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Title: ”Creativity and Learning – Educating the Creative Mind”
Author(s): Jens Skou Olsen
Source: CHARA – Journal of Creativity, Spontaneity and Learning, Vol. 1, No. 3 (2010)
Pages: 255-256
Published by: http://www.chara.dk
Stable Url: http://www.chara.dk/artikler/20100300.pdf
Digitized: 10/01/2010
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Tidsskrift for kreativitet, spontaneitet og læring
Copyright 2010
2010, Vol. 1, No. 3 pp 255-256
Jens Skou Olsen
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Editorial:
Creativity and Learning
Jens Skou Olsen, author, musician & composer
Assoc. Prof. at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen
What is Creativity? What is Learning? Can we in any certain way distinguish one from the other,
or is creativity the same as learning and vice versa? How does learning relate to education, can we
have one without the other? The questions are many and the answers not at all clear as we all in
this brief space of seven or more decades travel from the materity ward to the crematorium. How
do we live this all too short stay in life and how do we grow? This special issue of Chara deals with
Creativity and Learning in all their varied forms and seventeen authors from Africa, Brazil,
Portugal, USA and Denmark share their results, thoughts and theories on this subject. Throughout
the fiveteen articles the continuum between the poles of learning and education is a central theme,
and it could be argued that the formative effect of education is to be found ’in the school of the
school’ whereas the formative effect of learning is to be found ’in the school of Life’. For some, the
meeting of learning and education is a meeting of opposites.
A Meeting of Opposites
In the life of every child the first crucial years spanning from nursery to elementary school, is also
the story of a life of self forgetting, spontaneous, asynchronous and undirected play for play’s sake
that gradually turns into a life of directedness, purpose, duty and self awareness. In this continuum
the preschools and early elementary schools can be said to mediate the care and timelessness of the
nursery with the ambition and the goal directed education in the school. This is a meeting of
opposites: a self forgetting, non directed and spontaneous play for play’s sake confronting a self
conscious, directed and preprogrammed educational practice. Today, it is thought by many that
the traditional teaching approaches do not accommodate our needs; and according to this analysis
we must find new ways of learning and being creative.
A way forward is suggested to be an implementation of art and the widely acknowledged
‘creative’ features of artistic practice. It is assumed, that our traditional theory of learning can be
revitalized by the creativity of artistic mindsets. Artists usually are charismatic, vibrant and they
often express a sensation of joy and free spirit that must stem from the very practice of their artistic
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ISSN 1904-2078 Tidsskrift for kreativitet, spontaneitet og læring
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Jens Skou Olsen
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creation. Artistic practice is a powerful practice with strong vocational features, and this kind of
drive would be welcomed in any institutional practice, where the creative minds of both children,
teachers and leaders all too often diminish into a relation of compliance and a sense of futility - the
futility of spending the better part of ones life on preprogrammed skill-producing activities,
coaching for tests, taking tests and reviewing test results.
In 1971 the English psychoanalyst Donald Woods Winnicott wrote:
‘…It is creative apperception more than anything else that makes the individual feel that
life is worth living. Contrasted with this is a relationship to external reality which is one of
compliance, the world and its details being recognized but only as something to be fitted in
with or demanding adaption. Compliance carries with it a sense of futility for the
individual and is associated with the idea that nothing matters and that life is not worth
living. In a tantalizing way many individuals have experienced just enough of creative
living to recognize that for the most of their time they are living uncreatively, as if caught
up in the creativity of someone else…’
Winnicott is focusing on the consequences of compliance for the individual, but what about the
futility of the preschools as they are forced to show compliance with the pressure on schools to
guarantee that all students will meet the minimum skill levels? A compliance syndrome is
immanent, and as the American developmental psychologist Irving Sigel puts it: ‘…a devastating
effect of this is what a child comes to believe about himself. Children come to believe they are valued for
what they memorize or produce or achieve…’. We promote a culture where human beings are valued
for what they achieve and not for what they are.
Is the path of compliance a path that we should pursue or do we need to rethink the meaning and
foundation of our understanding of Creativity and Learning? It is my hope that this special issue of
Chara will facilitate further investigation into this most important topic.
Welcome to the third issue of Chara!
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Title: ”Music Moves the Minutes – Children’s Spontaneous Singing and Time Negotiation in the Classroom”
Author(s): Sara Stevens Zur
Pages: 257-272
Copyright 2010
2010, Vol. 1, No. 3 pp 257-272
Sara Stevens Zur
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Music Moves the Minutes
Children’s Spontaneous Singing and Time Negotiation in the Classroom
Sara Stevens Zur
Adjunct Professor of Music Education at Queens College
New York, New York
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Lance and Tiffany, both age 5, are singing loudly as they color, cut, and paste a worksheet
about a letter of the alphabet that they have been learning. They work as quickly as
possible, knowing that as soon as they turn in their work, they will be allowed to have free
time in the play area. This is especially difficult for Lance, who is often one of the last in his
class to finish, and whose compulsion to play seems very strong. Tiffany stops singing for a
moment, and Lance appears flustered. He stops his work, turns to Tiffany and commands,
“You have to sing!”
_______________________________
Background for the Study
Lance was perceived by his teacher as having some difficulty in the classroom. The transition from
early childhood settings, where play, imagination, and a more flexible schedule were encouraged,
to a formal school setting, had been challenging for him. He was now expected to keep to the pace
that was set by a schedule, and was no longer as free to follow the flow of his own creative needs
and play culture. His teacher believed that the large amount of singing was partially to blame for
his inability to keep up with his work. Was singing to blame, or was singing actually helping him?
In child culture spontaneous music making and music play are among the primary elements of
young children’s learning and development (Bjørkvold, 1989; Campbell, 1998; Pond, 1992;
Trevarthen & Malloch, 2002). Spontaneous music making has been researched and discussed in
myriad ways. It is defined as the unpracticed, self-generated musical expressions that occur
naturally in children (Campbell & Scott-Kassner, 2006). In one of the earliest studies of children's
self-generated music-making, Moorhead and Pond (1941, 1942) noted that children make music
constantly, and inextricably from daily life, as speech, movement, and singing merge as outward
manifestations of inner processes. Marsh (2005) studied musical games on school playgrounds in a
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variety of different cultures. Her findings point to a universal phenomenon wherein children
personalize learned music to fit norms that exist in their local culture or school culture. Campbell’s
(1998) studies of children’s spontaneous music in schools specifically reveal that children sing,
chant, hum, and explore rhythm throughout their day, even as they walk the halls, work on class
projects, or eat their lunches. These musical behaviors are indeed the central elements of children’s
play (Bjørkvold, 1989). Children's spontaneous music making has been said to be the ultimate
expression of play (Huizinga, 1950), the driving force of play (Bjørkvold, 1989), and a seemingly
universal and central component through which children come to know and express their
surrounding culture and world (Bjørkvold, 1989; Bowman, 2004; Huizinga, 1950; Moyles, 1994).
Music’s place in the cognitive and social emotional development of young children directly
relates to children’s readiness for school. As an important personal resource, music is both intuitive
and learned, used in self-regulation and in the acquisition of skill (Custodero & Johnson-Green,
2006), which aid successful transition to formal schooling.
Time is of the essence within a major life transition, especially that of before school to formal
schooling. For children to remain emotionally healthy during transition, they need abundant time
to adapt to change (Walsh, 2003). However, as many of us can attest to, time is filled to capacity
in our daily lives. Honoré (2004) points out that the first thing most Westerners do upon waking
up, is to check the time. We probably all know people who are proud of their busy schedules—
having no free time is often equated with being a highly-accomplished, important individual
(Honoré, 2004, p. 49). Similarly, Hall (1983) states that the Western emphasis on quantifying,
and saving time lead to a “high valuation of speed, which is demonstrated in much of our
behavior” (p. 37). To put it more bluntly, Kramer (1988) states that Western culture is simply
time-obsessed.
The feeling that there is never enough time in the day to do everything one wants or needs to do,
has not only increased, but has manifestde itself in the lives of children. (Honoré, 2004; Taylor,
2001). Focus on chronological rather than developmental age has become the standard in most
schools because it allows administration to supervise teachers, as students move up through grades.
The efficiency of organizing schools by this system has led to the modern day fear of being “left
behind” (Rogoff, 2003). With the tendency of working toward achievement, a call for higher
standards has often been met with a call for extended learning time (Roth, Brooks-Gunn, Linver,
& Hofferth, 2003). Bjørkvold (1990) reports that “Less and less time seems to be available for play
in American kindergartens as academic pursuits take priority” (p. 60). And yet many continue to
fear that not enough time is being spent on academics (Huyvaert, 1998; Roth et al, 2003).
Western style schools, which emphasize achievement, testing, and goal-oriented tasks (Rogoff,
2003) require schedules that operate according to clock time. Child culture, on the other hand,
tends to operate according to event time—the experience of time within natural play is based on
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the evolution of imagination, drama, or a construction of ideas rather than a schedule (Huizinga,
1950).
Research Questions
When children enter school systems and are expected to adapt to the new time experience within,
this tension can be great. Literature related to time experience reveals that time often feels
suspended when children play (Levine, 1997). Kramer (1988) explains that while engaged in
musical activity, ordinary time may be left behind as an alternate sense of time is evoked. As
discussed earlier, music and play are among the primary elements of young children’s learning and
development (Campbell, 1998; Pond, 1992; Trevarthen & Malloch, 2002). If children's play
culture and school's product-oriented cultures operate according to different temporal
hemispheres, and if musical play allows children moments of temporal rest, is it possible that
children may create music in reaction to the pace of time? Furthermore, what possible relationships
exist between the ways that time is manifested in societal, school, and child play cultures, and the
way that music is manifested in children?
Purpose of the Study and Methodology
The purpose of this study was to investigate spontaneous music made by 5-year old students in
schools in three different geographical cultures: (1) New York City, USA; (2) Singapore; and (3)
Darwin, Australia. Three different geographical settings were chosen because of my interest in
diverse cultures and cultural influences on children's free-play and music making. For the purposes
of this paper, however, I will be focus primarily on the relationship between time experience and
children's spontaneous music. Student’s music making in each of these settings was investigated in
relation to the way time was structured and experienced within child culture, school culture, and
societal culture.
I used purposive sampling in selecting each of the three information-rich field sites (Merriam,
1998). An internationally diverse sample provided me with the greatest chance of discovering
elements that cut across cases, deriving significance from their diversity (Merriam, 1998). Each
school was in a major city: New York City, USA, Singapore, and Darwin, Australia. Each of these
cities contained people who were strongly connected to an industrial ways of life, and people who
had emigrated from other countries. Data were collected in the fifth or sixth month of the school
year according to the schedule of each school.
I acted as a participant observer in one class of five-year-old children at each of the three schools.
Wiersma & Jurs (2005) describe several levels of roles that a participant observer can adopt. On
their continuum between being an “active participant” observer, and a “limited observer,” I was a
“privileged observer” (p. 252). This means that I engaged with students when approached, but
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refrained from becoming buried in their experiences, so that my focus remained on observing their
spontaneous music.
Observations within the school were recorded in the form of thick-description field notes which
were subsequently coded and analyzed. Interviews in each of the three settings with student focus
groups, class parents, teachers, administrators, and community members were recorded using a
digital audio device, and were transcribed, coded and analyzed. Additional artifacts such as bus
schedules, newspaper articles, and flyers also contributed to the data generated. Coded analysis of
this data allowed me to answer the research questions posed above.
Results
The results reported and discussed here are small snapshots of what I observed in each of the three
school settings. While my observations and field notes included all of the students in each of the
classes, I have chosen to focus here on a few specific children, each of whom offers a compelling
and different view into the time-music connection.
New York City, USA: Omar, Aya, and Craig
Over the course of my 10 classroom visits I observed children humming, singing, dancing,
partaking in musical games, making rhythmic sounds with objects, and exploring their vocal
capabilities in a number of ways. I noted many instances when children made music alone, as well
as socially with a friend or group of friends. I heard songs that were inventive and imaginary, as
well as learned or popularly known songs.
Omar: Omar stood in front of the class trying to figure out the month and date. He finally
guessed that it was the 50th day of the month. He seemed more disconnected with the clock than
most students, and more connected to carrying out his ideas, activities, and discussions according
to his own time. After careful observation I began to notice that he also seemed to need more time
than anyone else in the class. He moved slowly, spoke slowly, and was almost always the last one to
line up or to be ready to move on to the next activity. Even when the teacher would try to urge
him to hurry up with words like, "We’re lining up now," (italics added for stress on the word) he
would continue to wander, talk to his friends, or sing and dance. The questions he raised during
the class meetings were almost always long and complicated as were his answers to questions he
was asked. Omar was always the last one to finish his work, to line up, or to let go of a discussion
and move on to the next topic. This was also the case in music class—he would extend or continue
the song after the class had stopped. On one occasion, the music teacher stopped his continued
singing by saying, “It’s over.”
Omar also appeared to be academically quite intelligent and creative. I often saw him deep in
thought and sometimes heard him talk to himself in the same way that he would hum, sing, or
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pretend to be an animal. Omar was one of the few children whom the teachers had to hurry along.
When he was asked to clean up the water that had spilled under the water table, for example, he set
off to complete the task but then went on to join in with a boy who was dancing near the paper
towels. Together they kicked their feet in a fast dance with their arms folded at their hips while
singing until the teacher told him he needed to clean the spilled water "Now." Following her
instructions, he set off with paper towels in the direction of the water table, but became distracted
again when another boy asked him a question along the way.
Over the course of my observations and again after reviewing my field notes, I noticed that
Omar produced significantly more music than anyone else in the class. My impression of him was
that the music he created was equal to, if not greater than, the amount of talking that he did. He
was almost always humming, making rhythmic or experimental noises, dancing, chanting, or
singing. For example, he would flap his wings like a bird while making bird sounds, grab an
imaginary microphone and sing into it, spin, turn, or wiggle his body with vocalized
accompaniment, or use his hands to make a trumpet shape while making trumpet sounds. He was
very imaginative as well as very enthusiastic about learning and discussing issues. When given a
new material or object to use in the classroom, he would examine it very carefully, turn it around,
feel it, smell it, and sometimes even taste it. It was almost as if he was using music in a similar
manner. While playing, he seemed completely immersed in whatever role he chose. As he howled
like a wolf, or experimented with vocal timbre, he seemed to do so with the seriousness of his
whole being. I often observed him making animal noises or gestures, despite the rule against
animal dramatic play. It didn't appear to be a game for him—it appeared to be part of his reality.
Aya: Aya, from whom I only heard humming once, lacked an ability to play. Because of a
medical condition, she had very limited use of her legs. Her personal aide told me that she had
been in and out of hospitals, and had spent virtually her whole life trying to overcome this
disability. The aide also told me of her efforts to teach Aya to play. In her opinion, the harsh reallife experiences that Aya had been through thus far had accelerated her maturity, and were
preventing her from being able to imagine.
Craig: Where Omar seemed to need more time to complete thoughts and tasks, Craig seemed
to have a need for immediacy and speed. He had great difficulty working or playing with other
children, and anger to the point of tears often overwhelmed him. He sometimes made unusually
loud noises including screams. For example, during my second day of classroom observation the
class was in their morning meeting on the carpet when Craig emitted a high-pitched scream
seemingly unprovoked. He did this two more times with a big smile on his face, saying, "This is
fun," as children began to cover their ears. The child psychologist who had been called in to follow
Craig on a regular basis then took him aside for a private conversation.
Craig seemed to have difficulty communicating with other children or engaging in shared play
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with them. A great frustration would often build in him while playing as he worked to execute his
very specific goals. On occasion, for example, I observed Craig from the opposite end of the room
in an intense confrontation. His whole body was tense with his arms to his sides as he leaned
forward into a girl's face, gritted his teeth, and growled at her. His frustration often seemed tied to
impatience. During morning meetings or story time, he could not bear to raise his hand and wait
for the teacher to call on him, and so he often spoke out of turn. If he had an idea he needed to
carry it out immediately. For example, when he wanted to show a special book to one of his friends
during meeting time, he asked repeatedly if he could get it from his cubby. The teacher assured
him that he would have time to do it later, but he got up anyway to get his book. As an observer, it
seemed that he simply could not wait.
I observed Craig making some fragments and bursts of music during my first few observations.
These bursts often accompanied silly and/or aggressive fast body twists. These musical bursts
stopped entirely after he was medicated for behavioral problems around the time of my sixth
observation.
Comments: Time flexibility, or the slower time that was provided in the classroom and school
allowed children’s playfulness and music making to unfold. Children’s playfulness was directly
linked to their music making—the children who had difficulty playing imaginatively (such as Aya)
or who moved quickly in their thoughts and actions (such as Craig) also produced little to no
music. Omar, who was the most playful and slow-paced, created the most amount of music.
The relationship between children’s spontaneous music and experienced time in this case could
be looked at from two angles. One way to look at this relationship is by considering the specific
cases described above. Aya , who could not play and barely sang, seemed to operate on a faster time
plane. Her personal time had been largely affected by the world around her in ways that were
different from other children in the class. In Aya’s case, her maturity had been accelerated due to
the seriousness of her disability and the hospitalizations that resulted. Omar was extremely slowpaced, operated on event time, and created a disproportionately high amount of music. The few
samples of music that I heard Craig create before he began medication reflected his high-speed
time zone, as he sang in short blips and bursts. These cases, when looked at together present an
interesting link between experienced time and spontaneous music.
From another perspective, the reasons behind these children’s music making, or lack thereof
could be called into question. Was Omar producing so much music because of his experience of
slowness and event time, or because he needed to comfort himself, or create a private space for
himself in the face of a faster-paced classroom, school, and society? Was Aya’s lack of music
because she had matured too quickly into an adult world of hospitals and serious physical
disability, or because she didn’t need to create music in order to feel comfortable? In other words,
this perspective calls into question whether children were using music as a tool to comfort
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themselves or as a way to adjust to adult-imposed schedules.
Singapore: Gordon, Tricia, Ginny, Charlie, and Dean
Most of the singing that I first heard in this classroom existed as tiny, hushed fragments during
or between activities. These song fragments were short-lived, and not always easy to hear. Musical
output both reflected and pushed against aspects of the school’s philosophical mission toward
efficiency and order, self-discipline, and diligence in work. The majority of the more audible
musical examples occurred during the short transitions between activities.
Gordon and Tricia: The slowness and care with which Gordon diligently worked was impressive
in that he was fully engaged in each activity—he seemed content to be in the moment, and rarely
looked around in anticipation of what he might do next. It was during my third observation when
I first noticed Gordon humming quietly as the class lined up after recess for “Montessori Time.”
He hummed all the way inside, while choosing his first activity, and continued humming to
himself for the majority of the remaining 50 minutes of the period as he worked quietly on various
activities. This was the most music I had heard from any one child until that point. I continued to
follow Gordon for the remaining seven observations, and often heard him calmly humming for
periods of time up to 15 minutes. The humming seemed to accompany his work when he was
alone, had ample space around him, and was engaged in what he was doing.
Where Gordon was slow and careful in his work, Tricia was a girl who worked very quickly and
efficiently. Even her speech moved at a faster pace. She was almost always the first to raise her hand
when the teacher asked a question. She answered in a loud, confident voice and was almost always
correct. Tricia seemed to have more awareness of clock time than most children I had observed.
On one occasion, she even corrected the teacher in saying, “That wasn't ten minutes yet.” When I
asked Tricia what she would make kids do if she were the teacher in school, she said, "Work all day
until they have to go to sleep [sic]." The idea of work seemed fixed in her mind even when she
answered my question, "Do kids have more or less free time than parents?" Her response was,
"Parents have more time to work. I have three pieces of work, my sister has four pieces of work,
my mom has six pieces of work, and my dad has 10 pieces of work."
I had only heard one singing incident from her, as she once announced during transition from
outside play to work, “I’m a singer—Lah!” in a very exaggerated style. I had been prepared to
conclude that Tricia did not produce any spontaneous music other than that. Towards the end of
my ninth observation, however, I passed Tricia as she was working alone at a table and noticed
that she was singing ever so quietly to herself. Was this rare, or had I simply not been able to hear
it before? The next day I heard someone humming extremely softly during the English lesson. It
was so soft that I could not determine where it was coming from, but I suspected that it was Tricia
again, consistently obedient and diligent in her work, and ever so quiet with her singing.
Charlie and Dean: Whereas Gordon’s humming accompanied his diligent work and did not
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disturb the serene work atmosphere, Charlie and Dean explored and expanded their work in
creative ways, and seemed to need social connections with their music making. Their tendencies
toward transformative play corresponded directly with their musical manifestations and with the
longer amounts of time they spent on completing their activities. Their musical manifestations and
time needs were often met with tension and disciplinary consequence as they pushed the
boundaries of what was considered to be acceptable behavior.
Charlie and Dean were very good friends, and enjoyed challenging each other with creative
ideas as they worked together. During my eighth observation, for example, they played with a box
of magnets and small metallic and nonmetallic materials for nearly 20 minutes. The duration of
their play and work was significantly longer than most other children in the class engaged in. They
carefully explored each object in the box, while discussing and experimenting together. Dean made
an imaginary airplane from his magnet set, and made vocal sounds such as the airplane “picked
up” passengers. Charlie began to copy Dean, but then transformed the activity into a different
game that involved balancing the magnetic pieces in longer and longer strings. After they had had
enough, they moved on to the painting area, and began to draw and paint, carefully watching each
other, prioritizing expressive color exploration over iconic representation. Charlie was singing out
loud for most of this time. His voice was beautifully on pitch as he sang some Chinese songs, the
national anthem, and other fragments of song. Again, the duration of this activity was far longer
than the activities that most other children regularly engaged in.
On the morning of my third observation, it seemed that Charlie and Dean were having
difficulty staying focused during the hour-long English class. Towards the end of the lesson Dean
and Charlie spontaneously got out of their seats, got up, and walked over to the teacher, Ms. Lian.
Charlie kissed her arm. She asked them kindly to please sit down, and Dean went back to his seat
singing loudly. Charlie copied him, ignoring Ms. Lian’s folded arms and disappointed expression.
As if catching a contagion, Rae sang out loudly and uncharacteristically from her seat. Ms. Lian
continued to wait for quiet. Just after this class, the Mandarin teacher entered the room and stood
before the class to begin her lesson. Charlie burst out singing, “If you are happy and you know it
clap your hands” in a beautiful, clear voice. The Mandarin teacher gave him a sad look and gently
said, "Shhh [sic].”
After music class, as the children were transitioning into the English class, Charlie, Dean, and
Jon (who often joined in with Charlie and Dean) pranced up the stairs continuing to sing the calland-response goodbye song from the music class. Upon entering the classroom they kicked up
their feet in a wild dance placing their hands on desks for support. Though I did not see exactly
what happened next, it appeared that Jon had hit Charlie. The assistant teacher in the room asked
Jon to apologize, and the whole class gathered around in silent empathy for Charlie—several
children silently put their arms around him as he cried. Ms. Lian entered the room and asked what
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had happened, I told her that I thought the incident had been an accident caused by their dancing.
She said, "Dancing? They should have known better."
Ginny: Ginny seemed to yearn for close social ties of the kind that Dean and Charlie had. I
often heard her humming or singing while she worked. Much of her music seemed to be a way for
her to reach out in attempts to make social connections. During English class on my first day of
observation, for example, Mrs. Lian asked, “If anybody needs an eraser, they may stand up now
and get an eraser.” The box of erasers was on a low shelf near my seat at the back of the room.
Ginny stood up to get an eraser, and as she approached me I noticed that she was humming a very
soft song, and that she already had an eraser—she had been pretending to get one. She smiled at
me, and lingered for a moment to look at me before the teacher reminded her to get back to her
seat.
During the Montessori time of my third observation I saw her grab Sally’s hands and begin to
dance and sing with her, moving her hips from side to side. During outside recess time, I often
observed Ginny initiating a song and dance such as Ring Around the Rosie, or London Bridge is
Falling Down. She seemed to enjoy singing songs she had learned in school, such as the routine
goodbye song that ended the day, but she also sang invented melodic patterns. During my third
observation, when the class got up to wash their hands, Ginny began singing quite loudly. At the
same time, Charlie and Dean were hopping, dancing, and chanting spontaneously around the
room. This transition time between Mandarin lessons and snack was one of the few times during
the day when children’s singing was not immediately hushed. They were, however, encouraged to
move quickly to get ready for snack.
As previously stated, Ginny was often reprimanded for daydreaming, playing or fidgeting with
her work materials, or exhibiting off task behavior. Ginny’s desire to expand and even transform
activities was apparent, as was her engagement in the process, rather than outcome of certain
activities. This was met with constant discouragement from her teachers and peers. Her peers
seemed to view her as being inappropriate and disruptive, and often scowled at her or said her
name in a disapproving way.
The traditional Singaporean work ethic that existed in this school prized efficiency and
expertise, and did not leave much room for children's spontaneous music. The children who were
most reprimanded for their behavior were the same children who produced the most creative and
exploratory music (Charlie, Dean, and Ginny). Ginny, Charlie, Dean, and Gordon also stood out
significantly from the other children in that they spent much more time on each work activity. On
more than one occasion, these children were also the last to line up or transition into the next
activity. Their enjoyment in the process of exploration, experimentation, and playfulness
(including musical playfulness) were only allowed if the children were working quietly and
diligently, and if it did not veer to far from the task at hand. Teachers in this school taught
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children as young as two years to model themselves after the adults who placed high value on
expertise, constant learning and improving, and on virtues such as diligence, perseverance,
courteousness, concentration, and consideration for others.
Comments: The need for social-musical connections that Ginny, Dean, and Charlie seemed to
exhibit relates to findings from studies by Trevarthen and Aitken (2001) and Rogoff (1990).
Trevarthen and Aitken found that music learning develops in tandem with social learning, and
Rogoff found that optimal learning occurs through socio-contextual interaction. Though the
school’s mission emphasized generosity and sincerity, social interaction was not among the stated
or observed goals of the school. Affecting someone with one’s actions (as one teacher explained)
was considered to be irresponsible. Keeping to oneself may have been seen as more in line with
cultural norms than trying to engage others. The social engagement that accompanied, or perhaps
motivated, the humming, singing, chanting and dancing that Dean, Charlie, and Ginny did, may
therefore have been perceived by teachers to be disruptive.
All three teachers whom I interviewed said that they had heard some humming and singing
coming from the children. I had the impression they were amused and somewhat interested in this
phenomenon, but that it was not acceptable school behavior. Spontaneous music was, in this case,
not in line with the school’s ideal of what a hard-working, successful student should be. Being a
musician and producing music were most often discussed among teachers in terms of potential
talent, rather than as a process of inventiveness or creativity.
Their discussions resonate well with Tan’s (2001) description of how creativity is
conceptualized according to Singapore's Ministry of Education. She explains that creativity is seen
as the maximization of human potential, stemming from teachers who spark student interest. This
indicates that the very domain of creativity is reserved for what may develop, rather than for what
currently exists, and that students can be inspired by following a teacher’s guidance. By this
definition, music and the arts lead to, rather than stem from creativity. This perception of
creativity contrasts greatly with Csikszentmihalyi’s (1994) discussion on the domain of creativity,
in which he states that a significant aspect of creativity lies within a person’s ability to discover the
nature of a problem. Problem-discovery, he explains, cannot be predicted from knowledge which
already exists. Problems that are presented or constructed by teachers, therefore, do not leave room
for possible creative breakthroughs (Csikszentmihalyi, 1994). The problem-discovery that occurs
naturally in child’s play and through experiential learning (Curtis, 1994) may be filled with
spontaneous music and dialogue, the noise of which did not resonate in this quiet, productive, and
serene work environment. Furthermore, Elkind (1982) points out that children’s play fosters self
realization and individual expression, which may not have been in line with this school’s tendency
toward conformity.
The idea that a child's singing, humming, or vocalizing could disturb another child's work,
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caused teachers to silence these musical manifestations. The short duration of most spontaneous
music that I heard was likely in direct relation to teachers stopping or hushing their music-making
upon initiation. I question whether I would have heard a much greater abundance of music if
teachers had not been present— it seemed that songs and their corresponding body expressions
emerged from children each time there was an opportunity or a gap in time.
Darwin Australia: Lance and Jack
Most children in this class sang, danced, hummed, and experimented with their voices without
hesitation, embarrassments, or a teacher's admonishments. Two children stood out from the rest,
however. Lance made more music by far—it seemed that he was almost always singing and moving
in rhythmic ways. Jack, in contrast made almost none, aside from one or two instances when I
heard him sing a small spurt of a melody.
Lance: Lance, described in the introduction, desperately wanted to be first to finish his work,
but was usually last to do so. Each time a teacher gave a direction, he immediately ran, leaped, or
jumped forward in order to be ahead. When a teacher asked a question, he was almost incapable of
waiting with his hand raised. He almost always called out his answer. His desire to be first (or his
inability to wait), in contrast with the reality that he was usually among the last to finish or
understand something, point to an internal time discrepancy that he may have felt. He never
seemed to have enough time, and seemed worried about being left behind. He frequently
submitted sloppy or incomplete work in hopes that his teacher would tell him it was good enough.
He would show his crumpled, glue-dripping paper to her, and ask, “Can I go play now?” She
repeatedly needed to reiterate the directions of the assignment to him, as she sent him back to
work. He compensated for this, or perhaps contributed to this, by creating a lot of music, mostly
of which was loud singing. He was the student in the class who made by far the most music.
On the morning of my seventh observation for example, Lance ran over to his chair with a loud
screeching vocalization to begin working. He soon began playing with the colored pencils in front
of him, while singing “uh uh oy, bup bup.” This melodic rhythm corresponded with his hand
movements as he rolled and tapped the pencils. He continued to sit and sing, the song evolving to
“blah blah blah” until he realized that he was supposed to glue his picture into his workbook. He
ran to grab the glue, and trotted back to his chair singing the melody of “Little Rabbit Foo Foo”
with the sounds “didi didi dee dee.” As he began to glue, he sang another known song, again
replacing the words with invented syllables.
Lance was constantly playing with the objects around him to find different uses for them, and
frequently engaged in imaginary play. For example, he once asked the teacher if he would be
allowed to play with some puppets during free time. She found a crate of puppets for him, and he
immediately began to engage in imaginary play with them. After about 10 minutes, he began
experimenting with different ways to hold the puppets, placing them over his shoes, transforming
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them into magical animals that sang. This imaginary play caused him to dance around the room
singing to show off his inventiveness to other students.
On the morning of my first observation, Lance sang "Baby Blue" to himself in a loud voice
while cutting pictures from a photocopied worksheet. The song went on for quite a while (on and
off for approximately fifteen minutes) and included passionate facial expressions and occasional
upper body movements. In my journal, I wrote that it seemed to be motivating him to work.
