Within the context of a Secondary School music classroom, there is evid - ence that advancements in music technology continue to facilitate pupils' composing ...
MET2016
Exploring the silences in Secondary School music technology lessons: methodological challenges Julie Byrne Bath Spa University, UK
Abstract Within the context of a Secondary School music classroom, there is evid ence that advancements in music technology continue to facilitate pupils' composing processes. While technology provides immediate and ongoing accessibility for pupils' work in progress, its usefulness in providing insights to pupils' experiences of modes used in the process of composition - visual, speech, sound, music and gestures - is limited. This becomes more problematic when communication between collaborating composers occurs in silence. The aim of my research was to explore Year 9 pupils' multimodal processes while they collaborated on compositional tasks using music technology. A multi-method case study approach was designed, with data drawn from online diaries, focus groups and informal interviews. Audio recordings and field notes from two lesson observations provided further information. Eliciting pupils' experiences and opinions of multimodal processes in collaborative composition and then interpreting meanings attributed to their experiences poses several methodological challenges for the researcher. These will be outlined in the presentation. Initial findings indicate that, with the exception of the diary entries, pinpointing multimodality in music technology is a complex process. Accuracy in depicting pupils' collaborative learning by using different music technology modes has led to exploration in how multimodal transcripts can best support the construction of pupil narratives.
Keywords multimodal processes, music technology, collaborative composition
Aims The focus of my research was to explore ten Year 9 Secondary School pusempre(63
Researching Music, Education, Technology
pils' multimodal processes while they collaborated on compositional tasks using music technology. Four key areas were explored. The first of these concerned pupils' experiences and understandings of multimodal learning in music lessons. The two attributes - experience and understanding -coexist and develop, over time, between the pupils during their participation in compositional tasks. By placing the pupils' perspective centrally in the data collected begins to generate a narrative. This would offer an unseen perspective of 'what really goes on in music lessons' which may inform future planning. A second aim explored how multimodal processes impact on Key Stage 3 (KS3) pupil's music technology based compositions. As assumed, numbers in KS3 classes and availability of equipment means pupils work in pairs. The act of collaboration and engaging in social interaction may produce a musical outcome (Kress and Leeuwen, 2001). Yet effectiveness would be dependent on how 'different modes' are used and interpreted by pupils and as to how construction of knowledge unfolds and develops during musical tasks (Rogoff, 2008). Identifying the characteristics of multimodality, in the context of the KS3 music technology lesson and within the music classroom, leads to a third research question. Multimodality is explained by Jewitt (2011) as a variety of modes including writing, visual, speech, listening and gestures. Clarification of which modes are used to produce a collaborative composition is also intended to support interpretations of pupils' experiences. The fourth question conveys a discursive element intended to uncover how multimodal learning is organised, accessed and planned for when pupils are given compositional tasks in music lessons.
Methods A multi-method case study approach was designed, as a Pilot Study, with ten Year 9 participants. Data collection was open-ended where un-structured observation and informal interviews highlighted the current situation and elicited pupils' understandings of collaborative compositional tasks using technology at that given point in time. Here open-ended refers to pupils interpretations and experiences with a 'no right or wrong response' approach. This methodology has strengths that seeks a relational view of knowledge which is consistent with sociocultural theory and addresses the first two research questions (Rogoff, 2008). Research was qualitative in nature with no pre-determined categories; coding on transcripts emerged as a result of the pupils' social actions, interactions and collaborative understandings by using thematic analysis. Two positions in 64 I sempre
MET2016
the teaching timeline were observed, (beginning and end of the scheme of work) audio recording and screen shots were collected. Reflection on observation methods led to a shift in focus from un-structured observation of pupils' talk and multimodal processes to examining multimodal processes during pupils' verbal silences. To provide observational reliability and a continuum in multimodal data collection, a smaller case study sample of four Year 9 participants were selected for the second observation.
Outcomes With the exception of the online diary entries, initial results show varying, but positive, support towards answering the research questions. Findings from observations, field notes and audio recordings indicated that pupils' computer skills are like a natural instinct and talk in lessons was minimal. Changing the observational focus for the second point of data collection was beneficial and of value. Just observing pupils' silences, although making the audio recording redundant, provided a clearer opportunity for identifying which multimodal processes were being used in the pupils' compositional work. I considered using an observational schedule for future research but rejected the idea as it alters the open-ended nature of observation and disregards the perspectives of my participants. The challenge of being unable to hear musical decisions in the course of pupils' collaboration remains. In future research I intend to use Camtasia but this is not without operational concerns. Camtasia will record the musical decisions along with audio and eye movements and will screen grab the visual aspects of composition thus enabling a fuller account of pupils' experiences.
Next Steps Exploring which modes coexist during silences whilst pupils use music technology to produce their collaborative composition has prompted me to assess theoretical boundaries of different multimodal transcriptions. Ongoing work in designing a suitable transcription style to complement pupils' experiential narratives is helping to shape the methodological direction for future research.
sempre / 65
Researching Music, Education, Technology
References 1. Jewitt, C. (2011). An introduction to multimodality. In C. Jewitt (Ed.), The routledge handbook of multimodal analysis. London: Francis and Taylor Group, (pp. 14-27) 2. Kress, G., &. Leeuwen, T. v. (2001). Multimodal discourse: The modes and media of contemporary communication. London : Hodder Education, 2001. 3. RogofF, B. (2008). Observing sociocultural activity on three planes: Participatory appropriation, guided participation and apprenticeship. In P. Murphy, &Hall, K. and Soler, J (Eds.), Learning and practice: Agency and identities. London: Sage in association with Open University.
66 / sempre
