Reaffirming Teaching and Learning in Later Life The Association for Education and Ageing and the Dep

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Reaffirming Teaching and Learning in Later Life
The Association for Education and Ageing and the
Department of Continuing Education Lancaster
University 2009

• Researching and teaching older adults
• who learn music for
• self-fulfilment
• Angela R Taylor

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The research study

• Understanding older amateur keyboard players
  music learning and mature adult musical identity
• Aim To broaden knowledge and understanding
  about teaching and learning music in relation to
  older adults.

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Methods

• Qualitative research
• 21 mature adults average age 65
• Semi-structured interviewing 3 tools
• Rivers of musical experience sheets all
  participants
• Repertory grid construction 8 novices
• Stimulus recall techniques
• 6 experienced

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Key finding 1

• The participants brought a wide range of musical
  experience, expectations and understanding to
  their learning.

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Musical experience

• And then when I was sixteen, I had a years
  tuition with a very, very good teacher. ... She
  SHOWED me how to do it.
• Aged 5 Music (piano) lessons. Made to practise
  1hr per day. Rebelled. Put off.

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Expectations

• Youre an adult and youre doing it for your own
  pleasure and benefit and you can take what you
  want and you can ignore the rest because youre
  an adult.

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Key finding 2

• By choosing what music to learn and how to
  approach it, the participants with the support of
  others could
• enjoy their learning
• achieve new skills
• increase their self confidence

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Enjoyment

• I love my music.
• It makes my hair stand on end, its moving,
  uplifting, makes you dance. Its the things that
  music does as well as the sound of it. They go
  together.

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Achievement

• Something I never thought Id do, and Ive done
  it.
• I feel Ive an awful long way to go. I
• feel that Im making progress but
• its very, very slow.

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Self confidence

• Its given me something Ive always wanted to
  do, and its given me more confidence.
• Im getting better, I know when Im
• getting better, it makes me feel
• better.

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Key finding 3

• Music learning can impact strongly on self
  definition in retirement.
• Im now at a point where Im getting from my
  piano playing the most satisfaction Ive ever got
  from it in the last eighteen months or so Its
  so strong at the moment Ive GOT to go and do
  it.

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Additional findings

• Getting older is good for
• Listening to yourself
• Practising
• Youve got so much more experience of life
  theres so much to draw upon.
• Being older helps because its much easier to be
  self-critical and objective if youre older.

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Additional findings (cont)

• Getting older is bad for
• co-ordinating hands
• memorising
• reading music
• I cant take it in like when I was younger. It
  doesnt just, click.

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Additional findings (cont)

• Benefits of learning in groups
• Musical
• Ensemble playing
• Peer evaluation
• Personal
• Stimulating, fun, inspiring
• Mutual support
• Social
• Shared interest

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Implications for education

• Teaching materials and approaches for older
  music learners within a group learning context
  where there may be a range of experience and
  ability, should be varied, flexible and
  open-ended, making democratic use of students
  contributions based on their life-long learning.

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Practical applications (1)

• Encourage learners to
• share their musical life experiences in
  introductory and ongoing discussion
• keep in touch with each other between classes

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Practical applications (2)

• Disguise work as play for novices who feel they
  are too old to work at some skills
• Relate new music learning to other life skills

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Practical applications (3)

• Give opportunities for informal peer-based
  shared learning without the tutor to
• Help those who have difficulties with new
  concepts such as reading music
• Encourage learners to perform
• to each other on an ad hoc basis

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Practical applications (4)

• To facilitate self-directed learning at home
  recommend to
• Novices that they record tutor demonstrations on
  a Dictaphone or mobile phone during class to have
  as a model for practising
• Experienced learners that they record their
  practising and performances on mini-disc to make
  it easier to judge their work themselves

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Summary

• Respondents bring individual musical life
  experiences to their learning
• They can use music learning to satisfy
  motivational needs of enjoyment, achievement and
  increased self confidence
• Teaching strategies can be employed to make it
  easier for mature adults to learn a keyboard
  instrument democratically and meaningfully

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• Thank you.
• Any questions?
• artaylor8_at_gmail.com