Jo Stijnen
Differentiated instruction in instrumental improvisation
Project description
Current music pedagogy strongly involves creative aspects of making music. Classical instrument pedagogy is still characterized by a tradition of score playing; creative methods are sometimes viewed with suspicion, both by pupils and teachers. The research aims to gain insight into learner characteristics that legitimize differentiated improvisation didactics with the maximum chance of gaining successful learning experiences.
Flow is considered a basic condition for a lived and authentic musical experience. The premise is that flow can be enhanced by optimally attuning the (improvisation) task to relevant student characteristics, i.c. personality traits and level of self-regulation, next to (musical) skill.
The bivariate model of musical creativity (Stijnen & Vervliet, 2017) challenges a classical vision of improvisation from discovery learning by centralizing temporal and cognitive task constraints. A quasi-experimental field study in three music schools is set up to find out the effect of these constraints on the flow experience, relative to the characteristics of the learner.
About Jo
Jo Stijnen (1973) studied learning and social psychology at KU-Leuven and additionally obtained master degrees in clarinet and composition at LUCA School of Arts.
His interests include musical learning processes and didactics. In his master thesis, he conducted research on musical sight-reading processes. This was followed by several research projects within the field of music education (cultural education in teacher training, learning and teaching styles, musical meaning and creative forms in instrument lessons).
He worked as a teacher both in general music education and composition and as a pedagogical supervisor. He is an experienced teacher trainer at LUCA School of Arts and the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp where he taught methods and psychology courses. He composed several, mainly educational works.
He is currently attached to the Flemish inspectorate of education where he monitors and encourages policy and teacher teams to engage in quality art education.
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