Page 33 - Glasbenopedagoški zbornik Akademije za glasbo v Ljubljani / The Journal of Music Education of the Academy of Music in Ljubljana: Mostovi med formalnim in neformalnim glasbenim izobraževanjem, leto 15, zvezek 31 / Year 15, Issue 31, 2019
P. 33
Ana Èoriæ, DEVELOPING COMMUNITY MUSIC ACTIVITIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION...
Research conclusions
For me as a teacher, the development of the community music program Notes of Love at
the Academy of Music, University of Zagreb was a challenge both in artistic and in a
pedagogical way, but also in terms of organization of every aspect of it. A/r/tographic
research which accompanied the whole process showed that there is a need for finding a
balance between artistic and pedagogical demands, and the needs of the community.
Besides that, it showed that the process of building community music activities is effective
when all sides participate equally in the communication. Thus, students and teachers act as
reflective practitioners, using all the knowledge and skills they got from their initial study
field, as well as competences needed for the interdisciplinary work, flexibility and
openness to learn ‘on the spot’ (generic competences).
As it can be seen from the narrative, the process of creating workshops is very organic and
it requires a lot of mutual listening, reflections, conversations and improvisation,
especially when there aren’t many rehearsals possible before the workshop. During the
process, with each new story students opened themselves more and more towards all the
forms of interdisciplinary work and all audiences, we got as a challenge. While observing
their progress, I listed what students get from participation in the program Notes of Love:
a) meaningful musical engagement and transformative musical experiences;
b) a chance for the creative artistic expression;
c) empowerment, motivation, inspiration;
d) collaborative teaching and learning (teacher-facilitator and students from
different study courses are in the same position; there is no hierarchy);
e) working with children with special needs (not included in the regular
curriculum);
f) interdisciplinary work (music, literature, drama, dance, etc.);
g) developing practice in different contexts;
h) searching for new audiences;
i) learning how to make creative projects;
j) developing their competences through the education offered from an NGO (for
example, reading workshops with actors, movement workshops, etc.);
k) volunteering practice and service-based learning;
l) safe, positive and nurturing environments;
m) research and sharing amongst the students from other universities (we had some
guests during the process, but they couldn’t stay long because of the complexity
of schedules of all members).
Not only students benefit from the development of community music activities at the
academy. Besides all competencies listed above, as their teacher who fully participated in
the program, I got the chance to expand their horizons, giving them an opportunity to
practice with various audiences. Besides that, I had a chance to develop teamwork and get
lifelong learning in diverse fields: music, art, literature, pedagogy, organization and
leadership, community work, reflective practice, etc.
In the artistic and pedagogical sense, it was interesting to observe during the process of
how each of the musicians brings something new into the story. During two and a half
years of the program, we managed to ‘raise’ four students who participated in almost
31
Research conclusions
For me as a teacher, the development of the community music program Notes of Love at
the Academy of Music, University of Zagreb was a challenge both in artistic and in a
pedagogical way, but also in terms of organization of every aspect of it. A/r/tographic
research which accompanied the whole process showed that there is a need for finding a
balance between artistic and pedagogical demands, and the needs of the community.
Besides that, it showed that the process of building community music activities is effective
when all sides participate equally in the communication. Thus, students and teachers act as
reflective practitioners, using all the knowledge and skills they got from their initial study
field, as well as competences needed for the interdisciplinary work, flexibility and
openness to learn ‘on the spot’ (generic competences).
As it can be seen from the narrative, the process of creating workshops is very organic and
it requires a lot of mutual listening, reflections, conversations and improvisation,
especially when there aren’t many rehearsals possible before the workshop. During the
process, with each new story students opened themselves more and more towards all the
forms of interdisciplinary work and all audiences, we got as a challenge. While observing
their progress, I listed what students get from participation in the program Notes of Love:
a) meaningful musical engagement and transformative musical experiences;
b) a chance for the creative artistic expression;
c) empowerment, motivation, inspiration;
d) collaborative teaching and learning (teacher-facilitator and students from
different study courses are in the same position; there is no hierarchy);
e) working with children with special needs (not included in the regular
curriculum);
f) interdisciplinary work (music, literature, drama, dance, etc.);
g) developing practice in different contexts;
h) searching for new audiences;
i) learning how to make creative projects;
j) developing their competences through the education offered from an NGO (for
example, reading workshops with actors, movement workshops, etc.);
k) volunteering practice and service-based learning;
l) safe, positive and nurturing environments;
m) research and sharing amongst the students from other universities (we had some
guests during the process, but they couldn’t stay long because of the complexity
of schedules of all members).
Not only students benefit from the development of community music activities at the
academy. Besides all competencies listed above, as their teacher who fully participated in
the program, I got the chance to expand their horizons, giving them an opportunity to
practice with various audiences. Besides that, I had a chance to develop teamwork and get
lifelong learning in diverse fields: music, art, literature, pedagogy, organization and
leadership, community work, reflective practice, etc.
In the artistic and pedagogical sense, it was interesting to observe during the process of
how each of the musicians brings something new into the story. During two and a half
years of the program, we managed to ‘raise’ four students who participated in almost
31
