Signature pedagogies for musical practice: A case study of creativity development in an orchestral composers’ workshop

Abstract

The training of aspiring professional composers is a largely under-investigated area. Learning pathways into the profession tend to involve a university composition degree and participation in workshops with professional ensembles. These workshops constitute a form of industry experience undertaken in the transition from university to professional practice. Lee Shulman proposed the concept of signature pedagogies using a framework of cognitive, practical and moral apprenticeships to demonstrate distinctive qualities of professional preparation in the fields of medicine, law and the clergy. In order to understand what might be characteristic features of a signature pedagogy in the preparation of professional composers, this case study examines teaching and learning practices and structures evidenced through a one-week composers' workshop hosted by a professional symphony orchestra and led by eminent composer-teachers. Observation of rehearsals, masterclasses and indepth interviews with student-composers, composer-teachers and conductor generated data that were analysed initially to identify emergent themes and subsequently through lenses of creativity development and signature pedagogies. Findings demonstrate that this workshop provides riskladen, authentic experience, and guided apprenticeships in cognitive, practical and moral aspects of professional practice. It provides a space in which composers, typically freelancers, acquire understandings of orchestral culture and practical skills.

Towards a signature pedagogy for design and technology education: a literature review

“…After the initial coding of articles, a smaller sample of 11 were identified as directly relevant to the research question RQ1 (Boling et al, 2013;Caldwell et al, 2016;Domakin, 2014;Hall & Thomson, 2017;Love & Barrett, 2019;Noel & Liub, 2017;Osmond & Tovey, 2015;Parker et al, 2016;Peel, 2011;Robinson, 2015;Thomson & Hall, 2015). A variety of approaches were adopted by the authors in this sample, with 7 identifying at least one research method (Table 5).…”

“…The last two articles in final sample (Osmond & Tovey, 2015;Thomson & Hall, 2015) were included as directly relevant to the second research question (RQ2), focusing on implications for design and technology education. Lynch et al (2019), Parker et al (2016), Schrand and Eliason (2012), Peel (2011), Hyland and Kilcommins (2009) Abstract 18 Love and Barrett (2019), Lynch et al (2019), Hall and Thomson (2017), Noel and Liub (2017), Caldwell et al (2016), Parker et al (2016), Spronken-Smith et al (2016, Osmond and Tovey (2015), Sowbel and Miller (2015), Thomson and Hall (2015), Domakin (2014), Weiß et al (2014), Boling et al (2013), Asghar (2012), Schrand and Eliason (2012), Zambo and Isai (2012), Totterdell et a...…”

“…Furthermore, the literature highlights the need to focus primarily on practical and experiential ways of knowing (Noel & Liub, 2017;Osmond & Tovey, 2015;Robinson, 2015). Signature pedagogies are intended to support learners in the transition from student to practitioner (Love & Barrett, 2019;Osmond & Tovey, 2015), and whilst it is recognised that a minority of students studying any particular subject in school will enter into a directly related career, they are different to transferable skills (Robinson, 2015). Returning to Shulman's three dispositions, discussed in the introduction, it could be argued that subjects in the curriculum offer learners different ways of thinking, performing and acting with integrity.…”

“…Evolving from the master/apprentice relationship, where learners are guided by an expert, there may be a tendency to focus overly on the role of the teacher (Caldwell et al, 2016). However, there is general agreement that both the learner and the teacher play a crucial role in modelling and dialogue (Love & Barrett, 2019;Noel & Liub, 2017) with relationship being central to signature pedagogies (Love & Barrett, 2019;Noel & Liub, 2017;Caldwell et al, 2016;Osmond & Tovey, 2015;Peel, 2011).…”

“…In design education, the importance of the design studio as a formative 'place' where the activity is mediated by how students work and interact with their peers and their tutors (Love & Barrett, 2019;Noel & Liub, 2017;Caldwell et al, 2016;Osmond & Tovey, 2015;Boling et al, 2013;Peel, 2011). The studio represents a liminal space between the theoretical and the practical aspects of the discipline.…”