During work time on another day, Lance was singing again. This time he was belting a song with
the words, "Whoa, talkin’ in sunshine!” He sang over and over again with great intensity in the
style of a rock 'n roll star as he wrote. Other children around him did not seem influenced by his
singing. Later that day, Lance was removed from the class for a behavioral problem. He sat by
himself on the floor singing quietly to himself almost the entire time.
Jack: Jack, on the other hand, told me that he preferred to work than play. He said, "[work is]
what I do. That's the only thing I do.” I asked him if he ever plays at home, and he said, "No. I’ve
got to work in my garden." When I asked if other kids also worked a lot after school, he answered,
"They play." I also asked him if he ever gets bored in class. He said, "Yup [sic].” “Does that happen
a lot in class?” I asked. He said, "All the time." I then asked, "What do you do when you're
bored?” He responded, "I just work.” During work time in the classroom I frequently observed
him putting off his own work in favor of instructing the other children around him as to what they
should or should not be doing. When he did focus on his work, he completed it quickly and
correctly. The teacher told me that she was relatively sure that Jack was gifted, and required more
challenging work.
I did not record any instances when Jack engaged in imaginary or dramatic play. The teacher
confirmed this, and added that she did not see any creativity from him. When he approached
children in the dramatic play area, he often succeeded in disrupting their play. His destructiveness,
apparent lack of empathy toward other children, and what the teacher referred to as his “bossiness”
often landed him in the corner of the classroom for a “time out,” or at the principal's office. The
teacher often threatened him in a loud and severe voice, which I often heard him imitate as he
addressed other children. I never heard or saw Jack singing, humming, or dancing. I only saw one
or two instances when he experimented with his voice for a moment, or offered a short melodic set
of syllables such as, "da da da.”
Comments: The child culture in this classroom seemed to be very much a play culture.
Imaginary play and playfulness were abundant during their free time, as well as when they worked
and transitioned between activities. The child culture was a very physically social one. The way
that children bumped, tugged, and pushed each other in rough-and-tumble play seemed reflective
of the way their songs and dances overlapped, were traded around, and bounced off of each other.
Their spontaneous music in general seemed to be a natural outpouring of this playfulness.
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Because children in transition classes were expected to be playful and imaginative, their
spontaneous music was not blocked or frowned upon unless it prevented a child from completing
his or her work. The teacher believed that Lance’s almost constant singing was his way of avoiding
the completion of his work. I questioned whether his music-making was helping him to get
through his work, as he anticipated much-needed free time that promised to follow if he was able
to finish in time. Indication of his discomfort with the long periods of desk work could be seen in
his rough-and-tumble play (Pellegrini & Perlmutter, 1988), which he engaged in more than most
children in the class.
Elkind (1982) explained that children use play as an antidote to stress. The ways that children
(Lance in particular) sought out play experiences, and musical playfulness while working may
indicate the level of stress that their deskwork brought them. This stress may have been because of
the difficulty of the work for Lance.
Discussion
A cross-case comparison of data from New York City, Singapore, and Darwin settings reveals
what seems to be a relationship between children’s spontaneous music making and time, tied
together by strong culture-specific roots. As Levine (1997) purports, shifting from one time
experience to another is a most difficult adjustment for people to make. For children, this shift in
time experience is typical when adjusting from family life into school culture (Yamamoto, 1979).
My findings indicate that children who especially struggled in adjusting from a slower, event time
pace to a faster clock-oriented school culture engaged in imaginary play and music making more so
than other children in their classes. This finding corresponds closely with Fabian and Dunlop’s
(2005) findings that play can be a useful transition tool for children.
The data indicate that music served children by allowing them to hold onto, or elongate
moments of play, and adjust their time experience to balance their needs. According to Huizinga
(1950), play and event time are directly linked, as children at play operate according to the events
of their play. Musical engagement being central to play (Littleton, 1998) provides people with
event time that is, according to Kramer (1988), unique in its ability to connect most profoundly to
one’s spirit. There seemed to be clear connection in each setting between the amount of
spontaneous music a child produced, and his or her personal sense of time. Children seemed to be
using music to create an alternate time experience as they struggled with the faster-paced clock
time within school. In the Darwin setting, for example, the greatest amount of spontaneous music
occurred during work time, perhaps as a way for children to transform it into playfulness, and to
make the time feel as though it moved faster.
Lastly, the divide between adult-conceived functions of music and the way music actually
functioned for children may indicate that adults in these school settings were either not aware of
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the function of music in children’s lives, or were using music to fulfill curricular rather than childcentered goals. This divide is also significant as it relates to time experience. Differences between
adult and child time concepts, though difficult to negotiate, were obvious to most who considered
its issues. Differences between adult and child conceptions of music making largely went
unnoticed, indicating that children’s spontaneous music may not be recognized as being “music.”
Conclusion and Implications
The relationship between time and children’s spontaneous music making seems to involve
negotiation between adult and child time concepts. It seemed child culture in each of the three
settings under investigation was pushing back against school and societal cultures through the
music they were making. If, as my findings suggest, children produce spontaneous music as a way
to hold onto playfulness and event time, we may be able to look at children’s spontaneous music as
a lens through which to diagnose healthy learning environments.
Pellegrini (1995) and Singer and Lythcott (2004) suggest that children’s play can be an indicator
of and contributor toward their academic success. Academic success is also contingent on the
child’s ability to adjust well to their school culture, which is largely based in their negotiation of
their time experiences and clock time experiences (Yamamoto, 1979). Looking at children’s
spontaneous music making as an indicator of this sometimes difficult negotiation may help
educators and policy-makers to understand the limits of learning in the name of progress. The
intrusion of adult time experience into children’s play culture in the interest of teaching more
material at a faster pace must take into account students’ personal pace of time, and their ability to
adjust healthfully to a faster-paced tempo.
As cultures continue to speed up, the need for this musical time-managing tool may be
increasingly important. Recognizing the power of child culture in resisting adult-imposed time
through music may help to strengthen our ability to change the way time is negotiated in schools.
As school and societal cultures the world over negotiate time acceleration, listening to children’s
musical manifestations may offer us key insights into their culture-specific developmental, social,
and emotional needs.
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Title: ”Zigzag and Balance –Life as a Teaching Artist in Dance”
Author(s): Jody Cassell
Pages: 273-278
Copyright 2010
2010, Vol. 1, No. 3 pp 273-278
Jody Cassell
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Zigzag and Balance
Life as a Teaching Artist in Dance
Jody Cassell
Master of Fine Arts in Dance from
New York University School of the Arts, New York, USA
_______________________________
In the United States, the role of Teaching Artist is emerging as a profession. In some places
it is still considered quite a novel way to be employed and in others it is recognized as a
vital contributing part of the education system. This paper explores this Teaching Artist’s
perspective on the challenges of working in short time frames on a contract basis in a system
where academic performance is being evaluated at an increasingly earlier age. It also
explores and acknowledges the vital use of the art form of dance as a source for inspiration,
renewal and growth.
_______________________________
I am a Teaching and Performing Artist in Dance and have full belief in and passion for what I do.
In fact, the longer I am involved in my work, the more I believe in the power of the arts to focus,
engage and motivate students.
I have been dancing since age three and have recently performed with a group of women called
The Wise Cracks, women aged 55-85 who continue to perform with grace, dignity and wisdom.
My dance studies have centered around modern dance and my performance has been in
dance/theatre improvisation. I now call myself a dancing storyteller. In libraries and school
settings, I interactively dance story books, my own book Where’s Leon? or other stories of my own
creation yet to be published. For adults, I dance and tell stories about the quirks of life. Parts of
the performance are interactive and I entice and then guide the audience in providing sounds or
rhythms as I dance.
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My Teaching Artist work with the young occurs in a variety of settings. I work in day care
settings, pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten settings providing professional development training
to the early childhood specialists. I also work with slightly older children in elementary schools
through Grade 5 and additionally work at the other end of the age spectrum with geriatrics.
My work with the early childhood population is always contractual work. It may be sponsored by
an organization such as the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts, an education
component of the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts located in Vienna, Virginia.
The Wolf Trap work occurs in three structures. One is a workshop series delivered over a seven
week period. Each workshop is delivered in classroom settings for thirty minutes in length. In
some placements there are two additional sessions.
One commences the residency with an
observation session. The final session is a formal evaluation period. The emphasis is professional
development. In the classroom setting, I demonstrate strategies in creative movement, creative
dramatics and music. I then meet for fifteen minutes with the teachers after each session to discuss
the strategies and to note the children’s responses. If a setting does not have a Wolf Trap regional
office nearby, I will provide five sessions in the format listed above in five consecutive days. The
structure of the session follows a warm-up with specific Wolf Trap strategies, the main learning
experiences delivered through a creative arts modality and a cool down. Lastly, I also provide
professional development workshops for the educators only. These are three hours in length.
Wolf Trap has a specific training program and the strategies used by the artists are ones that Wolf
Trap copyrights. During these work assignments, the contacts and placements are handled by
Wolf Trap. I provide the services.
When I work independently, the work is also contractual. I am in charge of all the marketing,
contacts, organization and structure of the sessions. When I am contracted by a school system or
arts organization, the emphasis of the work focuses either on the needs of the children or the
professional development needs of the teachers.
organization.
This focus is determined by the hiring
When I teach creative movement sessions that I have organized, I focus on the
creative dance aspect and provide education to the adult through written articles about the
relationship between dance and brain development. Additionally, I reinforce this material with
comments before, during and after the classes.
The sessions are set up so that there is an adult for each child when possible, such as in a Mommy
and Me (i.e. a class with parent/nanny/grandparent with young child) class or a very small ratio of
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children to an adult in an early childhood center. (1 adult to 2-3 children) In a pre-K or
Kindergarten session the movement is fused with curriculum and the teacher and teacher’s aide
participate along with the children.
It is noteworthy that in the United States the existence of pre-Kindergarten varies from state to
state and often from county to county within a state. It is not a required part of the education
system, so it may not always exist. In some settings there is also a difference between full day
Kindergarten and half-day Kindergarten although full day is more commonly found.
These classes follow a five part lesson plan developed by Anne Green Gilbert
(www.creativedance.org) as the foundation for my lesson plans. I use a different dance concept for
each lesson and layer the concepts as we proceed through the lessons. The concepts include space
(place, size, level, direction pathway, focus), time (speed, rhythm), force (energy, weight, flow),
body (parts, shapes, relationships, balance), movement (locomotor and nonlocomotor) and form.
I may not initially use all these concepts specifically for the children, but the concepts influence the
choices that I provide for directing the adult in her/his interaction with the child/children. The
session is structured as follows:
•
Warm-up: We begin by doing vestibular movements, jumping, turning, swinging, swaying
movements.
These are the movements that guide our overall development.
These
movements aid in coordination, balance, responsiveness and alertness.
•
Next we perform BrainDance © a series of development movements which we perform to
nursery rhymes. The nursery rhymes are a great way for the children to learn these rhymes
and build languge skills.
•
Then we explore the dance concept through dancing experiences.
•
We develop skills by practicing putting movements together. The adults learn simple
patterns of movement and perform them with the child or around the child.
It is
wonderful to watch the children begin to relate to other adults and other children during
this time.
•
We end by cooling down. Sometimes this is as simple as breathing together, or dancing
under or around parachute materials or having the adults pull the children on large strips
of parachute material in different spatial pathways with different speeds around the
classroom or studio.
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In my own sessions, I retain the ‘ownership’ of the material and give credit when the work is not
originally mine.
One of the overall variables in my situation is that I have no work that occurs over a full year
period. It is contract and occurs in different time increments. One to five or six sessions is
average. This inconsistency in a work setting has both advantages and disadvantages. If I don’t
like a setting, I am not there long. However, the need to constantly seek new employment venues
makes life volatile and many times insecure.
In all settings, there are two sets of factors that influence my work. One is my own attitude that I
bring towards my art form of dance, my profession as a teaching artist and the organization that
has hired me. The other is the receptivity, respect, enthusiasm and the willingness to commence
the kinetic component of learning that the administration and teachers of the hiring organization
possess.
I constantly seek a state of balance between these two sets of influences. As I get older, I question
whether I have the physical stamina to do the work, yet I find no difficulty when I am greeted in
the school or classroom with enthusiasm. My self questioning and anticipation of physical pain
disappear. My project becomes an ongoing choreography of believing in what I do and educating
others about what I do, so that I can provide excellent learning opportunities for the students in
the classroom as well as augment teaching techniques and strategies for the classroom instructors
through modeling and at times co-leading. If I remain open to learning, I believe this attitude is
radiated to those I am around. The learning spirit is reinforced for all.
More recently the American education system has been characterized by an increasing pressure to
have measurable levels of academic performance at earlier ages. The expectation is that material is
explicitly learned. The implicit learning that occurs through the arts is sometimes confused with
play and unfortunately deemed expendable and unnecessary.
The teachers become pressurized to measure up to standards and they become hesitant to spend
time away from the explicitly taught learning goals. My classroom experience leads me to believe
that students’ enthusiasm for learning becomes deadened as early as age 8 and that their teachers
are stifled by pressure. A frequent question when I introduce a new strategy is often, “You mean I
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am allowed to do that?” This is indicative of edicts issued from an often well meaning yet
unknowledgeable administrative level.
Poor performing schools are many times the recipients of grants that have not been fully explained
to teachers. An artist coming in is at times viewed as ‘yet another remedy’ to fix things and a time
away from what needs to be done.
The teachers have positions in the schools. My work is contract. There are few situations in
which I provide work to a continuing group on a consistent basis. I may be in a setting once, for a
full week or perhaps 14 sessions over a seven week setting.
This in combination with the
unpredictability of funding cycles and the rate of pay disbursement once work is completed makes
life chaotic. I have been paid anywhere from immediately after a project to three months and
many phone calls later.
The arts field has never been stable and predictable. I constantly seek to create new contacts and
sources to plant the seeds for my work. My latest endeavor has been to create creative dance classes
for mothers/fathers/nannies/caregivers and children from infancy through age 4. When the adults
realize on a body and cognitive level what is happening, they become supporters of the process.
They let other mothers/fathers know and the ground is slowly tilled with seeds planted for this
extraordinary learning process.
What happens for me is that I am refreshed by my return to the body level of learning, and this
moment to moment experience with the very young. These moments have served as inspiration
for my rehearsals for my adult storytelling. The cycle is rejuvenating for me.
These adult/child classes have benefited not only the bonding process between older and younger,
but have refreshed the adult as well. The caregivers often express their appreciation for the
opportunity to step away from the “leadership” process of being with the child and readily enjoy
becoming a participant in an experience that they can use at home as well.
Optimally, additional research for the impact of arts based learning is needed. Observation and
evaluation of students along a specific timeline in their education process would lend some
credibility to the impact of the arts integrated education.
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I will continue to seek opportunities and to plant seeds for research. Until then a zigzag process of
continually creating and seeking employment exists.
Just when I am ready to collapse and give up I have an experience in which a child reverberates
with the joy of learning through exploration in creative movement and my zest and passion once
again endure.
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278
Title: ”The PONTES Approach for a creative and continued education of music teachers”
Author(s): Alda de Jesus Oliveira & Vilma de Oliveira Silva Fogaça
Pages: 279-289
Copyright 2010
2010, Vol. 1, No. 3 pp 279-289
Alda de Jesus Oliveira & Vilma de Oliveira Silva Fogaça
____________________________________________________________________________
The PONTES Approach for a creative and
continued education of music teachers
Alda de Jesus Oliveira, Ph.D., MA (MUSIC), MA in Composition
Federal University of Bahia, Brazil
Vilma Fogaça, Master of Music Education (UFBA)
the Music School of the Federal University of Bahia
_______________________________
Considering that the traditional teaching methodologies that are based mostly on the
transmission of knowledge are not adequate to the new socio and cultural demands of the
society and that they do not aim to construct a reflexive and creative mind, the authors of
this article believe that it is necessary to investigate and test alternative procedures to
educate the future music teachers. They considered relevant to emphasize the following
principles: quality, creativity, competency, collaboration, citizenship and cultural
consciousness. Taking Unesco recommendations for the education of teachers, the main line
of research focus on not only the cultural contents, but also in the four basic dimensions of
the human being: knowledge, feelings and attitudes, skills and engagement on the tasks to
be developed. All of these competencies are planned to be constructed from the experience
(praxis) and the investigative processes.
Brazilian legislation recommends that the teaching of Arts must be developed in
consonance with the students´ modes of learning. It also recommends that schools should
guarantee information about the historical artistic production and at the same time,
promote the freedom to develop imagination and built personal proposals based on
authentic and individual intentions. These goals should be developed by integrating the
artistic contents to the joyful and recreational aspects of the educational activities. Later
(pp. 47-48) it reminds educators that the teacher may choose the modes and the different
didactic procedures to present information to the students according to his own preference
and familiarity, observing always the need to introduce the artistic forms with art, or
teaching music presenting real music. Consequently, Oliveira´s research study included
pedagogic procedures through the PONTES Approach aiming the whole development of the
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music teacher in consonance with the Brazilian legislation and the knowledge developed by
the masters of traditional music culture (oral and academic) with special emphasis on
innovation and creativity.1
_______________________________
The PONTES Approach aims to contribute to a more articulated and creative teacher
education. This approach has being developed since 2001, after many observations of masters of
music at different socio-cultural contexts in Brazil. One of the few competences that is correlated
significantly with pupil’s achievements and attitudes is the competence to relate his or her lesson
objectives to student interests and needs. Oliveira thinks that this is relevant, especially if this
teacher is working with students from different music cultures or different “music tribes”2 in the
regular schools. This model was conceived to inspire and prepare music teachers to develop, build
and apply pedagogical cues (theoretical knowledge and practical actions) and specific didactic
transitions for improving the musical development of individuals.
This approach may be
especially helpful to multicultural programs, interdisciplinary projects, special training programs
for human resources, and for developing works that deal with the world diversity of cultural
contexts. PONTES3 approach works the didactic skills and pedagogical contents in ways that
facilitates, motivates and brings the student teacher into significant learning situations in music.
PONTES Approach emphasizes the following items4:
Positive approach, perseverance, articulation power, and ability to sustain student's motivation,
believing in student's potential for learning and development.
Observation capacity: carefully observe the student, the context, the daily situations, repertoires,
representations;
Naturalness, simplicity on the relationships with the student, the curricular and life contents, with
the institutions, the context and the actors; trying to understand what the student is expressing,
wants to know and learn;
1
As a supervising professor at EMUS/UFBA for 20 years Oliveira has a reasonable amount of materials
developed for the education of teachers. Among the works developed are the investigations by Cristina
Tourinho, Marialva Rios, Zuraida Abud Bastião, Brasilena Trindade, Paulo Emílio Parente de Barros, Eduardo
Luedy, Cassia Virgínia de Souza, Regina Cajazeira, Rejane Harder, Flavia Candusso, Amélia Dias Santa Rosa,
Angelita Schultz, Rejane Harder, Mara Menezes, Harue Sorrentino, Vilma Fogaça which are dedicated to the
education of teachers.
2
Teachers usually have difficulties working with the group of students who have specific and personal rigid
musical preferences. Ethnomusicology usually relates this tendency to the term “music tribes”.
3
The following authors served as an inspirational foundation for the development of the PONTES Approach:
Paulo Freire, David Hargreaves, Keith Swanwick, Clifford Madsen, Vigotsky,Taebel and Coker, Schon, and the
results of studies by the group composed by Liane Hentschke, Jusamara Souza and Alda Oliveira.
4
PONTES is a term resultant of the first letters of the items promoted by the pedagogic model being applied here.
Positivity, Observation, Naturalness, Techniques, Expressivity and Sensibleness.
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The PONTES Approach for a creative and continued education of music teachers
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Techniques fit for each didactic situation; ability to design, develop and create new adequate
teaching/learning structures (of different dimensions);
Expression: creativity, hope and faith towards the development, the expressiveness and learning
ability of the student;
Sensibleness to the several different musics, to the artistic languages in general, to nature and the
environment, to the needs of the students and the different contexts.
The PONTES approach has the purpose to articulate the various factors with customoriented procedures to facilitate teaching of music in the different socio-cultural contexts. Its main
focus is to educate the music teacher to be able to create and apply efficient pedagogical
connections of different designs, dimensions and special components (called PONTES in
Portuguese language or “bridges”) to facilitate the learning process of the student, to improve the
quality of the musical activities and to promote significant learning experiences for the
participants. It promotes a customized teaching design, both for individual or group lessons and it
works with the variables or factors involved in the educational process such as:
•
•
•
•
the personal characteristics of the student and his level of musical development;
the elements and the essence of the socio-cultural context;
the student knowledge and his past experiences;
the new knowledge to be learned and experienced.
This creativity oriented approach may be applied in combination with other methodologies
and has been used as a theoretical foundation for the studies by Harder (2008), Dias Santa Rosa
(2008), Bastião (2009), Vander Broock (2009), Menezes (2010) and Tanaka Sorrentino (2010)
studies, respectively applied to instrumental music teachers, creation of school musicals, education
of under-graduated student-teachers, to young children music teachers, regular school music
teachers and traditional Brazilian music group of women. These studies share the objective to
contribute to a more reflexive, significant and articulated practice among Brazilian music
educators.
Alda Oliveira´s study
5
evaluated the effect of the PONTES Approach applied
to
individuals who are participating of continued music education programs. This study (2009-1010)
tested the procedures in an experimental group of music teachers, as compared to a control group.
5
Alda Oliveira is developing and testing the PONTES Approach since 2001. Other studies have been developed
taking this theoretical approach as a foundation for other topics by Master and Doctoral students participating of
the Research Group “MeMuBa” (UFBA). Recently she has concluded ( 2010) the research study “Masters of
music from Bahia: the effect of the PONTES Approach in the continued education of music teachers”, with the
support of the Brazilian Council for the Technological and Research Development (CNPQ) and the Federal
University of Bahia, Brazil.
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It has used quali-quantitative procedures. This study used the DEPEMUS test, which was created
by the author to evaluate the individual development and learning related to the PONTES
approach.
It has used also field observations during the educational and artistic process of
education of teachers. Study aimed also to test the theoretical basis that was applied during the
process of teacher´s continued education, in the process of helping music teachers to develop and
apply their formal and informal knowledge to create new and challenging activities, and also
connecting their purposes, the music contents and the curricular objectives to the different actors
involved in the learning process.
Results showed that the PONTES approach applied to the experimental group was
significantly relevant to develop the pedagogical creativity and articulation of the music teacher´s
practice and that the PONTES Approach have been a decisive factor to the education of the
teachers and for the positive results of the study. Teachers of both groups were submitted to the
DEPEMUS test6. The study considered only the completed tests for validity purposes. This
tailored test inserted questions and classroom problems with pedagogical decisions, which the
participants had to choose and name, according to the PONTES approach. It included also
questions to check teachers´ musical and pedagogical development.
The analysis of the test scores from the teachers who were submitted to the DEPEMUS
instrument was done by the statistical test Mann Whitney U. It is adequate for two independent
groups, the level of measurement is ordinal, and determines whether these groups have been drawn
from the same population. The null hypothesis was: the correct answers to the DEPEMUS test are
the same for the teachers of experimental group and control group. Results showed that obtained
value of the tests was less than the critical value of U. The statistical decision was to reject the null
hypothesis. Application of Mann-Whitney U test showed that there was a statistically significant
difference, level 5%, between experimental and control group (p=0,000).
In addition to the quantitative analysis of the data, a qualitative analysis was done. The
experimental group, in spite of the short amount of time dedicated to the learning of PONTES
approach, showed a deeper understanding of the teaching problems presented, demonstrated a
more creative and musical performance in the different situations presented, participants applied
6
A special course for teacher education was planned for the experimental group at the Music Department of the
Federal University of Brasilia, Federal District, coordinated by Dr. Ricardo Freire. The DEPEMUS test was
developed by A. Oliveira. The Doctoral student Angelita Vander Broock (PPGMUS/UFBA) collaborated for the
course and the application of the test.
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the concepts correctly and adequately and demonstrated an improvement of their reflexive capacity
towards pedagogical decisions in the classroom
This study points out that most of music educators tend to adopt specific methods for
music education or specific music repertoires for teaching music without tools to think how to
connect the procedures they know and they use to the different types of classrooms they teach.
Test results also indicated that music teachers present many difficulties in modulating classroom
activities to the different levels of musical development, talents of participants and also to different
age needs.
Participants of the experimental group demonstrated a more qualified preparation
towards mediation and creative/reflexive thoughts and observed that Brazilian music educators
demonstrated talents to develop pedagogic articulations during professional activities, but usually,
they do not show academic or methodological interest and information about them. They take
them for granted or consider them special moments that occur by chance.
This common sense attitude is questioned by the author, who defend and recommend
that the pedagogical articulations in music not only should be systematically studied but also must
be included as a subject in the curriculum for the education of music teachers, since music is an
art, deals with subjective and emotional feelings, and it is also a creative and performance oriented
experience for the individuals. It also deals with cultural and personal values. Student teachers
must be trained to develop creative insights, problem-solving techniques and acquire
music/pedagogic repertoires to deal with these different and difficult challenges.
Vilma Fogaça´s research study7 was developed to search for answers to the following
question: How did the music student-teacher trained mostly under the PONTES Approach
applied his competencies to create pedagogic articulations (bridges) aiming the creative
development of the music initiation students? The research used the case study method with one
student teacher enrolled in the discipline Teaching Practice (MUS-185) at the Music Education
under-graduate course - Music School of the Federal University of Bahia, Brazil.
The author was the supervising professor and built an orientation with emphasis on the
PONTES Approach8 by Alda Oliveira (2001). It was included reading and discussing texts by
7
Vilma Fogaça developed this research study as a Master degree thesis under the academic supervision of Dr.
Alda Oliveira at the Post-Graduation Program at the Federal University of Bahia, Brazil (2010).
8
The PONTES Approach deals with pedagogic creativity, with teacher´s attitude, fitness and strategic
approximation to the students, the institutions and also to the signs that come from previous life experiences of the
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different authors, practical exercises for the development of the creative mind, class plans
development. Supervisor has dedicated a special extra time to give specific pedagogical directions,
to analyze pedagogic performance in class, to discuss about the praxis (relationship between theory
and practice) being developed. The supervisor/researcher observed all the student teacher´s classes
in order to collect data for the research study. The analysis of the data was done by crossing the
information collected through the class diaries, audio and video recording materials, filled
observations forms done by an independent observer, and a semi-structured interview with the
student-teacher.
In order to evaluate the pedagogical articulations (“bridges”) developed by the studentteacher in the music classroom it was used the items and descriptors used by the PONTES
Approach and also some authors-based criteria to evaluate qualitatively the pedagogical
connections. Alda Oliveira e Vilma Fogaça (2010) established two different levels of pedagogical
connections: a) Elementary (Level 1) and b) Advanced (Level 2). The following criteria were
established:
Level 1 – Elementary
The “bridges” at the elementary level usually occur at the beginning of the teacher´s work
with a pedagogic-articulation focus, or at the beginning of the music teacher career. They are
characterized by the fragility of teacher´s actions and by the inconsistency of his thoughts and
concepts. The individual do not seem sure of what to do, or how and when to act. He is not able
to develop deep and detailed conceptual analytic reflections about his own practice in the
classroom. He has difficulties in relating, crossing data and to construct consistent comments
about the experiences in class, during the development of the class plans and organizing the music
program. He tends to blame others or some other unknown causes for his own problems and
negative pedagogic performance. He has difficulties to learn with his own mistakes and difficulties
encountered in his professional performance as a teacher. His actions and decisions tend to be
ephemeral and inconstant, not presenting a continuous connectivity capacity with the following
action, or with the musical repertoire, with the student´s previous experiences, with the contents to
be taught, with the general characteristics of the participants. The mental activity of the teacher is
not yet sufficiently fast to keep connected for a longer period of time with the whole task (from
planning to practice and reflexive analysis about what has been developed in classroom). His
observation skills and sensibility for what is happening around him is not well developed. This
decreases the effect of the pedagogic articulations in the student´s learning and motivation. The
articulations are not so much connected among themselves. In this elementary phase the music
participants of the educational process, which is understood as praxis, a practical/theoretical dynamic relationship
between theory and practice. (OLIVEIRA, 2008, p. 5).
Oliveira affirm that “Every efficient teacher develops bridges, makes pedagogic articulations, but most of them is
not conscious or do not have analyzed or thought about these articulations, not valuing them.” (2008, p. 22). The
“bridges” are intrinsic parts of the successful educational processes.
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teacher develops simple connections, related with traditional and vernacular music repertoire with
a few utilization of the creative talents of the participants, presenting inconsistent, elementary and
not interesting musical results, without challenges or surprises to stimulate students. Teacher´s
performance in class tends to be centered in the class plan, without flexibility in respect to the time
allotted to each activity, with no regard to the student´s interests and motivations. In this level, the
music teacher has difficulties to evaluate student´s knowledge and general development, or to
detect student´s proximal zone of development. A level 1 pedagogic “bridge” is short and do not
generate other “bridges”. These “bridges” do not connect to more complex ideas related to the
classroom moment, it advances only to a few curricular contents and objectives, or do not explore
the creative materials involved in the educational scene. In spite of its fragility, the level 1 “bridges”
must receive special attention of the supervisor and the music teacher, since the reflexive process
must be constructed upon them. These initial “bridges” are the foundation to help the music
teacher develop the competencies in order to develop to the creation, application and development
of more advanced pedagogical connections.
Level 2- Advanced
Level 2 pedagogic articulations can be developed at any moment of the teacher
professional career, from the initial moment or during more mature stages. In general the more
advanced “bridges” occur with more fluency and turn to be more frequent with time. The
individual acquires professional confidence and self-esteem through perseverance, maturity and the
development of reflexive capacity related to his praxis (theory and practice) and his creative
capacities to compose, improvise and structure teaching structures adequate to the different
teaching/learning situations. Advanced articulations are developed with spontaneity and flexibility.
They are fluent and they last longer in relationship to the students´ ideas and interests. The effects
of the advanced “bridges” may be felt until the following activities, the next days or for all life, due
to the high level of connectivity to the specific moment or the specific individual characteristics of
the student. These articulations are also done with conviction, determination, according to the set
of philosophic values and seem to be connected with the foundations expressed in the curriculum
and ideals of the music teacher. The teacher develops the bridges not as an experimental action,
but he is sure about its effect, even though it may be knew for him or the students. The teacher
develops the “bridges” knowing its consequences, knowing that the students will benefit from the
connections and with all the factors surrounding the teaching actions. The advanced “bridges”
mostly try to target the curriculum goals and to project the teacher´s own personality traits
(personal profile) to enhance the motivation of the students. In this advanced stage the music
teacher is open and apt to develop a creative and articulated work at the classroom and at the
socio-cultural context, in relationship to the musical repertoire, the characteristics and identities of
the students, to the institutional characteristics, and finally, to the different factors that may be
related to target a teaching quality of excellence. When the frequency of making “bridges” is
augmented, they become more consistent and firm, since they seem more balanced and connected
with other “bridges”. They tend to strengthen the learning of the music teacher, who keeps
learning with his pedagogical practice. Advanced bridges motivate the students since they are
creative and have surprises. These bridges are developed from original and surprisingly
pedagogical-musical actions, bringing novelty to the classroom. The artistic and pedagogical
results are very rewarding for the teacher and the students at the advanced level.
