DEVELOPING INDEPENDENT

MUSICIANSMolly Rohde

INDEPENDENT MUSICIANS

Discuss: Why do we need them?

Discuss: What issues arise from an ensemble full of dependent musicians?

WHY WE NEED INDEPENDENT MUSICIANS Independent student musicians:

Take ownership in music making

Practice effectively

and strategically

Listen critically

Set clear goals

Show confidence

and persistence

A COMMON REFRAIN— “I PRACTICED.”

Example: A 7th grade instrumentalist’s 20 minute practice time.

THE GOAL

One key goal of music teachers is to develop lifelong musicians by

emphasizing independent, self-regulated learning (MENC, 1994).

HOW DO WE GET THERE?

To develop independence, music teachers must intentionally teach students how to self-assess their

progress.

THE CHALLENGE

Teaching self-assessment, however, is not as simple as handing out a rubric and expecting students to accurately

evaluate their ability and plan strategies for improvement.

WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS…Learning to self-assess has many benefits for students

(Hood, 2012) It engages them in the learning process It ensures that they understand the goals or criteria for assessment

It builds their confidence It gives them ownership and responsibility for learning It helps them become more self-critical It makes class more enjoyable

WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS…However, studies also reveal several challenges in using self-assessment in music: Students often overrate their ability, leading to inaccurate assessments (Hewitt, 2002)

Students are sometimes negatively influenced by peer discussion (Bergee & Cecconi-Roberts, 2002)

Students are not aware of what to focus on when they evaluate themselves (Hewitt, 2002).

Students do not hear themselves as their instructors do (Bergee & Cecconi-Roberts, 2002)

SO, HOW CAN THIS HELP?Despite student inaccuracies, teachers can use self-assessments to: gauge student understanding (Hewitt, 2005) identify areas of weaknesses (Hewitt, 2005)

Reviewing and discussing self-assessment tools with students can also help inform instruction by giving teachers a clearer picture of what students are thinking.

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?

More Opportunities

to assess

Greater understandin

g of goals

More critical thinking

Some studies show that students’ tendencies to be inaccurate decrease with age and experience (Hewitt, 2005).

Students who have regular opportunities to reflect and assess can grow in this skill.

TAKING ACTIONMoss and Brookhart (2009) suggest student independence is achieved when they understand “where they are and where they are heading” (para. 1)

The first step in teaching students to self-assess, then, is to make sure that students understand the learning goals.

Develop knowledge

of goals

Scaffold assessmen

t experience

s

Engage in self-

assessment

DISCUSSHow do you share learning targets with

students? (How often? Each day? For each piece of music?)

Do you give students the chance to discuss learning targets? How might this

help them?

MAKING THE LEARNING TARGETS CLEAR

Defining the learning targets helps students to know where they are going.

Teachers should display, discuss, and model learning targets.

Students should also discuss learning targets in their own words Ex: Student-developed rubrics

SCAFFOLD ASSESSMENT OPPORTUNITIESDevelop a group rubric—discussion of criteria will help students: Understand criteria in their own words Understand levels of proficiency

Practice using rubric as a class Assess and discuss a professional recording Assess and discuss a recording of the group

Offer opportunities for personal assessment with the rubric Pair up and perform an exercise with a peer Use recording equipment

DISCUSSWhich of these scaffold assessment opportunities is possible in your class setting?

How might you tailor this to meet the needs of elementary students? High school students?

SELF-ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

Group assessment can give way to self-assessment, once students are comfortable with the goals and the assessment tools.

Self-assessment can take many different forms, depending on the age and abilities of the group Give students opportunities to record and playback their own singing for

self-assessment (iPad, Zoom H1, 2, 4) Create personal learning logs to track student growth

SELF-ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

Use questioning techniques: Questions are a great way to guide critical thought Questions give students a chance to practice using appropriate musical language to describe themselves or the choir

Questions get the students involved, and applying their answers can be a great motivator!

QUESTIONING FOR YOUNG STUDENTS

For elementary students, begin to develop evaluative thinking with questions: “Did everyone match as we clapped the rhythm, or was there a disagreement?“

"Was everyone silent on the rests?" "How can we improve our performance?” (Hale & Green, Section 4,

para. 2).

After group-based evaluative questions, allow students to write down self-assessments of the same questions.

