenticeship of observation”
phenomenon is readily observable in ways that choral conductors take on
teaching characteristics of conductors they encountered in their own experiences

(O’Toole, 1994).

Knowledge of Context

Knowledge of context might include the particular classroom, the school in
which the classroom functions, as well as the larger community and culture
(Grossman, 1990). For novice teachers, knowledge of context may be the most
difficult teacher knowledge to acquire as it is heavily dependent on experience
and confounding factors such as implicit pre-teaching beliefs may prevent
novices from being able to attend adequately to the teaching environment.

As it relates to the ability to improvise in the teaching action, knowledge
of context is critical to the authentic perception of the needs of the learners

within the particularized culture of the classroom. Considerations of context are

80

also important in discussions of pre-service teaching opportunities whether on-
site at the university or in the field. It may be that transportability of university
experiences to real-world teaching situations often fail due to an inability on the

part of novice teachers to perceive and adapt to contextual factors.

Current Areas of Research on Teacher Thinking

Interest in teacher thinking is evidenced by increased research attention in
areas such as teachers’ practical knowledge, personal narrative, classroom
knowledge, and teacher expertise. Much of this attention is viewed through the
qualitative paradigm and increasing emphasis is being placed on the teacher as
researcher. “The ideal situation is when researchers on teacher thinking
themselves become practicing teacher educators and learn how to apply their
research to their own teaching” (Clark, 1988, p. 6).

Methods of inquiry in these areas include verbal protocol (thinking aloud),
stimulated recall of teaching events, policy capturing (presenting teachers with
hypothetical situations), journal keeping as it relates to teacher planning, and the
repertory grid technique designed to uncover teacher’s implicit beliefs (Clark &

Peterson, 1986).

Teachers’ Practical Knowledge, Personal Narrative, and Classroom Knowledga

 

 

Carter (1990) defines practical knowledge as knowledge teachers have of
the actual classroom situation and the practical dilemmas teachers face in
carrying out teaching action. What understandings and beliefs teachers bring to

their teaching as well as their understandings of the setting in which they work

81

serve to define teaching. Examples of ways in which practical knowledge is
being researched include identifying teacher metaphor as a major means of
uncovering how teachers identify and solve classroom problems. These
metaphors, images of teaching and learning rooted in past experience, serve as
powerful tacit organizers of teacher thinking and action.

Research on teacher thinking has documented that teachers hold implicit
theories about their students, the teaching art, and the classroom environment
(Clark, 1988). Studies of teachers’ practical knowledge are trying to answer
questions such as the impact implicit theories have on novice’s ability to teach,
and whether tacit understandings can be made formal to mitigate the impact of
implicit theories as teachers go about defining teaching style.

Personal narrative explores teachers’ practical knowledge by identifying
image and metaphor within the personal, storied life of a teacher. Best
exemplified in the work of Clandinin (1985) and Clandinin and Connelley (1986,
1988), narrative unity is the result of life experiences that are meaningful, past
and present. Personal practical knowledge is shaped through its expression in
practical situations and the researchers maintain that learning to teach can only
come as the result of these experiences, not as the simple acquisition of skill. “It
furnishes, in other words, a theory of how teachers learn by teaching and how
teachers use their knowledge, rather than a generalized conception of what
teachers know” (Carter, 1990, p. 302).

Classroom knowledge, according to Carter (1990), is a shift in focus from

personal practical knowledge to an ecological perspective. It examines the

82

demands of the environment, recognizing that a schema-theoretic approach to
the organization of knowledge cannot be disassembled from the classroom
environment. “Classroom knowledge, therefore, is not a body of propositions or
prescriptions derived from external disciplines or process-product studies, but
rather it is “situated” and it’s conceptions ground in the common experience of
classroom events” (p. 302). Music education research has yet to vigorously

pursue these lines of inquiry.

Expertise

The body of literature on teacher expertise is growing rapidly in
educational research. Most studies of expertise focus on expert-novice
comparisons (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1993). As Carter (1990) notes, it is only
marginally helpful to know qualitative differences exist between expert and
novice teaching if nothing is learned about how expert knowledge is acquired.
She draws three implications from these studies that contribute positively to
understanding the acquisition of expert knowledge. First, the knowledge is
domain specific and specialized. Second, expert knowledge is organized in
schema or patterns that reflect the environments in which they operate. Novices
do not seem to demonstrate an ability to organize scheme with contextual factors
in mind. Last, expert knowledge is largely tacit and such knowledge is grown
through experience.

Lampert and Clark (1990) argue that expert teaching cannot be taught
solely as general tendencies and associations represented by schematic

constructs of knowledge. Such schemata, according to the authors, must be

83

retrieved in contextual, interactive, and speculative ways. They question whether
schematas are the most appropriate way to represent the knowledge that
teachers use in actual practice and whether novices benefit from an approach
that may not be transportable to the situations of actual practice. “Teaching is a
complex act requiring the moment-by-moment adjustment of plans to fit
continually changing and uncertain conditions” (p. 21).

Lampert and Clark (1990) reference the work of cognitive scientists who
assert the nature of knowledge may not be distilled abstract principles, but may
in fact develop in relationship to the particulars of a given situation. The
literature on situated cognition, that knowledge is the joint construction of the
mind and situation in which the mind finds itself, supports the role of context and
those complex social interactions that are central to teaching.

Leicester (1990) set up a study to contrast expert and novice teacher’s
rapid clinical judgments as viewed from an information processing perspective
and from a situated cognition perspective. The information processing
perspective supported findings suggested by the cognitive expertise literature.
Differences between novice and expert thinking processes emerged in areas of
metacognition, pattern recognition, automaticity, and generation of causal
explanations. When viewed through the situated cognition lens, richer
information was gleaned including level of cognitive complexity and flexibility,
mode of thinking, as well as clinical and self knowledge and confidence. Expert
judgments were made more intuitively and with more nuance than were those of

novices. Experts relied on tacit knowledge of classroom events and normative

84

behavior to make judgments and also were able to root decisions in past
experience. Leicester concluded that the situational approach is valuable in
elaborating on the cognitive approach to understanding expertise.

Berliner (1986) found that novices hold more literal views of objects and
events than do experts. Expert teachers infer more and apply their domain-
specific knowledge to make sense of the classroom. Interestingly, novices are
often faster than experts at problem-solving. Experts “take longer to examine a
problem, to build a problem representation or to think through first strategies” (p.
11).

Like Leicester (1990), Berliner found experts demonstrate an ability to
monitor knowledge in a situated context, in a metacognitive way. The researcher
identifies a fundamental problem in apprenticeship programs in that experts
often lack the ability to talk about or verbalize on their expertise. The hours of
observation required of students may have little impact if better ways of
deconstructing expertise are not identified. Other implications include the
relationship between cooperating teacher and student teacher. A cooperating
teacher, even if identified as expert, may not be able to verbalize for the student
about their practice or provide needed guidance and direction .

Kennedy (1987) identifies various ways in which the question of expertise
is functioning in the educational paradigm. Traditional conceptions of expertise
(often referred to as teacher competency) generalize necessary skills and are
prescriptive in nature. This mimetic knowledge can be handed down and

codified by a profession, and stands outside of particular teaching situations. As

85

Kennedy notes, “ It overlooks the decisions professionals make about whether
and when to employ a particular skill” (p. 136). This lack of connection between
learned skill and actual practice is of central concern.

In music, an example of mimetic knowledge functioning as prescriptive
expertise might be a basal text series in which a teacher guide is provided with
complete step by step lesson plans. These lesson plans have been determined
to be models of how one might teach the musical concept at hand. Expertise,
then, is externalized by curriculum experts.

Another form of expertise development functioning in the educational
realm is identified by Kennedy (1987) as critical analysis. This form transforms
students into critical analysts and immerses students in particular situations. It
requires of the novice teacher content knowledge and the ability to analyze a
particular situation. An example of this approach might be to present a
hypothetical teaching scenario for role-playing and analytical purposes,
especially common in the law and medical fields. As she notes, “It’s
disadvantages are that it can fail to provide students with codified knowledge,
where such knowledge exists; it can lead students to become so analytic that
they are unable to act; and it can narrow the scope of the students’ analytic
powers to the point where, as professionals, they are unable to view cases from
any perspective other than that of their paradigm” (p. 146-147).

Kennedy’s (1987) conception of expertise takes critical analysis a step
further. She views the growth of teacher expertise as a process of deliberate

action. Like critical analysis, it requires novice teachers to problem solve. The

86

distinction is that such action must take into account context, and that such
context is inextricably bound up in the analysis. She describes “Successful
deliberate action requires a body of experiences on which to draw, the ability to
conduct mental experiments, the ability to critically evaluate their outcomes, and
the ability to revise one’s definition of the situation if not satisfied with the
solutions the mental experiment yielded” (p. 149).

Kennedy’s (1987) construct resembles Schon’s (1987) discussion of
reflection in and around teaching practice. For Kennedy, students must have the
opportunity to define problems and situations, act on their deliberations, and
evaluate their actions against original goals. This differs from the critical analysis
approach in that deliberate action analysis leads towards actions to be
determined, towards the solution of problems set and defined. In other words,
problem-setting weighs goals, means, and ends together. In a choral rehearsal,
then, rather than prescribing a specific goal of instruction in advance of the
rehearsal, the ensemble might sing a section of the music and, during the
sounding, the conductor/teacher might search for ways to set a musical problem
for students based on the sounded information.

Kennedy (1987) acknowledges problems are also inherent in this
approach. The ultimate validity of any professional decision carried out in the
teaching instance is open to question. It is difficult, then, to hold teachers
accountable for decisions made in action when each teacher will bring a different
experience and set of beliefs to the instructional paradigm. In music education,

the problem is compounded by a domain plagued with issues of assessment and

87

accountability. Layering on additional assessment issues, particularly one so
abstract as personal expertise, could certainly prove problematic in terms of

measurement and professional standards.

_Te_acher Planning_and Relationship to Teacher Thinkinp

The study of teacher planning processes offers a critical window of
understanding into the ways in which teachers operationalize their thinking.
“Psychologically, to understand teacher planning is to understand how teachers
transform and interpret knowledge, formulate intentions, and act from that
knowledge and those intentions” (Clark, 1988, p. 8). Substantial teacher energy
is devoted to structuring for, organizing for, and managing limited classroom time
(Clark & Peterson, 1986). Assumptions, however, about how teachers go about
their planning and the models they employ are in direct conflict with research
findings in the literature. These assumptions include the idea that teachers
employ a linear model of lesson planning encountered in professional education
programs, that lesson planning is highly specific and verbal in relationship to
objectives to be taught, and that identifying objectives is the central motivation in

planning efforts (Zahorik, 1975).

The Tyler Model
The most widely prescribed model of teacher planning is the Tyler model,
which consists of specifying learning objectives, selecting learning activities,
organizing and carrying out learning activities, and evaluating whether Ieaming

occurred (Clark & Peterson, 1986). The Tyler model has endured because of its

88

emphasis on accountability. “Because the model is linear, the sequence of
writing the lesson plan may be rigidly taught without ambiguity” (May, 1986, p. 7).
Connelly and Clandinin (1988, p. 138) address the effect this approach to
instruction has had on the role of the teacher:
After it was decided what needed “fixing” in the schools, materials were
developed as the treatment. Teachers were seen as modifying screens of
the purposes built into the materials. Various strategies were undertaken
to minimize teacher influence; hence the name, teacher-proof materials.
These notions were found in programmed learning textbooks, some
versions of computer-assisted instruction, and highly prescriptive
textbooks detailing what the teacher should say and do at particular times
and giving answers to questions teachers might pose to students. A
particularly vivid example of the latter was the teachers’ manuals that
accompanied publishing houses’ basal reading series.
There are widely acknowledged problems with the Tyler approach. Neale,
Pace, and Case (1983) found that the Tyler model of planning was neither the
choice of novices or experienced teachers. Hypothesizing that inadequate
training of teachers in this approach might be responsible for the Tyler model’s
disuse in teacher planning, they examined knowledge of the model and context
in which it would be taught by novice and experienced teachers. Findings
included that both novices and experienced teachers understood the Tyler
model, but it did not appear to be the model of choice for either group of
teachers.
Summarizing studies by McCutcheon (1980), Morine—Derschimer (1977,
1979), and Clark and Peterson (1986) it can be noted that much of teacher
planning is never committed to paper, that the function of written lesson plans is

often to meet administrator needs or as a guide for substitute teachers, that

much planning is mental, and that plans written down tend to occur as an outline

89

or list of topics to cover rather than a linear instructional sequence as suggested
by the Tyler model. The lesson plan is often discarded when the classroom
environment is disrupted in some way.

Peterson, Marx, and Clark (1978) determined that the majority of teacher
planning efforts were spent on content, with lesser amounts on instructional
strategies/activities, and the least on planning objectives. Teacher planning
appeared to be general in nature rather than specifically targeting verbal
behavior and the plan was apt to transform in the actual teaching instance, which
suggests teachers adjust actions according to the classroom demands, perhaps
utilizing planning as a frame of reference to be mediated in the teaching
moment. Zahorik (1975) concluded that teacher thinking is not only nonlinear,
but that objectives frequently do not play an important role in the planning
process. Yinger (1977) found that routines are a principal product of teacher
planning and that teachers establish procedures to routinize behaviors to control
and coordinate within the classroom setting. Such management included activity
routines, instructional routines, management routines, and executive planning
roufines.

The Tyler model, according to May (1986, p. 7), is unrealistic for novice
planners for the following reasons:

1) students lack subject matter content knowledge and understanding of the
specific teaching context.

2) Classroom contexts are complex and planning must take into account the

specific complexities of a given situation. The Tyler model encourages a
uni-dimensional approach and may limit novices ability to reduce

90

“dissonance” of a particular situation in favor of following the prescribed
model.

3) Individual student difference in personality and teaching-learning style are
not necessarily accounted for.

Overemphasis on planning may contribute to rigidity in lessons or
instructional strategies and lead to a lack of responsiveness in pupil feedback
(May, 1986). The rational model encourages the novice teacher to think of the
discipline as facts, skills or content to be learned. “Never to see or get beyond
the factual and procedural level within knowledge forms is to stultify the senses
and reduce the choices and experiences person can and should have” (May, p.
10).

May (1986) suggests that novice teacher planning processes should be
afforded the idea of flexibility as evidenced through inductive activities,
brainstorming, webbing, creativity inventories in visual and verbal thinking,
metaphorical thinking, humor, and other simulations that elicit diverse and
creative responses.

Some of us may work more inductively than deductively. We may be

stimulated more by first brainstorming activities around a loosely

conceived framework of content, a single idea, or a potential curriculum
resource than identifying and articulating goals and objectives first and
then identifying activities and seeking resources which address theses

goals (p. 7).

Yinger (1977) identifies teacher planning as a cyclical process consisting
of three phases. First, teachers mediate goals, personal knowledge, problem
setting, and resources to produce the teaching problem. Second, they defined

the problem and brainstorm a solution. Third, problem implementation,

evaluation, and routinization are emphasized. Yinger and May (1986) seem to

91

point to a more global approach to planning where brainstorming, the active
imagining in relationship to personal understandings, is central to the planning
process. Objectives might flow from these musings rather than dictate ways in
which teachers consider planning for Instruction, or indeed might be decided
after the teaching interaction, on reflection of student progress.

Yinger and Clark (1982, 1983) maintain that a mental image is present
during both during the teaching act and as a central feature of the planning
process. An important question might be whether novices can be encouraged to
construct mental images through creative brainstorming or whether experience
and time are the agents that bring the mental image of planning and teaching

forth.

Summam

When considering how to develop expertise in novice teachers and the
role planning has in the process, one necessarily must consider the structure of
preparatory experiences for novice teachers. Kennedy (1987) defines the
various ways in which students get practical experience: immersion,
apprenticeship in the company of a master teacher, laboratory experiences,
simulations, clinical experiences, and the teaching internship.

Research on the student teaching experience illustrates a need for further
investigation. According to Evertson, Hawley, and Zlotnik (1984), the body of
research on student teaching indicates little reason to believe the experience is
an effective way to educate teachers. They conclude that the experience may

be negative for some students and could undermine learning from university

92

courses. It is not clear whether the relationship between student and
cooperating teacher is responsible, or whether other factors such as the
“apprenticeship of observation” phenomenon is in play.

According to Kennedy (1987), these experiences neither transform
students into deliberate actors, nor encourage the application of previously
learned principles. Kennedy suggests rethinking practical experiences so that it
more closely approaches a spiral where the novice teacher can move back and
forth between theory, practice, and the cultivation of a sense of deliberate action.

The practical experience component of music education programs differ
from university to university and according to state mandates. While it is not
within the scope of this study to examine these various manifestations, it is vitally
important to consider ways in which choral methods, secondary methods, and
conducting study provide initial conducting/teaching interactions for the music
student. Field experiences and student teaching experiences likewise need
examination especially as they relate to the role of the university in these
situations. If one takes Kennedy’s (1987) view, these practical experiences need
better coordination, supervision, and involvement from university faculty both
before and during the student teaching experience. Choral methods and/or
conducting study is a small but central component of a conductor/teacher’s
exposure to content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and beginning

teaching/conducting experiences.

93

CHAPTER 5

PILOT STUDY: METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS
Anchored by the expertise literature in education and music education, the

study focused on one aspect of teaching: preparation and planning for the
choral rehearsal. The chapter establishes the research context and examines
data collection, reporting, and analysis procedures related to methodology.
Student experience during the project period is narrated as are researcher
observations and reactions. Reported results illustrate a need for an alternative
model of rehearsal planning and establishes subsequent research parameters

for teacher planning processes during the actual project period.

Establishing the Research Context

The pilot study took place over a 15-week period in a conducting course
open to students who had completed Conducting l, a prerequisite that served as
the introductory course in conducting study. The second term course is
recommended at the end of the junior year for undergraduate music education
majors. Other prerequisites include a sophomore level proficiency designed to
assess whether students are on track in history, theory, and studio instruction.

Several performance majors petitioned the school for admittance to the
course to substitute for a conducting course required in the performance
curriculum. Other performance majors elected the course as additional
instruction in conducting not required of the curriculum. Therefore, a mix of

music education and performance majors comprised the class population.

94

The Setting

A large public university in the Midwest functioned as the research site.
The university draws 24,000 students from a variety of rural and urban
environments. The School of Music offers a variety of BM and BA degrees
including vocal music performance and vocal music education. Of the 215
undergraduates, approximately 60 are vocal majors, a little over half of which
are vocal music education majors.

The conducting class met in the choral rehearsal classroom, a large airy
space with a wall length blackboard, rehearsal area seating and risers, and a
mirrored wall. Students were responsible each class for setting the room in a
semi-circle configuration with stands and chairs, bringing a video to each class
session, and securing peer/self evaluation forms to be filled out whenever

students conducted.

Profile of Student Participants

The changing environment of the university population was reflected in
the enrollment in Conducting ll. Of the twelve students enrolled, seven were
women. Three students could be defined as non-traditional, one returning to
school and the workforce after raising children at home, one returning to
complete a second undergraduate degree after discovering music was ultimately
the career choice desired, and one delaying undergraduate study in favor of
several years experience in the general workforce. The remaining students
reflected the greater population in that many are on scholarship, working through

school, or receiving financial aid due to difficult financial circumstances. A

95

central mission of the university was to provide reasonable tuition costs in
relationship to benefits ascribed a large university setting. The ethnic diversity of

the class did not reflect the greater university population as all were Caucasian.

Ethical Considerations

The issue of consent is critical for any investigation representing the
reporting of human experience (Punch, 1994). Students acknowledged
willingness to participate in the study by signing a consent form (Appendix A).
The consent form was constructed in accordance with the human subject and
research protocol set forth by the degree granting institution and was approved
by the Michigan State University University Committee On Research Involving
Human Or Animal Subjects.

Because the course was also the research site, it was vital that students
felt no pressure to participate in the study. Students were assured that their
classroom grade would not be affected in any way if they chose not to
participate. All students voluntarily participated in the study.

After class discussion, students determined that pseudonyms would be
the preferred way of representing their voice and experience in narrative profiles.
This choice reflected their desire to appear real to future readers rather
assignment of sterile identification labels such as “a student” or “a junior music
education major.” Students were encouraged to dialogue with me if any
concerns arose during the project time. On many occasions, discussions in
class involved the checking and rechecking of my perceptions about their

experiences in an effort to best represent student voice. Students had a

96

meaningful impact on the direction of the pilot study as adjustments and
refinements were made to the process during the semester.

Through explicit dialogue, the class explored the nature of my dual roles
as researcher and teacher. One concern brought forth was that my opinion of
students might change as a result of analysis of student work, that I would
develop an unnaturally heightened sensitivity to the classroom process which
might influence my opinions about their abilities or even personhood. I agreed to
remain open to this possibility and encouraged students to speak with me or

write anonymously if the issue became problematic.

The Conducting Class: An Overview of Structure

The advanced conducting course was constructed as a reflective
practicum, during which students were engaged in self, peer, and teacher-
facilitated reflection as it related to the development of conducting/teaching
(Appendices B & C). A primary goal of the class was the continued development
of the novice teacher’s musicianship through the interrelated transactions of
conducting and teaching.

The reflective practicum comprised two levels of reflection. Self, peer,
and teacher-facilitated reflection targeted the conducting student journeying
through class projects, conducting rounds, and assignments. Students
constructed portfolios in which self-reflection could take shape and form during
the span of the semester. The portfolio, as a work in progress, grew to include
all written assignments, self and peer reflections, analyzed scores, videotape

record of all conducting rounds, and daily notes.

97

The second level of reflection, reflection-in-action, was established as part
of the conducting/teaching process through which students learned to engage
the “choir,” or laboratory chorus, in mutual decision-making and problem-solving
opportunities. Critical to this aspect of the class was my modeling of interactive
decision-making in both the class context and in Concert Choir, the choral
ensemble in which conducting students participate each semester.

Conducting and ConductingflpachinaProiec§

The 15-week semester initially emphasized conducting-only projects and
later introduced opportunities for rehearsing/teaching. Conducting-only projects
focused on gesture as non-verbal teaching and as the reflection of individual
musicianship.

Goals for these conducting rounds included awareness of gesture as a
teaching tool, comfort with integrating the physicality of conducting with internal
musical understandings, and the opportunity to increase conducting vocabulary
toward greater espressivity. Videotaping was utilized to capture
conducting/teaching instances as students exercised within the reflective
practicum parameter.

Conducting/teaching rounds focused on teaching in direct relationship to
the musical sounding. It was assumed novice teachers need multiple
opportunities to exercise this principle until attention could be consistently
directed towards the sounding. Factors preventing such attention might include

the distractions associated with coordinating physical gesture, social factors of

98

vulnerability in front of peers and the risk that entails, and the tension apparent in
bridging pedagogical content knowledge and musicianship.

Conducting/teaching rounds emphasized the relationship between
personal musical understanding and directing one’s attention towards musical
challenges in the rehearsal mode. During these rounds, students experimented
as “improvisers,” deciding on instructional strategies in relationship to musical
challenges presented by the laboratory chorus. Students were given permission
to stop when they were unable to improvise teaching strategies in-action, and
without fear of disapproval. Often, these episodes involved joint problem-solving
on the part of the class to move the rehearsal forward.

The central goal for conducting/teaching rounds was that student
musicianship ultimately inform teaching strategies rather than the dependence
on preconceived, a-contextual techniques that might not be transportable to the

unique teaching situation.

Description of Score Analysis System
The class utilized one approach to score study that emphasized structural
analysis and a highly visually-oriented score marking process (Decker & Herford,
1988). All students used the model as a means of developing common
analytical vocabulary among class members. This particular score analysis
process, however, is not central to the researcher’s conception of the study. Any
number of analytical systems might serve the purpose of increasing student

understanding by methodically examining the score.

