Matthew Yanko | University of British Columbia (original) (raw)

Papers by Matthew Yanko

p-e-r-f-o-r-m-a-n-c-e, 2022

The current study unfolds during the pandemic of the coronavirus COVID-19, whereby people through... more The current study unfolds during the pandemic of the coronavirus COVID-19, whereby people throughout the world have turned to music as a means to develop a sense of togetherness. As an elementary school music specialist and university instructor of music curriculum and pedagogy, both of my classrooms are closed, and I have to revert to digital technology to continue teaching. Written as an evocative autoethnography, this study follows my experience with the teacher candidates in my university course as we engage in discourse and music making during the pandemic. I examine how teachers can position themselves to sustain foundations for learning that foster music thinking and doing from afar, and how digital media can support this instruction. As a result of that, I come to discover the role music can play in supporting the socioemotional well-being of young learners, and the importance of maintaining group learning experiences with music during challenging times. Thus, this study illustrates how teachers continue to seek to draw upon their creative capacities—by boundary pushing, inventing, boundary breaking, and aesthetically organising—to scaffold music making and understanding in contexts that explicitly invite learners to engage imaginatively and stretch their generative and evaluative capacities.

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Departures in Critical Qualitative Research, 2023

Concerned with the heteronormative nature of education, we engage with queer theory and pedagogy ... more Concerned with the heteronormative nature of education, we engage with queer theory and pedagogy to destabilize heteronormative constructs. Guided by arts-based educational research (ABER) and ethnodramatic practices, we stage the lived teaching experiences of educators who challenge heteronormativity while preparing their students for an elementary school musical production. We discover that creating opportunities for students to delve into varied costumes, themes, and characters can strengthen or transform their self-perception, and can embolden them to uncover facets of their identity. Moreover, our inquiry demonstrates how queering curriculum and pedagogy can provide more inclusive opportunities for all students as they engage in arts learning experiences.

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We offer a multi-voiced response to the (re)creation of a sociology of music education, where con... more We offer a multi-voiced response to the (re)creation of a sociology of music education, where contemporary music education practices are informed and imbued with the voices of teachers and learners. By dialogically and musically engaging with the very people who live, make music, and engage with learners in music classrooms, we are pointing toward promoting contemporary qualitative forms of research and the (re)conception of a sociology of music education as a political and an ethical construction that needs to be grounded in serving the communities of music practitioners. Through a pedagogical story – told from the perspectives of music teachers using their own voices – we begin an open conversation about the nature of power structures and struggles in music education research, and invite new possibilities in developing understandings of the complex socio-cultural dynamic of music making, music learning, music teaching, and music researching in all facets of contemporary society. B...

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Journal of Artistic and Creative Education, Dec 30, 2020

In the following study we investigate the foundations of an elementary school music atelier groun... more In the following study we investigate the foundations of an elementary school music atelier grounded in the pedagogies of Célestin Freinet, the Reggio Emilia approach, and the maker movement. Through the construction processes of musical marble structures by Grade 1 and Grade 4 students, we examine the strengths and challenges of the pedagogies and practices that scaffold the variety of learning that unfolds in our music atelier—including hands-on, collaborative, experimental, and experiential learning. In doing so we uncover the historical underpinnings of the atelier and come to understand how this unique studio space evokes student-centered experiences that fosters character, agency, and autonomy to take responsibility for one’s own learning. Moreover, we reveal how the elementary school music atelier can support a foundation for in-depth discovery and wonder that empowers children to develop sensitivities to design and artful ways of thinking and learning.

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Meaning Making in Early Childhood Research, 2017

Evocative arts-based educational research that focuses on the tales of educators—i.e., autoethnog... more Evocative arts-based educational research that focuses on the tales of educators—i.e., autoethnography as a personal, provocative form of storytelling—has not been well developed as a viable early childhood research approach. We learned that teacher-learner stories tell us everything we need to know about feelings and emotions in human experiences. As teachers read their selves in our story, our inquiry may be considered as more than merely a simple tale of one teacher's journey in radically changing his teaching—it is a pedagogical autoethnography. With that in mind, it is imperative for teachers to be mindful of life's stories.

