Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c4f8m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-20T01:27:43.372Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Assessing complexity. Group composing for a secondary school qualification

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2017

Vicki Thorpe
Vicki Thorpe*
Affiliation:
School of Education, Te Puna Ako Pai Faculty of Education, Victoria University of Wellington, P.O. Box 600, Wellington 6140, New Zealandvicki.thorpe@vuw.ac.nz
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article examines a unique music curriculum and assessment environment through the findings of a practical action research project carried out in secondary schools. I address two current international educational issues: the relationship between formal and informal learning in music, and how individuals’ contributions in collaborative groups might be summatively assessed. Following this I present a model of group composing and explain how it was used as a pedagogical tool in secondary music classrooms. The purpose of this was to help students and their teacher to conceptualise collaborative composing, thereby leading to a clearer understanding and more valid assessment of the processes in which they were engaged.

Type
Research Article
Information
British Journal of Music Education , Volume 34 , Issue 3 , November 2017 , pp. 305 - 320
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

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

References

ABBISS, J. (2011) Social sciences in the New Zealand curriculum: Mixed messages. Curriculum Matters, 7, 118–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ALLSUP, R. E. (2011) Popular Music and Classical Musicians: Strategies and Perspectives. Music Educators Journal, 97 (3), 30–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ALLSUP, R. E. (2003) Mutual learning and democratic action in instrumental music education. Journal of Research in Music Education, 51 (1), 24–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ASMUS, E. P. (1999) Music assessment concepts. Music Educators Journal, 86 (2), 19–24. doi: 10.2307/3399585 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BARRATT, M. (2005) A systems view of musical creativity. In Elliot, D. J. (Ed.), Praxial Music Education. Reflections and Dialogues. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
BELL, P. & WINN, W. (2000) Distributed cognitions, by nature and design. In Jonassen, D. & Land, S. (Eds.), Theoretical Foundations of Learning Environments (1st Edn.) (pp. 123–145). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
BIASUTTI, M. (2012) Group music composing strategies: A case study within a rock band. British Journal of Music Education, 29 (3), 343–357. doi:10.1017/S0265051712000289 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BLACK, P. & WILIAM, D. (1998) Assessment and classroom learning. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice, 5 (1), 7–74. doi:10.1080/0969595980050102 Google Scholar
BLACK, P. & WILIAM, D. (2009) Developing the theory of formative assessment. Educational Assessment, Evaluation & Accountability, 21 (1), 5–31. doi: 10.1007/s11092-008-9068-5 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BODEN, M. A. (1990) The Creative Mind: Myths and Mechanisms. London: Weidenfeld/Abacus & Basic Books.Google Scholar
BOYCE–TILLMAN, J. (2003) Assessing diversity. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 2 (1), 41–62. doi: 10.1177/1474022203002001004 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BRAUN, H. (2012) Conceptions of validity: The private and the public. Measurement: Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives, 10 (1–2), 46–49. doi: 10.1080/15366367.2012.679159 Google Scholar
BURNARD, P. (2012a) Rethinking ‘music creativity’ and the notion of multiple creativities in music. In Odena, O. (Ed.), Musical Creativity: Insights from Music Education Research (pp. 5–28). Farnham: Ashgate. Retrieved from http://VUW.eblib.com/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=823580.Google Scholar
BURNARD, P. (2012b) Musical Creativities in Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BURNARD, P. (2007) Routes to understanding musical creativity. In Bresler, L. (Ed.), International Handbook of Research in Arts Education (pp. 1199–1214.). New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BURNARD, P., & YOUNKER, B. A. (2002) Mapping pathways: Fostering creativity in composition. Music Education Research, 4 (2), 245–261. doi: 10.1080/1461380022000011948 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BURNARD, P. & YOUNKER, B. A. (2004) Problem-solving and creativity: Insights from students’ individual composing pathways. International Journal of Music Education, 22 (1), 59–76. doi: 10.1177/0255761404042375 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CABEDO–MAS, A. & DÍAZ–GÓMEZ, M. (2013) Positive musical experiences in education: music as a social praxis. Music Education Research, 15 (4), 455–470. doi: 10.1080/14613808.2013.763780 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CAIN, T. (2013) ‘Passing it on’: Beyond formal or informal pedagogies. Music Education Research, 15 (1), 74–91. doi:10.1080/14613808.2012.752803 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CAMPBELL, P. S. (1995) Of garage bands and song-getting: The musical development of young rock musicians. Research Studies in Music Education, 4 (1), 12–20. doi: 10.1177/1321103x9500400103 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CARLISLE, K. (2013) A study of teacher formative influence upon and student experience of social-emotional learning climate in secondary school music settings. British Journal of Music Education, 30 (2), 223–243. doi: doi:10.1017/S0265051713000053 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
COLE, M. (1996) Cultural Psychology. The Once and Future Discipline. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