99

Two central features to the score study approach used by class members
is a method of bar-line analysis and a color-coding system geared towards the
conductor’s unique perspective (Appendix D). Bar-line analysis involves dividing
a score from whole to part such that new musical material is signaled by a bar-
line in the score. This system is hierarchical in that bar-lines vary in length
according to the conductor’s conception of its relative importance in the overall
scope of the work. The deciding factor in bar-line placement is that some form of
bar-line accompanies any significant change in musical material. This is often
driven by considerations of form, but also determined by other musical features
important to the conductor such as timbral changes, texture changes, or
divisions according to text and poetry.

This system is particularly helpful for young conductors as conducting
transitions, identifying structure to organize teaching possibilities, and thinking in
both specific and global terms are of central concern.

The other primary feature of this approach is a color-coding system that
visually orients a conductor to the score. As represented in Appendix D, hot
colors such as red correspond to forte dynamics, increasing speed such as an
accelerando marking, or are representative of strong articulation markings such
as accents or indications of weight in tone. Cool colors such as blue connote the
opposite: lesser dynamics and slowing tempi such as ritardando markings or
slowing tactus.

Other uses of color-coding include marking for vocal and instrumental

cues, or representing particular conductor decisions about the score such as

100

breath markings or shorthand notation for tricky conducting patterns. This
system seems especially well-suited to visual learners and makes the score
“come alive” in a casual glance for the conductor. For beginning
conductor/teachers, the approach encourages a deep familiarity with the score.
In teaching the system, the order of study is color-coding followed by bar-line
analysis so that students know as much as possible about the score before
making structural decisions.

Students were required to analyze scores and submit a teaching plan prior

to any conducting or conducting/teaching assignment.

Illustrations of Student Work
Examples of student work throughout the project will amplify the
experiences students had negotiating the proposed model. Where possible,
teaching plans will be in the student’s original handwriting. In some instances,
the plans had to be traced for Iegibility. The work, however, is not altered from

original content.

Data Collection
Data sources central to the study included written rehearsal plans,
portfolio materials, writing assignments, video footage, and teacher/researcher
field notes.
Written rehearsal plans
Students submitted rehearsal plans in advance of any teaching

assignment. These plans form the central site of inquiry during the project.

101

Portfolio materials includipg written self and peer reflections

Students filled out self and peer reflections on all conducting/teaching
rounds. A portfolio of student work throughout the semester comprised the
central assessment vehicle for the conducting class.
Written assignments

A variety of written assignments were assigned as a regular part of
course-work throughout the project. For example, in examination of beliefs
about the role of conductor and singer, a pre and post writing assignment was
given at the beginning and end of the semester. Following small group class
discussion in the initial week, students were asked to write a one to two page
paper reflecting their experiences as singers in a choral ensemble and their
associated understandings of the conductor’s role. A similar assignment was
given near the end of the semester to check whether meanings had changed.

Other examples include writing a philosophy of teaching, constructing
vocal warm-ups, identifying nonverbal teaching possibilities, describing what was
perceived by the student during a particular teaching moment, writing a poem,
and observations of other conductor/rehearsals as well as observation of the
teacher/researchers choral rehearsals.
Videotape as Triangulation

Videotaping was a central site of feedback for both students and the
researcher during the pilot study. Students regularly filled out self-evaluation
forms after conducting during a designated video feedback time. Peers provided

constructive criticism through teacher-guided discussion during class time and

102

their comments were preserved on tape as well. As a way of validating
researcher perceptions, videotaping was a key means of checking against
journal notes and field notes.

During the pilot study period, tapes were viewed at the end of particular
conducting rounds. The camera ran continuously throughout classes and it was
therefore easy to view student’s conducting rounds in the order in which they had
occurred. As the researcher/teacher, l utilized tapes in two distinct ways. First,
the videotape provided a distanced viewing opportunity as a teacher in the
classroom. I could step back from the process of monitoring the class to attend
more acutely to specific conducting or conducting/teaching issues. Second, I
was able to jot impressions or notes about participant’s conducting/teaching that
could then be compared with field or journal notes.

I kept journal entries and field notes with me during videotape viewing and
made notes directly to those entries corresponding with the videotape selection.
What I gleaned in post-project analysis that was not evident during the process
was ways in which students improved teaching in practice apart from
experimentation with the new written model of planning.

Teacher/researcher field notes and personal reflections

Field notes were written at the conclusion of each class interval.

Additionally, journal entries documented personal reactions and challenges at

various points throughout the project.

103

Reporting the Data

Narration of the pilot study documents student experimentation with a
researcher developed planning model. From the perspective of both the student
and teacher/researcher, the narration describes the classroom context, presents
interpretive commentary framing data display, and weaves analytic narrative
vignette with visual presentation of the data. Both the Dolloff (1994) and O’Toole
(1994) studies served as models for this approach to music education research
reporting.

In the present study, both confirming and disconfirming evidence is sought
to test assertions and linkages identified. Student voice is represented by the
construction of narrative vignette both verbatim (identified by pseudonyms) and
as composite profiles told as story. Condensing and shaping experience for the
reader is a central goal of the reporting process.

Using a qualitative technique known as profiling, the data is sifted through
and condensed in order to weave major themes together as narrative. Student
writing functions as an important check to the emerging understandings. The
goal of profiling is to give the reader the most potent information gleaned and to
organize it in a manner that richly illuminates the participant and researcher

expenences.

Analysis: Alongside Reporting and Meta-Analysis

The question of analysis and interpretation are managed on two separate
levels. Analysis is necessarily interwoven with presentation of the data as it most

accurately represents the experience of both the students and the researcher

104

during the project period. Analysis alongside data informed and guided the
project as adjustments were made in relationship to student experience. For this
reason, both data and analysis are reported alongside the other. According to
Erickson (1986), a central concern is to bring research questions and data
collection into a consistent relationship through problem-solving. Analytic
attention is redefined and refocused as themes present themselves and allow for
readjustment to the research process during the project period.

Meta-analysis is reserved for the final chapter and links analysis back to
the theoretical discussion and to the research literature in education and music

educafion.

_Ev_ol_ption of the Planning/Preparation Experiment

As described earlier, the study originated as a means of examining the
researcher’s teaching practice. From a global perspective, a concern was how to
better teach novice conductor/teachers to improvise in the teaching act in direct
relationship to the musical sounding. As it related to the specific issue of
planning for rehearsal, students often did not appear adequately prepared even
after submitting results of score study to the instructor prior to teaching as well as
a teaching plan.

It became evident that adequate preparation for rehearsal appeared only
partially related to a written rehearsal plan. Students had apparently internalized
the idea that teaching success (at least in the classroom situation) was

synonymous with successful negotiation of the written plan. Also evident was

105

that students did not feel, as a whole, they had permission to deviate from the
plan or to make adjustments in the teaching action.

Equally perplexing was a small number of students who were, in fact,
quite successful in the teaching situation. These students responded
authentically to what the ensemble sang and seemed to naturally negotiate the
teaching process. Paradoxically, these students did not necessarily write well-
constructed rehearsal plans. Upon examination, these plans most often were
represented as a series of phrases or reminders, sometimes represented as
bullet points. Further, the plans had little in the way of teaching ideas, instead
their language functioned like a map that might guide one to a destination (first

this, and then this, etc. . . ).

Pilot Shady: Original Research Question and Subaequent Modifications
An examination of teaching plans for the choral rehearsal was the primary
area of consideration for the pilot study. From the literature in educational
research on teacher thinking and research in music education, the
teacher/researcher operated under the following assumptions:

1. Planning for teaching necessarily involved conductor/teacher understanding
of the musical score paired with strategies for teaching these musical
understandings to the choir (Dolloff, 1994).

2. Improvisation in the teaching action can be conceived as a platform for
developing the condition of expertise, or an expert-like mindset, which
encourages expansion of conductor/teacher thinking rather than reduction of
imagining for the teaching event (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1993; Elliott, 1995).

According to Grossman (1990), this necessarily involves blending of content
knowledge (musicianship) and pedagogical knowledge (educatorship).

106

Therefore, initial examination of teaching plans would describe their relationship
to teaching with an emphasis on whether the plans seemed to mediate the ability
to improvise-in-action.

The focus quickly changed from an examination of interactive teaching to
the process of constructing teaching plans, however, as early sets of plans were
analyzed. For the first conducting/teaching round, no guidance was given by the
teacher/researcher about how the rehearsal plan should be structured except to
require a thorough score analysis and written plan in advance of rehearsal. It
was hoped that an uncoached assignment would produce insights into how
students perceived the planning process and relationship to impending teaching.

Consider the examples in Figures 1 and 2 from class members writing
their first teaching plan. Melissa’s outline appears closely aligned with the
objectives-based approach to planning for teaching presented in Chapters 1-3.
The ideas contained in the plan are uniquely hers as the class had not yet
discussed formal components of a teaching plan.

Melissa identified an objective, “problem to be addressed,” which is
specific in nature. She conceived of a five-step sequence to exercise her goal of
improving a pick-up beat. The steps seem to be linear and logical. Synthesis
and evaluation are implied in the last step when she requested singers to
perform the improvement noting that she intended to listen for whether the
problem was solved. As a music education major, Melissa and other class
members would have had exposure to the Tyler approach in a general music

methods course.

107

WW
«PWeW .- Wriokwr in M}? M
WWI/(await?

I: 1 ma fiat/Int We git/rid mm HI mama/.1”
nrr ’ am new 12 my rm M

d Cebu/37. Wd’ ‘
2, J) will Mum) 7%?» Iii/m" WWW
:2 «M W at; arr/{W /c+‘L
cit-+51 W flmtrrtav’fiwme.

3, Mt Mitzi/4L WwJaM Wm7r
«#031912 WWIW ' .

W 44/ WML.

5 m M cur?! . jack’fb W I I ,
$4M4“ 7%ng MW 77 ' / “”517
fill? dyt ‘ w ‘PLX-dcl-

Figure 1. Melissa’s first teaching plan: Similarities with the Tyler model of

instructional planning.

108

actuate-I Gulc‘tfl

. ' ~ ‘ o 9
J

l l. LlStfn' is all; Plano PM! 444 mm;

*5? Catapult JIM: ls: al- I404 When
WWW Malt-84 mm d FEM-Hr?

3X 5;) 4km Lil. UM I“: v'emc at mqu’”
jot ”I: tyttIonIil I)“. W ‘cn at Mgml’rk
4g. Dmt’ubk «I‘IM rN\CCI " (S 1" hurrying"? Said?
010% It fell Miami) evoke Cur eMo

I..- 5'.) Jr'lu s; 4? Alb v’P/M WI dyrtaiwc
WpumUm ) minim am, my Ulmt rw'l
MP *° 38* "Ma "1‘63“ W Artie-acme

GOAIS '

‘ ‘0 luv: 14M! S1rl to “Mam-Ind 4M Slow—y)?
was. out .Cil-s II-

2.81. 4h 31116163 4:: I2, LIHC In Rd
4N «mph-t at 44cc Immc) 4! 5L

' ‘ -’ ' I “a seal .t.
abIC ‘0 $9 (I' ,u'w \(l
3.514131% 451361,; +0 misc, dIoIC {0.30113705ni'
eclilr ,, ,wres
“13:33:14?“ '11?er , MWIMIC I304)

4' EP- Mu. SM 25 10 I)!— abic ‘ID
a ucratc J'M (“Welt-9105 Ixhvccit
«I‘M. 1?: wr- lowl vat-w;

Figure 2. Michelle’s first teaching plan: Inclusion of musical actions by

ensemble.

109

Other student’s initial plans resemble Melissa’s thinking in terms of
structure and perception of planning for teaching. In Figure 2, note Michelle’s
stepwise progression of activities and subsequent identification of rehearsal
goals.

Unlike Melissa’s plan, Michelle was more focused on actions by the
ensemble than actions on the conductor’s behalf: read, listen, compare and
contrast, sing, and describe. These actions were guided by her goals and
represent an attempt to link conductor interpretation with teaching strategies.
Michelle’s linking of teaching strategies with actions by ensemble members
became important in the refining of the rehearsal planning process. Another
feature was Michelle’s re-ordering of rehearsal strategies as evidenced by strike-
outs of various numbers. Michelle appeared to consider the best order for her
teaching ideas.

These plans represented the kind of planning students conceived with no
coaching about component structure of a rehearsal plan. From my perspective
as teacher, the thinking demonstrated was narrow in scope. I wondered whether
students considered a multitude of teaching possibilities, or having settled on
one or two ideas, simply considered the planning complete. Further, the
teaching of these plans confirmed my experiences with previous classes in this
context: students seemed not to “hear” the choir, steps were carried out without
apparent on-the-spot assessments of whether the choir had accomplished the
rehearsed step, and I remained unconvinced students had taken time to deeply

learn the work under study.

110

Following these submissions, class discussion ensued over the course of
several days about the nature and function of a teaching plan, it’s relationship to
actual teaching, and how to make links between score study and the writing of a
teaching plan.

The following represented various ideas by class members during the next
two class periods:

Jack. I’d like to develop the ability to listen critically while conducting.
After conducting, I often think “Gee, what did that sound like?”

Kelsey. Yeah, I was thinking about putting in my left hand for showing a
crescendo that last conducting round, and I stopped listening altogether! I
was really surprised when we got to the end and I couldn’t remember if
the choir sang it while I showed it or not.

Teacher: Most of you followed the teaching plans you devised closely.
Did you feel your plans worked?

Steve: Not really. I mean, I basically did what I said Iwould, but

it felt strange to be talking about the poetry when the singing wasn’t very
good. I didn’t really know what to say about the singing, especially the
guys who didn’t have their notes.

Kelsey. Yeah, but how do you KNOW what to pick out to rehearse? I
thought the poetry idea was interesting and you have to start somewhere.

Karen: Maybe you should start with the notes first and get to ideas like
poetry later.

Teacher. Think about your own experiences in choir. Did you experience
learning the notes and rhythms first, and then layering on interpretative
ideas? How did you respond to that?

Melissa: I don’t like that kind of rehearsal but I guess you have to learn
the notes and stuff sometime. '

Steve: Well, it can be boring.
Ted: One thing I like about Concert Choir is I hardly ever notice learning

the notes. I mean, we sometimes go to sectionals, but mostly we get right
to the music.

111

The class identified several areas to address. First, they expressed
discomfort with deciding what to teach from the myriad of possibilities before
them. They were unsure of what was expected and particularly concerned with
knowing “how” to rehearse an idea. Another concern was remembering gestural
goals while trying to teach as many students experienced the combination of
conducting and teaching an overwhelming prospect.

It became evident to the teacher/researcher that an examination of
students ability to improvise in the teaching act would necessarily require an
understanding of the planning process itself. Examination of interactive
teaching, would in fact, be better informed if student thinking about planning
were better understood. Early in the project, then, the research focus narrowed
to considerations of the rehearsal planning issue and away from interactive
teaching.

Developing Pedagogical Knowledge

In addressing learning to rehearse, the class had lengthy dialogue about
the connection between knowing about music and knowing about teaching. We
started with score study:

Teacher. How did you decide what to teach today? Did you use your
score analysis?

Michelle: Well, I did my plan after I analyzed the score. I knew what I
wanted so I picked out what I thought would be a teachable idea.

John: I’m not sure of what to rehearse. Obviously (giggles from class). I

tried an idea that didn’t work so I need to know what to do next time. I
don’t really know where to start.

112

Teacher. John, from your understanding of the score, what is the most
salient feature of the piece?

John: I’d say the rhythm which matches the text—a word-painting kind of
thing.

Teacher. So if you were to teach the most important idea of the piece to a
group, which you just identified as rhythm, how might you do so?

John: (silent, musing)

Don: You could devise a warm-up and teach it first, and then the rhythm
would be easy.

Barbara: You might also have everyone clap and count the rhythm
everywhere it occurs.

Teacher: Exactly. Let’s make explicit a few ideas. First, your own
background and score analysis will inform your teaching. You will have
your own personal relationship with a piece that will grow over time. If you
deliberately seek out what you know about a piece, and use that as a
platform for deciding teaching ideas, you will likely identify many things
you want to address.

What has been missing from our discussion is what happens between
your score analysis and interpretation and the actual teaching. It is not
enough to know what you want to teach, but you must have considered
multiple ways of getting the idea across.

Following these discussions, the linking of teaching strategies to score

study was explored in the classroom setting. In addition to learning the

traditional components of a teaching plan as outlined earlier by May (1986), the

class brainstormed various alternate. ways of heightening sensitivity to the

teaching process which eventuated in a visual model. This model for

brainstorming, dubbed “the bubble” by students, reflected many possibilities for

rehearsing a piece growing directly from connections conductor/teachers were

able to make from score study and their own personal experience and

background.

113

The process transformed through the weeks in significant and meaningful
ways. A primary theme was uncovering connections between student’s musical
understanding and ability to devise teaching strategies. Most importantly,
students were able to identify a way of expanding thinking in the planning
process that potentially serves as a springboard for improvising in the teaching
action, an important departure from planning procedures evident in the early
phase of the semester.

Confounding Factors

Unspoken during this early phase of mutual analysis was the identification
of personal, human concerns: the vulnerability associated with teaching and
conducting. More confident and extroverted students seemed to have an easier
time regardless of the strength of their teaching plan:

It got me thinking about what we each bring to this experience, and how

risky it is to move in front of others. In a culture where the body is

basically taboo, and the split between mind and body is still a chasm, it is

a tremendous expectation that the conductor’s understanding of the music

can emanate naturally through the body. It takes much, much work (Field

note, Feb. 5, 1997).

Respecting student’s personality and comfort level in front of others was as

important in facilitating learning as any teaching technique, an issue hopefully

addressed by honest but gentle peer evaluations.

Development of the Non-Linear “Bubble” Model
The visual model resulted from classroom discussion about devising
teaching strategies to match musical goals. The class had been exploring

various means of improving the construction of teaching plans. Several students

114

suggested writing plans after rehearsing rather than before instruction so that
personal reflection would be more related to actual events. Others argued this
approach did not anchor upcoming teaching enough that they would feel
confident on the podium. Some suggested post-teaching evaluation as critical to
future teaching as a means of “tweaking” original teaching ideas.
Confounding Factors
In these initial discussions, an important learning emerged for the
teacher/researcher. I had assumed that students were audiating the music while
they prepared for rehearsal, comparing what they heard in the teaching act
against a “sound ideal” constructed by the student. I was surprised to find out
many were not.
In fact, one student described difficulty in hearing the choir at all. Kelsey
wrote:
At times it was difficult to know for sure if the choir was responding to me.
I have a tendency, [sic] when nervous, to introvert myself inwards.
However, when l was aware of the choir-l heard them responding to what
I felt inside. With the more confidence I had, the more aware I was (self-
evaluation).
This might pose a partial explanation as to why some students appeared
to ignore what the choir produced in favor of exercising a sequence of teaching
activities.
Other students described the phenomenon of listening for their internal

construct of the musical sounding in lieu of listening to actual production. Ted

related “Sometimes, I feel I’m hearing what I know is right, not what they’re

115

actually performing. It is difficult to keep all those lines of communication open

and working all at the same time (self-evaluation)”

Additional Student-Directed Suggestions for Planning

Students had multiple suggestions for improvement of planning including
observations of choral rehearsals; looking for and listing teaching strategies by
conductors. Once listed, these were evaluated in several ways. First, class
members identified whether the strategy was teacher-centered or student
centered. Teacher-centered was defined as actions, usually verbal, that required
little involvement by ensemble members. For example, a teacher-centered
action might be to tell an ensemble where to breathe, or explain historical context
about a work. Student-centered actions would involve students in some form of
musical decision-making such as singing, describing, conducting, or chanting.

Wrote one student, “I have modified my viewpoint somewhat and come to
believe that the conductor serves his/her role best when they encourage all the
ensemble members to think—not like them, but like their own best conductor”
(written assignment).

Class members agreed a balance should exist between teacher and
student-centered actions. The expert model was identified as a normalized
paradigm for choral conductors (O’Toole, 1994) and class members expressed

sensitivity to increasing ownership of learning on the part of ensemble members.

116

Non-linear Imagining

As the teacher, I wanted to make more connections between what
students already knew and how to teach such knowledge. I began to experiment
on the board with floating circles that represented the most salient features about
one piece, Britten’s The Sally Garden. After analyzing the work together,
students came to the board and identified various musical decisions about the
work, such as working for legato line, tone (minimal vibrato), and phrasing
(symmetrical four—bar phrases requiring even crescendo-decrescendo).

From these floating circles, students had to brainstorm several ways to
teach the ideas that were represented by spokes. Once each circle had teaching
ideas, I suggested students teach a circle each for the class to demonstrate
rehearsing can emanate from many departure points. Figure 3 represents this
early thinking.

Students had several opportunities over class periods to experiment with
this approach and referred to these floating circles as pods, orbs, or bubbles.
The class eventually settled on the term “bubble” as it seemed to represent
cartoon-like depictions of day-dreaming or musing which was closely aligned with

the kind of thinking involved in the corporate brain-storming activity.

fldent Experimentation with the Model
Class members experimented with the model for the remainder of the
semester. The examples in Figures 4 and 5 illustrate the thinking evidenced in

these early models.

117

 

Figure 3. Earliest version of class-constructed brainstorming model.

118

 

 

 

 

._--- -—.—-

 

 

.. -—.— .—-——. in——.-—-——-—-,_-o

 

"" ’ "er-(rye Pats. exaggerate...
.. -.-._ 149’-" Mtflttm;_.§1&.._ -....-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

—.
-———-‘# -——————_-. -
- - v . M. M
__ W
___.__ --._.- ._ _.
——-————— —- ._ _. .-_— __ ._ ..___ _._.

__ .. _ -.._....._—_._..._.. - . .

- _— u- -.—- —_

......... 2...... .._. ..._. __ ._._ ...._.... _. _._..._._......_._ _. ...._ __ .— ._..._.

—— _ ._ __.. _. .2 _ .. _ ._.
_ - _..._.. ._ ..
.. ._ ._.....

- ._ .. — ~_ - _. .. _

Figure 4. Karen’s plan: Teacher deciSidns implicit; few teaching

strategies represented.

119

RclLMIJMI 9141M

 

Figure 5. Michelle’s plan: Conductor/teacher decisions and teaching

strategies vague and undefined.

120

Early experimentation was paired with the traditional writing of teaching
plans. The bubbles were used as a way of identifying possible teaching
strategies which were then incorporated in a written plan. In the first iterations of
this approach, students seemed to focus on one of two aspects: either they
described musical decisions about the music or they outlined
teaching strategies with only implied information about their personal decision-
making in relationship to the score.

In Figure 4, Karen has prepared for a short five-minute
conducting/teaching round. She identified three areas that shaped her rehearsal
as evidenced by the floating circles. Under the circles she listed what appeared
to represent her decisions about her musical goals in each category. For
example, under phrasing she wrote “natural” and “imitate” speech (through
rhythm). The Latin text is indeed chant-like and fast. Karen seemed to indicate
phrasing should flow from this organizing idea.

What is absent from this plan is any documentation of teaching strategies.
This was typical of early plans and the class re-visited the need to represent both
musical decisions and ways of approaching instruction. Also interesting is the
blend of listing and circles, suggesting she is perhaps not yet comfortable with
the brainstorming format.

Michelle’s plan, Figure 5, represents the most difficult aspect of learning to
imagine for teaching in this format: the plan is vague and functioned not as a
road-map of thinking, but as blurred signposts along the journey. Even with

class discussion, many students continued to write plans that gave only brief

I21

indications of conductor/teacher decisions. As the teacher, I began to question
whether the process had merit, as such little information was not likely to be
helpful either to the student or to me as evaluator. Unlike Karen’s plan, Michelle
did include teaching strategies though they are non-specific.

Analysis of videotape and teaching was yielding positive results, even
though the visual plans were uneven and often appeared incomplete. The
teaching, however, was clearly becoming more fluent and teaching actions
seemed to be more cohesive:

I am encouraged by the improvement in teaching after today’s class.

Students had more teaching ideas, and they were sound ones. Pacing

has improved as has their ability to listen-in-action. l was particularly

pleased when Ted stopped his rehearsal to indicate what he heard
needing improvement, but admitting he had not thought of an effective
way to solve the problem. The class was great about problem-solving

with Ted and had several good ideas (Notes to file, March 12, 1997).