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Handbook of Cultural Studies and Education, 2018

Educational assessment has been characterized as a tactic that colonizes children, in that they a... more Educational assessment has been characterized as a tactic that colonizes children, in that they are perceived as “subjects” while being considered as “objects” of knowledge production (Andersson & Fejes, 2005, p. 610). That point of view gives power to formal knowledge as a way of controlling children. Relatedly, Foucault (1991) believes that the act in which teachers embrace the knowledge of regulating students can be seen as the basis of all governance. Extending those ideas in a similar direction, Eisner (1998; 2007) believes that the scientific determination to predict and control learning outcomes is historically linked to the need for effectual assessment. Full chapter available online, see your institution's library or Rutledge for details.

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The Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education has been globally recognized by educators... more The Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education has been globally recognized by educators and researchers as the most exceptional example of quality early education (Gardner, 1999; Kantrowitz & Wingert, 1991). However, within this approach there is a strong emphasis on the visual arts that in turn has diminished opportunities for children to participate in music activities. Andress (1998) was the first to expose the lack of music in this approach, and her concern was echoed by Matthews (2000), O’Hagin (2007), Vuckovic & Nyland (2010), and Smith (2011). As a result of this void, the present investigation explores the philosophies and practices of the Reggio Emilia approach within a kindergarten to grade seven elementary school music program. Specifically, I examine the role of the child, the role of the teacher, the environment as a third teacher, multiple forms of knowing, the role of documentation, and the Atelier. I use an autoethnographic approach to implement, reflect, a...

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LEARNing Landscapes, 2020

In the following study we investigate how young learners engage with music and movement to illust... more In the following study we investigate how young learners engage with music and movement to illustrate their understandings and connections to nature. We discover a symbiotic relationship between the performing arts, Social Emotional Learning, and Mindful Learning over the course of six months, and examine the potentials and constraints of this harmonization. Results from this study show that learning in a co-constructivist setting, which allows opportunities for reflective listening, choice, intentional focus, and feedback, supports the development of behavioural and emotional abilities, and empowers students to delve deeper into their connections with nature through composing abstract music and movement pieces.

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Handbook of Theory and Research in Cultural Studies and Education, 2019

We examine integrated visual arts and music instruction through creative com- position practices ... more We examine integrated visual arts and music instruction through creative com- position practices in soundscapes to develop an understanding of what a child learns through arts learning experiences. To present a viable means of interpreting aesthetic learning experiences, we investigate the learning story (Carr, M., Assessment in Early Childhood Research: Learning Stories, Sage Publications Inc., Thousand Oaks, 2001; Carr, M., & Lee, W., Learning Stories: Constructing Learner Identities in Early Education, SAGE Publications Ltd, Thousand Oaks, 2012; Gouzouasis, P., & Yanko, M., Learning Stories and Reggio Emilia- inspired: Formative Methods of Assessment for the Elementary School Music Classroom, Routledge, Milton, 2018a) as a means of assessment and expand upon this approach by using visual and aural metaphors to examine how they can provide teachers with the necessary tools and practices to compose richly detailed, meaningful storied assessments. We discovered that children are capable and able to engage with descriptive, interpretive, and evaluative aesthetic criti- cisms (Beardsley, M., Aesthetics: Problems in the Philosophy of Criticism, Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., New York, 1958) and that the sharing of learning stories promotes discussions, understandings, and a celebration of young learners’ meaning making with integrated arts. We postulate the learning story is a viable assessment practice for the aesthetic and artistic merits that emerge as children engage with music and the arts.

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Journal of Artistic & Creative Education (JACE), 2020

In the following study we investigate the foundations of an elementary school music atelier groun... more In the following study we investigate the foundations of an elementary school music atelier grounded in the pedagogies of Célestin Freinet, the Reggio Emilia approach, and the maker movement. Through the construction processes of musical marble structures by Grade 1 and Grade 4 students, we examine the strengths and challenges of the pedagogies and practices that scaffold the variety of learning that unfolds in our music atelier—including hands-on, collaborative, experimental, and experiential learning. In doing so we uncover the historical underpinnings of the atelier and come to understand how this unique studio space evokes student-centered experiences that fosters character, agency, and autonomy to take responsibility for one’s own learning. Moreover, we reveal how the elementary school music atelier can support a foundation for in-depth discovery and wonder that empowers children to develop sensitivities to design and artful ways of thinking and learning.

