Unfolding Human Potential: Dalcroze Eurythmics 9782940310234

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EDITIONS PAPILLON

Mary BRICE

Unfolding human potential An exploration of the teaching of Eurythmics In the light of the theory of Multiple Intelligences of Howard Gardner and the Socio-Cognitive approach of Britt-Mari Barth

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Editions Papillon

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank The teachers at the lnstitut }aques-Oalcroze, at whose classes I was present so often, and hopefully, discreetly! The teachers, students, parents and children of the Institute for their responses to the questionnaires; Marie-Laure Bachmann who supervised my thesis for the dip/6me superieur at the lnstitut }aques-Oalcroze, and who was often able to resolve weeks of confusion with· one single luminous phrase! Catherine Cancer, Martine Jaques-Dalcroze and Nicolas Sordet for their much appreciated help at the computer; Marie-Laure Bachmann, Malou Hatt-Arnold, Isabelle, Hirt, Martine Jaques-Dalcroze, Rose-Helene Perreau de Launay, Mireille Weber-Balmas and Claire Wirz for their corrections of the French text; Christine Ritchie for her drawings and her indispensable collaboration and assistance with the English text, and Nicola Spillman for proof-reading the English text; Britt-Mari Barth, of the lnstitut Superieur de Pedagogie, Paris, who worked with Howard Gardner and who supervised my thesis for its presentation for the dip/6me de

/'aptitude de la recherche en education; Mireille Weber-Balmas, who welcomed me to her children's classes, allowing me to share her experience, her musicality and the richness of her teaching. Finally, my special thanks to Sandra Nash and the Dalcroze Association in Australia, for having made possible the privilege of coming to Geneva in 1997 to study at the

lnstitut Jaques-Dalcroze.

All photographs were taken by the author lnstitut Jaques-Oa/croze, Geneva, 2002 lnstitut Superieur de Pedagogie, Paris, 2004

4

I

I

Table of contents

Foreword ........................................................

7

Preface ..........................................................

9

Introduction ..................................................... What cloes the practice of Eurythmics give? .............................

11 11

From where cloes a successful pedagogy come? ..........................

15

Chapter I : What is intelligence?

19

.....................................

Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences ............................ Eight characteristic signs of an intelligence ............................ Seven forms of intelligence ....................................... Is there an artistic intelligence? .................................... Can we speak of creativity as an intelligence? ......................... Are there links discernible among the intelligences? .................... Summary ..................................................... Chapter 11: The pedagogical consequences of the theory of multiple intelligences .................................... Pedagogy for diversity .............................................. Teaching: an act of mediation ........................................

22 23 25 28 28 29 30

The role of the teacher ............................................. Evaluation ....................................................... Summary ...................................................... A meeting between Emile Jaques-Dalcroze and Howard Gardner ............

31 33 35 36 39 .40 .41

Chapter Ill: Methodology of Dalcroze Eurythmics ....................... Learning with the body ............................................

.45 .47

The methodology of Dalcroze Eurythmics: Physical sensation/lived experience, intuitive creation ..................... The role of the imagination .......................................

50 57

Becoming aware/conscious repetition .................................. The role of music, of improvisation ................................. Analysis ........................................................ Assimilation, Transfer to another context ................................ Evaluation .......................................................

59 62 66 68 71

Summary: A successful pedagogy .....................................

75

5

,.J.. ~r" 4.1 .. 4

Chapter IV: Image and imagining

....................................

79

Chapter V: Unfolding intelligence .................................... Parameters of the research .......................................... Lesson I ................................................ Lesson II .......................................................

97

~t.:.-: . ;,_,.~:

I,

6

99 '. .......

101 105

Lesson Ill .......................................................

113

Lesson IV

119

......................................................

Lesson V .......................................................

125

Lesson VI

131

......................................................

Reflections on the Lessons .........................................

141

Chapter VI: Conclusion ...........................................

143

Annex .........................................................

153

Bibliography ....................................................