The class appeared to gain increasing understanding that there are
multiple ways of organizing teaching and that it was within their abilities to find
ways to teach musical ideas. There seemed to be a gradual orientation and
focus on teaching that was evidenced in some cases by a greater number of
teaching activities within a conducting round. Other students appeared more at
ease with the teaching component and taught for more musical and expressive
considerations than purely technical:

Today I noticed the quality of activities Kelsey chose in her teaching

round. Gone was a focus on “where to put the final consonant,” instead

she was intent on the choir singing the opening phrase of Path to the

Moon with direction and line. She tried several ways of advancing her

ideas, the most effective of which was when her gesture clearly showed
the idea. She still needs to work on getting out of a technical beat pattern

and show more line.

122

Her submitted teaching plan showed the general nature of her thoughts
but could have been more explicit (Notes to file, March 10, 1997).
Observations from videotape analysis indicated conducting gesture often
suffered when the teaching portion of a rehearsal commenced. In other words,
students would conduct more successfully before the rehearsal than during the
rehearsal. This supported my intuitive understanding that learning to teach
requires additional operational knowledge. It is likely the mind is so occupied
with rehearsing that conducting cannot receive the mind’s attention. Most
interesting was that this often remained true when students had singers
“perform” the previously rehearsed section. In this case, the conductor would be
free to revert attention back to conducting gesture. This didn’t always happen:
How interesting! Ted conducted so well last week and this same piece
today looks completely different. I remember having Ted demonstrate for
the class his use of horizontal space to achieve the kind of legato
appropriate to the Britten. This is Ted’s first rehearsal segment and
during his teaching round his gesture looks pattern-like—not at all how he
looked during the conducting only round! (Note to file, Feb. 14, 1997)
Adjustments to the Written Plan
By mid-semester the class again re-visited the planning process. We
made adaptations to the visual model so that both conductor/teacher decisions
and teaching strategies were represented. Students were asked not to write
traditionally formatted lesson plans and to instead include all information in the

visual model. I hypothesized that students might be using the visual model as a

means of shorthand, saving more complete explication for the written plan. I

123

hoped this directive would produce a more comprehensive visual plan from
which to make evaluations.

The refinements are represented by Figure 6. The central floating circles
continue to represent the area of focus. Sub-circles identify conductor/teacher
decisions about the score. Spokes from the sub-circles represent teaching
strategies.

Figure 7 is an example of the experiments with the refined model by class
members. Since students did not write a concomitant written plan, I encouraged
them to structure their rehearsal based off the bubble most closely associated
with their personal strengths. By examining Figure 7, one could envision a
student organizing a rehearsal or portion of a rehearsal on tone as the bubble is
the most developed. A variety of student actions represent teacher decisions, a
marked improvement in the planning process.

At one point near the end of the term, I asked students to analyze a work.
They were then asked to “tag-team” teach in groups of three such that one
student began a rehearsal based on her score study, and students two and three
taught in direct relationship to what happened in the previous student’s
rehearsal. Of all the class activities over the course of the term, I observed this
improvisatory exercise as the most helpful in drawing attention to what the choir
sang and away from a-contextual rehearsing. When students were unable to
evaluate the sounding in-action or suggest ways of rehearsing identified

problems, the class brainstormed solutions together.

124

Teaching Context/
Authentic Sounding

 
   

Bunions)

 

Figure 6. Suggested refinements of bubble model linking teacher

decisions and teaching strategies.

125

Teaching Context/

Authentic Sounding

  

3.23.580“.
.385
Bo: Macaw

 

Fi ure 7. Example of student work utilizing refined model.
126

Emation of Le Pilot Sttflv: Implications for the Upcomirpg Proiect

The conducting class experimentation with preparation for teaching
yielded rich information for all participants. Students contributed greatly to the
adjustments evident in the process over the span of the 15-week trial. Their
thoughts represented by class dialogue, written assignments, and self and peer
evaluations were invaluable In assessment of the experience.

In evaluation of the project at the conclusion of the term, I grouped
themes into three areas: positive results from the process, limitations of the
brainstorming model, and areas for improvement when structuring the impending
research project.

Positive Results

In contrast with previous classes I had taught, there was a change in
student’s perception of the role of teaching as a conductor. Students became
more sensitized to conducting as a form of teaching, and their rehearsing
reflected a commitment to developing both conducting gesture and teaching skill.
Kelsey addressed the overlap of these areas:

Preparing yourself and planning are important (know the scorel), but just

as important is the ability to be flexible and “in the moment.” Don’t work

problems that don’t exist and don’t assume the problem is the ensembles,

you could be creating it through your gesture (written assignment).
Another noticeable change in this particular class were perceptions of the power
inherent in the conductor/teacher’s role. Karen described how experimenting
with the non-linear approach to rehearsal planning is related to the ability to

improvise in the teaching act and the establishment of a different dynamic

between conductor and ensemble:

127

This plan took awhile to warm up to. I had to change my concept of what I
thought a rehearsal should entail—Le, GIVE UP CONTROL!!! This was
not easy in the beginning. However, I soon discovered that having to
create “bubbles” called upon my musicianship in a new way. Now,
instead of planning out a rehearsal step by step, I was free to use my
score study to determine what the important musical characteristics of the
piece were.

These became my main bubbles, and caused me to think about different

ways I could accomplish these musical goals. If one way did not work, I

had another option ready to try. When that goal had been accomplished,

than I could move on to another musical idea. It is really a good idea,
because it allows you to get a “global” view of your composition. And, if
used properly, your choir will be taking more responsibility for their
musicianship and performance capabilities, thus freeing you from THE

NEED TO CONTROL EVERYTHING (written assignment).

An area of marked improvement showed in student’s emerging
understanding that any one rehearsal might take a number of potential directions
in direct relationship to what the conductor hears. Such flexibility was not
evident in early plans or in previous classes I had taught. This learning was
important, in my view, for it encourages the expert-like mindset in which thinking
is expansive and experimental rather than reductionistic and inflexible (Bereiter
and Scardamalia, 1993).

Challenging students to grow pedagogical knowledge had been impeded
by the objectives-based approach to lesson planning which establishes a single
approach to achieving goals or objectives. In the non-linear exercises, students
were called upon to think of multiple ways of addressing musical goals. Further,
these potential rehearsal directions were chosen based on the conductor’s

assessment, in-action, of the musical sounding by the choir. Melissa explained:

Bubbles are helpful because they represent the unstructuredness [sic] of
the teaching-in-action. I generally like things to be very linear and

128

organized but the point of the bubbles is that there is no set order or
schedule.

I teach by first listening and then going to'my bubbles and deciding which
is most appropriate to work with. The listening first is s_o_ important
because without it you don’t know where to begin. Depending on the
nature and length of the rehearsal I may use one bubble or many.

A related issue is the easing of fear that novice conductor/teachers
express when trying to decide what and how to rehearse. Music education is
different from other educational fields in that content knowledge is more highly
developed and skillful. The bridging of content knowledge to pedagogical
knowledge appeared to be improved by this approach to planning.

One student, Jeffrey, made an analogy to a set of scales. In the
beginning, the scales are weighted towards musical knowledge with little
pedagogical knowledge to balance. As one learns to brainstorm, the scales
even out little by little. It is possible that music students have an advantage in
the development of pedagogical knowledge: they have likely observed teaching
in the choral context over a period of years as participants in choral ensembles.
I could note students choosing rehearsal strategies that mirrored what they
experienced in Concert Choir, for example. As their confidence grew, so did

their ability to adapt and assimilate the ideas of other conductor/teachers or

generate ideas of their own.

Limitations
The approach clearly had limitations. In many instances, the teaching
plans were vague and non-specific. They neither demonstrated student thinking

nor provided a map to guide the teaching process. Though refinements were

129

continually made throughout the project to address this concern, certain students
did not respond well to this method of planning. For linear thinkers, the process
was difficult and perhaps even frightening. I had to acknowledge to myself and
class members that the planning model was closely associated with my own way
of thinking and that the ideas might not be effective for everyone. David wrote:

This approach just doesn’t work for me. I need to map out very

specifically what I will rehearse and when I don't, I fall flat on my face. I

got better at it, but found that I would secretly jot out a traditional-looking

plan before I taught to use while teaching. I don’t think I will use this

approach in the future (written assignment, April, 1997).

Many students, in fact, found having the non-linear plan on the podium
was not particularly helpful. Most reported that knowing the score and
conceiving multiple teaching actions to meet musical goals and objectives meant
they did not need a word by word written plan in the teaching action. This
supports research that teachers use planning as a form of preparation, but do
not necessarily follow a verbatim plan while teaching (Neale, Pace, & Case,
1983). When some students did attempt to read from the bubble plan it

occasionally caused pacing issues and distracted the conductor from the overall

process.

Areas for Improvement
Upon reflection, several areas emerged that might be improved upon
when implementing the project study. There needed to be an explicit
expectation that students should balance their musical decisions with multiple
ways of rehearsing their musical goals. In evaluating the teaching plans, some

students emphasized one or the other without adequately representing both

130

realms. Even though the ideas were often implicit (as previously noted in Figure
4), they were not established on paper and therefore difficult to evaluate. As the
teacher, I did not want students to misunderstand the role of non-linear planning:
The approach should be just as rigorous, if not more so, than the objectives-
based approach. Further, a better balance in the teaching act is needed
between teacher-centered actions such as telling, and student-centered actions
requiring active involvement in musical decision-making by ensemble members.

Two areas require attention that were not addressed by pilot study class
members. First, the non-linear model should include ways of structuring internal
sequencing such that teaching ideas have form and shape. Once the
brainstorming process has taken place, teaching might improve by the
organization of teaching ideas. This was not an emphasis in the pilot study.

Second, assessment and evaluation need to be better represented in the
non-linear planning model. One might argue listening is a primary assessment
tool as is performing by ensemble members. In each instance, these
assessment activities can be represented in the bubble format and might serve
to keep the importance of assessing-in-action at the foreground of student
thinking.

Lastly, defining the relationship between verbal and non-verbal rehearsing
strategies would likely improve the upcoming project. Any process of planning
that involves written description of teaching activities runs the risk of teaching
with a heightened sensitivity to verbalization. When novice conductor/teachers

wish ensemble members to make musical decisions, for example, they often

131

assume these must be verbalized decisions. This would include asking
questions about the music and entertaining dialogue from ensemble members as
to preferences. Non-verbal decision-making occurs in the musical action and is
guided by personal, active music-making such as chanting, singing, conducting,
and incorporation of the body (such as drawing phrases with the arms), among

others (Rao, 1993).

Summam

The pilot study provided valuable information towards defining the
research project. The inclusion of student participants throughout the project
was central to the development of a non-linear model of rehearsal planning in
the choral context. The model undenrvent ongoing assessment and revision as
students progressed through the class. Chapter Six describes the research
project by establishing the unique research context and presentation of the

project experience through the eyes of class members.

132

CHAPTER 6

THE RESEARCH SJETTING AND METHOD
Based on assessment of the pilot study, the research project was
implemented with some modification to the researcher’s original intentions,
primarily in the structure and function of the visual “bubble” model and its
relationship to the planning process. In addition to the recommendations
outlined in the previous chapter, a significant change was that the researcher

moved to a new university, altering the research site.

Overview of Reporting and Analysis

The remaining chapters examine the unique research context at the new
university site as well as present a dual approach to the reporting and analysis of
the project. Chapter Six includes a description of the methodology used to
examine the teaching plans along with a framework representing the analytic
attention given to the data. The first level of reporting and analysis, in Chapter
Seven, highlights three students who form the basis of within-case analysis in
which themes emerge in relationship to the student’s work over the course of the
15-week period.

Chapter Eight presents analysis of teaching plans of a single piece,
Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus, examined across-cases such that themes and
patterns are identified and described within the class as a whole. The final
chapter is a meta-analysis that synthesizes results from the project and provides

suggestions for future teaching and research.

133

The Setting

During the pilot study project in the spring of 1997, I accepted a faculty
position in the areas of choral music education and conducting at a large mid-
western university. The research project took place in the spring of 1998 in the
new location. My duties at the university included conducting two choirs as well
as teaching undergraduate conducting, secondary choral methods, student
teaching seminar, and coordination and supervision of the student teaching
program.

Secondary choral methods met in January of 1998 for 15 weeks and was
comprised of six female music education students in their junior or senior year of
study. Though the course title (Secondary Choral Methods) was different from
that in the original pilot study (Conducting II), the course content was largely the
same (Appendix E). The curriculum provided for a Conducting ll course at the
university, but the course content did not include teaching and rehearsing as a
primary curricular focus. I determined, therefore, that the choral methods course
should address these areas. Student participants enrolled in Conducting ll
alongside Secondary Choral Methods. The same pre-requisite, beginning
conducting, was required before students could enroll in either Secondary Choral
Methods or Conducting ll.

Further, conducting courses are required for all undergraduate
performance and music education majors and had been traditionally taught by
performance faculty. It was my determination that the content in choral methods

should reflect a focus on teaching and conducting, which mirrored the course

134

under investigation during the pilot study. Readers are encouraged to refer to
Chapter Five for a complete description of course content and score analysis
procedures.

The university is a nationally recognized School of Music, housing both
conservatory and academic programs. The school offers a Bachelor of Music
degree in performance areas, music education, composition, music and
technology, music history, and music theory. Additional programs are available
as Bachelor of Fine Arts or Bachelor of Musical Arts programs. The school
enrolls approximately 645 undergraduates, of which 22 are choral music
education majors with either voice or piano as principal instruments. Due to
strong conservatory and academic programs, the university draws students

domestically and internationally comprising a richly diverse student body.

Profile of Student Participants

All six of the students enrolled in secondary choral methods can be
described as traditional students with no prior teaching experience and whose
average age was 20. One of the six was African American, the balance
Caucasian and all were female. The class met in the music education room, a
spacious older facility with a piano, chalkboards on several walls, wooden desks,
and a view of the pond. Students were responsible for bringing a videotape to
class as well as adhering to assignments listed on the syllabus.

As in the pilot study, students were not required to participate in the
research project and were assured classroom grades would not be adversely

affected if they chose not to join the study. All chose to participate and signed

135

forms indicating consent (Appendix A). Students had an important role in
checking researcher perceptions about the class experience, including ongoing
in-class dialogue and reading by several students of narrative manuscript for
feedback on the accuracy of portrayal of class members.

One difference in the new research site was that I did not have the benefit
of prior knowledge of these students as it was my first year at the university.
Five of six students sang in one or more of the ensembles I conducted, while the
sixth sang for the advanced chamber choir under the direction of a performance
area conducting professor. Despite the new relationship, an atmosphere of trust
seemed to be established early, perhaps due in part to the small number of

students enrolled in the course or the like-gender environment.

Methodology

The research strategies included examination of the conductor/teacher
teaching plans as well as the supporting data representing student and
teacher/researcher experience during the project. Data collected included score
analyses, conductor/teacher rehearsal plans, written assignments throughout the
semester, self and peer reflections on conducting and conducting/teaching
rounds, and teacher/researcher field notes and personal reflections.

The collection of data was ongoing throughout the project. When
students submitted assignments in writing, they were photocopied and organized
by student in a chronological portfolio. As the teacher/researcher, I also kept a
portfolio of events, which included my own reflections and observations about

the experience. On occasion I would return assignments to students to ask for

136

clarification about their writing or to confirm my perceptions about meaning I had

ascribed to their narrative.

Rehearsal Plans: Initial View of Data

The methodology and concurrent analysis were implemented at various
intervals throughout the project. The initial process was similar to the open
coding strategy found in grounded research theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1990).
The study, taken as a whole, does not meet the criteria for grounded theory but
borrows the open coding feature of the theory as a means of establishing
analytic attention and focus (p. 31).

Open coding as an initial research strategy is a means of grouping data
such that data are broken down into parts, examined for similarities and
differences, and questions are asked about the phenomena discovered (Strauss
& Corbin, 1990, p. 62). Related data particles are conceptualizations of the
phenomena, and as such, are labeled as concepts. Concepts are later grouped
into categories to further establish relationships between similar data. These
categories can be examined for their properties which describe the related ideas.

In the context of written teaching plans, properties might include such
groupings as the mode of imagined instruction: suggested teaching actions were
student centered or teacher centered, verbal or non-verbal as an example. The
properties can then be described for apparent dimensions such as breadth,
depth, or fluency. In examining the property of student-centered instruction for
dimensionality, breadth might be represented by the number of teaching actions

generated, depth by the meaningful relationship between suggested teaching

137

actions and the musical concept taught, or fluency by the relatedness of teaching
actions to be organized together into a given rehearsal. Dimensions are
therefore fluid and occur along an imaginary continuum (Strauss & Corbin,
1990)

Using the coding framework described above, the teaching plans were
analyzed through an open-coding procedure established to recognize similarities
and differences with regard to content of the plans. Rather than use a traditional
coding memo to document my impressions, l constructed my notes in the same
“bubble” model format used to create student teaching plans. Each new idea
observed (related data particle) became a floating circle. These circles were
developed by adding related ideas represented by key phrases or statements
across plans. Like the student plans, related ideas were illustrated by spokes
emanating from the original circle.

Concepts, originating as floating circles, could later become the basis for
categorizations or grouping of related circles. These categories of grouped data
could then be examined for properties exhibited and described for their
dimensionality.

This model of coding was chosen for two reasons: it mirrored the process
students were using in constructing teaching plans, and it suited the researchers
ability to conceptually relate particles of data. By using a coding procedure that
mirrored the brainstorming activities in which students were engaged, it was
hoped the researcher would better understand the nature of brainstorming and

imagining, creating possible symmetry in the conceptual processes. Such

138

symmetry, it was hypothesized, might lead to a more informed understanding of
student thinking as they imagined for teaching events.

Once individual plans were coded, the same process was used to link
ideas between plans. The open coding also encouraged refinements to the
research process. It uncovered, for example, a continuing problem with teaching
sequence in this planning format. Adjustments were made such that the issue
was addressed more explicitly in class and with concrete examples to help

students understand the necessity for structuring instruction.

Post-Project Analysis

Appendix F is an example of a later coding exercise wherein previously
coded concepts and categories from across plans are grouped in relationship to
five possibilities of post-project analysis. These analytic possibilities were trial
umbrellas which ultimately shaped the final analytic process. In deciding
possible analytic frameworks, this coding exercise developed as a result of
observations of student plans in the pilot study: thinking appeared to be more
expansive and experimental in the visual web format than in the linear listing
approach associated with traditional lesson plans.

Like the earlier coding process, this exercise borrowed from grounded
theory the assignment of data particles to categories of related thought. Once
grouped, analytic possibilities could be brainstormed and linked with particular
categories for consideration. Another benefit of the coding exercise was the

ability to synthesize proposed analytic frameworks in a visual format, which

139

provided the researcher opportunities for relationship-making between
categories and analytic possibilities.

In Appendix F, the examination of teaching as improvisation was
discounted because the data, as grouped in open coding, did not relate easily to
this particular analytic possibility. Exploring teaching as improvisation is of deep
interest to the researcher yet this exercise illustrated that the project did not lend
itself naturally to the examination of teaching as improvisation. Viewing the data
at another time or in a different manner might have yielded different analytic
possibilities. The analytic attention, therefore, was narrowed in relationship to
the data rather than making the data “fit” a pre-conceived analytical tool or
technique. Once the analytical framework was chosen, the rehearsal plans were

examined as described in the next section.

Rehearsal Plans: Eng of Project Afllyaia

Following the project, all teaching plans were sorted and grouped by
student in chronological order. In ordering the post-project analysis, teaching
plans were first examined, followed by triangulating evidence such as
teacher/researcher field notes and student written assignments.

Three students were selected for examination of all teaching plans
submitted during the project. Their stories will be reported in Chapter Seven
along with analysis of their experiences with the planning model. Based on
evaluation during the project, each of the three seemed to represent varying
profiles in the approach to rehearsal planning as demonstrated in teaching

rounds and written assignments. These differences appeared to span a

140

continuum of thinking from highly pragmatic and literal (Lindsay) to improvisatory
and spontaneous (Denise). A blending of these qualities, careful preparation for
teaching alongside flexibility to make adjustments in planning and instructional
delivery, was evidenced by a third student (Sarah).

Other members of the class could also be generally grouped along the
imaginary continuum described above. Two of the remaining three members
appeared closer to Sarah’s representation of thinking. The decision to choose
Sarah from among these three possibilities was a pragmatic one: Sarah missed
no class and had the most complete written reflections available. Both of the
other members were out of class due to illness at one time or another.

The remaining member of the class appeared to think in more literal terms
and seemed to align most closely with Lindsay. The decision to examine
Lindsay was qualitative: the other class member did not express thought as
clearly in writing. Because their written responses contributed considerably to
the project, Lindsay was chosen to represent the pragmatic thinker.

The analysis will include tracing the development of thinking inside the
teaching plans, describing the relationship to preparation for rehearsal as noted
by the student and teacher/researcher, and drawing a comparative profile of the
plans over the course of the project.

Based on results of alongside analysis from the preceding project period,
the plans were then coded for key phrases and statements, with a focus towards

refining analytic attention. In earlier exploration of the data, any idea generated

141

was documented. In this phase, a deliberate attempt was made to codify
observations such that recurring and salient features could be identified.
Data Observation Form: Three Identified Categories Grouping
Researcher Observations

A data observation form (Appendix G) organized the results of the coding
such that categories were established and described in a form that was more
manageable than the visual “bubble” model. The categories identified are an
attempt to group similar key phrases, statements, or research observations into
common areas of intersection. Three central categories are: characteristics of
the teaching plan, teaching ideas incorporated into student Visioning, and
apparent relationship to impending teaching. Each category is represented by

concepts that function as sub-categories.

Characteristics of Teachingm

Three primary concepts characteristic of the written plans include
dimensions, mode, and imaginings. Dimensions refer to the degree of breadth,
depth, or fluency demonstrated by the student in the construction of the plan.
Breadth is represented by multiple departures for teaching and targets central
features of the musical work. These features represent interpretive musical
decisions made by the student in the score analysis process. Depth includes the
extent to which each identified feature is addressed through potential teaching
actions. These teaching ideas might be related, forming a teaching sequence, or

unrelated as free-form possibilities. Fluency describes whether the plan appears

142

organized, the language specific, and whether teaching ideas grow logically from
identified musical goals.

Mode describes how students weigh decisions and prescribe instructional
delivery in the written plan: Were teaching ideas student-centered or teacher-
centered, verbal or non-verbal, the language technically-oriented or imagery-
oriented? Decisions can be dominated by a particular mode or appear in
combination in a single teaching plan.

lmaginings describe qualities or impressions about the brainstorming
process. This includes whether thinking appeared linear or spiral and what
relationship, if any, was apparent between these two Ideas. Linear thinkers, for
example, may write highly structured sequences of instruction and organize
teaching ideas in a hierarchical manner. Spiral thinkers appear more
improvisatory or spontaneous and teaching ideas may appear voluminous.

Teaching sequence often appears weak or absent.

Teaching Ideas Incogporated in Student Visioning

This category describes ideas contained within each plan as a way of
uncovering pedagogical knowledge demonstrated by the students. Did students
develop a deepening repertoire of teaching ideas across the project, and if so,
how were they represented? Were many areas addressed or were patterns

evident within the plans?

143

Relationship to Impending Teaching

This category examines whether assessment of student learning is
embedded in the plan and whether the planning process seems to relate to the
upcoming teaching event. Are described actions relevant to the music? Do
students consider contextual factors, particularly whether teaching ideas are
linked to score analysis? Finally, additional features or impressions are noted
when applicable.

Triangulating Data

The analysis threaded narrative from teacher/researcher field notes and
student written assignments. As in the pilot study, profiling was utilized to
identify the most significant ideas and to clarify the planning process. It was
hoped that the narrative would provide an expanded view of the experience and

help the reader compose a rich picture of student involvement in the project.

fiaporting Procedpre of Within-Case Analysis

The within-case analysis of three participants was constructed as a
narrative followed by interpretive commentary. To crystallize the experience for
the reader, key phrases and statements from the coding procedures as well as
first-hand narrative accounts by the students and teacher/researcher are
reported as story.

