The PONTES Approach to Music Education: Learning to Reach Out

By Alda de Jesus Oliveira

This book explores the PONTES approach to Music Education. It presents theoretical and practical guidance for the development of pedagogical articulations and bridges to help connect teachers, students, music, sociocultural context and other variables that surround the teaching realities. The PONTES approach does not intend to be a method. It is a patient and reflexive approach designed to help both music educators and their students to learn and love music. It focus on the development of articulatory and connective competencies designed to music education artistic and educational processes in formal and informal socio-cultural contexts.In this work, we mean by music education all actions aimed at music education for all people who care to convey the musical knowledge and develop individuals through music, not only using music as a means to educate, but also working music as an end and as a support/help/assistance to the individual. We develop an inclusive vision for music education, accepting that the spirit of the music educator is inside of whom effectively develop people with music; we view the field including different types of music educations. I want to emphasize that PONTES offers an open approach to music education. The field already has a plethora of methods for teaching music. Each of these methods selects content to be taught, and organizes it into curricula and programs, lessons and activities. PONTES complements these methods by offering supplemental articulatory means to make them work in formal or informal contexts, with students of different ages, and varied backgrounds, interests, and goals.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paco e Littera
• Release date: Dec 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9788546201877

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 by Paco Editorial

Rights of this edition reserved by Paco Editorial. No part of this publication may be appropriate and stored in a database system or similar process, in any form or means, electronic, photocopying, recording, etc., without the permission of the publisher and / or author.

Publishing Coordination: Kátia Ayache

Review: Carolina Trunfio Rezende

Publishing Assistance: Augusto Pacheco Romano, Érica Cintra

Cover: Bruno Balota

Typesetting: Bruno Balota

Graphic service: Wendel de Almeida

Ebook Assistance: Wendel de Almeida

Paperback: 2015

Ebook: 2015

Cataloguing in-Publication Data (CIP)

Editors Council

Profa. Dra. Andrea Domingues (UNIVAS/MG) (Lattes)

Prof. Dr. Antonio Carlos Giuliani (UNIMEP-Piracicaba-SP) (Lattes)

Prof. Dr. Antonio Cesar Galhardi (FATEC-SP) (Lattes)

Profa. Dra. Benedita Cássia Sant’anna (UNESP/ASSIS/SP) (Lattes)

Prof. Dr. Carlos Bauer (UNINOVE/SP) (Lattes)

Profa. Dra. Cristianne Famer Rocha (UFRGS/RS) (Lattes)

Prof. Dr. Eraldo Leme Batista (UNIOESTE-PR) (Lattes)

Prof. Dr. Fábio Régio Bento (UNIPAMPA/RS) (Lattes)

Prof. Dr. José Ricardo Caetano Costa (FURG/RS) (Lattes)

Prof. Dr. Luiz Fernando Gomes (UNISO/SP) (Lattes)

Profa. Dra. Magali Rosa Santa'Anna (UNINOVE/SP) (Lattes)

Prof. Dr. Marco Morel (UERJ/RJ) (Lattes)

Profa. Dra. Milena Fernandes Oliveira (UNICAMP/SP) (Lattes)

Prof. Dr. Ricardo André Ferreira Martins (UNICENTRO-PR) (Lattes)

Prof. Dr. Romualdo Dias (UNESP/RIO CLARO/SP) (Lattes)

Prof. Dr. Sérgio Nunes de Jesus(IFRO/RO) (Lattes)

Profa. Dra. Thelma Lessa (UFSCAR/SP) (Lattes)

Prof. Dr. Victor Hugo Veppo Burgardt (UNIPAMPA/RS) (Lattes)

Paco Editorial

Av. Carlos Salles Block, 658

Ed. Altos do Anhangabaú, 2º Andar, Sala 21

Anhangabaú - Jundiaí-SP - 13208-100

Telefones: 55 11 4521.6315 | 2449-0740 (fax) | 3446-6516

[e-mail]

www.pacoeditorial.com.br

Contents

Title Page

Credits Page

I am thankful to

Foreword by Dr. David Henry Feldman

Preface

Intended Audiences for This Book

What Is the PONTES Approach?