COLE, M. & ENGESTRÖM, Y. (1993) A cultural-historical approach to distributed cognition. In Salomon, G. (Ed.), Distributed Cognitions: Psychological and Educational Considerations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
CSIKSZENTMIHALYI, M. (1988) The flow experience of human psychology. In Csikszentmihalyi, M. & Csikszentmihalyi, I. (Eds.), Optimal Experience: Psychological Studies of Flow in Consciousness (pp. 15–35). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DAVIS, S. G. (2005) That thing you do! Compositional processes of a rock band. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 6 (16), 1–19. Retrieved from http://www.ijea.org/v6n16/.Google Scholar
DILLON, S. C. (2007) Music Meaning and Transformation: Meaningful Music Making for Life. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Retrieved from http://eprints.qut.edu.au/6703/1/Music%2C_Meaning_and_Transformation.pdf Google Scholar
EISNER, E. (2007) Assessment and evaluation in education and the arts. In Bresler, L. (Ed.), International Handbook of Research in Arts Education (pp. 423–426). New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ENGESTRÖM, Y. (2001) Expansive learning at work: Toward an activity theoretical reconceptualization. Journal of Education and Work, 14 (1), 133–156. doi: 10.1080/13639080020028747 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FAUTLEY, M. (2010) Assessment in Music Education. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
FAUTLEY, M. (2005) A new model of the group composing process of lower secondary school students. Music Education Research, 7 (1), 39–57. doi: 10.1080/14613800500042109 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FOLKESTAD, G. (2006) Formal and informal learning situations or practices vs formal and informal ways of learning. British Journal of Music Education, 23 (2), 135–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GLĂVEANU, V.–P. (2011) How are we creative together? Comparing sociocognitive and sociocultural answers. Theory & Psychology, 21 (4), 473–492. doi: 10.1177/0959354310372152 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GREEN, L. (2008) Music, Informal Learning and the School: A New Classroom Pedagogy. Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar
GREEN, L. (2002) How Popular Musicians Learn. A Way Ahead for Music Education. Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar
GUILFORD, J. P. (1950) Creativity. American Psychologist, 5 (9), 444–454. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0063487 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
HARLEN, W. (2005) Teachers' summative practices and assessment for learning: Tensions and synergies. Curriculum Journal, 16, 207–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HATTIE, J. & TIMPERLEY, H. (2007) The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77 (1), 81–112. doi: 10.2307/4624888 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HICKEY, M. (1999) Assessment rubrics for music composition. Music Educators Journal, 85 (4), 26–33. doi: 10.2307/3399530 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HICKEY, M. (2002) Creativity research in music, visual art, theater and dance. In Colwell, R. & Richardson, C. (Eds.), The New Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning (pp. 398–415). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
JAFFURS, S. (2004) The impact of informal music learning practices in the classroom, or how I learned how to teach from a garage band. International Journal of Music Education, 22 (3), 189–200. doi: 10.1177/0255761404047401 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JAFFURS, S. (2006) The intersection of informal and formal music learning processes. International Journal of Community Music. Retrieved from http://www.intljcm.com/ Google Scholar
JAMES, M. (2012) Assessment in harmony with our understanding of learning: Problems and possibilities. In Gardner, J. (Ed.), Assessment and Learning (pp.187–205). London: Sage Publications.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JOHNSON, D. W. & JOHNSON, R. T. (2004) Assessing Students in Groups. Thousand Oaks: Sage.Google Scholar
KAUFMAN, J. C. & BEGHETTO, R. A. (2009) Beyond big and little: The four c model of creativity. Review of General Psychology, 13 (1), 1–12. doi: 10.1037/a0013688 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
KRATUS, J. (2012) Nurturing the songcatchers: Philosophical issues in the teaching of music composition. In Bowman, W. D. & Frega, A. L. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy in Music Education (pp. 367–385). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
LAVE, J. (1988) Cognition in Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LAVE, J. & WENGER, E. (1991) Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGILLEN, C. & McMILLAN, R. (2005) Engaging with adolescent musicians: Lessons in song writing, cooperation and the power of original music. Research Studies in Music Education, 25 (1), 1–20. doi: 10.1177/1321103x050250010401 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McPHAIL, G. J. (2012a) Knowledge and the curriculum: Music as a case study in educational futures New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 47 (1), 33–46.Google Scholar
McPHAIL, G. J. (2012b) From singular to over-crowded region: Curriculum change in senior secondary school music in New Zealand. British Journal of Music Education, 29 (03), 317–330. doi:10.1017/S0265051712000058 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McPHAIL, G. J. (2014) Music teachers talking: Views on secondary school curriculum content. Curriculum Matters, 10, 33–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McPHAIL, G. J. (2013) The canon or the kids: Teachers and the recontextualisation of classical and popular music in the secondary school curriculum. Research Studies in Music Education, 35 (1), 7–20. doi: 10.1177/1321103x13483083 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MINISTRY OF, EDUCATION (2007) The New Zealand Curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.Google Scholar
