Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Sarah Bost
University of Washington
MUSED 561
INTRODUCTION
In the typical high school band classroom one will find various personalities, abilities,
and types of learners: the class clown, the perfectionist, the model citizen; the drum major, the
All-State performer, the last chair trombonist; students who prefer visual, aural, or kinesthetic
learning experiences. As a band director responsible for rehearsing and performing with twenty
to eighty of these beings at one time, how does one offer a substantial music education to meet
each individuals needs? Gaining an understanding of learning theories can help teachers access
The purpose of this reflection is to define three major learning theories and to analyze
their use in high school pep band rehearsal and performance at a specific Northwest high school.
This paper will provide concrete examples of these learning theories in action and argues that
using each of them throughout rehearsals will best serve student learning and leadership.
This particular high school is different than most in that it has not had an instrumental
program for several decades. The administration decided to create a pep band because of the
strong student support of varsity sports teams. The new band director had to be in contact with
prospective students over the summer and plan a first year of instruction centered around
proposed student numbers and instrumentation; music, equipment, and drum line percussion had
to be purchased, summer band camp had to be planned and a minimum of 10 performances were
During a week-long August band camp, the director quickly assessed students strengths
and weaknessescould they sight read sufficiently? Did they have confidence when learning
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music aurally? How long would it take before they could play cohesively as a group? A very
important question arose which pertained to the sustainability of the ensemble: what was the
During the school year, it was the directors responsibility to recruit new students to grow
the program, to teach music fundamentals, to train musicians in drum line performance, to get
new students up to speed quickly (those who joined after band camp), to get students prepared
for executing their first public performance (the Homecoming football game!), to build the
bands repertoire list over fall and winter sports seasons, and to plan for expanding the band
The final instrumentation came to two flutes, two clarinets, two alto saxophones, one
sousaphone, two snare drums, one quad tenor drum, and one bass drum, with one flutist and one
clarinetist who filled in on bass drum and crash cymbals for drum cadences only. What follows
is a reflection of student learning experiences between August and December through the lenses
BEHAVIORISM
Behaviorism is a learning theory that implies conditioning and rote learning; it is more of
that can be measured, which works well for the motor skills (posture, fingerings, stickings,
specific results and does not necessarily promote critical thinking; Behaviorism is more product-
Schunk (2012) asserts that skills should be taught in an order which pertains to their use, their
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utility, and when the learner has the necessary foundation of knowledge. It would be difficult to
centered around instilling correct habits which are taught in the way they will be used.
This being a pioneered ensemble, students had many new routines and procedures to
learn. Most students had never performed in an outdoor venue before; a field trip was scheduled
two weeks before the first football game to the football stadium in another neighborhood (this
small urban school did not have its own stadium) so that students could perform their set list in
the elements. Students learned that hearing is more difficult outdoorsones sound disperses
quickly, making the group sound diminished to the players themselves. This realization affected
the collective efficacy mindset of the group, which will be discussed later. They also learned that
intonation becomes more troublesome when various temperatures and humidity levels are
introduced. Students had to adapt to these new challenges and perform as if they were in the
most accommodating environment. Students also had to adapt to attaching lyres and flip folders
to their instruments (adding weight) and to reading from very small copies of music, versus their
New performance behaviors were instilled in students during rehearsal and continued to
imprint during performances at football and basketball games. In the fast-paced, loud,
distracting environment of a game, musicians had to watch their director for laminated signs
which indicated the next tune to be playedsometimes added gestures would specify the time at
which the tune would be played, such as a sign language zero to indicate playing the tune at
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0:00 on the clock (end of the quarter). Students learned that at 0:20 on the clock they needed to
The percussion section included a mix of former percussionists, a musician who did not
play percussion but who read music and had a great sense of rhythm, and a musician who did not
play percussion and who did not read music. Behaviorist approaches were used in limited
rehearsal time to teach some percussion parts by rote. Again, this does not encourage critical
thinking and a deep understanding of rhythmic learning, but it produces a product in a short
period of time to meet a performance deadline (Schunk, 2012). Recordings were utilized in
rehearsal and over email for outside listening. In certain instances, the director would have
students watch their parts and finger (or stick) silently as they listened to a recording, or as the
teacher conducted and sang a certain part; then the director would have students play their parts.