159

te

:t

Foreword

Emile Jaques-Dalcroze was one of those persons for whom the multiplicitv of intelligence, in the sense of Howard Gardner's terms, functions naturally. Its corollary is curiosity and the multi-directional attention given to these intelligences (or their weakness) in the context either of artistic achievements or of the everyday activities of those with whom he mixed. Among his own intelligences was the committment to create and to perfect, without respite, a system of education whose object would be the emergence and the co-ordinated training of all sensorial, imaginative and active faculties of the child or the adult, in any learning situation. To achieve this, he called on what was, because of its malleability and its capacities of integration, to him the most powerful tool: musical rhythm. The immediate action of musical rhythm on our auditive and muscular fibres is only one of its powers: it addresses itself as much to analytical thought as to contemplation and to physical sensation as to one's deepest emotions. Today, one fears that the majority of our fellow human beings, ably assisted by technology, succeed in believing themselves relieved of the obligation their intelligence(s). connections

to actively develop

Mary Brice is to be commended for having been able to establish

between two personalities who, although living a century apart, were pas-

sionately determined to affirm a range of human intelligences and offer the possibility for their development

in those individuals who possess them.

The profession of rythmician, in knowing

according to the methods of Jaques-Dalcroze, consists

how to create links. In her book Mary Brice achieves this, and as well,

offers us, in a way that is personal and illustrated with numerous examples, interesting meeting points between two works which, each one illuminating

the other, will cer-

tainly be of great assistance to the pedagogy of tomorrow. Marie-Laure Bachmann

Directrice of the lnstitut Jaques-Dalcroze Geneva, July 2003

7

Dedication With gratitude and affection I dedicate this book to Mireille Weber-Balmas, for the wonderful

teacher training I received, for the excep-

tional qualities of her own teaching which inspired my research, and for her precious friendship; Alice Chalifoux,

who first introduced

me to Eurythmics

as a harpist, and who

remains my mentor, friend and a "second grandmother"; Malou Hatt-Arnold,

who welcomed me to her home in Geneva and who supported

and encouraged me with immense generosity; Mark Bates, whose courage and faith have been a continual

inspiration to me, and

who lost his fight against cancer 15th October, 2003. I am privileged to have shared his life. My brothers and sisters, and my large and extended family, whose humour, exuberance and individuality

make me proud to belong to them;

And to my mother and father. Thank you, mum and dad.

Preface

I have been interested in the research of Howard Gardner for more than 20 years. As a Masters student at the Australian Catholic University in 1990, I used Gardner's work on the two hemispheres of the brain to investigate learning experiences which could engage the right hemisphere and create a better balance between the two hemispheres. At the same time, I was teaching 7-8 year old children at a primary school, and during the year I developed methods of working which engage the brain's right hemisphere to teach/learn subjects generally taught through the analytical capacities of the left hemisphere, for example, Mathematics. While there is current on-going scientific debate as to how the brain functions, we have become accustomed to ascribing to its two hemispheres differing abilities or modes of functioning. The success of this year of research and experimentation convinced me of the necessity of finding teaching methods which encourage students to become responsible for their own learning through their personal engagement and intellectual achievement. It seemed to me to be vital to engage all a human person's aptitudes, and not favour only those relating to the left hemisphere of the brain. I was looking for a way of teaching by which my students would be engaged in their learning and could experience the satisfaction of learning efficiently, by using all the capacities at their disposal. I was searching to find a balance between the "left brain" methods of my childhood which brought me little joy or sense of achievement, and the extreme liberty of the 1970s where the limits were so vast that students no longer knew what was expected of them, and even more importantly, what to expect of themselves. A short time later, I accepted a position as music specialist in a multi-cultural primary school, where the problems related to language and cultural traditions were so numerous that music lessons were synonymous with recreation, and the children's behaviour unacceptable. At the same time, by a series of coincidences, I came into contact with Eurythmics. Despite the little I knew, I began to introduce aspects of this methodology into my teaching. What happened at this time was impressive: the children looked forward to the music lesson and were disappointed when it fini§hed; they began to treat music with respect, as a "serious" subject; their teachers noticed an improvement in their learning of other subjects - both in attitude and achievement; their behaviour, in class and on the playground,

improved

in ways that were

unexpected and remarkable. In Geneva to obtain the licence in Eurythmics at the lnstitut }aques-Dalcroze, I experienced personally the pleasure of doing it. While

assisting at children's

classes, I

9

observed its efficiency for music learning. I had found a pedagogy which was joyful and pleasurable, while at the same time demanding serious work frorn the children. I began then to look

for theoretical

Eurythrnics, analyse its construction

structures

which

and explain its efficiency.

could

clarify

Dalcroze

The theory of Multiple

Intelligences of Howard Gardner seemed to me to throw light on what was already a personal conviction.