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Results of Fogaça´s study indicated the efficacy of the PONTES Approach to promote
student-teacher´s competencies for developing pedagogic articulations aiming the development of
creativity with his 4 students, 8-11 year-old children. The skills for pedagogic articulation were
progressively better with time and the student teacher recognized the benefits of it for his
development as a music teacher. This approach have been a decisive factor to the education of the
student-teacher and for the positive results of the study. The author believes that a creative music
teaching inspires creative and musical actions by the students because, in order to develop
pedagogic articulations, it is important to develop several and diversified skills. It was found
difficult but very relevant to instigate and develop the reflexive and analytical thoughts about the
praxis (theory/practice) and about the creative actions, since the student-music teacher did not
demonstrated at the beginning of the study, to be academically trained in these matters.
Of course, some connective skills (pedagogical, artistic and musical) may be innate to the
individual. The student-teacher could also have had a positive environment for the development of
his creative talents during his life experiences. But in this study it was observed that the studentteacher really developed more pedagogic articulations and creative skills during the training at the
real classroom situation.
There happened several examples of behavior changes towards an
improvement of creative and connective actions.
The children have demonstrated creative skills playing musical improvisations with
different music instruments such as piano, electronic keyboard, drums, wooden instruments and
the voice. The positive results were observed by the motivation and adequate attitudes of the
children to explore the sounds and timbres of the music instruments during the creative moments
in the classroom, by the constant demonstrations of aesthetic pleasure when doing and listening
their own compositions. They also showed to be concentrated during the creative activities, and
with time, they have demonstrated to become more self-confident in the music activities. Students
have also explored spontaneously the theoretical and practical elements of music even the ones that
were not presented in the classroom, such as: simultaneous musical intervals at the Orff
instruments and at the piano, and the use of finger difficult techniques during the creative
performances.
It was found that the main variable to influence the teacher´s development was the time
dedicated to reflect upon the different pedagogic articulations during classroom practice with
students. These mental exercises (reflexive thoughts) developed with the supervisor (based on the
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items of the PONTES Approach) about what the individuals have done during the stages of
planning (theory) and real class experiences (practice) turned out to be a real motivation for the
development of a new attitude towards teaching music. Younger music teachers have plenty and
rich life and musical experiences that may be used to motivate their students and develop creative
insights in the classroom. Frequently they do not know how to take advantage creatively of these
experiences.
At the beginning of the study, the student-teacher underestimated the learning of the
PONTES Approach. But with time, he did a real effort to understand the theoretical points and
started to develop analytical skills about the pedagogical creative experiences and the about how
develop connections with his student´s ideas. The discussions and analysis of the main items of the
theory was of utmost relevance for his own pedagogical and musical development as a music
teacher.
The study points out some considerations that should be promoted at the creative
education of the music teacher:
! Flexibility: The music teacher must be open to modify a previously written class plan,
without missing its original focus (goals and music contents to be taught and developed). He must
be prepared to develop ideas and concepts through adequate pedagogic articulations “bridges”). It
is necessary to understand that class plan is a map to help the teacher to direct and conduct the
class but it is not the final purpose or its final goal.
! Freedom: It is important for the application and the success of the PONTES Approach
that the music teacher acts with freedom and deals with naturalness in regard to the organization
of the time given for the activities. If he gets too much worried with formats, rigid pedagogic
procedures and worried to control the amount of time for each class activity, he will get stressed
and tense and will not have the necessary calm and feeling for insights to think creatively, to
promote special moments for his students. It is usually very difficult to be creative and articulated,
keeping in track with the class plans and the curricular goals and contents. That is why this type
of education must be given during the student-teacher course.
! High connectivity: For Fogaça, a teacher who has high connectivity is a teacher with
the ability to develop connections between various elements (teacher, students, socio-cultural
context, music repertoire, curriculum, among others) and the real time.
Being developed well
with efficacy, the PONTES Approach has a strong connection with the moment, with the “now”
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during the classroom moments. A “bridge may be more consistent if it is developed at the exact
moment. It has a timing to get a maximum efficiency. After the special moment, the “bridges”
may happen, but, perhaps, something may be lost, something relevant could be achieved only at
that specific time. That is why it is recommended that the teacher may dedicate himself to every
moment of his class, trying to promote the interaction of the actors involved, selecting the
adequate elements (contents, musics, activities and pedagogic actions) in order to connect them in
real time. It is recommended the development of pedagogic understanding of the classroom
situations, the development and creation of rapid selection of activities and a spirit of connectivity
with each class moment (the “now”). This ability must be worked with the music teacher and it is
developed gradually, since it carries a great neural/mental activity. It usually involves a large
number of neural activity in the brain. In the case the supervisor is not identifying immediate
results for the development of high connectivity skills, it is recommended patience and calm with
the student-teacher. It is important to analyze all kinds of possibilities (profits and losses), and
analyze what could be done in each different case in order to be articulated in each didactic
moment. It is important to have a positive attitude in relation to profits and losses, and it is
relevant not to regret and avoid frustration. The relationship with the real moment it is complex to
be perceived, since it is ephemeral. A moment will be always followed by another new moment
and time is the great partner for the development of the articulation skills. Gradually, the music
teacher will certainly be more prepared to develop more and better “bridges”, becoming more selfconfident and fluent.
Alda Oliveira and members of the research team documented and analyzed examples of
pedagogic articulations in music education in different contexts (formal and informal) and
considered the presented issues relevant for the development of future research studies on the
epistemology of practice. Oliveira and Fogaça suggest that the PONTES can be adequate tools to
develop pedagogical connections, creative problem solving skills and verbal fluency for reflexive
analysis of classroom praxis in continued music education of teachers. They believe that a creative
music education of teachers inspires creative and musical behaviors in the participants and
contributes to open minded theoretical and practical productive pedagogic performances.
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Madsen, C. & Yarbrough, C. (1980). Competency-based music education. Englewood-Cliffs, NJ: PrenticeHall.
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development. Raleigh, NC: Contemporary Publishing Company.
Menezes, M. (2010). Assessment in Music Education: a study of evaluation practices of music teachers in
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teachers (2010). (Doctoral dissertation, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil).
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_______. Mestres de música da Bahia: o efeito da aplicação do modelo Pontes na formação continuada de
professores de música. Brazilian CNPq, process 310720/2006-0. Research under development.
_______. (2005). Music teaching as culture: introducing the Pontes Approach. International Journal of
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Oliveira, A. (2004). Pontes educacionais em música: relações entre o formal e o informal. Anais do
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Schön, D. (1983). Educating the reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. London: Temple
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Swanwick, K. (1999). Teaching music musically. London: Routledge.
Schultz, A. V. B. The effect of a creative and critical-reflective-articulated program for the education of music
teachers (Early Childhood) at the Music Education Course of the Federal University of Bahia, Brazil. (Doctoral
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Sorrentino, H. T. Pedagogic Articulations on the Ganhadeiras of Itapuã Choir: a case study . (Doctoral
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Title: ”Creativity and Learning – Educating the Creative Mind”
Author(s): Jens Skou Olsen
Pages: 291-306
Copyright 2010
2010, Vol. 1, No. 3 side 291-306
Jens Skou Olsen
____________________________________________________________________________
Creativity and Learning
Educating the Creative Mind
Jens Skou Olsen, author, musician & composer
Assoc. Prof. at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen
_________________________________
This article looks into the learning that emerges through education. In educating the
creative mind it becomes imperative to reach a deeper understanding of the creative mind
and of creativity itself. A vast number of creativity research studies conducted in recent years
indicate that creativity is closely related to art, artistic practice, and artistic modes of
relating to and communicating with, the world around us. This article looks into the
nature of art and the creative process and proposes a definition of creativity that presents art
and arts-based education as one of the many ways of promoting creative thinking and
innovation. It is argued that a close look at the nature of artistic processes reveals a palette
of meta competencies, a palette that can be applied not only to artistic minded teachers,
children and learning organizations, but to all social groups, areas and levels - in effect to
the many varied fields within our culture.
Keywords: creativity, art, education, learning, play, cognition, social, non-compliance
_________________________________
The Ground of Being
The neuroscientific research communities must be commended for the visionary scope of its
subject as it is expressed in their more and more commen use of the notion of the Creative Mind.
Given the 100+ years of research in creativity and education, this is in my view a both startling and
courageous position. The aim of this notion is neither ‘Minds that Qualify as being Creative’ nor
‘Minds that need to be educated in order to produce Creative Minds’ – the expression is grounded
in the belief that the human mind is a Creative Mind. Creativity is thus not just a potential or a
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competence that we can cultivate through an intentional educational practice – Creativity is the
ground of being, a life stream through which the organism breathes and flourishes and thus a
prerequisite for learning. This means that every human being – baby, child, grown-up and old - is
a creative human being and that we therefore must consider learning and education as an
operationalization of this naturally given, basically organic creative state of existence.
The challenge before us when discussing creativity and learning in relation to education is: is
there an immanent conflict between creativity as a state of consciousness, and education as a
socializing process performed in schools? If so, how can we avoid or solve this conflict? In spite of
intensive research in the field during the past century, only few groundbreaking discoveries have
made it into our schools as new practices, and even fewer have succeeded in radically changing the
culture of our learning environments. Compared to the traditionally ‘hard sciences’ it is a
remarkable fact that there has been so little substantial impact in our schools, despite the progress
made within the social sciences, specifically in the fields of creativity, teaching and learning. The
very fact that we, some sixty years after the onset of the second wave of creativity research by J.P.
Guilford in 1950, still apply mainly cognitive, reactive, compliant and utilitarian strategies to our
preschools and early elementary schools, points to the need for a renewed look at our very
understanding of education and of the creative mind in our culture. This special issue of Chara
seems to stress the need for new ways to approach education; and arts-based education is seen as a
principal way of meeting the growing demands for original thought processes and innovative
problem solving.
The Enlightenment Ideal of Reason and Rationality
Behind this theme, behind the vision of merging creativity with learning lies the more or less tacit
strategy of our schools’ socializing, formative practice: the intentional practice of ‘Creating the
Educated Mind’. And we must ask ourselves: is there a dichotomy between our vision of the
creative mind and the educated mind and if so, does this dichotomy prevent arts-based education
from promoting original thought processes and innovative problem solving? The very fact that we
are still debating this issue suggests not only that we have not yet succeeded in our mission, but
also that there may still be substantial difficulties ahead of us before we will see large scale
innovation and original thought processes completed by educated, creative minds throughout our
culture. Indeed, as the Chair of the U.S. Alliance for Childhood, Joan Almon, puts it, things are
changing for the worse: ‘… Increasingly, preschool and kindergarten children find themselves in school
settings which feature scripted teaching, computerized learning, and standardized assessment. Physical
education and recess are being eliminated; new schools are built without playgrounds. While allegedly,
these approaches are providing “quality education,” they trivialize and undermine children’s natural
capacities for meaningful and focused life lessons through creative play and this leaves many children
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profoundly alienated from their school experiences…’ (Almon 2003: 18). In 2009, professor of
psychology Edward Zigler called for a ‘…much needed antidote to today’s common approach to child
development – an approach that is antithetical to the knowledge bases of both the fields of human
development and early childhood education…’ (Zigler 2009: ix). The fact that Zigler is directing our
attention to the human knowledge bases of our culture is important and relevant. The interrelation
of mind, creativity and education has for decades been the focus of numerous researchers,
philosophers and practitioners worldwide and many volumes have been written in defense of
creativity, art and arts-based educational strategies. Nonetheless we seem to insist on replacing the
whole-child approach with the cognitive child approach (Hirsch-Pasek 2009: 7). When we feed
our children with DVD’s, electronics, flash cards, toys-that-teach, and we denigrate sports and play
activities in our preschools we are forgetting the inspired insights of the previous century. But we
stand warned. Let us, for a brief moment, go back five decades in time:
1946 – Viktor Emil Frankl
In 1946 the Austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl published ‘Man´s Search for Meaning’ about his
experiences as a prisoner at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp during World War II. The book
has as its main theme the search for meaning in the midst of extreme suffering. The horror of the
experience removed all hope of survival and the book is a strong statement against the prospective
strategies and investment theories of western society today. Frankl writes: ‘…Don't aim at success-the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like
happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one's
personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person
other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by
not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry
it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long run - in the long run, I say
- success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it…’ (Frankl, 1946: 16-17)
1949 – Joy Paul Guilford
In 1949 the American psychologist J. P. Guilford gave a presidential address to the American
Psychological Association and initiated the beginning of the modern psychometric perspective on
creativity. In this address Guilford proposed that the field of psychology take up the study of
creativity and asked ‘…why is there so little apparent correlation between education and creative
productiveness? Why do we not produce a larger number of creative geniuses than we do, under
supposedly enlightened, modern educational practices? These are serious questions for thought and
investigation. The more immediate and explorable problem is a double one: (1) How can we discover
creative promise in our children and our youth? and (2) How can we promote the development of
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creative personalities?..’ (Guilford 1950, 444-445). The presidential address was published in 1950
and made Guilford the first modern researcher to outline possible mental abilities underlying
creativity (Weisberg 2006: 448).
1949 – Albert Einstein
In his book from 1949 entitled ‘Philosopher-Scientist’, Albert Einstein recalls the period of his life
as a student of mathematics and physics at the Polytechnic Institute of Zurich. It is a story of an
institution heavily fragmented in overwhelming and numerous subject specialities and Einstein
ended up working most of the time in the physical laboratory, fascinated by the direct contact with
experience. He writes: ‘…The hitch in this was, of course, the fact that one had to cram all this stuff
into one's mind for the examinations, whether one liked it or not. This coercion had such a deterring
effect [upon me] that, after I had passed the final examination, I found the consideration, of any
scientific problems distasteful to me for an entire year (…) It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that
the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this
delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to
wreck and ruin without fail. It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and
searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty. To the contrary, I believe that it
would be possible to rob even a healthy beast of prey of its voraciousness, if it were possible, with the aid
of a whip, to force the beast to devour continuously, even when not hungry, especially if the food, handed
out under such coercion, were to be selected accordingly…’ (Einstein, 1949: 19)
1962 – Jerome Bruner
In 1962 the American psychologist Jerome Bruner wrote: ‘…We have been negligent in coming to
sense of the quickening change of life in our time and its implications for the educational process. We
have not shared with our teachers the benefits of new discovery, new insight, new artistic triumph…’
(Bruner 1962: 125). It is Bruners position, that we must encourage the creativity of our children
and teachers as a preparation for the future, given that the future is more difficult than ever before
to define.
1963 – Edgar Wind
In 1963 the German-born British art historian, Edgar Wind, outlined the challenges for an artsbased curriculum: ‘…The forces of the imagination from which the artist draws his strength, have a
disruptive and capricious power which he must manage with economy. If he indulges his imagination
too freely, it may run wild and destroy him and his work by excess…Yet if he plagues his genius with the
wrong kind of drill, and uses too many contrivances and refinements, the imagination may shrivel; it
can atrophy…’ (Wind 1963: 2). Art is in his view a powerful, yet fragile source of creative energy,
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and the practice of introducing art in education is thus a delicate matter in several ways. Even
more so, art can be a very uncomfortable experience in its use of the creative energies of turmoil
and confusion. And, as Edgar Wind puts it: ‘…if it is the highest wish of a man to live undisturbed,
he might be well advised to remove art from his household all together…’ (Wind 1963:1). Art is in his
view not a local anesthetic that will ease the pain of traditional curriculum.
1966 – Alan Watts
During the 1960’s the British philosopher gave a series of lectures and seminars on the nature of
reality, consciousness and the meaning of life, in relation to Eastern and Western religion and
philosophy. He focused especially on the problems in our culture that arise due to Man’s
ignorance, ambition, need of control and will to win without loosing, and he advocated a more
transcendental and spontaneous life in which ‘…You have to cultivate an attitude to Life where you
are not trying to get anything out of it. You pick up a pebble on the beach and look at it. It’s beautiful.
Do not try to get a sermon out of it; sermons in stone and God in everything be damned! Just enjoy it, do
not feel you have to salve your conscience by saying that this is for the advancement of your aesthetic
understanding. Enjoy the pebble. If you do that you will become healthy. You will be able to become a
loving, helpful human being. But if you can’t do that, if you can only do things because somehow you’re
going to get something out of it you’re a vulture…’ (Watts, 1966)
1969 – Arne J. Nixon
In 1969 in an article entitled ‘A Child has a Right to the Expressive Arts’ professor of education
Arne J. Nixon stated that ‘…To create conditions which assist children in releasing that which lies
dormant and waiting within them so they may paint their impressions on life’s canvas in rich, bright,
bold, brave colors is the challenge for all who guide children…’ (Nixon 1969: 301).
As I am now discussing the work done half a century ago by Frankl, Guilford, Einstein, Bruner,
Wind, Watts and Nixon, some of them were in turn discussing the work of John Dewey
completed some sixty years prior, at the turn of the century.
How far have we come?
In 1897 John Dewey published five articles of faith entitled ‘My Pedagogic Creed’. In his first
article entitled ‘What Education Is’ he defines the educational process: ‘…All education…begins
unconsciously almost at birth, and is continually shaping the individual’s powers, saturating his
consciousness, forming his habits, training his ideas, and arousing his feelings and emotions…’ (Dewey
1897: 3). Today, more than 110 years after Dewey’s prophetic work and several decades after
Frankl, Guilford, Einstein, Bruner, Watts, Wind and Nixon - how far have we come? Vice
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president of the Association of California School Administrators, Alice Petrossian, says in an
interview on February 8, 2010: ’…give me the time to focus on kids, instead of filling out bureaucratic
paperwork…’ (Petrossian 2010: 1). As the Obama administration is preparing a sweeping overhaul
of the ‘No Child Left Behind Act’ of 2001 and as everyone seems to agree on the elimination of
the law’s 2014 proficiency deadline, it seems that we have yet to go beyond damage control. For
more than a century the voices of evidence-based positions proposing alternate routes to educating
the creative mind have been many, varied, qualified, inspiring and insisting. And yet we continue
to focus on academic skills, assessment and accountability in, as the anthropologist Susan
Greenwood puts it ‘…a conventional academic sphere, which still seems to be heavily ideologically
influenced by the Enlightenment ideal of reason and rationality…’ (Greenwood 2009:2). Can the
introduction of the emergent states of the creative mind in artistic practice in our schools produce
the long awaited turnaround in our educational practices? Can we hope for a turnaround that will
enable us to not only avoid suppressing the creative minds of future generations, but also to
support, sustain and revitalize our culture? If John Dewey is right, if education begins
unconsciously at birth and if Nixon is right in declaring art as a constitutional right of every child
– how can we apply this in the continuum from the first educational experience of being born to
the so called commencement speech some 25 years later? And who is commencing what – are our
children’s lives up until graduation a kind of test-run assessment that on graduation day is jettisoned
into full blossom in the real world of sensible, rational, educated grown-ups? It seems to me, that
we have not in any substantial way changed our educational systems beyond John Dewey’s critique
of 1897: ‘…I believe that much of present education fails because…it conceives the school as a place
where certain information is to be given, where certain lessons are to be learned, or where certain habits
are to be formed. The value of these is conceived as lying largely in the remote future; the child must do
these things for the sake of something else he is to do; they are mere preparations. As a result they do not
become a part of the life experience of the child and so are not truly educative…’ (Dewey 1897: 8). A
closer look at both the nature of the creative mind and the educational journey from birth to
commencement is needed.
The Creative Dimensions of Art and Education
Let us imagine a school that makes students, teachers and leaders feel that life is worth living. Let
us imagine a charismatic, vibrant and powerful educational system that can excite, thrill and
surprise. What would this system look like? Maybe if we, instead of turning art into education,
could turn education into an art form of sorts? Then we could try celebrating education as a deeply
creative practice: not arts-based education, but an education-based art - the art of math, the art of
language, the art of sports, music, painting, economics! Schools would become art galleries and
each equation, thesis or home run would be works of expressive power. There are problems, though.
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As argued above we must consider the fact that art and education may be a meeting of opposites in
the sense that they approach the question of directness at or intentionality in very different ways. It
seems that art and education are poles apart and the creative mind is acting within and through
both of them. What is going on here – through an analysis of the creative potential in art and
education, can we narrow down the common denominators of creativity? Let us look at our
prevailing assumptions on education, art and creativity, let us confront these assumptions and try
to list some common creative values as a basis for an understanding of the nature of the creative
mind.
Education
The prevailing assumption on education is that it, as the American linguist Noam Chomsky puts
it, is ‘…a system of acquiring skills through teaching, that is: the intentionally controlled and conducted
practice of training, repetition and reactive dispositions to act. Learning is achieved through the teaching
of procedures of induction and association and the child learns through accretion incrementally as she is
subjected to these sequential processes of generalization…’ (Chomsky 1973: 11’34). As a result of this
the schools see their primary activity as being the fully intentional practice of teaching and
sustaining a system that supports this. Our preschools and early elementary schools are
characterized by cognitive approaches, didactic components, ‘hot-housing’ techniques and
‘learning content’ (Sigel 1985: 122).
This mindset governs most schools in our culture today. The main problems with this approach
to education are the strong adaptive, reactive, compliant, prospective and controlling traits. In any
situation where human beings are being forced to adapt and react in stead of acting and actually
making a difference, the result is an externally motivated, noncreative mode of being. Furthermore
the strong focus on assessment in the form of standardized testing is thought to help boost learning
outcomes; but the increasing problems with the performance of both the low-performing students
and the high-performing students seem to indicate, that ‘…It is less easy to accept that our
fundamental problem (…) is theoretical, and that improved and more effective work (…) will not solve
our problem if we have a confusion at the root of the system; running faster with improved style will not
help us if we are going in the wrong direction…’ (Egan, 2008: 89). Finally, the prospective mode of
being that is applied in education today is barely a ‘mode of being’ as it does not in any substantial
way accept this now. The real point of interest in mainstream education today is the final exams
and the possible future results that the training done in school will enable the student to achieve.
Opposed to this, Authentic education has value in itself and students and teachers involved in
authentic education are first and foremost deeply gripped by learning for learning’s own sake. The
process is the point of interest and the end result is not in focus – but never the less a very creative
spinoff of that process. Authentic education is a way of living as John Dewey points out in his
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second Article of Faith: ‘…I believe that the school is primarily a social institution. Education being a
social process, the school is simply that form of community life in which all those agencies are
concentrated that will be most effective in bringing the child to share in the inherited resources of the
race, and to use his own powers for social ends. Education, therefore, is a process of living and not a
preparation for future living…’ (Dewey 1897: 7). If education first and foremost is a social process
then it must be a sentient process and we enter the realm of passion: ‘…What needs to be recognized
and acknowledged is, first, that acts of learning and teaching are acts of desire and passion…’ (Barreca
& Morse 1997: 43).
Art
The prevailing assumptions about art can be classified into two major, very different positions. The
first position is a rational position. Art is seen here as an intentional act of creating a work of art
that is novel and valuable. Artists are professionals and they are themselves a product of hard,
relentless striving – 2 percent talent and 98 percent hard work. At the far right of this position we
find the cognitive neuroscientist Merlin Donald, who postulates that ‘…Art should be regarded as a
specific kind of cognitive engineering. As a first principle, art is an activity intended to influence the
minds of an audience. It involves the deliberate construction of representations that effect how people
(including the artist) view the world. This reflects a very deep human tendency for the reciprocal control
of attention, which carries with it a propensity to deliberately engineer the experiences of others…’
(Donald, 2006:4).
The second position is a transcendental position. Art is something very special; it is seen to be
grounded on unintentional, spontaneous and free-spirited ‘inspired’ insights that in magical ways
structure themselves and communicate through the artist as a medium. There may be problems and
setbacks in the creative process, but the hard work is not something that seems to make the artist
want to consider giving up. On the contrary, the apparant impossibility of the whole project only
increases the stakes – and beyond all reason the game seems to be worth the Candle all the more.
The artist grows with her art in a formative process and she is speaking like a child, playing for
play’s sake and celebrating the beautiful non-sense of life, which, by the way, seems to eventually
make a lot of sense to a lot of people. Art is seen as a highly unintentional and transcending act,
and the artist is an odd-ball case, a genius or a especially gifted individual and art is thus a special
happening reserved for the few. Most of us are not ‘gifted’ and we need to accept this as it is a
competence, or a mode of being, that is innate – you cannot teach it or learn it if you are not
talented with this gift.
Both positions are closely tied to a specific, dispositional view on artistic practice and we accept
that not everyone of us can paint, dance, write poems or improvise jazz on a high artistic level. But
the question that remains is whether some of the traits or modes of creation in artistic practice are
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common for all human beings and if so, how is education addressing these traits?
Creativity
The prevailing assumption on creativity is, that it is a result of a rational, strategic decision to be
creative, as suggested by the American professor of psychology, Robert J. Sternberg: ‘…Creative
people are creative, in large part, because they have decided to be creative…’ (Sternberg, 2000: 89).
Creative people produce something that is novel and valuable, and ’…Buying low and selling high is
the sine qua non of successful creative performance. Buying low means actively pursuing ideas that are
unknown or out of favor but that have growth potential. Selling high involves moving on to new projects
when an idea or product becomes valued and yields a significant return…’ (Sternberg, 1999: 42-43).
The American professor of psychology Howard Gardner supports this position: ‘…The notion that
creativity involves problem solving and that it connotates both initial novelty and ultimate acceptance
would be accepted by nearly every psychologically oriented researcher of creativity…’ (Gardner, 1993:
35)
These assumptions about the nature of creativity presuppose a more or less tacit range of
utilitarian and anthropocentric categories. When Robert J. Sternberg postulates that creativity is a
result of a rational decision to be creative, he is one of a number of researchers who look at
creativity from a predominantly rational perspective. They hold the position that creativity is
grounded in 'Novelty', and 'Value' and that any creative practice must necesarily result in new and
useful additions to our culture that can be assessed as such. My position on creativity is different. It
is a transcendental and a sentient position. The two positions are apparently facing each other as
formulated by professor of philosophy, Leonardo Boff: ‘…The base experience is feeling. Not the
cogito, ergo sum (I think, therefore I am), but the sentio, ergo sum (I feel, therefore I am); not Logos, but
Pathos, the capacity to be affected and to affect – affectivity. Eros does not only imply a feeling, but a cofeeling, a consent, not only being conscious of the passion of the world, but having com-passion . . .
Everything that is tied to Eros must see with fantasy, with creativity, bursting forth toward the
surprising, the wonderful…’ (Boff 1984: 11-12). But I do not think it is a question of either or. We
think and we sense, but the question we need to pose is partly how our thinking and perception
relate to each other and secondly, what role creativity plays in our thinking and perception. Above
all, creativity can be sensed. I do not need to cogitate that I am creative, I can actually feel it. In this
transcendental position, creativity is based on a feeling of something, rather than on knowledge of
something. I see creativity as a state of consciousness that is not tied to a single or group of
subjects, one or more cultural fields, practices or instruments. Creativity works through everything
and it is in my view a fallacy to postulate that creativity is defined in novelty and value. The fact
that creativity can be characterized by the emergent properties of Novelty and Value does not imply
that the phenomenon of creativity is grounded in novelty and value. I find that creativity in the
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core of its being is a vibration in unstable systems, and I think that we should build on this core in
relation to the transformation of schools and teaching approaches.
The nature of the creative mind
Our school institutions have the potential to transform and infuse vitality into our culture. But we
need to revaluate our systems theory to see if there is an opportunity to supplement the rational
position with a transcendent, sentient position. Robert J. Sternberg proposes that creativity is a
rational decision to be creative. The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche proposes that every
single idea is a result of a creative expression. Theories of art, educational strategies and creativity
concepts are not only interesting ideas about the world, they are quite the contrary ideas that in a
physical sense shape and interfere with the world from which we grow; and in precisely that sense
they are the workings of the creative mind. More than anything else it seems to me, that creativity
has to do with ‘change’ as a phenomenon in all its dimensions:
Traits of the creative mind
Experiencing This Now
Accepting of This Now
Ineffable
Ignorant
Irrational
Apperceptive
Non-compliant
Vocational
Surrendering
Playing
Compassionate
Recognizing
Discovering
Risking
Sacrificing
Losing
Winning
Educational Art
Educational Art is grounded in the non-compliant, irrational practice of self-forgetting in
celebrating the miracle of creation in this moment in time that has the highest possible relevance
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for this very moment. Educational Art is apperceptive, compassionate and grows and discovers in
creation without compromise as the practice is symbolized by sudden, irrational and improvised
journeys on foot, blindfolded through uncharted territories. As Educational Art in its nature feels
the freedom to create in any context under any constraint it may choose to practice the most severe
constraints – it may choose to accept the compliant, rational procedures of planning and preparing
for the future by doing something in this moment in time which does not necesarily have any
relevance this very moment.
As I am an artist myself deeply engaged in the challenge of education my position may come as
no surprise to you. In my view it is not sufficient to ‘add’ art and artistic practice to the curriculum
of education. The root and ground of education itself must change and regain its vitality as a
multiplicity of sudden risking, losing and winning practices. A reintroduction of education as
playful discovery expressed in the practice of playing for play’s sake and learning for learning’s
sake. Within this deeply rewarding practice lies the nature of the creative mind, as creativity is the
very joy of creating orderly worlds of expressive overflow in the vortex of chaos, turmoil and
confusion. And here we see that teaching and even learning plays a less central role than previously
assumed and that we need to reintroduce in our artistic practice and in the preschools and early
elementary schools the notion of growth as a distinctly unique, unintentional and vital force in our
lives. Mastering math, language and sports in their richest forms are not solely a product of
teaching; and this presentation argues, that they can not even be said to be a sole product of
learning in the sense of an intentionally controlled and conducted practice. The nature of the
creative mind presupposes the balancing of the intentional, the semi intentional and the
unintentional practices of teaching, learning, artistic creation and growth.