Key phrases and statements were culled from coded data observation
forms of all teaching plans. These assignments spanned the project period and
included planning for conducting-only teaching assignments to more complex

conducting/teaching assignments. (Refer to Chapter Five for a complete

144

description of assignments, score analysis processes, and the nature of
conducting and conducting/teaching assignments.)

First-hand narrative accounts were taken from student written
assignments including reflections on assigned topics, writings associated with
submitted teaching plans (self-reflections), a mid-terrn examination, and short
papers. An example of an assigned topic was a description of the role of the
conductor/teacher in public school secondary setting. Students were required to
fill out self-reflections (Appendices B and C) on conducting and
conducting/teaching events. Distinguishing between teacher-centered and
student-centered instruction characterized the nature of short answer topics.
The mid-terrn examination included a section documenting personal decisions
made in a written teaching plan. Short papers included such topics as
articulating a personal philosophy in the choral teaching context.

The researcher recognizes that any attempt at story-telling necessarily
reconstructs events in an artificial and a-contextual way. Misinterpretation or
selective attention might obscure important information. Any analysis, however,
ultimately factors in the interpretive lens of the researcher. The narrative
construction is as close an approximation to researcher understanding of the
process as possible. As a means of checking researcher perceptions, student
participants were invited to read the manuscript and react to the portrayal
presented. Two students, Sarah and Rebecca, chose to read in this manner and

were helpful in confirming the perceptions as presented.

145

Across-Case A_nalvsis

In addition to the in-depth analysis of three students’ planning processes,
one piece was chosen for comparative purposes among all participants. By
viewing both depth and breadth of participant experience, it was hoped that a
more complete representation of the class experience could be constructed.

The methodology mirrored the examination of within-case analysis,
including coding of written teaching plans through the data observation form
(Appendix G). Reporting of across-case analysis also included interpretive
commentary drawn from researcher observations and written assignments.
Teaching plans from Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus were examined for themes or
patterns that are apparent within the class as a whole. The piece was chosen as
it represented student work slightly past mid-point in the semester. Students
would have had time to make adjustments and refinements from earlier plans
and from classroom discussions.

End of project plans were ruled out because final assignments were time-
bound and conducting rounds were shorter. The time constraint likely affected
how carefully students planned. The chosen plan, however, should have
provided ample opportunity for student thinking to be fully represented.

Discordant or conflicting information was also sought and described to
give variation and add complexity to the discussion. One student, for example,
continually wrote about her experience with the planning model in glowing terms.
Her teaching, however, did not demonstrate the very qualities she identified as

important in her planning process.

146

A possible explanation was that the student wished to write “what the
teacher wanted to hear” when reflecting on her planning. Another possibility was
that her internal thinking for teaching was more developed than her ability to
monitor her decisions in the actual teaching episode. Yet another possibility was
that the planning model was not appropriate to the learning style of this particular
student, regardless of her apparent endorsement of the procedures. Throughout
the project, then, I made annotations in field notes to glean as much information
possible about her experience throughout the project period to help clarify my

perceptions.

I47

CHAPTER 7

WITHIN-CASE ANALYSES: SARAH, LINDSAY. AND DENISE

The purpose of this chapter is to describe and interpret three students’
experiences with a teacher planning process best described as brainstorming or
imagining for teaching as documented by a visual web. This model emphasizes
connections with knowledge gained in score study and attempts to link musical
understandings about the work to a variety of teaching strategies. The goal of
stimulating imagination is two-fold; providing a means of uncovering student
knowledge, and generating as expansive a repertoire of student created teaching
strategies as possible.

Organization of the chapter includes an initial narrative designed to
introduce the reader to the special and unique thinking demonstrated by each of
the three students. The narrative was constructed from various written data as
described in earlier chapters and is a distillation of primary themes and
statements identified by the researcher in analysis during and post-ceding the
project period. The narrative is followed by interpretive commentary
summarizing each of the three students and is supported by written examples of
teaching plans across the 15-week semester.

The narrative form is constructed as three vignettes, represented as study
sessions, at the home of one student. This form was chosen to reflect actual
practice by the students; they often reported evening study sessions, especially

in preparation for conducting/teaching assignments.

148

Study Session #1 (at Sarah’s house, first week of classes):

Sarah: Wow. I didn’t realize it would take so long to analyze that score. I
thought we’d be done an hour ago!

Denise: Yeah, it does take awhile. I’m glad you have a keyboard here
with earphones. I needed to play through and sing those parts before I
marked bar-lines.

Sarah: This is the first time we’ve had to really analyze a score if you
think about it. It didn’t come up in other music ed. classes and conducting
class hasn’t involved teaching yet. I’m really glad to have a system to
use, even if I am uncertain about where those bar-lines should be placed.

Lindsay. | just don’t understand where to put the bar-lines. We were told
to put them when a new musical idea emerges. In my piece, it isn’t very
clear-cut. I mean, the harmony changes, but the vocal lines overlap.

Denise: I marked mine in pencil first and did it at the keyboard. It was
easier to hear than look at. Do you want the earphones for awhile?

Lindsay. Sure. I think I know how the piece sounds, though. We did it in
high school.

Sarah: OK. We have to try out the new planning model. I thought it
would be great if we tried teaching them on each other. I’m not really sure
what she wants, are you?

Lindsay. I think we have lots of freedom. It seems as if we can do most
anything if it works.

Denise: Well, I don’t think she means just winging it. It’s more like writing
down as many ways to teach an idea as we can think of, and then to
apply it in our teaching demonstration.

Sarah: The thing is, I don’t really know how to plan when I don’t know
what the choir will sound like. What if I choose something that doesn’t

work? Until we get a real choir, how do we really know where consistent
trouble spots might be?

Lindsay. Maybe you could just start by listing everything you can think of
that might need rehearsing.

Denise: Let’s just go work on these and see what happens.

(30 minutes later)

149

Denise (from the keyboard): OK. Here’s my first shot. This was fun!
What does your plan look like? Mine’s a mess!

Lindsay. Mine isn’t nearly as long. Really, when you think about it, these
plans are pretty much going to be the same. We’ve got to get down notes
and rhythms, introduce the text, and give them markings like where to
breathe and how to place cutoffs.

Sarah: I don’t know. My plan seems pretty specific and I could probably
come up with more if there was time to teach it.

Lindsay(looking at Sarah’s plan): Wow. I guess so! Those look like
interesting teaching ideas but how do you really know what order you can
teach until you hear the choir? At least, that is what we talked about in
class today.

Denise: I took it to mean we should plan as much as possible and just
sort out what comes when once the choir sings through a section.

Sarah: Yeah, but I think it is important to know the order of your ideas.
I’m not going to remember all these things off the top of my head.
Besides, I had a lot to put on paper once I started looking at my bar-line
analysis and playing through the piece.

Denise: Hey, guys. It’s late. Let’s resume this tomorrow. Same time,
same place?

Study Session #2 (next night):
Denise: Me first! Lindsay, will you play from the keyboard? Sarah, you
are going to be the choir. Why don’t you sing first soprano. This is middle
school, so think like a 13-year old!

(sing through of A section of piece)

Great! I loved the way you followed my conducting. What did you learn
about the piece from the first singing?

Sarah: Well, Ms. Teacher. You showed really smooth conducting and it
helped me sing the line legato. It seems like a lullaby.

Denise: Yes, it is a lullaby. Would you sing from bar 5 and draw the

phrase with your arm as you sing? I want you to show me where you
think the peak of that phrase is.

150

(rehearsal continues in similar fashion)

Lindsay. That was good, Denise. You were very confident. I have your
plan in front of me. You did a few things listed here, but you got off-track.
Maybe you could bring your plan up with you when you teach tomorrow
so that you have it in front of your eyes.

Sarah: Yeah, Denise. That’s a good idea. You wouldn’t want to miss
something important you had thought of to teach. Besides, you should
have your lesson plan with you just in case.

Denise: Maybe. I kind of liked what I ended up doing. I mean, it wasn’t
written down, but it just popped in my head and it was so cool to hear
Sarah sing it after we tried the idea. But, maybe you are right. I tend to
get off track! You’re up Lindsay.

Lindsay. OK. We have ten minutes to do this teaching round so I want to
be efficient. Here’s the music.

Lindsay. Start from the beginning. Sarah, you sing alto, Denise, you sing
soprano. Would you mark a breath at bar 5, and put all the “t” consonants
on the following rests. Also, would you cross the “r” out of words on page
1. You need to be careful of the rhythm in measure eight. It is a dotted
quarter note and all the other similar places are straight quarters (sings
rhythm for them).

(choir sings four measures into the piece)

Thanks class. In measure one, there is a piano dynamic. I think it
sounded louder than that. Remember when sight-reading to use your
best vocal production. Let’s try it again (singers perform the correction).
Now. Repeat the text after me. Do-na no-bis pa-cem. Good.

Would you please mark a crescendo through the peak in bar four and
diminuendo back over the next four bars? Great.

Sarah: Ms Teacher, what’s a crescendo?

Lindsay. Good question. A crescendo is a marking to get louder and it
looks like this (draws in air).

(choir sings through piece)

Denise: Hey, what’d you think, Lindsay?

151

Lindsay. You guys are great. You do everything I say. I bet a real middle
school choir wouldn’t be so perfect! Hey, Sarah, you better go before we
all fall asleep.
Sarah (brings out teaching plan): Measure five please.
(shows preparatory breath, choir performs the ‘A’ section)
Well done, class. Please sing the first idea in the soprano line.
(all sing)
Can you tell me where that idea occurs again? Yes, Denise, bar six in the
baritone line. Where else? Good. Do you think the motive is dance-like
or more sedate? Hmm. . . , let’s see. Would you snap this time and sing
on the syllable “doot.” ,

(perform instruction)
Much better. I could tell by your performance that you liked the motive
sung in that dance-like style. This is, in fact, a Baroque-inspired dance.
Does anybody know. . .(rehearsal continues).

Lindsay. Greatjob, Sarah. You had a lot of ideas and they were well-
organized.

Denise: I loved how we got to make decisions about our sound. You’ll be
fine tomorrow.

Sarah: I hope so. I want to go back and re-work some of these ideas. In
the rehearsal, you did some things I wasn’t expecting. I need to mull over
why that happened.

Study Session #3 (near the end of term):

Denise: My teaching yesterday in class was a blast. You guys were great
not to laugh when I asked you to get up and dance!

Sarah: Anything for you, my friend. I don’t know how you do that. You
just get ideas and take off.

Lindsay. It seems like you’ve been at this forever, Denise. I think your

high school teacher was awesome to let you have some experience
teaching when you were an upperclassman.

152

Denise: I thought my teaching was better, too. At least I felt pretty good
about it. I definitely have more ideas than I did when we first started this
stuff. I think you get to the point where you don’t have to depend so much
on a plan. For now, I need to put these things on paper.

Sarah: You know the thing I keep realizing is how much I took for granted
before I really learned how to analyze a score and think about teaching
the ideas I come up with. I thought it was enough to be able to sing parts
and play through the accompaniment.

Lindsay. What do you mean?

Sarah: Just that I could fake my way through stuff, though I wouldn’t have
characterized it that way. I know enough now to get a feel for a piece.
But really learning the piece is a different matter much less thinking about
how to teach it to a particular group of singers.

Denise: It’s been good for me to have to put this down on paper. If I skip
that part, I don’t have as many ideas as when I try to wing it. Plus, I find I
learn more about the music when I think about having to teach it.

Lindsay. I wonder how teachers have time to do all this preparation?

Sarah: For sure.

_S_pmmarv Apalysis: Sarah

Sarah’s thinking represents the blending of rich imagination with practical

and situated understandings about planning for upcoming teaching. As one

begins to know Sarah in the story, a profile emerges that suggests the expert-like

mindset (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1993) is taking root in both her approach to

planning as well as in her conception of what constitutes an “ideal” choral

rehearsal.

This expert-like mindset is evidenced by the wealth of ideas for teaching

generated by Sarah in each of her teaching plans and was reflected in the quality

of her teaching before peers during the semester. The scope and variety of

153

activities mirrors Bereiter and Scardamalia’s contention that experts must work at
the edge of their knowledge and continually aspire to expand thinking (1993). An
important feature of Sarah’s teaching was her willingness to discard teaching
actions that were ineffective for other options she had considered prior to the
teaching event. Implicit in this phenomena is the ability to assess-in-action, set
problems, and select an avenue for exercising the problem from a repertoire of
possibilities. According to Kennedy (1987), this closely mirrors the process
expert teachers employ in the act of teaching. In a self-reflection following a
teaching round she noted:

I felt the ordering of my ideas was better this time around. I really thought

we’d get to rehearse phrasing, which is what I planned the most time on

for today’s rehearsal. Instead we spent almost the entire time on text
inflection, and the different qualities associated with each text statement.

I thought it would come faster but I realized I needed to back up and get it

right before going on. Most of my ideas worked but I ended up expanding

on my idea of “whispering” and chanting because they really weren’t
exaggerating as much as I imagined they should. I wonder if I wasn’t
showing it clearly in my conducting? In any case, I hope the balance of
time was ok., and not too lengthy on that idea.

Another dimension of Sarah’s teaching was the confidence with which she
approached teaching during the project. Her questions were often managerial in
nature about structuring instructional time, seeking opinions about whether a
proposed teaching idea might work, or musical concerns about the score she
was to present. Generating pedagogical content, however, did not seem to be a
concern for Sarah. As she noted “I feel very prepared to teach my piece. This

model led me to explore every option I might want to rehearse that I could think

of prior to hearing a choir (written assignment, April 1998).” Pedagogical

154

knowledge seemed to grow directly from her musical knowledge about the piece

she was to present.

Examination of Teaching Plans
Five plans were submitted by each student during the research project. In
constructing the visual web, students were instructed to render a thorough score
analysis according to the system described early in the semester. The teaching
plans were evenly assigned across the project period at intervals of two or three

weeks and in conjunction with class assignments for conducting/teaching.

Depth, Breadth, and Fluency

Depth of thinking was evident in Sarah’s planning process and grew over
time. Across all plans was an emphasis on teaching activities that involved
ensemble members in meaningful ways. In Figure 8, Sarah’s first written plan,
student actions included singing, chanting, drawing phrases with the arms, and
echoing after the teacher. Verbal actions included reciting text for meaning, and
responding to a question about balance between sections. By including a
balance of verbal and non-verbal teaching strategies, each identified circle
demonstrates multiple ways of teaching her represented musical ideas. This
appears to situate Sarah’s imagining for teaching alongside her identified
musical goals.

Of all her submissions, her first teaching plan (Figure 8) most closely
resembled the objectives-based approach to lesson planning as evidenced in the

visual structure of the web. Each identified rehearsal path is developed by the

155

s

VEKSE 5 .11 1‘-
$20509

   

   

     
     

’léxr + 1211 CULflTIDN /
. Pam me for 9"“5 ? , X '
lobar- CosmuhnNTS + I 4‘ 111m ursm $1115 «mu.
acum mm 042? pm! a j 0115ch :0 mm. 0N
. Ill haw. mml- lurmslcrdf ' Nair] ($-
(wlnwcms, e,yc PAIL) I echo It}; 10¢er
8.1 00‘1"" of mm) MWDYlOd dwh .)

    

 
 

fiiwcmmrod (WM ‘
' why (MAL .- H’Do- 28‘;
p.913? daaltct’. m 11' u€L¢
. what hf 155l- Ionsboct

K
E10931), E”; ‘95.; mc- mum?)

 
  

'onh) {1
Wm DA [1

burl-d

~11 S.
‘3‘) your: Infra/11.4
od- .

  
 
 

 
 
 
  
   

umpmmc
Sectxms 31,45

    

. (nomww shown We 4
SCI“: (Ag-c Mm Iona) WI“: m

   
 
  
 
  
    
    
 
 
  
   
  

"Tile Drw KEN Smog "

  
  
 

Sun.)
561 Isl-u
3:37. i M\ £5 A Sm Chant! “If.

aCCOM Pan 0mm

(film-nus or 111140

. Am) Aunts 4.1.“:

than an our

OCK oMi- Sam an s "can:

Muir Melon! 5m)», MOS N150. MSSAGE S

4 mt Sm; u/ggraclec
0 "1'1
drain lied /d swam A
s' 51» 11de Min-n:
fiat Wt .51;- w 5
SI Joni
RP Fuof—‘jg-m r 4511;591:0er2 Inna S 4 MS
”as items: CLAP 041411pr want» I M
Inna. “any. ~I w: ‘1", hikers ha" Ann 115.) .
VUIIL 6H“ dV‘Nj Mr! M
’ Char-u our; 1 Hi
. m liiwhouwh SPm‘j A} '6 JU’OLS
Mac») #11 smt Mu Sub“ [OM

DUflrI(5 - Mil/mCMflg
(M MMK‘J Uktfl'rflfij‘a

In!!!» Mn, '1 in

Vtm 3 w
Ch,» I W

plows mun: mung rape

”board

_}m t ’1 .-
fuu 3‘ .
CM" 9 \ ova
‘ M .m’1I-52.l.u-¢—j,u
174,2: ? 2 \~ A54 .1 Ion: 5512K. (warrant 1.1km?
chm; E 0‘ - "MIT hurls, {urn-pr
' Mm: Lies». 4- is. 'NJ‘ ”971 (“(u-
V. Tm - drunkd 51...?

"n bl- 7L '0; ho '
mm. diam M: Mm slaw

cum: I ’11- 3 Muu
1: CHILL. 1. f amwra
Nahuclynamuu f 031”?“ )

    

r uall
j "906 $68:

   

'HPOCO plu v'H'O

thtlo

 
 

Figure 8: Sarah's initial plan: Similarities with objectives-based
approach to lesson-planning.

156

listing of activities. Sarah's musical decisions (objectives) are implicit in the
activities generated for teaching, but her ideas are consistently expressed as a
series of activities. The plan is highly sequenced, both inside a suggested
activity and between activities.

The careful sequencing of ideas was Sarah’s greatest strength in the
actual teaching rounds. In this plan, sequencing was evident following an
explicitly expressed musical goal. In the dynamic circle, for example, she wrote

“accompaniment (extensions of intro passages) ALWAYS quieter than melody.
Have accomp. sing on syllables while melody sings words.” The direct
relationship between a musical goal and subsequent teaching strategy is evident
in other circles as well and may reflect the emphasis by the teacher/researcher
on the inclusion of both teacher decisions about the score as well as teaching
ideas.

Because students were free to notate the visual plans in whatever form
could best represent their ideas, it was interesting to note changes to the layout
of plans over the course of the project. Sarah began to include separate
paragraphs at the bottom of some plans indicating a growing awareness that her
role as teacher extends beyond instructional strategies to include the particular
context in which she will teach. In one plan, she noted a special concern for
changing voice needs and evaluated the piece as acceptable for middle school
choirs. She questioned the worthiness of the edition noting the score was

heavily marked, wondering whether the markings were original.

157

The breadth of Sarah’s imagination was evident across all plans though
the construction of the plans took on different forms along the way. From the
very first plan, six to eight organizing circles representing potential rehearsal
directions were identified (See Figure 9). In this plan she identified diction/word
stress, articulation, form, tone color, text, balance, phrasing, and dynamics as
departures for teaching. Her circles seem to relate directly to her musical
understanding as the content of the organizing circles changed from piece to
piece.

Subsequent plans also demonstrated breadth of thinking though the
relationship of the organizing circles changed through time. As Sarah
progressed through the project, her circles were occasionally connected by
dotted lines such that a reciprocal relationship was established. By visually
connecting circles, the resulting relationships might be grouped together in the
sequencing of instruction.

An example is evident in Figure 9, Sarah’s teaching plan based on a
traditional arrangement of a well-known sea chanty. Each of the circles were
developed towards differing rehearsal goals, but the arrow linking considerations
of musical form to variations evident in the melody suggests her understanding
that the ideas are co-dependent. This awareness indicates Sarah was thinking
inside the particular work and making connections between related musical
ideas. It also suggests a relationship between her musical understanding and
pedagogical decision-making: Sarah understands form and variations in melody

are important for the choir to know in the learning of the work. Connections

158

 

 

MSK 5 4o real: pawns
”'3 "'5 Wifieauygu ’
”‘1 9am /

a (mayor: (‘ousmam /
(6 ans“) flu f 5.11.0091

I am
wear a.“ «14154:: 5mg malt Scene»

‘lLSu a “ve£$¢'+ a“clwzu'
d mu: Wan»;

" 5419010 may? .1! _ -.
g I: l (W by”: PM 1:5: mm“: a.“
Lu 1- ‘fCQ ‘11, “h

“S ‘1 webs Cu actual PAdu/v

{ It“! Sci” Sm ' 92 - "9+6,”
uHunaK y 5 f f '

 

EZM
'nohu. «pram! rams/scams
0F MUSIC J' ~
' r 1 ..

(mu. 9.0“)“on an 0-3

"urn fl .4 ~ ‘7

'cnuus‘ ... J-n
”Mm!“ allflh~\ 'mwl-cu.‘ n IZ-lS
1'3)!qu agent) --— n “-1;
‘ mac", n a - 21
"cw .. “-15
(s )' " 21 - 31
L3 53:1 «I? 55 “u

(s aimed? ) "um ‘ n 'rZ-Sv

3 wins on on pad: (Eoccmb

    
    
 
   
  
 

  

«mama v warm 5.43pm;
have a (gtd act

2)! M

insoum u-Ie

M outline-nut man: _
rowan “Mo

’16:“. J

l '0'” . 7° I"

’00--
c

000,21

v MK 5‘th eCJw '
- "grape“ .n a. erupt?
3);“. " M 4 r9951.“ Vow,
UL.
.. 4,4...“ (cm w, «+1»?me “W35

 

game R

an 9+.
me E!!-

m a
mum-w and

chem U‘

a "M (awed
mm hams);
, 'IU: S' h {hick

.. M'WQ

ibmsmq
. "umw if Saturn «3‘
SM Mud W40
“1‘ ' M “W“oh ‘ 5
Hum S drawn Hula-7M In: Hum
flu. 01'1le «4 Sn u

(”it Ink 1 in ’31 W/ hf:
' yr" r has us. m. m... a
‘u en (a a O
r“ cite“; v 'Chotus. firm; bands to “MS
[W 4“ VM‘S Me 5 day .uonu‘ an are m
'yntp“d] 1‘“ all drugs" 1..., #4. on?
O 5' CNS {5 WMj . I'S'flj b‘l“ “(“5" :¢‘
0 Cam :9 Seal-u. buds in u clmm 4%
'44“ 5mg, 5 \‘ MW .( mphléju nut
-. S draw an W" t um
8111‘ l'llhaswj, \
Hug spa“

who.¢ (00% ‘,--
hits}: '.n (.1 voru .

amrcs
- Hm S chant

flu in win): .
appliqm) flu dynwnu

Figure 9. Sarah's plan: Linking of musical knowledge and pedagogical

knowledge.

159

between circles, or related musical ideas, may be more easily documented in a
visual web as a global view of student understanding and decision-making is
evident.

Fluency is evident in Sarah’s ability to prepare mentally for rehearsal as
demonstrated in both Figures 8 and 9. The pedagogical techniques chosen to
represent musical learning are well-suited to the musical goals and the
relationship between teaching activities are logical. The variety of teaching ideas
from plan to plan were also of importance.

From the perspective of an experienced teacher, the pedagogical
strength of each teaching idea was occasionally uneven. Referring to a middle
school choral rehearsal of a piece in French, she suggested experimenting with
extreme dynamics, singing as loud and as quietly as possible. This is likely not
to be successful in a middle school classroom as one might not recover focus in
the group after “bellowing” the targeted phrase. Such an example illustrates
teaching for the “empty” classroom cannot substitute for real-world teaching
expenence.