MURPHY, R. & ESPELAND, M. (2007) Making connections in assessment and evaluation in arts education. In Bresler, L. (Ed.), International Handbook of Research in Arts Education. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
NEWTON, P. E. (2007) Clarifying the purposes of educational assessment. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 14 (2), 149–170. doi: 10.1080/09695940701478321 Google Scholar
NEWTON, P. E. (2012) Clarifying the consensus definition of validity. Measurement: Interdisciplinary Research and Perspectives, 10 (1–2), 1–29. doi:10.1080/15366367.2012.669666 Google Scholar
NEW ZEALAND QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY (2010) 91092. Compose Two Original Pieces of Music. Retrieved from http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/ncea/assessment/search.do?query_Music&view_all&level_01 Google Scholar
ODENA, O. (2012) Musical Creativity: Insights from Music Education Research. Retrieved from http://VUW.eblib.com/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=823580 Google Scholar
ODENA, O. & WELCH, G. (2007) The influence of teachers' backgrounds on their perceptions of musical creativity: A qualitative study with secondary school music teachers. Research Studies in Music Education, 28 (1), 71–81. doi:10.1177/1321103x070280010206 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ROGOFF, B. (1990) Apprenticeship in Thinking: Cognitive Development in Social Context: Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SADLER, D. R. (1989) Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems. Instructional Science, 18 (2), 119–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SADLER, D. R. (2007) Perils in the meticulous specification of goals and assessment criteria. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 14 (3), 387–392. doi: 10.1080/09695940701592097 Google Scholar
SALOMON, G. (1993) No distribution without individuals’ cognition: A dynamic interactional view. In Salomon, G. (Ed.), Distributed Cognitions: Psychological and Educational Considerations (pp. 111–138). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
SAWYER, R. K. & DEZUTTER, S. (2009) Distributed creativity: How collective creations emerge from collaboration. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 3 (2), 81–92. doi: 10.1037/a0013282 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
THORPE, V. E. (2015) Assessing Complexity: Group Composing and New Zealand's National Certificates of Educational Achievement. (Unpublished doctoral thesis.) Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.Google Scholar
THORPE, V. E. (2012) Assessment rocks? The assessment of group composing for qualification. Music Education Research, 14 (4), 417–429. doi: 10.1080/14613808.2012.699957 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
THORPE, V. E. (2009) Help from my Friends: Group Composing and Informal Music Learning. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the Joint Conference of XXXIst ANZARME Annual Conference and the Ist Conference of the Music Educators Research Center (MERC).Google Scholar
THORPE, V. E. (2008) We Made This Song. The Group Song Writing Processes of Three Adolescent Rock Bands. (Unpublished masters thesis.) New Zealand School of Music, Wellington.Google Scholar
TOBIAS, E. S. (2012) Hybrid spaces and hyphenated musicians: Secondary students' musical engagement in a songwriting and technology course. Music Education Research, 14 (3), 329–346. doi:10.1080/14613808.2012.685459 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TOBIAS, E. S. (2013) Composing, songwriting, and producing: Informing popular music pedagogy. Research studies in Music Education, 35 (2), 213–237. doi: 10.1177/1321103x13487466 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TORRANCE, E. P. (1988) The nature of creativity as manifest in its testing. In Sternberg, R. J. (Ed.), The Nature of Creativity (pp. 43–73). New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
VAN AALST, J. (2013) Assessment of collaborative learning. In Hmelo–Silver, C., Chinn, C. A., Chan, C. K. & O'Donnell, A. M. (Eds.), International Handbook of Collaborative Learning. (pp.280–296). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
VYGOTSKY, L. (1978) The Mind in Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
VYGOTSKY, L. (1986) Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
WALLAS, G. (1926) The Art of Thought. London: Jonathon Cape.Google Scholar
WEBSTER, P. R. (2002) Creative thinking in music: Advancing a model. In Sullivan, T. & Willingham, L. (Eds.), Creativity and Music Education. (pp.16–34). Edmonton, AB Canada: Canadian Music Educators' Association. Retrieved from http://online.uncg.edu/courses/mue704/readings/unit3/Webster%202002.pdf Google Scholar
WEBSTER, P. R. (1990) Creative thinking in music: Introduction. Music Educators Journal, 76 (9), 21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WELCH, G. F. (2012) Musical creativity, biography, genre, and learning. In Hargreaves, D. J., Miell, D. & MacDonald, R. (Eds.), Musical Imaginations. Multidisciplinary Perspectives in Creativity, Performance and Perception. (pp. 385–398). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
WENGER, E. (1998) Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WIGGINS, J. H. (2007) Compositional process in music. In Bresler, L. (Ed.), International Handbook of Research in Arts Education (pp.453–470). Dordrecht: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
YOUNG, M. F. D. (2010) The future of education in a knowledge society: The radical case for a subject-based curriculum. Pacific-Asian Education Journal, 22 (1), 21–32.Google Scholar