Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, August 22-26 2006
Engaging classrooms: Flow indicators as tools for pedagogical transformation Lori A. Custodero Teachers College, Columbia University New York, New York USA
[email protected]
Lelouda Stamou University of Macedonia Thessaoniki, GREECE
Researchers found that descriptions of such optimal experiences reflected the ease in which ideas were formed, and consistently used the word “flow” to describe the phenomenon (e.g., Csikszentmihalyi, 1975, 1997). Indeed, if one peruses first hand accounts of musicians, the word “flow” occurs quite often, as in Tchaikovsky’s letter from Clarens, written in 1878: “The only music capable of moving and touching us is that which flows from the depths of a composer’s soul when he is stirred by inspiration” (in Barron, Montuorri, & Barron, 1997, p. 181) or an interview with contemporary composer/artist, Rosanne Cash, who spoke of her creative “access point … when the gates are open and it’s a free flow of information and inspiration” (Boyd, 1992, p. 163).
ABSTRACT Using flow experience as a paradigm for pedagogical development, and flow indicators as tools to implement appropriately challenging activities, 28 teachers in Greece took part in an action inquiry study over the course of 3 weeks. Flow indicators were observable, and manifested differently in various teaching contexts. Social conditions and movement contributed strongly to the flow outcomes. Teachers voiced concerns over space and time issues, but were overwhelmingly positive about the value of observing qualities of student engagement with the lesson content. Keywords: music education, flow experience, teaching, transformation, professional development
“Flow” experience has since been operationalized first through written self-reports, and more recently as an observable phenomenon in music learning venues (e.g., Custodero, 2005). Maintaining the state of flow requires that as challenges are met with existing skills, then both skills and challenges must increase. This relationship between flow experience and learning implies that a teacher’s ability to recognize indicators of such experience in their students would lead to improved effectiveness. Past studies involving observation of flow experience in music educational settings have featured the teacher as researcher in preschool music classrooms (Custodero 1998, 2002, 2005; St. John, 2004) and studio voice lessons (Matthews, 2002) resulting in findings having strong implications for teaching. These include a new appreciation of the learner-as-agent who can creatively interpret and expand upon musical materials teachers provide, the role of peers in providing models, and the need for time to achieve mastery through invention.
INTRODUCTION When individuals are engaged in meaningful activity for which they are highly skilled and which provides compelling challenges, they often experience a selfperpetuating state of enjoyment that results in creative products, insightful thinking, and personal growth. In: M. Baroni, A. R. Addessi, R. Caterina, M. Costa (2006) Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Music Perception & Cognition (ICMPC9), Bologna/Italy, August 22-26 2006.©2006 The Society for Music Perception & Cognition (SMPC) and European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music (ESCOM). Copyright of the content of an individual paper is held by the primary (first-named) author of that paper. All rights reserved. No paper from this proceedings may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the paper's primary author. No other part of this proceedings may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information retrieval system, without permission in writing from SMPC and ESCOM.
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Observable flow indicators
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ICMPC9 Proceedings Custodero (1998, 2002, 2005) has identified 6 indicators of flow experience that are observable in young children’s musical experiences during the course of instruction. They are divided into two categories, Challenge Seeking Indicators and Challenge Monitoring Indicators. The first group focuses on the learner-as-agent in the educative process and include self-assignment, self-correction, and deliberate gesture. For these indicators, observations are individually documented, with attention to the resources learners use to seek challenges in their environment – these are often other people whose perceived expertise is accessible. The second group focuses on learner interactions with musical materials (e.g., a musical score or material later in the same class or in subsequent sessions, or outside of the classroom environment.
a scale) in ways that sustain the flow state; these include anticipation, expansion, and extension. Monitoring challenge in the moment, then, is a matter of exerting control over the passage of time: Anticipating an answer or solution to a teacher-, peer-, or self-initiated problem is an attempt by the learner to contract the amount of time spent “not knowing;” expansion is a deepening of time spent, characterized by learners giving new meanings and transferring ideas to new contexts within the temporal boundaries of a collective musical event; extension, one of the most difficult to observe in real time, is the extending of experienced time, that is, the reappearance of musical seeking to improve their effectiveness. This paper provides preliminary findings from a recent study involving the action inquiry processes of 28 music teachers in Greece who participated in a research project funded by the European Union and the Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs in Greece.