‘…Exercise of the artistic process, of which dance and song are the most elementary products
because they are contained within the body, is a special kind of sensory, communicative and
co-operative powers that is as fundamental to the making and remaking of human nature
as speech. Dance and song can be understood as primary adaptations to the environment;
with them man can feel towards a new order of things and feel across boundaries, while
with speech, decisions are made about boundaries. This is why even in industrialized
societies, the changing forms of music may express the true nature of the predicament of
people before they have begun to express it in words and political action…’ (Blacking,
1987: 60).
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Title: ”Kunstner, musiker, entreprenør hele livet - tanker omkring kunstneriske uddannelser,om livslang læring
og om nødvendigheden af en god portion entreprenørvirksomhed.”
Author(s): Hanne Boel
Pages: 327-329
CHARA is collaborating with the Royal Library of Denmark to preserve and extend access to CHARA - Journal
of Creativity, Spontaneity and Learning.
Copyright 2010
2010, Vol. 1, No. 3 pp 327-329
Hanne Boel
____________________________________________________________________________
Kunstner, musiker, entreprenør hele livet
Tanker omkring kunstneriske uddannelser, om livslang læring
og om nødvendigheden af en god portion entreprenørvirksomhed.
Af Hanne Boel
Sanger, komponist, Professor i sang ved
Rytmisk Musikkonservatorium
_______________________________
Dette essay beskæftiger sig med dele af de udfordringer der er omkring kunstuddannelse og
at leve som kunstner og undervise som kunstner. Hvilken rolle spiller vi som undervisere af
unge kunstnere i en kunstart i rivende udvikling? . Hvad er det for et liv, jeg er med til at
uddanne til? Hvad vil det sige at udvikle sig som kunstner igennem mange år? Hvad er det
for udfordringer jeg har stået med og står med i dag? Og er en uddannelse fra en
kunstnerisk institution en fordel frem for at være autodidakt og gå i ”livets skole”?
_______________________________
Mit forholdsvis nye liv som underviser på Rytmisk Musikkonservatorium giver pludselig anledning
til mange refleksioner omkring det at leve som udøvende kunstner et helt liv. Som underviser
konfronteres jeg med studerendes nysgerrighed overfor min karriere som den er forløbet indtil nu.
Samtidig giver arbejdet med de unge kunstnere ”på vej” mig stor anledning til tanker omkring
deres fremtid. Hvad er det for et liv, jeg er med til at uddanne til? Hvad vil det sige at udvikle sig
som kunstner igennem mange år? Hvad er det for udfordringer jeg har stået med og står med i
dag?
At opretholde en karriere har for mig krævet – og kræver i høj grad stadigvæk – en vilje til konstant
udvikling, til nysgerrighed, til læring. Det kræver en evne til at genopfinde mig selv igen og igen og
at være min egen entreprenør, der kan visionere / finde på projekter, iværksætte dem og
efterfølgende reflektere over processen, så eventuelle fejl kan minimeres i næste projekt.
Jeg er selv uddannet fra et musikkonservatorium som Almen Musikpædagog og er derfor ikke
direkte uddannet til et liv som udøver.
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327
Hanne Boel
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Med den erfaring jeg har i dag, kan jeg til en vis grad se, hvilke fag og inputs jeg kunne have haft
glæde af at få som ung under uddannelse. Arbejdsmetoder og strukturer, der måske havde lettet
dele af mit liv som udøvende og skabende kunstner og entreprenør.
Samtidig stiller jeg ofte mig selv følgende spørgsmål: Kan en ung kunstner med klare visioner og et
allerede veludviklet personligt kunstnerisk udtryk undgå at blive tæmmet og kæmmet og hæmmet
til halvkedelig mainstream på en kunstnerisk uddannelsesinstitution?
Direkte adspurgt hører jeg ofte en indre djævelsk stemme svare, nej! Alligevel står jeg op hver dag
optændt af overbevisningen om at det kan lade sig gøre! Og tager glad både til og fra arbejde på
Rytmisk Musikkonservatorium
Fordi en kunstnerisk uddannelsesinstitution er et unikt centrum for netværk for en ung kunstner.
Netværk som kan vise sig brugbart gennem en hel karriere. Og fordi jeg tror på, at vi kan danne et
kreativt ”væksthus”, hvor hensynet til den enkelte studerendes udvikling og respekten for sammes
unikke udtryk er i højsædet. Hvor det er muligt at favne den unge studerende på det ’niveau’ af
menneskelig og kunstnerisk modenhed, hvor vedkommende er; hvor der kan udfordres,
provokeres, anspores til refleksion; hvor fiaskoer og fejlslag er en naturlig del af enhver
udviklingsproces og ikke et kunstnerisk drab! Hvor der kan forberedes til det arbejdsliv, der følger
efter endt uddannelse, og hvor det faktum, at uddannelsen varer 3-5 år, giver netop den
rummelighed der kræves for at arbejde seriøst og tålmodigt med den enkelte studerende hen imod
øget modenhed – både menneskeligt og kunstnerisk.
I dette ”væksthus” kan vi ”gartnere”, os lærere og vejledere med egne erfaringer fra det at være
kunstner , dele ud af vores viden og give faglig støtte og udfordring.
Rytmisk musik er en kunstart uden facitlister, den unikke ”stemme” og originalitet er det vigtigste.
Derfor er det så væsentligt, at vi som lærere og vejledere tager udgangspunkt i den enkelte
studerendes eget ”råstof”.
Derfor mener jeg det er vigtigt med undervisning i kunstnerisk projektarbejde, udvikling af
strukturer og metoder, øvelse i refleksion, øvelse i at tage ansvar for sit kunstneriske ståsted og sin
egen karriere. Og det kan gøre en forskel på livet
efter
endt
uddannelse
i
forhold
til
et
autodidakt
udviklingsforløb
udenfor
en
uddannelsesinstitution. Og jeg hævder, at den kunstneriske uddannelsesinstitution rent faktisk gør
____________________________________________________________________________
328
Kunstner, musiker, entreprenør hele livet
____________________________________________________________________________
en mærkbar eller forhåbentlig hørbar forskel, så det generelle niveau for kunstarten højnes og
kvaliteten øges.
Og så bliver svaret på mit spørgsmål netop et ja. Vi kan som erfarne kunstneriske vejledere gøre en
stor forskel for de unge i vore institutionelle rammer. Rammer giver frihed og muligheder, hvis de
forvaltes ansvarligt.
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329
Title: ”Livet er varmt – evaluering kold”
Author(s): Steen Nepper Larsen
Pages: 331-332
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Copyright 2010
2010, Vol. 1, No. 3 pp 331-332
Steen Nepper Larsen
____________________________________________________________________________
Livet er varmt - evalueringen er kold
Steen Nepper Larsen
Cand. mag., Ph.D., Lektor ved GNOSIS
Danmarks Pædagogiske Universitetsskole
_______________________________
Vi evaluerer skoler, skønhed, musik, skiferier, hjemmehjælp, sygehuse, skraldemænd, aviser,
mekanikere, reklamer, læger, kommuner, fødsler, øl, ægtefæller og hjemmesider som aldrig
før i historien. Vi investerer mængder af energi i at tale om livet. Vi nøjes nemlig ikke bare
med at leve det - men hvirvles ind i en evindelig, selvkommenterende kultur & der er ingen
mulighed for at undslippe – endsige for at råbe: Stop verden – jeg vil af!
_______________________________
At evaluere er at bedømme en handling eller et fænomen - med en tilbageskuende dømmekrafts
kontrollerende øjne. Og den retrospektive vurdering har ikke tillid til, at verden kan iagttage sig
selv. Evaluering er mistillid til, at det er godt nok – det vi foretager os i verden. Vi synes nemlig
alle sammen at være blevet så dyre i drift – så vi ikke kan få lov til at køre på autonomt frihjul i
fjerne hjørner af det fælles samfund. Alt skal være transparent og målbart.
Alt skal kunne
effektiviseres. Alle skal være tilpasningsduelige og omstillingsparate. Intet er kommet for at blive,
og evalueringen er en syns-teknologi & et mangehovedet barn af rationalismen, der prædiker
altings mulige foranderlighed.
Evalueringer er aldrig udelukkende neutrale og beskrivende. En evaluering konstruerer et
dobbeltblik . Underviseren, rejseagenten og skoleeleven ved, at de skal gøres til genstande for
vurderende blikke & tilvænnes derfor til at anlægge et strategisk forhold til sig selv. Og mens de
gør, hvad de gør, tænker de intenst på, hvordan det, de gør, bliver opfattet. Visheden om den
kommende evaluering skaber en følelse af selvkontrol og tvivlrådighed. Den tilskynder den
evaluerede til at tænke i umiddelbar succes og målbarhed – frem for i nytænkning og det, der
måske slet ikke kan måles.
____________________________________________________________________________
331
Steen Nepper Larsen
____________________________________________________________________________
Evalueringer drejer sig om taktiske positioneringer, iscenesættelser og om anerkendelsesspil.
Hvem vil ikke gerne have en god evaluering og være noget i andres øjne. Firmaer, organisationer
og enkeltpersoner gør, hvad de kan for at prøve på at styre den evaluering, de skal underkastes.
Mange finder det endda smigrende at blive evalueret. Tænke sig at de gider at se på og at skrive
noget om mig eller os. Men…som bekendt er lettere for en stærk økonomisk agent (et firma eller
en organisation) – end for en ansat på gulvet eller foran skærmen at styre evalueringers forløb. Den
enkelte synes altid at være udskiftelig. Den evaluerende kender ikke den evaluerede – men opfatter
det slet ikke som en mangel.
En mindre hær af højtbetalte evaluatorer står parate til at fodre os med evalueringer, der ofte
slår det fast, mange allerede véd. Vi omformes til at blive markedsbevidste forbrugere af
evalueringer. Brugertilfredsheden og billiggørelsen er blevet tidsåndens store Guder i åbenbaringen.
Men læg mærke til, at det ofte er de ”svagere” og ”blødere” (begge dele sat i gåseøjne) områder, der
evalueres: vi evaluerer altid miljø- og udviklingsbistanden & uddannelses- og sundhedssystemet –
men så at sige aldrig det militære, økonomiske, politiske eller juridiske system i dets tilsyneladende
selvgivne helhed. Evalueringen bliver et hjælpemiddel til at speede det arbejde op, der leveres af
hjemmehjælpere, jordmødre, pædagoger og lærere. Evalueringerne vil aldrig komme til at vise, at
det kapitalistiske system ”as such” er kritisabelt. Helheden fortoner sig & der er altid kun penge i
og vilje til at se på delområderne.
Når alt og alle evalueres spildes der ganske mange kræfter. Energierne forskydes fra selve
engagementet og aktiviteten til det uendelige evalueringsspil. Det foregår efter devisen: Først gør vi
noget – og så evaluerer vi; eller også skal vi evalueres. Alle evalueringer skaber blindhed. Da det er
umuligt at se sig selv se – hverken kan eller vil en evaluering se det kriterium, den ser i kraft af. Går
den ud fra, at effektivitet eller nytte lige er sagen – formår den f.eks. aldrig at spørge til nytten af
nytten. Evalueringernes tilsyneladende indsigter producerer således ikke-viden.
Tænke sig - hvis vi kunne sige ja til livet, som det leves & ikke altid skulle evaluere alt og alle.
Forestil dig et liv helt uden evalueringer. Hvad ville vi så have mistet? Hjerteblodet – eller blot
nogle gnavende hyæner? Arbejdsglæden – eller blot nogle bidske vampyrer? Selvtilliden – eller blot
omgangen med og respekten for lange rækker af kontrollanter, der lærer os at spilde vores tid? Ville
vi tabe livets fylde – eller blot det evindelige og irriterende dobbeltblik?
(Denne tekst er skrevet d. 8.marts 2002 og bragt i Danmarks Radios P1 som en ’Spids’ samme år –
Red.)
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332
Title: ”Arts Education and Creativity”
Author(s): Heather Moorefield-Lang & Barbara Day
Pages: 333-341
CHARA is collaborating with the Royal Library of Denmark to preserve and extend access to CHARA Journal of Creativity, Spontaneity and Learning.
Copyright 2010
2010, Vol. 1, No. 3 pp 333-341
Heather Morefield-Lang & Barbara Day
____________________________________________________________________________
Arts Education and Creativity
Heather Moorefield-Lang
Ed.D, Librarian, Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech,
Blacksburg Virginia, USA
Barbara Day
PH.D, Professor, University of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
_______________________________
Arts-based disciplines in the schools and the creative thought those classes generate are
recognized in the areas of research and education. But arts education courses in our schools
are being threatened with extinction. Do adolescent students see the arts-based classes offered
at their schools as important to their creativity? This study explores the question "Does arts
education have a relationship to eighth-grade rural adolescent students' creativity?" Student
questionnaires, focus-group interviews, and follow-up interviews were data collection
methods used with 92 eighth-grade teen students. Strong emphasis was placed on gathering
personal narratives, comments, and opinions directly from the students. Content analysis
was used to analyze the student interviews. The students in this study had much to share on
the arts courses offered in their school.
_______________________________
The topic of this article is arts education and creativity. The study from which this article
originated focused on the relationship of arts education to personal motivation, self-efficacy, and
creativity in adolescent students in rural schools. The research on arts education is ever growing.
The main focus at this time appears to be the continuous debate of whether the arts can affect
student achievement (See Baum, Owen, & Oreck, 1997; Burton, Horowitz & Abeles, 2000;
Catteral, 2002a; Luftig, 2000; Winner & Cooper, 2000). In other words these researchers
continue to argue as to whether the arts can help student learning through academic transfer in the
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333
____________________________________________________________________________
core curricula such as language arts, math, science, and social studies. Moving more toward the
focus of this study, a growing body of research investigates the relationship that arts education
might have with student’s self-esteem, motivation, self-efficacy, and creativity (See Betts, Fisher, &
Hicks, 1995; Deasy, 2003; Emery, 1989; Hughes & Wilson, 2004; Jensen, 2001; Ramey, 2005).
Methodology
For this study the qualitative methodology of narrative inquiry was chosen to gain data from the
adolescent students. Open-ended questionnaires, focus-group interviews as well as follow-up oneon-one interviews were used to obtain the information needed. For this particular study narrative
inquiry was the sensible method to gain information for this research. It has the ability to clarify
the meaning of events (Lareau & Shultz, 1996). I wanted to delve into the importance of arts
education and its possible impact on eighth grade student’s creativity. It was essential to
incorporate the unscripted and unrehearsed speech of the individuals that were the focus for this
study. I also felt an obligation to those who are underrepresented in the rural public schools of the
United States by sharing their voices and perspectives, previously left out of so many studies
(Marshall, 1985).
The final study that I wished to present would not have been as rich or detailed without the use
of qualitative methods. Open-ended questionnaires and interviews provided the opportunity to
truly delve into the thoughts and viewpoints of the participants, analyze their statements, and
present their input into the realm of research and academia. This study would not be the one that I
envision without the use of qualitative approach.
Approximately 200 eighth grade students enrolled in two separate rural middle schools had the
opportunity to participate in this study. Eighth grade students were involved, because they had the
most experience with the arts-based classes offered in the middle schools where the research study
was conducted. By the conclusion of the study 92 students, 34 males and 58 females, had chosen
to participate. From the 92 student questionnaire responses 40 students overall, 20 from each
school, were chosen for focus-group interviews. Each focus-group consisted of four students and
there were five focus-groups at each school.
To say that there is no bias on my part is an untruth. I am a strong believer in the importance of
the arts in schools. I feel that the arts disciplines can have a positive effect on student creativity.
Though I have a bias on this topic, I diligently pursued pure, unbiased research for this study. The
words of the students are presented in a true, unscripted format. Very little editing has been done
to their words. Some grammatical corrections have been made and repetitions, large pauses, and
miscellaneous sounds have been left out for narrative clarity. I was interested in speaking to
students who had taken arts-based courses during their time in a rural middle school. I was
searching for student perspectives, whether positive or negative. I wanted to share their words.
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334
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These students were able to share the potential effect that their arts-based classes might have on
their creativity.
The Students
Creativity will be defined in this study as the imaginative thought used or formed through artsbased courses offered in a school. The term imagination will also be used in this section as a term
for creativity. Educators can offer learning environments to students that will increase their
creativity and imagination. When young people are involved in creative activities there is a good
chance that they will be less likely to take part in more destructive or unhealthy behaviors (Gasman
& Anderson-Thompkins, 2003; Vicario & Chambliss, 2001). The arts can offer those creative
learning opportunities. When young people are allowed to express their imagination and creativity
they can break through ideas and thoughts that might have been fixed or static. They can see past
what is considered normal or average and create something new. For a little while in that
classroom, students’ minds can be free (Goldberg, 1997; Greene, 2007). In our focus-group
interviews Jasmine, Burt, Ginny, and Mary spoke on how they found that freedom in their arts
classes:
Jasmine: Band showed me that music, art, and anything in life is more than just doing
what is right in front of you. That there’s more to everything. You make the exact note
highly depressing or bright and cheery.
Burt: Art helped me to grow as an artist and think differently. One day we had to sketch a
tree and then the next day we actually went outside and re-drew it. It made me look at the
tree differently.
Ginny: I think the arts classes let you be unique and let you be who you really want to be
right then and like in math you have to do what everybody else is doing it’s just numbers,
but in the arts you can do whatever.
Mary: From sixth to eighth grade I have always liked drama and art. Every year I love that
I do something new in those classes. I feel that taking these classes for three years have
given me lots of creativity.
Chance also talked about his creativity and how his arts classes might have an effect when he
stated, “I wasn’t very creative to begin with, but band has widened my mind so I can think about
different things.” Kitty continued with this same thought when she said, “All of the arts classes
that I’ve taken have helped me be more creative. They make think more and in different ways.”
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Many students associated their creativity with what they love to do. Students felt more willing to
create and express in a class that they enjoyed and looked forward to attending. Being able to take
pleasure in a task or assignment is a highly desired goal in young people. Enjoying a topic or
subject takes time, but the journey through the process can be one of creative expression and
personal success. Working through a creative process means that the student may fail, succeed,
collaborate, and think, but one thing it will never be is boring. Being creative is exciting
(Weinstein, 2007). Three students named Lashay, Annalesh, and Scott had the following to say
about the joy that they experienced while being creative in their arts electives:
Lashay: Arts classes helped me to improve myself in what I love doing. I know how to
draw, sing, and act better than I used to. Now I am better at it and would love to make a
job out of it.
Annalesh: I now have opened my eyes to all possibilities. I love to act, draw, and sing. I
love to write songs and sing them. My drawing has improved I no longer just draw the
same darn thing every single day.
Scott: In drama they show you change in the world of how it used to be. They put you
where you pretend to be a character from the sixteenth or eighteenth century still and you
can tell that their lives were a lot different from ours. No matter what they were. You’re
just a whole different person in a whole different world and they put you into that and it’s
just so much fun. Because you’re not just reading a textbook the whole time. You can
express yourself openly and express someone from the past.
These students had educators who kindled their creativity and imagination (Duffy, 2006). Their
teachers wanted them to think past the normal daily routine and branch out. These eighth graders
were given a chance to look past the four walls in the classroom and think outside of that box.
Ron, Carrie, Eric, and Melissa share their experiences:
Ron: In the arts classes, the teachers have shown me to move out of the box and be more
unique compared to the others. Before, I just did my thing like everyone else. Now I am
different and that’s a good thing for me.
Carrie: The arts classes have shown that no matter what people think of what you are
doing it’s how unique it is. In paintings you can do something that is beyond the average
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thing. To think outside the box is what some teachers have said. When I go home and am
bored then I want to do or make something very unique.
Eric: I was a lot different when I was in the sixth grade especially from how I am now. I
dressed in my little preppy clothes. I wouldn’t do much outside of the box. Now I have
more creativity. I have more arts in my life and that makes me feel more like myself, more
confident.
Melissa: The arts open doors for new ideas whether it’s writing music, writing a play,
writing songs, or making the next “Scream” painting. It really helps me think more outside
the box. But I know some kids who just stress and stay further in the box than ever.
Life is full of chances to be creative (Goldberg, 1997). Each person has to decide whether they
want to take advantage of those creative opportunities. These students have taken the step to be
creative and have enjoyed the courses taken up to this point. Arts classes can take hold of young
people’s excitement. The arts can engage. They give students chances to be creative, imaginative,
confident, and secure (Smith, 2001). Alex and Dora had the following to say about their freedom
to be creative and expressive:
Alex: In our arts classes you can try new things and not really be told what you can and
can’t do because in art you need to express yourself in your own way. Which helps
creativity in most students.
Dora: Whenever you have to draw something. When you have to come up with something
on your own to draw instead of the teacher giving you something to draw. That makes you
push your creativity.
Christina spoke about how her creativity in band class helped her share with her younger sister at
home:
Band helped me write songs better. For example, my little sister wants to be in band so I
write little songs and help her learn notes and stuff. Being in band, I can write out the
notes because I see them every day.
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Polly spoke about how her art class helped her express herself creatively when she said, “Art is the
best because I like drawing and painting, especially painting, and making stuff with other stuff.
You can just express yourself through a drawing.” Mike had a similar statement when he spoke on
his art class, he stated, “In art if you think of something you just draw it or write it down and draw
it, whatever you want to do.” T.L wavered a bit on his creativity in arts class when he told me, “I
don’t think that I’m the most creative person in the world, but I do believe that being in arts
classes helps my creativity.” Shane, on the other hand, was very confident in his creativity and
imagination. He stated, “It has helped me to be more concentrated and confident. I am more
creative because of art classes, so I do better in school.” The arts can educate young people for
uncertainty. Situations in life are rarely permanent and it is advantageous for students to know that
it is okay to be unsure. Imagination and creativity don’t come from the already answered
questions. They come from the undiscovered responses and ideas (Dupuis, 2004, Eisner, 2002;
Heath & Robinson, 2004). The arts can give students a chance to generate their own thoughts and
explore their own options and creative paths.
Though many students felt that the arts courses engaged their creativity and imagination there
were some who did not. Holly and Kimm had the following to say about their band class and
creativity. Holly stated that there was, “No creativity, we play the music as written,” while Kimm
made the following comment:
Kimm: Band and art haven’t really affected my creativity because they weren’t really classes
where you could express your creativity because you had to do the work the way the
teacher wanted it done.
Some arts-based classes don’t lend themselves to creativity and expression as often as others. There
can be many opportunities for creative expression if students wish to pursue and educators offer
them. The arts have the foundation to engage creativity and imagination. Sadly these young ladies
did not find it in these particular courses. Hopefully other prospects can be found in some of their
other classes offered at the middle school, or at the future, high school level.
Conclusion
As a researcher there is bias on my part. I do feel that arts education has a relationship to student
creativity. It is hard to be objective when one feels so connected to the research being pursued but
I believe that it is my history and interest in the subject that makes for a stronger study. This study
would not be the one that it is without a background in theater, dance, music, and education.
Without my past experiences in the arts this research would not be the piece that I would like it to
be nor would I be the educational researcher that I strive to be (Wilson, 1994).
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Arts education in the schools has a place and a need. Students enjoy their arts-based courses, the
participants in this study are proof of that fact, but even outside that pleasure the arts are
significant. Students expressed an increase in creativity. These are strong traits that should be
nurtured in any classroom.
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Title: ”Tanker fra Svalbard - Om undren, undervisning og ’practice-based research’ i kreative højere
uddannelser”
Author(s): Finn Thorbjørn Hansen
Pages: 343-356
CHARA is collaborating with the Royal Library of Denmark to preserve and extend access to CHARA - Journal
of Creativity, Spontaneity and Learning.
Copyright 2010
2010, Vol. 1, No. 3 pp 343-356
Finn Thorbjørn Hansen
____________________________________________________________________________
Tanker fra Svalbard
Om undren, undervisning og ’practice-based research’ i kreative højere
uddannelser1
Finn Thorbjørn Hansen, cand.mag. og Ph.d., universitetslektor ved DPU,
Aarhus Universitet, fth@dpu.dk
_______________________________
Denne artikel tager udgangspunkt i nogle lærings- og dannelseserfaringer fra arkitektskolerne i Danmark og særlig Designskolen Kolding, hvor en mere fænomenologisk og
undringsbaseret undervisningstilgang i disse år bliver afprøvet. Kan man tænke sig en
alternativ form for universitetspædagogik, hvor de Fire Stemmer (System, Fag, Person og
Sag) kommer i spil, og hvor ’practice-based research’ tænkes fra en grundlæggende
fænomenologisk-hermeneutisk position og ud fra en idé om en ’forsknings-poetik’? Og
hvorledes skaber man undringsfællesskaber i undervisningen? Kan man undre sig uden ord?
_______________________________
De fire Stemmer i højere uddannelse
En designstuderende fortæller, at han ikke længere kan ikke finde hans egen stemme og
engagement i hans arbejde på designskolen. Den er, siger han, blevet væk i mødet med fagenes og
systemernes stemmer på designskolen. Alt det, der må læres og vides og kendes til, fra
trendanalyser over almen teori om fibermaterialer, taktilitet, struktur, ornamentik og farvelære til
markedsanalyser, bæredygtig udvikling, kreativitetsteorier og udvikling af kompetenceprofiler og
kommunikationsplatforme, alt det har lagt, sådan oplever han det, en stadig tykkere hinde eller
skorper omkring ’det’, der af den unge designstuderende erfares som det egentlige. Det, han ønsker
at udtrykke, som han længes efter, og som han forsøger at finde et sprog for.
Da tre designundervisere fra samme designskole hører om dette, smiler de venligt af denne unge
designstuderendes begynder-kvaler. ”En usleben diamant”, siger en. ”Selvfølgelig skal de studerende
1
Følgende artikel er tanker, jeg gjorde mig på en tur til Svalbard i august 2010. De bygger videre på nogle
erfaringer, som jeg i dag gør med designundervisere og designstuderende på Designskolen Kolding samt på
erfaringer fra et ”fænomenologisk dannelsesspor” på adjunktpædagogikum for Arkitektskolerne i Århus og
København, som jeg var ansvarlig for i 2009 (se også Hansen, 2010c).
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lære designfaget og dets tradition at kende”, siger en anden, ”for ellers ende de som glade dilletanter.
Her uddanner vi dem til professionelle designere”. En tredje tøver og bemærker, at det naturligvis
heller ikke er i orden, at de studerende i uddannelsesprocessen mister sig selv og deres engagement
og følelse af at være på sporet at deres eget udtryk. Men, tilføjer hun, denne iver efter at finde ’sin
egen stemme’, kan også være et problem, en selvkredsende narcissistisk deroute. Så er det, at den
fjerde designunderviser siger: ”Men at finde sin egen kunstneriske stemme handler vel ikke kun om at
finde sig selv, men nærmere at høre det, materialet kalder en til at gøre.”
Jeg lytter som tilkaldt ekstern forsker, der har som mål sammen med ti designundervisere over tre
år at udvikle en ’alternativ form for universitetspædagogik’. Den skal i højere grad end den
almindelige ’universitære universitetspædagogik’ baserer sig på designundervisernes og de
designstuderendes livsverden, skabelsesprocesser og praksiserfaringer, mens de er i det ’live’, så at
sige. Det vil sige i de øjeblikke, hvor indfaldet kommer, undringen sker og materialet kalder dem
til en længsel, en lytten og til et kreativt nærvær og en skabende dialog eller dans med tingene.
En søgemodel opstår: De Fire Stemmer i de formgivende og højere uddannelser (se Hansen,
2010a, 2010b, 2011). Kort fortalt består de af Systemets stemme, Fagets stemme, den Personlige
stemme og Sagens stemme. Et krydsfelt, et interferenspunkt, hvori både designunderviseren og de
designstuderende står. Underviseren – må vi gå ud fra, især da de fleste selv er professionelle og
udøvende designere – kender til alle fire stemmer, de lever dem. De er i disse stemmer og kalder
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verden og værket frem via en unik balance mellem disse. De kender til brugeranalyser,
markedskræfter, hvordan virksomheder og politikere tænker. De kender til disse politiske, sociale,
økonomiske og kulturelle systemer og politiske og ledelsesmæssige spil og strategier, så godt, at de
kan kommunikere med dem og få deres designprodukter i spil og få dem solgt.
De kender også deres fag, de er stolte af det, og inspireres igen og igen af de refleksioner og
teorier og metoder og modeller, som designforskere og forskere generelt tilbyder om og over
praksis. De kan formidle disse og vise, hvorledes man også kan anvende den slags teori på og i
praksis. Og de gode af dem, dem som faktisk skaber designværker af høj kvalitet, ved også, hvornår
faget kan stå i vejen for sagen, og dermed også hvornår de skal slippe det faglige greb, og hvornår
de i stedet for skal lade sig gribe af sagens selv og hvad den kalder til.
Vejen til et sådant gehør for sagen og nødvendige faglige forlegenhed eller passende faglige
tilbageholdenhed, går igennem deres dybt personlige engagement i faget. De går således til
fagligheden på en dyb personlig måde. De personliggør hver især fagligheden på deres egen unikke
måde. Det morer de studerende sig over, det beundrer de ved dem, det irriterer dem, det erfarer de
som en vigtig hændelse og læring. Uden denne personlige energi og idiosynkratiske omgang med
og tilgang til designfagligheden ville underviserne heller ikke være i stand til at høre sig selv og være
der, i fagligheden, med hele deres sjæl, længsel og autenticitet.
Men igen, som den fjerde underviser påpegede, der, hvor den egentlige alkymi opstår, er, når den
Personlige stemme går i dialog med Sagens stemme. Hvis ikke underviseren kan træde til side for
det, det hele handler om, nemlig sagen selv – som hverken er systemernes, fagets eller personens
interesser og ønsker og intentioner – så vil der aldrig kunne opstå et værk, eller en ’begivenhed’ i
Gadamers forstand, hvor det så at sige er livet/fænomenet/materialet selv, der griber os og ’vil’
noget med os. I disse øjeblikke føres eller stødes den designskabende ud i ’det åbne’. En åbenhed,
som er en forudsætning for, at mødet og dialogen med materialet/fænomenet/livet kan finde sted.
Det er disse fire stemmer, som designunderviseren har gehør og en praktisk tavs fornemmelse for,
når de skaber og dertil også vil føre designprocessen helt til dørs i salget af produktet.
Designunderviserne kan med andre ord det der. De kan det og gør det, og kan på indirekte vis
formidle det, mens de gør det, men de ved ikke af det – ikke som vidende, der klart og præcist kan
definere og bestemme teoretisk og metodisk, hvad og hvorfor de gør det, de gør. Det ligger som
oftest, som en af dem siger, mere i hånden, i det følende strøg med hånden hen over tekstilet eller i
blyantens fabulerende bevægelse hen over papiret. Det ligger som en tavs praktisk, intuitiv og
kropslig viden.
