Hey guys! So I am taking private conducting lessons this semester; they're pretty cool, minus the fact I feel guilty 24/7 for not doing more to prepare for them. (Kinda like voice lessons…..and assessment and curriculum….and ed. psych…..and my relationship….it happens. I may have a guilt complex)
But! I was really excited to write this paper, because he said I would be able to pick my topic.(Am I the only one who LOVES when teachers do that?) So I crossed a whole bunch of my classes, (a whole bunch in this case meaning ed. psych, classroom management, conducting lesson and my choirs) to write a paper about the psychology of teaching/conducting/managing a choir. Tell me your thoughts!! Also- here's an opportunity to see Sarah's writing without run on sentences, ellipses, those little - things I'm so fond of- paragraphs, or other grammatical errors that show that I try to write the way I speak, and I will always favor theater over English.
Providing for Your Students Needs
or
How to Run a Choir According to Maestro Maslow
Abraham Maslow was an American
psychologist, most well known for creating Maslow's Hierarchy of
needs. This pyramaidal theory is Maslow's attempt to explain human
motivation in a series of needs which build upon each other. First we
must satisfy basic needs- eating and sleeping, and then we must have
a sense of safety, then love and belonging, then self esteem. When
these needs are not met, Maslow theorized humans would feel an
emptiness and a drive to fulfill them. This humanist theory can
directly relate to the creation of music, and the relationship
between a conductor or teacher and their choir. A similar theory for
music education might state that choristers require a consistent and
controlled environment, emotional connection and a sense of musical
competence before they can self actualize, or in specifically music
terms, seek out a challenge.
How does a conductor meet students
needs for a consistent, controlled environment? When we look at
Maslow's pyramid, the second need up the list is safety. Do students
feel safe, or are they victim to fits of anger from us, criticism
from each other, last minute notices about extra performances and
rehearsals or ever changing expectations? Colin Mawby, Master of
Music at Westmister Hall says, “If choir practice consists of
nothing but mistake-spotting, choristers quickly become bored and
resentful.”
Brene Brown defines connection as “the
energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard and
valued; when they can give and receive without judgement; and when
they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship”, in her
book “The Gifts of Imperfection”. This is a perfect name for the
need students have to feel friendship and support, both from their
conductor and fellow members of the choir. If students feel 'seen,
heard and valued', they will be unafraid to share more of their
talents and themselves, quickly becoming an invaluable asset to the
choir. The choir conductor as a teacher should thus encourage social
functions and inter-choir friendships. The choir conductor as maestro
should thus always show their students their love and respect.
Another champion of the humanistic
school of psychology, Alfred Bandura wrote the self-efficacy theory,
which educational psychologists have shortened into the ever
important “sense of competence”. Good choir conductors will give
their students a good variety of pieces and different levels of
difficulty. The best choir conductors will never let on which are the
most difficult- spending time and attention as needed, but never
showing anything but perfect confidence that their singers can master
the piece. Bandura said “ to achieve anything, we must first
believe we are able to achieve it.” Choir conductors will introduce
many new and difficult concepts to their students- everything from
fixed do sight reading, to forward and backward placement, to soft
palette lifting, that could easily create disequilibrium and
frustration. But if we do so with careful observance of the students
level of understanding and constant scaffolding and support as
needed, we can facilitate these foreign concepts into true
understanding that can be applied to every piece.
Maslow believed that when his first
four needs were not met, humans would feel a constant push to seek
them out. Contrastingly, self actualization was not an innate human
desire, and could only be recognized when other needs were fulfilled.
Similarly, many students are unaware they want to be challenged-
they'll out and out tell you they don't. When connection, consistency
and competence are not being felt, a conductor would surely be
resented for challenging his students. But when these needs are met
and then the teacher challenges his singers- they will have the
resources and the environment to respond. They are in a safe
environment, they have a support system and their teacher believes in
them: in this environment, any one can learn and grow and reach their
full potential.
While famous for his hierarchy, Maslow
was also a practicing humanist psychologist. He is quoted as saying
that we need to focus on positive qualities of people rather than
treating them “as a bag of symptoms.” Choir conductors could
learn much from this statement. A chorus should never be looked on as
an instrument, just a tool to bring about beautiful music. Conductors
and educators must recognize their human needs, and put their full
effort into meeting them. Providing a consistent environment, true
connections with other members and the leader of the group, and a
sense that they can do what they are being asked to do, will lead
them to desire and be able to rise to challenge. If the conductor can
do these things, they will hear the choir they always knew their
group could be.
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