FöRFATTARE
Stenbäck, Helena

DATUM
2001-05-03

INSTITUTION
Musikhögskolan

SAMMANFATTNING
The purpose of this study is to analyse how the learning experience is perceived by teachers and students in a choir. Two choirs were included in the study: one at the upper secondary school level and one at a college preparatory level [folkhögskola]. Participation in a choir is mandatory at both institutions.

The study takes a socio-cultural perspective on learning through the concepts of school code, hidden curriculum, and educational code. The data used in the study was collected mainly through interviews. Ten individuals were interviewed: four students from each choir and the two conductors. Prior knowledge and experience of choral singing naturally varies among the students, leading the researcher to anticipate pedagogical consequences.

The study presents three major conclusions. First, those students with more experience came to form the core of the choir and the less experienced students then imitated them. Each student, depending on experience and personal interest, determines his or her own level of learning, from imitating, or simply following other singers, to learning other harmonies, imagining playing the arrangement on his or her own instrument, or analysing the entire musical arrangement aesthetically.

Second, the conductor focuses mainly on the activity of choral singing, rather than the process of learning and socialization. In the hidden curriculum there are important limitations that impede the teacher's ability to fully carry out his or her teaching goals, such as time limits, room availability, and having to compete with other classes in the students' curricula. In particular, the principal instrument, often dominate the student's schedule, leaving less time for choral rehearsals.

Third, the teachers' and students' understandings of what learning in a choir could or should be, influence their view of choir practice at school. The concluding remarks raise the question whether or not the various classes on a student's curriculum interact to form a unified structure of learning.

ISSN 1402-1757 / ISRN LTU-LIC--01/22--SE / NR 2001:22