Inasmuch as the observational studies involving flow and music learning emanated from teacher-researchers who were motivated by experiences in their own classrooms, it follows that observing flow indicators may be useful as tools for improving pedagogical practice for teachers
Aims of the study This study addressed several questions around the value of flow experience as a pedagogical framework and the flow indicators as tools to elevate student experience and learning in music educational settings. These areas of inquiry addressed a) To what extent was flow indicators observable in live teaching contexts and how were they characterized? b) When the goal was to create flow experience for learners, what changes did music teachers make to their typical pedagogical approach? c) What was most valuable for teachers about the flow indicator project? d) What were reported learner outcomes? Because of the exploratory nature of the investigation, we included a variety of research settings with teachers and students from varying backgrounds and levels of experience.
Participants and setting
METHOD
Action inquiry project
The methodological approach best able to answer these questions about flow experience and pedagogical change was participative action inquiry (Bray, Lee, Smith, & Yorks, 2000; Torbert, 1991). Steeped in a humanistic model of working collaboratively with participants in the research study, this approach was an ideal fit with flow experience inasmuch as it required participants to employ several of the flow indicators in the very process of doing the research: Teachers needed to self-assign in the design of lesson plans, anticipate what might happen, self-correct in the moment of delivery, and extend their teaching experience by presenting to the whole group. The process of action inquiry involves “developing knowledge in field settings as a catalyst for change” (Bray et al., 2000, p. 3); in this study, teachers tried using the flow indicators in their own teaching contexts. Finally, this method also blends the personal (Torbert, 1991) with the professional, appropriate for this focus on teaching, which is so closely aligned with identity as human beings (Hansen, 1995).
Teachers with music classes were asked to choose a group of students with whom they met regularly and who presented a challenge to their teaching approach. Teachers with private studios were asked to choose 2-3 students for the study. These participants worked in teams of two, with each having pre-established and self-selected roles, one as Teacher Researcher (TR) and one as Peer Researcher (PR). They worked together to devise action plans based on perceived needs in the featured group or applied students, and to implement a visual arts component. In the latter, the TR asked her students to draw pictures of themselves in music class and the PR interviewed the children about what they drew. In order to have the complete experience, many participants functioned in both roles for the length of the study, providing support as a PR and taking their own turn as the TR. Teaching journals were kept by the TR, recording any memorable occurrences of flow indicators. PR videotaped one session for TR, and together they
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Four male and 24 female music teachers in Greece ranging in age from early 20s-late 40s participated in the study. These included elementary music teachers (teaching children under the age of 12), as well as secondary school classroom teachers and those that taught piano, violin, and guitar in applied studio settings. They were recruited through email lists, institutional contacts, and music education seminars given by the second author. Seminar meetings were held at the University of Macedonia in Thessoloniki. Participants were required to commit to full participation in the study, which included attendance at three weekend seminars in March 2006 and the action inquiry project described below.
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*Working with a partner *Writing my thoughts about teaching *Observing students *Attending the seminars We focus our preliminary reporting of the results on these self-interviews in addition to information gleaned from our field notes, the Teacher Questionnaires, and written reports of the video presentations.
Seminar content Each weekend seminar consisted of two 5-hour sessions, and each had a specific function relative to action inquiry projects developed by the teachers. The first focused on preparation and planning, the second, on the implementation process. At the final meeting, teachers shared their projects and reflected on their experiences. Although delivered in English (sessions 1 and 3), both English to Greek and Greek to English translations were provided by the second author; all sessions were videotaped and archived as data for future reference.
FINDINGS The original intention was to present the results of this study in terms of the questions asked. During the analysis, however, it became clear that the value of the constituent parts of the study, including learner outcomes, were inextricably linked to the pedagogical changes teachers discussed. Therefore, after answering the question as to whether or not flow indicators were actually observable, the remainder of this section addresses emergent themes around pedagogical change as reported by participants.