In parallel, the Socio-Cognitive

approach to learning and media-

tion, theorised by Britt-Mari Barth, makes concrete Gardner's theory by placing it in the practical context of teaching and learning. This study began with a survey of teachers, professional students, parents and children at the lnstitut }aques-Dalcroze at Geneva. I wanted to know, firstlv, if my experiences of Eurythmics corresponded to those of others. I wanted to learn what Eurythmics brings to music education, and to the human person. Are there benefits which extend far beyond the musical sphere when one practices Eurythmics? On the following pages is a selection of responses to my questionnaire, dimensional

presented in images to correspond with the multi-

nature of Eurythmics and with the theory of Gardner. This presentation

situc1testhe question, From where does a successful pedagogy come?

Introduction

What does the practice of Eurythmics1 give?. Some reflections by those - Eurythmics teachers, instrumental teachers, teachers of improvisation, students at the lnstitut }aques-Dalcroze, parents, children - who know or who practise Eurythmics:

Eurythmics gives me a deeper knowledge of music from within; the possibility to "live" it organically. v\/hat is at the beginning a cerebral knowledge suddenly becomes an art incarnated and perceptible, not only by means of one faculty, but through experience gained from the muscles, the articulations, the nerves, which give life to my body. Dancer, Eurythmics teacher

Eurythmics gives musical balance and develops the ear thanks to the concentration it demands. To know above all how to listen. Eurythmics develops the imagination, awareness of self and awareness of others. Parent ! love Eurythmics! We have fun while we learn music!

Child

Eurythmics gives me the capacity to adapt to my students, to their reactions, their difficulties, their ideas, etc... it gives me much pleasure to transmit the love of music in ways that are passionate one is never bored

1. La Rythmique is translated differently, throughout the English speaking world: in these pages I use the word; Eurythmics; some countries speak of Rythmics.

Eurythmics teacher

I notice that music is learned in a holistic and instinctive way before entering into detail: in other words, the whole body before the fingers! To feel and perceive before analysing. Piano teacher

11

_J

C

tv1y body was the instrument of my musicality and of my creativity; the intellect 1vas hrought into play afterwards, and enriched this spontaneous and intuitive experience. Bamboo flute teacher I adore Eurvthmics

I

I can't imagine Wednesdays vvithout Eurythmics classes! Child

I think that Eurythmics offers the possibility of experiencing

music with the whole body, of learning the theory of music in games, of experiencing the pleasure of moving and singing together and of enlarging one's horizon by the rliscovery of a varied musical repertoire. Parent

Eurythmics gives students musical notions that are living stability of rhythm and tempo and adaptability to various situations. Eurvthrn ics teacher 11

11 1

Eurythmics has given me a sound sense of tempo and of rhythm, the awareness of phrasing in my body and the experience of the sound that moves forward in space. Singer, Eurythmics teacher

The approach to the theory of music through the body is that which gives the deepest integration of rhythm and pitch. Because it precedes the practice of an instrument the child's musical experience is enjoyable and engaging. Parent

The great power of Eurythmics is to allow one to experience, to feel, to live the music before analysing it; it forms musicians by developing the ear, the melodic sense and the sense of rhythm and harmony; it gives security to performance through the acuity and sensitivity of one's hearing and listening. Eurythmics teacher

I really like Eurythmics because I like singing, I like our teacher and I love moving! Child To be able to learn through active participation, without being passive, allows me to assimilate more efficiently the different musical concepts. Student, Professional classes, l)D Geneva

Eurythmics has the power to allow the student to be entirely permeated with music. He or she does not learn it reluctantly

- he/she lives it, sings it, dances it. Eurythmics teacher

My child experiences music with her whole body. By teaching theory through Eurythmics, the theory is less difficult, more enjoyable. As well, she has become much more self-confident. Parent

Eurythmics allows me to be irreverent in other words, to envisage the possibility of "playing" with music rather than staying at a respectful distance. 11

11

-

Improvisation teacher

I really like Eurythmics because I have the impression that I'm learning lots of things and having a lot of fun at the same time. 1

Child

The practice of Eurythmics has given my child more discipline in his school work; it has given him the opportunity to be confronted by problems and to solve them, and the experience of individual as well as group work. Parent

Eurythmics allows for deeper learning and assimilation of music because it is based on diverse movement experiences that have been really lived it calls on muscular memory. It also allows for a visual representation more concrete than any other pedagogy because it places musical time in relation with space travelled. 11

11

;

Dancer, Eurythmics teacher

13

The human body is an orchestra in which the various instruments - muscles, nerves, ears and eyes - are directed by two simultaneous conductors: the soul and the mind.