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LEARNing Landscapes, 2020

Download for free at https://www.learninglandscapes.ca/index.php/learnland/article/view/1018 In ... more Download for free at https://www.learninglandscapes.ca/index.php/learnland/article/view/1018

In the following study we investigate how young learners engage with music and movement to illustrate their understandings and connections to nature. We discover a symbiotic relationship between the performing arts, Social Emotional Learning, and Mindful Learning over the course of six months, and examine the potentials and constraints of this harmonization. Results from this study show that learning in a co-constructivist setting, which allows opportunities for reflective listening, choice, intentional focus, and feedback, supports the development of behavioural and emotional abilities, and empowers students to delve deeper into their connections with nature through composing abstract music and movement pieces.

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LEARNing Landscapes, 2019

Download for FREE: https://www.learninglandscapes.ca/index.php/learnland/article/view/994 It is... more Download for FREE: https://www.learninglandscapes.ca/index.php/learnland/article/view/994

It is astonishing to observe, listen, and co-learn with children as they engage with music to expand beyond the possible with their meaning-making abilities—immersing themselves in a hundred languages of music inspired by Loris Malaguzzi. In the current study, I examine how children in a split Grade 1/2 class explore and represent the sounds associated with city landmarks through soundscape composition. In particular, I focus on how students partake in the negotiation of identity. As a result of that, I have come to discover that by listening to children’s soundscapes we may be able to feel something new about particular landmarks, contemplate its value to citizens, and learn more about the meaning making of children.

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We offer a multi-voiced performance autoethnography where contemporary music education practices ... more We offer a multi-voiced performance autoethnography where contemporary music education practices are informed and imbued with the voices of teachers and learners. By dialogically and musically engaging with the very people who live, make music, and engage with learners in music classrooms, we promote contemporary qualitative forms of research and the (re)conception of a sociology of music education as a political and an ethical construction that needs to be grounded in serving communities of music practitioners. Through a pedagogical story, told from the perspectives of music teachers using their own voices, we begin an open conversation about the nature of power structures and struggles in music education research. We invite new possibilities in developing understandings of the complex socio-cultural dynamic of music making, music learning, music teaching, and music researching in all facets of contemporary society. By embracing a broader set of traditions—Arts-Based Educational Research and Creative Analytical Practices—that enable us to go beyond socio-cultural frameworks and orthodox beliefs that currently exist in the music education profession, we seek to (re)form a culturally contextualized, ethos-rooted, sociology of music education.

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The Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education has been globally recognized by educators... more The Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education has been globally recognized by educators and researchers as the most exceptional example of quality early education (Gardner, 1999; Kantrowitz & Wingert, 1991). However, within this approach there is a strong emphasis on the visual arts that in turn has diminished opportunities for children to participate in music activities. Andress (1998) was the first to expose the lack of music in this approach, and her concern was echoed by Matthews (2000), O’Hagin (2007), Vuckovic & Nyland (2010), and Smith (2011). As a result of this void, the present investigation explores the philosophies and practices of the Reggio Emilia approach within a kindergarten to grade seven elementary school music program. Specifically, I examine the role of the child, the role of the teacher, the environment as a third teacher, multiple forms of knowing, the role of documentation, and the Atelier.
I use an autoethnographic approach to implement, reflect, and document this experience. I not only discover that Reggio Emilia can be successful within a music classroom setting, but argue that these philosophies and practices are of great importance to understanding new ways in which music educators can benefit from this approach beyond the scope of traditional programs and approaches to music with children. By adapting this approach to a music setting in grades higher than the early childhood years, my research extends the current Reggio literature. I not only present my struggles during this experience, but also explain how to supersede challenges and draw from the strengths of this approach that were exposed within the scope of my music program.

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Chapters from books by Matthew Yanko

Pedagogical propositions: Playful walking with a/r/tography. InSEA Publications., 2024

This chapter explores the pedagogical potential of soundwalking as an innovative approach to musi... more This chapter explores the pedagogical potential of soundwalking as an innovative approach to music education that fosters a deep connection between children and the natural world. By integrating the practice of a/r/tography, the chapter delves into the ways in which soundwalking enables students to engage with their environment through active listening, movement, and creative expression. Through a series of vignettes, the chapter illustrates how children develop their listening skills, interpret the acoustic landscape, and compose music in harmony with nature. The inquiry emphasizes the importance of responsive and embodied pedagogy, encouraging educators to embrace flexible, place-based learning experiences that expand students' sensory awareness and foster meaningful relationships with the more-than-human world.