In terms of the mode in which Sarah represented her ideas, her language
includes both technical description and evocations of images to match tonal
conceptions of sound. In Figure 8, she used phrases such as “wall of sound like
the sea,” “heaving rope overboard,” and “bell-like” alongside directives to map
out the form as a class. She included a substantial number of non-verbal
teaching activities that involved ensemble members in production-oriented ways

of accomplishing the musical objectives set forth.

160

As depicted in the narrative, Sarah’s conception of planning for teaching
changed as a result of her experiments with the model. She describes an
awareness that her musical knowledge is at a high level such that the possibility
exists that she can learn music at a superficial level and “wing” it in the teaching
process:

I think it would be easy to just learn the notes, (or even get a feel for the

piece and wing it) and not the music, if I do not force myself to study the

music meticulously (written assignment, April 1998).

Finally, Sarah’s Visioning for teaching seems to suggest her ideas are
regulated by a need to organize her thoughts toward the teaching event. She
made interpretive decisions about the work and developed teaching actions to
carry out her decisions with demonstrated concern for learning on the part of the
ensemble. Her teaching rounds consistently reflected this level of preparation as
they regularly involved decision-making by ensemble members at many points
during rehearsals.

The linking of her musical knowledge to growing pedagogical knowledge
was threaded throughout the teaching plans and reflected in her writing about
her experiences. It remains to be seen how such Ieaming can transport to the
student teaching or first year teaching environment, particularly in light of
research which suggests teachers revert to teaching models encountered in their

personal background when making the transfer from university teaching to

professional teaching (Grossman, 1990).

161

S‘ummranalvsis: Lindsay

As can be surmised from the narrative (pp. 150-154 ), Lindsay was a
pragmatist. Her personal practical knowledge about teaching reflected an
interest in the acquisition of techniques and tools to aid the teaching process.
Lindsay appreciated literal instructions and preferred clear cut answers to her
questions. She had strong opinions and was confident about voicing them in the
company of peers. Lindsay was well-liked by class members.

Lindsay was the only class member gaining real-world teaching
experience alongside university study. She was hired by a school district during
the term to coach an after-school vocal ensemble at a local high school. She
worked regularly with the students during the term, preparing them for various
concerts. She also volunteered to organize the boys from the choir to visit class
for a vocal demonstration of the high school male voice. She was eager for her
peers to meet the boys and enthusiastic about teaching in general.

Lindsay also submitted five teaching plans over the course of the project
period in two or three week intervals. In addition to analysis of the written plans,
she submitted narrative in the form of self-reflections, short paper assignments,
and a mid-term examination. Her progress through assignments and teaching
rounds sparked considerable reflection during the project. Her narratives,

upbeat and positive about her experience with the planning model, did not

translate in observation of teaching or in early teaching plans. Lindsay made

162

progress in the writing of plans through the project but her teaching did not
necessarily reflect the noted improvements.

Aspects of Lindsay's teaching that improved included better energy and
pacing in front of the lab chorus and taking more care with preparation for
teaching as the semester progressed. The teaching events themselves,
however, were often marked by a perceived disconnection from her planning
ideas:

Lindsay taught John Rutter’s The Lord Bless You and Keep You for the

lab chorus today. The rehearsal did not go particularly well and seemed

to jolt along. The pacing was uneven and she seemed easily distracted
from her focus. In comparison with her teaching plan, she seems not to
utilize thinking evidenced in the plan as she did not rehearse much of
what she wrote on paper.

Perhaps I have confused the class about the idea of reacting authentically

in the musical sounding. Perhaps she interprets this as not having

thought through a particular rehearsal in advance of teaching. In any
case, her teaching seems activity-oriented and not well matched to the
needs of the score. Most significantly, her score analysis is weak. She
continues to place bar-lines in the middle of measures and not in the most
structurally sound places. I have asked her to come see me about the

score analysis process (Field note, March 1998).

As the teacher/researcher, I questioned whether the planning model was
helpful to students with weaker pedagogical inclinations. Was the model better
suited to students with natural inclinations towards teaching? I also had to
question whether her content knowledge factored into the issue fueled by score

analysis submissions which appeared weak.

Examination of Teaching Plans
Lindsay did make improvements in her experiments with the planning

model over the course of the project. Her earliest plan, Figure 10, is reminiscent

163

of plans submitted during the pilot study. The content is lacking in both teacher
decisions as well as a variety of student actions to carry out the rehearsal. There
is a lack of pedagogical depth to suggested activities. In the pitch circle, for
example, she suggested students “sing parts so they know how it is supposed to
sound.” The impression is an inability to devise teaching strategies, perhaps due
in part to absence of her own musical understanding about the score outside of
generic ideas such as learning pitch and rhythm.

Another related characteristic of this plan is a lack of fluency between
ideas, particularly in relationship to the larger identified circles. These circles
suggest potential directions for rehearsal but lack connection with the music
under study. Citing cutoffs as a central goal, for example, is perhaps a
subsidiary consideration in light of the features of the piece that make the work
interesting. The circles appear instead to have a technical orientation with the
goal of accuracy which is likely transportable to most repertoire and rehearsals.
The specific musical goals and concomitant teaching decisions are weak.

One of the circles on the plan is better conceived than the counterpart
circles. Referring to style, she suggested a light tone and identified two ways of
addressing the issue: having the singers chant in the light head-voice
mechanism, and teacher-directed call and response of appropriate syllabic
stress.

The mode of communication within the plan is a form of verbal shorthand
with little representation of teacher decision-making. It is as if she mentally

skipped her musical understanding of the score and went directly to

164

 

sing put: so duykm how it
(”jammed m sound >

 

-
o“ ‘ --

 

   
  

 

focus on cloud qm: and do
CW5 1111?. Count sing fin :ccuncy
V
\.
... twidlfibcus 0:15ch a
gnding consonants in nphau >

 

 

 

 

lhun to th- occompaaimcnt
paying close «nation a dynunic com!

Figure 10. Lindsay’s earliest teaching plan: Few teacher decisions or
teaching strategies represented.

165

considerations of teaching activities. This supports Yinger’s contention that
planning and preparation are not synonymous. Planning, in his view, should be
the outgrowth of a rich preparatory process and is a narrowing of focus based on
a well-established mental construct (1990).

Her imagining for teaching appears limited. When a teaching strategy is
defined, it lacks teaching the idea in favor of telling the concept. To teach
dynamic form, for example, she wrote “listen to the accompaniment paying close
attention to dynamic contrast." Lindsay received feedback on these issues with

a special note to include her musical decisions along with rehearsal ideas.

Improvements During the Project Period

Subsequent plans showed improvements in observable ways. In her mid-
term submission, Lindsay identified three to five different teaching ideas for each
circle identified. Both breadth and depth, therefore, are improved and the
relationship between the teaching ideas and her musical decisions are better
defined. In tracing the development of the melodic line through various vocal
entrances in a French folk song, for example, she sequenced instruction:

Organizing Circle: movement of melody line

Teaching Idea: Sing through piece, have everybody sing whenever part
has melody in unison.

Teaching Idea: Have only those with the melody line sing while others
“think” their part.

Teaching Idea: Sing all the parts, have them point to section singing
melody “important line” (mid-term written project).

166

Lindsay’s teaching also showed improvement, though not to the degree
reflected in the teaching plans. She appeared to have more ideas and,
therefore, more confidence in later teaching rounds. The ability to shape a
rehearsal on both a global and specific level remained problematic throughout
the project. In rehearsals, she was largely verbal, preferring to instruct singers in
a series of verbalizations prior to singing the ideas. Her written reflections
suggest an orientation towards technical accuracy.

I continued to perceive her discomfort with choosing teaching strategies,
though she clearly was experimenting with more ideas per plan, increasing the
dimensionality of her thinking. Describing how she approached planning a
particular rehearsal, she notes:

I flipped through the score looking for specific ideas that were not to_o

“deep” since this is only the second time they will have worked on the

piece. Dynamics, rhythm, and melody are hopefully ideas that they are

accustomed to focusing on (mid-term written project).

Another disconnection between the teaching plans and teaching rounds
was an orientation towards teacher-directed instruction giving, even when the
teaching plan had generated ideas that would involve ensemble members in
some aspect of musical production. Lindsay’s preferred mode of instruction was
to leave. nothing to chance by addressing as many potential upcoming issues as
possible, such as where to breathe, what difficult intervals to listen for, or how to
pronounce the text. It was apparent in her work ethic and written reflections that

she wanted to be successful in the teaching situation, and it appeared to me her

conception of excellence was bound up with notions of technical execution.

167

The other striking aspect of this disconnection between her improving
planning and actual teaching is the issue of trust. On paper, Lindsay
demonstrated trust by constructing activities that did not always require her
verbalizations and involved in-action decision making on the part of the
ensemble. ln teaching, however, she had a difficult time relinquishing control to
allow for mistakes by the ensemble. I began to understand that the teaching
model I was advocating required a great deal of trust on the part of the
conductor, an issue unrelated to knowledge-building. Yielding control to allow for
greater participation by ensemble members might require a level of confidence in
the novice conductor/teacher that not every student is ready to embrace.

In terms of her imagining for teaching, Lindsay began to relate ideas by
constructing an internal sequence to meet her musical objectives. In a late
semester teaching plan (Figure 11), she consistently identifies a goal, and then
conceives two or three ways to exercise her mental conception. In the circle
“text,” she noted that proper syllabic stress on the word “amen” is important. She
thought to model for the choir, have them repeat using correct stress, and then
put into context by singing. Her later plans evidenced this internal sequencing
and clearly improved her ability to mentally imagine for teaching.

Lindsay needed many opportunities to imagine for teaching and to
imagine for different teaching possibilities. She may have gained her new-found
pedagogical ideas from observation of peers or of conductors. Perhaps the
orientation towards brainstorming elicited a better variety of pedagogical ideas

simply from the implicit suggestion that she was ultimately the source of teaching

168

W H
CCCM‘) Manolo

{avg was

<,*7m~l‘c
in p ‘frvm
(ah-4:5»

anl

 

 

Figure .11: Lindsay’s improved teaching plans: Sequence evident.

169

knowledge. Put another way, that her internal musical understandings might
have acted to define her teaching.

Lindsay indicated the planning model was useful. Having read and re-
read her words about the model, my intuitive sense as a teacher is that her
experiments with the planning model came more easily than did transferring the
ideas to teaching practice. It was encouraging, however, to see the growth in
plans over time. She wrote:

I really liked this model of lesson planning. I thought that it allowed me to

organize something that I consider to be rather abstract. There is so

much to a piece of music that l have found it difficult in the past to lay-out

a plan for teaching . It seems wrong to write a step-by—step procedure, a

list of possible things to attend to, because there is no way to follow that

type of list in a rehearsal (or at least to do so would seem forced and

possibly counterproductive.) (written reflection, Feb. 1998).

Analysis of this and other narrative led me to wonder whether Lindsay liked the
model because the unstructured approach might hide pedagogical weakness. It
is interesting to observe the language she used to describe the organizing of
teaching as “abstract.” She used the word “difficult” to describe the laying-out of
a teaching plan in past efforts. It would seem that the proposed model would, in
fact, be more abstract than the objectives-based Tyler model of planning. This
supposition is best supported by the observation that her teaching did not
improve in the same way as her ability to generate the written plan improved.

In summary, Lindsay’s experience provided the teacher/researcher with
the most challenging issues during the course of the project. In the final

analysis, one could note consistent progress in her conception of teaching and

what was required to prepare for conducting/teaching. Her pedagogical

I70

knowledge grew from a generic overlay of teaching ideas applied to any teaching
situation (learn pitches, rhythm, cutoffs, etc. . .) to a mental construct that elicited
particular teaching strategies in relationship to the repertoire under study.

A central question I had as teacher/researcher had to do with the
objectives-based Tyler model described in earlier chapters. Because sequence
is critical to the Tyler model and a student such as Lindsay was struggling with
the idea of sequencing, I questioned whether the Tyler model be a better vehicle
for her learning needs. After much consideration and evaluation of the plans as
a whole, I determined that the Tyler model, even for a student with weak
pedagogical inclinations, was likely to enforce the very thinking I wanted to
discourage. While Lindsay might have come to the idea of sequencing faster
through the Tyler approach, I suggest she would not have learned to brainstorm
multiple teaching strategies to carry out musical objectives. In fact, it is likely this
student would not have been able to identify multiple musical objectives per
piece unless there was a concomitant emphasis on score study and preparation.

Lindsay’s teaching did not reflect the degree of growth noted in the
teaching plans but did reflect improvement in important ways. Most significantly,
she appeared to prepare more consistently and with greater thoughtfulness for
upcoming teaching. She became more confident in the teaching rounds and
seemed pleased with her progress.

It should be noted that I experienced discomfort in writing about Lindsay’s
experience during the project. As a teacher, one who wants to build students’

self-esteem and courage, I wanted to report Lindsay’s journey through the

171

progress as successful, focusing on the improvements evident. As a researcher,
I needed to be true to the research questions in an authentic search for the
experience students had with the model. Knowing the student, I felt certain my
representation of her teaching and planning for teaching would be considerably
different than her representation, as she seemed to regard her progress with
pride. Ultimately, I had to go back to field notes and initial analyses to confirm

my profile of Lindsay as she journeyed through the project.

Summary Analvsis: Denise

Denise might be described as one who comes “naturally” to teaching.
One might argue whether this is talent or the result of years of informal induction
into teaching and music-making (Elliott, 1995). Regardless, it was evident from
the first teaching round that Denise already had a sophisticated repertoire of
teaching ideas coupled with a deeply musical approach to conducting and score
analysis.

In selecting Denise as a participant to examine on an in-depth basis, it
was hoped that her approach to teaching would yield valuable information in the
quest to understand the relationship between her imagining for teaching and her
success in the act of teaching. Did Denise appear to think differently about
preparation and planning for teaching, and if so, what might be useful in
presenting the preparation/planning process to future students?

Several observations can be made on examination of her first teaching
submission, Figure 12. The scope of the plan yields both breadth and depth of

thinking. She identified six areas to address, noting multiple decisions about the

172

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 12: Denise’s early teaching plan.

173

score in each category. Under each organizing circle, varied rehearsal strategies
link directly to identified musical decisions. Under text, for example, she noted
syllabic stress and the bringing out of important words textually as significant. To
rehearse, she suggested students read text aloud, chant the text, identify
important words, and utilize questioning technique: “discuss what's important-ask
them”).

The fluency is well developed in this teaching plan She connected the
text and phrasing circles indicating the close relationship between the two
musical features. She also grouped musical features visually on the plan. Text,
tone, and phrasing appear at the top of the plan while rhythm, pitch challenges,
and cut-offs are grouped at the bottom of the plan. The latter seem to be
focused on imagined challenges specific to the piece while the former seem to
represent interpretive decisions by the teacher as to the sound she wants to elicit
from the ensemble.

This points to an integration between Denise’s conception of the
repertoire and her considerations for student learning challenges in the
upcoming teaching event. She is specific in describing her mental construct of
the work and aligning teaching strategies to carry out her conception. Under
anticipated pitch challenges, as an example, she noted a dissonant harmony at
measure 44 and suggests using straight tone on the particular chord. This is
likely so singers can hear the dissonance and listeners can make sense of the

discordant sound.

174

The mode of representation in the plan is the use of verbal shorthand
describing a variety of teacher decisions and subsequent student actions. The
shorthand appears suited to Denise’s style of representation as her teaching
reflected little struggle to recall her teaching plan suggestions. There is a
balance of production-oriented non-verbal actions by students with verbalizations
about the music. In her teaching plan of a French folk song, for example, non-
verbal strategies include: chanting in rhythm, singing staccato on a neutral
syllable to sort out rhythmic figures, exaggeration of dynamics by whispering
piano dynamics and using full voice forte dynamics, “freezing” chords for
listening, and a sung warm-up exercise serving as an advance organizer for an
upcoming tri-tone interval. Verbal teaching strategies included marking scores to
identify melody in various parts, identifying breath marks, and notating consonant
cutoffs.

Sequence was not a major consideration in Denise’s imagining for
teaching. While multiple teaching strategies are represented and connections
between ideas apparent in her visual imaging, she rarely noted activities in a
linear fashion. Her teaching rounds, however, were well-organized in terms of
sequence and flowed naturally from the sounding produced by the lab chorus. It
is possible Denise was able to keep her global mental conception of the work in
mind along with specific ways of addressing musical challenges when they arise.
I noted in field notes that while Denise’s teaching plans were rich with teaching
strategies, she frequently departed from ideas represented on the plan and

made up new or altered strategies in the act of teaching.

175

Indeed, Denise expressed discomfort with writing sequence into a
traditional objectives-based plan. In an informal pre-class discussion about
secondary general methods class (which she was taking alongside secondary
choral methods) she expressed frustration at receiving a low grade on a teaching
assignment due to the fact that she did not follow her plan as written. She
argued to class members that her teaching went well, that the students seemed
to enjoy the experience, and that she felt positively her teaching. She was

deeply surprised and frustrated by the low grade (Field note, April 1998).

Constraints of Linear Planning for Improvisatory Thinkers
For students like Denise, writing linear teaching activities may be
potentially limiting and stifling. If one takes the view that Denise already
improvises in the teaching act, then following a pre-written a-contextual plan
likely produces anxiety and frustration. In her words about using the non-linear
model:
It basically helped me to analyze the piece. It allowed me to look more
deeply into the music—deeper than I had looked when just doing the
score analysis. I had to look at every detail, and I really had to decide
exactly what I wanted to hear. This helped me to organize my rehearsal
because I really explored the music and discovered exactly what I wanted
to hear from the choir. I didn’t need to write an order of things to do—l
simply could rely on my ears in rehearsal. I could just listen to the choir,
and then improvise in action. By simply using my ears, I could work on
the different ideas which I had brainstormed—but in no specific order
(written assignment, March 1998).
Her comments were supported by the teaching she did in various assignments
throughout the project. My impressions during her teaching included the idea

that Denise regularly implemented new ideas not reflected in her plan. As in

176

Kennedy’s view of teaching (1987), Denise was adjusting, in-action, in
relationship to a rich conception of the material to be taught.

By the time Denise had thought through teaching strategies and
committed them to paper, her internal construct had grown such that she was
able to make new connections in the teaching act. In a discussion of
improvisation and great jazz musicians, Elliott (1995) reminds the reader that
improvisation is built on a rich base of procedural knowledge rather than arbitrary
spontaneity. This may explain, in part, Denise’s success in the teaching act.

Several learnings emerged from observing Denise throughout the course
of the project. First, not every student will come to teaching with the ease
demonstrated by Denise from the outset. For those students, expectations for
improvisation in the teaching act are potentially beyond that which is reasonable
or even desirable. Students need to learn to shape and structure rehearsals
which require defining goals, ordering ideas, and assessing in-action whether
learning has occurred. The brainstorming model can serve as a valuable
stimulant to make explicit one’s internal musical understanding toward a mental
image of a work and as a means of linking the musical image to pedagogical
knowledge.

In the case of this particular student, a deep level of preparation had
taken place in spite of the seeming freedom from the teaching plan
demonstrated in the teaching act. Denise’s score analysis and teaching plans
were rich with decisions and it was evident she spent time preparing both score

analysis and teaching plans for upcoming teaching. The balance of time, then,

177

was spent in preparation. Planning for rehearsal was likely a far less time-
intensive endeavor.

Denise, in fact, organized a way of managing these two processes that
ultimately brought into balance the relationship between preparation and
planning for the choral rehearsal In her last plan, Figure 13, she documented
both her imagining for teaching in the visual model, then jotted on paper a
“tentative rehearsal order.” When questioned about this decision, Denise
indicated that the tentative rehearsal order was necessary as a means of
organizing her ideas about upcoming teaching and gave her a bridge to
rehearsal. She noted the suggested order was a place to begin a rehearsal and
that it functioned as a safety net if she was unable to decide the next teaching
strategy in-action. Denise generally completed two or three steps into her
proposed order before altering the rehearsal to some other aspect of her
planning.

In her process, then, she would analyze a score, vision or imagine for
teaching decisions about the score, devise teaching strategies to carry out her
decisions, and finally, order her thoughts into a particular rehearsal order.
Viewed another way, the objectives-based traditional way of planning for
instruction served as the endpoint of a much richer process of preparation and
immersion into the music.

Finally, Denise’s Visioning for teaching yields important information with
respect to the teaching strategies she devised for various rehearsals. Many of

the actions were highly related to teaching strategies that she observed as a

178

   

   
 

OHS! an):
’3";ng-

    
  

m. 24 —qu

jo‘kfil EVA}!

J“7M/4/£/

"'5 31 ~35
If”) 1'")

\

aréc/
@ Mm :9-

I

 

", III} I"
fan-live rehé’arSa I era/er-
m

's‘palc 40+ 1*?“ cm: mm rawlw I we
a 3.13 meld [me
n.4,.

m: .
out drf cihffuun ms. 338$ and 3b (GM-zipdl’m/flrnj/d)
. fizu‘f Egeoglrgsgu flu! U5 lint
I Ad 599 +a/fu /m¢ ?%w
0 aural own 1” '—

Figure 13. Denise’s conception of preparation and planning.

I79

member of the ensemble that I conducted. Denise seemed to be functioning
both as a member of the choir and as an informal observer looking through the
eyes of a conductor. She was able to assimilate a wealth of pedagogical tools
and make applications to her unique teaching situation.

Assimilation is an important aspect of informal musical knowing as defined
by Elliott (1995). It may function as a valuable bridge from musical content
knowledge to pedagogical knowledge and, in a sense, serves as a form of silent
apprenticeship. This apprenticeship may encourage students to take on
characteristics of their teacher models. It is possible to imagine this cloaking
phenomenon as a means of protection or cover until experience is gained and a
unique teaching voice established.

An analogy might be made with fitting a bicycle with training wheels. The
young child is ready to learn to ride, but does not have the experience or
confidence to hurtle into biking without the benefit of training wheels. The
training wheels, at some point, become unnecessary. Until that time, however,
the wheels give the child the experience of biking without requiring a full
spectrum of biking skill.

Silent apprenticeship for novice conductor/teachers points to a need for
close integration between ensemble and/or studio experiences and the
development of pedagogical knowledge. The teacher might facilitate these
connections by requiring observation of various conductors with a focused eye

towards teaching strategies utilized. Further, students might be encouraged to

180

“try on” teaching ideas observed in teacher or peer models without fear of

embarrassment or recrimination.

Concluding Thoughts

Sarah, Lindsay, and Denise each interacted with the planning model in
different and significant ways. As a teacher/researcher, some observations can
be made as a result of their experimentation with the visual web. From a
teacher’s perspective, the visual web might be a stronger vehicle for assessment
of student thinking and planning than is the Tyler model. In the visual webs
created by the three students, teaching ideas and their relationship to musical
decisions are prominent. The web can quite literally function as a “picture” of
composite thought.

The traditional linear plan, as a series of listed activities, lacks opportunity
for connections to be made between ideas, or for musical decisions by the
conductor/teacher to be explicitly stated. In the bubble model, these students
often drew lines between important categories of thought. Decisions were
weighted visually that enabled a better evaluation of how a student was
conceptualizing the score.

In this light, it was increasingly evident that Lindsay had a weak base of
pedagogical knowledge. Her “picture” was not well developed and she needed
guidance to stimulate thinking about possible ways of teaching her musical
ideas. The value of the model for Lindsay appeared to be an insistence on
increasing pedagogical tools for teaching. As the semester progressed, she did

improve in the writing of teaching plans. As the teacher/researcher, l improved

181

my ability to respond to Lindsay’s needs as I had a clearer vision of her
deficiencies.

In the Tyler model, it is likely I would have instead focused on the
relationship of her ideas, sequencing in particular, as l evaluated her written
teaching plans. I would not have had any information about the myriad ways she
had thought to teach an idea or whether she had multiple ideas at all. It led me
to wonder whether the Tyler model might obscure pedagogical weakness as only
the final thinking, or product, is presented. The web, in contrast, presents a
global view of student thinking and functions as a kind of road-map or inventory
of student thought.

