CHAMELEONS FILM PROJECT

A long-cherished and well-tended project has been completed: the artistic documentary about the instrumental and singing teachers who empathize with and adapt to every given situation: creative, communicative and flexible - like a chameleon.
A film about the variety of professional fields of instrumental and singing teachers and the many possible approaches to making music. Chameleons offers a look behind the scenes of making music with a contribution to diversity, inclusion and identity in instrumental and vocal pedagogy. How and where do the instrumental and vocal teachers actually work?

KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER PROJECTS

Knowledge transfer at the Art University Graz

Since the beginning of the 1980s, instrumental and vocal pedagogy (IGP) has developed as a separate course within music pedagogy. The growing number of chairs in the university sector, the further development of the curricula, increased scientific studies on instrumental and vocal pedagogy as well as a growing international scientific community in music education led to an increase in didactic and scientific publications and instrumental and vocal pedagogy was finally able to develop Establish it as an artistic, pedagogical and scientific subject. Furthermore, instrumental and vocal pedagogy has developed considerable dynamics through constant changes in the fields of practice in the last few decades. Above all, the cooperation with relevant neighboring disciplines such as music psychology, pedagogy, sociology and neuroscience and the interdisciplinarity that has grown from it have led to numerous paradigm shifts in the subject since the 1990s. "The teacher-centered master-student model is gradually dissolving [... | and the pedagogical discourse shifts from the teacher to the learner and from the musical product to the musical process." (Kruse-Weber & Marin, 2016, p. 159 ). So far, this rethinking has rarely found its way into practice or into music schools and instrumental training: Traditional forms of teaching and learning such as the “master-student relationship” are probably still predominant in instrumental and vocal lessons. There is no corresponding knowledge transfer that makes it possible to bridge existing knowledge barriers. The instrumental and vocal pedagogy stands as "action science" (Busch 2016, p. 11) in a complex field of tension between theory and practice. While, on the one hand, a “close connection between theory and practice” is seen in the subject, a rather one-sided practice postulate has been observed since the 1980s (Kruse-Weber 2018, p. 117).

In the years 2016-2018, the knowledge transfer project Network IGP was carried out at the Institute for Music Education in the Department of Instrumental and Vocal Education (IGP). The 12 participants in this knowledge transfer project, teachers from the University of Art in Graz, oversee the teaching practice and instrumental and vocal didactics. In addition to their work as lecturers at the university, many of the participants work at Styrian music schools, teach children, young people and adults, lead choirs, various ensembles or musical early education groups; they pursue various club activities and, last but not least, are on stage with their own artistic projects. So they act on the one hand as multipliers by conveying instrumental and vocal pedagogical expertise and on the other hand as cultural workers in Styria and in Austria. The project participants and their respective subject, teaching practice, thus form an interface between theory and practice within the music-training institutions in Styria.

The aim of this knowledge transfer project in the years 2016-2018 was to strengthen the professionalization and knowledge transfer process in the professional group of instrumental and vocal teachers. With the help of the network, the diverse knowledge - for example, the experience of the project participants, which is an important resource in addition to the findings from instrumental and vocal pedagogy research - should be brought together, passed on and further developed and used to benefit the training of instrument teachers. The focus was on the sustainable optimization of learning and teaching in the broad educational landscape of musicians and music teachers in order to meet the complex challenges in the professional fields. The project was characterized by an intensive didactic exchange and the testing of innovative, cooperative reflection principles. The results of the project show that the field of action of instrumental and vocal pedagogy must be based on symmetrical communication, respect and appreciation in order to enable knowledge transfer.

Knowledge transfer between Weiz Music School and Graz University of Arts

Due to its high relevance, the project participants of the IGP 2018 network decide to open up and continue the knowledge transfer project for the practice field of music schools. The follow-up project network IGP-Go is created. This follows the transfer of knowledge in the professional exchange between eight teachers from the University of Art Graz and 12 collaborative music school teachers from the Weiz music school (with director Josef Bratl). The IGP-Go network, including its scientific evaluation, will run until the end of 2021 in order to further develop and evaluate the findings for the relationship between theory and practice in instrumental and vocal lessons. In the mutual transfer of knowledge, the experience of the music teachers should increasingly flow into the training of instrumental and vocal teachers at the KUG, and the knowledge and attitudes of contemporary instrumental and vocal pedagogy should also increasingly be incorporated into the work of the music school staff. The aim is to make the interface between theory and practice in the IGP more permeable. Since the beginning of 2020, the teachers of the Art University Graz have been coming to the Music School Weiz to exchange experiences and reflect with the music school teachers on topics such as perception, interpretation and evaluation of lessons on the basis of videographed lesson sequences. By introducing innovative reflection tools inspired by the European university initiative The Innovative Conservatoire (ICON) for the further development of artistic education, the knowledge transfer between theory and practice is to be promoted in both directions. Another goal is to expand the teachers' scope for action and to gain new perspectives, as well as to strengthen their reflective skills. The experience of mutual appreciation is central here. Ultimately, we hope that the colleagues at the music school will experience even stronger team building, a differentiated sensitivity for the facets of communication and a higher level of job satisfaction. As a best practice model, this project could also gain importance for other collaborations. In the end, the music school teachers act as multipliers.

The IGP-Go network is a sub-project of a research cooperation of the Knowledge Transfer Center (WTZ) South, which is funded by the Austria Wirtschaftsservice Gesellschaft (aws) with funds from the National Foundation for Research, Technology and Development (Austria Fund). Both knowledge transfer projects are led by Prof. Silke Kruse-Weber. In the IGP-Go network, the two project employees Univ. Ass. Margareth Tumler and Sandra Macher.

Literature:
 
Busch, B. (2016). Basic knowledge of instrument pedagogy. A guide for studies and work. Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel.
 
Kruse-Weber, S. (2018). Instrumental education in the field of tension between theory and practice. Collaborative reflection by teachers in the music (high) school context. In W. Rüdiger (Ed.), Instrumental Pedagogy - How and Why? State of development and perspectives (pp. 107-139). Mainz: Schott.