Schunk (2012) states: Conditioning theories explain learning in terms of environmental events.
Mental processes are not necessary to explain the acquisition, maintenance, and generalization of
behavior. These student behaviors (routines, protocols) were all necessary to the public
performances at gamesin the given time frame from August to September, with 45-minute
rehearsals every two days, with an inexperienced ensemble, the question emerges: were
Behaviorist principles the best call for obtaining the desired results?
COGNITIVISM
Cognitivist theory is based on the internal processes that take place in a students mind; it
is more difficult to measure because the minds inner workings cannot be seen. Metacognition is
a crucial factor in Cognitivism; students can be trained to trace their thoughts and to articulate
their thinking processes in real time. Teachers can aid student understanding of metacognition
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by using cognitive modeling; they can choose to incorporate mistakes in their cognitive
modeling to help students with cognitive navigation. They can also choose to include self-
efficacy statements in their cognitive modeling (Schunk, 2012). Efficacy and motivation play a
big role in Cognitivism because mindset either enhances or inhibits learningthis will be
centered and can have social components; it also encompasses the idea of Self Regulation, which
With a brand new group of musicians in an ensemble which often requires memorized
music, the band director was interested in exploring some aural learning and proceeded with a
Cognitivist approach. Before a first experiment in learning music by ear, the teacher asked
students to reflect on their experience with aural learning had they ever done it before? Was it
a strength or a weakness? Did they feel confident or timid? Students wrote their responses for
the teacher to review later; she then proceeded with aurally teaching two two-bar phrases in a
familiar key. Students were allowed to help each other and to write down the note names. After
the exercise, she asked students to describe their metacognitive experience: What was going on
in your mind as you were learning the new tune by ear? Were you seeing the notes on the staff,
or the note names, or the fingerings, or the scale degrees? Were you audiating it? Students
reflected on the exercise and responded with a variety of answers. A similar exercise was
utilized when new warm-ups were learned by scale degree instead of by note name or by reading
notes on the staff. Students had to mentally picture the correct scale for their instruments
transposition and find the scale degrees to fit the warm-up pattern. The teacher asked students to
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reflect again on their mental processes for this type of music-making and discussed their
responses.
During band camp, students were asked to write about their musical backgrounds
(including strengths and weaknesses), their reason for joining a new pep band, their personal and
collective goals for that school year in band, and their music preferences. This period of
reflection not only gave the director a sense of their musical skills and interests, it portrayed the
groups motivations and mindsets. Motivation and self-efficacy (and for these purposes,
collective efficacy) play a large part in Cognitivism, and these are important for a teacher to
understand about her students for proper lesson planning, performance preparation, and culture
development.
A mindset issue cropped up before the first performance (after the field trip to the football
stadium). When students left the aural familiarity of the band room, they felt smallthey
worried that their National Anthem would be lost on a large crowd and began to have self-doubt,
hesitancy, and embarrassment. They articulated this, and the teacher was able to respond over
the next two weeks with encouragement and practicality. Much of self-efficacy relates to
successful performancesit was helpful that students were able to articulate their thoughts and
feelings so that the director knew to give them more rehearsal time outdoors (Schunk, 2012).
Peer modeling also relates to student self-efficacy (Schunk, 2012). Having a teacher
model raises self efficacy, but a peer model raises it higher. In rehearsal the director would
sometimes ask a player, Would you mind playing that for us? or Can you demonstrate that for
us? Students could not only learn from their peers, but feel motivated by them as well.
Self Regulation is one facet of Cognitivism; it exists when students are given choices
which increase their agency (Schunk, 2012). Due to the bands infancy, the band director made
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opinions about music selection, band identity, performance opportunities, and student leadership
roles for the development of the program. This gave students a greater sense of ownership of
their band and responsibility to their bandmates. This was apparent in their treatment of the
CONSTRUCTIVISM
Cognitive Constructivism
basic principle is that knowledge is constructed, not acquired. This is similar to Cognitivism in
The argument is often made that simply learning by doing is not enough for
constructivist learning to occur. It must go deeper by encouraging the learner to link the
new with the old by using collaborative communities and engaging in questioning and
This is where we come to discover the balance between process and product (Webster, 2011).