The first author led the initial session, in which topics included conceptions of self as teacher, personal philosophies of good teaching, definitions of flow experience, and demonstrations of the indicators. Participants filled out a Teacher Questionnaire comprised of short answer questions and required a pictorial representation themselves as teachers. Flow indicators were explored through improvisational movement; viewing videotape demonstrations; and writing about each indicator from perspectives of personal experience, observations in teaching, and conjecture about what pedagogical conditions might evoke such experiences. Small group work figured prominently into the weekend, which culminated in the formation of research dyads based on similarities in teaching context and geographic location. These dyads then planned and submitted plans for their projects described above.
Observations of Flow Indicators There were several patterns that emerged in the data around understanding specific flow indicators. Deliberate gesture, anticipation, and self-assignment were the most widely mentioned indicators in both the presentations and the video reflections; Extension, was, understandably the least observable. What was most clear was that context mattered – depending on whether they were in a studio one-to-one setting or in a larger group classroom setting, teachers would notice different indicators. Self-assignment was easily identified in the group settings where the collective direction was very clear and students who had ideas differing from the established direction were easily observable. In contrast, the strong tradition of teacherdirected, technically driven instruction in the studio lesson made it difficult for teachers in this context to create opportunities for self-assignment. Self-correction, on the other hand, was easier to see in the applied lesson setting.
The second seminar was led by the second author and served to better acquaint participants with the strategies of qualitative research, and to answer and questions about the progress of the project. The third and final weekend session involved showing of videotape excerpts of teaching by each team, with commentary on the flow indicators that were observable. This was followed by a brief critique by seminar leaders and participants. During the final seminar, participants were invited to respond privately on videotape to the following list of questions provided by the authors: •
•
• •
Specific indicators held special meaning for individuals, like this interpretation of anticipation: We had anticipation, a special kind of anticipation, which we would characterize as anticipation for understanding and strengthening of the students’ skills through the teacher’s comments/observations… the student hurries to show in her own way that she understood the teacher’s sayings before the teacher finishes her sentence/explanations. We’d say that she is craving, anticipating with enthusiasm and even nervousness the internalization/accumulation of the new information/data.
Looking at (or thinking about) the picture of yourself you drew 2 weeks ago, please tell us about anything you would change today. Tell us about anything that you understand better about yourself as a result of this study. What did you do differently in your teaching as a result of this study? Would you like to continue doing this? If so, how do you plan on doing this? What surprised you most about your involvement in this study? To what extent were these aspects of the study meaningful to you?
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In the following excerpt from a presentation summary, the piano teacher’s attempts to get her student to maintain the
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actualization. Teachers noted the significance of naming what they saw, the feedback from peer researchers, and seeing themselves on videotape. They reflected on change in terms of their perceived roles in the classroom and studio, the evidence noted in their students’ accomplishments, the challenges in adopting such a framework, and the empowerment experienced in selfevaluation. Teacher-student roles: Of trust, enjoyment, and learning Participants who responded to the chance on the third weekend to change the “teacher image” of themselves drawn in the first week usually wanted to remove themselves from the center of attention and position themselves either in the margins or remove themselves entirely. In the excerpt below, the teacher reveals a new role for herself, defined by her student’s drawing of music class:
I ask her to clap with her hands and her body a rhythm that matches the rhythm of the piece we are studying. This way, since she will design different movements for each phrase she will have to repeat the movements when the phrase is repeated. In other words, I desire for her to conceive the repetitive phrases through the adding of movement. The peer researcher provided this summary of indicators for the above activity. Note the presence of unnamed flow indicators, such as the allusion to self-assignment in the deliberate gesture category: •
•
•
•
Deliberate Gesture Even though the teacher gave to A. some ideas on how to rhythmically accompany with her hands and body the phrases of the piece, the final choice and combination of the movements was hers and only hers (A.’s) and the performance was done with great enthusiasm. Anticipation A. was in an alert mood since she was waiting for the changing of the phrases in order to accompany them rhythmically. Self-Correction I did not observe this indicator. But we have to say this: A. did not manage to accomplish exactly what was asked from her to do, the activity set by her teacher. But she understood that and she also admitted as much, something that is not on the video. Expansion One can maybe observe a transformation of the material, which is a specific piece she had to perform. In this activity she also had to show the differences or the common things of each phrase while accompanying the same phrases with the same movements.
