Reprinted with permission from December 2016 of the NY School Music News
This RSA Animate was adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert and recipient of the RSA’s Benjamin Franklin award.
President Barack Obama, in 2015, signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) that replaced the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002. In the official report, President Obama emphasized that “we must ensure that we are doing a better job of helping all our students master critical thinking, adaptability, collaboration, problem solving and creativity – skills that go beyond the basics for which schools were designed in the past.” (Obama, 2015, p. 3)
The ESSA promises to reduce the emphasis on standardized testing, enhance the opportunity for innovative teaching, and provide resources for schools to implement creative teaching and learning programs.
The National Education Association and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills also describes four vital skills for today’s students: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. These are exemplified in our 2014 National Standards for the Arts through “essential understandings” in the actions of “creating, performing, responding, and connecting,” not only for the general music students but also for school ensembles as well.
The Ensemble Strand of the Core Music Standards state specific actions that students must imagine, plan and make, evaluate and refine, select, analyze, interpret, evaluate, and present in their ensemble rehearsals. However, how often are our students actually implementing these actions? Instead, are most of the musical decisions of analyzing, interpreting and evaluating completed by the director on the podium? How regularly do student musicians create new compositions within an ensemble rehearsal? Are our band, choir, and orchestra students developing their own critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity within our rehearsals?
The problem
School music ensembles traditionally have a strong foundation in teacher-directed instruction directly linked to high-stakes concerts and/or competitions. In the traditional ensemble setting, teachers’ decisions of methodology and overall curriculum design are determined with a specific outcome in mind: the perfect performance. This could be considered the music educator’s version of “teaching to the test.”
In most cases, directors are responsible for selecting the music, interpreting the score, designing rehearsal processes, and determining performance procedures in order to efficiently prepare for the concert or contest. This traditional instruction formula typically produces musicians who are dependent upon their ensemble directors and, therefore, possess limited knowledge and skills necessary for autonomous music making.
However, changes in educational reform and policies described above require teachers to focus more on the learning process rather than the product. Traditional direct-instruction approaches utilized by many school choral, orchestra and band directors often fail to provide students with the opportunities to develop and utilize their own curiosities. A fundamental shift from teacher-directed to a student-centered learning environment is needed to facilitate life-long musical independence. How can this be done in a traditional ensemble setting? A new student-centered approach to traditional ensembles may fulfill this need.
SUNY Potsdam Campus Community Band, under the direction of Dr. Caron Collins shares their Curious-Collaborative-Creativity approach to concert band.
A PEAK @ CCC
The investigation
Similar in design to project-based learning, the Curious, Collaborative Creativity (CCC) approach strives to ignite students’ curiosity through investigations and collaborations within their music ensembles. In the CCC framework, students pursue solutions to performance problems by asking questions, debating ideas, designing/leading rehearsals, creating new musical compositions, and sharing their own “Informance” with the public. CCC is founded in authenticity and real-life application of students’ natural inquisitiveness and creative musicianship.
This action-research project partnered with public and parochial school band, choral, and orchestra programs to test the CCC three-step process within the current structure of their school ensembles. The teachers involved in this project followed the procedures of the CCC approach described in a digital handbook. They were invited to test its application in their ensembles, measure the success of student achievement of the National Core Music Standards, and record any development of students’ critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity.
Participating New York school ensembles included a parochial school elementary band, a middle school and high school string orchestra program, and a high school choir. At the collegiate level, a Nebraska college pep band participated in the study. Data collection procedures included videos capturing daily ensemble rehearsals and reflective responses from the participants. All participants and parents of students signed release forms granting permission to participate in the CCC program, video recordings and photos.
CCC three-step process
In Step One, a variety of music was selected through a democratic process from a list generated by the students and teachers. The music represented their varied musical interests, styles and genres. Students completed questionnaires to determine learning objectives, roles they would be interested in assuming, and musical projects they would like to create. The results were then compiled and teams were assembled.
During Step Two, the students worked together in teams at specific times during their full ensemble rehearsals. Performing Teams worked with the teacher in analyzing, interpreting, rehearsing, evaluating, and refining the music being studied. This team assisted the director in teaching the music during rehearsals.
Creating Teams arranged, composed, or improvised new music related to the style of their ensemble’s selected pieces. Responding Teams enhanced the understanding of the music through written descriptions, visual displays, interpretive movement or artistic applications. The ensemble directors became the facilitators in leading the students in making personal connections to the music.
Step Three was the culmination of the musical journey: The Informance. In the CCC approach, an Informance is defined as a performance where the audience becomes well informed and is invited to participate in the music-making experience. Infused during the performance, the students shared what they have learned to bring the audience toward a deeper understanding of the music. Musical enhancements of dance, artwork and audience participation served to enlighten musical performance and dissolve the traditional boundaries of director-student-audience.
Demonstration of a student Responding Team in the CCC approach at an elementary school band Informance. The two students created and led the audience in interpretative movement to Jodie Blackshaw’s composition, Belah Sun Woman.
