A Reflective Lens: Music Pedagogical Research to Transform Practice | Page 80

Becoming a Reflective Practitioner:
A Music Teacher’s Exploration of Singing Games

The specific implementation of singing games which I used
in my intervention changed over time as I adjusted the
approach based on my critical reflection, utilising a reflection
process similar to that documented by Larrivee (2000).
Research Methodology
The study was conducted for 11 sessions from March 25
to July 30, with a break period in-between to cater to
the semestral examination and the June holidays. The
intervention was conducted once a week for a period of
an hour during the curriculum music lesson, taught by the
main teacher-researcher.
For our research, a Primary 3 class was selected. The pupils
and their parents were informed of the purpose of the
research and a letter of notification was sent to the parents.
A reply to indicate the parents’ consent was consolidated
which allowed us to pr oceed with the research.
I engaged a mentor to guide me in planning and delivering
a singing games approach for the music lessons. The
mentor was well-versed in music pedagogies and able to
give advice on my design of singing games. Prior to each
lesson, he provided pre-lesson feedback on my lesson
plan in relation to its likely effectiveness. He afforded
me opportunities for reflective conversations which are
“important for further development of a reflective teaching
practice” (Stanley, 1998, p.588).
During the Lessons:
A.

Video recorders were used during the intervention
to document the lesson flow, teacher-and-pupils’
interaction and pupils’ reactions in the music class.

B.

My mentor was present to observe the flow of the
lessons but adopted a “fly on the wall” approach so
as not to disrupt the lessons.

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