The drawing I did two weeks ago showed a fearful teacher who wanted to teach the scales to her six-year- old students; after these two weeks I’d happily rather draw this picture (shows drawing). This was made by [my student] V. right after our activity yesterday, I guess after the lesson. Everybody is holding hands, I believe it shows that we are all equal during the class; something that I felt differently…[before]that I was in a inferior place, basically I was afraid of these particular students, they are very lively / undisciplined, I couldn’t find a way to control them especially in the pauses between the different activities…Eventually, the ultimate trick is to observe your students, they are the ones that give you the answers, and you just have to give them space…space during the activity in order for them to be attentive and active, something that I do not do because I am afraid that they will become uncontrolled again and start running around the room and shout/yell. They need their space and their time, to speak their own voice, which could be an imitation or a comment on the activity or an improvisation. This issue of giving up control permeated the reflections. It seemed however, when teachers could focus on the learners rather than themselves, there was an opportunity for change:
In summary, flow indicators were observable, even with a brief introduction and limited exposure. The opportunity to talk with others during this initial analytical phase seemed crucial to the understanding of the indicators. Next, the value in taking time to really observe students, and being able to reinterpret what may have been previously dismissed as off-task behavior are revealed in the reflections of participating teachers, along with hopes, misgivings and misconceptions about sustaining this new teaching approach.
The thing that surprised me the most in the research is that at the end the answers come from the class/students themselves, if you have problems with your teaching the answers are given to from your students. Until now (let’s say) I was afraid of my students, of these particular ones, the five little devils, but eventually if you sit down and think the special characteristics of each one of them, this gives you the answer, how to fix and adjust the lesson for each one of them.
Flow indicators as tools for pedagogical change Teachers’ responses to the value of a variety of research strategies for implementing flow-based lessons indicated that the focused observations were extremely important and revealed new insights regarding participants’ pedagogical approach. It was also clear that this was a very personal process, and that there were multiple roads to this
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Affectively, teachers noticed an increased level of enthusiasm and enjoyment on the part of students. They often attributed what they observed to the idea of freedom
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ICMPC9 Proceedings – noting their own and their students’ discomfort with an abundance of choice, as demonstrated in this observational note from a PR of a guitar lesson:
After my research I have to say I was surprised the most from the level of the children’s…how should I say it, they have some different/other skills and potentials…if I make sense…for example, I saw the children dancing, letting themselves free, getting over the authoritarian rules of sitting quietly at the desk and being attentive to the black board where the teacher always writes something.
A very positive outcome was that the student had fun, which was obvious from her smiling, the intensity and quality of her attendance in the lesson. A negative outcome was the absence of the feeling of freedom. Maybe the student was not encouraged in the past to express her own views in music and the lesson resulting in her reluctant to have self-initiative and be afraid to discover something new… I asked the student: ‘If you had the absolute freedom (given by the teacher) which part of the fingerboard would you chose to strike?’ The student shows nervousness and discomfort to take advantage of the freedom and creative space given to her for expression. She answers: ‘I don’t know. I usually play here’. She expresses the ‘adult’ conscience and maybe a certain fear of questioning the authenticity of the teacher. Also the student finds it difficult to do something out of the ordinary, to get over the usual teaching procedure of ‘teacher says – student does’ although she is given the opportunity to do so.
The significance of specific indicators served as a channel for mediating the issue of the skill-freedom dialectic expressed by several teachers. This excerpt from a presentation summary refers to an interactive game devised by the teacher to address an issue (emphases original): From my own point of view in the palm game I observed in the eyes of the child very intense the indicator of expectation. In the second palm game there was a deliberate gesture since the movement of her hand was extremely precise and controllable. Later on while doing this activity and when she was playing the piano I observed the indicator of self-correction. Without me saying anything, when she finished the phrase she said “No, this was not it.” It seemed that she knew exactly what kind of sound she wanted to make and she tried again and again until she got the result she wanted. At this point she achieved an improvement of her piano skills since she performed for the first time a musical phrase with accuracy without playing it monotonously like before.
