What we set out to do
The LearningLAB program was developed to reduce the stress of students by helping them to manage their time and energy better and to help them to enjoy their learning process, enhance their intrinsic motivation and their wellbeing, and give them knowledge about how learning works. Given that every learner is unique – they can begin to notice how their learning works. Students – even at a young age – are very aware of the need to reach expectations and goals and can lose the enjoyment of the process itself and the joy of music-making.
Philosophy and vision
The LearningLAB project addresses how to help a young musician to learn well, to reduce stress and to enhance enjoyment of the learning process. This requires an approach that is holistic, student-centred, and that provides information and tools to experience music-making in an explorative way. Learning can be experienced as a never-ending spiral involving making intentions, having high quality attention and being able to reflect on one’s process. The programs’ main principles are explained in more detail below.
A holistic approach. A student is firstly a person and needs to be seen and treated as such and taught to notice and look after how fit they are for learning: physically, mentally and psychologically. They need to be aware of how things like sleep, nutrition, physical fitness, dealing with stress and having free time and good connections with others has an impact on their learning as well as their wellbeing.
Student-centred and autonomous learning. Even at a young age, children can have and be taught how to have agency over their learning: through enhancing intrinsic motivation and offering choices both in the content and the way they learn. Students need structures for learning that are both robust and flexible enough to support as well as encourage choices and experimentation.
Explorative learning. Exploring music-making by getting to know one’s repertoire, instrument and self is a better approach than focussing only on solving problems and avoiding mistakes. Students can learn to enjoy the process and not only the results.
A Spiral of Learning. The learning process can be described as a spiral of learning, involving intention, attention and reflection. This concept is central to the LearningLAB. After each revolution of the spiral, the learner gets better and better at learning. Experiencing this in a conscious way can lead to becoming more process oriented and less fixated only on results. Practice and playing become in themselves, the goal.
Teaching teams: Collective Teacher Efficacy. The program aims at enhancing collective teacher efficacy through teaching collaboration and expertise sharing of the specialists at the YoungKC. Through the learningLAB folder, online environments, meetings, and expertise sharing, the teacher and student community of the school share knowledge and learn and grow together. Making the evolution of the program a natural process.
Some Theoretical sources
The main theories, knowledge and concepts supporting the approach and content of the LearningLAB include: self-determination (Deci & Ryan), which discusses types and causes of motivation; self-theories (Dweck), that explain the importance of a growth mindset; self-efficacy (Bandura, McPherson), underlying the importance of having a belief in the ability to learn and grow; motor learning theories (Masters, Wulf & Lewthwaite) that reveal the intrinsic nature of learning complex movements, and self-regulated learning (McPherson & Zimmermann) outlining the role and importance of self-regulation in the development of a musician. The theories based on efficacy (Bandura) we used to enhance expertise sharing and cooperative teaching within the LearningLAB program are Collective efficacy (Donohoo) and Collective student efficacy (Hattie, Fisher, Frey and Clarke).
Much of the content was drawn from research by Susan Williams:
Finding Focus (doctoral research about attentional focus):
https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/497578/497694
Imagine (Mental Training for Musicians):
https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/714237/714238
SRL: Enhancing Self-regulated Learning for Musicians:
https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/988442/988443
PODS: Peer Learning for Musicians
https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/1162648/1162649
Content of the program
The abovementioned themes and theories have been investigated in detail and adapted for the use within the Royal Conservatoire over the last 15 years by musician, pedagogue and researcher Susan Williams.
The evolution of Performance Science within the KC
The content and applications used in the LearningLAB are based largely in the work that Susan Williams has done in the last 15 years, mostly in the context of providing students and staff in the KC with information and tools to enhance musical learning. Her research over the last 20 years draws from current knowledge from the performance sciences (pedagogy, movement sciences, psychology and neuroscience). This work started in 2009 with designing courses about practicing and performance preparation for bachelor students. This led to doctoral work on the topic of attentional focus for musicians’ learning and performance. During the doctoral study, Susan wrote the book Quality Practice which has since been popular throughout the world. She designed a reflective journal – NOTES – for students to document their practice and performances. In 2021 Susan was asked to help develop a tutor toolbox to provide material for the tutoring program. Further courses that were developed include the master electives The Science & Psychology of Music Performance and Performance Training, as well as a module for the Musician-Educator program about peer-learning.
The intranet platform Your Health and Practice was developed by Susan, Marijn Abbink (education and curriculum) and Elke de Roos (student counsellor) to collect and disseminate information including the applications from the programs mentioned above, as well as provide and advertise activities on topics relevant to musicians’ health, wellbeing and practice.
The tutor toolbox that was developed since 2021 contains information and applications that can help students with their learning, their self-regulation and their ability to reflect on their process and become reflective, autonomous learners. It is used by 1st, 2nd and 3rd year bachelor students who are all have a tutor to help them in their process. The structure for the tutor toolbox was based on the idea of a learning spiral consisting of the elements: foundations, intention, attention and reflection, and the content for this was closely linked to the information presented in the book Quality Practice. The spiral of learning became the framework for the content for the LearningLAB.
INTENTION involves formulating goals and strategies:
- Setting goals: making decisions about what is to be learned and what the desired result should sound and feel like
- Strategy: deciding on a strategy on how to achieve the intended goal/s
- Organisation: taking care that everything that is needed is available and organised, managing time
REFLECTION is about being able to look back, assess and evaluate:
- Documenting the outcome of the learning cycle
- Being able to tell what went well and what didn’t
- Being able to address and assess the entire process/cycle of learning
- Intrinsic and extrinsic feedback
- Gauging whether the intentions and goals were appropriate and met
- Assessing the efficacy of the methods and strategies used
FOUNDATIONS or prerequisites that support a strong learning process include things like:
- Intrinsic motivation
- A positive belief system
- Well-being.
Self-regulation is one of the defining characteristics of a successful musician and has been found to be a more reliable predictor of achievement than amount of weekly practice (McPherson, 2012; Bonneville-Roussy & Bouffard, 2015).
One of the aims of the LearningLAB is to help students become autonomous, self-regulated learners. This is illustrated and presented to them via a concept of the Spiral of Learning – consisting of Foundations, Intention, Attention and Reflection. For each of these elements practical tools and strategies were developed to share with the students. Each element is expained below.