The Informance
The results
Video recordings during rehearsals and the Informances captured the authenticity and engagement of the students during the CCC process. The videos, daily teacher observations, and student assessment procedures were used when writing their reflections on the experience. These reflections demonstrated positive results in developing musicianship, deeper understanding, and 21st century skills of communication, critical thinking, collaboration and creativity.
Elementary Band Teacher Reflection:
For the ensemble setting, the students collectively selected the piece of music they wanted to learn.” I used inquiry-based approaches and techniques such as immersion rather than direct instruction. As I worked with my students in their private lessons to develop fundamental musical skills and knowledge, we collaborated as a group to accomplish their personal goals.
There were moments when they worked together to solve musical problems and as role models for each other. In the end, each student had accomplished a significant amount of his or her performance goals and a deeper understanding of how music was playing a role in their lives. My students seemed to enjoy themselves, and I was happy to nurture their creativity to drive the nature of their education.
The original video had no sound and was designed by the students to be played during a live performance. The students were members of the Enhancement Team, using the “Curious, Collaborative, Creativity” approach to music ensembles. They researched the historical 1993 “Storm of the Century” of which this piece was inspired. They assembled portions of video news reports into a montage to represent their interpretation of the piece. The band performing this piece played it at a slightly slower tempo and therefore aligned perfectly with the video project. SUNY Potsdam Campus Community Band December 2014.
Then Enhancement Team
Middle School and High School Orchestra Teacher Reflection:
One specific approach that really enhanced the quality of my rehearsals was incorporating more collaboration among small groups of students. Students would create original tunes, discuss expressive ideas for our pieces, or share feedback about how we sounded. I would then implement the students’ ideas and feedback into our rehearsal, often having a representative of the team demonstrate the ideas or conduct the section they were analyzing.
Student teams provided opportunities to share their ideas with each other, which then made them feel more comfortable to share with the entire orchestra. Putting the students in charge of implementing their ideas created confident student leaders in my ensemble. This also helped to increase engagement in the entire ensemble because they were excited to try out the ideas of their peers! Implementing the CCC approach made our concerts even better than when sticking with the “traditional” model of rehearsing.
Demonstration of the Responding Team leading an interpretive movement to a choral work the the High School Choir is studying.
The Responding Team
High School Choir Teacher Reflection:
I think that I could have helped my students to be more successful if I had time within my schedule to meet with each group between rehearsals and help guide them through their tasks. As the only music teacher for our Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12 program, I just did not have the time to invest and had to fall back on more traditional ways of teaching. This is not to say that we abandoned the CCC project by any means, but just ‘expertise’ along the way.
This experience has strengthened the bonds between participants, has literally shifted the relationships with the music we selected, [increased] the sense of personal investment in the programs we present to the community, and has opened the doors to peer mentoring. Students were proud of their abilities to help one another and understood that their willingness to accept help from their peers was not a weakness but built a community within the ensemble. When students were given the opportunity to lead, they discovered that they knew more than they thought they did and had the tools that directly enriched their rehearsal and performance experiences.
Demonstration of a Performance Team teaching and leading in a high school chorus rehearsal.
The Performing Team
College Pep Band Director Reflection:
When I first started my career in music education, I was very teacher-centered. I would have panic attacks before concerts thinking, “Did I prepare everything they need to know?” The more I experimented with flipping ensembles into student-centered classes, the less I panicked. By using CCC, performances are now more fun and showcase what students are able to do. It’s less pressure for me!
There was a lot of time spent getting the pieces in place so that when we had rehearsals or Informances, everything would flow much more smoothly. Informances were the times I stepped aside to let the students shine. The outcome wasn’t mine anymore; it was all the students’. If I were to take a teacher-centered approach and direct the band for every rehearsal and performance, they might be more musically accurate, but maybe not.
Through this project I was constantly amazed at what my students were able to do and what they knew. I will continue to have students make their own experiences as a learning process for them. I want it to be about the students and for the students, so we receive what the students are willing to give.
This video highlights the contributions of the Research Team within the Doane Tiger Pep Band, utilizing the Curious, Collaborative, & Creative (CCC) approach.
The Instructional Team
Conclusion
The results in this particular study demonstrate that the Curious, Collaborative Creativity approach provides flexibility in a variety of musical ensembles with diverse levels of knowledge and skills. The participants’ usage of CCC varied according to their students’ educational needs, the curricular design of their music program, and the applications in their particular setting.
Student degree of engagement and ownership increased with participation in CCC teams. Musicianship was advanced and performances were reported to be successful. Participants indicated that they will continue to use all or portions of CCC in their teaching to strengthen their ensembles and help their students to develop 21st century skills. This study demonstrated that the Curious, Collaborative Creativity approach promotes a student-centered environment within the traditional school ensemble while implementing the National Core Music Standards, the ESSA goals, and the growth of vital skills for student success.
