"A Band Worth Practicing For:
Supporting Student Autonomy, Mastery and Joy"
Several questions have emerged from reflecting on my own experience with practice. How do my own music students feel about practice? What motivates them to pick up their instruments, and to push themselves to learn challenging music? What makes being in band or orchestra worth practicing for?
Most of all, how can I create a classroom community that supports deliberate practice, mastery, joy?
How do we get students to practice more? How can we create classroom environments and communities that are worth practicing for? These questions led me to study how 7th and 8th grade students experienced practice while working together within the instrumental music ensembles at Pershing Middle School in San Diego California. Through surveys, writing samples, classroom observations and conversations with students, I explored how students experienced the classroom culture and responded to their feedback by building in more opportunities for autonomy, building community and performing for authentic audiences. As a result I saw an increase in student engagement, motivation and practice. These findings highlight the importance of providing students voice and choice in what they play, how they practice and who they perform for. They also suggest ways to engage students in working purposefully towards a goal bigger than themselves. Finally this work speaks to the power of listening to students and thoughtfully responding to what they say.
Action Research
Link to Full Thesis Download
Action Research
Link to Full Thesis Download