Chapter 1: Pontes Elements And Competencies

1. Key Concepts and Terms

1.1 The Six PONTES Elements

2. PONTES Music Educator (PME)

What a PME Should Be Able To Do

PME Performance Levels

PMEs Construct Pedagogic Articulations

3. Pedagogic Articulations

Articulation as a sociological concept

PONTES and pedagogic articulations

4. Bridges

Transitional Bridges

Informal Bridges by Music Leaders

Conceptual Bridges

5. Praxis

6. Customization

7. Contextualization

B.PONTES Elements

1.Positivity

Positive toward people

Positive toward the subject of music

Positive toward learning and performing music

Positive toward the socio-cultural context

Positive toward healthy behavior

2.Observation

Observant toward people

Observant toward the subject of music

Observant toward learning and performing music

Observant toward the sociocultural context

Observant toward healthy behavior

3. Naturalness

Natural toward people

Natural toward the subject of music

Natural toward learning and performing music

Natural toward the sociocultural context

Natural when fostering healthy behavior

4. Technique

Techniques for understanding people

Techniques for approaching the subject of music

Techniques for learning and performing music

Techniques for understanding the sociocultural context

Techniques for fostering healthy behavior

5. Expressivity

Expressive toward people

Expressive toward the subject of music

Expressive toward learning and performing music

Expressive toward the sociocultural context

Expressive when fostering healthy behavior

6. Sensibility

Sensitive toward people

Sensitive toward the subject of music

Sensitive toward learning and performing music

Sensitive toward the sociocultural context

Sensitive toward healthy behavior

Chapter 2: Field Reports On Pontes In Practice

A. Rationale for the PONTES Approach

B. PONTES Competencies by Element

Positive

Observant

Natural

Technical

Expressive

Sensitive

1. A PONTES Approach to Teaching Multicultural Songs

2. A Positive Feeling of Acceptance Cats for Channing)

3. Observant When Distinguishing Errors from Mistakes

4. Observant of Student Behavior

5. Natural When Teaching Beethoven

6. Natural About Lesson Plans (Vilma Fogaça)

7. Technical Skills for Bridging to Other Communities

8. Expressive When Singing New Melodies

9. Expressive When Reacting to Music (Zuraida Bastião)

10. Sensitive toward Music as a Subject of Study

C. Collaborative Alternatives

1. Restless Joe

2.Unprepared Mary

3. Learning When to Breathe

4. An Improvised Ostinato

5. Helping the Teachers Sing On Key and In Rhythm

6. Composing Songs for Your Students (Mara Menezes)

7. Composing a Musical Score Together

8. Teachers Share Experiences in a Continuous Education Course

D. Interdisciplinary Projects

1. Collaboration Between School Academic Programs

2. Ana Maria de Castro Souza’s Musical Em Cena: Sons

E. Working with Traditional and Popular Musicians

1. A Capoeira Master as a Peer

2. Capoeira Master Bola Sete

3. Hiring a Teen Band

4. The Project Sala de Concertos

F. Building Infrastructure

1. Carlinhos Brown’s Pracatum School Project

2. The Psychiatric Soirées of a Composer

3. Project SOL

4. Teaching Projects in Sergipe (Rejane Harder)

G. PONTES as a Global Example

Chapter 3: Evaluating The Pontes Music Educator

A. Music Education Projects by Student Teachers in Public Schools

1. Performing Arrangements of Traditional Melodies

2. A Fifty Minute Piano Class

B. Theories and Studies of Teacher Evaluation

1. Current Research on Evaluating Teachers

C. An Evaluation Form to Develop PMEs

D. Classifying PMEs

PONTES Music Educator I

1. PONTES Music Educator II

2. PONTES Music Educator III

3. PONTES Music Educator IV

4. PONTES Music Educator V

5. PONTES Music Educator VI

E. PONTES is an Open Approach to Music Education

Chapter 4: Music Education as a Humane Profession

A. Prospects for the, PONTES Approach

B. Music Education Around the World

C. PONTES approach: perspectives

D. Modulating and Transposing Music Education

E. The Professional Music Educator

F. The Mission of the PONTES Music Educator

Chapter 5: Foundations

A. The Conception of the Pontes Approach

B. Theoretical Overview

Figura 1: Proposition 1: set A is included in set B.

Figura 2: Proposition 2: there is an element of intercession between sets A and B.

Figura 3: Proposition 3: sets A and B are distinct.

Figura 4: Proposition 4: some part of set A is not B.