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Hvad disse designundervisere søger og åbenlyst efterlyser er et sprog, en måde at artikulere og
reflektere på, der både kan være tro over for disse berørtheder, erfaringer og skabende handlinger
og samtidig give disse handlinger og grebetheder ord, der kan kalde en dybere reflekteret forståelse
frem over, hvad det er, de kan og gør, når de står i det skabende nærvær og i designprocessen. De
mangler et sprog – en femte stemme, om man vil – vi kunne kalde det Forståelsens stemme.
Når forståelsen er af ontologisk karakter
Men det særlige ved denne forståelse, i modsætning til den forståelse, som Fagets stemme kan
artikulere, er, at den taler fra en ontologisk (værensmæssig) forbundethed med verden og det
fænomen/materiale/liv, som søges udtrykt. Det er en ontologisk stemme og ikke blot en praktisk
eller epistemologisk stemme, der her søges.
Nogle af disse designunderviser er også ph.d.-studerende. Efter samtalen om den unge
designstuderende, der ikke kunne høre sin egen stemme for designskolens system- og fagstemmer,
fortalte en af disse kommende designforskere, at hun i den grad kunne genkende sig i den unge
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designstuderendes frustration. Som hun sagde:
“I forskningsverdenen bliver man som designer stillet overfor nogle store og ofte lidt
fremmede krav om ’videnskabelighed’ og det kan være svært ikke at ’miste sig selv’ i store
forkromede teorier. Det rammer jo ind i en meget væsentlig diskussion af, hvad det er vi
designerne vil bidrage med i forskningsverdenen? Selvfølgelig skal vi både forske ’i’ design,
’for’ design eller ’gennem’ design for nu at bruge Fraylings velkendte definitioner, men den
fjerde mulighed, den fænomenologisk hermeneutisk tilgang, at forske ’fra’ design, mener jeg
er væsentlig at være vidende om som designforsker. Denne forskningstilgang ’taler til’
designere, fordi den i højere grad inddrager undringer, ’de levede erfaringer’ og taler med
’den personlige stemme’, som jo netop er ret centralt for designere. Jeg mener dog langt fra,
at designere skal forske på én og samme måde, men at den hermeneutisk fænomenologiske
tilgang, er et muligt ’redskab’, der netop kan hjælpe designeren til at synliggøre og ’tale fra’
sit fagfelt.”(e-mail til Kirsten Bonde Sørensen, januar 2010)
Kirsten Bonde Sørensen henviser her specifikt til den tilgang, som jeg over for de ti
designundervisere i 2009-2010 havde præsenteret som en mulig forskningstilgang og praksis at
arbejde ud fra, når man vil udvikle en alternativ universitetspædagogik på Designskolen Kolding.
Nemlig gennem den fænomenologisk-hermeneutiske tilgang og praksis, hvor man tager
udgangspunkt i en levet erfaring og berørthed (og ikke blot en pædagogisk velvalgt
praksisfortælling eller case, der kan illustrere en forudbestemt teori) og dernæst en personlig undren
og refleksion fra denne levede erfaring, før man knytter an til teorien og den fagteoretiske
diskussion og videnskabelige diskurs. Altså en ’neden-fra-og-op-pædagogik’, frem for en ’oven-fraog-ned-pædagogik’, som ellers kendetegner almindelig universitetsundervisning. Her lærer de
studerende jo som bekendt først at tilegne sig diverse videnskabelige teorier og metoder for dernæst
– gennem casestudies og projektarbejde – at vise, at man har forstået teorien, og hvorledes man kan
anvende teorien på praksis.
I det, som er beskrevet som Kundskabsværkstedet i sokratisk variant (Hansen, 2009, 2010f,
2011) erfarer designunderviseren (og senere er planen de designstuderende – projektet varer til
2012), hvad det vil sige at ’stå-i-det-åbne’ og i et ’undringsfællesskab’ (Hansen, 2010d, 2011).
Vi er, som Martin Heidegger gjorde klart (Heidegger, 2007 [1927]), altid allerede i verden, før vi
reflekterer over den. Det betyder med andre ord, at vi altid kommer for sent med vores rationelle
reflekterende bevidsthed og valgte intentioner. Vi vil da aldrig rigtig være fuldt til stede i det, vi
tænker og siger, hvis vi udelukkende har et analytisk og epistemologiske og metodisk greb om
verden og os selv. Vil vi derimod forsøge at være i det, vi tænker og i den tale og gøren, som sker,
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må vi i højere grad lære at tune os ind på det, i livet/fænomenet/materialet, som griber og berører
os og da tænke og tale og handle fra denne grebethed, før vi sætter begreber på det.
Gadamer beskriver dette smukt med hans begreber om ’det indre ord’ og ’det ydre ord’(Gadamer,
2004; Arthos, 2009), og om hvorledes vi må lære at tænke fra indersiden af ordet gennem en
’hermeneutisk erfaring’. Det vil sige en erfaring, der netop ”… overskrider den videnskabelige
metodelæres kontrolområde” (Gadamer, 2004. s. 1). Og hans slutter sit store værk Sandhed og metode
(2004) med ordene: ”Hvad der ikke kan opnås ad metodisk vej må, og kan faktisk, opnås gennem en
disciplin for spørgen og forsken, der garanterer sandheden”(ibid., s. 461). Denne særlige spørgen og
forsken, der overskrider den videnskabelige metodelæres kontrolområde og erkendelsesteori (dets
epistemologi) og sætter os i forbindelse med erfaringsformer, der ligger uden for videnskaben (men
ikke uden for forskning i Gadamers forstand!) er erfaringer, vi kan møde i filosofien, kunsten og
historien. For i selve den filosofiske undring og i kunstens sanselige stemthed og skaben samt i det
historisk-fortællende peges der frem mod et ’mellemrum’, en pause eller stilhed, et overskud af
meningsfuldhed, som det metodiske greb og videnskabelig begreb (det ydre ord) ikke kan fange og
rumme men nok det undringsbaserede eller stemte og skabende (levende) ord og kunstneriske
udtryk.
Hvordan bedrive forskningsbaseret undervisning på de formgivende uddannelser?
Det interessante er nu, at Kulturministeriet i deres rapport, Forskningsstrategi for kulturministeriets
område (2009), i afsnittet 4.5 ”Diskussioner om forskning og udvikling på Kulturministeriets
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uddannelsesinstitutioner” fremhæver, at forskning og forsknings-baseret undervisning (på de
uddannelsesinstitutioner der vil akkrediteres og akademiseres til også at kunne bedrive
forskningsaktiviteter og kandidatuddannelser) må tage et grundlæggende andet udgangspunkt end
den almindelige universitære forskningstradition og universitetspædagogik. På de kunstneriske og
formgivende uddannelser (herunder også arkitekt- og designskolerne) skal der tænkes et langt
tættende sammenhæng og samspil mellem forskningen og den kunstneriske udviklingsvirksomhed.
I sidste instans opfordres der til udvikling af nye forskningsområder og tilgange inden for disse
uddannelser, som bygger på – jeg citerer – ”…’practise-based research’ eller ’research by design’. Altså
en neden-fra-og-op-tilgang, hvor forskningen ikke foregår ved, at folk udefra eller udenfor f.eks.
designprofessionen (som f.eks. kunsthistorikere, sociologer, psykologer, antropologer eller
fagfilosoffer) ser på designpraksissen, men at det er designeren selv, der skal lære at forske inden fra
designpraksissen selv. Fra en refleksiv forskning i 1. person så at sige. For derved at forløse en
indsigt, som ligger gemt i designerens praktiske kundskab.
Jeg beskriver det også på den måde, at designforskeren må være særlig opmærksom på og søgende
omkring, hvilken forsknings-poetik, som driver hans eller hendes erkendelsesinteresse og undren (se
også Biggs, 2006). Hvis designforskeren kun var optaget af den rette forskningslogik og –teori og –
metode, ville han eller hun forsat kun stå i et epistemologisk forhold til de tavse, kropslige og
praktiske erfaringer, som han eller hun sidder inde med. Det er som bekendt kun digteren selv, der
kan udvikle hendes særlige poetik (foruden hendes digterværker, naturligvis). Det vil ingen nok så
medlevende og reflekterende litteraturteoretiker, litteraturanmelder eller litteraturlivsbiografiker
kunne gøre. Poetikken er unikt knyttet til en levet indersideerfaring og personlig undren, som har
retning mod det almene og universelle. Derfor kan den nævnte designer og ph.d.-studerende,
Kirsten Bonde Sørensen, genkende sig i de processer og erkendelsesprocesser og erfaringer, som der
tales om inden for fænomenologien og hermeneutikken.
At fremkalde designerens poetik er ikke det samme som at afklare designerens personlige
designfilosofi. Sidstnævnte er designerens ’tænkte filosofi’ og de grundantagelser, som
vedkommende knytter til dennes praksis og teori over praksis. Designerens poetik, derimod, er
vedkommendes ’levede filosofi’. Her tales og tænkes fra det liv og de spørgsmål, som leves. Det er,
når der både lyttes efter den Personlige stemme og Sagens stemme, i denne samklang, at poetikken
får ørenlyd.
Den sokratiske jordemoder som universitetspædagogisk ideal
Det næste interessante spørgsmål er da, hvorledes man kan skabe dannelsesprocesser for både
designstuderende, designundervisere og designforskere in spe, hvor en sådan professions- og
forskningspoetik får plads og udviklingsmuligheder. Kan man som ekstern forsker (dvs. som ikkedesigner) hjælpe til i en sådan dannelsesproces?
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Nej, ikke hvis man ankommer med en ’vidende’ holdning, dvs. med nogle klare videnskabelige
og veldefinererede metoder og analyser og ”sikker”(evidensbaseret) viden.
Ja, hvis man formår i samarbejde med designerne at skabe muligheder for reelle
undringsfællesskaber (hvori forskeren også personlig sætter sig og sin undren på spil sammen med
designerne) og en samtaleform, der grundlæggende er sokratisk – i Gadamers betydning af
sokratisk (Gadamer, 1986). Det vil sige som en tilgang, der netop ikke ved noget på forhånd
(Sokrates var kun pædagog i den forstand, at han ledede hans samtalepartner og ham selv frem til
en ægte undren og dialog. Når og fra at undringen slog ind over dem, stod begge i det åbne). Det
lægger rigtignok op til en anden forståelse af undren og filosofi end den Aristoteles (og senere
Hegel) anlagde, når de talte om, at undren er filosofiens begyndelse (Sallis, 1995). For Aristoteles
og Hegel var undren blot en umiddelbar impuls, som nok kunne sætte en filosoferen i gang, men
det var noget, som skulle overstås for at komme til det egentlige. Nemlig en systematisk
vidensopbyggelse og undersøgelse gennem fagfilosofiens begreber og metodikker. For
Platon(Sokrates) og den sene Heidegger, Hannah Arendt og Gadamer var undren noget ganske
andet.
Undren var både begyndelsen til filosofi, den ledende drivkraft i den filosofiske refleksion og
ende- og sigtepunktet for filosofien. Filosoffens mål er så at sige at flytte ind i undren, at blive en
del af den. Lige som digtet er udtryksformen for digteren, er undringen udtryksformen for
sokraten (Verhoven, 1972).
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At undres er at være infiltreret i selve værens rødder
”Det, jeg forsøger at oversætte for Dem, er mere hemmelighedsfuldt. Det er infiltreret i selve værens
rødder, i sansningens sanse-løse udspring”, skriver kunstneren Cézanne i J. Gasquets bog om ham, og
den franske fænomenolog Merleau-Ponty bruge dette lille citat som indgangscitatet for hans bog
Øjet og ånden (2000 [1964]). Han indleder med at skrive, at videnskaben manipulerer tingene og
afstår fra at bebo dem. Hvad vi derimod må gøre, hvis vi så at sige vil være ved tingene uden at
manipulere dem er at flytte ud til dem gennem kunstens og filosofiens særlige erfaringsformer.
Merleau-Ponty skelner mellem at se filosofi som en akademisk teoretisk disciplin og diskurs
(fagfilosofi) og så at se filosofi som en livsform og væremåde. I Le Visible et l’Invisible (her citeret
fra Macleod & Holdridge, 2002, s. 10) skriver han:
”The words most laden with philosophy are not necessarily those which enclose what they
say. They are those which open most energetically upon being, because they convey more
exactly the life of the whole and disturb to breaking point our well-established certainties.
The question is whether philosophy as a rediscovery of unfathomed being can best be served
by means of logical language or by using language not as a means of conveying direct,
immediate meaning, but as an equivalent of what it would like to say.”
Når filosoffen peger på filosofiske problemer, dilemmaer, og temaer og nøglespørgsmål og bedriver
begrebsanalyser og fører logiske argumenter for dette og hint, så er det, vil Merleau-Ponty hævde,
egentlig ikke disse filosofiske problemer, temaer og nøglespørgsmål og hans særlige filosofiske
metode, der kendetegner, hvad denne filosof står for og er drevet af. Disse spørgsmål,
problembeskrivelser og analyser er blot forskellige måder, hvorpå filosoffen forsøger at artikulere
det, som har gjort indtryk, som han længes efter at give udtryk og finde ind til. Så disse beskrivelser
af nøglespørgsmål og problematikker kan egentlig blot betragtes som ’afkalkninger’ af noget, noget
som engang var levende og flydende virkelighed for den filosoferende. Nemlig en grundlæggende
undren, åbenhed og originalt møde med et indtryk og en levet erfaring, som nu søger et udtryk –
at blive betænkt af filosoffen. Det er som bekendt også Merleau-Ponty, der i forordet til
Phenomenology of Perception (2002 [1945]), skriver, at den, der bedst har formuleret, hvad den
fænomenologiske reduktion er for en størrelse, er Husserls assistent Eugen Fink, ”…when he spoke
of ’wonder’ in the face of the world”(Merleau-Ponty, 2002, s. xv). For Fink var ægte filosofi først og
fremmest en undringsbaseret og –ledet filosoferen. Filosofi og dette at være filosoferende er at være
i en dialog og i et originalt møde med verden, hvor man ikke ankommer til denne med nogle
professionelle sikkerheder (fagligheder/sikre systemer og erkendelser og metoder) men nærmere
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med en ’berørt uvidenhed’ (Lindseth, 2005) en sokratisk ikke-viden, som man kunne beskrive som
’det, vi ikke ved, at vi ikke ved – men er’.
Fink (1981) vil hævde, at denne undren udspringer af et grundlæggende møde med det ukendte
og fremmede, som efterfølges af angst og gru. Hvorimod Heidegger (1956, 1994, 2004) og
Hannah Arendt (og Løgstrup herhjemme) taler om, at vi i undringen nok løsrives fra ’common
sense’ og den videnskabelige sikkerhed (hvilket nok kan afstedkomme en vis psykologisk såvel som
epistemologisk uro og utryghed). Men til gengæld vil vi også kunne erfare en dybere og mere
fundamental (ontologisk) forbundethed med verden i undringsøjeblikket. Noget taler til os, som vi
samtidig erfarer en dybt forbundethed med, ja en glæde, meningsfuldhed og taknemmelighed for.
Arendt taler ligefrem om en ’beundrende undren’ (Arendt, 1978).
Man kunne også sige det lidt mere jordnært: Når vi er nysgerrige og interesserede står vi godt plantet
på sikker grund, på vores fastlandssokkel af viden (det ved vi, at vi ved; det ved vi, at vi kan; og det
ved vi, at vi ikke ved, men gerne vil vide). Ser vi så pludselig noget nyt i det fjerne, ja så bliver vi
gerrige efter ny viden, og hvis ’det nye’ oven i købet synes at kunne inddæmme og sikre os
yderligere vidensområder, ja så er det også interessant. Vi vælger dernæst at drage ud på en
undersøgelse. Vi vil ud at se nærmere på det, så vi kan udforske det. Og når vi så har sat ’båden’ i
vandet og lagt kursen (designet undersøgelsen eller eksperimentet), så forventer vi at vende hjem
med en opdagelse og ny viden og erkendelse.
Når vi undres er det ikke noget, som vi har planlagt eller vil. At undre sig er ikke det samme som
at undersøge eller udforske noget. Undren kommer bag på os. Undren er som et epistemologisk
jordskælv, der pludselig rokker ved ikke blot vores viden og sikre greb om verden, men også ved
den måde, jeg selv er forbundet med min viden og faglighed. Undren rammer dybere og mere
eksistentielt end nysgerrighed, interesserethed og den analyserende og kritisk undersøgende
attitude. I undren oplever vi på egen krop en forbundethed med verden på et mere værensmæssigt
(ontologisk) plan samtidig med, at vi på det epistemologiske og funktionelle (ontiske) plan erfare
et brud og en uro.
Men undren er ikke, når vi spørger. For i selve det at spørge, har vi allerede sat en spørgeretning
og udvalgt nogle begreber og ord i et forsøg på at komme på højde med denne undren. Så undren
kommer før spørgsmålet. Det filosofiske spørgsmål (som f.eks. Hvad er tid?) kan være
undringsladet, men det behøver ikke at være det. Det er undringsladet, hvis personen, der spørger,
i selve holdning viser og oplever en sætten-sig-selv-på-spil og en ægte tøven og sårbarhed. Det
mærker man. Undren kalder til nærvær og filosofi er da en personlig svar på et sådant kald (jf.
Marcel, 1973). Der følger således en anden langsommelighed, ydmyghed og lytten med, når man
er bragt i undren. Gadamer ville sige, at man i undren tuner sig ind på ’det indre ord’. Eller, at
man er ramt og under indtryk af ’det indre ord’, når vi undres.
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Men hvad er da kilden til undren? Hvad går forud for undren? Ja, hvori består i grunden
undringens fænomenologi? Et muligt svar på det første spørgsmål kunne selvsagt være: Det gør
forundringen. At være forundret er i højere grad at være sanselig stemt, ramt og grebet, før man så
at sige vågner op og spørge: Hvad skete der i grunden skete her? I forundringen ligger indtrykket
tavst tilstede, som en fremmede gæst, vi har fået besøg af, og som vi ikke var forberedt på. I
undringen træder vi mere aktivt selv i spil i forhold til det ’under’, vi har oplevet, og som vi nu
forsøger at forstå.
Kan undringsbaseret undervisning ske uden ord?
Eugen Fink knytter, lige som Gadamer (2000) i øvrigt, en tæt forbindelse mellem denne sokratiske
undren (thaumazein) og det græske begreb theoria, der ikke må forveksles med det moderne begreb
om teori. Theoria stod for de gamle grækere som en særlig form for lyttende og deltagende
kontemplation, hvor de lyttende selv var ”helt med” i det sagte og gjorte. Og det i modsætning til,
hvad vi i dag forstår ved teori som den distancerede iagttagende og reflekterende position. Theoria
er undren, siger Fink. Og, kunne vi så tilføje, er det ikke en sådan form for kontemplation og
undren, som særlig må i spil, når designere og andre formgivende og kunstneriske
uddannelsesinstitutioner vil bedrive ’forskningsbaseret undervisning’? Vil vi lære at tænke fra
praksis og ud fra en ’wonder- and practice-based research’, må vi også kunne skabe rum for
sådanne undringsfællesskaber. Undringsfællesskaber må ikke forveksles med f.eks. ’reflekterende
teams’, ’Appreciative Inquiry’ eller ’reflekterende praksisfællesskaber’. Hvor disse typisk er
problem- eller mulighedsorienteret og knyttet til et ønske om at effektivisere eller maksimere en
funktion i praksis, er undren og det at være i sokratiske undringsfællesskaber en praxis i Aristotelisk
forstand. Det vil sige ikke et middel for noget andet, men en værdi i sig selv. I den forstand er der
en langt tættere forbindelse eller indfiltrerethed mellem theoria og praxis (på samme måde som der
også bør være mellem forskning og kunstnerisk udviklingsarbejde på kulturministeriets
uddannelsesinstitutioner2), end der er mellem teori og praksis på de almindelige og
nytteorienterede
professionsuddannelser.
Dog,
må
det
tilføjes,
at
også
for
disse
professionsuddannelser – f.eks. lærer- og sygeplejeuddannelsen – giver det mening at tale om ’et
kald’(den Personlige og Sagens stemme) og om lærer- og sygeplejeprofessionen ikke blot som en
teknik eller håndværk men også som en kunst (se Hansen, 2010f, 2010g, 2011).
Men kan vi ikke let komme til at forråde undringens momentum og de kunstneriske
uddannelsesinstitutioners credo og værensformer, når de skaber – hvis denne undring og disse
undringsfællesskaber i designundervisningen skal ske gennem det skrevne ord? Et medium, som de
2
For en meget interessant diskussion af, hvad ’practice-based research’ kan være inden for de formgivende
uddannelser, og hvorledes Gadamers theoria-forståelse kan åbne op for en fænomenologisk-hermeneutisk tilgang
til f.eks. designforskning, se Macleod & Holdridge (2006).
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fleste designere jo kunstnerisk og professionelt set ikke anser for at være deres væsentligste og
vigtigste medie. Kan man undre sig uden ord, uden både det skriftlige og mundtlige ord? Jo
forundres kan man uden ord, da er vi ladet op til undren via en sanselig stemthed. Men kan man
undre sig uden ord? En streg i en tegning kan være teknisk eller undersøgende i sin form og
bevægelse. Men den kan vel også være fabulerende og undrende, eller tøvende, langsommelig og
ydmygt lyttende? Så hvorfor ikke undre sig visuelt og gennem forskellige materielle og stoflige
former? Og hvordan vil det konkret tage sig ud? Hvilken undringsbaserede undervisningsformer
kunne det føre til på en designskole? Hvori adskiller en kreativ undervisningsform, der ægger til
nysgerrighed og det undersøgende sig fra en, der ønsker at kalde det undrende frem?
Det er nogle af de spørgsmål, som jeg og de ti designundervisere på Designskolen Kolding de
næste år vil fordybe os i og praktisk prøve af.
Referencer:
Arendt, H. (1978). The Life of the Mind. Harcourt Inc., London.
Arthos, J. (2009). The Inner Word in Gadamer’s Hermeneutics. University of Notre Dame Press,
Indiana.
Biggs, I. (2006). ”Hybrid texts and academic authority: the wager in creative practice research”. In
Macleod, K. & L. Holdridge, Thinking Through Art. Reflection on art research. Routledge,
London.
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Fink, E. (1981). The problem of the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl. I: Apriori and World.
European contributions to Husserlian Phenomenology. The Hauge: Martinus Nijhoff
Publishers.
Gadamer, H.-G. (2004 [1960]). Sandhed og metode. Forlaget Systime, Århus.
Gadamer, H.-G. (1986). The Idea of the Good in Platonic-Aristotelian Philosophy. Yale University
Press, London.
Gadamer, H.-G. (2000). Teoriens lovprisning: taler og artikler. Forlaget Systime, Århus.
Hansen, F.T. (2009). Sokratiske samtaler – en vej til store indsigt, arbejdsglæde og “taktfuldhed” i
socialrådgiverens arbejde? Unden for nummer – tidsskrift for forskning og praksis i socialt
arbejde, juni 2009.
Hansen, F.T. (2010a). ”Undringsfællesskabet som vej til U-læring på højere uddannelser”. In
Fortællinger fra U-et. Teori U omsat i liv, læring og lederskab (red. Lone Belling og Thomas
Gerstrøm). Dansk Psykologisk Forlag A/S, Virum.
Hansen, F.T. (2010b in print). ”The Phenomenology of Wonder in Higher Education” i Malte
Brinkmann (ed.): Erziehung. Phänomenologische Perspektiven. Königshausen &
Neumann. Würzburg.
Hansen, F.T. (2010c). “The creative force of wonder” - hvordan tænke og praktisere
universitetspædagogik på et kommende designuniversitet? Ikke-publiseret arbejdspapir til
Designskolen Kolding, August 2010.
Hansen, F.T. (2010d). At stå i det åbne. Dannelse gennem filosofisk nærvær og undren. Hans Reitzel
(3. oplag), København.
Hansen, F.T. (2010f). Filosofisk vejledning og praktisk kundskab i professionsuddannel-ser.
Afsluttende rapport (362 sider) til VIA University College (læreruddannel-sen), 1. Juli
2010. REPRO, DPU, København.
Hansen, F.T. (2010g). Hermeneutisk praksis og undringens væsen og betydning i sygeplejen.
Tidsskrift for Akademiske Sygeplejersker, nr. 2 Oktober 2010.
Hansen, F.T. (2011). At tænke fra ordets inderside. Kundskabsværkstedet og de Fire Stemmer i højere
uddannelse og professionsudvikling. Hans Reitzel, København (udgives medio 2011).
Heidegger, M. (2007 [1927]). Væren og Tid. Forlaget Klim, Århus.
Heidegger, M. (1956): What is philosophy?, trans. W. Kluback and J.T. Wilde. New Haven.
Heidegger, M. (1994): Basic Questions in Philosophy, trans. R. Rojcewicz and A. Schuwer (fra
Gesamtausgabe, Band 45). Indiana.
Heidegger (2004 [1954]). What is called thinking? Harper & Row Publishers, New York.
Lindseth, A. (2005). Zur Sache der Philosophischen Praxis. Verlag Karl Alber, Freiburg/München.
Macleod, K. & L. Holdridge (2002). ”The Enactment of Thinking: Creative Practice Research
Degrees, in Journal of Visual Art Practice, Vol. 2, No. 1-2, p. 5-11.
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Macleod, K. & L. Holdridge (2006). Thinking Through Art. Reflections on art as research.
Routledge, London.
Marcel, G. (1973). “What Can Be Expected of Philosophy?” In Marcel, G., Tragic Wisdom and
Beyond, Northwestern University Press, Evanston.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (2002 [1945]). Phenomenology of Perception. Routledge, London.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (2000 [1964]). Øyet og ånden. Pax Forlag A/S, Oslo.
Sallis, J. (1995): “The Place of Wonder”. In Double Truth. Albany, NY.
Verhoeven, C. (1972): The Philosophy of Wonder. New York.
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Title: ”Indigenous Musical Arts In The Limpopo Province”
Author(s): Morakeng Edward Kenneth Lebaka
Pages: 357-272
Copyright 2010
2010, Vol. 1, No. 3 pp 357-372
Morakeng Edward Kenneth Lebaka
____________________________________________________________________________
An Evaluation of the Integration of Indigenous Musical Arts
in the Creative and Performing Arts Syllabus and the
Implementation thereof in the Pre-schools and Early
Elementary Schools Curriculum in Sekhukhune Area,
Limpopo Province in South Africa.
Ph.D., the Department of Music, University of Pretoria, South Africa
_______________________________
The implementation of the Creative and Performing Arts (CPA) syllabus at pre-schools
and early elementary schools level in Sekhukhune area, Limpopo Province in South Africa
has been carried out without paying due regard to all that should be in place. As a result,
the implementation exercise has been hampered by some administrative and logistical
problems. The content for Creative and Performing Arts as a curriculum subject draws
from Western culture, primarily due to the proliferation of literary sources for such content.
It has therefore been a matter of urgent concern to establish the extent to which local
culture, in the form of indigenous musical arts, have been integrated into the syllabus.
The results of this research suggest that the indigenous musical arts in the Creative and
Performing Arts syllabus content are generally representative of the culture of the Pedi
people. But the indigenous musical arts content in the Creative and Performing Arts
syllabus could be representative of the indigenous culture of Bapedi to a much greater
extent, especially as it allows for the use of local resources and contains objectives that
explicitly refer to the inclusion of the musical culture of a local community. Current
limitations are mainly caused by the teachers’ shortcomings in terms of appropriate teaching
approaches and their vague understanding of the main concept that they should master,
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namely ‘integration’. The results of the study further indicate that teachers 1) cover most of
the indigenous musical arts in their lessons, and 2) are usually able to relate music with
physical education, but are unable to integrate content as much as it is practicable due to
lack of knowledge and skill on their part. The conclusion reached is that the syllabus allows
the teacher the freedom to draw as much as possible from the community, thus making
learning more relevant to the learner. With regard to syllabus implementation, the
implementation exercise is hampered by the absence of appropriate resources and facilities as
well as the necessary support in the form of needs-oriented in-service training. Owing to
lack of resources and in-service training that addresses specific needs, the teachers are not
very effective in syllabus delivery. The main research question, which has given impetus to
this research is: How representative of the indigenous culture of the Pedi children is the
musical arts content in the Creative and Performing Arts (CPA) syllabus, and what
problems have been encountered in the implementation of the syllabus?
_______________________________
BACKGROUND
One essential aspect in the background to this study is the observation made with respect to the
status and development of musical arts at primary school level in South Africa. The observation is
that some form of training in music has been taking place in the colleges of primary teacher
education for the past 30 years. These institutions were initially known as Teacher Training
Colleges (TTCs) and then came to be known as Colleges of Education.
Music is an integral part of the culture of the people of South Africa, who, as a nation comprising
different ethnic groups (e.g. Zulu, Pedi, Xhosa, Tsonga, Venda, etc). Every social event features
music of one kind or another. Music is performed at ceremonies such as weddings, thanksgiving
and burials. Music also features prominently in ritual and worship as well as in a number of
community events such as malopo1.
Music has been part of the curriculum at the initiation schools for a long time (Mautle 2001:27).
Although initiation is not as widespread in South Africa now as it was in the past, there is
evidence that some ethnic groups in the country still practice it. Phuthego (2005) highlights the
1
Malopo is an illness which can only be terminated by a ritual called Malopo
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Indigenous Musical Arts in the Limpopo Province
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educational value of the traditional music of Botswana and argues that it could be used effectively
developing the same skills that the Dalcroze approach aims to develop.
Addo et al (2003:236) defines integration in the arts as “the procedure of the arts learning wherein
themes, either topical or conceptual , are addressed from unique, disciplinary and complementary
perspectives”. Although the focus of this definition is primarily on the musical arts, which
comprise the “performance arts disciplines of music, dance, drama, poetry and costume” (Nzewi
2003:13). Integration as a teaching strategy is very relevant in the creative and performing arts in
general.
The packaging of the various subjects recommended for the Primary School curriculum, resulted
in Music being brought together with Drama, Art and Craft, Dance and Physical Education under
a broad field of study known as Creative and Performing Arts (CPA). The primary aim was to
bring together topics and key issues in integrated activities. It is difficult at this stage to tell the
extent to which integration is taking place because in some schools the actual teaching of Creative
and Performing Arts (CPA) has not even started (Mokongwa 2004 & Ramasedi 2003). Teachers
simply do not know where to start and there seems to be no professional guidance at hand. In
schools where the subject is being taught however, personal preferences, borne of a natural or even
a flair for specific subjects that has been influenced by the teacher’s training at college or university,
has given undue dominance to subject areas at the expense of others. For example, a teacher may
concentrate more on the Art and Craft and Physical Education content and not on other areas.
This unfortunate state of affairs, can only serve to make it difficult to achieve an integrated
approach towards the teaching of the syllabus content.
