Pulling out all the stops: New research in music education
CULTUUR + EDUCATIE 28 (2010)

What exactly happens when learning or teaching music? Music education researchers hope to unravel this mystery. This edition of Cultuur+Educatie presents information about a wide range of recent discoveries in music education.

Learning to make music
Under Dutch law, schools are required to teach improvisation or composition. However, the issue of how teachers should fulfil this requirement remains. Citing literature-based research, Melissa Bremmer examines the meaning of improvisation and how it can be taught in a group setting.

One unique aspect of music education is that it involves one-on-one teaching. In his contribution to this edition, Adri de Vugt discusses studies of this particular teacher-pupil relationship and of the various effects on the process of learning to make music.

Teachers as researchers
Tim Cain focuses on a particular type of qualitative research called ‘action research’ in which music teachers examine their own behaviour in order to gain a better understanding of their ‘action’ and, where necessary, improve on this. He presents and describes eight examples of action research studies.

Music teacher Marianne Op ten Berg’s contribution takes things one step further. She developed her own method for exposing babies and toddlers, ranging from newborns to 4-year-olds, to music. Based on her experiences and observations, she describes how this early exposure to music effects child development as a whole.

Dialogue
In the conclusion, guest editor Constantijn Koopman examines the entire range of music education research and summarises the various findings. While applauding the wide variation in research, he warns against the pitfalls of disorganisation and fragmentation. According to Koopman, one of the important tasks for the future will be integrating the various views and facilitating a dialogue.

Dutch overview