C. Research on PONTES and Music Education

Appendix: PME Evaluation Form

References

Paco Editorial

I am thankful to:

God for the graces received in my life;

Parents Antonio and Maria Augusta for their love, care and inspiring examples;

Jamary for challenging me, and his love, reflections and unconditional support;

Sons Jamary Filho and Paula for inspiring my love, sweet moments and lifelong collaboration;

Valmor and Luciana, son and daughter-in-law, dear friends and collaborators in life;

Brothers and sisters Abel, Adelmo, Aldo, Antonio, Augusta, Adelson, Alba, Alírio and Amélia, for sharing joy, conversation, and family moments of learning and development;

Grandchildren Felipe, Henrique and Sarah, beautiful lights of childhood, adolescence and beyond, that stimulate me to find better educational perspectives;

Hank Davis, for a cooperative and thorough review, creating the English version of this book;

Guta Ribeiro and John Richetta, for their friendship and support while writing this book during our stay in Boston (2013-2014);

Students and colleagues of the research group Mestres de Música na Bahia (MeMuBa), whose challenges, suggestions, conversations, and studi enhanced the development of the PONTES approach;

All students of the extension courses at Escola de Música da Universidade Federal da Bahia (EMUS-UFBA) and to the student teachers whom I supervised at the undergraduate course, for many gratifying teaching experiences;

Master and Doctorate students and colleagues of the Post-Graduate Program in Music at Universidade Federal do Bahia (UFBA) for intellectual exchanges, academic challenges and professional respect;

Colleagues of research and production partners, who inspired numerous friendly talks, including: Liane Hentschke, Jusamara Souza, Cristina Gerling, Lily Hafteck, Ilza Nogueira, Cristina Tourinho, Lusa Davico Schneiter, Zuraida Bastião, Mara Menezes, Angelita Broock, Regina Cajazeira, Mariava Rios, Elizabeth Lucas, Vera Lyra, Manuel Veiga, Carmem Rocha, Jamary Oliveira, Fernando Cerqueira, Judith Jellison, T.J.Anderson and others;

Ernst Widmer, Cecília Conde, José Maria Neves and Gerard Béhague for introducing me to research with a contemporary perspective, and a Brazilian cultural focus in music education;

Professors Terezinha Aragão Requião, Conceição Bittencourt, Fernando Lopes, Ernst Widmer, Jamary Oliveira, Manuel Veiga, Thomas Jefferson Anderson, Judith Jellison, Carmen Mettig Rocha, John Geringer, Gerard Béhague, Clifford Madsen, David Hargreaves, Graham Welch, for valuable discussions, knowledge and collaboration in piano performance, music composition, music education and research;

Members of the Colegiate of the Programa de Pós-Graduação em Música da Universidade Federal da Bahia (PPGMUS/UFBA), for their support in the development of the PONTES approach and other projects of my career;

Instituto de Música da Universidade Católica de Salvador (IM-UCSal), Escola de Música da Universidade Federal da Bahia (EMUS-UFBA), Tufts University and The University of Texas at Austin, for my academic development in music and music education;

David Henry Feldman and Kathleen Camara of the Eliot-Pearson Child Development Center at Tufts University, for the invitation to be a Visiting Scholar (2013-2014) and for support while writing this book;

Fulbright/Latin American Scholarship Program of American Universities and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) for Master and Doctorate scholarships in USA universities;

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for research support and Secretaria de Ensino Superior da Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (SESU/CAPES) for their extensive experience evaluating courses (such as music specialist) and for letting me serve as a member-President of Comissão de Especialistas em Artes e Design (CEE/Artes e Design) and of Comissão de Especialistas em Música (CEE/Música);

Associação Brasileira de Educação Musical (ABEM), Associação Nacional de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação em Música (ANPPOM), International Society for Musical Education (ISME), Escola de Música da Universidade Federal da Bahia (EMUS-UFBA) and PRACATUM- Escola Profissionalizante de Músicos and Centro de Produção, Documentação e Estudos de Música – SONARE, helping me grow politically and administratively;

Associação Pracatum de Ação Social (APAS), Carlinhos Brown, and Vera Lyra, for the invitation to participate in their Pracatum School project and for their support for music education in the community of Candeal Pequeno de Brotas, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil;

And masters of popular culture, for their musical knowledge, life experiences and respect for the traditions of their cultures.

