Informal learning practices in the teaching and music making of music teachers

This poster was presented at the 2015 SMTE National Symposium in Greensboro, NC

Informal learning is often seen as having a lack of direction and is characteristically not outcome driven. Although goals and outcomes may not be clearly defined, the benefits of this type of learning are clearly described by several researchers. An important delineation to make is the difference between learning settings for informal and formal music making. Often, informal music making takes place in the form of musical sessions, and participants are engaged in a social music activity. Through this engagement, participants are actively defining a musical self as well as creating an important “social network of like-minded people” (Waldron and Veblen, 2009, p. 66).

Professionally I have yearned to understand the importance of informal music making and its impact on classroom instruction. I wanted to know if my previous teaching activities were appropriate and what I can do to increase the value of those experiences in my future teaching. My goal is to bring clarity and understanding to these emerging concerns in the field of music education. In conducting research in the understanding of informal music practices, a large portion of research has been done in observing and describing the practices seen in informal musical sessions.

Important aspects of informal music learning as described above are regularly observed in these settings. What hasn’t been observed is the participation of trained music educators in these settings. Having had formal music training and understanding, how they interact with this process can be of great interest to other music education professionals. Similarly, research has been conducted in observing how students learn informally without teacher interaction. This model can be useful to serve as an outline for periodical musical experiences, but highlights a diminished importance of teacher driven education.

What has not been looked at in depth is how teachers can be participants in the informal music making along with their students. Case study research of specific teacher’s activities is limited and a broader understanding of these teacher’s backgrounds could be beneficial. Other educators need to know why such teachers are interested in informal learning and what allows them to feel comfortable in this style of instruction. With greater understanding of individual experiences and personal practices, there may be a way to design further instructional practices to include informal learning in the formal music classroom.