Why few Music Teachers use the
Learner-Centered model in their music-making
Learner-Centered model in their music-making
It's NOT the teachers' fault!!! Inspiring, committed band and orchestra teachers are everywhere.
Research on the topic, as well and my own experience for 30+ years, though, reports that the Learner-Centered model (LCE) is rarely taught in pre-professional classes for future music teachers, despite its long proven superiority to the Teacher-Centered model (TCE).
They can’t learn LCE in pre-professional education - there are too many basics to cover. So many, in fact, that many undergraduate music education programs are five years! This is true of the textbooks in use, too.
Underlying all this, however, is the Teacher-Centered model: the teacher learns the music and teaches it to the students. The students are largely uninvolved. The traditional TCE model is solidly entrenched in both pre-professional education, as well as most professional conducting workshops for early and mid-career teachers.
And until Ignite Response to Your Conducting, there have been no guides to band and orchestra leaders on how to bring LCE to their students.
Remarkably versatile and demonstrated as effective at all grade levels, LCE has great potential for enhancing rehearsals yet many teachers appear reluctant to use this method. Research suggests that school ensemble leaders tend to “teach as they were taught,” using the Teacher-Centered approach rather than a LCE pedagogical model.
The fear of initiating new approaches and taking risks also invites the discomfort and anxiety that change creates. Coupled with this is teachers’ fear of losing control, an issue that is frequently addressed in the research literature.
Research also suggests that teachers are concerned about receiving negative evaluations from supervisors who are not familiar or comfortable with LCE. The creative chaos that is often centreal to effective LCE approaches may be interpreted by unsympathetic evaluators as ineffective - or "too out there" - teaching, with negative consequences to the teacher’s career.
Research on the topic, as well and my own experience for 30+ years, though, reports that the Learner-Centered model (LCE) is rarely taught in pre-professional classes for future music teachers, despite its long proven superiority to the Teacher-Centered model (TCE).
They can’t learn LCE in pre-professional education - there are too many basics to cover. So many, in fact, that many undergraduate music education programs are five years! This is true of the textbooks in use, too.
Underlying all this, however, is the Teacher-Centered model: the teacher learns the music and teaches it to the students. The students are largely uninvolved. The traditional TCE model is solidly entrenched in both pre-professional education, as well as most professional conducting workshops for early and mid-career teachers.
And until Ignite Response to Your Conducting, there have been no guides to band and orchestra leaders on how to bring LCE to their students.
Remarkably versatile and demonstrated as effective at all grade levels, LCE has great potential for enhancing rehearsals yet many teachers appear reluctant to use this method. Research suggests that school ensemble leaders tend to “teach as they were taught,” using the Teacher-Centered approach rather than a LCE pedagogical model.
The fear of initiating new approaches and taking risks also invites the discomfort and anxiety that change creates. Coupled with this is teachers’ fear of losing control, an issue that is frequently addressed in the research literature.
Research also suggests that teachers are concerned about receiving negative evaluations from supervisors who are not familiar or comfortable with LCE. The creative chaos that is often centreal to effective LCE approaches may be interpreted by unsympathetic evaluators as ineffective - or "too out there" - teaching, with negative consequences to the teacher’s career.