Exploring Informal Music Learning in a Professional Development Community of Music Teachers

Abstract

The purpose of this instrumental case study was to explore the perceptions and practices of four music teachers as they participated in a professional development community (PDC) to discuss and implement informal music learning practices. Participants met bimonthly as a PDC to discuss research articles on informal music learning, share student work, socialize with peers, and develop ideas to use in their classrooms. Data included video recordings of PDC meetings, audio recordings of semistructured interviews, in-school observations of informal music learning activities, field notes, and written artifacts; these were coded and analyzed for emerging themes. Three themes that emerged from the data included experiments and modifications, pedagogical practices, and finding value. The participants implemented a variety of activities using informal processes, which they developed by modifying ideas presented in research articles they read and lessons they taught previously. They used many pedagogical practices during informal activities, which fell on a continuum of teacher and student control and a continuum of teacher scaffolding. The participants found value in informal music learning because it provided a new avenue for them to help students develop independent musicianship. Exploring informal music learning in the PDC helped participants feel validated in using this new pedagogical approach. Implications for the use of informal music learning with younger students and suggestions for professional development are also discussed. My kids were really proud of themselves.. .. That process was really fun to watch, but I think that what they came up with, they had ownership of it in a way that they wouldn't have had if I would've been like, "Play the drum part like this." So that ownership piece, I think, was huge for my kids, and the permission to experiment and to take ownership of it.-Cara (a participant) Recent scholars in music education have advocated for the inclusion of musical genres and practices used by popular musicians and garage band musicians as well as from vernacular traditions (

Healing bruises: Identity tensions in a beginning teacher’s use of formal and informal music learning

“…Cain described how formal pedagogy had an aim of “transmission” and informal learning had one of “authentic reproduction,” a finding supported by Abramo and Austin (2014). Kastner (2014) found that general music teachers who used informal music learning valued their students’ development of independent musicianship, rather than transmitting knowledge or reproducing pieces. Teachers using these processes provided an environment in which learning happens holistically and placed less emphasis on formal notation and music vocabulary (Abramo & Austin, 2014; Cain, 2013; Davis, 2010; Green, 2008).…”

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“…The theme of collaboration with peers as a way to increase the effectiveness of professional development and also as a possible solution to isolation has been an area of interest to those in music education research. While a number of researchers have focused on the topic of collaboration as a means to make professional development more successful and meaningful (Gruenhagen, 2009;Hammel, 2007;Kastner, 2012;Monsour, 1991;Pellagrino, 2011;Pelletier, 2013;Stanley, 2012;Stanley, Snell, & Edgar, 2014), fewer have considered the long-term benefits that collaboration could play with helping ease feelings of isolation (Sindberg & Lipscomb, 2005). There is further evidence that informal, rather than formal, collaboration among music teachers might be the most valuable form of professional development (Conway, 2008), but both forms of professional development are shown to have value (Eros, 2013;Pelletier, 2013).…”

K-12 music teacher-to-teacher collaboration in Iowa

“…Goddard, et al, 2007;Bryk et al, 1999;Caron & M. J. McLaughlin, 2002;Hollins, 2004;McDuffie, 2009;Pounder, 1999;Ronfeldt et al, 2015;Rosenholtz, 1989;Shachar & Shmuelevitz, 1997;Sun, 2016). Concerning music teachers, a number of qualitative studies have documented the importance of collaboration (Battersby & Verdi, 2015;Gruenhagen, 2012;Kastner, 2014;Pellegrino, Sweet, Derges-Kastner, Russell, & Reese, 2014;Sindberg, 2011;Sindberg, 2016;Stanley, 2012;Stanley, Snell, & Edgar, 2014). I found no quantitative studies on collaboration amongst music teachers, prompting the current pilot study on K-12 music teachers in Iowa.…”

“…Due to studies such as the aforementioned, school districts and education experts have developed different professional development initiatives to formalize collaborative activity amongst teachers, variously referred to as professional learning communities (PLCs), professional development communities (PDCs), or collaborative teacher study group (CTSGs), among other labels (DuFour, Eaker, & National Educational Service [U.S.], 1999;Hollins, 2004;Kastner, 2014;Stanley, 2012). Furthermore, large scale school reform initiatives often emphasize collaborative approaches, and as recently as 2015, schools who received Race to the Top grants "unanimously chose to incorporate some type of professional learning community [in their school improvement plan] and selected models that emphasized increasing and sustaining teacher collaboration in all disciplines" (Battersby & Verdi, 2015, p. 23).…”

“…In addition to general education research, a number of qualitative reports have documented the value of collaborative activity amongst music teachers at the preservice, elementary, middle, and high school levels (Fitzpatrick, 2014;Gruenhagen, 2009;Gruenhagen, 2012;Kastner, 2014;Sindberg, 2011;Sindberg, 2016;Sindberg & Lipscomb, 2005;Stanley, 2012;Stanley, Snell, & Edgar, 2014;Varvarigou, 2016). Using ethnographic and case study methodologies to examine the lived experiences of individuals and small groups of music teachers, the aforementioned researchers examined the state of collaborative engagement in particular music education contexts.…”