5. Conclusions
This research has yielded answers to all research questions. Some of these answers match the expectations I had prior to my research, others represent new insights I obtained during the process. I will answer the research questions one by one, starting with the main question:
How can I guide the students of piano methodology towards applying effective educational principles for achieving pianistic quality in their internship lessons?
The interventions I performed in this research have shown to be valuable improvements of the methodology course. In accordance with my expectations, the extended lesson material played a positive role, which I will explain in detail in my answer to subquestion D. Peer-learning (in the form of the internship discussions) was an important addition to the course that I had not anticipated prior to this research. I will elaborate on this in my answer to subquestion E.
A. Which educational principles for achieving pianistic quality can be derived from current scientific knowledge of motor control and motor skill learning?
Based on the information summarized in chapter 2, I believe the following research-supported educational principles for achieving pianistic quality can be formulated:
1. Mental auditory anticipations of intended musical outcomes (“musical imagination”) initiate and guide motor control processes in musicians. The learning process of pianistic skills ideally starts with pupils acquiring mental auditory representations of target musical outcomes. Teachers can facilitate the acquisition of vivid and accurate musical intentions within their pupils in various ways, for example by means of demonstrations, musical metaphors, playing together and performing clarifying musical activities involving voice, hands and feet.
2. Motor skill learning has been demonstrated to result in superior learning outcomes when facilitated by instructional strategies that aim to reduce verbal knowledge and awareness of movement performance: implicit motor learning approaches. The benefits of implicit motor learning are (among others) better long-term learning outcomes, better stress-resistance and enhanced transfer to related motor skills. Piano teachers can facilitate implicit motor learning by reducing literal and normative movement instructions, replacing these by relevant and well-applied movement metaphors.
3. Motor skill learning and motor performance have been shown to be enhanced by inducing attentional focus towards the intended movement outcomes (rather than attentional focus towards one’s own movements) within learners: external focus of attention. Piano teachers can induce external focus of attention within their pupils by means of listening assignments and goal-oriented feedback.
4. Simplification of target motor skills (in-between steps) has been demonstrated to facilitate motor learning. Piano teachers can support the learning process of pianistic skills by designing relevant in-between steps and conveying these to their pupils. In-between steps can additionally be used by pupils in their practice routines.
5. Nonlinear pedagogy (a research-supported educational concept) advocates manipulation (by teachers) of performer-related, task-related and environmental factors (constraints) that influence motor performance of learners. Piano teachers can exploit constraints in various ways, aimed at facilitating the learning process of pianistic skills. An example of this is the application of handicaps (environmental constraints) that implicitly guide pupils towards discovering fine-motor playing gestures.
B. Why do research-supported views on motor skill learning not typically match practice and opinions regarding motor learning, that are traditionally passed on in music education?
In paragraph 2.7, I have identified three elements of traditional piano pedagogy that potentially conflict with research-supported approaches to motor skill learning, namely the assumed necessity of conscious control over movements, the isolation of movements and their ensuing musical effects, and the value of ideal movement templates. Since students tend to model their teaching after the lessons they had themselves, they may implicitly take over the ideologies of their teachers. This could be one of the explanations for the difficulties students experience in applying research-supported educational principles.
C. What are the conditions under which students of piano methodology can understand and apply their study material properly? Is my presumption that I should have more, and better instruction and training material correct? Are there other factors?
This research has pointed out that, although the extended study material (syllabus and slide presentation) has improved the quality of the methodology course, other interventions are needed in order to achieve my goals. Most importantly, I implemented peer-learning, which has shown to be a beneficial addition to the course. In my experience, the main next step in the improvement process of the course is to enhance students’ creativity to come up with teaching strategies in various situations. Potential measures that could bring this about are exploiting lesson preparations as a tool to trigger creativity, broadening students’ perspective of strategies for teaching and learning by observing lessons in other musical genres and cooperation and peer-learning with students of jazz piano and early music keyboard instruments.
D. What are the characteristics of lesson material for the piano methodology course that aims at conveying research-supported principles of motor learning processes applied to piano pedagogy and enabling students to apply these principles effectively and independently in their internship lessons?
The elaborated lesson material allows for more extensive discussion of lesson content. It provides students with more detailed explanations and underpinnings of research-supported principles of effective piano pedagogy. More importantly, it now includes an extensive, organised set of practical applications of various strategies for teaching and learning aimed at facilitating the learning process of pianistic skills. I believe that the lesson material in its current form is relevant, since it is based on the information reviewed in chapter 2. Also, feedback by colleagues and students has demonstrated that it is internally consistent. I intend to further enhance the practical usability of the lesson material by including more opportunities for students to come up with their own applications of the conveyed concepts. For instance, I aim to add a set of fragments of pieces for which students have to design relevant in-between steps that facilitate the learning process. This could be one of the ways to address the issue of lacking creativity in the application of strategies for teaching and learning. The final goal of this research has not yet been reached: students still exhibit shortcomings in applying strategies for teaching and learning. However, I think this needs to be addressed by additional interventions, such as the ones described in the answer to the previous subquestion.
E. How can I facilitate peer-learning in the internship?
The internship discussions have shown to yield good results. During this research, I have made changes in the procedure of these discussions that have enhanced their outcomes. Firstly, the observation sheet has been improved. Also, students now observe lesson fragments prior to the lesson, allowing for more elaborate and productive discussions. Based on my experiences, I intend to continue applying internship discussions and improving their procedure, which I will elaborate upon in the next chapter.