A Reflective Lens: Music Pedagogical Research to Transform Practice | Page 41

A Reflective Lens:
Music Pedagogical Research to Transform Practice

and problem solving. The journals provided an opportunity
for students to solve a problem by thinking about the solution,
carrying out the solution and then refining the solution, if
needed. The benefits of journaling is further supported
by Dart et al. (1998) as their findings revealed that journal
writing aided reflective and metacognitive thinking, as well
as provided a means for reconstruction of experiences.
Next, the use of reflective dialogue in the reflective thinking
process, highlighted by Lamb (2011), is also a powerful
tool to develop reflective thinking skills. Hatton and Smith
(1995) shared similar findings that the most common type of
reflection was descriptive, leading on to dialogue reflection
where further issues and alternative explanations were
discussed. Hence, it is important to provide opportunities for
verbal interaction to engage in dialogue in order to facilitate
reflective action.
Taking an active role in musical dialogues, students can be
given exposure to think in a broader context, to identify
problems, and to offer effective solutions. This is crucial in
providing a richer profile of students’ musical understanding.
Results of many studies provide evidence of the use of
reflective thinking in the process of music composition
(Martin, 2000), but relatively few studies have examined
the effectiveness of reflective thinking on students’ learning
progress of musical skills; particularly in the areas of listening
and ensemble performing skills.

Methodology
Change of Ensemble Setting
For our study, the current Guitar CCA ensemble setting of
only regular prime guitars was changed with the introduction
of new guitar instruments. The idea for this change began
when the guitar ensemble members attended a concert
performed with varied guitar instrumentation. Much
curiosity was generated among the members when they
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