From where does a successful pedagogy come? Some preliminary considerations:

It seems to me that the above comments give Eurythmics a remarkable (and at times inexplicable) efficiency as a method of music education. Could the global sense of well being given by Eurythmics explain this success? Could it facilitate the learning of music? And does it suffice as proof of the efficiency of Eurythmics as a teaching method? How does one judge the efficiency of a teaching method? Is it successful if: - the students are able to commit their lessons to memory? - the students I isten attentively to al I the teacher says? - the students obey all directives? the students beh;:ive themselves? - the students do not speak in class? - the students give the correct answers? - the students achieve high grades? - the students succeed at their examinations? - the students show themselves to be "intelligent"? Or, is a teaching method successful if: - the student has fun? - the student expresses him or herself freely? - the student learns by discovering everything him/herself? - the student learns by play? Between these two extremes, there are, I believe, scientifically based criteria which throw light on the intelligence and development of children, and on their ways of learning. The criteria I propose have been inspired by my extensive reading of human cognitive and neurological development, and by the writings of contemporary psychologists and pedagogues. However, it is my reflection on my 20 years' experience in education which underpins the list of the qualities and elements I now consider to be signs of a "successful pedagogy". I believe that a successful pedagogy must give students the means: - onearning with confidence, efficiency and permanence, - of acquiring the body of knowledge particular to the subject studied, - of manipulating and employing with ease all concepts pertinent to the domain in question, - of applying knowledge already acquired to other contexts, - of resolving problems and of creating new problems to solve, - of recognising and using while learning all their intellectual capacities (including

15

those of the senses), of evaluating their work in a positive and constructive context, of engaging in the process of learning with enthusiasm, cur-iosity, confidence and -

JOY, of being involved equally at the level of the intellect, the emotions, the mind and the body, of knowing that they have learned and what they have learned; of being able to say not only I know, but I understand, and of taking pleasure, finally, in their learning.

Education for understanding!

11

ln such education",

writes PnJfessor Howard Gardner

of Harvard University, "students are not content to regurgitate what they have been taught, but instead, use concepts and competences acquired at school to uncover new problems or undertake original projects, thus revealing that they have really (italics in 2. Cardner H.,

Les ,,,telligences multiples, Retz, l'aris. 19%, p. 191.

text) understood and that they do not simply reproduce their lessons" 2 . The Socio-Cognitive approach to learning and mediation, theorised by Professor BrittMari Barth of the lnstitut Superieur de Pedagogie, Paris, embodies this vision of education for comprehension.

"Socio-Cognitive

mediation_ .. aims to empower students to partici-

pate in an intellectual project of sense construction, by a process of conceptualisation, l. BARTH B-M.. "Enseigner et apprendre dans la perspective d'une approche par competences", Conference a l'Universite de Sherbrooke, October 2003, p. 1. 4. B-1RTH B-M., "Questions a B-M. Barth", in EPS 1/n° 114, 2003, p. 5.

and to become conscious of the possibility of transferring these tools to future learning"

3.

Instead of telling children what they must understand, this approach seeks to create a culture in which they can participate authentically armed with specific tools which make them capable of understanding by themselves. 4 1

Does an art such as music deserve this quality of education?

It seems sometimes

that Western society devalues the arts. We have created and installed a culture of productivity, where achievements are valued according to their usefulness. Where then is the place for what is considered

as a leisure activity?

Work must be quantifiable.

Schools, as well, must be accountable for the use of their time:

The school regards what is useful, efficient and serious. On the one hand it must reconcile the process of artistic creation with norms that are measurable 1 quantifiable. On the other hand regardless of one's view of the arts for a society which aspires to the most profitable productivity in money terms the arts represent the superfluous a luxury, the useless a vacuum; they represent evasion into the imagination, into sensual pleasure. In a society whose dominant values are work, accountability and efficiency, art can only come second. 5 1

1

1

1

5. PuJASP. and

1

J.,Une education artistique pour taus?, Eres UNGARO

Publications, Ramonville Saint-Agne, 1999, p. 23.

6. Dousn-BLAZY P. cited in ibidem, p. 140.

I claim, however, that artistic education well clone gives students "a balanced education by cultivating

capacities that traditional

teaching is not always able to develop:

creativity and imagination, but also curiosity, the artistic sense and the power of observation"6. In their book, Une education pour taus?, the authors Pujas and Ungaro quote the reasons given by the Conservatoires of France for which artistic practice is fundamental in children's education:

-

it has a positive influence on their development, contributing on one hand to their motor skills, and on the other; to a balance between the construction of conceptual thought and the development of the irnagination, it allows the chi/cl lo engage in the act of creation and its specific logic, it develops a range of capacities vvhich give the child greater competence tn other academic disciplines: attention, concentration, memorisation, relating, inventing and using logic, and communication.7

7. ibidem, p. 140.

