Research

If you are interested, you could help us by taking part in our current research project.

The primary research question in this study is how teachers use group music making for social inclusion. The research team will explore the strategies used by primary and/or secondary teachers in the classroom. The researcher will also ask teachers about the difference it makes to the whole class and to individual pupils. Finally, the study hopes to shed some light on the barriers teachers face with group music making and how teachers overcome these difficulties. The findings from this research will be used in various ways, such as a BA dissertation, conference presentations, and other publications.

The research involves taking part in the workshop and initial feedback provided by participants in a short questionnaire. This will be followed up by observations in participant teachers’ classrooms and a 30-minute interview.

Previous publications:

Published in 2018 in the Journal of Music, Technology and Education, 11 (1), pp. 83-101,

available for open access from 2020: 

Wolf, M. and Younie, S. – Overcoming barriers: towards a framework for Continuing Professional Development to foster teaching sound-based music 

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Abstract:

This paper presents a theoretical discussion emerging from a pilot study within the EARS 2 teacher’s pack study, in which the suitability of the teacher’s packs that accompany an online sound-based music resource (EARS 2, http://www.ears2.dmu.ac.uk) was tested. The study investigated if the teacher’s packs could bridge the gap between the teacher’s current knowledge and the knowledge that was provided in the resources on sound-based music given to the teacher. During the study a minor technical glitch appeared which caused the teacher to discontinue with the teaching trial. This was seen as a critical incident and was analysed using the Critical Incident Technique (Flanagan 1954). During the analysis, three different theoretical concepts were applied to the critical incident: cognitive prototype theory (North and Hargreaves 2008, Wolf 2013a and b), the threshold concept theory (Meyer and Land 2003, Holland 2015, Wolf 2016) and the concept of metacognitive knowledge (Wilson and Bai 2010). The paper concludes by suggesting a theoretical framework for teacher CPD in sound-based music. The results presented in this article cannot be generalised due to the sample size, however, this is currently followed up in further research.