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Walking as Critical Inquiry. Studies in Arts-Based Educational Research, vol 7. Springer, Cham., 2023

In this chapter, I address the question of what an environmental arts pedagogy of music may look ... more In this chapter, I address the question of what an environmental arts pedagogy of music may look like for young learners. I draw from walkography, soundwalking, songlines, and soundscape composition to create a gateway that supports children as they partake in outdoor learning experiences. Through an autoethnographic framework, I story my journey with Kindergarten and Grade 1 students as they listen and make music in forests and creek beds. As their walking inquiries progress, the children begin to cultivate attentive and contemplative listening abilities, whereby many engage with a heightened awareness and develop a bond with places that speak to their hearts. Participation in walking as a somatic and embodied lived experience with music making and listening can hold the potential for multisensory and relational encounters. Thus, illuminating the primary value of place-based education that serves to strengthen children’s connections to others and to the regions in which they live. I postulate that through an environmental arts pedagogy of music there is the potential for the landscape to reveal a sonic relationship between body, senses, and the land—illustrating music as a sounding model to deepen the awareness of our connection to the natural soundscape.

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Handbook of Theory and Research in Cultural Studies and Education, 2020

We examine integrated visual arts and music instruction through creative com- position practices ... more We examine integrated visual arts and music instruction through creative com- position practices in soundscapes to develop an understanding of what a child learns through arts learning experiences. To present a viable means of interpreting aesthetic learning experiences, we investigate the learning story (Carr, M., Assessment in Early Childhood Research: Learning Stories, Sage Publications Inc., Thousand Oaks, 2001; Carr, M., & Lee, W., Learning Stories: Constructing Learner Identities in Early Education, SAGE Publications Ltd, Thousand Oaks, 2012; Gouzouasis, P., & Yanko, M., Learning Stories and Reggio Emilia- inspired: Formative Methods of Assessment for the Elementary School Music Classroom, Routledge, Milton, 2018a) as a means of assessment and expand upon this approach by using visual and aural metaphors to examine how they can provide teachers with the necessary tools and practices to compose richly detailed, meaningful storied assessments. We discovered that children are capable and able to engage with descriptive, interpretive, and evaluative aesthetic criti- cisms (Beardsley, M., Aesthetics: Problems in the Philosophy of Criticism, Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., New York, 1958) and that the sharing of learning stories promotes discussions, understandings, and a celebration of young learners’ meaning making with integrated arts. We postulate the learning story is a viable assessment practice for the aesthetic and artistic merits that emerge as children engage with music and the arts.

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Handbook of cultural studies and education, 2018

Educational assessment has been characterized as a tactic that colonizes children, in that they a... more Educational assessment has been characterized as a tactic that colonizes children, in that they are perceived as “subjects” while being considered as “objects” of knowledge production (Andersson & Fejes, 2005, p. 610). That point of view gives power to formal knowledge as a way of controlling children. Relatedly, Foucault (1991) believes that the act in which teachers embrace the knowledge of regulating students can be seen as the basis of all governance. Extending those ideas in a similar direction, Eisner (1998; 2007) believes that the scientific determination to predict and control learning outcomes is historically linked to the need for effectual assessment.

Full chapter available online, see your institution's library or Rutledge for details.

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Disrupting early childhood education research: Imagining possibilities., 2017

Evocative arts-based educational research that focuses on the tales of educators—i.e., autoethnog... more Evocative arts-based educational research that focuses on the tales of educators—i.e., autoethnography as a personal, provocative form of storytelling—has not been well developed as a viable early childhood research approach. We learned that teacher-learner stories tell us everything we need to know about feelings and emotions in human experiences. As teachers read their selves in our story, our inquiry may be considered as more than merely a simple tale of one teacher's journey in radically changing his teaching—it is a pedagogical autoethnography. With that in mind, it is imperative for teachers to be mindful of life's stories.

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p-e-r-f-o-r-m-a-n-c-e, 2022

The current study unfolds during the pandemic of the coronavirus COVID-19, whereby people through... more The current study unfolds during the pandemic of the coronavirus COVID-19, whereby people throughout the world have turned to music as a means to develop a sense of togetherness. As an elementary school music specialist and university instructor of music curriculum and pedagogy, both of my classrooms are closed, and I have to revert to digital technology to continue teaching. Written as an evocative autoethnography, this study follows my experience with the teacher candidates in my university course as we engage in discourse and music making during the pandemic. I examine how teachers can position themselves to sustain foundations for learning that foster music thinking and doing from afar, and how digital media can support this instruction. As a result of that, I come to discover the role music can play in supporting the socioemotional well-being of young learners, and the importance of maintaining group learning experiences with music during challenging times. Thus, this study illustrates how teachers continue to seek to draw upon their creative capacities—by boundary pushing, inventing, boundary breaking, and aesthetically organising—to scaffold music making and understanding in contexts that explicitly invite learners to engage imaginatively and stretch their generative and evaluative capacities.

