Context and Teaching Practices
For this risk-taking task, I opted to explore the flipped learning model in my classroom. One of the stretches that I identified for myself was to implement more 21st Century Learning strategies into my curriculum and plan using backwards design. I conducted this risk with students at my music studio. I tried this framework with high school and adult students, to compare similarities and differences between the two age groups. By taking this risk, I was hopeful that there would be opportunities for incidental learning, which was another one of the stretches that I identified for myself in module one. I wanted learning to unfold on its own terms and to allow unplanned opportunities for creativity. This method of backwards planning helped me consider what goals I hoped each student would achieve out of the lesson. I was then able to better plan for the appropriate, scaffolded steps I could take to ensure that they could be successful during the process. I have been skeptical about trying flipped learning in music classes. So much of our learning in music involves performing and presenting in real time. This was a risk because if the students did not review the lesson content prior, they might become disengaged and unprepared for the in-lesson activities, which makes the experience less meaningful and effective. Taking this risk was a big change from our usual structure, and I feared that my students might feel unsupported or at a loss for what to do.
My goal is to model the same type of growth mindset that I expect from my students throughout this process. Modelling is, “a powerful way to make transparent the thinking process behind a skill.” (Miller, 2015). I want my students to recognize that failure in the classroom is encouraged and not something to be feared, as we can learn and grow from these experiences. I hope that through this experience, my students will be able to explore learning content through a deeper, critical lens and discover problem solving strategies.
At the music studio, lessons are half an hour long and once a week. I have students ranging from beginner piano to intermediate but for the purpose of this assignment, I worked with a grade 11 student who has been playing the instrument for four years, and an adult student who started with me this year. While the traditional classroom setting has a stronger focus on direct instruction followed by problem and inquiry-based learning activities and work period time, studio lessons are structured a little differently. There is not a lot of lesson preparation for me to do prior because my students play through the music they practiced that week, and then we go back and work through sections of the music together. Sometimes I demonstrate the more challenging musical passages for them, but mostly I provide constructive and positive feedback so that they can practice over the week and build upon their skills. In preparation for these lessons, I arranged to do a series of “video lessons” with my students.
The Process
I was upfront with my students and explained the reasoning for why I wanted to try out this risk. They know that I am completing my Master’s, as I really love to reinforce the idea that learning is a lifelong journey and that teachers are still students and learning too. I prepared my video lessons by going through the feedback notes I had given each student and walking them through their pieces. For my high school student, I assigned some music theory workbook pages for them to complete at the end of class. I stopped to explain concepts throughout my demonstrations and created places where my students could pause the video to try out that piano technique on their own instrument. Just like how our regular lessons are structured, I wanted to focus on demonstration and modelling so that my students could visually and aurally observe what I was doing, before applying it to their practice. Then I shared the video through Google Drive and had my students record themselves practicing the lesson concepts and send it back to me.
The Outcome: What Worked Well and What Did Not
After reviewing each of the videos that my students submitted, I was interested to see that several moments of learning successfully occurred. For my high school student, they were able to utilize the recording platform efficiently to showcase the placement of their hands and piano keys. They went through the order of their pieces, following along with my demonstrations and pausing where needed to work through more challenging sections. We are working on fostering a growth mindset with my high school student, as they can get down on themselves sometimes when they do not get the music right away. During the in-person lessons, they often look to me for reassurance but because I was not there in the room as they were recording, they had to work through the music independently with the pre-recorded notes I had given them. They spent most of the lesson working through the practical aspects and dedicated the last five minutes of the half-hour class to their theory work. This ended up being not enough time for them to complete the activities and they appeared to be a little frazzled when they had to leave the activities partially completed.
The video lesson with my adult student had similar results, with a few more technology bumps. My high school student used a laptop to film themselves, while my adult student used their phone. They were moving their phone between resting it on the side of their piano, showing me a bird eye view of their keys, or sometimes pointing it at the sheet music. This worked but may have gone a little smoother if they had access to a larger device to leave in one place. My adult student depends less on reassurance and works well independently. They managed their time well as they worked through their video lesson. Something that I wished I could give them was feedback in real time when they had a question or would wonder out loud about a realization they had.
Conclusion and Next Steps
Revising my teaching and planning frameworks through practice and reflection was a stretch that I had identified for myself in module two. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome of these flipped learning video lessons. I expected the technology to be a bigger issue, but my students have experienced two months of online learning earlier this year when Ontario was in a lockdown, and they have adjusted to using an online video platform. While in-person lessons for music are certainly more ideal, we have since learned that it is feasible to move learning online. Through the flipped learning model, there were more opportunities for my students to become active participants in the learning and draw their own conclusions.
If I were to do this again, I would provide a suggested agenda framework for my high school student to ensure that they have enough time to complete the theory work. Suggesting these transition times will help them complete the tasks in a timely manner. I might also ask my students to complete a self-reflection at the end of the lesson. Miller (2015) suggests that by having students reflect and assess themselves, they can review the experience and reach an understanding of what happened. I felt like I had “missed out” on some of my students’ incidental learning moments because I was not there in the moment to comment or provide timely feedback. Miller (2015) encourages educators to give effective feedback that is not overwhelming to students. I made notes of the feedback I wanted to give my students in their next lesson, while trying to keep it applicable and concise.
I think that through modification, I could find more ways to make this type of flipped learning more “personable.” Perhaps the solution here may be to implement flipped learning into our classes occasionally, so that the majority of lessons are still conducted in-person. I think this method of learning could even be used in the future if my students have to miss an in-person lesson due to illness or rescheduling.
Overall, flipped classroom models allow educators to differentiate and personalize the learning content, while engaging with learners on a more personal basis. Teachers still deliver the content but are no longer the students' primary focal point of conversation. Rather, they are learning as a community, reflecting on their own understandings, and justifying their thinking. I liked that because my students had full control over their own video lesson, they were able to work to their learning strengths and identify their needs. Furthermore, teachers can reuse their prepared content and expand their teaching resource collection. They can invest more time building upon what they have created once they prepare the foundations.
As Mazzarotto (2021) described, promoting deeper critical and creative thinking will encourage students to have both personal and academic growth throughout the learning process. It was very rewarding for me to see my students taking more of a lead in their learning and exercising metacognition practices. Taking these risks in my classroom led to opportunities for inquiry-based learning and unplanned learning. My students utilized critical thinking skills to apply it to the task at hand. When we embrace change, we can develop new abilities and skill sets. This experience has inspired me to continue being open to risk-taking in the classroom.
References
Mazzarotto, M. (2021). Avant-Garde as Pedagogy: Redefining the College Classroom. International Journal of Pedagogy & Curriculum, 28(2), 35–50.
Miller, A. K. (2015). Freedom to fail: How do I foster risk-taking and innovation in my classroom? ASCD.
Simonton, D. K. (2015). Thomas Edison’s creative career: The multilayered trajectory of trials, errors, failures, and triumphs. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 9(1), 2–14. https://doi-org.proxy.queensu.ca/10.1037/a0037722
Wintrol, K., & Jerinic, M. (2013). Rebels in the classroom: creativity and risk-taking in honors
pedagogy. Honors in Practice, 9, 47+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A327357481/AONE?u= queensulaw&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=37a4a1eb
Kingston, March 2020
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