ISME 26: Student Perspectives on Learner-Centered Large Ensembles

Welcome!

This is a landing page for Ryan Dieffenderfer’s & Evan Tobias’s (2026) Paper Presentation “Student Perspectives on A Learner-Centered Approach to Large Ensembles” ISME Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

United States-based K-12 large ensembles (i.e. band, orchestra) are typically director-led where a music teacher chooses and studies the music for students to perform and rehearses the music with a goal of students learning through improving their performance (Allsup, 2003). The Curious, Collaborative, Creativity (CCC) Model expands from this director-centered ensemble structure to a learner-centered approach by having student musicians choose and analyze repertoire, plan and promote the concert, and facilitate ensemble rehearsals (Collins, 2014; Gilbert, 2016, Collins & Gilbert, 2016). The purpose of this qualitative single embedded case study (Yin, 2018) is to understand high school students’ experiences with and perspectives on the CCC model.

More specifically, this study addresses the following research questions:

  1. How did high school band and orchestra students experience being involved in an ensemble facilitated with a CCC Model?
  2. What are high school band and orchestra students’ perspectives on participating in a CCC Model ensemble?

Ryan implemented the CCC model for an eight-week concert cycle with their high school’s band and orchestra, generating data in the form of ongoing journal entries and through: 1) a survey; 2) individual participant video responses to prompts; and 3) a focus group interview at the end of the rehearsal cycle after the concert. Ryan engaged in an initial round of individual inductive and thematic analysis of data (Bhattacharya, 2017; Saldaña, 2021) and iterative collaborative analysis with Evan.

We learned that students’ experiences and perspectives aligned with learner-centered and democratic approaches to education (Allsup & Benedict, 2008; DeLorenzo, 2003; Lee and Hannafin, 2016; Whitener, 2016). Participants enjoyed participating in the CCC approach to ensembles and found engaging with student conductors to be positive. They appreciated seeing their peers take on leadership roles and valued their peers’ varied perspectives that they otherwise may not have experienced. Those who rehearsed the ensemble valued having a degree of control and the increased independence in making musical decisions and crafting musical interpretations. Participants felt that they grew as musicians, including learning how to study a score and select music. Overall, participants appreciated having a stronger voice, more input, and greater levels of freedom. Though particular to this case, the study invites music educators to consider the CCC model as an approach to facilitating learner-centered ensembles and involving students collaboratively in large ensemble settings.

CCC Model

Engage with this page for information on the CCC Model (Collins, 2017) or click the card below:

CCC Model

Works Cited

The scholarship referenced below often overlaps in terms of the three main areas that inform and relate to our study but are organized as follows for the purposes of our presentation:

Student Agency & Democratic Teaching

  • Allsup, R. E. (2003). Mutual learning and democratic action in instrumental music education. Journal of Research in Music Education, 51(1), 24–37. https://doi.org/10.2307/3345646
  • Allsup, R. E., & Benedict, C. (2008). The problems of band: An inquiry into the future of instrumental music education. Philosophy of Music Education Review, 156-173. 
  • Bylica, K. (2024). Coming into presence: The challenges and possibilities of democratic music education. In J. L. Aróstegui, C. Christophersen, J. Nichols, & K. Matsunobu (Eds.), The Sage handbook of school music education (pp. 144–157). Sage Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529674842.n12
  • Cahill, H., & Dadvand, B. (2018). Re-conceptualising youth participation: A framework to inform action. Children and Youth Services Review, 95, 243–253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.11.001
  • DeLorenzo, L. C. (2003). Teaching music as democratic practice. Music Educators Journal, 90(2), 35-40. https://doi.org/10.2307/3399932
  • Dockan, D. (2024). Democratic practices in the elementary music classroom. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 242, 55–74. https://doi.org/10.5406/21627223.242.03
  • Karlsen, S., & Westerlund, H. (2010). Immigrant students’ development of musical agency – exploring democracy in music education. British Journal of Music Education, 27(3), 225–239. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0265051710000203
  • Whitener, J. L. (2016). Using the elements of cooperative learning in school band classes in the United States. International Journal of Music Education, 34(2), 219-233. https://doi.org/10.1177/0255761414541865 
  • Wiggins, J. (2016). Teaching music with a social constructivist vision of learning. In C. R. Abril & B. M. Gault (Eds.), Teaching general music: Approaches, issues, and viewpoints (pp. 49–72). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199328093.003.0004
  • Wilson, E. (2022). ‘It’s music and we came to play instruments’: Teaching for engagement in classroom music. Music Education Research, 24(4), 455–466. https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2022.2080811
  • Wood, D., & Deprez, L. S. (2012). Teaching for human well-being: Curricular implications for the capability approach. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 13(3), 471–493. https://doi.org/10.1080/19452829.2012.679651

Musical Independence

  • Kambs, B. M. (2024). In search of musical independence: A critical realist exploration of teacher decision making and learner processes in high school choir classrooms [Doctoral dissertation, Michigan State University].
  • Shieh, E., & Allsup, R. E. (2016). Fostering musical independence. Music Educators Journal, 102(4), 30–35. https://doi.org/10.1177/0027432116645841
  • Weidner, B. N. (2015). Developing musical independence in a high school band. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 205, 71–86. https://doi.org/10.5406/bulcouresmusedu.205.0071
  • Weidner, B. N. (2018). Achieving greater musical independence in ensembles through cognitive apprenticeship. Music Educators Journal, 104(3), 26–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/0027432117746217
  • Weidner, B. N. (2020). A grounded theory of musical independence in the concert band. Journal of Research in Music Education, 68(1), 53–77. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022429419897616

Learner-Centered Ensembles

  • Ackles, B. O. (2018). Agile development instructional framework (ADIF) A New Strategy for Student-Centered Music Education. The Choral Journal, 59(2), 22-36. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26600208
  • Goodrich, A. (2022). Peer mentoring in music education: Developing effective student leadership (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003243618
  • Haning, M. (2021). “I didn’t know I could do that!” Student and teacher perceptions of an independent choral music learning project. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 39(2), 15–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/8755123320961083
  • Hedgecoth, D. M. (2018). Student perspectives and learning outcomes from self-guided ensemble rehearsal. Research & Issues in Music Education, 14(1), Article 5. https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/rime/vol14/iss1/5/
  • Hopkins, M. T. (2013). A descriptive case study of two veteran string teachers’ perceptions of including composing in middle school orchestra. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 196, 25–44. https://doi.org/10.5406/bulcouresmusedu.196.0025
  • Hopkins, M. (2015). Collaborative composing in high school string chamber music ensembles. Journal of Research in Music Education, 62(4), 405–424. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022429414555135
  • Louth, J. P. (2022). Student-centered teaching and the large ensemble: Educators’ perceptions and concerns. Contributions to Music Education, 47, 61–80. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/27169755
  • Raiber, M. (2019). The leader of the band: Exploring a framework for music learning as youth development. In Music learning as youth development (1st ed., pp. 129–147). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429436956-8
  • Scherer, A. D. (2021). High school band directors’ perceptions and applications of democratic rehearsal procedures in concert band rehearsals. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 39(3), 47–55. https://doi.org/10.1177/8755123321989299
  • Scherer, A. D. (2023). Collegiate musicians’ experiences with democratic rehearsal procedures. International Journal of Music Education, 41(3), 371–382. https://doi.org/10.1177/02557614221108472
  • Williams, D. A. (2024). Reimagining music education. In Points of disruption in the music education curriculum, Volume 2 (1st ed., Vol. 1, pp. 107–122). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003410669-7

Research Design & Approach

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