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Departures in Critical Qualitative Research, 2023

Concerned with the heteronormative nature of education, we engage with queer theory and pedagogy ... more Concerned with the heteronormative nature of education, we engage with queer theory and pedagogy to destabilize heteronormative constructs. Guided by arts-based educational research (ABER) and ethnodramatic practices, we stage the lived teaching experiences of educators who challenge heteronormativity while preparing their students for an elementary school musical production. We discover that creating opportunities for students to delve into varied costumes, themes, and characters can strengthen or transform their self-perception, and can embolden them to uncover facets of their identity. Moreover, our inquiry demonstrates how queering curriculum and pedagogy can provide more inclusive opportunities for all students as they engage in arts learning experiences.

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We offer a multi-voiced response to the (re)creation of a sociology of music education, where con... more We offer a multi-voiced response to the (re)creation of a sociology of music education, where contemporary music education practices are informed and imbued with the voices of teachers and learners. By dialogically and musically engaging with the very people who live, make music, and engage with learners in music classrooms, we are pointing toward promoting contemporary qualitative forms of research and the (re)conception of a sociology of music education as a political and an ethical construction that needs to be grounded in serving the communities of music practitioners. Through a pedagogical story – told from the perspectives of music teachers using their own voices – we begin an open conversation about the nature of power structures and struggles in music education research, and invite new possibilities in developing understandings of the complex socio-cultural dynamic of music making, music learning, music teaching, and music researching in all facets of contemporary society. B...

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Journal of Artistic and Creative Education, Dec 30, 2020

In the following study we investigate the foundations of an elementary school music atelier groun... more In the following study we investigate the foundations of an elementary school music atelier grounded in the pedagogies of Célestin Freinet, the Reggio Emilia approach, and the maker movement. Through the construction processes of musical marble structures by Grade 1 and Grade 4 students, we examine the strengths and challenges of the pedagogies and practices that scaffold the variety of learning that unfolds in our music atelier—including hands-on, collaborative, experimental, and experiential learning. In doing so we uncover the historical underpinnings of the atelier and come to understand how this unique studio space evokes student-centered experiences that fosters character, agency, and autonomy to take responsibility for one’s own learning. Moreover, we reveal how the elementary school music atelier can support a foundation for in-depth discovery and wonder that empowers children to develop sensitivities to design and artful ways of thinking and learning.

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Meaning Making in Early Childhood Research, 2017

Evocative arts-based educational research that focuses on the tales of educators—i.e., autoethnog... more Evocative arts-based educational research that focuses on the tales of educators—i.e., autoethnography as a personal, provocative form of storytelling—has not been well developed as a viable early childhood research approach. We learned that teacher-learner stories tell us everything we need to know about feelings and emotions in human experiences. As teachers read their selves in our story, our inquiry may be considered as more than merely a simple tale of one teacher's journey in radically changing his teaching—it is a pedagogical autoethnography. With that in mind, it is imperative for teachers to be mindful of life's stories.

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Handbook of Cultural Studies and Education, 2018

Educational assessment has been characterized as a tactic that colonizes children, in that they a... more Educational assessment has been characterized as a tactic that colonizes children, in that they are perceived as “subjects” while being considered as “objects” of knowledge production (Andersson & Fejes, 2005, p. 610). That point of view gives power to formal knowledge as a way of controlling children. Relatedly, Foucault (1991) believes that the act in which teachers embrace the knowledge of regulating students can be seen as the basis of all governance. Extending those ideas in a similar direction, Eisner (1998; 2007) believes that the scientific determination to predict and control learning outcomes is historically linked to the need for effectual assessment. Full chapter available online, see your institution's library or Rutledge for details.

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The Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education has been globally recognized by educators... more The Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education has been globally recognized by educators and researchers as the most exceptional example of quality early education (Gardner, 1999; Kantrowitz & Wingert, 1991). However, within this approach there is a strong emphasis on the visual arts that in turn has diminished opportunities for children to participate in music activities. Andress (1998) was the first to expose the lack of music in this approach, and her concern was echoed by Matthews (2000), O’Hagin (2007), Vuckovic & Nyland (2010), and Smith (2011). As a result of this void, the present investigation explores the philosophies and practices of the Reggio Emilia approach within a kindergarten to grade seven elementary school music program. Specifically, I examine the role of the child, the role of the teacher, the environment as a third teacher, multiple forms of knowing, the role of documentation, and the Atelier. I use an autoethnographic approach to implement, reflect, a...

