One-to-one pedagogy: Developing a protocol for illuminating the nature of teaching in the conservatoire

Abstract

This article outlines the approach used to develop a scheme to characterize the nature and quality of specific practices of one-to-one teaching, selected on the basis of their potential significance to the development of student performance. Although the value of one-to-one teaching remains largely unchallenged at the conservatoire level, music institutions are increasingly being called to justify the need for such a cost-and resource-intensive pedagogical approach. Funding pressures combined with a lack of systematic investigation into the value and efficacy of one-to-one teaching underscore the urgent need for a rigorous, evidenced-based way to characterize related pedagogical practices. This article documents the processes of developing one such approach at an Australian conservatoire. The authors hope to encourage and facilitate the implementation of similar projects elsewhere, and thereby help lay the foundation for a systematic and credible international understanding of the value and limitations of one-to-one learning and teaching practices in the conservatoire environment.

‘Play it by ear’ – teachers' responses to ear-playing tasks during one-to-one instrumental lessons

“…copying music by ear from a recording) that has not traditionally been part of one-to-one instrumental lessons despite significant music education research highlighting its benefits for teachers and students alike (Mainwaring, 1951b;McPherson, 1995bMcPherson, , 1997McPherson & Gabrielsson, 2002;Priest, 1985Priest, , 1989Woody, 2012). Secondly, the frequency of verbal interactions could have been attributed to instrumental teachers instructional approach during one-to-one lessons that is characterised by teacher domination (Carey, Grant, McWilliam, & Taylor, 2013;Colprit, 2000;Creech, 2009;Creech & Gaunt, 2012;Creech & Hallam, 2011;McPhail, 2013;Tait, 1992). This has resulted in the teachers talking more (and dominantly operating the CD player) rather than letting the students play along and autonomously operate the recording.…”

Intersecting Cultures in Music and Dance Education

“…Much of the recent literature examines performance training in higher education (Carey et al 2013 ;Perkins 2013 ;Burwell 2013 ;Zhukov 2012 ;Gaunt 2010 ;Nerland 2007 ). For a performance student preparing to work in the community as an instrumental or voice teacher, a limited body of research exists on interpersonal studio relationships in pre-tertiary contexts and little literature on encounters between the studio teacher and student with different cultural worldviews.…”

“…If this is true of the classroom context, then it is more relevant in the one-to-one studio partnership where teaching activities can pass unregulated. Carey et al ( 2013 ) note that pedagogical activities evaded scrutiny for many years because of the "intimacy and inaccessibility of the space in which it was conducted" (p. 149). The studio pedagogy course under discussion in this article was developed to help emerging studio teachers move safely into the community and to have the skills to create culturally safe and "psychologically safe" (Adler 2011 , p. 610) music studio teaching and learning sites.…”

Bridging the gap: Harp teachers on teaching orchestral playing

“…Recent music education research (Burwell, Carey, & Bennett, 2017; Carey, Grant, McWilliam, & Taylor, 2013; Gaunt, 2011; Gaunt & Westerlund, 2013) illuminates contrasts between collaborative learning and traditional one-to-one teaching common within Western classical instrumental education at conservatories and music schools. Each environment (one-to-one lesson or orchestral rehearsal) facilitates different kinds of learning.…”