As part of our learning process with #LiquidWeber, we are researching our process and project.
In November 2022 we presented some initial aspects of what we are learning from our research at the NAfME National Conference in a presentation titled: #LiquidWeber: Liberating classical music engagement through transmedia production and project-based learning. Here is the abstract of our presentation:
Abstract:
K-12 music education ensembles and professional orchestras often focus on a linear trajectory of rehearsing music for presentational performance to audiences (Turino, 2008). We can acknowledge how this approach to music engagement and learning is positive while also understanding this trajectory as a closed form (Allsup, 2016). Few people outside of an ensemble, experience what occurs prior to a public performance. Additionally, the ways that ensemble members engage with the music might be limited in scope. We, a music teacher educator and a professional orchestral musician, wonder how this could be otherwise (Greene, 1995). What if this process was more fluid? Embracing brown’s (2017) call to engage in “collaborative ideation,” we consider her question: “what are the ideas that will liberate all of us?” This study explores possibilities of engaging with “classical music” and one another in ways that are liberated from constraints of closed and inequitable systems of large ensemble performance.
To re-imagine how classical musicians might engage with the public and how people might engage with classical music in more open, participatory, and equitable ways (Allsup, 2016), the purpose of this study is to 1) design a transmedia production (Dena, 2009; Jenkins et al., 2009; Tobias, 2015) titled #LiquidWeber that invites people to engage with classical music in multiple participatory ways before, during, and after Alex Laing’s performance of the Weber Clarinet Concerto # 1; 2) situate #LiquidWeber as project-based learning in the “real world” in which both researchers learn individually and collaboratively *through* designing and facilitating #LiquidWeber (Larmer et al., 2015; Tobias, Campbell, Greco, 2015); and 3) understand the processes and potential of designing and facilitating participatory Transmedia productions. Throughout this study we design 1) to create contexts for music engagement and learning, 2) as inquiry and research, and 3) “for speculating how things could be” (Pendleton-Jullian & Brown, 2018).
We will address the following research question:
1) What do we learn from co-designing and co-facilitating a transmedia production that opens processes of preparing the Weber Clarinet Concerto #1 to participatory music engagement and learning with music educators, students, and the public?
We “answer” this research question through design-based research (Anderson & Shattuck, 2012; DBR, 2003) in which 1) the design of Transmedia for participatory engagement and learning and theories of learning are intertwined; 2) development and research are continuous and iterative; 3) we account for “how designs function in authentic settings” and interactions that refine our understanding of related learning issues; and 4) we document and connect our design and processes to “outcomes of interest” (DBR, 2003, p. 5). Our research involves generating and analyzing data including: conversations involving planning and reflection; audio/video recordings and examples of people engaging with #LiquidWeber; text and video journals (Vlogs), iterative designs; and related social media posts.
References
(Books are affiliate links)
Allsup, R. E. (2016). Remixing the classroom: Toward an open philosophy of music education. Indiana University Press.
Anderson, T., & Shattuck, J. (2012). Design-based research: A decade of progress in education research? Educational Researcher, 41(1), 16-25.
brown, a. m. (2017). Emergent strategy: Shaping change, changing worlds. AK Press.
Dena, C. (2009). Transmedia practice: Theorising the practice of expressing a fictional world across distinct media and environments University of Sydney]. Sydney, Australia.
DBR Collective (2003) Design-based research: An emerging paradigm for educational inquiry. Educational Researcher, 32(1), 5-8.
Greene, M. (1995). Releasing the imagination: Essays on education, the arts, and social change. Jossey-Bass
Jenkins, H., Purushotma, R., Weigel, M., Clinton, K., & Robison, A. J. (2009). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. MIT Press.
Larmer, J., Mergendoller, J., & Boss, S. (2015). Setting the standard for project based learning. ASCD.
Pendleton-Jullian, A. M., & Brown, J. S. (2018). Design Unbound: Designing for Emergence in a White Water World (Vol. 1). MIT Press.
Tobias, E. S. (2015). Inter/trans/cross/new media(ting): Navigating an emerging landscape of digital media for music education. In C. Randles (Ed.), Music education: Navigating the future (pp. 91-121). Routledge.
Tobias, E. S., Campbell, M. R., & Greco, P. (2015). Bringing curriculum to life: Enacting project-based learning in music programs. Music Educators Journal, 102(2), 39-47.
Turino, T. (2008). Music as social life: The politics of participation. The University of Chicago Press.
Continuing the Dialogue @ ASU
On November 22nd Alex and I will continue the dialogue around #LiquidWeber by sharing our presentation and facilitating conversation around some of the themes we address in our research and project.
Inspirations & Frameworks
To inspire this work and to make meaning of what we are doing, experiencing, and learning we draw upon several theories, concepts, and frameworks. During our ongoing meetings, we often share thoughts and perspectives related to these theories, concepts and frameworks. For instance, I (Evan) drew from many of the references that appear in the abstract above for guiding principles to inform the participatory aspects of the project as well as prior projects and research such as prototypes of transmedia concert engagement from ASU classes and other participatory events he co-designed and curated. Alex drew upon his own experiences and thinking around what does and does not happen in a concert hall and the ideas of open-kitchen orchestras and nose-to-tail musical processes. In other cases we discussed the extent to which many of these theories provided insight into our project work. These included but were not limited to ideas such as:
- participatory culture
- transmedia production and transmedia navigation
- iterative design
- design unbound
- emergence
- open form and open encounters
- project-based learning
- open-kitchen orchestras
- nose-to-tail processes
More recently Alex came across the work of C Thi Nguyen on this podcast with Ezra Klein and the concept of process aesthetics.
We are currently thinking through the idea of process aesthetics, how it might relate to #LiquidWeber, and how it might have impact on our iterative design of this project and how we engage with others.
An Invitation and Provocation
We invite you to read Nguyen’s article The Arts of Action and consider possible connections to #Liquidweber and your own processes and projects.
How might the ideas that C The Nguyen shares in this article relate to:
- . . . our project and presentation?
- . . . your own musical engagement?
- . . . your facilitation of people’s musical engagement and learning?
- . . . the music programs you have experienced or the music programs you facilitate as a music educator?
- . . students’ experiences as musicians?