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Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

LEARNing Landscapes, 2020

In the following study we investigate how young learners engage with music and movement to illust... more In the following study we investigate how young learners engage with music and movement to illustrate their understandings and connections to nature. We discover a symbiotic relationship between the performing arts, Social Emotional Learning, and Mindful Learning over the course of six months, and examine the potentials and constraints of this harmonization. Results from this study show that learning in a co-constructivist setting, which allows opportunities for reflective listening, choice, intentional focus, and feedback, supports the development of behavioural and emotional abilities, and empowers students to delve deeper into their connections with nature through composing abstract music and movement pieces.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Handbook of Theory and Research in Cultural Studies and Education, 2019

We examine integrated visual arts and music instruction through creative com- position practices ... more We examine integrated visual arts and music instruction through creative com- position practices in soundscapes to develop an understanding of what a child learns through arts learning experiences. To present a viable means of interpreting aesthetic learning experiences, we investigate the learning story (Carr, M., Assessment in Early Childhood Research: Learning Stories, Sage Publications Inc., Thousand Oaks, 2001; Carr, M., & Lee, W., Learning Stories: Constructing Learner Identities in Early Education, SAGE Publications Ltd, Thousand Oaks, 2012; Gouzouasis, P., & Yanko, M., Learning Stories and Reggio Emilia- inspired: Formative Methods of Assessment for the Elementary School Music Classroom, Routledge, Milton, 2018a) as a means of assessment and expand upon this approach by using visual and aural metaphors to examine how they can provide teachers with the necessary tools and practices to compose richly detailed, meaningful storied assessments. We discovered that children are capable and able to engage with descriptive, interpretive, and evaluative aesthetic criti- cisms (Beardsley, M., Aesthetics: Problems in the Philosophy of Criticism, Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., New York, 1958) and that the sharing of learning stories promotes discussions, understandings, and a celebration of young learners’ meaning making with integrated arts. We postulate the learning story is a viable assessment practice for the aesthetic and artistic merits that emerge as children engage with music and the arts.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Journal of Artistic & Creative Education (JACE), 2020

In the following study we investigate the foundations of an elementary school music atelier groun... more In the following study we investigate the foundations of an elementary school music atelier grounded in the pedagogies of Célestin Freinet, the Reggio Emilia approach, and the maker movement. Through the construction processes of musical marble structures by Grade 1 and Grade 4 students, we examine the strengths and challenges of the pedagogies and practices that scaffold the variety of learning that unfolds in our music atelier—including hands-on, collaborative, experimental, and experiential learning. In doing so we uncover the historical underpinnings of the atelier and come to understand how this unique studio space evokes student-centered experiences that fosters character, agency, and autonomy to take responsibility for one’s own learning. Moreover, we reveal how the elementary school music atelier can support a foundation for in-depth discovery and wonder that empowers children to develop sensitivities to design and artful ways of thinking and learning.

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LEARNing Landscapes, 2020

Download for free at https://www.learninglandscapes.ca/index.php/learnland/article/view/1018 In ... more Download for free at https://www.learninglandscapes.ca/index.php/learnland/article/view/1018

In the following study we investigate how young learners engage with music and movement to illustrate their understandings and connections to nature. We discover a symbiotic relationship between the performing arts, Social Emotional Learning, and Mindful Learning over the course of six months, and examine the potentials and constraints of this harmonization. Results from this study show that learning in a co-constructivist setting, which allows opportunities for reflective listening, choice, intentional focus, and feedback, supports the development of behavioural and emotional abilities, and empowers students to delve deeper into their connections with nature through composing abstract music and movement pieces.