Perhaps a reductionist view of the arts may be related to, and have its origin in, the understanding of intelligence

adhered to by Western society. The professions inspiring

respect are frequentlv I hose of the banker, the lawyer, the doctor; in other words, scientific domains. Would a society which values this kind of success give equal respect to the dancer, the painter, the musician? We need to reflect seriously on what competences, performances and t,1lents to which we attach value. All human activity uses at least one intellectual gence to adapt itself to

c1 particular

capacity

8.

It is the nature of intelli-

context, through which one's intellectual capacities

are engaged changed and developed. Given the rich diversity of natural human abili"When one thinks of the immensity of human potential today wasted in a society me, to commit

oneself to pedagogical

right to be integrated in educational tal disciplines"

10 .

practice which

9

oi the words "intelligence" and "intellectual capacity". I am avvare that we are not

ties, it would seem neither necessary nor logical to favour one over the other. which honours only a narrow range of human talents"

S. Throughout these p,1ges I dclil.H::'rotelv alternate my use

it is indispensable, it seems to accords artistic education

the

curricula "to the same degree as other fundamen-

In order for this to happen, it is necessary to find theoretical frames

used to thinking of the talent of an artist as corning from his or her intellect. This term is generally reserved for nalytical or scientific thought. Gardner's theory justifies the approrriation by non-scientists of the powers of the intellect'

which are able to bring their relevence to artistic education. It is equally important that pedagogical practice influence theory formulation. frame builds a bridge between theory and practice.

Hence, a conceptual

pedagogical

9. G,,RDNERH ., Les intelligences multiples, Retz, Paris, 1996, p, 167. 10. TRAUTMANN C., cited in PUJASP, and UNGARO)., Une

In this book I will:

education artistique pour taus!, Editions Eres,

-

question the traditional culture

concept of intelligence

and our preferred education

which founds our society, our

system. I choose an alternative

concept

based on the research of Professor Howard Gardner, of Harvard University. -

describe and analyse Dalcrozian

methodology

in the light of other psychological

and pedagogical theories in order to understand the nature of Eurythmics, and the elements contributing on the theory of Multiple

to its significance and its effectiveness. For this I lean Intelligences

of Gardner

and the Socio-Cognitive

approach of Barth. -

describe by way of example the empiric research I conducted classes at the /nstitut )aques-Dalcroze, taken as illustrations

of Dalcrozian

in the children's

Geneva; analyse lessons or lesson extracts pedagogy, and place them within the para-

meters of the theories of Gardner and Barth. -

situate Dalcrozian submitting

pedagogy within

the context of general education,

and by

it to the same demands and constraints that I would impose on any

teaching method worthy of the name, accord to Eurythmics the credibility

that it

merits. -

Furthermore, I present a pedagogy which engages the intellectual,

physical and

Ramonville Saint-Agne, 1999, p. 141.

emotional capacities of the students, calling on those that are innate and developing those that are not as evident. I believe that the power of Eurythmics is not only to engc1ge the Multiple "intention 11. B.--\CH;\-\,--\Ni'. 1\1-L., La rvthmiquc faques-

Oalcroze: une education par la rnusique et pour la rnusique, La Br1connlere SA, Neuchatc,I, 7lJR-l, p. 18. ttitle in English: Oalcroze Tudav: An Education rhrough and Into /vlusin.

Intelligences

to learn" (Barth), while

of the students, but equally,

privileging

kinaesthetic

their

sensation and lived

experience as reference points. Finally, I underline the fact that "in assigning to musical rhythm the twin functions of drawing out individual

potential and drawing one into the subtle world

of music, Dalcroze would turn Eurythmics not only into an invaluable for education

in general, but also into a vital and particularly

Music Education"

11 .

resource

rich device for

Chapter I : What is intelligence?