Although not addressed explicitly, the role of others as resources was clear, as in this episode reported by an experienced teacher who trusted her students enough to leave the room during an improvisation activity (with video camera on):
Negotiating challenges Teachers were also clear that change was not easy and that there were several obstacles. In two teachers’ reflections the issue of developmental levels was raised, and the sentiment was that younger students are easier to teach with this flow-based approach. Other issues raised included management of space and time:
Two out of the three children relax and express themselves more freely after my exit. They fully participate in the activity and they constantly seek contact with their peers (they look at each other almost constantly). … One positive thing is that the creation of one or two motifs is an easy but also very interesting procedure for them. It is also interesting that it (the activity) requires collaboration between the peers something that helps for the unification of the group.
Of course I will continue teaching in this way, or bette,r I will try to continue teaching in this way. It is not that easy because it requires the children to do a lot of movement and in the Greek large classes, with many children it is quite difficult to do so but it is a challenge and I saw how the children react with this…the are happy, they do something different, they express themselves…so if I want to design successful lessons I will continue using this method.
The quality of the task is important here, and acts as a catalyst for further development in the collaborative effort. During the seminar, the participant expressed the significance of the social dimension, as these children were recently immigrants to Greece and had made few connections with their classmates. She also shared pictures these students had drawn of themselves in music class that revealed to her their confidence and enjoyment of this activity,
I understand now that the thing I have to do is to give more time to my lessons, to give more time to myself before the lesson…for example the preparation I usually do is to practice the piano piece which I’ll perform for my students, now I need to find more time, which is hard but I am obliged to find it, in order to prepare an activity…of course with experience these activities will be designed in the lesson but it’s not bad to work on it before…like now, that I am just starting with this way of teaching, to think
Several students were clearly focused on a specific musical skill such as Timbre or Cyclic structure (description of “A” above). These teachers tended to miss steps toward the goal students were demonstrating because their expectations were limited. This was in contrast to those whose focus was more open-ended:
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ICMPC9 Proceedings and prepare for difficulties in the lesson and think of activities to work them out...I also have to encourage myself to use my imagination in order to design such activities and to develop it …even with not strictly music activities…I have to let my imagination to grow and develop, I have to let it free to guide me in creating things, to let myself do this…
IMPLICATIONS The issue of context in the application of flow indicators raises important issues, for example, how can selfassignment be generated in the learning of an instrument? It seems that self-assignment is at the very core of mastery, and that flow in practicing might be a worthy area of study. Infant research in mastery motivation (e.g., McCall, 1995) and literature on expert practice (e.g., Lehman & Ericsson, 1997) reveal opportunities for enjoyment and skill development.
This last teacher had 10 years of experience and still was struggling with her professional development. She was not alone in this self-awareness and frustration:
A common misconception by teachers in this study was that teaching to flow meant the absence of guidelines or limitations. This is not what has been found in similar contexts. Rathunde (1988) cites criteria for flow-producing activity in families and stresses the need for parents to limit choices in order to help children focus and not be overwhelmed. As a beginning attempt to understand a paradigm so different from their current practices, this perception on the part of the teachers may be attributable to a swinging pendulum moving to extremes as it searches for balance.
I need to fight with myself to change … to be more supportive and not critical or controlling. But there are some things that are very difficult to apply in a more general level. I don’t think it is possible to work 5 hours a day, to teach 5 hours a day and to give a lot of freedom to the students, groups of 25, that come to class. I think you might be able to do this every other time not always but this comes in opposition with the fact that you have to be prepared to do what you haven’t planned to do in the previous class…I am not sure about this…I will look into it. Empowerment At its best, this approach empowered teachers and gave them tools to be who they wanted to be, allowing them to see the potential within themselves to teach effectively and with great joy.