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LEARNing Landscapes, 2019

Download for FREE: https://www.learninglandscapes.ca/index.php/learnland/article/view/994 It is... more Download for FREE: https://www.learninglandscapes.ca/index.php/learnland/article/view/994

It is astonishing to observe, listen, and co-learn with children as they engage with music to expand beyond the possible with their meaning-making abilities—immersing themselves in a hundred languages of music inspired by Loris Malaguzzi. In the current study, I examine how children in a split Grade 1/2 class explore and represent the sounds associated with city landmarks through soundscape composition. In particular, I focus on how students partake in the negotiation of identity. As a result of that, I have come to discover that by listening to children’s soundscapes we may be able to feel something new about particular landmarks, contemplate its value to citizens, and learn more about the meaning making of children.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

We offer a multi-voiced performance autoethnography where contemporary music education practices ... more We offer a multi-voiced performance autoethnography where contemporary music education practices are informed and imbued with the voices of teachers and learners. By dialogically and musically engaging with the very people who live, make music, and engage with learners in music classrooms, we promote contemporary qualitative forms of research and the (re)conception of a sociology of music education as a political and an ethical construction that needs to be grounded in serving communities of music practitioners. Through a pedagogical story, told from the perspectives of music teachers using their own voices, we begin an open conversation about the nature of power structures and struggles in music education research. We invite new possibilities in developing understandings of the complex socio-cultural dynamic of music making, music learning, music teaching, and music researching in all facets of contemporary society. By embracing a broader set of traditions—Arts-Based Educational Research and Creative Analytical Practices—that enable us to go beyond socio-cultural frameworks and orthodox beliefs that currently exist in the music education profession, we seek to (re)form a culturally contextualized, ethos-rooted, sociology of music education.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

The Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education has been globally recognized by educators... more The Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education has been globally recognized by educators and researchers as the most exceptional example of quality early education (Gardner, 1999; Kantrowitz & Wingert, 1991). However, within this approach there is a strong emphasis on the visual arts that in turn has diminished opportunities for children to participate in music activities. Andress (1998) was the first to expose the lack of music in this approach, and her concern was echoed by Matthews (2000), O’Hagin (2007), Vuckovic & Nyland (2010), and Smith (2011). As a result of this void, the present investigation explores the philosophies and practices of the Reggio Emilia approach within a kindergarten to grade seven elementary school music program. Specifically, I examine the role of the child, the role of the teacher, the environment as a third teacher, multiple forms of knowing, the role of documentation, and the Atelier.
I use an autoethnographic approach to implement, reflect, and document this experience. I not only discover that Reggio Emilia can be successful within a music classroom setting, but argue that these philosophies and practices are of great importance to understanding new ways in which music educators can benefit from this approach beyond the scope of traditional programs and approaches to music with children. By adapting this approach to a music setting in grades higher than the early childhood years, my research extends the current Reggio literature. I not only present my struggles during this experience, but also explain how to supersede challenges and draw from the strengths of this approach that were exposed within the scope of my music program.

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Pedagogical propositions: Playful walking with a/r/tography. InSEA Publications., 2024

This chapter explores the pedagogical potential of soundwalking as an innovative approach to musi... more This chapter explores the pedagogical potential of soundwalking as an innovative approach to music education that fosters a deep connection between children and the natural world. By integrating the practice of a/r/tography, the chapter delves into the ways in which soundwalking enables students to engage with their environment through active listening, movement, and creative expression. Through a series of vignettes, the chapter illustrates how children develop their listening skills, interpret the acoustic landscape, and compose music in harmony with nature. The inquiry emphasizes the importance of responsive and embodied pedagogy, encouraging educators to embrace flexible, place-based learning experiences that expand students' sensory awareness and foster meaningful relationships with the more-than-human world.

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Walking as Critical Inquiry. Studies in Arts-Based Educational Research, vol 7. Springer, Cham., 2023

In this chapter, I address the question of what an environmental arts pedagogy of music may look ... more In this chapter, I address the question of what an environmental arts pedagogy of music may look like for young learners. I draw from walkography, soundwalking, songlines, and soundscape composition to create a gateway that supports children as they partake in outdoor learning experiences. Through an autoethnographic framework, I story my journey with Kindergarten and Grade 1 students as they listen and make music in forests and creek beds. As their walking inquiries progress, the children begin to cultivate attentive and contemplative listening abilities, whereby many engage with a heightened awareness and develop a bond with places that speak to their hearts. Participation in walking as a somatic and embodied lived experience with music making and listening can hold the potential for multisensory and relational encounters. Thus, illuminating the primary value of place-based education that serves to strengthen children’s connections to others and to the regions in which they live. I postulate that through an environmental arts pedagogy of music there is the potential for the landscape to reveal a sonic relationship between body, senses, and the land—illustrating music as a sounding model to deepen the awareness of our connection to the natural soundscape.