What is culture? The Cambridge Encyclopedia (1994:312-313) defines culture as “the way of life
of a group of people, consisting of learned patterns of behaviour and thought passed on from one
generation to the next. The notion includes the group’s beliefs, values, language, political
organization and economic activity, as well as its equipment, techniques and artforms (referred to
as material culture)”. A similar but succinct definition of culture is given by the Collier’s
Encyclopedia (1992:559) as “the man-made part of the human environment. A culture is the way
of life of a specific group”. With respect to the various ethnic groups that inhabit South Africa, it
must be emphasized that all of them have a vibrant cultural heritage. Their cultural traits take the
form of diet, attire, architecture, language, musical arts, arts and crafts, kinship, folklore, laws and
custom. Some of the cultural traits reflect some degree of dynamism as the people have to adapt to
changes in their lives. In some instances the dynamism is a result of acculturation, the coming into
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contact of two or more cultures that often results in the dominant traits from one culture
becoming embedded in the other culture.
Because culture has several components to it, and also because it is subject to change over time,
given its dynamism, it is quite complex. As a result of its complexity, Rapoport (1994:474) notes
that “the definition of culture is contentious and complex”. Perhaps the definition that takes into
account the complexity of culture is given by Taylor (1871, cited by the Dictionary of
Anthropology 1997:98) as “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law,
custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”.
Having defined culture, what then is indigenous culture? It is the culture as practiced by the people
in its undiluted form, that is to say, without any external influence. This study would be selective
in looking at culture in the Creative and Performing Arts (CPA) syllabus. Of particular concern to
this study is the musical arts. Nzewi (2003:13) states that “the term musical arts reminds us that in
African cultures the performance arts disciplines of music, dance, drama, poetry and costume art
are seldom separated in creative thinking and performance”. The music of the various ethnic
groups exhibit different creative branches of musical arts, which this research study has investigated
in greater detail.
AIMS
The purpose of the study is spelt out by the following objectives:
•
To identify the indigenous musical arts in the indigenous cultures of the Bapedi;
•
To evaluate the extent to which the indigenous musical arts of the Bapedi are reflected are
reflected in the Creative and Performing Arts syllabus;
•
To evaluate the preparations that have been put in place for the implementation of the
Creative and Performing Arts syllabus;
•
To identify the problems and difficulties that have impacted on the implementation of the
Creative and Performing syllabus;
•
To establish the extent to which implementation problems and difficulties have affected
the delivery of the Creative and Performing Arts syllabus;
•
To identify and describe remedial measures that have been taken, and which need to be
taken in the future, to ensure the successful implementation of the Creative and
Performing Arts syllabus.
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SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The following are some of the benefits that should accrue from this study:
•
The research offers an opportunity to examine how much indigenous culture is being
incorporated in the curriculum in order to combine with other cultures, particularly
Western culture. It should also suggest how best that could be achieved in order to strike a
meaningful and appropriate balance between the two.
•
The research should offer an opportunity to evaluate the strategies used in the
implementation of the Creative and Performing Arts syllabus.
•
As a subject-specific evaluation project, the research should point out the shortcomings in
the teaching and learning of the subject, thus making it possible to address specific issues
and to improve on such.
•
Any difficulties or problems encountered in the implementation exercise should be taken
into consideration when preparing for the introduction of the subject at Upper level, so
that implementation at this level becomes manageable.
•
The results of the research should inform decision-making processes, particularly at the
Department of Curriculum Development and Evaluation, on issues relating to the
introduction of new syllabi and the monitoring of their implementation. This is very
important since the syllabus does not form part of a pilot, but has been introduced in all
government-run primary schools.
RESEARCH METHOD
The methods employed in this study are qualitative and they best solicit information and gather
data that should provide answers to the research questions. The smaller quantitative part deals with
data that helps to profile those who participated in the interviews, and the graphs from the counts
serve to provide a visual presentation of certain variables. But most importantly, the statistics are
purely descriptive in a way that strengthens the qualitative aspects of the data. This is an important
characteristic of qualitative research. A lot of qualitative research is simply descriptive (Brannen
1992:6). However, if in addition to the qualitative data, the quantitative data were interpreted to
show certain relationships between variables in a way that addresses the research questions, then
the research could be described as both qualitative and quantitative.
Qualitative and quantitative methods could be combined if the research questions so require
(Brannen 1992). Eisner (1991, cited by Newman and Benz 1998) maintain that qualitative and
quantitative research can be combined, whilst Leedy and Ormrod (2005:97) state that elements of
quantitative and qualitative methods may be combined into what is called mixed-method design.
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Taylor (2000:16) explains the purpose of quantitative research as: “to provide phenomena
numerically to answer specific questions or hypothesis” and the purpose of qualitative research as:
“to provide rich narrative descriptions of phenomena that enhances understanding with words”.
Whilst the foregoing distinctions between quantitative and qualitative enquiries are important in
helping one understand the purposes they serve it is important to further distinguish between the
two. According to Worthen et al (1997:520-521) qualitative enquiry, on the one hand, “focuses
on the testing of specific hypothesis, uses structured designs and statistical methods of analysis, and
encourages standardization, precision, objectivity, and reliability of measurement as well as
replicability of findings”. Qualitative enquiry on the other hand, “is typically conducted in natural
settings, uses the researcher as the primary ‘instrument’, emphasizes ‘rich description’ of the
phenomenon being investigated, employs multiple data-gathering methods, and uses an inductive
approach to data analysis”.
It should be noted though, that qualitative enquiry is not easy to define since it employs a variety
of alternative approaches (Jacob 1987, cited by Lang 1993:1-2). It is therefore understandable why
the tendency amongst different scholars is to list its characteristics instead of attempting to define
it (Lang 1993). One of the distinguishing characteristics of qualitative enquiry is that “the
investigator is the principal ‘instrument’ for data collection” (Lang 1993:2).
RESEARCH DESIGN
Mouton (2001) explains that research design addresses the question: what type of study will be
undertaken to provide acceptable answers to the research problem or question? As the first step
towards describing the research design, it should be stated that this study is empirical. Mouton
(2001:51) describes what constitutes empirical study: “it is when the object, phenomenon, entity
or event, one is interested in investigating is a real-life object”. What gives the research an empirical
character is that it employs qualitative methods of research namely interviews and analysis of texts.
The two methods are some of the many methods used in qualitative research (Struwig & Stead
2001).
It is important to note that in addition to the methods used in this research, qualitative researchers
also use semiotics, narrative, content, discourse, archival, and phonemic analysis, even statistics
(Denzin & Lincoln 1998:5). This study uses primary data collected through surveys in order to
evaluate musical arts in the Creative and Performing Arts syllabus for pre-school and early
elementary school, and the implementation of the syllabus.
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The study also uses secondary data or available information (Struwig & Stead 2001) which derives
from the syllabus document itself. Content analysis is the method that has been used to evaluate
the indigenous musical arts component in the Creative and Performing Arts syllabus.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table 1 presents a list of categories of analysis and their frequency of occurrence under the
respective modules, as well as the respective classes under each module at the pre-school level. The
frequencies or counts indicated against each category of analysis and against each module and class,
serve to illustrate the distribution, and degree of concentration of the various categories of analysis,
which are basically the musical arts that are being evaluated in the Creative and Performing Arts
syllabus.
Module
1
2
3
4
Health and Safety
Communication
Listening,
Designing
Composing
and
& Making
Performing
Classes
H&S
Com
Li, Co & Per
Design & Making
Category
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
Total
1. Music
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
7
2. Singing
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
5
6
2
0
0
0
0
18
3. Dance
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
5
7
3
0
0
0
0
18
4.
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
3
5
5
0
0
0
0
17
5. Drama
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
1
2
4
0
0
0
0
9
6. Poetry
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
2
2
0
0
0
0
6
7. Clapping 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
8. Musical 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
3
0
0
0
0
5
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
Movement
(in music)
instruments
9. Costume 0
art
Table 1: “Categories of analysis”
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Discussion of results
Musical arts are found in module 3, with varying degrees of concentration under the respective
classes, whilst no musical arts occur in the other modules, except for ‘poetry’ in module 2, class 2.
However, all of the musical arts that constitute categories of analysis appear in the syllabus. Of
these ‘dance’ and ‘singing’ are the most frequently occurring musical arts, followed by ‘movement’
with 17 counts in the Creative and Performing Arts syllabus. ‘Movement’ is followed by ‘drama’
with 9 counts, ‘music’ with 7 counts, ‘poetry’ with 6, ‘instruments’ and ‘clapping’ with 5 and 3
counts respectively. ‘Costume design’ is the least occurring musical art in the syllabus with a count
of 1.
Music
Although one of the areas from which the Creative and Performing Arts syllabus draws content is
music, music as art-form occurs relatively less in terms of counts compared to dance, singing, and
movement. With a count of 7, the frequency at which music occurs is less than half of the most
frequently occurring musical art, namely dance.
The significance of music in the context of the musical arts is quite great in view of the fact that,
whilst all the other musical arts relate directly to music in a complimentary fashion, music is, by
definition, one of the musical arts. The fact that music is the overall art-form to which the other
musical arts relate, and that music has been identified as one of the musical arts, is corroborated by
the skills that some objectives in the syllabus address. Some objectives address music as an art-form
on its own while other objectives address the various musical arts, which are in essence music.
Examples of objectives that address music alone under module 3 are as follows:
Class 1, objective 3.2.1.1 identify beat in music.
Class 2, objective 3.3.1.2 combine different body sounds rhythmically for musical effect.
Class 3, objective 3.2.1.3 pass an object to the beat of music.
Class 4, objective 3.2.1.1 compose a piece of music with rhyming words.
In terms of concentration, music is only found under module 3 in the Creative and Performing
Arts syllabus; a feature that confirms the point that the module contains the content on music as
opposed to other content areas of art and craft, physical education, design and technology.
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Singing
The frequency at which ‘singing’ occurs places it at the same level as ‘dance’, each having a count
of 18. Notably, ‘singing’ only occurs under module 3. It occurs across all classes at the pre-school
level, with class 3 having the highest count of 6, and class 4 having the lowest count of 2. The
distribution of ‘singing’ across all the classes represents an average of 4.5 counts for each class.
There is evidence that in class 1 the learner sings songs that are not technically demanding at all,
being required only to recite rhymes. For this level, the mere recitation of rhymes may be
appropriate. Still in class 1, the learner is introduced to singing the notes of the diatonic major
scale, ascending and descending, in solfa syllables. The misleading term of modulator has,
unfortunately, been used in the syllabus to refer to the diatonic major scale in solfa syllables, e.g.
module 3: Class 1, objective 3.4.1.1 sing the notes of the modulator ascending and descending.
Modulator would suggest having a different set of notes illustrating the relationship between
different keys. This is not the case at this level, nor is the intention to show any key relationship.
The main objective is to show pitch relationship between notes of the same key.
Apart from all the objectives that address singing that have been covered so far, singing is also
addressed under other objectives that are not explicit about it. Examples include module 3: Class
1, objective 3.6.1.1 perform a variety of traditional dances in one’s locality.
The performance of dances would naturally, in African cultures, feature singing, as dancing is a
physical response to singing. Similarly, class 1, objective 3.7.1.6 perform musical games. The
musical games feature a lot of singing.
Dance
‘Dance’ has a count of 18 in terms of its occurrence on the list of categories used in analyzing the
Creative and Performing Arts syllabus. Dance is only covered under module 3 in the syllabus and
it is, in particular, taught under the topics ‘rhymes and choreography’ and ‘dance’. The pattern of
occurrence of dance under these topics is quite relevant in view of the fact that choreography is the
art of arranging movement in music in order to underscore and interpret certain themes, and by so
doing, assist in the interpretation of the music.
It is for this reason that there is, unavoidably, a great deal of overlap between the two musical arts
of ‘dance’ and ‘movement’ and, although to a limited extent, some overlap between ‘dance’,
‘movement’ and ‘drama’ as musical arts. As for the topic ‘dance’ it tells the reader what to expect,
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by way of content, under the topic. Dance is covered across all classes at the pre-school level, with
greater concentration in class 3. Examples of objectives in module 3 where dance is covered
include:
Class 1, objective 3.6.2.6 name dance elements.
Class 2, objective 3.6.2.4 compose a simple dance piece.
An illustration that movement is the medium, and the basic ingredient, of dance is found in some
objectives that do not specifically use ‘dance’ as either a noun or a verb, but still express and
communicate the idea that what the learner should be able to demonstrate is an aspect of dance,
e.g. module 3:
Class 1, objective 3.6.2.5 perform simple movement patterns
Class 4, objective 3.6.1.6 perform movement patterns to develop a sequence in pairs/groups.
The above objectives also illustrate the overlap between ‘dance’ and ‘movement’.
Movement in music
‘Movement’ only occurs under module 3. This is the module that covers the content on music and
physical education. With a count of 16 under the frequency of occurrence on the list of categories
of analysis (see Table 1), movement is presented in the syllabus as a medium of expressing time in
music, e.g. module 3:
Class 1, objective 3.2.1.2 move in time to the beat of a simple tune.
Class 1, objective 3.2.1.4 perform varied movements to the beat.
Class 2, objective 3.2.1.4 respond to a rhyme or tune through original movement.
Other than movement in music, drama uses movement quite extensively, e.g. module 3:
Class 2, objective 3.5.1.1 use movement and sound to express the mood of a story.
Class 4, objective 3.5.1.2 mime simple stories and tales.
Clapping
In response to the questionnaire, clapping was named by the teachers as a musical art, and for this
reason it is one of the categories of analysis of content in the Creative and Performing Arts
syllabus. With a count of 3, and only occurring in class 1 and class 2, clapping is not at all
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widespread in the syllabus. In terms of its importance to musical performance however, clapping
cannot be underestimated as it influences musical performances a great deal
Another area where ‘clapping’ should feature is in the production of body sounds, under the topic
‘body percussion’. Clapping is one of the sounds that could be produced to develop an awareness
for variety of sounds produced by different parts of the body, e.g. module 3:
Class 1, objective 3.3.1.2 combine different body sounds rhythmically for musical effect
Class 4, objective 3.3.1.1 use parts of the body to produce a percussive effect.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The conclusion to the research is presented under sub-headings that refer to specific aspects of the
research, namely syllabus implementation by school heads, syllabus implementation by teachers,
and indigenous musical arts and integration of content.
•
On syllabus implementation by school heads
The fact that teachers and school heads raise grave concerns on implementation strategies does not
in any way paint a gloomy picture about the current situation in schools with regard to the
teaching and learning of Creative and Performing Arts. Both teachers and schools heads are
optimistic that intervention by authorities could change the situation for the better. They have not
lost hope about the successes that could be scored if certain concerns are addressed as a matter of
urgency.
The recognition by both teachers and schools heads that the subject is interesting to pupils and
teachers, and also that it is good and develops practical skills is something positive, and shows that
there is a high likelihood of both teachers and school heads applying themselves more than they
have hitherto done. Such self-application will make the implementation of the syllabus more
effective, and ensures that the aims of the primary school curriculum in general, and the aims of
the Creative and performing syllabus in particular, are addressed.
Schools heads may not feel a sense of ownership of the syllabus because they were not involved
fully from the outset in a way that recognizes their crucial role in curriculum implementation.
They are however, duty-bound to see to the successful implementation of the syllabus, since they
are directly and administratively responsible for all that takes place in their schools. School heads
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however, feel it is not too late to involve them in the ongoing implementation, and are well
disposed and poised to apply themselves constructively in further implementation efforts.
Had consideration been given to strategies and evaluation approaches to be eventually employed in
the evaluating the implementation of the syllabus,, then the active participation of school heads
would have been dictated by the management-oriented model. As school managers, school heads
carry the heavy burden of curriculum implementation, and their crucial role would have therefore
been recognized from the inception of the programme by having them attend the orientation and
implementation workshops. The participation of teachers from that point onwards would ensure
that they are conversant with what is taking place in their schools in terms of the delivery of the
revised primary school curriculum in general and the Creative and Performing Arts syllabus in
particular.
•
On syllabus implementation by teachers
The vast majority of the teachers in the primary schools hold the Diploma in Primary Education as
their highest qualification. Although having qualified as teachers at different times, even the newly
qualified teachers are expressing the fact that they face a huge challenge in teaching Creative and
Performing Arts which they all have to teach irrespective of their areas of specialization at training.
For example, some teachers specialized in special education, while some have specialized in one of
the areas in the Creative and Performing Arts syllabus, that is, music design and technology, art
and craft, and physical education. As a result some teachers feel inadequate and have, for that
reason, suggested being provided with in-service training.
The suggestion that more time be allocated to Creative and Performing Arts is problematic in view
of the fact that all curriculum subjects are competing for limited time slots in the school timetable. The time is already at a premium. However, alternatives could be considered after close
scrutiny of the syllabus so that the content that should be covered within a specified time is
reasonable. The involvement of the teachers in the implementation workshops coupled with the
fact that they are the people on the ground directly tasked with the delivery of the Creative and
Performing Arts syllabus may bring them closer to the syllabus, as compared to the school heads
who feel that their position as the school administrators has not received due recognition by the
implementing authorities.
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A pertinent question which may rightly form the basis for future research in a integrated teaching
of arts that draws a lot from the community is: To what extent could the community participate in
the implementation of an integrated indigenous arts programme?
•
On indigenous musical arts and integration of content
One is bound to believe, judging by the indigenous musical arts that teachers have stated they
cover in their lessons, that some integrated approach, albeit not in depth, could be taking place
after all. However, it may be very limited in both depth and scope owing to the teachers’ own
limited knowledge about the interrelationship that exists between the indigenous musical arts in
microcosm and the creative and performing arts in macrocosm.
By suggesting that specialist teachers in the subject areas from which Creative and Performing Arts
draws its content – i.e. music, design and technology, physical education and art craft and design –
specialize in the teaching of those subjects, teachers seem to be oblivious to the fact that the
subjects should be integrated and not stand out as individual subjects.
The conclusion that integration is taking place, although not as effectively as it should be, is
further inspired by the realization that traditionally musical performance in the various
communities in Sekhukhune area, Limpopo Province integrates the various musical arts in a way
that features various elements.
A major cause of the ineffective integration of content is that the teaching of content in the
syllabus is largely fragmented, meaning that the various subject areas from which the content is
drawn are treated individually and taught as such. Teaching the various content areas as isolated
units, that is, detached from others or only being able to integrate two out of the four content
areas, as has been found out with respect to music and physical education, denies the learner the
full benefits of the subject being addressed as one.
The teachers’ views on what content of the syllabus could be integrated with indigenous musical
arts is to a great extent influenced by the organization of content in the syllabus. One can draw a
link between the teachers’ tendency to be mainly able to make a connection or relationship
between indigenous musical arts and physical education. The link is in the manner in which music
and physical education occur in the syllabus. They occur together with drama and dance under
module 3 (Listening, Composing and Performing). There is therefore a propensity on the part of
the teachers not to extend the relationship between music in module 3 (Listening, Composing,
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and Performing) with the content in other modules, namely module 1 (health and Safety), module
2 (Communication) and module 4 (Designing and Making).
The implementation workshops for teachers are a positive feature of the implementation of the
Creative and Performing Arts syllabus. However, the workshops do not fully address the needs of
the teachers with respect to their delivery of the syllabus as evidenced by their long-standing
concerns over the syllabus itself. One would hope that since the implementation of the syllabus has
been gradual, starting with the lowest level (that is, standard one and proceeding to the next level
up every year) the implementing department in the Ministry of Education would have by now
carried out formative evaluation of implementation at the lower levels in order to be informed of
the teachers’ immediate needs at upper levels.
Contrary to Carl’s findings (1995:167) with respect to effective curriculum implementation, there
is no evidence to suggest that a concerted effort has been made to ensure the successful
implementation of the syllabus by paying attention to the crucial determinative factors for syllabus
implementation as outlined by Carl, which are:
•
Continuous contact with consumers to give advice and help;
•
Clear communication to illustrate roles, to explain terminology, to illustrate possible means
of evaluation and to supply answers to queries; and
•
Provision of support services.
Recommendations
In the light of the observations made with regard to the findings of this research and the
conclusions drawn from it, the recommendations are advanced under the following sub-headings:
syllabus review, in-service training, and further research.
•
Syllabus review
The syllabus should be reviewed with a view to achieving the following:
o Common themes should be identified and given prominence throughout the
syllabus in order to achieve maximum integration of the subject matter across the
different modules in the syllabus.
o Content on performance of traditional music should stress the significance of
costume. The costume is so important in traditional dance to the extent that a
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performer could be easily identified by their costume. Costume design could then
be covered in more detail under topics on designing and making.
•
In-service training
In view of the high number of teachers who hold a Primary Teaching Certificate (PTC)
qualification and lower qualifications, and also in view of the fact that Creative and Performing
Arts is a new subject in the Primary school curriculum, there is a need to conduct a needs
assessment for any future in-service training programmes so that such training is oriented towards,
and aims to meet, the teachers’ urgent needs.
•
Further research
o Further research in the area of the integration of indigenous musical arts into the
Creative and Performing Arts syllabus is certainly needed, but should focus on
specific aspects of the syllabus. Possible aspects for further research include the
following:
! Investigation into approaches to the integrated teaching of content in
Creative and Performing Arts.
! Evaluation of instructional materials for Creative and Performing Arts.
! Needs assessment for in-service training of teachers of Creative and
Performing Arts.
! An investigation into the philosophy and theory that inform indigenous
musical arts practice as well as content in the indigenous musical arts as the
cornerstone for integrated arts education in the primary schools.
! The extent to which the community could participate in the
implementation of an integrated indigenous arts programme.
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Struwig, F. W. & Stead, G. B. 2001. Planning, designing and reporting research. Cape Town:
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Title: ”Jeg fortjener en flødebolle – om at fejre fejltagelser i undervisningen”
Author(s): Tatiana Chemi
Pages: 373-385
Copyright 2010
2010, Vol. 1, No. 3 pp 373-385
Tatiana Chemi
____________________________________________________________________________
Jeg fortjener en flødebolle - om at fejre
fejltagelser i undervisning
Tatiana Chemi (TC), Post Doc,
Ph.d., forsker ved Universe Research Lab.
_______________________________
Denne selvetnografiske fortælling sætter fokus på en megen følsom dimension i undervisning:
fejltagelser. Den sorte skole plejede at sætte røde streger, når eleverne begik fejl. Lærerne var
fejlfri væsener, som holdte foredrag og straffede elevers forkerte handlinger. Ideologiske og
paradigmatiske ændringer i skolens pædagogiske og didaktiske tilgange har ført til et nyt syn
på fejltagelser. Ønsket om at dyrke kreativiteten i skolen og opdrage børn i at være kreative
gør at fejltagelser er velkomne i læreprocesser. I hvert fald på papir. Lærerne stræber
stadigvæk efter klare tilkendegivelser om hvordan man gøre det. Hvordan dyrker man en
skolekultur, som accepterer fejltagelser som en naturlig del af læreprocessen? Hvordan
undgår man at dyrke en fejlfri kultur? Denne artikel har ikke som ambition at give et
ensidigt svar på dette komplekse fænomen, men at bidrage til debatten med en specifik case.
Historien fortælles fra underviserens side og redegøre for en positiv og kreativ læreproces som
startede netop med en fejltagelse.
_______________________________
Et spørgsmål om indsigt
For nylig har jeg afholdt et kursus om et emne, jeg holder meget af: Artfulness. Målgruppen var
skolelærere med deres ledere, i alt ca. 50 deltagere. På programmet var der en bred introduktion
om, hvordan man inddrager kunstbaserede redskaber, strategier og metoder i undervisning. Jeg har
defineret og uddybet Artfulness andre steder, derfor henviser jeg nu til disse artikler - fokus i denne
artikel er nemlig et andet.1
Midt i et gennemtænkt og designet todages kursus, nævnte jeg en særlig oplevelse jeg selv havde
haft som underviser: en oplevelse, hvor det lykkedes mig at forvandle en negativ trend i
klasseværelset til en fantastisk mulighed for selvudvikling og radikal forandring af didaktiske
1
Chemi, 2009a; 2009b.
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metoder. Denne lille anekdote, som egentlig blot var tænkt som sidebemærkning i et fyldt
program, fangede deltagernes opmærksomhed. De ville vide, hvad jeg havde gjort helt konkret og
hvordan jeg havde opnået dette sjældne stykke didaktisk magi. Den gang svarede jeg kort og
overfladisk pga. en mere presserende undervisningsmæssig dagsorden, men i denne artikel vil jeg gå
i dybden med detaljerne i det særlige øjebliks tryllekunst i klasseværelset. Min intention er at
kapitalisere på min personlige erfaring, med henblik på at præsentere en kreativ praksis i
undervisning og reflektere over dens konsekvenser for læring (generelt) og skoler (som
institutioner). Den metodologiske tilgang jeg benytter mig af er autoetnografi, både fordi
indholdet udspringer af en personlig oplevelse og fordi den autoetnografiske fortælling tilbyder en
enestående chance for at anvende en mere litterær (og kæk) stil end den akademiske retorik ellers
tillader, uden dog at gå på kompromis med faglige standarder.2 Den selvbiografiske oplevelse
kvalificeres herunder via teorier og praksis om læring og undervisning, med særlig fokus på
kreativitet, nytænkning og nyskabelse. Denne artikel er motiveret af et stærkt personligt behov: jeg
føler, at jeg skylder de lærere, der dengang udviste så megen interesse for min ”skæve” men
udbytterige oplevelse, et ordentligt svar, en forklaring og en perspektivering. Det vil jeg hermed
tilbyde dem, og andre lærere, som er villige til at undersøge, hvordan kreativitet konkret kan
befordres i klasseværelset. Mit håb er at skabe grobund for en positiv debat om emnet.
Kreativitetens relevans
Blandt alle de emner, der er på spil i refleksioner over fremtidens skole blandt forskere, politikere,
praktikere, er kreativiteten den niche som forener alle: kreativitetens relevans i fremtiden er
indiskutabel.3 De samfundsmæssige udviklingstendenser, der præger vores nutid er alle
karakteriserede af stræben efter originalitet, bæredygtighed og kreativitet. Den vestlige verden er
økonomisk og kulturelt set ”truet” af de store udviklingslande, Kina og Indien, og disse landes
evne til at dække produktionsområder og viden, således at Vesten outsourcer og flytter markedets
opmærksomhed til disse lande. Hvad skal de vestlige lande leve af i fremtiden? Viden og kreativitet
har længe været svaret.4 Et helt andet –men relateret- tema
er pædagogikkens interesse for
kreativitet, som starter langt før end de vestlige økonomer så lyset. Det er nemlig Rousseau (17121778), som for første gang gennemarbejder en pædagogisk teori baseret på barnets kreative
udfoldelse og udvikling. På trods af, at der efter Rousseau kom mange flere bidrag til
læringsteorier, skal man vente på udbruddet af det kreative samfund5 for at observere for alvor en
2
Om autoetnografi se bla.: Ellis, 1999; Denzin & Lincoln, 2005 og Baarts, 2010.
Blandt de mange bidrag om kreativitet prioriteres her de, der fokuserer på pædagogikken og individets
udvikling: Gardner, 1993; Csikszentmihalyi, 1996; Robinson, 2001.
4
Se f.eks. EUs Lisabon traktat: European Innovation Progress Report. (2006). Belgium: European
Communities.
5
Se Florida (2004), som taler om en ”kreativ klasse”.
3
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Jeg fortjener en flødebolle – om at fejre fejltagelser i undervisning
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udbredt opmærksomhed på kreativitet i pædagogikken, med den konsekvens, at der er mange sider
af sagen som stadig mangler kvalificeret forskning og perspektivering.
I morgendages skoleverden er relevansen af kreativitet et meget spredt enighedspunkt.6 Selv om
der i pædagogikken findes en meget nuanceret debat omkring, hvad det er relevant at undervise i
skolerne eller hvad er relevant for børn og unge at lære i skolen for at kunne begå sig i fremtiden
(Perkins, 2009), er der dog ingen seriøse indvendinger imod argumentet for kreativitet. Vores
uvidenhed om en fremtid, der bliver stadigt mere kompleks, er grunden til at kreativitet ønskes
dyrket, sammen med evner til at være originale, til at tænke nye tanker, til at skabe nyt og
innovere, til at være fleksible og dyrke vores biologiske ”plasticitet”.7 Det evige spørgsmål som
fordrer at der bygges bro mellem teori og praksis er: hvordan? Det evige spørgsmål lærerne og
pædagogerne med rette stiller til de samfundsmæssige krav og de deraf udledte teorier er: hvordan?
Derfor blev den lille episode, jeg blot nævnte for lærerne, mødt med den samme pragmatiske
holdning: hvordan gjorde du det? Hvad mine kursister anså for interessant var, at jeg havde været i
stand til at drage fordel af en negativ oplevelse, hvilket i sig selv et af kreativitetens mantraer: at se
fordele og læringsmuligheder i fejltagelser og handle derefter. Emnet debatteret på kurset var netop
oprettelsen af en skolekultur, som fejrer fejltagelser, frem for at straffe dem med den røde blyant,
fordi fejltagelser gemmer på et uendeligt potentiale for personlig vækst, udvikling og læring. Jeg
havde selv, som underviser, oplevet et frygteligt nederlag, som tvang mig til at ”tage min egen
medicin” og handle konsekvent. Resultatet blev den lykkelige historie jeg nu vil berette.
Men før vi sætter ud på denne dramatiske rejse i kreativ undervisning, vil jeg også redegøre for den
kritik og skepticisme min pointe modtog. Kritikken gik ud på en generel skepsis mod en
fejltagelseskultur. Nogle lærere påstod, at vi da sagtens kan give et barn en flødebolle, hvis han/hun
begår en fejl, men dette vil ikke ændre hans/hendes adfærd substantielt, især ikke i retning af en
kreativ udvikling. Fordi jeg er selv overbevidst om man ikke kan etablere en ny skolekultur der
fejrer og værdsætter fejltagelser, ved blot at give børn flødeboller, har jeg besluttet mig for at
inkludere denne søde metafor i min titel.
6
Se f.eks. den første rapport for projektet Mange Måder at Lære På, i hvilken der redegøres for lærernes egen
opfattelse af kreative handlinger i undervisning (www.mmalp.dk).
7
Perkins taler om ”flexpertise” som menneskets evne til at tilpasse sig fremtidens krav (bidrag til The Future of
Learning Institute, The Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA, 2009).
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Tatiana Chemi
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GITIS Scandinavia, Squabbles in Chioggia, 2005
Teoriundervisning for skuespillere
At undervise er altid udfordrende. Efter min erfaring består opgaven kun delvist af faglighed, mens
en stor del beror på læreres evne til at skabe engagement, interesse, lyst til at lære mere. Som
underviser skal man beherske sin faglighed, men man skal kunne også fange unge menneskernes
opmærksomhed og guide deres livlige (og naturlig) nysgerrighed hen imod en god relevant læring.
