Session Information
01 SES 11 C, Research on Collaborative Practices
Paper Session
Contribution
Abstract
Building on earlier research that focused on the undergraduate experience, this paper presents the primary teacher perspective on an interdisciplinary music and physics educational outreach program called Quavers to Quadratics.
This popular program, now in its eighth year, involves pairs of undergraduate music and physics students, (interdisciplinary co-facilitators) creating and presenting a pioneering initiative for 4th – 6th class primary school children and their teachers. The program aims to playfully explore via co-teaching, concepts common to music and physics including pitch and frequency; dynamics and amplitude; tempo and velocity.
Co-teaching is an approach to teaching and learning encompassing the knowledge and skills of two or more ‘experts’ committed to teaching together and at the same time learning from each other. In this program, undergraduate students from the two faculties of music and physics [Music Education at Trinity College Dublin and Physics at University College Dublin] form interdisciplinary pairs of co-facilitators. Primary teachers participating in the program are invited to co-teach with the co-facilitators. Fidelity to the co-teaching model dictates that teachers and co-facilitators meet on three occasions. Co-facilitators visit the school classroom to meet the children and to co-plan with the teacher in advance of the children’s visit to the National Concert Hall, the location of four interdisciplinary workshops, seeing sound, hearing sound, feeling sound, and creating sound. On the day of the visit to the National Concert Hall, the teacher, and co-facilitators lead the children in their exploration of the concepts common to the two disciplines in an informal playful co-teaching pedagogical style. Later the children create their own instruments with recyclable materials. Co-reflection, the final part of the program involves co-facilitators visiting the classroom once again and co-reflecting on the experience with children and teacher. The Quavers to Quadratics program which is funded by Science Foundation Ireland has been rolled out across Ireland, including in Gaeltacht [Irish speaking] areas.
Method
Methodology: Following ethical approval from Trinity College Dublin, thirty online semi-structured interviews were conducted with participant teachers after the most current iteration of the program was completed. Following a preliminary analytical cycle, two participant-teacher focus groups were convened to further explore the initial themes identified. A subsequent analytical cycle produced the current findings.
Expected Outcomes
Findings: Although many participant-teachers revealed an interest in both music and physics as a consequence of the program, most admitted to formerly feeling challenged teaching these subjects to senior students in primary school. Findings reveal that teachers hold the program in high esteem with all participants indicating that they would seek to participate in further iterations in the future. Many teacher participants recommended that the program run at the start of each of the three school semesters so that teachers in the classroom could continue to build on the learning experienced via the program. An additional recommendation involved resource packs to help teachers extend the learning. All teachers commented positively on the expertise and communication style of the undergraduate facilitator dyads. Almost all teacher participants referred to the benefits of interdisciplinary co-teaching as professional development for teachers, claiming that the initiative served as a strong impetus for continuing music and physics in the classroom. All spoke positively about the informal pedagogical style citing consistently high levels of pupil engagement throughout the program. Some teachers reported that seeing their students participate in the program gave them a fresh perspective on pupil interests and capabilities. However, many participant-teachers were unhappy with the preparation allocated for co-teaching. While this was conducted via an online introductory workshop, teachers found it hard to find the time to participate. Lack of familiarity with the model impeded their levels of participation initially. Conclusion: This paper challenges the conventional primary teacher professional development model which takes place for the most part outside of school during the summer holidays. Emergent findings are interesting in the context of situated learning as an alternative, viable, and valued professional development model for teachers.
References
References Kerin, M., & Murphy, C. (2015). Exploring the impact of coteaching on pre-service music teachers. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 43(4), 309-323. Kerin, M., & Murphy, C. (2018). Equal Temperament: Coteaching as a Mechanism for Musician–Teacher Collaboration. In Musician–Teacher Collaborations (pp. 217-230). Routledge. Nilsson, M. H. Z., & Kerin, M. (2022). Interdisciplinary co-teaching in higher education: Comparing results from music-drama and music-physics partnerships in Sweden and Ireland. Nordic Research in Music Education, 3, 75-91. Scantlebury, K. (2010). Coteaching in international contexts. K. S. C. Murphy (Ed.). Springer Netherlands.
Search the ECER Programme
- Search for keywords and phrases in "Text Search"
- Restrict in which part of the abstracts to search in "Where to search"
- Search for authors and in the respective field.
- For planning your conference attendance you may want to use the conference app, which will be issued some weeks before the conference
- If you are a session chair, best look up your chairing duties in the conference system (Conftool) or the app.