Learning in group: an educational action-research project as a mode of educational development
Resumo
This actionresearch project aimed to develop playing by ear in group in Functional Piano classes and understand how this practice could contribute to music learning in this discipline. The project was developed in one academic semester with two groups of five undergraduate music students who tested the new teachinglearning approach which had more emphasis on playing by ear. The actionresearch took place in three cycles. At the end of each cycle, an interview was held with each group in order to assess the work done and propose new teachinglearning strategies to enhance the approach. In this paper I will discuss the main findings through focus group method and the efficacy of the actionresearch design. The analysis of the interviews shows that: 1) results of the playing by ear practice clarified theory of existing knowledge; 2) the involvement in the project lead to powerful learning for the participants; 3) the focus on reflexivity more clearly shown what happened in the process; 4) the collaborative aspect of action research favored the group learning. From these results, it was concluded that the group discussions contributed to enhance a musical group practice and that the use of actionresearch in music education has great potential for improving practice.