Foreword by Dr. David Henry Feldman

Chair, Eliot-Pearson Child Development Center, Tufts University

Along with gesture, music is probably the oldest way we have of expressing ourselves and communicating our emotions. We are able to communicate with each other and ourselves musically from the earliest moments of our lives. In this sense music is a natural human proclivity. We would likely develop basic musical abilities whether or not anyone taught us.

To be sure, these musical abilities may become more fully developed and better expressed with good education, and this is where Alda Oliveira and her remarkable new work come in. For some reason, Professor Oliveira says, music is typically taught even to small children as if they are junior members of a music conservatory. Children are taught the conventions of music, the technical skills, and the rules. It is as if all children had decided to become professional musicians and their preparation must begin at once. And they tend to be taught the same way.

As we well know, very few children will become professional musicians. Only a small number will make their living as music performers. There are other ways to have a life in music, of course, but even as music educators, critics, publishers, agents, and the like the numbers are small. The fact is that the professional field is for the few. Then why must we behave as if everyone should be trained to become a music professional?

Alda Oliveira offers a radical and yet completely sensible alternative to the traditional approach to music education. Professor Oliveira urges us to start with what children naturally and spontaneously do with their musical abilities, then build from these a musical life based on expression and communication. By three years of age virtually all children have mastered the basics of music. They can sing, make musical sounds, learn songs and make new ones. They appreciate the ways that music can give meaning to their own lives and the lives of others.

If a child happens to have unusual musical talents, that should soon become evident without much formal probing by professionals. If instruments are available and music is shared, there will likely occur a crystallizing experience in which the young child responds powerfully to the possibilities of greater musical skill. She or he will then desire to acquire these skills and seek new opportunities to do so. During the early years, music educators should focus on exposure and example, on the ways that different musical instruments sound and feel, and on the ways that different sounds can be combined into more complex chords. If more is needed, the children will lead the way.

Children should also be brought into the musical traditions of their neighborhoods, regions and societies, helped to become participants in the musical events of society that are there for everyone. Few experiences are as powerful as participating in a patriotic song or a musical ritual, few will leave as deep and enduring an impression.

Finally, Professor Oliveira advises, music should be seen as a developmental experience, crafted to the talents, interests, skills and desires of the individual student rather than as a fixed set of established conventions and standard practices. To teach music means to understand how natural and spontaneous a human activity it is, how deep it is in each of us, how much our history and evolution have provided us with the basics to launch a musical life.

In many ways, the approach that Alda Oliveira takes is more challenging than the traditional way that music education has been practiced. This is because her approach seeks out musical experiences that are richer, more varied, and more meaningful. The more talented students who are destined to join the music profession will naturally emerge from the organic approach presented in Dr. Oliveira’s new book.

The result will be that more of us will have rich and sustained musical lives, building a receptive and knowledgeable audience for our more talented and formally trained fellow citizens of the musical world.

Preface

Music allows us to explore the imagination and put the inner life in touch with all the life that is outside us: people, social context, nature, culture. Everyone needs to have opportunity to learn and share musical experiences. Despite knowing the difficulties of conceptualization and definition of the terms music education, music pedagogy, music education, music methodology, we believe that although the music has a great socio-cultural importance for humanity, professionals who are dedicated to the music education area sometimes have difficulties in advocating and defending the importance of music education in schools. In this book, we mean by music education all actions aimed at music education for all people who care to convey the musical knowledge and develop individuals through music, not only using music as a means to educate, but also working music as an end and as a support/help/assistance to the individual. We develop an inclusive vision for music education, accepting that the spirit of the music educator is inside of whom effectively develop people with music; we view the field including different types of music educations. The organizations and music teacher training institutions set the focus of the programs, certifications, curricula and projects, to hire faculty and organize infrastructure for their courses. They cannot offer everything a knowledge area develops and produce in society. But we consider important that an area of knowledge does not close their visions of the music education field in niches, ghettos, or curricula designs, but be always with their eyes and ears open and focused on human development and on the actions and activities that society holds, makes, produces, needs and dreams. We believe in the value of genuine choice of whomever operates for the advance of music education and to help people to study and make music, whatever their specialty in music or in education. Whenever people of diverse knowledge and expertise propose to teach people and work with them to make music they are becoming music educators. So, be welcome, because everyone needs music and music needs all of us.

