Flow Experience in the Music ClassroomDr Catherine Preston

Edge Hill University and Abraham Moss High School

TeachmeetFred Longworth High School

2nd July 2013

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Background to the Research• In music lessons in UK schools pupils are encouraged to develop

their skills, knowledge and understanding in activities that are designed to integrate performance, composing and listening.

• Lessons are structured to include group work which has become the norm in many music classrooms.

• Pupils are not always given enough guidance in how to develop their musical skills in collaborative contexts.

• Very little empirical research investigates the effectiveness of group work.

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The Concept of Flow

“…a subjective state that people report when they are completely involved in something to the point of losing track of time and of being unaware of everything else but the activity itself.”

(Csikszentmihalyi et al, 1997: 14)

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Flow Experience: relationship between challenges and skills

Flow and Relevance to Education

• Developed to explore the relatively unexplored phenomenon of adult play and the experience of enjoyment

• The first studies sought to investigate why people derived pleasure from such diverse autotelic activities such as painting, sculpture, dancing, rock climbing, sport or chess

• Once in flow, it was found that individuals sought to sustain high and equal levels of challenge and skill in the course of their efforts to stay in flow.

• In the music classroom, investigating the extent that pupils report flow can provide insights into the situated nature and quality of pupils’ experiences of collaborative work.

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Research Questions

• To what extent do pupils experience a state of

flow in the music classroom?

• How is group talk associated with flow experience?

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Research DesignFour week topic for each year group:

four groups from Year 7 (aged 12 to 13 years), four from Year 8 (aged 13 to 14 years) and four from Year 9 (aged 13 to 14 years)•Quantitative element: self-reports based on flow questionnaire designed by Csikszentmihalyi and Schnieder (2000)

Flow questionnaires (n = 930) completed at the end of each of weekly lesson

•Qualitative element: observation of group work in week three or four depending on how near groups were to finishing their music

Twelve group sessions of approx 20 minutes each ranging from three to six pupils from each class, were video recorded and their talk transcribed

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Mixed Methods Research

• Embedded Correlational Model (Creswell 2002)

• The qualitative data (talk) was used to support and illuminate the correlations from the quantitative data (flow questionnaires – Experience Sampling Forms)

• Data from each element was used to answer different research questions

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Results:Predictors for Flow

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Factor: ENGAGEMENT AND POTENCY

B Std Error Beta

EXPY (Having high expectations of oneself)

.327 .109 .328***

INTEREST .386 .147 .216*** CONCENTRATION .359 .145 .191** Factor: INTERACTION

EXPRESSY (Being able to express opinions and ideas)

.514 .132 .315***

Talk Analysis

Mercer (2004) formulated three categorisations for studying group talk

• Disputational – talk that reflects disagreement• Cumulative – talk that provides the accumulation of a

common knowledge• Exploratory – talk that displays critical and

constructive disagreement.

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Background to Talk Episode

• Year 9 – three participants• Topic: to compose lyrics and music for a song

in Britpop style• Episode is an example of exploratory talk

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Transcript for Episode (Year 9) 98 Ja: right have we got anymore words anymore words to write down 99 Lu: right I thought about it (sings) I’m standing in a puddle and my feet are getting+…it’s like 100 motown [?] … feet are getting wet coz these bullies are being 101 Ja: wow well good102 Lu: such a pest103 All: (laughter)104 Em: coz these bullies are being such a pest 105 Ja: right so what does it go that’s good 106 Lu: (sings) I’m standing in a puddle 107 Em: (goes to sing)108 Lu: shhh109 Ja: is that a new one are we starting there 110 Lu: in the puddle … yeah … (sings) I am standing in a puddle111 Ja: is it not I’m 112 Lu: (sings) I am standing I’m standing … no I am … (sings) I am stand+.. I’m ..oh yeah I’m …(sings) I am 113 standing in the puddle … in a 114 Em: (sings) puddle 115 Lu: (sings) and my toes are getting wet … because these bullies are being mean and they make me cry … 116 no and they make me sad … huhhhhhhhh117 Ja: right so I’m standing in a puddle and my toes are getting wet 118 Lu: (sings) and my toes are getting wet … these bullies119 Em: no (sings) and these bullies are so mean … they make me feel so sad 120 Lu: yeah121 Ja: hoorah 12

Educational Implications• Window into the group work has given an insight into

the value of investigating collaboration in the music classroom

• Raises awareness to show that the talk and interactional behaviour of the participants who experienced flow influenced the process and product

• To what extent are the musical tasks set by teachers flow producing?

• What can teachers do to assist pupils to experience flow?

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Music and Well-being• Reports of flow experience were dependent on perceived

high levels of challenge and skill• These did not always have to be equal but they did need to be

high• More pupils experienced flow when they were working in

groups • Successful collaboration was found to occur when those in

flow felt able to communicate their ideas, particularly through ‘musical talk’

• The relationship between music making, language and communication is important for emotional well-being and this study highlights a need for more empirical research based on flow theory in educational contexts

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References• Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1975) Beyond Boredom and Anxiety. San Francisco:

Jossey-Bass• Csikszentmihalyi, M., (1996) Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of

Discovery and Invention, New York, Harper Perennial.• Creswell, J. W. (2002) Research Design. London: Sage Publications• Egbert, J. (2003) ‘A Study of Flow Theory in the Foreign Language

Classroom’, The Modern Language Journal, Vol.87, no. 4, pp.499-518. • Green, L. (2008) Music, Informal Learning and the School. Aldershot,

Ashgate Publishing.• Mercer, N. (2004) Sociocultural discourse analysis, analysing classroom

talk as a social mode of thinking: Journal of Applied Linguistics Vol. 2, issue 2, pp. 137-168

• Miell, D. and MacDonald, R. (2000) ‘Children’s creative collaborations: the importance of friendship when working together on a musical composition’, Social Development, vol.9, no. 3, pp 348-369.

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An Investigation into the Nature and Quality of Children’s Experiences of Group Composing in the Secondary Classroom based on the

Concept of Flow

Catherine Preston16

Catherine Preston catherinepreston8@btinternet.com