Group cooperation, inclusion and disaffected pupils: some responses to informal learning in the music classroom



Written version of RIME paper (GCID) for MER, Exeter 2007

19


-Ian: Yeah, but you could have Bob come in, and then we could come in on
the guitars.

-Tyler: What do you mean, like walking in on the guitar?

-Ian: Yeah.

-Tyler: I could just be going (plays a rhythm).

-Ian: Yeah, Tyler will start doing that and then Bob can-

-Bob: No!

-Tyler: No, I’m not on about that. When we start the performance-

-Ian: Yeah, that’s what I mean. You can start, and then Bob can come in and
then I’ll walk in.

-Tyler: I could go (starts playing drum rhythm, Bob starts playing piano part).
And then I’ll press play, and we can all go (plays drums).

A keyboard and guitar are also being played. All come to a stop.

-Tyler: Did you hear that? No, shush, listen.

He plays loud and fast on the drums. Inaudible comments from others.
Tyler finishes with a cymbal crash.

-Chris: That’s wicked!

-Tyler: Bloody ‘ell that kills your arms, like (plays loud again).

Instruments being played; some vocalisations.

-Tyler: Stop a minute. I’ve had a phat idea, yeah. I could be going like that,
(plays again) and then Jack just walks in, sits down onto his piano or whatever
he’s playing, and I could go, and when Jack sits down I could go, I could go
(plays again at some length), and then you come in,
skid on your knees and go
BOOOOWWWE!

Notice the role of imaginative play here concerning the music’s extra-musical,
cultural connotations, or what I elsewhere call delineations: the planned dramatic
entry into the room; the skidding on the knees, and so on. A similar attention to
delineations as part of stage presentation occurred in a group of girls, who were
incidentally designated as the ‘lowest ability in the class’. They were doing the song
‘It’s Raining Men’, and spent time cutting out little paper men and searching for some
umbrellas to use in the performance. Pupils in some other groups were keen to dance
as a part of their music-making. All these approaches invoke cultural practices,
meanings and values which lie beyond the music’s sonic properties and their



More intriguing information

1. Activation of s28-dependent transcription in Escherichia coli by the cyclic AMP receptor protein requires an unusual promoter organization
2. The name is absent
3. The name is absent
4. Magnetic Resonance Imaging in patients with ICDs and Pacemakers
5. Plasmid-Encoded Multidrug Resistance of Salmonella typhi and some Enteric Bacteria in and around Kolkata, India: A Preliminary Study
6. The name is absent
7. Neighborhood Effects, Public Housing and Unemployment in France
8. The name is absent
9. The name is absent
10. The use of formal education in Denmark 1980-1992
11. The name is absent
12. The name is absent
13. Impact of Ethanol Production on U.S. and Regional Gasoline Prices and On the Profitability of U.S. Oil Refinery Industry
14. TOWARDS THE ZERO ACCIDENT GOAL: ASSISTING THE FIRST OFFICER MONITOR AND CHALLENGE CAPTAIN ERRORS
15. The name is absent
16. Ein pragmatisierter Kalkul des naturlichen Schlieβens nebst Metatheorie
17. Shifting Identities and Blurring Boundaries: The Emergence of Third Space Professionals in UK Higher Education
18. Corporate Taxation and Multinational Activity
19. Financial Markets and International Risk Sharing
20. FASTER TRAINING IN NONLINEAR ICA USING MISEP