The Pragmatics of Musical Education in the Primary Schools of Hungary, Romania and Serbia - A Comparative Analysis
Author(s):
Judit Váradi (presenting / submitting) Zoltán Óváry (presenting) Fruzsina Szabó Gergo Csorba
Conference:
ECER 2016
Network:
29. Research on Arts Education
Format:
Paper

Session Information

29 SES 03, Case Studies in Music Education

Paper Session

Time:
2016-08-23
17:15-18:45
Room:
NM- J114
Chair:
João Costa

Contribution

Our research focuses on the pragmatic issues of teaching music in our age. It is put in an international perspective and aims to discuss the ways formal musical education can be complemented with innovative modes of concert pedagogy. In addition, we have also studied and compared curricular and extracurricular methods as well as non-formal models of musical education. We have paid special attention to the effect of how family background and the cultural capital originating from it (Bourdieu, 1978) influence children’s attitude towards cultural values. The study is part of an international research, the aim of which is to examine lesser known aspects of musical education in three Central European countries (Hungary, Romania and Serbia) together with the factors affecting the musical culture of the pupils and the methods of how listening to music can be developed. The study also deals with the educational systems and curricula of the participating countries. The importance of introducing children to music is emphasized; live musical performances and various extracurricular cultural events are also given special consideration in this respect. We are also concerned with studying habits of listening to music from the point of view of education, making the issue of children becoming active music listeners a point of significance as well. On the other hand, we also look into the question of how merely passive habits of listening to music can be developed into an adequate cultural attitude. In Hungary the fundamental concept of school-based musical education was laid down by Zoltán Kodály, as his philosophy of music pedagogy was of utmost importance from nursery schools to teaching music to future professionals. “What should be done? Singing and music should be taught in school not as a torture for students but as a joy, injecting a noble musical thirst for a lifetime". (Kodály 1982: 207).Following Kodály’s principles both Hungarian and international research deal with the beneficial effects of musical education on general intellectual development, which has been pointed out by several transfer-studies (Kokas 1972, Bácskai, Manchin, Sági, Vitányi 1972, Barkóczi, Pléh 1978, Hodges 2000) with regard to other disciplines, skills and abilities. The Seachore-test was employed by Laczó (1978-1979) to measure musical abilities. The role of the musical abilities in school efficiency was studied by Knappek (2002) and Janurik (2008). The examination of the primary school pupils’ attitudes towards classical music made it clear that those who had more opportunities to learn music would understand classical music sooner (Roulston 2006, Guth 2006, Janurik, Pethő 2009, Schmidt 2012). The transfer-effect of advanced musical education clearly evens out the differences deriving from the inequalities of cultural capital, helping to remove social and cultural barriers (Harris, 1996). The internet and other means of mass communication make music available in a limitless amount and quality, so the listener also becomes a consumer (Baudrillard, 1998; Stachó 2008). Modern researchers focus on the study of attitudes towards music, the factors influencing musical taste and the creation of a system of musical values (Wheeler 1985, Dohány 2010, Hausmann 2013). Relevant scholarship and earlier studies (Mende, Neuwöhner 2006) have shown that if children and youngsters are frequently exposed to classical music together with other positive values, it will contribute to the development of their competence in classical music. In a previous study we set the aim to examine the influence of modern information technology and the internet on the habits of pupils of the junior sections of primary schools attending cultural events (Váradi 2010).

Method

Our research group set out to formulate various hypotheses. This was followed by creating a questionnaire, collecting data analysing them. Three hypotheses were set up: • H1: Children of parents with a higher cultural capital are expected to show a more vivid interest in classical music and in other cultural events; • H2: Even if of the countries participating in the research have different educational systems, their pedagogical and methodological practice of musical education displays similarities; •H3: Although to a different extent, extracurricular education as an experience-based pedagogical factor is present in the everyday teaching practice of the examined countries. After an overview of relevant special literature, we started empirical research by employing our own questionnaire. The study covered three countries: Hungary, Romania and Serbia. We prepared two questionnaires that were similar in content but their language was adjusted to the age-groups involved The teachers and pupils were asked 40 and 44 questions respectively. The majority of the questions were multiple-choice, however there were also a few open ones. In closed questions we used 2-6 variants. Because of the international character of the research precise translations of the questionnaire were also needed in order to to reduce the distortion of its content, which could have caused the misunderstanding, and, eventually, the misinterpretation of the concepts. The research focused on school pupils aged between 8 and 12. This age-group already has acces to art education, it can learn the fundamental notions of music, can study instruments and the basics of reading sheet music as well as classical pieces. Their questionnaire focused on the pupils' family backgrounds and financial situations, also inquiring about their habits of and attitudes to learning music, interests in attending other cultural events as well as about the quality of their relationships. The questionnaire for the teachers was prepared for the teachers of the pupils involved in the research. They were asked about their qualifications, their everyday work at school and their and the school's relationship to musical pedagogy. At the present stage of the research, we collect the data and evaluating them continuously. We expect a feedback from about 400 persons. The questionnaire can provide sufficient data for a more extensive research, in which the effects of musical pedagogy, especially its extracurricular aspect, on everyday life and social relationships can be studied in various dimensions.