This book explores the PONTES approach to Music Education. It presents theoretical and practical guidance for the development of pedagogical articulations and bridges to help connect teachers, students, music, sociocultural context and other variables that surround the teaching realities. The PONTES approach does not intend to be a method. It is a patient and reflexive approach designed to help both music educators and their students to learn and love music. This book presents creative and articulate pedagogical strategies for teaching instrumental music, music appreciation, composition and music theory, for enhancing general music appreciation, and for organizing community and family music encounters where young and old sing and perform.

The PONTES approach defines six primary elements, qualities that accomplished musicians and music educators develop: they are Positive, Observant, Natural, Technical, Expressive, and Sensitive. Music educators demonstrate these elements and seek to elicit them from students at six different levels of expertise, ranging from novice to master. They trust that students aiming to be music teachers at each level possess the inherent ability to learn and perform music and pedagogy in ways that reflect these PONTES elements. PMEs learn to customize music pedagogy and match their lessons to the needs and goals of individual students, their families and peers, their schools and organizations, and their communities.

PMEs learn not only to teach musical disciplines and repertoires, but also to serve as articulators of music, who mediate music learning and appreciation. They will teach musical skills and attitudes to students at any level of expertise in any setting, whether in formal conservatories, in public and private schools, in community groups and recreation programs, or at home as members of families who make music together. The PME learns to combine academic training with personal experience to adjust curricula and devise bridges that will make music instruction work in the local context, and match the levels and interests of the students.

The PONTES approach is designed to accomplish the following:

a. Develop creative, reflective, and practical minds.

b. Apply bridging techniques in sensitive and practical ways.

c. Teach professionals to articulate musical disciplines and repertoires, while adapting to the local context to meet their students’ needs.

d. Apply mediation skills to projects and programs that will bring music into schools, clubs, parks, hospitals and living rooms, and articulate to the local community how music suits their situation (educational, artistic, recreational or assistance).

An articulated PONTES approach will prove effective for music educators interested in working with students at all musical levels, and from different sociocultural contexts. When you can bring more music into people’s lives, that is a wonderful thing.

Intended Audiences for This Book

This book is dedicated to the development of music teachers who can work in both formal and informal contexts. It may be used in university extension courses and continuous education programs that prepare music educators to direct and teach music in formal and informal settings. If there is some interest in preparing generalist teachers and pedagogues to introduce music as a regular subject in classrooms or helping the tasks of the music specialists, this book may be helpful as a supplemental text for methodology courses in general education, for methods courses in music education, or for graduate courses in curriculum development, and assessment of music learning and teaching. This book may also be of interest to doctoral students in the Humanities who are developing curricula for the education of music teachers that will prepare them to address issues of social justice and apply democratic values, both in the classroom and during community music projects. PMEs must seek to enhance both the musical and the social development of their students.

The PONTES approach offers an alternative and complementary agenda for graduate programs in music education, focusing on helping students learn how to articulate through music their needs and aspirations within their sociocultural context. Young music educators interested in pedagogical practices that are responsive to the musical and cultural backgrounds of their students must learn to think on their feet, find ways to modulate and transpose their teaching practices, and devise bridges that make lesson plans work in different settings. In the cosmopolitan setting of contemporary society, our mass media offer a continuous education that competes with what music educators have to offer. We must learn to adjust and adapt to different levels of accomplishment, different tastes, different types of teaching materials (CDs, DVDs, Internet, cell phones, movies, videos, musical instruments, IPods, IPads, tablets, music software, YouTube, etc.) and creative visions of what music is for.

Music education presents unique challenges. Teachers respect traditions and preserve musical heritage, while recognizing and promoting creative innovations. The PONTES approach teaches the music teacher to be reflexive, aware of the socio-cultural context, and able to match characteristics of the music repertoire to individual needs. This is necessary in order to design appropriate teaching and learning solutions for each situation. The PONTES approach is recommended for courses whose view of music teacher education is based on inquiry, reflective practice, and continual learning.

This book may be helpful for those who are interested in this continuous development of musically aware human beings, whether professionals or amateurs. Music teachers and community music leaders need to believe that every student has the right to learn music, no matter how difficult or how long the journey they must take. Courses aiming to prepare music teachers for this articulated work must likewise believe that every student teacher can learn how to be an articulated music teacher or a community music leader in several activities and programs organized by the society such as families, churches, hospitals, day care centers, clubs and recreational parks.

To that end, this