A Reflective Lens: Music Pedagogical Research to Transform Practice | Page 117

A Reflective Lens:
Music Pedagogical Research to Transform Practice

Green clearly articulates the need for students to be able
to choose music that they are familiar with and interested
in. There should also be meaning in the music that they
like. Green (2005) asserts the need for students to identify
themselves with the music chosen.
Folkestad reminds us about the ever changing educational
landscape we are in where the usual teaching methods
of teacher-centricity are challenged and can be best
summarised in the following sentence:

“This perspective on music education research presents the notion that the
great majority of musical learning takes place outside schools, in situations
where there is no teacher, and in which the intention of the activity is not to
learn about music, but to play music, listen to music, dance to music, or be
together with music.”
[Folkestad, 2006, p. 136]

Folkestad also advocates a collaborative approach
incorporating modern technology and the design of music
activities relevant to this new era.
The Use of Technology:
YouTube Videos as the Main Facilitator
YouTube is one of the most popular websites with students
and it is worth investigating the huge power it has in
Informal Learning pedagogy. Technology has definitely
affected how students learn music over time. Cayari (2011)
states that students find it easier to search for popular
music videos online as technology has changed the way
music is recorded and disseminated. YouTube is part of a
growing online music community where learners go when
they need to communicate, learn, listen to and distribute
music (Salavuo, 2006). Students learn to play popular
music from the videos, where learning is not progressively
straightforward and is unstructured; unlike the case of
trained musicians (Green, 2006).
114