Nogle gange viser denne opgave sig at være meget udfordrende, som f.eks. i tilfælde af
teoriundervisning for skuespillere, som jeg selv har oplevet i rollen som underviser.
I årene 2002-2006 har underviste jeg i Verdens Litteraturhistorie (med supplering i 2005 af
Verdens Billedkunsthistorie) på teaterskolen GITIS – Scandinavia. Skolen, som er nu lukket pga.
manglende støtte fra de danske myndigheder, var en skandinavisk afdeling af den prestigiøse og
verdensberømte teaterskole, grundlagt i 1878 ved navn ”Peter Shostakovsky musikskole” i Moskva,
som senere blev til College for musik og drama. I 1891-1901 underviste Konstantin Stanislavskij
og Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenco på skolen og grundlagde deres eget teater. Stanislavskij
udviklede en metode og et system for skuespil og iscenesættelse, som var baseret på psykologisk
realistisk indlevelse i rummet og kroppen og han kan derfor med god grund defineres som den
moderne skuespillerkunsts fader. Han har trænet eller inspireret mange geniale skuespillere bl.a. en
pæn flok Hollywood stjerne som Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Lee Strasberg, i den amerikanske
version af metoden fra Strasbergs Actors Studio.8 Den skandinaviske afdeling af teaterskolen GITIS
samlede studerende fra hele norden (Norge, Sverige, Danmark, Finland, Island) og virkede som en
flyvefærdig version af den russiske skole: ”As a student of GITIS Scandinavia you are a student of,
and will graduate from GITIS in Moscow, but receive your daily training in Denmark, Århus. All
8
Om Stanislavskij se f.eks. Benedetti (2004) og om Actors Studio se Hirsch (1986).
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classes are conducted in English.Students completing the four-year programme at GITIS
Scandinavia will graduate with a diploma-show in Moscow and are awarded a Bachelor Degree in
Acting for Theatre and Film from GITIS.
Teaching methods are based on the Stanislavskij System”.9 GITIS Scandinavia var godkendt af den
russiske Undervisningsministeriet, og de andre skandinaviske lande men fik aldrig støtte fra de
danske myndigheder. Eleverne fik mulighed for at lære den russiske teatertradition i praksis og
teori: deres pensum integrerede de praktiske fag (acting, akrobatik, musik, kor, dans, pantomime,
mm.) og de teoretiske (teaterhistorie, idehistorie, religionshistorie, litteraturhistorie, kunsthistorie,
mm.)..
GITIS Scandinavia, Woyzek, 2006
Som underviser i de teoretiske fag havde jeg stor forståelse for de unge mennesker, som skulle sidde
stille og høre noget bogligt tungt lige efter de havde haft livsbekræftende oplevelser ide praktiske
fag. Når jeg definerer deres oplevelser som livsbekræftende henviser jeg mig ikke kun til den
nydelse man generelt kan få ved at beskæftige sig med kunst og kunstprocesser, men til
meningsfulde oplevelser som stimulerer en psykisk, sanselig, følelsesmæssig, kropslig og æstetisk
dannelse. Efter disse stærke selvudviklende oplevelser, var det svært for de unge studerende at skulle
sidde stille og lytte til lærernes foredrag.
I løbet af min undervisning af det første hold kom jeg til at tvivle på den undervisningsmetode,
jeg havde lært hjemmefra; meget boglig, foredragsbaseret, hierarkisk, ”monologisk”. Min interesse
for den kunstneriske kreativitet havde udvidet mit syn på undervisning og læring, men jeg havde
ikke en klar idé om, hvordan jeg kunne springe fra den kendte didaktik. Jeg begyndte at få mange
ideer og overvejelser, men blev ved med at udsætte et eksperiment i virkeligheden. Lejligheden bød
sig overraskende pludseligt. Mit andet hold tilbød mig nemlig en enestående chance for at tage
springet: de klagede over min undervisning! - En officiel klage til skolelederen, med underskrifter
og det hele! Da bomben sprang, var der tårer i øjnene og hjertebanken fra begge sider. Heldigvis
9
www.gitis.dk
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Tatiana Chemi
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håndterede lederen krisen på den bedste følelsesmæssigt respektfulde måde: han indkaldte mig til
stormøde med hele klassen. Da vi sad i rundkredsen afklarede vi de væsentlige punkter i
konflikten, og jeg blev klar over, at klagen også skyldtes personlige issues vedr. karakter ved
eksamen, og vi lyttede til hinandens opfattelser og behov. En elev spurgt direkte om et væsentligt
element i undervisning: relevansen af stoffet: ”Hvorfor skal vi læse nogle forfattere og ikke andre?
Hvorfor har du valgt disse og ikke andre?” Han ville ikke klage over valget, han ville bare vide,
hvorfor jeg syntes disse forfattere var relevante. Den gang spurgte jeg tilbage: ”Hvorfor har du ikke
spurgt før?”
Spørgsmålet skabte en meningsfuld tavshed, hvor begge parter blev klar over, at noget havde
ændret sig i hinandens bevidsthed. De stridende parter var tydeligt repræsenterede af de to
relaterede spørgsmål: ”Hvorfor skal vi det?” ”Hvorfor spurgte du ikke før?” Jeg tørrede øjnene og
snart blev der for alvor arbejdet på at tage springet hen imod min egen måde at undervise på.
Krisen havde accelereret processen og leveret den bedste platform for forandringer: en
forventningsfuld modtager og en ivrig udvikler.
Revolutionary Road
Starten på det nye semester så ret anderledes ud, hvilket allerede blev illustreret ved fagets titel.
Min undervisning havde det ambitiøse (og lidt pompøse) navn ”History of World Literature”. I
virkeligheden var de få timer faget var tildelt alt for knappe, således at det var reelt kun lidt historie
vi kunne nå at skimme igennem, med den konsekvens at vores verden var meget begrænset til den
vestlige, europæisk-centreret litteratur. Oven i købet var også betegnelse ”litteratur” kritisk for mig,
fordi jeg, i pensum, havde inkluderet drama, storytelling/eventyr og andre kunstneriske former.
Derfor blev de studerende ved semesterstart introduceret til et gammelt fag med nye perspektiver:
”(Less) History of (a little) World (something like) Literature”. Men lige som en flødebolle ikke er
nok til at fejre en fejltagelse, så er en titel ikke tilstrækkeligt til at introducere en ny holdning og
tilgang. Kernen i den nye kultur var konkrete pædagogiske og didaktiske tiltag som jeg uddyber
herunder:
Ny rolle fra foredragsholder til coach
Selv om min undervisning stadig i høj grad benyttede en traditionel foredragsform, begyndte jeg at
involvere og medinddrage de studerende i undervisningen. De skulle ikke sidde stille og vente på at
blive oplyste, men de skulle fungere som en slags undervisningsassistenter. Hver gang en forfatter
introduceredes var der en elev, som skulle fortælle om forfatterens biografi. Deltagelsen i denne
aktiv rolle var frivillig, men den ville give ekstra ”points” til eksamen, og valget af tema eller
forfatter kunne forhandles med de andre i klassen. Dette medførte nødvendigvis mere aktivt
engagement og dynamik i klassen, og en ny rolle fra min side. Jeg var ikke længere den eneste
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”bedst vidende” i klassen, men muligheden var optimeret for en mere kvalificeret debat og
forskellige synspunkter. Eleverne havde konsulteret andre kilder end mig, havde fortolket disse
kilder på andre måder og de kom i klassen med en bestemt mening som kunne holdes op imod
min. Desuden forpligtede eleverne sig til en mesterlære-tilgang som, i en ”junior version” (Perkins,
2009) lærte dem, forskningsmæssige metoder og redskaber: de skulle selvstændigt søge, samle,
udvælge og formidle informationer. Fordi vores emner var kulturhistoriske, så hentede de ofte
deres kilder fra byens biblioteker eller Internettet. Nogle gange brugte de mig som kilde og
videreudviklede deres research derfra.
Endnu før jeg helt forstod alle implikationer af min nye rolle, besluttet jeg at anvende i
klasseværelset dét jeg havde lært i mit job som konsulent: coaching. Jeg orkede ikke mere at være
den bedømmende foredragsholder og ville implementere en positiv kobling mellem det faglige stof
og elevernes personlige udvikling. Det var oplagt at spørge dem, hvad de ville opnå i deres studie.
Alle fik en kort samtale, hvor vi snakkede om, hvad den enkeltes ambition var og sammen lagde vi
l en plan for at opnå det mål. Fra min side var der ikke en forventning om, at alle skulle være, eller
ville være, de bedste: det var helt i orden at sige ”jeg vil bare bestå eksamen, litteratur interesserer
mig ikke”, jeg ville støtte eleverne der, hvor de var og i det de ville nå. Alle lagde en plan og alle fik
en aftale, som jeg ville hjælpe dem med at holde. Min rolle var nu mere som koordinator/ coach
/vejleder end bare oplægsholder.
Coaching- elementet i undervisningen blev implementeret
sammen med det tredje hold, som gik med til at eksperimentere med en kunstbaseret tilgang til
gruppecoaching (Chemi, 2006). Oplevelsen påvirkede, ifølge flere, de sociale og følelsesmæssige
relationer blandt eleverne i klassen, på en meget konstruktiv måde. En klasse af teaterstuderende er
ofte meget påvirket af følelsesmæssige relationer, fordi en del af skuespillertræning går ud på at
undersøge de følsomme facetter af individer og relationer blandt individer. Uvidende om
tilstedeværelsen af små konflikter, tilbød jeg et kunstbaseret coaching eksperiment, som et bud på
en alternativ anvendelse af kunst. Fordi de interpersonelle relationer kom i spil i løbet af sessionen,
kom processen til at løsne op for de små konflikter for til sidst at etablere en mere afslappet
stemning i klassen.10 Dette eksperiment blev ikke gentaget på GITIS pga. tidspres, men det er
noget jeg vil anbefale at etablere som almindelig rutine i klasseværelse, som, udover fagligheden
også dyrker sociale relationer og en æstetisk forståelse af dannelse. Min rolle som coach indebar, at
jeg stillede mig til rådighed for dem, der havde brug for ekstra hjælp til faglig forståelse, vejledning
om formidling eller rådgivning om langsigtede mål og ambitioner.
Nye undervisningsformer
Mht. den didaktiske del af mit GITIS eksperiment, indførte jeg en mere eksperimenterende,
kreativ, samarbejdsbaseret, interaktiv tilgang. Herunder findes der nogle konkrete eksempler på,
10
Ifølge nogle studerende. Uformelle konversationer, marts 2006.
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Tatiana Chemi
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hvad jeg har gjort og hvordan jeg gjorde det: De nye undervisningsmaterialer inddragede flere
sanser og flere kognitive udfordringer. De blev mere engagerende og sjovere, omend mere
komplekse. En øvelse gik ud på at matche et foto af en forfatter med forfatterens navn. Denne
tilsyneladende lette opgave forpligtede eleverne på at tage stilling til en litteraturfaglig
perspektivering: ”who-is-who?” men også, hvornår er hvem placeret i historisk sammenhæng.
Opgaven kræver at eleverne aktiverer en anden måde at ”gætte” på, baseret på fantasi,
forestillingsevner, bevidsthed om materiel kultur (kan man gætte hvilken forfatteren på billedet er
ud fra hans/hendes tøj, hvis vi kan placere disse artefakternes stil og periode?) og logiske evner.
Desuden viste det sig at være en god strategi for elevernes hukommelse at sætte ansigt på
forfatterne.
En anden strategi jeg gjorde brug af var en konsekvent æstetisk stimulering af læring.
Kunstneriske, kunstbaserede og æstetiske processer11 blev brugt som redskaber målrettede til
etableringen af en mere engagerende og interaktiv deltagelse. Drama, tableaux12 og rollespil blev
inddraget både som præsentationsform til eksamen og formidlingsform ved de interaktive foredrag
om et givent emne. F.eks. blev oplysningstidens æstetiske teorier fremlagt af to studerende, som
iscenesatte en retssag mod Diderot; Caravaggios belysningsteknik blev afprøvet på scenen, ved at
sætte et tableau op, hvor hele klassen deltog i forskellige roller; de oldgræske statuers fysiske
holdninger blev afspejlet og undersøgt kropsligt. Eksamensformen blev meget mere varieret, med
bidrag som rollespil, quiz, kreativ skrivning og billedkunst. Det visuelle udtryk virkede især med en
af de elever, som var meget generet og tilbageholdende og ikke havde det særlig godt med
mundtlige fremlæggelser. Ved en af vores coaching samtaler, forsøgte jeg at undersøge om, der var
andre udtryksformer jeg kunne opfordre ham til at anvende. Han fortalt om sin hobby, malekunst,
og jeg opfordrede ham til at eksperimentere med det. Hans fremlæggelse af Mary Shelleys
Frankenstein (”About Frankenstein by an Actor’s Point of View”) startede med at beskrive et
portræt af Frankenstein, som han selv havde malet, og derfra begyndte hans tale at udfolde sig
konstruktivt, klart og inderligt. Hans ideer hang sammen på en måde, som de aldrig havde gjort
før og de efterfølgende eksamener blev meget mere tilfredsstillende, både for ham og mig. Endda
fastholdt hans efterfølgende fremlæggelser en anden kvalitet end jeg havde oplevet før.
Denne undervisningsform kunne favne hele klassen på en gang, f.eks. eksperimenterede vi med
en iscenesat offentlig debat om horror romaner vs. kærligheds romaner. Halvdelen af klassen havde
læst 1800 tallets horror romaner og den anden halvdel havde læst kærlighedsromaner fra den
samme periode. Alle elever var forberedte på en heftig offentlig debat, hvor de skulle advokere for
sit eget ”parti”, med henblik på at ”kåre” århundredets bedste romanform. Opgaven blev fortolket
med humor og seriøsitet, og udført med dyb overbevisning. Fleksibelt pensum: mine studerende
11
12
Se Chemi 2009a; 2009b.
Et tableau er et levende billede.
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blev præsenteret for et pensum fra min side, men samtidigt blev de opfordret til at bidrage med
forslag, ønsker og særlig viden. Nogle bidrag, som en elevs begejstrede arbejde om Emily
Dickinson, blev endda brugt som blueprints (modeller) eller læsestof til de andre hold. Mine elever
benyttede sig ikke ret meget af denne frihed, men jeg kunne mærke at alene muligheden for
fleksibilitet og en klarere begrundelse for stoffets relevans etablerede en mere afslappet stemning.
Alle vidste at, der var mulighed for at få indflydelse på undervisningen.
Evaluering
En opgave jeg ikke kan fordrage i undervisningen er evalueringen. Den balance mellem vores
forståelse som professionelle underviser og de kriterier der påduttes os kan være frustrerende, fordi
de to planer ofte kan ikke forenes. Især hvis man, som lærer, ikke kun vil fokusere på de boglige,
faglige kompetencer, så er evalueringen en hård kamp. I mit eksperiment på teaterskolen forblev
dette en uløst problematik. Ikke desto mindre blev nogle elementer afprøvet med succes. Løbende
evaluering (ongoing assessments) blev inddraget i undervisning som en aktiv del af
læringsprocessen. F.eks. blev en opgave introduceret, som leverede nyttige evalueringsdata og
samtidig fungerede som klasseopgave: ”multiple choice questions (not answers)”. Regelmæssigt
blev eleverne bedte om at udvikle nogle multiple choice spørgsmål, ud fra de emner som blev
gennemgået i undervisningen. Dette gav mig en god forståelse for hvilke emner, der var forståede
og huskede, og eleverne en kreativ måde for at interagere på. Der var stor begejstring, hver gang jeg
”testede” et hold med deres klassekammeraters eller forgængeres spørgsmål, fordi nogle spørgsmål
var baserede på en indforstået vittighed eller let personligt drilleri.
Ligesom i undervisningen, brugte jeg også eleverne som assistenter i evalueringsfasen ved at bede
dem om at læse hinandens skriftlige essays. En del af deres eksamensprøve var et skriftligt essay om
et udvalgt emne indenfor vores pensum. Alle elever valgte et emne, og skrev om det, og fik derefter
afleveret en af deres kammeraters færdig opgave, som de skulle læse, præsentere i klassen og
bedømme. Denne proces gav mig både ny indsigt om et essay og en klar idé om, den
bedømmendes forståelse for emnet. Desuden forpligtede dette alle på at beskæftige sig med flere
emner i pensum end blot det emne, de selv havde valgt. Selv om denne nye form indebar mere
arbejde, virkede de fleste glade for det, fordi de var nysgerrige og oprigtigt interesserede i deres
kammeraternes arbejde. En anden ændring jeg indførte var mere klarhed om rammerne og
strukturen for evalueringen. De forventninger, de selv havde lagt for sig selv, mine forventninger i
forhold til deres præstation og de kriterier, jeg vil anvende i bedømmelsen, blev gentaget flere
gange. Jeg understregede, at min bedømmelse ikke udelukkende baseres på deres færdige produkter
(essay, mundtlig eksamen) men på hele deres deltagelse i klassen. Et element jeg også
eksperimenterede med, med ret dårlige resultater, var en demokratisk tilgang til karakterer: hvis en
elev ikke var glad for sin karakter kunne han/hun drøfte det I plenum. Dette vil jeg stærkt fraråde,
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fordi det kun fører til frustrationer og ikke virker mere retfærdig end en godt begrundet karakter
fra autoriteten i klassen, dvs. læreren.
Mere refleksion
I øvrigt forsøgte jeg at bidrage til en positiv udfoldelse af undervisningen ved at dyrke en mere selvrefleksiv holdning og praksis, med mere fokus på elevernes motivation og engagement. Hele min
coaching strategi var målrettet mod at tage hensyn til den enkelte elev. Denne ændring blev
belønnet af ”små mirakler”, dvs. en overraskende faglig og personlig udvikling af nogle elever.
Selv-iscenesættelse
Ved at bruge mig selv som eksempel, mit liv som kilde og mine personlige ressourcer som kreativ
inspiration i min undervisning opnåede jeg en højere glæde selv i undervisningen og en højere grad
af opmærksomhed fra eleverne. Jeg lagde mærk til, at min ”eksotiske” baggrund (en italiener som
er gift med en vestjyde og arbejder på en russisk skole) fangede elevernes opmærksomhed og at,
hver gang jeg tilføjede anekdoter fra mit liv eller mine individuelle styrker og interesser til
undervisningen, modtog jeg positiv respons fra eleverne. Derfor besluttede jeg at anvende disse
styrker systematisk og bevidst. Især i koblingen mellem mine fritidsinteresser og mine faglige
kompetencer opstod en særlig god synergi. Undervisningen begyndte at være lettere, sjovere og
mere udbytterig.
GITIS Scandinavia, Dead Souls, 2004
Flødeboller og fejltagelser: eftertanker og perspektiver
Set i bakspejlet er denne oplevelse en håndbog i hvad man ikke bør gøre med henblik på at opnå
optimal læring. Heldigvis fortjener jeg en flødebolle, fordi jeg kunne lære af mine egne fejl og
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bevæge mig mod en mere frugtbar klasseværelseskultur. En kultur, der påskønner fejltagelser som
optimale muligheder for læring, starter med læreren selv. Med vores egen opfattelse af vores
undervisning og vores mod på at turde fejle og ændre vores metoder om nødvendigt.
Implementeringen af en udkastkultur, som er modsat af en fejlfrikultur,13 skabes med hårdt arbejde
og ikke (blot) med flødeboller, dvs. med ros og præmier. Denne oplevelse har lært mig, at hårdt
arbejde er sjovt, både for den lærer, der udvikler kreative undervisningsforløb, som passer til egen
interesse og personlighed og både for de studerende, hvis de kan se mening i, hvad de gør (eller
forventes at gøre). Hårdt arbejde er sjovt og udbytterigt.
Lad mig fortælle om det mest tilfredsstillende udbytte jeg høstede af min oplevelse på
teaterskolen. Efter det første semester udført efter principperne for den nye tilgang, skulle det hold,
som havde været kritisk, op til eksamen. Blandt det mest rørende feedback jeg har fået, var en af de
mest kritiske elever, den samme som ikke kunne se mening i mit pensum. Han havde valgt Notes
from the Underground, Dostoevskys mesterværk, til hans skriftlig prøve og var i gang med flittigt at
fremlægge han studie mundtligt. Hans fremlæggelse hang godt sammen og var rimeligt
tilfredsstillende, fra et bogligt-skolastisk perspektiv. Bedst som hans tale var godt i gang, stoppede
han og fangede hele klassen med en erklæring: ”det her, det skal jeg læse for jer”. Han åbnede
bogen og begyndte at læse med en lidenskab som klistrede alle i klassen fast til deres stole: ”Jeg er
en syk mann…”. Han havde lært teksten udenad, han havde åbenbart øvet sin skuespillerteknik
med den bog: han havde forstået det hele. Der var ingen ord for at kommentere hans performance,
ingen karakter, der kunne fange den kvalitet af forståelse han havde leveret. Den bog var gået ham
under huden, og havde ændret hans perception af litteratur som fag: han tilstod senere, at han ikke
havde læst alle bøger i min pensum, men at han havde fået lyst til at læse dem, han ville tage hjem
og få fat i alle de foreslåede bøger og læse dem. Han havde selv lavet en kobling mellem de
teoretiske og de praktiske fag og havde brugte dem begge i en højere forståelse af et litterært værk
og dens performance. Denne oplevelse var min belønning. I de seneste år har jeg brugt nogen tid
på at fordybe mig i læringsteorier og praksis, som er i stand til at skabe og implementere optimal
læring. Dette har hjulpet mig til at forstå, hvorfor de strategier jeg anvendte på teaterskolen virkede
og hvordan. Jeg fandt ud, at jeg ikke havde opfundet noget som Konstruktivisme ikke havde
teoretiseret og undersøgt, såsom en coaching funktion for undervisere i Vygotskys perspektiv
(1962, 1978), learning by doing eller error and trial perspektiver. Men jeg fandt også ud at, der
ikke findes en eviggyldig manual for undervisere, og at meget er kontekst-, opgave- og individs
bestemt. Der findes gode teorier og praksis, gode eksempler og ildsjæle, men om vi fortjener en
flødebolle er et spørgsmål om valg.
Man kan, som underviser, vælge at dyrke fejltagelser som læringsmuligheder og at agere/reagere
på modstand med en positiv tilgang: ved at leve mindfully med negativitet, ting der ikke fungerer,
13
Se fx Chemi 2009c for et konkret perspektivering om udkastkultur (draft culture).
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Tatiana Chemi
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fejltagelser, modstand og ”the full catastrophe” (Kabat-Zinn, 1990), fordi det altsammen er en del
af vores liv og egenskab til at tilpasse os. Det er et spørgsmål om valg, men det er samtidig også dét
fremtiden kræver.
Referencer
Baarts, Charlotte. (2010). “Autoetnografi”. I: Brinkmann, Svend – Tanggaard, Lene (red.).
Kvalitative Metoder: En Grundbog. København: Reitzel. 153-163.
Benedetti, Jean. (2004). Stanislavski: an introduction. New York: Routledge
Chemi, Tatiana. (2006). Artbased Approaches: A Practical Notebook to Creativity at Work. Fokus
Forlag.
Chemi, Tatiana. (2008). “Kunst og organisatorisk kreativitet og innovation”. Kognition og
Pædagogik: Tidsskrift om Gode Læringsmiljøer. 18(69). 54-75.
Chemi, Tatiana. (2009a). Artfulness i skolen: nydelse og læring for livet. I: Brinkmann, Svend &
Tanggaard, Lene (eds.). Kreativitetsfremmende læringsmiljøer i skolen. Frederikshavn: Dafolo.
Chemi, Tatiana. (2009b).”Artfulness”. www.blivklog.com/page9475.aspx?searchString=artfulness
Chemi, Tatiana. (2009c). KDH - Kunst Design Håndværk: et Folkeskoleforsøg. Forskningsrapport fra
et projektforløb i 4.-5.kl., januar-juni 2009, Engum Skole, Vejle. www.mmalp.dk
/media/KDH_RAPPORT.pdf
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of the Optimal Experience. New York:
HarperCollins.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention.
London: HarperCollins.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. (2000). Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: Experiencing Flow in Work and
Play. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass (I 1975).
Denzin, Norman & Lincoln, Yvonna S. (eds.). (2005). The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research.
Thousand Oaks: SAGE.
Ellis, Carolyn. (1999). “Heartful Autoethnography”. I: Qualitative Health Research. 9(5). 669-683
European Innovation Progress Report. (2006). Belgium: European Communities.
Florida, Richard. (2004). The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure,
Community and Everyday Life. New York: Basic Books. (I 2002).
Gardner, Howard. (1993). Creating Minds: An Anatomy of Creativity Seen Through the Lives of
Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham, and Gandhi. New York: Basic Books.
Gardner, Howard. (1994). Frames of Mind. The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. London:
HarperCollins (I 1993).
Hirsch, Foster. (1986). A method to their madness: the history of the Actors Studio. New York: Da
Capo.
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Kabat-Zinn, Jon. (1990). The Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to
Face Stress, Pain and Illness. New York: Dell
Lund, Claus (Producer), & Biehl, Thomas (Director). (2006). Den Længste Vej [Film]. Lystrup:
Suicide Film.
Perkins, David N. (1992a). Outsmarting IQ: The Emerging Science of Learnable Intelligence. Simon
& Schuster.
Perkins, David N. (1992b). Smart Schools: From Training Memories to Educating Minds. New
York: The Free Press.
Perkins, David N. (1994). The Intelligent Eye: Learning to Think by Looking at Art. Los Angeles:
Paul Getty Trust.
Perkins, David N. (2009). Making Learning Whole: How Seven Principles of Teaching Transform
Education. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Robinson, Ken. (2001). Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative. Chichester: Capstone.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1962). Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Alle billeder bruges med tilladelse fra GITIS – Scandinavia.
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Title: ”Kvalitativ bevægelse”
Author(s): Martin Spang Olsen
Pages: 387-392
2010, Vol. 1, No. 3 pp 387-392
Copyright 2010
Martin Spang Olsen
Kvalitativ bevægelse!
Martin Spang Olsen, Cand. Mag., sundheds- og bevægelsesekspert, komponist
_______________________________
I grænsefladen mellem leg, kreativitet og musiske udtryk kan vi spørge os selv om, hvad der
binder disse aktiviteter sammen til en større enhed. Svaret er enkelt: Bevægelse. Bevægelse
forstået som altings bevægelse – lydlig, følelsesmæssig og kropslig bevægelse er (eller skulle
gerne være) en integreret enhed i vores færden som mennesker. For alting bevæger sig jo, ikke
sandt? Selv når vi er døde, bevæger atomerne sig lystigt, og det bliver de ved med, selv når
kroppen er væk og vores energi har antaget helt nye former. Selv når vinden lægger sig og
alt er stille, bevæger himmellegemerne sig ustoppeligt i universets lukkede kredsløb. For der
er kun ét princip, der binder universet sammen, og det bevægelse. Og herunder: Jo mere
bevægelse, des mere liv! En fysiker ville nok kalde det energi, men er energi måske ikke
bevægelse, og er bevægelse måske ikke liv?
_______________________________
Lyd, følelse og bevægelse
Men tese er enkel: Enhver kropsbevægelse er knyttet til en lyd og udspringer af en følelse, dvs.
enhver følelse tilskynder en lyd og en kropsbevægelse, og enhver lyd baserer sig på en følelse og
tilskynder en kropsbevægelse. Følelse skaber lyd og bevægelse, men alle tre understøtter hinanden
(fordi de alle tre er bevægelse). Indlysende, når man taler om det; ekstremt vanskeligt at leve efter
– for ikke at tale om at undervise i. De ændringer, der sker undervejs mod erkendelsen af alle
udtryks enhed, er så store og radikale, at mange fortaber sig i fantastiske detaljer eller synker ned i
mismod på vejen. Det kræver mod og vedholdenhed at gøre alle sine udtryk integrerede og dybe.
Kvalitativ Bevægelse
I dag retter jeg mit skyts udelukkende mod kropsbevægelses kvalitet, for uden dén er forståelsen af
kunst, energi og bevægelse tom snak. Omvendt opstår en stor den af den beskrevne integration af
lyd, følelse og kropsbevægelse af sig selv, når kroppens intelligens træder i kraft.
Det er og bliver gennem kroppen, at al væsentlig indlæring finder sted, og det er gennem
kroppen, vi kan få sanseligheden integreret. Også i overført forstand bliver tanker og ideer først
interessante ved at blive tilført ”krop” og dermed blive produkter. Det golde tankespind har
domineret alt for længe, kroppen må vækkes i al sin skræmmende vælde! Siden 1700-tallet har
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Martin Spang Olsen
filosoffer forsøgt at erobre kroppen tilbage – med hovedet! Nu må kroppens intelligens tage over,
for hovedet kan tilsyneladende ikke klare sig på egen hånd.
Hvorfor?
Hvorfor bevæger vi os? Hvorfor danser vi? Hvorfor tumler vi? Hvorfor ser det ud til, at næsten
alle dårligdomme, herunder navnlig de psykiske, bedres gennem fysisk bevægelse? Fordi vi er
bevægelse. Alt i os understøtter bevægelsen og jo mere, vi raffinerer bevægelsen, des mere raffineret
et liv kan vi opnå. Og så må vi beslutte os. Mening og raffinement kommer ikke af sig selv, og
tilbageerobringen sker ikke uden sværdslag.
Hvordan?
Den lokale, umiddelbare kontekst, som bevægelsen er en del af, og den langsigtede sundhed og
udvikling, som bevægelsen afstedkommer, skal som det første samstemmes.
I praksis vil det sige, at enhver bevægelsen skal føles naturlig og behagelig og samtidig opfylde et
dybere behov hos den enkelte – også selvom det måske ikke vil opleves sådan lige straks. At tænke
kvalitativt i forhold til bevægelse er nemlig ikke noget, vi er vant i
vores generelle
bevægelseskultur. For mange vil det formentlig i sig selv føles som et paradigmeskift at skulle
betragte kropsaktivitet ud fra en kvalitativ synsvinkel.
Hvad?
