Gaute Storsve: Instrument learning in upper secondary school

Field of study: Music Education

The research project examines students in music programs in upper secondary schools' experiences of developing their instrument skills across contexts in and outside school.

Storsve has visited four music schools in different parts of Norway where he has observed and interviewed nine students who play electric guitar or bass. The participants represent a diversity of gender identities and consist of an equal number of men, women and non-binary people. The observations covered both band lessons at school and various forms of band playing outside school, such as punk and metal bands, big bands, cultural school bands, jam sessions and a classical string orchestra. The participants were then asked in individual qualitative interviews about their experiences of learning across the different contexts in which they play their instruments with others.

Dissemination

The project includes three research articles that shed light on different aspects of the main research question “How do electric guitar and bass students experience collective learning across formal, informal and non-formal contexts in music courses in upper secondary school?”

Article one, "Formal, informal, and non-formal as analytic categories for research in music education", presents, discusses and further develops key theoretical perspectives on learning in and outside school. Here, the different contexts in which students play with others are categorized and discussed. These categories form the starting point for the analyses in the following articles.

Article two, "Gender diversity in collaborative learning contexts in the music program in Norwegian upper secondary schools", addresses the participants' experiences from a gender perspective. Judith Butler and Karen Barad's theories of performativity are used to explore gender identity and instrument choice in the different learning contexts.

Article three, "Experiences of deep learning across collaborative learning contexts in the music program in Norwegian upper secondary schools", analyzes the participants' experiences of learning together with others across contexts in light of the concept of deep learning. Deep learning is a central concept in the upper secondary school curriculum.