A central difference between the three was the degree to which instruction
was sequenced in the visual web. Denise was the least sequenced and most
improvisatory. Sarah was highly sequenced inside the visual web and taught
well-structured lessons. Lindsay fell somewhere in the middle and had a
verbally-oriented approach to teaching. This indicates a need for flexibility in the
construction of visual webs for different kinds of learners. As the teacher, I might
identify weaknesses in conducting/teaching that can be directly addressed in the

webbing process as well as have different expectations for different learners.

182

CHAPTER 8

AMONG-CASE ANALYSIS: MOZART’S AVE VERUM CORPUS

The among-case analysis features an examination of a single teaching
plan submitted by all participants. The plans represent student work at mid-
semester and is the third submission of five plans required during the project
period. The chapter examines breadth, depth, and fluency evident in the plans
as well as uncovers ways in which students represent their ideas in the visual
format. A listing of composite teaching strategies are compared and contrasted
and accompanied by interpretive commentary.

Six students submitted teaching plans in preparation for a
conducting/teaching round on Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus. The analysis draws
comparisons between plans as well as culls major themes from the plans as a
whole. Teaching ideas are described and analyzed for relationships between
ideas and the music at hand, the degree of teacher-centered versus student-
centered instruction, and the role of verbal and non-verbal strategies in the
visioning efforts by student participants. The six teaching plans appear as a

group in Appendix H so that the reader can view the plans side by side.

Dimensions of the Teaching Plans: Breadth, Depth, and Fluency
The dimensions of individual plans as well as the composite profile help
illustrate the variety of thinking involved in the conception of the musical work

and in cultivated teaching strategies by students. In describing the breadth,

183

depth, and fluency represented by these teaching plans, comparisons can be
made and interpretations drawn about the nature of the planning process.
gm

One might assume that studying the same piece of music, both inside and
outside the classroom, would elicit similar teaching plans by students. Indeed,
similarities are evident in the scope of musical features identified by students.
Table 1 describes, by individual plan, the various musical features that become
the basis for instruction.

Areas such as tone, phrasing, dynamics, and rhythm were organizing
features for most students. These salient features represented the first step in
the brainstorming process from which teacher decisions and instructional
strategies were cultivated. In terms of breadth, then, the plans could be noted
for a cohesiveness among participants. One plan identified nine areas of

interest while no plan had less than five central organizing ideas:

184

Table 1

Identified Musical Features In Moz_art’s Ave Verum Corpus By Individual Plan

 

 

 

Jennifer Denise Lindsay Karen Sarah Rebecca
Tone Tone Tone Tone
Phrasing Phrasing Style Phrasing Phrasing
Line Articulation
Syllabic Text Text Text Text Text
Stress
Rhythm Rhythm Rhythm Rhythm Rhythm
Pitches Intonation/ Intonation Pitches
Tonality
Diction Vowel
Production
Melody Melody
Dynamics Dynamics Dynamics Dynamics Dynamics
Tempo Tempo
Mood
Depth

Plans differentiated by the depth to which students developed the
organizing features. In the theoretical model cultivated by the class and
teacher/researcher, each organizing feature was constructed so that both

teacher decisions about the score and instructional strategies were represented.

185

Some plans weighted visual information toward teaching ideas or strategies. In
others, conductor/teacher decisions about the musical work were a focus and
teaching strategies were either implicit or absent. Some plans balanced both
identified conductor/teacher interpretive decisions and potential teaching
strategies representing the most complete profiles of student thinking.

Rebecca represented student thinking that is weighted towards
interpretative decisions about the score. The wording described such ideas as
“straight, little vibrato,” “somber,” “crescendo and decrescendo help shape
piece,” and “talk to choir about what kind of pp vs. ff they want,” Other
interpretative decisions were highly specific: “rallentando m. 28”, “a tempo m.
30”, or “watch cutoffs (m. 18, m. 29, m. 43),”

In general, the wording in her plan implied consideration of potential
challenges in the rehearsing of the work but reflected few actual teaching
strategies. The pattern was to list several interpretive decisions followed by one
possible teaching strategy.

Jennifer and Lindsay illustrated a blending of teacher decisions and
student actions and might be described as linear and bounded in nature. The
pattern was to establish an interpretive decision through one or more statements,
to be followed by one or two instructional strategies. The difference in these
plans and Rebecca’s is a better balance between teacher decisions and
instructional strategies though the content of the plans can be described as thin.
The thinking appears to be linear in the sense that a decision is made and a way

of exercising the decision is sought. There does not seem to be a

186

preponderance of brainstorming for many possible teaching strategies. Instead,
teaching strategies are cultivated in direct line with teacher decisions about the
score.

Jennifer’s plan represented thinking that was weighted toward cultivation
of teaching strategies. Teacher decisions about the score were made implicit
through extensive brainstorming about potential teaching strategies. Some
organizing circles had as many as seven suggestions for exercising the feature.
The reader can imply, through examination of the suggested actions, the musical
decision by the teacher. In her discussion of tone, for example, she suggested:
posture/breath, play recording, model, warm-up with each vowel and find good
lip position, sing on a vowel first, movement-lifting, throwing, spinning, warm-ups
top down for lighter tone, and singing piano. These pointed towards a pure tone
sung in the light mechanism. Sequence was evident inside the organizing circles
as evidenced by the above example. Reading clockwise, one might imagine a
rehearsal emanating logically from the statements. Each category was well-
developed and conceived.

The remaining two plans, by Denise and Sarah, represented the most
complete thinking in terms of depth of preparation. Multiple statements were
made in relationship to both teacher decisions about the score and potential
teaching strategies. The plans differ from each other in that Denise utilized
verbal shorthand while Sarah represented thoughts in complete sentences, even

preparing additional material in parenthesis or as footnotes at the bottom of the

187

plan. In both cases, however, the thinking was expansive and afforded various
departures for teaching.
M2!

Fluency describes the overall impression of the plan in relationship to
upcoming teaching. Did the teaching actions suit the musical goals? Did the
ideas, as expressed, demonstrate a rich conception of the musical work? Did the
chosen form of representation point to a deep connection with the music and
considerations of upcoming teaching?

The plans varied widely with respect to fluency. To the researcher’s eye,
Jennifer and Sarah represented the most fluid thinking though the visual
representation between the plans differed as described above. In each plan,
however, imagining or Visioning for teaching was evident in the wealth of
instructional strategies suggested. Also important was the nature of the
strategies in relationship to the musical ideas. These ideas were rich in
pedagogical content knowledge and would likely be successful in the teaching
situation. Indeed, the two students authoring the plans were consistently
successful in conducting/teaching rounds throughout the semester.

There is a blending of specific information with wider musical objectives.
Sarah, for example, noted specific measure numbers with particular phrasing
shapes under the organizing feature dynamics. Alongside the specific was a
more global strategy: “Experiment with singing the text on one pitch or chanting
to keep energy in the phrase, while always keeping the piano dynamic in mind.”

The student was making both specific and global decisions about the music.

188

Jennifer demonstrated this as well. In the organizing rhythm circle, the
student suggested three highly specific ways of addressing the feature. When
conceiving ideas about sustaining line, however, the strategies became more
global: spin finger around lips to keep sound moving, move arm with line, or
count sing to feel underlying beats.

Fluency is least evident when students conceived only one or two
teaching ideas per interpretive decision. In these instances, the thinking as
represented on paper, did not allow for connections between musical ideas or for
various opportunities in the teaching action. The actions appeared less related
and one had the impression that the student might not have sufficient

pedagogical knowledge to advance teaching if a targeted idea did not work.

Mode: Presentation of Teaching Ideas

The mode is the way in which students represent teaching ideas in the
plans. Three categories of interest were whether the ideas were teacher-
centered or student-centered, verbal or non-verbal, and whether the language
reflected a technically oriented or imagery oriented approach. Teacher-centered
actions focus on understandings by the novice conductor/teacher represented by
statements about the music at hand. The emphasis is on telling the idea to the
ensemble as a means of representing conductor/teacher thinking. Teacher-
centered actions may function as a means of delivering instruction more suited
to verbal description such as cut-offs or breath marks. Teacher-centered actions
may also characterize a philosophical emphasis by the conductor/teacher as

defined by traditional expert model (O’Toole, 1994). The expert, or

189

conductor/teacher, is responsible for primary musical decisions and imparting
information to ensemble members.

Student-centered actions require novice conductor/teachers to internalize
personal understandings about the score. The focus is altered so that increasing
learning and musicianship on the part of the ensemble members becomes a goal
of instruction. Student-centered actions represent a blending of musical content
knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and the ability to monitor one’s thinking in
the teaching act. Put another way, the conductor teacher must react
authentically to the sounding presented by the chorus and devise ways, on-the-
spot, to involve ensemble members in problem assessment, problem-solving,
and evaluation of whether the exercised challenge accomplished the corporate
goal.

Verbal and non-verbal statements represented on the plans are further
descriptions of teacher thinking. Verbal statements involve teaching outside
musical production as a means of clarifying expectations, giving instructions, or
eliciting student response about the rehearsal. Verbal statements necessarily
interrupt the music-making. Non-verbal statements include actions designed to
teach inside the music-making: sing, chant, count-sing, solfege, conduct, listen,
or deployment of reinforcing kinesthetic activities.

Technical language can be thought of as characteristic formal labels or
agreed upon formal language within particular musical practices. Technical

language may refer to the Western music system of notation, to attributes of

I90

vocal production, to the vocal instrument itself, or to various musical concepts
agreed upon by the musicians.

Imagery may be described as evocations of the imagination which are
frequently represented by analogy. The use of imagery might start with phrases
such as “Make it sound like. . .Pretend you are . . . Imagine for a moment. . . .
or What if we could. . .” Imagery is a way of describing music by encouraging
Visioning or imagination on the part of the student. It is the making of
connections to real-world common experiences. Imagery may also include
imagining vowel shape or constructing mental images of tone and color.
Conducting gesture functions as image, providing a picture of musical intention.
mum of Teachingfieits

Table 2 presents the spectrum of teaching ideas generated for Ave Verum
Corpus. Alongside the teaching ideas are labels representing the mode of
representation by the plan: teacher-centered or student-centered, imagery or

technical language chosen, and verbal or non-verbal instructions.

19]

Table 2

Composite Teaching Strategies Representeg in Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus

 

 

 

Potential Teaching Strategies Mode of

(action words in boldface) Representation
Non-verbal]

conduct phrase in legato fashion Stupent-girecteq

spin finger to keep sound moving imagery/kinesthetic

practice “sucking in air” imagery/kinesthetic

move arm with line imagery/kinesthetic

lifting, throwing, and spinning tone imagery/kinesthetic

have students draw the phrase in the air as they chant imagery/kinesthetic

the phrase, placing the stressed words in an
emphasized manner in the air

have students snap in places where they should
breathe

have students direct their arms in a circular motion
to bring a chant like feel to the piece

chant text
sing piano sections forte;
then piano with same intensity

sing through call and response section;
ask students who has call/response?

Have students sing through on “doo”, only re-
articulating the “d” when they have a rhythmic change in
pitch.

count sing

sing crescendo/decrescendo over 12 beats

192

technical language/

kinesthetic

imagery/kinesthetic

technical language

technical language

technical language

technical language

technical language

technical language

Table 2, con’t.

section models for peers (sing)

student model (sing)

warm-ups constructed to match phrasing ideas
piano serves as model (play)

clap rhythm

students conduct while singing

sing senza vibrato for tone

sing on “loo” to establish pure tone;
apply to text

sing scale with raised 4th degree

sing repeated note; sharping on “di” in quarter note
pulses

sing “co” to establish sound; change to “o"

sing on vowels only

deliberately sharp notes as you sing

isolate measures: fix vowel and balance (sing)
teacher model singing

chant on “ta”

count sing on numbers

isolate m. 14 and 15 for sopranos/sing change
Have pedal point sections sing on neutral syllable

to point out function

have students sing melody on text;
other sections on “doo”

193

imagery
imagery
imagery/kinesthetic
imagery

technical language
kinesthetic

technical language

technical language
technical language

technical language

technical language
technical language
technical language

technical language

imagery
technical language
technical language

technical language

technical language

Table 2, con’t.

sing, pulsing eighth notes to keep energy in phrase
solfege

chant diction by phrase

warm-up to establish desired
Latin vowels

warm-up: sustained chords on pp dynamic

warm-up: controlled crescendo/diminuendo over 12
counts

warm-up: sol, fi, mi, re, do to
isolate altered fourth

warm-up: sharp pitch over 8 counts to increase pitch
awareness

top-down warm-ups
to encourage light tone

warm-ups on solfege to isolate
intervals

mark syllabic stress in scores

mark breaths

circle accents

mark important melody line with fuller dynamic
talk to choir about what kind of pp vs. ff they want
keep eyes on conductor for slowing tempo (watch)
make sure all dynamics are marked

do rhythm/conducting warm-up where students have to
keep their eye on conductor (watch)

listen to recording

194

technical language
imagery
technical language

technical language

technical language

technical language

imagery

imagery

technical language

imagery

Verball'l'eacher—Directed
technical language
technical language
technical language
technical language
imagery
technical language

Verbal/Student-directed

imagery

Table 2, con’t.

analogy: passing car to describe imagery
crescendo/diminuendo phenomenon/ contextualize by
trying on “oo” vowel/apply to phrase in piece

question about form technical language

speak translation technical language

speak text with dynamic inflection technical language

speak text technical language

have students identify key words in a phrase to sing to technical language

ask students how it is possible to keep intensity technical language or
Imagery

 

A wealth of teaching strategies are evident in Table 2 reflecting a wide
variety of participant thinking. When viewed in relationship to early submissions
of traditional objectives-based teaching plans in the pilot study, the scope of
imagining and Visioning represented in these plans are striking. There are
multiple ways of rehearsing represented which provide a conductor/teacher a
pedagogical base to sort, define, or prioritize teaching strategies. This is critical
to novice conductor/teachers who do not have a reservoir of pedagogical tools
and who may depend on the generation of multiple ideas to define what works
and what fails in the actual teaching event.

When conductor/teachers are taught to select only one or two teaching
strategies in relationship to a musical objective, they may narrow thinking to fit

the perceived challenge by devising an activity or set of activities to teach the

195

behavioral objective. Thinking is narrowed in two respects: First, in the selection
of a small set of objectives representing conductor thinking and second, the
cultivation of teaching strategies to meet the objective(s). In contrast, the
brainstorming model encourages multiple decisions about a score based on the
music. Objectives, as such, are context-specific to the particular work and may
be fluid according to the conductor’s growing relationship with the music over
time. Teaching strategies are brainstormed by stimulating imagination of myriad
ways of exercising an identified objective.

In this respect, students may be increasing pedagogical knowledge by
assimilating previous knowledge towards the construction of new information.
This closely resembles the improvisatory process described by Alperson (1984).
A central outcome of the experiment with the new planning model is that
students grew to understand that pedagogy is internally conceived rather than
externally imposed.

Further, teaching strategies are weighted towards decision-making, in-
action by ensemble members and away from the conductor as the central
vehicle for information. The production based strategies involve ensemble
members in the rehearsal in meaningful and sustained ways. Verbal telling is
reserved primarily for score-marking, text reading, and asking questions. It is
significant that the asking of questions is not seen as the primary means of
involving ensemble members in rehearsals, as participants focused instead on
non-verbal production-based actions. Similar results were found by Buell (1996)

in the examination of a master instrumental teacher. Speaking was reserved for

196

technical instruction and the majority of instructional time was characterized by
non-verbal instruction such as conducting, singing, or demonstrating musical

ideas through the body.

Imagining for Teaching

When students view their internal understandings as the source of
teaching knowledge, a paradigm shift is apparent in several respects. First,
students seem to reflect on past experience and make connections between
these experiences and potential future teaching actions. As recounted in field
notes, they were more likely to incorporate ideas observed in other rehearsals or
classes and more willing to experiment with new ideas generated as a result of
targeted reflection towards the teaching moment. Self reflection, then, was an
important feature of the preparatory process.

Second, techniques or tools observed in teacher models or peer models
began to be assimilated by students not as pedagogical ends, but as means
toward achieving larger learning goals. This was reflected by ongoing integration
of teacher decisions and potential teaching strategies. This integration can be
noted in the group of Mozart plans, even inside plans that matched a single
teacher decision with a single instructional strategy with no further brainstorming.
The result was teaching rounds that were contextual to the music at hand. This
was a significant shift in thinking for some students who previously viewed
teaching in a non-specific way. Karen wrote:

This approach differs from my other education classes in that it allows for
further exploration of many possible solutions (instead of just one or two),

197

and allows you to see the entire composition globally so that you can
envision what your musical goals will be (written assignment, April 1998).

Third, a culture of improvisation was established which encouraged
students to experiment with many ideas and strategies without fear of
disapproval. One could note in teaching plans and teaching rounds increasing
comfort with experimentation. In the Mozart plans, for example, the teaching
strategies between plans evidence a wide variety of ideas even though the
original organizing ideas were similar. The teaching ideas were increasingly
differentiated throughout the project rather than narrowing towards a sameness
of approach.

Imagining for teaching could be characterized as spiral or linear. Spiral
imagining can be thought of as an inside-out approach to brainstorming.
Reflection is characterized by the generation of a host of decisions about the
music as well as myriad ways of presenting the material in a teaching context.
The ordering of ideas or sequencing of instruction is not important to the spiral
thinker, or perhaps takes place later in the planning process than does the free-
forrn brainstorming. Spiral thinking is represented by instructional strategies
evident in the teaching plans of Jennifer and Karen.

Linear thinking reflected an outside-in approach to brainstorming. The
linear thinker selects from myriad possibilities generated to order ideas prior to
the teaching act. Linear thinkers tend to emphasize sequence as can be noted
in Sarah’s plan . Connections are made in the construction of sequence to help
anchor impending teaching. Linearity differs in this approach in that it derives

from brainstorming. Put another way, possibilities are narrowed as the result of

198

experimentation with multiple ideas. In experiences with plans submitted in the
objectives-based model format, students were likely to narrow teaching
possibilities as soon as an activity was imagined without exploring various

opfions.

Summam

One additional dimension was observed of the participants over the
course of the project. The connections between musical understanding and
upcoming teaching were the primary lens during the project and analysis.
Another means of viewing the process, however, is to characterize the shift in
student thinking whereby conducting is regarded as the expressive and artistic
representation of musical thought. These plans and their teaching content
evidence deeply musical thinking that arguably establishes the platform for the
cultivation of artistry both on the part of the conductor/teacher and the ensemble.
Viewing teaching as artistry is central to my personal interest in teacher training.
I was surprised by the almost palpable shift to expressive considerations when
students experimented with this mode of planning.

It is significant that many of the suggested teaching activities are
generated in relationship to expressive goals in the learning and performance of
the piece. Rather than learn the work for the musical concepts it can teach,
then, one would identify the special characteristics of the masterpiece and teach
in relationship to those qualities which make the piece expressive and artful.

Critical to this precept, however, is that the works under study are exemplars of

199

composition. Weak pieces will likely produce weak teaching ideas and points to

a need to teach novice conductor/teachers to differentiate quality repertoire.

200

CHAPTER 9

THE META-ANALYSIS

Given the nature of the analytic attention to both within-case and across-
case analyses, a rich portrait emerges of the experience in the project setting.
As a teacher/researcher conducting formative research in the classroom setting,
the results from the project have direct and meaningful implications for the
improvement of classroom practice.

The concluding chapter summarizes findings in a meta-analysis, links
pertinent conceptual information from the study of related literature, draws
implications for the teacher/researcher classroom practice, and broadens the
discussion to the preparation and training of teachers in undergraduate choral

music education.

_S_ummarv of Finflgs of Within-Case and Across-Case Participants

Themes and patterns of student and teacher/researcher experience
emerged through the course of the project that provided important learnings for
all participants. The research question, whether an alternative process for
rehearsal planning in the choral teaching context would yield improved planning
practices by novice conductor/teachers, was anchored by experimentation with
a visual webbing model.

The co-created visual model, which might be characterized as a
brainstorming inventory, developed out of concern about the perceived

limitations of traditional models of lesson-planning in music education.

201

Specifically, the Tyler model of planning was discarded and a new model created
emphasizing imagining for teaching through extensive brainstorming. The model
was developed in classroom interaction during both the pilot study and project
penods.

Other models of brainstorming are in use in educational settings. In
literature and writing, for example, semantic webs are a “graphic representation
or visual display of categories of information and their relationships” (Bromley,
1991, p.2). Webbing is considered a pre-writing technique that organizes ideas
prior to writing:

The web is a nonlinear form of outline, and information, can be recorded

by the author on the web as it occurs. One makes a web by starting with

a main idea in the center of a piece of paper, then branching off from the

main idea into categories of information (Zipprich, 1995, p. 4).

Webbing is thought to both organize ideas for writing and to encourage

relationship-making among concepts generated in the webbing format.

Features of the Co-Created Model
The alternative form of planning for choral rehearsal undenrvent ongoing
revisions and adjustments as students experimented with the visual model.
Primary changes in conception of the model included a better balance of
conductor/teacher musical and interpretive decisions in relationship to imagined
teaching strategies and an emphasis on sequence and order as it pertained to

teaching inside an identified strategy.

202

Based on analysis during the project period, the following global
observations can be made of the research study. Discussion of each item will be

expanded in the sections that follow:

1) The visual model encouraged expansion of novice conductor/teacher
thinking in the preparation for teaching.

2) The explicit cultivation of imagining for teaching appeared to reinforce
the expert-like mindset in which novices take on the learning
orientation of experts (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1993).

3) The thinking represented in the visual model suggests novice
conductor/teachers are capable of developing rich mental constructs of
both music and the pedagogical knowledge required to carry out the
mental conception. The model may help provide a bridge between
musical knowledge and pedagogical knowledge.

4) The brainstorming efforts appear to take on two forms: linear thinking,
spiral thinking, or a combination of both linear and spiral thinking.

5) Changes in student representation of thinking in the visual model over
time included:

a) teaching for contextual goals

b) increased breadth, depth, and fluency as noted in plans over
time

c) improved focus on internal sequencing and ordering
of teaching strategies

d) expansion of teaching strategies

6) Changes in student conception of preparation for teaching included:

a) the role of teacher model as a facilitator for student learning

b) pedagogy as internally conceived rather than externally
imposed

c) role of self-reflection increasingly evident in score analysis and
experiments with visual model

d) increased comfort with experimentation, a hallmark of
improvisation

203

Expansion of Novice Conductor/Teacher Thinking and the
“Expert-Like” Mindset

In contrast to Tyler-modeled teaching plans submitted during the pilot
project period, conductor/teacher experiences with the brainstorming model
appeared to effect a paradigm shift with regard to preparation for teaching.
Rather than reducing potential teaching possibilities to a single set of activities,
as required by the Tyler model (May, 1986), students spent preparatory time
brainstorming multiple teaching strategies for a variety of identified musical
goals.

This expansion of thinking seems to reflect the expert-like mindset as
defined by Bereiter and Scardamalia (1993). According to the researchers, an
expert-like mindset would mirror processes utilized by experts in a field that
includes working at the upper level of complexity in a domain. The thinking is
characterized by continual expansion of ideas and openness to continued
learning. Experiments with the visual model of brainstorming yielded far richer
imagining and Visioning for teaching than did previous plans conceived through

the Tyler model of preparation.

Mental Conception of Music and Teaching
Another noticeable dimension of the plans was the linking of musical
content knowledge to growing pedagogical knowledge. The planning process
emphasized conductor/teacher decisions about the repertoire based on a rich
process of score analysis and study. Score analysis informed the brainstorming

process such that teaching strategies were constructed in direct relationship to

204

conductor/teacher decisions about the music. Students became more adept at
linking these dependent but different ways of thinking (Elliott, 1995), and the
process seemed to encourage personal interpretation of the music under study.
According to Grossman (1990), students frequently assume area content
knowledge is constitutive of preparation for teaching. Experiments with this form
of visual mapping differentiates content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge
and may provide a critical link between these forms of knowledge as students

plan and prepare for teaching.

