The Department of Cultural and Creative Arts cordially invites you to attend the EdUHK Music Education Webinar II (香港教育大學音樂教育網上研討會 II).

Date: 22 July 2020 (Wednesday)
Time: 9:30am to 1:00pm
Medium: English
Format: Online (via ZOOM)
Registration link: https://anonmachg2.eduhk.hk/machform/view.php?id=29693048

Audience who registered will receive a ZOOM Link via email.

Speaker 1: Dr THIBEAULT Matthew Doran  Associate Professor of the Department of CCA and Programme Leader of MA(ME)

Topic: Technology and the birth of the beginning jazz improvisation student

Abstract: How did educators learn to teach jazz improvisation? In this historical study, I present the emergence and evolution of Jamey Aebersold’s jazz Play-A-Long volumes, a widely used combination of book and sound recording that allows one to play improvised solos over a recorded rhythm section, through which “anyone can improvise.” The history follows the gradual building of Play-A-Longs through innovations in pedagogy, educational jazz theory, and experiments teaching private lessons and at summer camps. Drawing on a framework from sound studies and a Deweyan pragmatic orientation towards technology, the volumes and the pedagogic ideas are viewed as technologies that helped beginning improvisers acquire a mature technique. Taken together, these pedagogic technologies helped to produce a model of the soloist as such: a generic model of what an improviser could do, what skills needed to be learned, and a progression of improvisational tasks from the simple to complex. Two primary criticisms of Play-A-Long materials are presented: They are overly reliant on chord-scale theory and lack the in-person interaction among musicians that is critical in jazz improvisation. The discussion assesses the Play-A-Long as a key to helping domesticate jazz for schools, which also helped to inject wildness into music schools that had limited creativity to interpretation.

Speaker 2: Dr HO Sung Chi Steve Assistant Professor of CCA

Topic: From Mcdull to Mozart - Teaching popular music within western art music education

Abstract: The CCA department is one of HK’s pioneers in the field of Popular Music Education (PME) offering the study of Jazz as a minor degree and the studies of popular music productions. While the inclusion of PME in music education is becoming more common, I find it challenging to balance the tension found between Western Art Music (WAM) education and the more non-formal learning culture of PME. WAM education is often taught top-down from a teacher, using theoretical knowledge as its backbone, practice as its means, and performance as its goal. On the other hand, PME encourages many different pathways such as self-directed studies, non-formal learning, and collaborative music-making processes, where peers are encouraged to learn from each other. It is precisely this loose structure that can either motivate or discourage a teacher or a student, especially in our HK culture, where the pursuit of the model answer is the norm. In addition, the definition of PME can vary by culture, both locally and internationally, making it challenging to design what to teach. In this seminar, I would like to dissect three fundamental factors in pop music that hopefully would contribute to a better understanding and teaching of pop rhythm, harmony, and creativity, for classically oriented music teachers.

Speaker 3: Dr Alfredo BAUTISTA Associate Professor and Associate Head of the Department of Early Childhood Education and Co-Director of Centre for Educational and Developmental Sciences

Topic: Hong Kong kindergarten teachers’ professional development needs and preferences regarding music and movement: A survey study

Abstract: In this session, Alfredo BAUTISTA will share the key findings from his project “Hong Kong Kindergarten Teachers’ Professional Development Needs and Preferences regarding Music and Movement: A Survey Study” (DRG2018-19/004). Recent studies have suggested that Hong Kong kindergarten teachers feel ill prepared to design and implement music and movement activities that foster the creativity and self-expression of young children. For this reason, Alfredo and his team conducted a large-scale survey to investigate Hong Kong kindergarten teachers’ professional development (PD) needs and preferences regarding music and movement. More specifically, the survey included five areas of inquiry: (1) What perceived needs for further training do kindergarten teachers have regarding music and movement? What specific areas do they want to learn about within PD settings? (2) What are their preferred delivery modes to enhance their music and movement pedagogical skills? (3) Who are their preferred PD facilitators? (4) What are their most valued types of learning resources and materials? (5) How motivated are kindergarten teachers to engage in music and movement PD? What are the motives that drive them? We collected 1,019 teacher responses. During the talk, Alfredo will present the most relevant aggregated findings and will analyze significant differences according to key demographic variables (e.g., teaching experience, prior education, type of kindergarten). Findings will allow local teacher educators and PD providers to design courses and workshops that are more responsive to the specific needs and preferences of teachers, and therefore more likely to enhance their music and movement pedagogical practices in kindergartens.

Speaker 4: Dr LEUNG Chi Hin Assistant Professor of CCA

Topic: The future orchestra at present - e-Orch

Abstract: e-Orch, an innovative electronic music creation and performance project, promotes creative orchestral music-making by lowering the barrier of music-making through the application of tablet devices. Participants are able to make music in the e-Orch setting even without years of formal classical music training. This presentation aims to explain the educational concept of e-Orch with focuses on tablet music creation, performance apps learning and digital music ensemble. The presentation will also provide e-Orch pedagogical examples for participants who are interested in establishing an electronic ensemble in their schools. 

Speaker 5: Dr YANG Yang Assistant Professor of CCA

Topic: The alignment between the national standard and the enacted school music curriculum in Mainland China

Abstract: Using the original Surveys of Enacted Curriculum Surveys (SEC) framework, this study constructs a series of music-subject-specific survey items based on synthesised research data from teacher interviews, teaching observations and the national music curricula. Then, the draft music SEC was piloted with 40 primary and secondary school music teachers across China to (a) assess the validity of instructional measures and (b) explore whether teachers’ self-reported instructional practices align with the current national curriculum standards.