The Teacher’s Role in the Self-Regulation of Seven- and Eight-Year-Old Students During a Process of Collective Musical Composition

Abstract

Understanding the nature of the relationship between the teacher’s role and students’ self-regulation helps us to comprehend fundamental aspects of how music teaching and learning take place. The purpose of this research was to analyse the teacher’s functions during a collective musical composition process and to determine which of these contribute to students’ self-regulated learning. The study focused on a stable group of twelve music school students. The research was carried out within the subject of music theory over the course of one full academic year through a teaching and learning experience that integrated listening, singing and composition. More specifically, this study involved an in-depth analysis of two of the four sessions dedicated to collective musical composition by xylophone-type percussion and the students’ own instruments. The data collected included video and audio recordings, transcriptions and the teacher’s fieldnotes. It was then analysed and interpreted according to the principles of grounded theory. The analysis of the students’ interventions during the composition sessions revealed their lines of action, as well as categorising the teacher’s functions within the group. The results show that a guiding teacher’s role stimulates participation, fosters group autonomy and contributes to the activation of students’ self-regulated learning processes.