Linear and Spiral Thinking as Generative Thought

As noted in the among-case analysis, students appeared to think in linear
or spiral terms, depending on the individual profile of the student. In
distinguishing between these profiles, linear thinkers appear to order thoughts
from the outset. If a specific teaching strategy is identified, the linear thinker
devises ordered activities to carry out the instructional objective. A single plan
may evidence potential for multiple lesson plans, depending on which organizing
feature(s) are chosen as the curricular focus. Linear thinkers were more
successful at incorporating structure and sequence into proposed teaching
actions than were spiral thinkers. As a result, the linear model most resembled
the Tyler model of planning with a critical difference: brainstorming and
imagining for teaching appear more intensive and can be represented visually as
a way of tracking student thinking.

Spiral thinkers were more adept at constructing multiple ideas about both

the music and possible teaching strategies. The blending of the ideas was more

205

amorphous than in linear plans. Spiral thinking might be represented by any
number of proposed instructional strategies though proposed teaching sequence
is not clear or necessarily important in the construction of the plan. Certain
students weighted brainstorming toward musical decisions and spent less time
on envisioning instructional strategies.

From the perspective of the teacher/researcher, linear thinkers controlled
for the teaching act in more direct ways than did spiral thinkers. They were more
likely to bring the teaching plan to the podium and to rehearse groups of related
teaching ideas indicated on the plans. A central distinction between linearity in '
the Tyler model and in the visual model is that linearity is conceived in
relationship to brainstorming rather than early narrowing of planning for
impending teaching as expected in the Tyler model.

Spiral thinkers appeared more at ease improvising in the teaching act.
The teaching was marked by an ability to respond to the authentic musical
sounding by the chorus and to organize teaching ideas, on-the-spot, as a form of
improvisation. These thinkers spent much time studying the score and planning
for rehearsal but did not reflect an ordering of ideas or sequence for teaching in
either the visual mapping or in the teaching situation.

As improvisers, these students were able to reflect, in-action, on the
musical sounding, select problem setting activities based on the sounding,
exercise the identified challenge, and assess whether the challenge was
accomplished. According to Kennedy (1987), this thinking reflects a form of

deliberate action that can be observed by expert teachers. Indeed, students who

206

were able to brainstorm extensively (reflecting on-action) and improvise in the
teaching act (reflecting in-action) demonstrated the strongest
teaching/conducting rounds of class participants. The dual approach to
reflection mirrors Schon’s (1983) conception of how professionals successfully
work within a domain.
Representation of Thinking Over Time and Student Conception of
Preparation for Teaching

Increased attention to teaching for contextual goals related to the music
under study was evident as the plans progressed. As traced through both the
pilot study and research project, a shift gradually occurred as students taught in
relationship to their particularized understandings of the musical score. In early
plans, students tended toward a global, transportable, concept-based approach
to devising teaching strategies which is central to the way music instruction has
been conceived in music education (Elliott, 1995). In this paradigm, the musical
concept to be taught defines the instructional strategy and materials chosen.
The visual model, however, seemed to draw attention to the score and generate
situated instructional strategies particular to the work at hand.

The monitoring of contextual factors includes wider concerns than the
material to be taught (Grossman, 1990). Other considerations are the
classroom, the larger teaching context such as school and community, and
personal practical knowledge required to carry out teaching. Aligning content

goals with the needs of the ensemble is but one form of contextual

207

consideration. Others will likely develop only when students enter the
professional world of teaching/conducting.

Improved breadth, depth, and fluency are likely the result of continual
refinements and adjustments to the research process during the project. The
increased awareness of ordering teaching ideas for teaching was likely due to
the explicit emphasis placed on sequence during the project. Even so, some
students continued to struggle with how to sequence ideas for instruction. While
improvements were clearly evident in the wealth of ideas generated for
upcoming teaching, more attention was needed in how these ideas would be
structured for teaching.

A central observation during the project was that students were able to
generate ever-increasing numbers of potential teaching strategies as well as
expanded articulation of musical understandings represented as teacher
decisions. The class began to think of the brainstorming process as a form of
improvisation, improvisation-in-thinking, as distinguished from improvisation in
the teaching act. The condition of improvisation was mediated by students'
willingness to experiment. Not all students embraced the brainstorming model
as noted in earlier analysis. Regardless, the overall experience of the class
yielded growth in this area.

Role of the Conductor

Student perception of the role of the conductor changed as a result of the

experiments with preparation for teaching. The plans began to shift focus from

teacher-directed instructions toward ways of increasing learning on the part of

208

the ensemble. This was demonstrated by a growing emphasis on student-
directed teaching strategies including nonverbal action-oriented activities as well
as verbal questioning targeted as student reflection. When students conceived
rehearsal in this way, they appeared to shift the responsibility of learning from
teacher-directed “telling” about the music to student-oriented “discovery” inside
the music.

This re-definition is likely the result of experimentation with the planning
model as well as explicit emphasis in the class toward a more democratic
relationship between conductor and ensemble. The deconstruction of the expert
model as defined by O’Toole (1994) led the class to careful analysis of the
impact a conductor/teacher will have on an ensemble. Sensitivity to this issue
was heightened throughout the project. One student wrote:

My most significant learning has probably been the way I perceive the role

of the conductor after putting myself in that situation with a group of

singers. In the beginning, I felt kind of separated from the group when l

was conducting and I just tried to get through the conducting rounds by

telling them how to sing. I think after becoming more familiar with the
other students, I felt a lot better and it was easier to practice being an
interactive conductor. Continuing challenges seem to be the ones that

involve explaining myself nonverbally rather than always needing to
verbalize about my musical goals (written assignment, April, 1998).

Analysis of 1L8 Methodology

Conducted as formative research that is local and specific to one
teacher/researcher’s classroom, the methodology was well suited to the
investigation of a curricular program. The investigation was concerned with

improvement of classroom practice both in terms of the curricular vehicle, the

209

visual mapping model, and the teacher’s understanding of student perception
and experience in relationship to the emerging model.

The choice of a qualitative paradigm allowed the teacher/researcher to
investigate shared experience though multiple methods including content
analysis of the teaching plans as well as the expressions of thought as
generated by students and the teacher/researcher throughout the course of the
project in various writing forums.

The construction of narrative, both verbatim and fictional, allowed the
teacher/researcher many opportunities to code for various patterns or themes
that emerged as a result of the class experiment. Alongside analysis of writing
assignments and plans allowed for adjustments and refinements to the
brainstorming model throughout the course of the project. The weaving of
analysis and data collection brought the researcher closer to the experience
students were negotiating and brought the teacher closer to the research
process. The blending of roles in this project was a continuing challenge and
required much self-reflection and analysis.

Challenges with the methodology included the continual cycle of stepping
outside the role of teacher to best represent the experience in the research
process. While the researcher was not distanced from the project there was a
necessary focus on accurately representing the experience as teacher-driven or
researcher-driven. Because of the tension between these two roles, perceptions
were regularly checked with participants including participant reading of narrative

designed to reflect student experience.

210

Implications for Clpssroom Pra_ctice

Based on the findings described above, the teacher/researcher can draw
implications for improvement of classroom practice. The single greatest learning
by the teacher/researcher was the realization that planning for rehearsal and
preparation for rehearsal are not synonymous.

A central distinction can be noted between planning for rehearsal and
preparing for teaching (Yinger, 1990). Planning is geared toward specific
instructional strategies to employ, identification of resources and materials,
ordering of content to be taught, and considerations of teaching time frame.

Preparation precedes planning and is the widening of personal
knowledge by imagining, Visioning, or musing in the quest to blend previous
knowledge and experience with new mental constructions. These constructions
are the result of an expert-like mindset wherein the conductor/teacher works at
the upper level of understanding in relationship to deep knowledge of the score
gained through immersion in the music. Preparation involves maintaining a
heuristic image (Howard, 1982) against expectations for unplanned exigencies.

The weight of these two processes favors preparation. Much time will be
spent learning music and developing personal interpretations of the repertoire.
Planning is more concerned with the meta-cognitive monitoring of those issues
surrounding the act of teaching. As expressed by Yinger (1990), teaching

requires both preparation and planning.

21]

Model for Teaching

From the perspective of the teacher/researcher, the strongest relationship
between preparation and planning were expressed by students who spent the
balance of time imagining for teaching. For these students, teaching involved
three primary considerations: score study and analysis, brainstorming for
teaching (preparation), and a tentative ordering of rehearsal ideas (planning).
This tri-fold approach appeared to help students in a way that previous planning
models had not: They felt empowered in their knowledge of the music and
increasingly adept at the generation of teaching strategies for the choral
rehearsal.

In terms of the classroom, this suggests a focus on score study and
analysis as well as explicit focus on both preparation and planning. For the
teacher/researcher, this means re-definition of content in undergraduate
conducting and choral methods. Conducting needs to include a more consistent
focus on teaching, even in the early stages of learning gesture. Score analysis
needs to be introduced alongside basic conducting so that analytical skill can
grow and mature alongside technical gesture. Choral methods should immerse
the student in preparation and planning for teaching, and remain a primary thrust

of the methods curriculum through meaningful field experiences and practicum.

Cultivation of the Expert-Like Mindset
A related issue is the cultivation of the expert-like mindset as defined by
Bereiter and Scardamalia (1993). When expertise is viewed as a process rather

than a product, an explicit emphasis can be placed cultivation of an expert-like

212

mindset which emphasizes working at the upper level of one’s ability. As
described by students during the project, it was not until they experimented with
brainstorming as a preparatory process for teaching that their content knowledge
was sufficiently developed to link teaching strategies with personal decision-
making about the musical work. In the earlier model of planning, they described
the ability to skim the music and teach from a superficial understanding. Once
they realized the depth of possibility in relationship to their own musical
understandings, they were able to prepare for teaching with a far richer base of
knowledge. Establishing the expectation for this kind of preparation, then, will be

central to the improvement of the teacher/researcher’s classroom.

Research Application and Limitations of the Proiect

The research project was designed in direct relationship to the
teacher/researchers questions about classroom practice. The study is not
intended to be generalized to all undergraduate choral programs. In keeping
with qualitative standards of generalizability, readers will make their own
inferences in relationship to their situation and contextual factors.
Recommendations, then, are the result of one researcher’s experience.

Several limitations are apparent as a result of the research experience.
The question remains whether preparing/planning for the “empty” classroom” will
translate to real-world teaching experiences following undergraduate study.
Longitudinal studies could document the transfer from undergraduate teaching to
professional teaching. Research on teacher image and personal practical

knowledge is important in the quest to understand how professional knowledge

213

is developed and implemented. It remains to be seen whether experiments with
the planning approach outlined in this project will have been formative in the
construction of a teaching image that can influence the participants’ teaching as
they enter the professional world.

A central area of concern remains assessment and evaluation. Though
the participants experimented at length with assessing-in-action, many did not
reflect concern for assessment in the brainstorming inventories. In a profession
that continues to struggle with issues of evaluation and assessment, this
remained a weak link in the overall experience. The teacher/researcher will be
searching for ways of representing assessment both in the model and as an
educational priority for students.

Finally, it is appropriate to question the extent to which the research
project itself influenced the depth and quality of work in the webbing model. The
richness of imagination for teaching will no doubt have a direct impact on the
ultimate effectiveness of the planning paradigm. It is surely possible to write
thinly-conceived webs just as it is possible to write richly detailed plans from the
objectives-based planning model. The quality of thinking may have, in part,
been driven by students’ desire to help the teacher/researcher in the research

effort.

Conclpding Thopghts and Recommendations
Future research is warranted about the nature of interactive teaching and
the role of improvisation in the teaching act. The preparation/planning question

is only one issue in the larger quest to understand what it means to think in

214

teaching. It would be valuable to research the link between this model of
planning and the ability to improvise in teaching. Case study of master teachers,
such as the studies conducted by Buell and Dolloff (1996, 1994), will be critical to
understanding dimensions of expert teaching.

In addition to addressing issues of assessment and evaluation, this model
might be revised in several ways for future research. In the present project, all of
the participants were women. It is valid and appropriate to question the degree
to which gender influenced results. A larger participant pool, or groups of
participants, could provide more deeply rooted knowledge about the planning
process. A longitudinal view of a single group of participants through beginning
years of conducting/teaching might also provide insights not possible in a short
research period.

A related issue is to question what kind of student best responds to this
model. Are certain students able to benefit from the model while others are
more suited to traditional methods of planning for instruction? The visual
planning model might be implemented in new settings, perhaps subject to both
qualitative and/or quantitative investigation, to answer these questions.

In summary, the experience of the teacher/researcher fostered deep reflection
about teaching practice and significantly impacted her perceptions of students in
relationship to their experiences with the curriculum. Music education can and
should support investigation of teaching whether in partnership between
researcher and teacher or when those two roles blend together in action

research.

215

 

APPENDICES

216

APPENDIX A
PROJECT CONSENT FORM
January 1998
Dear Students:

As you may know, I am currently a doctoral student at Michigan
State University where I am working on a Ph.D. in music education
with a choral cognate. For my dissertation, I have chosen to study
aspects of undergraduate choral teacher preparation as it
specifically relates to conducting study.

For this project, I would like to utilize your conducting class as a
site of my data collection process. I will examine information that
you complete in fulfillment of class requirements including your
rehearsal plans, questionnaires, classroom discussion, and other
possible sources of qualitative information as the data process
emerges.

I would very much like your permission to pursue this project. You
will not be required to complete additional work outside the syllabus
requirements, and your names will be changed to protect your
identity in the study. Your ideas, as only you can express them, will
be central to the study and form the basis for my eventual analysis.
It is important that you understand that though your names will be
changed, your personal views will very much be a part of the final
dissertation, and you will have an important role in the final
analysis.

You are not required to participate in this study. If you choose to
participate, and at any time during the project wish to withdraw as a
research participant, you will be free to do so. Your class grade will
not be affected in any way by participation or non-participation in
this study.

Thank you for your willingness to contribute to this study. Please
don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any concerns or
comments.

I am willing to participate in this project voluntarily, and
indicate my acceptance below:

 

Professor Sandra Snow/T he University of Michigan

217

APPENDIX B

SELF OR PEER EVALUATION FORM
CONDUCTING/'1' EACHING ROUNDS

Write your reflections in pp constructive a manner as possible!

Gesture:

Does it reflect the musical idea?

Does the conductor have a clear understanding of the piece as demonstrated by
gesture?

Communication:

Does the face communicate ideas in tandem with conducting?

Teaching:
If a teaching round, identify one non-verbal and one verbal teaching instance:

Identify two teaching ideas. Were they effective? Why or why not?

218

What I liked best about your conducting/teaching:

What you might improve (be specific):

219

APPENDIX C
END OF SEMESTER REFLECTIONS

. At this point in the semester, what has been your most significant leaming(s)
thus far?

0 Describe the progress you have seen among your peers this semester. What
seems to be continuing challenges? What are the greatest areas of growth?

. With regard to the system of rehearsal planning “bubbles”:
1. Describe how you organize your thinking in their construction.

2. Describe how you employ this system in your rehearsal. If you do not
use your pre-planning bubbles, describe your process of teaching
during rehearsal (Use back of page if necessary).

220

. Do you feel more prepared or less prepared to teach using this approach?

. How does this differ from your experiences in other education classes at the
university?

. Can you envision using this approach in the future?

221

APPENDIX D

SCORE STUDY AND ANALYSIS‘
Principles:
The score is the written embodiment of the work of art.
The understood score becomes the lesson plan.
The process of score-studylscore-marking intemalizes the piece in the
conductor, enabling him/her to lead (con— (with) -duct (Iead)) musicians along the

path of artistry and understanding.

No one method of study is appropriate for every piece of music. Each piece of
music yields its own organic method.

In analysis, work large to small - composers do.

Score analysis will call upon you to retrieve critical parts of your knowledge of
musical form, harmony, rhythm, style, and history.

Score Marking;

Color codin : D namics and Tem i
Materials: Berol Prismacolor pencils

Red: 0 E f cresc. accel. new tempo-piu

quarter note = 104 - 200

Blue: @ dim. Rit. new tempo-meno
‘ 7 ‘3’; rdr",_.r'\,.

quarter note= 4O - 78

 

Green: @ quarter note= 80 - 100
Brown: ‘ mf i1 reinforce accent/stress markings

 

Possible: use the color of destination for changes in dynamic or tempo.

 

‘ From “Score Study and Analysis,” by L. R. Kesselman, 1991, Course materials available umn reguest,
College of Dupage: Glen Ellyn, II. Adapted with permission.

222

Text:

Highlight text with yellow marker. If the text is written in more than one language,
highlight the language you plan to use for performance.

Thematic Markings:

Use highlighter pens (Sanford MAJOR ACCENT) for music which is highly
thematic or contrapuntal. A different color can be used for each major theme.
Sometimes, the same process can be used for motivic material in complex
textures (blue, green, purple, pink, brown).

Highlighter pens can also be used for:

1. major changes of instrumentation or voicing

2. movement titles in multi-movement works

3. changes from pizz. to arco. , flute to piccolo, mutes, humming, etc. . .
4. expressive markings

_Barline Analvsis:

Use black pencil to mark structure (divisions, sections, phrases, changes,

contrasts). The following marks (reinforcing bar-lines with black pencil) indicate
changes ranging from largest to smallest contrasts:

% largest sections: development, recapitulation, coda . . .

fi new sections: not as major a change as above

i major changes in key, tempo, possibly periods

i; '

contrasting ideas, possibly phrases

Black pencil may also be used for rehearsal letters/numbers, ferrnatas, etc. . .

Standard (erasable) pencil:

May be used for breaths, conducting gesture marks, cut-offs, pronunciations,
specific word-meanings, interpretive ideas, dynamic modifications, numbers to
indicate bar counts, etc. . .

223

APPENDIX E
SYLLABUS: MUSIC 340

224

 

 

APPENDIX E

Music 340/Spring 1998

 

Instructor:

Office Hours:

Textbook:

Intern Visits:

Final Project:

Professionalism:

oSccondary Choral Methods 0

 

Grading Procedure:

Prof. Sandra Snow
1066 Moore Building
647-9438
snows@umich.edu

by appointment

Don S. Collins, Teaching Choral Music. Prentice Hall

Intern visits will be arranged with area schools on a once/
week basis spanning an eight-week period. A report detailing
your experiences must be submitted for credit in this area

A notebook containing classroom notes, quizzes and exams,
and all assignments will be submitted by the last class of the
semester.

Your final grade for this course will be based on the
following:

 

 

 

Mid-term exam - ........................... 20%
Notebook/Final Project ................................................... 20%
Intern Visits/Report ........................................................ 20%
Program Assignment .. ..................... 10%
Handbook Assignment 10%
Class Assignments/Supplemental Reading .................... 10%
Professionalism 10%

 

Students are expected to attend and be prompt for all sessions
and intem experiences. Grades will be adversely affected
by unsatisfactory attendance, tardiness, and failure to
meet deadlines and professional standards for assigments.

 

225

 

 

 

, Winter Term 1998
Course Outlme

 

 

 

Month Day Topic 'lndicates Supplementary Reading Assignment Text Assignment
JAN 7 Introduction: Student Expectations. Course Requirements
Successful Choral Programs—What are they like?
l2 Developing a Philosophical Basis for Teaching Choral Music. Ch. 3
I4 lntem Assignments Goals and Objectives Ch. 15
Choral music as choral curriculum 'Rao
I9 Choral Diction Ch. 12
Spoken Language versus Singing: Teaching the differences
2| Diction and rehearsal considerations: Unifying vowels,
enuncratrng consonants
Video: Group Vocal Techniques. James Jordan. Fraulte Hasemuui
‘Voice Building for Choirs, Ehm-in and Haasemann
(for perusal—know what kinds of things can be found there.)
26 Effective Warm-ups and Building Choral Torte Ch. 10
Using recordings to develop an image of good tone: pros and cons
Video: Daily Workout for a Beautiful Voice
Charlene ArchibequrJCharlotte Adams
28 Choral Tone: Developing a tonal concept Decker I
‘ Choral Cardacrrng: A Symposium by Harold Decker
Read Chapter I by contributing author Howard Swat
‘ Warm-up assignment due
FEB 2 Middle School: Vocal Issues related to the adolescent voice Ch. l3
4 Middle School: Appropriate repertorre
Editing/Arranging/Adapting music for the changing vorce
9 Middle School: Teaching Round I
Choose a piece
Score analysts to submit
Lesson plui
Create two plans lined on assigned one study
which will reflect varying teaching circumstances
I l Audition Procedures: The importance of the audition
Vorce placement: Systems and philosophies. Addressing vocal problems
through placement
'Assrgnment: Develop your own audition procedures/audition card
l6 Repertoire: Evaluation and Selection
'An Annotated Inventory of Distinctive Choral Literature for Performance
at the High School Level: ACDA Monograph no. 2
‘MSVMA Jr. High Choral Repertoire
‘MSVMA Sr. High Choral Repertorre
’Collins Appendices
Finding new literature: Building a concert program
'Choral Music in Print
‘MSVMA Handbook
‘Catalogues/Prograrns
‘Conventions
IS The First Rehearsal: Developing a Rehearsal Plan
‘Concert Program Written Project Due
23 The Art of lichen-sing: Balancing improvisation with planning
The lesson plat
lmprovising-in-action
Pacing and discipline
The development of corporate expertise or artistry
'Progrunrning assignment
25 Midterm

 

 

226

 

 

 

 

9 Daily Rehearsals: Warm-ups. Sequencing. Contextual Factors ’handouts
Sight-Reading. Balancing New Literature and Material for Revrew to be distributed
1 l Sight-Reading: A revrew of methods remainder of term

'Sight-reading folder on reserve

l6 Teaching Round II
Sightorcading lab experiences (each student to lead sight-reading exercise)

Concert Preparation: Establishing a Support Network

18 High School: Vocal Issues
23 High School: Appropriate repertoire
Whu is “good" repertoire?
Multicultural or multiethnic musics
25 High School: Teaching Round Ill
Choose a p’me per assigned scenario
Score analysis
Lesson Plan: Two plans per assigned scenario
30 Organintion and Muiagement: The Choir Handbook
l Professional Development: Resumeffeaching Portfolio

Admrnrstrator's View of Music Education

6 CIinic/Festival/Contest Ch. I!
Management of a Choral Dept: Maintaining the “My
Formulation of a budget. ordering new music.
facility maintenance. facility requests
‘Choir Handbook Written Project Due
8 Student Teaching: Securing a position/maintaining professional stature Ch. I?
Professional Ethics and Teacher Relationships

l3 Technology in the Choral Classroom
[5 'I'heNatronaIStuidldsuidtheChoralClassroom
inclusion of improvisation and composition
20 Review
'lntem Assignmenu Due
22 Final Examrnation: Notebook/Final Project Due

ALL SUPPLEMENTARY READINGS/ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE ON THE DATE LISTED

Professor: Sandra Snow
E-Mail: snows@umich.edu
Office Hours: by appointment

I. Course Objectives

As a prospective music teacher in the secondary schools you will need the ability to reflect critically about your teaching. A reflective prac-
titioner intentionally examines method. materials. and personal resources related to the teaching transaction and to leamrng by students.
This course will provide a framework for reflection. provide resources and materials to support first-year teaching. and establish a dialogue
for examrnation of pertinent educational and personal issues related to the teaching profession.

Specific objectives include:

Developing a philosophical basis for teaching in the choral clnsroom

Consuuction of a tonal image towcds development ofchoral tone including diction, vowels. and voice-building techniques
Function of warmups in the choral classroom

Examination of middle school vocal issues relevurt to the changing voice and adolescent development

Examrnation of high school vocal issues

Selection of repertoire and function of repertoire as the choral curriculum

Rehearing and Iesson-plmning u a teacher/conductor

Development of sight-reading proyam in the secondary school context

Management issues such as budgeting. establishing expectations for behavior. constructing a choir handbook. ordering music

UUUUUUUUU

—
.-
0

Written Project Guidelines

A. Concert Progrln Design
This project combines several facets of program administration. You should choose literature for 3 distinctly
different choirs. I. A training ensemble. perhaps a freshmur choir or a freshman women‘s ensemble; 2. A concert
chorr of perhaps 70.80 students with a 3 to I ratio of women to men; 3. A select ensemble of 20 students with equal
numbers on all voice pans.

