Mellan klassrum och scen - en studie av ensembleundervisning på gymnasieskolans estetiska program

Sammanfattning: Singing and playing instruments in Swedish secondary schools follow a long
tradition, where playing in orchestras or singing in choirs are common historical
examples of ensemble activities. In the last decades ensemble playing and teaching
have undergone different changes, both in relation to musical practices at large, and
with regard to repertoire, use of instruments, technical equipment and not least the
philosophical and pedagogical ideas about music education.
The aim of this thesis is to get a deeper knowledge about contemporary classroom
ensemble in Swedish upper secondary schools. The research questions are:
What does the object of learning look like in classroom ensemble? How are objects
of learning in classroom ensemble legitimated?
The theoretical framework is inspired by Foucauldian discourse analysis where the
concept of discourse is used in an ecclectic way in order to grasp how ways of
thinking about music, music education, pedagogy and didactics inform the music
teachers and by that legitimizing different objects of learning.
Data has been collected by focus group interviews, where four groups of music
teachers participated, and by observing and interviewing three music teachers
teaching classroom ensemble. Data has been analyzed following Foucault’s
concepts of the event, the series, the regularity and the condition of possibility.
In the analysis, two discourses are found to permeate the practice of classroom
ensemble:
(i) the discourse on artistry, which articulates objects with relevance for the
performance (a concert, a show), where pupils try to simulate and implement an
informal music practice and, (ii) the discourse on schooling, which articulates
objects relating to schooling and education.
The results show that the performances play a major role in the teaching of
classroom ensemble, and as a result, what pupils learn is limited to what they are
playing during those performances. This leads to questions about what the pupils
learn by participating in such performances