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Handbook of Theory and Research in Cultural Studies and Education, 2020

We examine integrated visual arts and music instruction through creative com- position practices ... more We examine integrated visual arts and music instruction through creative com- position practices in soundscapes to develop an understanding of what a child learns through arts learning experiences. To present a viable means of interpreting aesthetic learning experiences, we investigate the learning story (Carr, M., Assessment in Early Childhood Research: Learning Stories, Sage Publications Inc., Thousand Oaks, 2001; Carr, M., & Lee, W., Learning Stories: Constructing Learner Identities in Early Education, SAGE Publications Ltd, Thousand Oaks, 2012; Gouzouasis, P., & Yanko, M., Learning Stories and Reggio Emilia- inspired: Formative Methods of Assessment for the Elementary School Music Classroom, Routledge, Milton, 2018a) as a means of assessment and expand upon this approach by using visual and aural metaphors to examine how they can provide teachers with the necessary tools and practices to compose richly detailed, meaningful storied assessments. We discovered that children are capable and able to engage with descriptive, interpretive, and evaluative aesthetic criti- cisms (Beardsley, M., Aesthetics: Problems in the Philosophy of Criticism, Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., New York, 1958) and that the sharing of learning stories promotes discussions, understandings, and a celebration of young learners’ meaning making with integrated arts. We postulate the learning story is a viable assessment practice for the aesthetic and artistic merits that emerge as children engage with music and the arts.

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Handbook of cultural studies and education, 2018

Educational assessment has been characterized as a tactic that colonizes children, in that they a... more Educational assessment has been characterized as a tactic that colonizes children, in that they are perceived as “subjects” while being considered as “objects” of knowledge production (Andersson & Fejes, 2005, p. 610). That point of view gives power to formal knowledge as a way of controlling children. Relatedly, Foucault (1991) believes that the act in which teachers embrace the knowledge of regulating students can be seen as the basis of all governance. Extending those ideas in a similar direction, Eisner (1998; 2007) believes that the scientific determination to predict and control learning outcomes is historically linked to the need for effectual assessment.

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Disrupting early childhood education research: Imagining possibilities., 2017

Evocative arts-based educational research that focuses on the tales of educators—i.e., autoethnog... more Evocative arts-based educational research that focuses on the tales of educators—i.e., autoethnography as a personal, provocative form of storytelling—has not been well developed as a viable early childhood research approach. We learned that teacher-learner stories tell us everything we need to know about feelings and emotions in human experiences. As teachers read their selves in our story, our inquiry may be considered as more than merely a simple tale of one teacher's journey in radically changing his teaching—it is a pedagogical autoethnography. With that in mind, it is imperative for teachers to be mindful of life's stories.

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University of British Columbia , 2021

Arts learning experiences often embrace a canvas of colourful interpretations and creativity that... more Arts learning experiences often embrace a canvas of colourful interpretations and creativity that necessitate assessment practices unique to the arts. However, conventional practices (i.e., rating scales, rubrics, and checklists) struggle, or are unable, to meaningfully assess students’ creativity, imagination, and meaning making. Therefore, guided by a framework of artography and autoethnography, I developed a novel, formative means of assessment grounded in artistic thinking, doing, and making—living assessment. Living assessment encourages l’art pour l’art, and is rooted in underpinnings of pedagogical documentation, learning stories, and living inquiry. That foundation evokes three guideposts—documentation, artistry, and augmentation— to support teachers as they engage with artistic practices, tools, and frameworks to creatively illuminate values and judgments of their students’ creativity, imagination, and meaning making in arts learning experiences. Over the course of a school year, I composed over 500 creative non-fictional, autoethnographies of my journey with living assessment. The stories focus on the artful assessments of Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 4/5, and Grade 6 student music learning experiences. Findings from the study illuminate how this practice of assessment respects and values the individual child and enables a democratic means of assessment for the entire learning community. This inquiry also elucidates how living assessment advocates meaning making through the arts, which better corresponds with the learning at hand, and with children’s cognitive capacities—i.e., through play-based learning, drawing, painting, music, and drama. In our learning community, many of the students saturated themselves in the aesthetics of art making, and were able to respond to what they made and learned through aesthetic criticisms. Moreover, living assessment provides opportunities for parents to participate in and better support their child’s learning and meaning making. Artfully inspired, autoethnographic assessment practices also enable an ongoing reflexive process of professional development for the teacher. What is more, I came to understand that living assessment not only supports a practice that is creative, playful, and discursive, but also entices young learners to experience joy, wonder, and passion with the arts through an ongoing participation in the art of living assessment.

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