Expected Outcomes

In the course of our research we plan to examine the role of different social backgrounds in children’s cultural activities and hope to explore the correlation between the cultural capital of parents and the interest of children in classical music. It can be expected in families with a higher culturalcapital there will have be children with a higher level of cultural interest. Another important aspect of our study consists in the international comparison, i.e. the description of existing differences and similarities in the musical pedagogy of the countries concerned. We explore whether there are any differences between the countries regarding pupils cultural interest, furthermore if it displays any correlation between the music pedagogical methodology of the curricular and extracurricular music education of the participant countries. The third issue to be examined in detail is the relationship between formal and non-formal education. Furthermore an answer is sought to the question of how extracurricular education such as experience pedagogy can become part of the everyday pedagogical work of schools. We also take a look at the effectiveness, possibilities and problems of teachers and artistic music education to add to the success of training music educators, with special emphasis on concert pedagogy that clearly contribute to develop higher emotional intelligence and to educate more empathic youth.

References

Bácskai, E., Manchin, R., Sági, M. & Vitányi, I. (1972). Ének-zenei iskolába jártak. Budapest: Zeneműkiadó. Barkóczi, I. & Pléh, Cs. (1978). Kodály zenei nevelési módszerének pszichológiai hatásvizsgálata. Kecskemét: Kodály Zoltán Zenepedagógiai Intézet. Baudrillard, J. (1998). The Consumer Society. Myths and Structures. Sage Publications, London. Bourdieu, P.(1978). The reproduction of social inequality. Budapest. Gondolat. Campbell, P.S. (2005). Deep Listening to the Musical World. Music Educators Journal, 92 (1) 30-37. Dohány, G. (2012). Assessment of music literacy among secondary students In: Dombi Józsefné, Maczelka Noémi (szerk.) Liszt-Mahler tanulmánykötet. Szeged, SZTE JGYPK Művészeti Intézet Ének-zene Tanszék, 21-129. Guth, P.(2006). The Importance of Music Education Retrieves from: http://education.more4kids.info/23/the-importance-of-music-education/ Hausmann Kóródy, A. (2013): A középiskolások zenei ízlése. PedActa, 3. 2. 1-12. Harris, C. E. (1996). Technology, Rationalities, and Experience in School Music Policy. Arts Education Policy Review, 97(6), 23-32. Hodges, D. A. (2000). Implications of Music and Brain Research. Music Educators Journal, 87(2), 17–22. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3399643 Janurik, M. (2008). A zenei képességek szerepe az olvasás elsajátításában. Magyar Pedagógia,(108)4. 295-320. Knappek, R. (2002): The effects of the intensive music education for the general and individual development of children. In: Hang és lélek. Budapest: Magyar Zenei Tanács, 95-108. Kodály, Z. (1982). Visszatekintés. Budapest, Zeneműkiadó Kokas, K. (1972). Képességfejlesztés zenei neveléssel. Budapest, Zeneműkiadó. Laczó, Zoltán (2002). Zenepedagógia és társadalom. In: Hang és Lélek. Budapest, Magyar Zenei Tanács. Mende, A. and Neuwöhner, U. (2006). Wer hört heute klassische Musik? – Musiksozialisation, E-Musik-Nutzung und E-Musik-Kompetenz. in: Das Orchester Magazin. Mainz, Schott Vol. 54. 12. 10-14. Pethő, V., Janurik, M.(2009). Waldorf iskolába járó és általános tantervű tanulók klasszikus zenéhez fűződő attitűdjének összehasonlító elemzése. Iskolakultúra. Online, 1, 24-41. Retrieved from: http://www.iskolakultura.hu/iol/iol_2009_24-41.pdf Roulston, K.(2006). Qualitative Investigation of Young Children's Music Preferences International Journal of Education & the Arts, 7. 9. 12. Schmidt, P. (2012). What We Hear Is Meaning Too. Philosophy of Music Education Review, 20. 1. 3-24. Stachó, L. (2008). Ének, öröm és haszon a Kodály- módszerben. Parlando, (50)2. 21-28. Váradi, J. (2010). How to educate an audience to acquire a taste for classical music. Academic dissertation PhD, Jyväskylä. Retrieved from: https://jyx.jyu.fi/dspace/bitstream/handle/123456789/24968 9789513938987.pdf?sequence=1 Wheeler, B. L. (1985). Relationship of Personal Charateristics to Mood and Enjoyment after Hearing Live and Recorded Music and to Musical Taste. Psychology of Music. 13. 2. 81-92.

Author Information

Judit Váradi (presenting / submitting)
University of Debrecen
Faculty of Music
Debrecen
Zoltán Óváry (presenting)
University of Debrecen
Doctoral School of Humanities
Debrecen
Fruzsina Szabó
University of Debrecen, Hungary
Gergo Csorba
University of Debrecen
Debrecen

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