I det moderne samfund er vi ellers vant til at stille store krav til kvalitet. Uanset om det gælder
transport, underholdning, velfærd eller mad, ved vi nøjagtigt, hvad der betinger kvalitet. Desværre
har vores interesse for kvalitet ikke bredt sig til vores bevægelseskultur, der i stigende grad er ved at
forlade de naturlige og organiske bevægelser (mere præcist: de fokuserede, komplekse, dybt
forankrede, drejende, rundede og spiralformede bevægelser). Tværtimod trænes musklerne typisk
enkeltvis (som i vægttræning), sanseløst (som i fittness) eller abrupt og asymmetrisk, som det ofte
sker i sport. Eller også trænes kroppen overhovedet ikke, hvilket vist er endnu mere udbredt…
Lyst/behov
Det er i dag muligt at hæve kvaliteten i sin kropsaktivitet, så den både afspejler umiddelbar lyst
og samtidig indgår i kroppens langsigtede sundhed og udvikling. Det kræver et opgør med (eller i
det mindste et supplement til) den etablerede bevægelseskultur, men først og fremmest kræver det
en større bevidsthed om samspillet mellem krop, sind og ånd – den gamle enhed, der aldrig skulle
have været skilt ad. Krop, sind og ånd kommer imidlertid ikke er skridt nærmere hinanden, før vi
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fører lyst og behov hører sammen. Det, vi dybest set har lyst til, er også det, vi dybest set har
behov for.
Men skal den dybe lyst overhovedet vækkes af sin slummer? Er det, vi har lyst til, ikke
altid
det farlige, fedende og forbudte? Nej og atter nej; vi er født med evnen til at kunne bevæge os i
harmoni med vores lyst og behov, det er grundlaget for vores overlevelse, og vi kan til enhver tid
retablere dette samspil med den rette instruktion og vejledning.
Herefter opstår harmonien
mellem krop, sind og ånd af sig selv.
Aflæring og tillæring
Lyst-behov-relationen er et intuitivt fænomen. Kun den samlede bevidsthed kan afgøre, om noget
er sundt og godt på både lang og kort sigt. Derfor må en instruktionsfase indeholde både en
gennemgang af kropsmekanisk korrekte, ubesværede, kraftfulde og graciøse bevægelser samt en
form for kulturel ”afskalning” for at nå ind til personens intuitive forbindelse til sig selv. Aflæring
er mindst lige så vigtig som tillæringen. Der findes en mængde forskellige tilgange, ikke kun i
form af fysiske øvelser – også meditation, lyd- og billedpåvirkning, naturindtryk, massage,
kostændring, personlige samtaler, m.m. medvirker til at skabe den kropsbevidsthed, der skal til for
at få forøget trivsel, produktivitet og valgfrihed i sit liv. Hvis man da ellers er klar til det…
Timing is everything. Her som altid.
Krop og kunst
Naturligvis kan man lave kunst uden kendskab til sin krops dybeste potentialer – det har vel
nærmest været reglen historisk set - men lader vi kroppens intelligens bidrage i de kunstneriske
tilblivelsesfase, boostes både tempo og kvalitet, og man tåler pludselig de mange volt, som det
konstante bombardement af ideer afføder. Mange tænker sikkert ikke over, at kunstudførelse
faktisk kræver en stærk krop for ikke at slide udøveren op før tiden.
Selvdestruktion
De flest udøvende kunstnere ser desværre på med foragt på kroppens muligheder for at bidrage til
kunstudtrykket. Er man ikke danser (og de er i forvejen i bunden af hierarkiet), er kroppen
traditionelt kun redskab for destruktion og forsømmelse i kunstverdenen. Hvorfor mon? Selv har
jeg ofte mærket, hvordan selvdestruktion og kunstudtryk ønskede at gå hånd i hånd, hvordan
nedbrydningen af de sunde rutiner så ud til at bidrage til udtrykket… Hvorfor var ellers alle de
store jazz-musikere narkomaner?
Spørgsmålet er forkert stillet, for selvom nedbrydningen af vaner, tid og rum er stærkt
befordrende for kreativiteten, er den kortvarige glæde ved at ødelægge kroppen som at tisse i
bukserne for at blive varm; underbevidsthedens leg med vores fantasi skal strømme uhindret
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Martin Spang Olsen
gennem kroppen, kroppen skal stråle og blusse. Så bliver kunstudtrykket længerevarende og mere
ubesværet, og udøveren behøver ikke dø ung.
Dresscodes
Så mens kunstnerne gennem det 20. årh. nedbrød vaner, optog de umærkeligt nye, der svarede til
deres fags ”dress-code”: forfatteren skulle ryge pibe og drikke whisky, danseren skulle storryge og
have anoreksi, maleren skulle både ryge, drikke og være sindssyg og ja, Jazz-musikeren skulle være
narkoman (men måtte meget gerne ryge, drikke og være sindssyg samtidig). Hvordan man har
kunnet bilde generationer ind, at skørlevned bidrog til udtrykket, er mig en gåde. Min egen
erfaring siger det stik modsatte, men man er nødt til at være lige dér, hvor sundhed og balance
giver mening – ellers vil de blot virke som endnu to af jordelivets begrænsninger. Summa
summarum, vejen mod den afbalancerede sundhed går gennem kropsbevidsthed. Jeg beklager.
Og vejen er lang og trang.
Den rationelle bevægelse
Målet er dog ganske enkelt: Alle bevægelser skal udspringe af et umiddelbart (men dybtfølt)
behov og være relevante for den effekt, man ønsker at opnå – enten det drejer sig om leg,
energiudladning, afspænding, kreativt udtryk, stresshåndtering eller hverdagens småkedelige
rutiner. I praksis kan netop dén tilgang til bevægelse aflæses alle steder i dyreriget, hvor
overlevelsen stadig er betinget af en korrekt balance mellem lyst, behov og praktisk relevans. I
dyreriget lever man nemlig ikke længe, hvis man brænder kalorier af ud i det blå, eller hvis man
investerer tid i at opbygge muskler, der ikke skal bruges til noget; tid brugt på ubehagelig eller
unødvendig bevægelse kommer kun igen i form af skader og nedslidning. Dét har evolutionen lært
dyrene på den hårde måde, men også vi mennesker har naturligvis været underlagt de samme krav
en gang – ellers havde vi nemlig ikke overlevet som art.
Selvom man ganske vist skal flere tusind år tilbage for at finde kulturer, der har bevæget sig med
samme kvaliteter, som man ser hos de vilde dyr, har menneskelig kropsudfoldelse alligevel helt op
til industrialiseringen beholdt sin forbindelse til dagligdagen og den umiddelbare relevans. Men så
gik det også galt;
det hjernedøde samlebåndsarbejdes nedslidende gentagelser og usunde
arbejdstider satte en stopper for årtusinders balance mellem hånd og ånd.
Traditionens magi
Hvis vi et øjeblik ser bort fra, at almuen til alle tider har været presset til at arbejde hårdere og mere
ensidigt, end vi er beregnet til, fandtes nemlig helt op til industrialiseringen stor visdom i de
daglige gøremål. Bevægelsesrutiner, der nedarves generation efter generation, udvikler naturligt
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bevægesmønstre, som slider minimalt på kroppen, da det jo netop er forudsætningen, at de samme
bevægelser skal kunne gentages i det uendelige. I de egne af verden, hvor man stadig udfører f.eks.
markarbejde med håndkraft, kan man derfor endnu iagttage, hvordan de fokuserede, komplekse, dybt
forankrede, drejende, rundede og spiralformede bevægelser, som jeg omtalte i min indledning, og som
skaber sundhed og mental balance, bliver anvendt. Til gengæld skal man vare sig for at gentage
meningsløse bevægelser, både ved samlebåndet og i fitness-centrene, for så indlæres de som
betingede (meningsløse) reflekser.
Men selv i et fittness-center er det muligt at skabe intelligente relationer mellem de forskellige
muskelgrupper, så der finder en dybere udvikling sted, mens man plejer udseendet og styrken.
Faktisk findes der næppe en aktivitet, der ikke kan tilføjes kompleksitet, fokus, leg, lyst-behovrelation og langsigtet sundhed gennem den rette mentale tilgang og de rette bevægelser. Det er
kun et spørgsmål om viden og vilje, og navnlig det sidste er heldigvis i vækst.
Historisk ubalance
Hvornår hoppede kæden af? Ja, bortset fra at senere tider i store træk har misforstået antikkens
bevægelsesideal, og Kristendommen og kapitalismen har gjort sit til at komme kropsligheden til
livs, så er det faktisk også gået betydeligt tilbage for os bare de seneste 40 år. Det er netop i den
periode, hvor de organiske bevægelser fra almindeligt fysisk arbejde med sav, kost, skovl, økse, osv.
forsvandt ud af arbejdsmarkedet, og de daglige funktioner i hjemmet efterhånden endeligt blev
overtaget maskiner. Alt sammen for at skåne os for ubehag og skader og skåne samfundet for
sundhedsudgifter (og, muligvis, for at tjene kassen i produktionsleddet). Det var så pudsigt nok
også i den periode, at billedkunsten mistede sin urgamle forbindelse til kvalitet, og tordnede ud af
en kommerciel, næsegrus selvglad og komplet hysterisk tangent. Coincidence? Tjah…
Menneske = bevægelse
Men uanset hvor meget vi forsøger, kan vi ikke ændre, at vi er bevægelse. Helt bogstaveligt
bevæger alt sig i os, og uanset hvad vi gør, kan vi ikke undslippe bevægelsen – lyd, lyst, lymfe,
fødder, fedt, følelser, hud, hoved og hormoner – alt hænger sammen og alt bevæger sig i relation til
vores omgivelser. Faktisk er stilstand en praktisk umuligt begreb, der kun findes på et filosofisk
plan. Ligesom lige linjer, objektiv tid og andre af den moderne verdens absurde grundpiller.
Jo før, vi accepterer, at vi at i konstant bevægelse, at lige linjer er højst unaturlige, og at tid er en
subjektiv faktor, des før vil vi kunne sætte vores egen dagsorden og få det liv, vi ønsker os. Ved at
erkende, at vi kan agere i en bevægelig verden ved at forstå dens bevægelser, kan vi hurtigt og
smertefrit nå vores mål, uanset om det drejer sig om kunst, sundhed, udseende, velvære, karriere
eller andet. Accepter bevægelsen, forstå bevægelsen og tag del i bevægelsen.
Både den indre og
den ydre. Mærk efter, hvilken bevægelse, der hører til øjeblikket og reager i videst muligt omfang
på det, du mærker. Vær i aktivitet mere end i motion, brug dine kræfter på at løfte på dine børn,
391
Martin Spang Olsen
hjælpe din nabo og grave din have. Smid ikke din ungdom væk i træningssalene og husk at
investere i de tider, hvor du ikke længere kan sprinte efter bussen. Alt det kræver bevidsthed, og
det er såmænd heller ikke det værste at tilegne sig. God fornøjelse!
392
Title: ”Læring som improviseret udvikling af praksis – jam som praksisfællesskab”
Author(s): Lars Brinck
Pages: 413-422
Copyright 2010
2010, Vol. 1, No. 3 pp 413-422
Lars Brinck
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Læring som improviseret udvikling af praksis –
jam som praksisfællesskab
Lars Brinck
Lektor, prorektor (Ass. prof., ass. prncp.),
forskningsleder (Head of research and development)
_______________________________
Med afsæt i forfatterens fænomenografiske studie af amerikanske musikeres oplevelse af det
at jamme diskuterer artiklen, hvorvidt jam-bandets spontant improviserende praksis kan
give ny forståelse af rytmiske musikeres læring som et overordnet socialt fænomen.
Ved at betragte jam-bandets praksis i socialt læringsteoretisk blik argumenteres for at se den
skabende praksis som en kollektivt rettet bevægelse mod nye handlemuligheder. Herved
udfolder sig et stadigt udvidet læringsrum, hvor musikernes forandrede deltagelsesmåde og
musikkens forandrede udtryk ses som én og samme bevægelse.
_______________________________
Indledning
Sociologisk og antropologisk forskning har interesseret sig for rytmiske musikeres sociale praksisser
og har bidraget med værdifuld viden om den rytmiske musikers adfærd på scenen, i øvelokalet
samt generelt om freelance musikerens muligheder og vanskeligheder (Bennett, 1980; Cohen,
1991; Berliner, 1994; Fornäs et al., 1995; Monson, 1996). Green (1996, 2001, 2006, 2008) har i
sine kognitive studier udforsket, hvordan pop-musikere udvikler sig i peer-to-peer udveksling af
viden og erfaringer. Hun skelner mellem formel musikundervisning og informel musiklæring og
udpeger fra en didaktisk position nye ’class room’-muligheder. Schloss (2004) viser i et etnografisk
studie af samplebaserede hiphop-musikeres arbejdsformer den mangfoldighed af læringsstrategier,
som her kommer til syne. Sahlander (2007) har tilsvarende i et komparativt studie undersøgt
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Lars Brinck
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gruppen / bandet i henholdsvis ’skolastisk og ikke-skolastisk kontekst’ og påviser bl.a., hvordan
musikeres tilgang til læring afspejler deres fortrolighed med lærerstyret undervisning.
Inden for pædagogisk-psykologisk forskning har Berkaak & Ruud (1994) i et langstrakt
sociopsykologisk studie belyst rockbandets betydning for det enkelte medlems identitetsdannelse.
Saar (1999) peger i sit fænomenografiske studie af unge musikere på, hvordan musikerne synes at
have tre dimensioner af opmærksomhed samt en henholdsvis pædagogisk og musikalsk
rammeforståelse, som strukturerer deres udviklingsprocesser. Desuden har Söderman (2001) og
Söderman & Folkestad (2004) i et kognitivt og diskursanalytisk perspektiv beskrevet og analyseret
svenske hiphop-musikeres tilgang til skabelse og udøvelse af deres musik og tekster. og Söderman
(2008, 2009) har i sociologisk studie gennem kvalitative interviews og musikalske og diskursive
analyser beskrevet dels hiphop-produceres, dels hip-hop-musikeres udviklingsstrategier.
Kristensen (2000) viser i sin udforskning af den rituelle overlevering af folkemusik i Cuba, at
social læringsteori tilbyder en forståelse af de komplekse processer, som foregår i overleveringen og
videreførelsen af cubanske folkemusiktraditioner. I et senere kritisk-psykologisk studie reflekterer
Kristensen denne forståelse ind i dansk folkeskolekontekst (2009). Brinck (2007, 2010) har i
fænomenografiske
studier
analyseret
amerikanske
jam-musikeres
spontane
musikalske
kommunikation i jam-sammenhænge og udviklet en Grounded Theory med fire centrale begreber
til at beskrive denne.
Jam. Forskellige praksisser
At jamme har en række forskellige værdimæssige betydninger afhængig af stilart og sociokulturel
kontekst og dermed også hvad angår forståelse af rammer, deltagelse, muligheder, etc.. En jazz-jam
vil typisk være baseret på relativt strukturerede forlæg, fx (standard-)melodier med vedtagne
harmoniske strukturer. Jam-gruppen vil typisk bestå af traditionel rytmegruppe, blæsere og evt.
vokalister. Gennem generationer er udviklet en jazz-jamkultur med fx harmoniske variationer og
arrangementsmæssige konventioner, som de jammende jazz-musikere i større eller mindre grad kan
gøre brug af (Berliner, 1994; Monson, 1996). Inden for mere fri jazz-former er rammerne mere
abstrakte men stadig præget af genrens konventioner for musikalske strukturer og måder at deltage
på. Instrumentsammensætningen er fx langt mere åben end for en standardjazz-jam.
Inden for pop-rock-området har der desværre udviklet sig en brug af jam-begrebet som ’at spille
covernumre ligesom de originale kunstnere’, fx Led Zeppelin Jam, som spiller LZ’s numre som LZ
gjorde, osv. Denne (mis-)opfattelse af jam adresserer denne artikel ikke.
Inden for funk og beslægtede stilarter betyder jam typisk, at al musikken komponeres og skabes i
nuet af de deltagende musikere. Instrumentsammensætningen kan variere meget. Det afgørende
karakteristika er, at den musikalske ramme ikke udgøres af på forhånd aftalt melodisk eller
harmonisk stof men udvikles i spil. Centrale værdier er de cirkulære strukturer, korte
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Læring som improviseret udvikling af praksis – jam som praksisfællesskab
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tilbagevendende riffs og stærke rytmiske figurer, der fletter sig ind og ud af hinanden i
komplicerede rytmiske netværk (Brinck, 2010). Funk-jam i denne betydning har i årtier og frem til
i dag været en helt essentiel del af musikkulturen omkring New Orleans, Louisianna, USA
(Shapiro & Hentoff, 1956; Armstrong, 1955; Rummel, 1994; Ritz, 2000; Brinck, 2007, 2010),
både som en del af spillestedskulturen og som en del af ’second-line’-kulturen, hvor hundredvis af
mennesker samles ved de ugentlige ’street parades’ for at spille, danse, hygge sig og dyrke
fællesskabet gennem musikken og dansen (Brinck, 2007). Det er denne funk-opfattelse af, hvad
jam er, som har denne artikels fokus.
Funk-jam i New Orleans
I et fænomenografisk studie af jammende New Orleans-musikere og med Grounded Theory som
teorigenererende metodologi finder Brinck (2007, 2010) gennem kvalitative interviews, feltstudier
og inddragelse af egne erfaringer som musiker og underviser, at musikernes adfærd lader til at være
præget af fire centrale fænomener, nemlig ’open approach, prioritized focusing, auditory refleksion
[og] artistic mastery’. Her en kort stemningsberetning fra Joe’s Cozy Corner, New Orleans:
’Fire musikere på den lille scene bagerst i lokalet. Intet er aftalt. Skal vi spille? Hvem
starter? Hvor ender vi?
Trommeslageren starter en rytmisk figur, han ’sætter et beat op’. Bassisten lytter og vælger
en basfigur, som han synes passer til. Basfiguren ændrer sig lidt, den rettes til. Nu er den
der. En cirkulær musikalsk struktur. 4, 8, 16 takter. Baslinie og trommefigur er nu ’in
the pocket’, de lyder umiddelbart godt sammen, og, som Vidakovich siger: ”it feels good
enough not to mess with”.
Guitaristen lægger sin figur på. Der er forskellige ideer, der afprøves, mærkes, lyttes.
Endelig er der en ide, som får lov at ’blive hængende’. Nu er de tre ’in the pocket’
Pianisten vælger en lyd på sit Rhodes. Der mangler noget …, og det kunne være det her.
Eh, måske ikke, måske det her? Ja, nu lader der til at være en dynamik og balance, som
føles rigtig.’ (Brinck, 2010)
De fire funk-musikere jam’er. De spiller sammen uden faste aftaler men på baggrund af dels fælles
kulturelle konventioner, dels personlige erfaringer. De kulturelle konventioner ligger historisk
indlejret i den afroamerikanske musikkultur i New Orleans, hvor improvisationen, det at finde på
noget, er en grundlæggende præmis. Og i processen med at finde på, improvisere, er den spontane
musikalske kommunikation med de andre musikere helt central. Det, den enkelte finder på, skal
’passe’ til de andres spil, det siger næsten sig selv. For den enkelt musiker er åbenhed og evnen til at
kunne prioritere sit fokus derfor en afgørende forudsætning for at kunne deltage i en jam (Brinck,
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Lars Brinck
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2007, 2010). Åbenhed forstået som, at muligheder vurderes og afprøves i en kontinuerlig proces,
hvor blikket er rettet mod nye optioner, nye lyde, nye kunstneriske udtryk. Og prioriteret fokus
forstået som efter behov at rette sin opmærksomhed mod dels forskellige musikalske helheder, dels
hver af de andres musikeres individuelle spil.
Samtidig har alle jam-musikerne et fælles ’mål’. Alles opmærksomhed er rettet mod det at skabe
god musik, ’to make the music feel good’ (ibid.). Alle er mere eller mindre enige om, hvilke
grundlæggende værdier et godt groove rummer, hvordan musikken skal mærkes og lyde og
samtidig hvordan arbejdet henimod et godt groove kan foregå. Og hvordan groovet plastisk kan
udvikles og forandres.
Lave & Wengers læringsteori - læring som situeret i praksisfællesskaber
I Lave & Wengers blik er læring et socialt fænomen, der ikke kan adskilles fra sin kontekst, sin
praksis (Lave & Wenger, 1991, 1999, 2003). På baggrund af en række antropologiske studier af
mesterlærekulturer har de udviklet teorien om læring som situeret i praksisfællesskaber, hvor ’In
apprenticeship, opportunities for learning are (…) given structure by work practices instead of by
strongly assymmetrical master-apprentice relations’ (Lave & Wenger, 1991:91). Praksis strukturerer
ifølge Lave & Wenger mulighederne for læring og de definerer læring som, at ’(…) participation in
the cultural practice in which any knowledge exists is an epistemological principle of learning (…)
(ibid.:98). I denne sociale læringsteori står betydningen af den fælles forhandlede mening i praksis
ligeledes centralt, og ’Agent, activity and the world mutually constitute each other’ (ibid.:33) som den
fælles viden og forståelse, det at leve med andre i forskellige og skiftende praksisfællesskaber
udvikler og konstituerer.
Læring foregår [er situeret] i alle praksisfællesskaber, tilsigtet eller ej, struktureret eller ej, i skole
og hverdag, i familie og band. Læring kan per se ikke adskilles fra sin praksis, fra sin kontekst. Og
relationen mellem deltagerne ’suggests (…) that engaging in practice, rather than being its object, may
well be a condition for the effectiveness of learning (Lave & Wenger, 1991:93). Praksis er
forudsætning for læring, ikke læringens objekt eller dekontekstualiserede hensigt.
At forstå læring som situeret i praksisfællesskaber drejer sig således om at anerkende de
handlemuligheder, praksis tilbyder, som muligheder for læring.
Legitim perifer deltagelse
Et helt centralt perspektiv i Lave & Wengers sociale læringsteori er den lærendes bevægelse ’from
peripheral to full participation’ (ibid.:36; Wenger, 1999). Den lærendes deltagelse i
praksisfællesskabet er karakteriseret ved ’growing involvement, legitimacy (Lave & Wenger,
1991:37). For at denne bevægelse er mulig taler L&W om vigtigheden af adgang til læring, nemlig
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’The importance of access to the learning potential of given settings’ (ibid.:42) altså at det, som en given
praksis kræver for fuld deltagelse, er synligt for den enkelte. Helheden, den samlede
kontekstforståelse, skal være tydelig og mærkbar. Om denne bevægelse og deltagernes tilskyndelse
hertil siger Lave, at ’motivation seems to inhere in the movement towards full participation in
community practice in which apprentices also had a future and were developing identities (Lave,
2008:287). Legitimiteten ligger i deltagernes motivation for at blive en del af en fremtidig praksis,
for at få identitet i denne.
Spørgsmålet er nu, hvordan social læringsteoris begreber kan bringe os tættere på en forståelse af
rytmiske musikeres læring, når de jammer?
At blive god til at jamme
Praksisfællesskabet
Betragter vi en jam-praksis i et socialt læringsteoretisk blik kommer en række tankevækkende
pointer til syne:
Læring er iflg. L&W situeret – i det praksisfællesskab, som jam-bandet udgør. Læringen ses af
L&W som grundlæggende relationel og dermed som indlejret i den musikalske kommunikative
praksis, som musikerne er en del af. Jam-praksis kan mao. ikke adskilles fra læreprocessen og
snarere end at være en praksis, som man (dekontekstuelt) kan lære, er det at jamme en ’condition
for the effectiveness of learning’ [det at jamme og blive rytmisk musiker; red.](Lave, 1989).
Musikerne skal jamme for at lære at jamme. Lave taler om læringscurriculum og siger, at ’A
learning curriculum consists of situated opportunities for the improvisational development of new
practice” (ibid.). Praksisfællesskabet rummer de muligheder for at udvikle praksis på en
improviseret måde, med en improvisatorisk tilgang. Praksis rummer i sig selv udvikling af ny
praksis. Det til enhver tid klingende, swingende groove i den givne sociale kontekst bliver ”learning
curriculum” (ibid.); bliver det, som det handler om at lære, om at blive bedre til.
Deltagelse
Den enkelte musikers åbenhed for praksis’ forskellige handlemuligheder kan i social læringsteori
analyseres med begrebet deltagelse: Musikerne i jam-bandet afstemmer løbende deres deltagelse
efter situationen, efter musikkens ’behov’, efter den fælles forhandlede mening i den konkrete
sociale sammenhæng.
Musikerne deltager altså i jam’en på forskellig måde og fra forskellige positioner. Alle deltagere er
lærende per se. Alles blik er – på forskellig måde – rettet mod den aktuelle praksis (ie. jammusikken) og de handlemuligheder, som praksis tilbyder, men ingen besidder en særlig
definitionsmagt, en særlig hierarkisk position eller har et særligt ansvar i og for denne praksis.
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Praksis er den spillede musik og kan kun forandres gennem spil. Til gengæld er alle former for spil
/ deltagelse mulig.
Den jammende musikers deltagelsesmåde i en god jam kan med Lave & Wengers analysebegreber
altså forstås som deltagelse, hvor deltagerne i praksisfællesskabet har uhindret adgang til udvidelse af
handlemuligheder og dermed uhindret adgang til læring.
Musikernes forandrede deltagelsesmåde og musikkens forandrede udtryk ses med andre ord som én
og samme bevægelse. Man kan hævde, at det sociale læringsteoretiske blik på jam-band’et
understreger endnu en L&W’sk pointe, nemlig, at læring ikke altid er betinget af en mester, der går
foran og viser vejen, men at selve praksis kan repræsentere en værdifuld ressource for musikernes
opdagelse af nye handlemuligheder og at ’where circulation of knowledge among peers and near-peers
is possible, it spreads exceedingly rapidly and effectively’ (Lave & Wenger, 1991:91).
En eventuel lærer kan ses som mægler i praksis og af praksis. Læreren er erfaren deltager, er ’oldtimer’ i modsætning til de mindre erfarne i praksisfællesskabet, ’the newcomers’ (ibid.).
Rettethed
I kritisk psykologisk forskning i forlængelse af Lave & Wengers arbejde taler Dreier (1999:85) om
en ’indre rettethed i læringen mod at udvide de fremtidige muligheder for deltagelse’ og Mørck (2009)
bruger begrebet ’det fælles tredje’ om det forhold, at deltagernes rettethed i praksis ikke er mod
individuel udvikling eller øget formåen men mod noget ’fælles tredje’, som i bandet kunne være
den gode musik, det fede groove, den fordybede oplevelse af stærkt fælles kunstnerisk udsagn. Og
Kristensen taler om, hvordan subjektiveringsprocesser omkring det at blive rumba- og
santeriamusiker i Cuba meningsfuldt kan forklares med ikke-dualistisk forståelse af en rettethed
mod et meningsfuldt og helt levet liv og siger, at ’kun i (…) fx en rumbagruppe, der spiller til fest
kan den sansede oplevelse af at spille god musik give vore handlinger og handleevne rettethed i det sociale
liv’ (Kristensen, 2009: 147). De jammende musikere har deres rettethed mod det gode groove og
improviserer sig i praksisfællesskabet mod nye handlemuligheder for sammen at skabe et endnu
bedre groove.
At give og modtage kritik i praksis
Al udveksling af viden og erfaring sker således i jam-bandets praksis, mens musikken komponeres,
spilles og forandres. Nye handlemuligheder opstår løbende. Hermed ligger også det at få kritik –
og ad den vej ny erfaring – indlejret i den musikalske praksis, og kan ikke adskilles herfra. Hvis et
musikalsk bidrag [ex en guitarfigur] ikke ’bliver hørt’, opfanget, giver anledning til, at de andre
musikeres musikalske udtryk justerer sig ift. hertil, må guitaristen genoverveje sin figur og finde på
noget andet. Praksis rummer altså også handlemulighed for at ignorere; ikke at forholde sig; ikke at
spille med på. Og handlemulighed for at fortryde, finde på noget andet. Praksis rummer
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handlemuligheden at vælge mellem forskellige deltagelsesmåder og dermed for på legitim måde at
give og modtage kritik i praksis. Guitaristen forbliver med sit indspil (som ignoreres) momentant
perifer i sin deltagelse. Musikken skulle ikke lige den vej iflg. de andre musikere, men det
problematiserer ikke guitaristens legitimitet som deltager. Praksis har lært ham noget om den
guitarfigur på det tidspunkt til det groove med de musikere. Praksis rummer nu mulighed for andre
deltagelsesmåder, andre handlemuligheder.
Konklusion
I denne artikel er jam som praksis analyseret med socialt læringsteoretisk blik for at formidle en
forståelse af læring, som tilgodeser overleveringen af centrale værdier inden for rytmisk musik.
Deltagelsen i jam-bandet synes at være et meningsfuldt billede på en forståelse af læring som
situeret i praksisfællesskaber og som et socialt fænomen: Den praksis, som musikerne sammen
indgår i for at skabe / finde nye kunstneriske udtryk og muligheder er social, relationel og betinget
af fælles åbenhed over for nye handlemuligheder og en fælles rettethed.
Hvor musikerne ser sig som lærende i en relationel proces gives adgang til nye musikalske udtryk
og nye kunstneriske muligheder. Den jammende musiker er således lærende per se og har sit blik
rettet mod musikken og de nye handlemuligheder, som den sociale musikalske praksis tilbyder.
Jam-bandets praksis bliver betinget af denne undersøgende og lærende tilgang, denne nærmest
usikkerhed og ydmyghed over for, hvor den enkeltes kunstneriske beslutninger bringer det
kollektive kunstneriske udsagn hen.
At praksis i jam-bandet er så eksplicit kollektiv understreger det faktum, at den kunstneriske
helhed, som den vokser frem, netop ikke er lineært udpeget af den enkelte kunstner men vokser
frem i ’sin egen forståelse’, ’sin egen indre logik’. I dette rum er mange former for deltagelse
legitim, og praksis – det stadigt forandrende kunstneriske udsagn – er strukturgivende for
læringen. I læringsteoretisk blik danner jam-bandets praksis således et læringsrum, hvor musikernes
forandrede deltagelsesmåde og musikkens forandrede udtryk ses som én og samme bevægelse.
Afsluttende kan man spørge, om denne forståelse af rytmiske musikeres læring i jam-kontekst er så
meningsfuld, at social læringsteoretiske begreber også overordnet fortæller os, hvordan
performative kunstnere udvikler sig og lærer. Og hvorvidt fx formelle læringsmiljøer med
overvejende individualistiske grundpræmisser og rammesætninger kan rumme udviklingen af
kunstneriske sociale sjæle, som er afhængige af stærke praksisfællesskaber for at udvikle sig og
kunsten?
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Referencer
Armstrong, L. (1955): Mit liv i New Orleans. København: Gyldendal
Bennett, H.S. (1980). On Becoming a Rock Musician. Rochester: The University of Massachusetts
Press.
Berkaak, O. & Ruud, E. (1994). Sunwheels. Fortellinger om et rockeband [Sunwheels. Stories About a
Rock Band]. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget
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