Interestingly, the social factors were important elements of the process at many levels. The awareness of peers and adults in children’s music making settings have been crucial to previous studies on flow (Addessi & Pachet, 2005, Custodero, 2003, St. John, 2005) and were purposely not directly addressed in the seminar instruction to see how they might emerge organically in the data. Peers were often mentioned as significant contributors to flow experience for both the students and for the teachers involved in collaborative inquiry. The social milieu was very powerful for one participant, who offered this reflection:
The thing that surprised me the most in this study is that I thought of things…I didn’t apply something I got from someone else in other words ‘the magic pill’, which I gave to my students and worked…I sat down and thought, I organized ideas I had in my head for a long time now and were floating around and I managed to make them happen…and I actually dealt with different situations in a critical way, I was thinking more…for example, I did not say: oh, today I was not in a good mood and that’s why the lesson wasn’t successful or my student is not so focused today so what can you do? Let it be…I was judging all the time the situation and the result was of a conscious effort and not an accidental/random result, which however good it is, it is a lot better to design and challenge a result like that.
In general, I felt I was part of one team, a whole team with all the participants in this seminar…both with the other colleagues but also with the presenters...because I’ve been in many seminars and festivals and I’ve encountered a coldness and a competitiveness, something that I didn’t see here…here I saw one team, ONE fist. Lastly, it must be stated that the qualities we perceive in our students and the depth with which we observe have great implications for teaching and learning, and for the possibility of pedagogical change. The words of one teacher serve to provide hope for transformative thinking in our field:
Maybe it will sound a bit egoistic, but I was surprised the most by myself…I am a type of person that always searches inside and I always question myself and my teaching…and I was surprised to see that eventually I do many things by instinct, good things but I wasn’t sure they were good and now I feel sure and feel better and more positive and I believe this will be sensed from my students too…and I think my lessons will be better, especially when I have the time to think over all these new information and try them out …I feel I will have very good outcomes.
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The aspect I liked the most was that finally we are observing the students in a more constructive way. I started observing them in deep detail. I am planning to keep the diary [indicator] form … and use it very often … because I saw that if I have this way of thinking … something changed, as if the student perceived it somehow, or I was transmitting this to them without words and the
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students reacted positively. Maybe because I was thinking in this way, I changed the way I teach and of course, the children changed their way, they accepted this change.
REFERENCES Addessi, A.R., and Pachet, F. (2005). Young children confronting the Continuator, an interactive reflective musical system, Musicae Scientiae. Special Issue 2005-2006, 13-40.
Barron, F., Montuori, A., & Barron, A. (Eds.). (1997). Creators on creating: Awakening and cultivating the imaginative mind. New York: Jeremy P. Tarchner. Bray, J. N., Lee, J., Smith, L., L., & Yorks, L. (2000). Collaborative inquiry in practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Boyd, J. (1992). Musicians in tune: Seventy-five contemporary musicians discuss the creative process. New York: Simon & Schuster. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1975). Beyond boredom and anxiety. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Matthews, E. (2003). Improvisation as a core teaching strategy in adult beginning vocalists. Unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Finding flow: The psychology of engagement in everyday life. New York: Basic Books. Custodero, L. A. (1998). Observing flow in young children’s music learning. General Music Today, 12(1), 21-27.
McCall, R. (1995). On definitions and measures of mastery motivation. In R. H. MacTurk & G. A. Morgan (Eds.), Mastery motivation: Origins, conceptualizations, and applications (Vol. 12, pp. 273-292). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Custodero, L. (2002). Seeking challenge, finding skill: Flow experience and music education. Arts Education Policy Review, 103(3), 3-9.
Rathunde, K. (1988). Optimal experience in the family context. In M. Csikszentmihalyi & I. Csikszentmihalyi (Eds.), Optimal experience: Psychological studies of flow in consciousness (pp. 342-363). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Custodero, L. A. (2003). Perspectives of challenge: A longitudinal investigation of challenge in children's music learning. Arts and Learning, 19, 25-53. Custodero, L. A. (2005). Observable indicators of flow experience: A developmental perspective of musical engagement in young children from infancy to school age. Music Education Research. 7(2), 185-209.
St. John, P. A. (2004). A community of learners: An investigation of the relationship between flow experience and the role of scaffolding in a Kindermusik classroom. Unpublished Ed.D. dissertation, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York.
Hansen, D. T. (1995). The call to teach. New York: Teachers College Press.
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St. John, P. A. (2005). Developing community, defining context, discovering content: Young
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