A Reflective Lens: Music Pedagogical Research to Transform Practice | Page 95

A Reflective Lens:
Music Pedagogical Research to Transform Practice

Behavioural Engagement
Over the period of intervention, more pupils were able
to show more focus over an extended period of time and
became more engaged in their learning. Pupil B has always
had problems staying on task as she is often distracted,
fiddling with her personal belongings such as her coin
pouch, her skirt, her hair, and distracted by the friends
around her. With the use of signing the songs, even in
games as a means to assess learning, she was able to stay
on task more consistently throughout the lesson. This was
also evident in her personal reflections.
As indicated in Marsh’s research (2013), children have
a tendency to repeat the clapping game right from the
beginning rather than break it into component parts and
restart at the place where they ran into problems. Yet, they
remain engaged for the whole period of time.
The class was taught a new singing game called, “Have
you ever seen a long-legged llama?” They were taught
three different phrases in different cycles. First, they learnt:
Have you ever, ever, ever, in your *long-legged life, seen a
*long-legged llama with his *long-legged wife.
The lyrics marked with an asterisk were replaced with shortlegged and google-eyed, before all three were combined
in one song.
When the different groups of pupils (one or both) got lost
or stuck, they would always end up in giggles and try it out
again right from the start; seldom from the place where
they made the error.
Social-Emotional Engagement
The lessons were planned in such a way that it provided
opportunities for pupils to learn from one another. Working
in smaller groups of two to four helped the pupils interact
and guide each other in learning the musical concepts better.
Through the group work, I observed that pupils were able
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