Students need the agency (and time) to solve their own musical problemsthis is how they truly
become musicians (Scott, 2006). When students begin correcting their own mistakes, deeper
Flutist, early in the school year: I would love to play bass drum if you ever need
another drummer.
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[Same flutist, day of first basketball game. Bass drummer is absent from performance.]
The flutist was seated in front of the bass drummer during every rehearsal of the school
year; she had learned the bass drum parts to all the cadences by listening and watching. She sat
in on bass drum for all the cadences during the first basketball game performance. Webster
(2011) asks: Can [we] trust students to accept responsibility for their own learning?
The aforementioned bass drummer began building his knowledge of drum line cadences
from the first day of class. He began thinking about the role of each percussion instrument in the
overall sound of the drum line and he paid attention to percussion notation on his parts (which
included the other percussion partsin class he could always see a full score of percussion on
cadences). He sought advice from his director to be able to write a cadence that sounds really
cool. He went home and began writing a drum line cadence of his own; he will teach it to his
Social Constructivism
This is where the band program can blend improving musicianship with developing
identity and culture. Webster (2011) says, Learning is, in large part, a social activity. Social
Constructivism takes the principles of Cognitive Constructivism and puts them in the hands of
ones peers. Communities of practice become the learning source for each student (Scott,
2006); knowledge is made by interacting with others. Webster suggests asking: How am I using
students to teach one another? How do we honor the experiences that students themselves bring
into the classroom? How do I change my thinking of not being center stage as the central focus
of learning?
Pep Talk 10
It is Day One of August band camp; students have packed up their instruments and music
and are scattered across the band room, opening giant cardboard boxes of drum line equipment.
Cardboard, plastic, packing tape, large copper staples, and paper giblets cover the floor.
Excitement is in the air; students partner up and begin putting together drum carriers, attaching
straps to crash cymbals, strapping on percussion instruments and trying them out, figuring it all
Allowing all band students to get their hands on the new percussion equipment not only
taught them about assembling and playing it, but gave them a greater sense of ownership of their
program. Day One of band camp was the day that the flutist and clarinetist felt the draw to the
In the above section on Cognitivism, Webster asks if we can trust our students to take
responsibility for their own learning. Students in this band had two opportunities to run their
own rehearsal when their director had to be absent. Through the teachers use of scaffolding, the
students were able to have a semi-productive first rehearsal and then a very productive second
rehearsal, which included student-run percussion and wind sectionals. Students would report
back to their director after each student-run rehearsal. During the first of these rehearsals,
this, having set their own call time for the performance!
Moments before the first football game, the director returned to the stands to find her
students crowded around a tuner, getting ready for their performance. Students influence each
other to be responsible and ready for a performance. The organization becomes collaborative on
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many fronts, and the teacher can trust that the students will each do their job to make a
successful performance.
Through the teachers facilitation, students engaged in several discussions over the first
two months about the bands identity: A constructivist approach requires teachers to consider
how to achieve greater democracy within their classrooms by moving away from teacher-
centered approaches and encouraging students to lead the decision-making process (Scott,
2006). Students created a name for their ensemble, voted on a shirt and jacket design, discussed
their collective sound goals and their music selection, and made changes as a group to existing
music arrangements.
CONCLUSION
Utilizing the Constructivist theory in the band classroom leads not only to better
However, due to lack of rehearsal time and constant performance deadlines, Behaviorist theory
can be a useful tool in becoming performance ready. Cognitivist theory sits in between the other
two theories and allows us to know more about how our students learn. This reflection proposes
that using a blended method of all three theories can reach all aspects of the band rehearsal and
performance: growing as a unified team, becoming better musicians, and building confidence
REFERENCES
Schunk, D.H. (2012). Behaviorism. Learning theories: An educational perspective (6th ed.)
(pp. 71-116). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Scott, Sheila. (2006). A Constructivist View of Music Education: Perspectives for Deep
Learning. General Music Today, 19(2), 17-21.