STRATEGIES FOR OLDER STUDENTS

Create Personal Learning Logs Teacher can plan how often students visit the logs and assess progress

Log can be one documentation of progress throughout year Log can serve to keep students focused on goals

TOOLS FOR A LEARNING LOG

Student Self-Assessment and Intentional Learning Guide (handout)

Self-Assessment : My Progress in Sight-Singing Using the Solfege (handout)

Self-Assessment: Where Am I Now? (handout)Guiding Questions for Student Involvement (handout)

DISCUSS/MODEL TOOLSSee workshop handout packet

DISCUSSWhich of these tools might you use to encourage students to think carefully about their skill level and areas for improvement?

What obstacles may arise in implementing such strategies?

How might teachers overcome these obstacles?

TIME IS PRECIOUS!Merge self-assessment with repertoire study to encourage critical thinking while driving home key concepts in the music Students will internalize musical points to remember about specific pieces

A FEW FINAL TIPSFocus self-assessment on one skill or ability at a time

(Oare, 2011)

i.e. melodic accuracy, rhythmic accuracy, expression, etc

Utilize recordings (of students or professionals) to model high-quality work (Scott, 2012)

Invite student-led discussion of recordings to help them process what they hear

At all age levels, give students many chances to think strategically by using questions

WHERE TO GO FROM HERE…

Once self-assessment and reflective thinking becomes established in your music room, consider the next steps: Modeling specific strategies for practice or improvement How do you teach students to reach goals once they have identified their weak areas?

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS Scott (2012) states “individuals extend their musical understanding by engaging actively with teachers and peers in collaborative communities of practice” (p. 31).

By being intentional in teaching self-assessment skills, music teachers can use assessment as learning and develop more independent musicians.

Both learning and assessing are active processes that require a partnership between teacher and student.

CHALLENGE-MAKE SELF-ASSESSMENT RELEVANT!

Discuss: Could you allow your students to determine an end of the year project based on their goals for improvement from the year? (goals discovered through self-assessment…)

Discuss: How could you help students put their assessment into practice (beyond making music with the whole group)? Just as self-assessment is personalized, could you provide a final opportunity to demonstrate personalized growth?

REFERENCES:Bergee, M. J., & Cecconi-Roberts, L. (2002). Effects of small-group peer interaction on self-evaluation of music

performance. Journal of Research in Music Education, 50(3), 256.

Bingham, G., Holbrook, T., & Meyers, L. E. (2010). Using self-assessments in elementary classrooms. Phi Delta Kappan, 91(5), 59-61.

Gregory, G. & Chapman, C. (2013). Differentiated instructional strategies: One size doesn’t fit all. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Hale, C. L., & Green, S. K. (2009). Six Key Principles for Music Assessment. Music Educators Journal, 95(4), 27-31. Retrieved from: http://web.a.ebscohost.com.vproxy.cune.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=14&sid=8bb289a4-a613-417d-a197f68289d7d06%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4209&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=40922432

Hewitt, M. P. (2002). Self-evaluation tendencies of junior high instrumentalists. Journal of Research in Music Education, 50(3), 215. Retrieved from: http://web.b.ebscohost.com.vproxy.cune.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=8&sid=33605c82-e00f-44da-8f0a-38cec21d83e3%40sessionmgr115&hid=106&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=8866376

REFERENCESHewitt, M. P. (2005). Self-evaluation accuracy among high school and middle school instrumentalists. Journal of Research in Music Education, 53(2), 148-161. Retrieved from:

http://web.b.ebscohost.com.vproxy.cune.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=10&sid=33605c82-e00f-44da-8f0a-38cec21d83e3%40sessionmgr115&hid=106&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=18561972

Hillier, E. (2011). Demystifying differentiation for the elementary music classroom. Music Educators Journal, 97(4), 49-53. Retrieved from: http://web.a.ebscohost.com.vproxy.cune.edu/ehost/command/detail?sid=b08bb9e3-031e-4ebf922a7d140b690878%40sessionmgr4005&vid=8&hid=4101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=74215539

Hood, A. (2012). Whose responsibility is it? Encouraging student engagement in the learning process. Music Education Research, 14(4), 457-478. doi:10.1080/14613808.2012.703174

Music Educators National Conference. (1994). Opportunity-to-learn standards for music instruction: Grades preK-12. Reston, VA: MENC.

Scott, S. (2012). Rethinking the roles of assessment in music education. Music Educators Journal, 98(3), 31-35. DOI: 10.1177/0027432111434742.