Metapedagogy: Reflections on the interrelational art of piano teaching.
Published: 2006
Language: eng
Number of pages: 193
ISBN-13: 9780494219843
Description: Piano lessons play an important role in the lives of many North Americans. The content and format of piano lessons and the quality of teaching varies widely. In many cases, piano lessons are inspiring, life-changing experiences and students go on to make music throughout their lives. In some cases, however, piano lessons fall short of their potential and students lose interest and drop out. For these reasons, it is important to examine the practice of piano pedagogy and strive to improve it. Many piano teachers are already teaching in ways that are inspiring, motivating and effective. What is it that makes these "experts" so good at what they do, and how do they acquire this expertise?The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of expertise in piano pedagogy and how that expertise may be developed and taught. In particular, I was interested in the interrelational aspects of piano teaching. I examined the pedagogical practice of three highly regarded North American piano teachers. To learn about these teachers and their practices, I employed a narrative methodology. I interviewed and observed these teachers and constructed narrative portraits of each. I then analyzed the data looking for emergent themes, noting similarities and differences among the three teachers.This research provides a rich portrait of exemplary practice and is thus a valuable resource for experienced practitioners and teacher trainees alike.My analyses indicated that these three expert piano teachers demonstrate, embody and perceive expertise in similar ways, some of which may be attributed to personality and life history, but many of which have been developed through experience and reflection. From the emergent themes, I isolated five personal traits that underlie the abilities of expert piano teachers: positive attitude, openness to learning, motivation, reflective habits, and nurturing personality. These qualities are requisite for what I call interrelational expertise. I propose a new model of expert piano teaching, in which interrelational expertise is conceived as the mediating factor between teacher knowledge and the teacher-student experience.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-01, Section: A, page: 0120.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Toronto, 2006.

Electronic version licensed for access by U. of T. users.