Date of Award
8-16-2024
Document Type
Open Access Thesis
Department
School of Music
First Advisor
Wendy Valerio
Abstract
Historically, elementary music educators have led their classrooms using predominantly formal, teacher-led activities. Recently, music educators have allowed students to organize their own informal music learning activities. Few researchers have examined elementary students’ lived experiences during formal and informal music activities. My education and 9 years of early childhood and elementary music teaching experiences contribute to my research qualifications. The purpose of this research was to examine my second-grade students’ lived experiences during formal and informal music learning activities. Following were the guiding research questions: (a) What do second-grade students think and how do they feel during formal music learning activities; (b) What do second-grade students think and how do they feel during informal music learning activities?
During a 5-week data collection period I facilitated two formal music activity classes and two informal music activity classes. Data sources included classroom video recordings, whole-group interview recordings, student-to-student interview audio recordings, and student projection worksheets. Thematic analysis of participant data revealed the following themes: (a) pleasant experience; (b) uncomfortable experience; (c) experience affected by unrelated elements or events; (d) neutral experience; (e) awareness of music activity and expression. Second-grade students reported similar, and mostly pleasant experiences during both types of activities, but some students may have a greater potential to describe an awareness of their self-expression and role within informal music activities than during informal music activities. Music educators aiming to design a pleasant, “happy,” and “fun” student-centered music curriculum may include both types of activities. Music educators interested in student choice, expression, and awareness may include more informal music activities in their learning plans.
Rights
© 2024, Celina Liana Reed
Recommended Citation
Reed, C. L.(2024). Second-Grade Students’ Lived Experiences During Formal and Informal Music Learning Activities. (Master's thesis). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/7762