Students’ voices and art (music) performances

at school

a case study on student leadership

in a lower secondary school in Tuscany

1EPNoSL PLA Nice 24.09.2014

Giovanna Barzanò Francesco R.Salvemini

(Italy)

what is the study about?

• we tackle the student perspective within the enactment of distributed leadership processes,

• we try to identify some practices, tools and artefacts that can support the development of student leadership, expanding its potential

• we explore how the idea of “concertive actions” (Woods and Gronn, 2009) may work in the practice of some school experiences/events that seem to hold the power to multiply the “amount of leadership” (Spillane, 2004) and the network of interdependent relationships on which the school can count.

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underpinnings and ideas•We argue that art performances present students with important opportunities to reflect, propose, comment and interpret themselves and their mates and to share their ideas, enacting leadership in many ways.

•We concentrate on a school music band that follows a particular collective methodology.

•In our view these art performances may be seen as “critical events” (Woods, 1993) which carve out new spaces within the educational process and allow for new and wider leadership roles for students.

•They offer an interesting arena to explore a variety of facets of student leadership and how their voice may be empowered by the contexts and the tasks at stake.

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Monte S. Savino school and its music and art projects

• IC Monte San Savino is a tipical Italian comprehensive school situated in the Tuscan countryside, between Arezzo and Siena, about 70 km from Firenze. It has a low income, but has been considered of high quality in recent evaluations.

• The school includes 5 sites spread over two villages belonging to the municipality of Monte San Savino (AR, 7000 inhab.). It serves about 1000 students in the age range 6-13 (primary and lower secondary)

• IIts best flagship is the project Musical-mente (Musically-minded) , which empowers and expands the ordinary music curriculum, from the age of 9, When the students reach secondary school (age 11-12), if they want they can join the school music band Acchiappanote (Notegrabbers)

• In the spring 2014 the Acchiappanote band was at the crossing point of a network of art-based activities: it had been planned that an important professional orchestra conductor would have been the guest conductor in one of the band community concert, and a film director was filming a documentary-fiction movie about this adventure, titled “aspettando il maestro” (waiting for the maestro).

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Data collection

• Field observation (10-15 school days, 3 months)• 6 focus groups with 47 participations• 19 semistructured interviews

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Focus groups and interviews

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Contents, a topic guide

Access•Choosing your instrument •Participation•Commitment•Motivation •Effort•Emotion •Satisfaction•Disappointment •Constraints

• Solidarity

• Cohesion

• Help

• Improvements

• Relationship with peers

• Relationship with teachers

• Preparing performances

• the school and the band

• The public

• Evaluations

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interviews approachinteractive interviews

• privileging the interviewee’s agency and her own sense of identity and representational practices, seing the respondents as the owners of stories they narrate

• the researcher works as a painter or a novelist, who makes recognisable and visible a slice of human experience that has been captured (Denzin, 2001, 47)

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Understanding agencies

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Critical events: features of communitas(Woods, Peter 1993)

• A special culture developed by the group and strong affective ties

• Discovering others

• Levelling

• Mutual support

• Expansiveness

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Dimensions of holistic democracy(Woods, Philip 2011)

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Analising the development of relationships: dimensions in critical events

• .

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A special culture - holistic meaning

I did realize that indeed you need to make a lot of efforts in the band and be committed… far more than in ordinary life, than at school.

Everything is based on the passion we share… This sense of satisfaction we feel… yet every time we finish we put down our instrument and think “… even better, next time I will play even better” (Ilaria )

Enriched… this experience has also enriched me for a new sense of responsibility.(Gabriele)

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You buy your instrument and you have to look after it, you have to take care of your booklet and scores, if they are damaged then you cannot read the notes.

When you join the band words do not work anymore and music become your communication means. We know one another, maybe we do sport together… soccer… But when the Monday rehearsals come… we communicate through music. (Gabriele),

The band express the sense of unity, solidarity…when you join the band everybody is committed to make their best … not only for that single piece you play…there is more than this, it teaches you how to be closer, it gives you the means to work in the community (Elisa, )

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A special culture - holistic meaning

discovering others - transformation dialogue

• The first time in the band.. It’s a wonderful feeling, because you feel inside… you feel a sense of togetherness. When you were listening to the sound on your own… it was nice, but when you are there… really together with the group, this is a very different feeling (Elisa )

• When you are in the class you are not supposed to prompt, it is not good. Yet in the band it is fair. It really helps the others, one leads and the others can play better. These are two very different kind of help. Here in the band any prompt or advice is accepted, like among important people.(Pietro )

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Maybe there are groups… with people that I don’t like. Yet I acknowledge their value… when I listen to them playing I say… “Gosh, she is not very nice but she is really good, she is eliciting a lot of emotions when she plays….” (Ilaria,)

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discovering others - transformation dialogue

Levelling, mutual support/power sharing

basses are the most helpful instruments for us . Because... actually they give a sort of rhythm, right?

The sound of the bass and the one of the drum go often together, right? So they help us as well... if we lose the rhythm but they don't.... we can rejoin them, so they help us a lot (Patrick, )

Anyway, I help especially my fellow drummers. I SHOULD give the rhythm to all the others as well. But then I make a mistake and the teacher gets angry, “Listen, you have the responsibility”!, “Ok, I know...”.(Asia)

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• It's somehow what I was saying before, that we are all... when we are happy... we play well, because... maybe  one wants...  to influence  the other and say “I'm happy, I play, I send you a bit of my joy!”.  (Marta, )

• For instance, when Gabriele was tired he was giving me a sign, and Pietro, Greta and I looked at one another and decided who had to play louder. What could we do? Had  we all remained silent  the teacher, would have blamed him. Thus  we played louder while  Gabriele was only pretending..(Nicola)

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discovering others - transformation dialogue

….I knew some tricks -and I still know them- to improve the sound. I mean... If I stretch out or stretch in a small wheel in my instrument... if you stretch it out it' helps you with the high notes. So told him “Pietro, if you want I can teach you some tricks...”, and so... at the end he has become even better then me. (Nicola)

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discovering others - transformation dialogue

Expansiveness /holistic wellbeing

It makes you proud. Working with people who are more skilled than you.

Anyway it is a different thing...

it is pleasant, and in the end it gives you a sense of result, of achievement.

It puts in your hands a result that you are going to deepen because you work with people who are interested in it. (Luca)

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If one is interested in science, he is good at sciences… We want to deepen music. (Gabriele)

When I was at the concert I felt good, because the music was part of myself.

I felt satisfied about my performance and let's say that I attained a goal... the goal I wanted. (Elisa)

No… my “fa” is not only a “fa”, because with that big bell I throw around … you know what I throw? Cheerfulness! I make cheerfulness rain over everybody, I play the notes and…(Zaira)

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Expansiveness /holistic wellbeing

Gioele’s advise to his headteacher…Theatre… the head teacher should think of a full project on theatre!! 

Shows, preparations, afternoons.... No? 

Everybody should have  their role to learn... I's a long work.

Something beautiful. Then... it would give work to everybody, not only to the band.

So, with a theatre project there could be... music by the band,  which is also  filmed… at the moment of the scene. Thus those who are good at arts, could make the costumes, the scene... those good  at writing, could think about the script, the screenplay... the writing of the screenplay. Those good at acting could be the actors.

And then also those good... at the computer for instance... they could  realize a flyer...  make a photobook, with some... some nice pictures...

Something in which everyone is... involved. A project which covers a bit of everything.

Everyone should have their work. Their specific work. (Gioele)

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