 

227

 

 

 

UU

UUUUU

Your assignment is to provrde:

A typewritten repertorre list for each choir including title. composer, publisher aid octave number. current price. and length in minutes and seconds.
You should plan 30 minutes for each chair including applause.

A camera-ready cover. Include clip-art. name of Concert (i.e. Fall. Holiday. Spring. etc). High School, Name of Chairs. Name of Director, Name of
Accompanisi. date. time and location.

B. Choral Program Handbook

The Handbook should include:

An overiew of the program/opening letter to parents and students: What kinds of things you do. what kinds of optional activities are available to
the students. information on vorce lessons. etc. .

A Performance Policy: Which activities on your calendar are optional and which are required; when is an absence considered excused: when is
anabsenceconsideredinexcused: lsthereamake-upprocedureforanexeusedabsence.

Calendar of events: Optional and required activities. Include Fall. Winter. and Spring Concerts: MSVMA Choral Festival Dates. MSVMA Solo
and Ensemble activrties, Spring Musical. and other things that you would like to include in your active music program!

Rehearsal procedures: State a policy on aser seating. pencils. tardiness. posture. sickness lid participation in rehearsals.

Grading system: Will you have quines? Will you grade daily reheusals. required performances. involvement beyond the clusroom? Develop a
pornt system which will account for these and other factors which you may wish to include.

C. Class Notebook/Final Project

The Clns Notebook should function 8 a resource guide for you as you begin your teaching career. It should include sections for:

Clusroom notes.

All Assignments

Resource Materials: (Copies of repertorre requirements for MSVMA. warm-up materials. Bibliographic citations for supplemental readings.)
In-class Handouts

photostauc copies of all supplunentary reading assigrunents.
Score analyses ltd lesson plans.

D. Intern experiences: A detailed description of this project will be handed out separately.

 

228

 

APPENDIX F

TEACHER/RESEARCHER CODING EXERCISE:
ORGANIZING ANALYTIC POSSIBILITIES

 

 

\ as we“; "54".”
. ' t, gt" a ‘ E
0 k. .
i ' : J 3 V
a :. 4: 4n
' -I~
it lilting"! , ,
" ‘ i M ‘ .- .\ r
3 ' V ‘
s - J NJ”)
*3 : ‘ 0‘ we
d 9' '7 \
f ‘ ubbk 9"“ MD
: 3" rice-hula“ “
. 1* ' .
91' “hf-5 0 U“
s it.” "4““ “a“. ) Q; d . 0‘
”’4 IN“ 9 gytdmd
5w" 2 c l s «F If "'5 ' ”A;
5“ U“ Plant. :_ 91-
vi «\
.W‘fi‘ "V3: 3° 3 i
I . ‘ “If”, ‘ifl‘q e 1.:
U'V ‘J ' a 1“ \‘R
No _,_
V " <
a." . ~ 3 ,
,_ \or‘ 3 y i.
e: i - .1 v
"‘ “I
P t‘
“° 41"” it’s”
. \ It“)
(at-“3,31,
WM

229

APPENDIX G
DATA OBSERVATION FORM

Date:
Bubble plan:

Characteristics:

Dimensions
a breadth
# of potential rehearsal paths in relationship to score analysis

. depth
extent to which each identified path addressed

. fluency
plan appears organized/random
wording specific/vague
teaching ideas grow logically from identified musical goal

Mode
0 teaching ideas involve student action/teacher action
teaching ideas largely verbal/non-verbal
. verbiage technically orientedfimagery oriented

230

lmaginings
. evidence of brainstorming and experimentation (circular)
. evidence of stacked, sequential, or hierarchical thinking (linear)
. relationship, if any, between circular and linear thinking

points of teacher decision-making in relationship to score analysis
points for student Ieaming resulting in increased musicianship by
ensemble

0 clear relationship between teacher decision-making and student
learning

. visual presentation seems to give picture of the music
salient characteristics of work
likely rehearsal paths as result of understanding
visual impact
content sufficient to guide forthcoming teaching episode

231

Teaching ideas (describe)

Relationship to impending teaching
. actions seem relevant to music

. evidences thinking of contextual factors
student needs considered
appears generically derived

. learning evident
teacher understanding: content (musical)
teacher understanding: evidence of growing teacher
knowledge
will result in increased student musical understanding
0 evidences preparation/planning

. assessment of student Ieaming embedded in plan

Additional features or impressions:

232

APPENDIX H

ACROSS-CASE ANALYSIS: TEACHING PLANS

233

PLAN ONE

 

 

 

 

234

PLAN TWO

Prache 5:73; r3\
Plan-i Secri'usf‘oi-KJ ‘

      

   
 

nan-Bareeidlier
. F, need {0
be a. bi: digrcrm
between”: two

null
F D

       

flunk 4811’
w[¢,5,4d¢6'
that.»
0,35,. w
05ch
flat"; 09‘0"»
. , ‘
951:5: (New; \ I‘m/«um i2,
9"” ”31‘1“” ,3) My;

 
   

4. ’ .c-MC.

   
   
 

repea/cJ nails“
abhq/ ”My 4/al’

        

//‘ ‘ ierof rm'tn 35"
, l‘ (hwse (for! ’ ’
l .

0A 5019 ‘1 IX 4%“!

235

PLAN THREE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
       

     
  

 

 

  
  
 
  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

LS Mag , I a y
" 1 Turf 45 «(a Car.
WWW“ losfiaS‘effs‘w‘iJ’fiuq
Mfowld “(target claw 4;“
vowel rear Accra-fer 5 it ”I”
90, «film gm! may liai-
Dn 01_"‘——L
We practice flue-P
idea 0 :1”wa
I but“! mu, mm: (on D,»
, ( crhculaib qqu IWSBNIEIJ
'= (id. PfitL-r'

Wlkk“

Applii To 0w
PIVLSL "\fl
‘9th

236

PLAN FOUR

 

237

warm
5 : ' " Ci
9° mg
pm 4: “6,03!
Mom.) ( . . an
w -a,q .3 out“
n pcSSabal°53

PLAN FIVE

 

 

. \i
04¢.th 5‘5”?"k
{Di (“'5' ‘16qu -
SW (11‘0“ Ila 5 v
ah: ‘n‘nk'flhd. undo
cum!» 40m).

238

 

Thu, 6(1th

1 has ‘4. ‘d Pdtfl‘u" ' J
,ssh’éaw sgwwd by” ( «Iv/V45
41:. pay. “so ,S'Cm embaJ
(39mm ( beau-gnaw»?! ‘10.

kw or: cMcLu 0mm)
«41;? V

 

PLAN SIX

    

uf( an”
I'HOUUIQ ll I

    

    

W A
«ml 5" 0 ,
(DI-Al‘ffr!0

   
 
   

239

 

REFERENCES

240

References

Alperson, P. A. (1984). On musical improvisation. Journal of
Aesthetics and Art Criticism. 43 (1), 17-29.

Apfelstadt, H. (1997). Applying leadership models in teaching choral
conductors. Choral Journal, 37 (8), 23-30.

Apple, M. (1993). Official knowledge: Democratic edpcation in a
conservative egg New York: Routledge.

Apple, M. (1995). fimationanclwver (2"d ed.). New York: Routledge.

Bereiter, C., & Scardamalia, M. (1993). Surpassing ourselves: An

inguirvinto the nature and implications of expertise. Chicago: Open Court.

 

Berliner, D. C. (1986). In pursuit of the expert pedagogue. Educational
Researcher. 15 (7), 5-13.

Boardman, E. B. (Ed.). (1989). fimensions of musical thinking. Reston,
VA: Music Educator's National Conference.

Bowman, W. D. (1998). Philosophical perspectives on mppip. New York:
Oxford University Press.

Bradford Wing, L. (1992). Curriculum and its study. In R. Colwell (Ed),
Handpook of research on music teachingang learning (pp. 196-217). New York:
Schirmer.

Bresler, L. (1994). What formative research can do for music education:

A tool for informed change. The Qflrterlv Jogrnal of Music Teaching and

Learning, 5 (3), 11-24.

24]

Bresler, L., & Stake, R. (1992). Qualitative research methodology in
music education. In R. Colwell (Ed.), HarLdpook of research on music teaching
and learning (pp.75-89). New York: Schirmer.

Brinson, B. (1996). Chogll music methods and materials: Devm
_s_uccessfpl choral programs (grades 5-12). New York: Schirmer.

Bromley, K. D. (1991). Webbing with literature. Boston: Allyn and
Bacon.

Buell, D. S. (1996). Effective rehearsing with the instrumental music

ensemble: A case study. _Dialogt_Je in lnstrpmental Mpsic Education 20(1),

 

1-25.
Busch, B. (1984). The complete congpctor. New York: Schirmer.
Byo, J. L. (1989). Recognition of intensity contrasts in the gestures of

beginning conductors. Journal of Research in Music Education 38 (3), 157-163.

 

 

Carter, K. (1990). Teacher’s knowledge and learning to teach. In M.
Haberman and J. Sikula (Eds.), Hangpook of ra§e_arch on teacher aim
(pp. 291-310). New York: Macmillan.

Carter, K. (1993). The place of story in the study of teaching and teacher
education. Matiorpafiesearcher, 2_2 (1), 5-12, 18.

Caldwell, W. M. (1980). A time analysis of selected musical elements
and leadership behaviors of successful high school choral conductors (Doctoral
dissertation, The Florida State University, 1980). Dissertation Abstracts

International. 41 (03), 976.

242

Clandinin, D. J. (1985). Personal practical knowledge: A study of
teacher’s classroom images. Currigilum lmuirv. 15 (4), 361-385.
Clandinin, D. J., & Connelly, F. M. (1986). The reflective practitioner and

practitioners’ narrative unities. Canadian Journal of Education 11(2), 184-198.

 

Clandinin, D. J., & Connelly, F. M. (1988). Teachers as CUTTiCU_|U__
manners: Narratives of exgrienca. New York: Teacher’s College Press.

Clark, C. M., & Peterson, P. L. (1986). Teacher’s thought processes.

In Wittrick, M.C. (Ed.), Hmook of research on teachiaq (3rd ed., pp. 255-296).
New York: Macmillan.

Clark, C. M. (1988). Asking the right questions about teacher
preparation: Contributions of research on teacher thinking. Educational
Researcher 17(2), 5-12.

Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. L. (1990). Research on teaching and
teacher research: The issues that divide. flucational Researcher 19 (2), 2-11.

Collins, D. L. (1993). Teachinachoral music. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall.

Colwell, R. (Ed.). (1992). Hand_book of research on music teachinga_ncl
Iaamflg. New York: Schirmer.

Davidson, L., & Scripp, L. (1992). Surveying the coordinates of cognitive
skills in music. In R. Colwell (Ed), Hancflaook of research on music teaching and
Lem (pp. 392-413). New York: Schirmer.

Day, R. S. (1980). Teaching from notes: Some cognitive consequences.

New Directions for Teaching and Learning 2, pp. 95-111.

243

Decker, H. A., & Herford, J. (1988). Choral conducting: A svmflsium.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

DeLorenzo, L. C. (1987). An exploratory field study of sixth grade
students’ creative musical problem solving processes in the general music class
(Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Madison, Wisconsin, 1987).
stertation Ap§t_racts lnternatiomnl. 48 (07A), 1689.

Dennett, D. C. (1991). Consciousness expiaigc—Q. Boston: Little Brown.

Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds). (1994). Mook of qualitative
research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Dolloff, L. A. (1994). Expertise in choral music education: Implications
for musicianship (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of
Toronto, Ontario, 1994). Dissertation Abstracts International, 56 (07A), 2600.

Eisner, E. W. (1991). The erflghtened eve: Qualitative inguirv anflhe
enhancement of educationalpractice. New York: Macmillan.

Eisner, E. W. (1993). Forms of understanding and the future of
educational research. Educational Researchegzg (7), 5-11.

Elliott, D. (1992). Rethinking music teacher education. Journal of Music

Teacher Education 2 (1), 6-11.

 

Elliott, D. (1995). Music matters: A new philosophy of music education.
New York: Oxford.

Erickson, F. (1986). Qualitative methods in research on teaching. In M.
C. Wittrock (Ed.), Han®ook of research on teaching (3rd ed., pp. 119-161).

New York: Macmillan.

244

Evertson, C., Hawley, W., & Zlotnik, M. (1984). The characteristics of
effective teacher preparation programs: A review of research. Nashville,
TN: Vanderbilt University, Peabody Center for Effective Teaching.

Fleming, R. (1977). The effect of guided practice materials used with the
videotape recorder in developing choral conducting skill. DfiissertatioflQstracts
Internamnal. 38. 2637A. (University Microfilms No. 77-24759)

Foucault, M. (1979). Discipline and punish. New York: Viking Books.

Froehlich, H. (1992). Issues and characteristics common to research on
teaching in instructional settings. In R. Colwell (Ed.), _|_:l_a_p_d_pook of resaarch on
music teaching and learning (pp. 561-567). New York: Schirmer.

Gardner, H. (1993). flames of mini The t_heorv of mulLiLla
inteLngnces. New York: Basic Books.

Gordon, E. (1989). _L_e_arnigqgeguences in music: Skill. content, flu
panama. Chicago: GIA.

Gore, J. (1993). The struggle for pedagogies. New York: Routledge.

Grant, J. W., & Drafall, L. E. (1991). Teacher effectiveness research: A
review and comparison. _B_ulletin of the Council for Research in Music

Education 108, 31-48.

 

Green, E. (1997). The mggern cond_uctor (Rev. ed.). New York:
Prentice-Hall.
Grossman, P. L. (1990). The making of a teacher: Tgcher knowlegga

and teacher education. New York: Teacher’s College Press.

245

 

Harris, W. (1979). The applicability of selected principles of
Management by Objectives to the leadership/management styles of choral
Conductors. Dissertation We International. 40, 4946A. (University
Microfilms No. 8006125)

Hoffman, R. R. (1992). The psychology of expertise: Comitive research
ariegpirical Al. New York: Springer-Verlag.

Howard, V. A. (1982). Artistrv: The work of a_r_tis_ts_. Indianapolis: Hackett
Publishing.

Hylton, J. (1983). A survey of choral music education research: 1972-

 

Es:

1981. wetin of the D_o_uncil for Research in Music Education 76, 1-29.

 

Hylton, J. (1995). Congrehensive choral music education. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Janesick, V. J. (1994). The dance of qualitative research design:
Metaphor, methodolarty, and meaning. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds),
Handmok of gu_a_lit_ative research (pp. 209-219). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Jordan, G. (1980). Videotape supplementary instruction in beginning
conducting. Dissertation A_b_s_tr_acts International 41, 580A. (University
Microfilms No. 8017958)

Jordan, J. (1996). Evoking sound. New York: Schirmer.

Kennedy, M. (1987). lnexact sciences: Professional education and the
development of expertise. In E. Rothkopf (Ed.), Review of Research in
Education (vol. 14, pp.133-167). Washington, DC: American Educational

Research Association.

246

Kesselman, L. (1991). Score study and analysis. (Course materials
available upon request, Dept. of Music, College of Dupage, Glen Ellyn, IL).

Lanier, J. E., & Little, J. W. (1986). Research on teacher education. In
M.C. Wittrock (Ed), Handbook of resegch on teaching. (3rd ed, pp. 527-569).
New York: Macmillan.

Lamb, G. (1988). Choral technim. New York: William Brown.

Lampert, M., & Clark, C. M. (1990). Expert knowledge and expert thinking
in teaching: A response to Floden and Klinzing. Educational Researcher 19(5),
21-23.

Lee, 0., & Yarger, S. J. (1996). Modes of inquiry in research on teacher
education. In J. Sikula (Ed.), Harmook of research on ficher ecLJcation (2nd
ed., pp. 14-37). New York: Macmillan.

Leicester, J. E. (1990). The teachable moment: Expert-novice
differences in teachers’ clinical judgments (Doctoral dissertation, University of
Colorado at Boulder, 1990). Dissertation AMts International. 52(03), 851.

Lewis, K. (1977). The development and validation of a system for the
observation and analysis of choral conductor gestures. Dissertation Austracts
International. 38, 4647A-4648A. (University Microfilms No. 7732171)

Lortie, D. C. (1975). Schoolteacher: A sociological study. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.

Madsen, C. K., &Yarbrough, C. (1985). Comtencv-based music

education. Englewood Cliffs: Prenctice-Hall.

247

May, W. T. (1986). Teaching students how to plan: The dominant model
and alternatives. Jourgl of Teacher Education 37(6), 6-12.

McCutcheon, G. (1980). How do elementary school teachers plan? The
nature of planning and influences on it. Elementary School Journal. 81, 4-23.

Morine-Dershimer, G. (1977, April). What’s in a glen? Stated—erg
unstatefidglans for lessons. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the
American Educational Research Association, New York. r

Morine-Dershimer, G. (1979). Teacher plan angflassroom reality: The

South Bay sttflv: Part 4 (Research Series No. 60). East Lansing: Michigan

 

[at .-

State University, Institute for Research on Teaching.

Music Educators National Conference (1991). _Svllapflor music methods
m (Society for Music Teacher Education). Reston, VA: Music Educators
National Conference.

Music Educators National Conference (1994). National Standards for
Artsglrucation. Reston, VA: Music Educators National Conference.

Neale, D. C., Pace, A. J., & Case, A. B. (1983, April). The infltfince of
trainim. exparience. and organizational environment on teachers’ use of the
systematic planning mgej. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the
American Educational Research Association, Montreal, Canada.

O’Toole, P. A. (1994). Redirecting the choral classroom: A feminist
postructural analysis of power relations within three choral settings (Doctoral
dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1994). Dissertation Abstracts

lnternational.55 (07A), 1864.

248

Osman, N. E. (1989). The development of the Communication Skill
Evaluation Instrument: An instrument designed to assess the communication
skill of the conductor in the choral rehearsal (Doctoral dissertation, University of
Missouri, 1989). Dissertation A_bstracts International. 50 (01), 24193.

Peterson, P. L., Marx, R.W., & Clark, CM. (1978). Teacher planning,
teacher behavior, and student achievement. Americarfigucational Research
Journal, 15, 417-432. ft;

Phillips, K. (1997). Basic techniques of cond_ucting. New York: Oxford.

Egplication Manual of the American Psychological Association (4th ed).

 

(1994). Washington, DC: American PsychologicalAssociation.

Punch, M. (1994). Politics and ethics in qualitative research. In N. K.
Denzin &Y. S. Lincoln (Eds), Hancfiaook of qualitative research (pp. 83-97).
Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Rao, D. (1993). We will sing. New York: Boosey & Hawkes.

Rao, D. (1988). Craft, singing craft, and musical experience: A
philosophical study with implications for vocal music education as aesthetic
education (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Northwestern University,
Evanston, 1988). Dissertation Aflracts lnternatiorgl. 49 (11A), 3296.

Rao, D. (1987). Artistry in music edupafigp. New York: Boosey &
Hawkes.

Reimer, B. (1989). A_lmilosoth of music em (2"d ed).

Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

249

Rubin, H. J., & Rubin, I. S. (1995). Qualitative interviewing: The art of
hearing data. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Richardson, C., & Whittaker, N. (1992). Critical thinking and music
education. In R. Colwell (Ed), Hancflook of research on music teachingang
Lem (pp. 546-557). New York: Schirmer.

Richardson, C. (1988). Musical thinkingas exemplifiea in mus_ic_
priuaiarp (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois, Urbana,
1988). Dissertation Abstracts International. 49 (09A), 2576.

Roe, P. (1983). Choral music ed_ucation. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-
Hall.

Rudolph, M. (1950). Mmmar of 0mm. New York: Schirmer.

Ryle, G. (1949). The concept of ming. New York: Penguin Books.

Schon, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in
actum. New York: Basic Books.

Schon, D. (1987). matingthe reflactivggactitipner. London:
Jossey-Bass.

Schon, D. A. (1992). The theory of inquiry: Dewey’s legacy to
education. Curriculum Inquiry, 22 (2), 119-139.

Shulman, L. S. (1986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in
teaching. Educational Researcher. 15 (2), 4-14.

Shulman, L. S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the

new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57 (1), 1-22.

250

Standley, J. M., & Madsen, C. K. (1991). An observation procedure to
differentiate teaching experience and expertise in music education. Journal of

Research in Music Education 39 (1), 5-11.

 

Sternberg, R. J. (1988). The triarchic mina: A new theogr of human
intelligence. New York: Viking.

Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of gualitative research:
Grounded theory, mcedures, ang techniguus, Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Stubley, E. (1998). Thinking critically or thinking musically? Defining
musical performance as subject matter. Stu_dies in Music. 17. 157-173.

Taebel, D. K. (1992). The evaluation of music teachers and teaching. In
R. Colwell (Ed), fiarflook of research on music leaching and learning (pp.
310-329). New York: Schirmer.

Tyler, R. W. (1950). _Basic minciples of curriMm and instruction.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Verrastro, R. E., & Leglar, M. (1992). Music teacher education. In R.
Colwell (Ed), Handbook of research on music teauhing and learning (pp. 676-
696). New York: Schirmer.

Watkins, R. E. (1986). A descriptive study of high school choral directors’
use of modeling, metaphorical language, and musical/technical language related
to student attentiveness (Doctoral dissertation, University of Texas at Austin,

1986). Dissertation Abstracts International. 47 (05A), 1644.

251

Warner, D. L. (1986). An investigation of patterns of motivation in
rehearsal construction of selected high school choral conductors (Doctoral
dissertation, University of Northern Colorado, 1989). stertation Abstracts
International, 47 (09), 3352.

Whitaker, N. (1989). Reflective thinking as exemplified in musical
decision making (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois,
Urbana, 1989). Dissertauon Ab§t_racts International. 50 (11A), 3510.

Yarbrough, C. (1975). Effect of magnitude of conductor behaviors on

students in selected mixed choruses. flrnal of Research in Music Education

 

2_3_, 134-136.

Yarbrough, C. (1987). The relationship of behavioral self-assessment to
the achievement of basic conducting skills. Journal of Research in Mu_sjp
Education, 35, 183-189.

Yarbrough, D., Wapnick, J., & Kelly, R. (1979). Effect of videotape
feedback techniques on performance, verbalization, and attitudes of beginning

conductors. Journal of Research in Music Education 27, 103-112.

 

Yin, R. K. (1993). Applications of case study research (Applied Social
Research Methods Series, Vol. 34). Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

Yin, R. K. (1994). Case stucb/ research: Design anumeumpga (2nd ed.)
(Applied Social Research Methods Series, Vol. 5). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Publications.

252

Yinger, R. J. (1977). A study of teacher planning: Description and theory
using developmental ethnographic and information processing methods
(Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Michigan State University, East
Lansing, 1977). fissertatioflbitracts International. 39 (01A), 207.

Yinger, R. J. (1986). Examining thought in action: A theoretical and
methodological critique of research on interactive teaching. Teaching & Teacher
_Ed_ucati_or_1,_2(3), 263-282. E

Yinger, R. J. (1990). The conversation of practice. In Clift, R. T., '.

Houston, W. R., & Pugach, M. C. (Eds), Encouraging reflective practice in

 

education: An analysis of issues and programs (pp. 73-94). New York:

{To

Teacher’s College Press.
Yinger, R. J., 8 Clark, C. M. (1982). Understanding teachers’ judgments

about instruction: The task the method and the meaning (Research Series No.

 

121). East Lansing: Michigan State University, Institute for Research on
Teaching.

Yinger, R. J., & Clark, C. M. (1983). Self-reports of teacher judgment
(Research Series No. 134). East Lansing: Michigan State University, Institute
for Research on Teaching.

Zahorik, J. A. (1975). Teachers’ planning models. Educational
Leadership, 33, 134-139.

Zipprich, M. A. (1995). Teaching web making as a guided planning tool
to improve student narrative writing. Remedial and Special Education 16 (1), 3-

15, 52.

253