The chess player, the virtuoso or the athlete Are they ''intelligent"? If they are, why do our intelligence tests Fail to detect this intelligence? And if they are not intelligent, What is it that allows them to accomplish Such extraordinary performances? Why does the contemporary meaning Of the word "intelligence" Leave aside such vast domains Of human activity? Howard Gardner

How does Western society define intelligence? Here are some customary theories about intelligence whose validity one may question: Look after it carefu Ily - this is the one - There is a single, intellectual capacity, called "genethat counts! ral intelligence". It is used to resolve all problems, regardless of their nature. ~ - One inherits intelligence, and one's intelligence is { ~r determined by heredity. Human beings are born in possession of a certain intelligence received \ ' through their genetic patterning. Intelligence is not GO a capacity that can be developed: in the same way that one may inherit blue eyes, one inherits intelli(j gence. Either one is, or one is not, intelligent. - To be intelligent means that one succeeds at all activities. If one does not appear intelligent in one domain, it is very unlikely that one will be intelligent in another. - Logical, analytical and scientific thought represent the highest level of intellectual activity. - It is possible to measure intelligence with precision. The most reliable means is by standardised pen and paper tests, known as "I.Q. tests". What place does the chess player have in such conceptions of intelligence? The virtuoso, the athlete - where do they fit?

t,,J·

l

About fifteen years ago, I had a violin student, a small boy of six years old. For three years I tried to teach him to play the violin, but from the beginning he had great difficulty. Even to hold the instrument correctly was a constant effort; as was remembering finger placement, identifying notes and rhythms. He could not repeat a rhythm nor reproduce a note that had been played to him. He could not memorise a piece of music, nor play it without hesitating or making many mistakes. As his teacher, I felt that I had tried everything to help him, without success. His father was an artist, a painter. He mounted regular exhibitions of his work, for which I always received an invitation. He was well known and respected and his reputation was widespread. I admired him enormously; I was proud to be considered one of his friends, and especially to be counted amongst the small number of persons invited to the opening of his exhibitions. I own two of his works, and they are very precious to me. One day, at the end of a violin lesson that had been particularly problematic, the mother of my student asked me if we could discuss her son. She was aware that he was not progressing and she didn't know what she could do. During the discussion I asked her if her son also had difficulties at school, if he had mastered reading, for example, and if in general he succeeded well at school.

21

She told me then that in fact this was not so, and that according to his teachers her son had significant learning problems. It had been suggested that he have remedial and psychological help. It was even possible that he may have to repeat his current school year (for the second time). His mother was truly distressed and in despair; I listened to ru

her share the anguish she had for her son for more than one hour. Finally, she confided:

When I reflect I shouldn't be surprised by this. You know, my husband was ' slow" at school. He didn't even finish his schooling; in any case, he'd have failed. So, as you see, history repeats itself - my son resembles him 1

Even today, as I recount this story, I remember vividly the shock I received then. I only knew the father of my student as someone very gifted whom I admired. I had no lens of failure on him. I had no concept of him as someone who had not succeeded. He must surely have spent all his school life labelled "not intelligent", and yet he had become a gifted painter, known and respected by all. Listening to all his wife told me, particularly in the context of the learning difficulties I personally had to confront with her son, urged me to ask myself, What does being intelligent mean? It seems to me that Western society values certain capacities at the expense of others.

1. Howard Gardner discusses the cultural bases of intelligence in Frames of Mind, Fontana Press, London, I '!83, p. 4.

2. The 1.Q. test was proposed in 1912 by W. Stern. It is calculated in the following way: mental age chronological age x 100.

3. For the information which follows, I rely heavily on Frames of Mind, Fontana Press, London, 1983, by Howard Gardner. 4. Howard Gardner is currently Professor at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. See Bibliography for a list of his writings used in this work.

There exist some cultures in whose vocabulary the word intelligence is not even found. For other civilisations, the notion of intelligence could mean obedience, or the ability to navigate by the stars, or the gift of healing, or the ability to learn hundreds of dances traditional to the culture 1 . A culture or a civilisation defines its own notion of intelligence, and not necessarily a universal notion. What, then, is our definition of intelligence? The traditionally accepted understanding of intelligence is well illustrated by the intelligence test developed in 1905 by Binet and Simon. This test was the response, first proposed by Binet, to the need to assess the likelihood of primary school children to succeed at school. Thus was developed a test to measure the intellectual quotient, called the 1.Q. test 2 . This test demonstrates the concept of a uniform and "monodimensional" (word used by Howard Gardner) intelligence, and claims to predict academic success with precision. It favours one mental faculty which is operational across diverse contexts and problems, that is, a single problem-solving faculty. In measuring the analytical, logical and mathematical aptitudes of the individual by means of short-answer questions, the I.Q. test certainly privileges those who are at ease with this kind of test. It also contains cultural bias, and assumes an advanced level of reading and comprehension. How can we justify the fact of reducing the capacities of the human being, so rich and so varied, to one single test of assessment? The Theory of Multiple Intelligences of Professor Howard Gardner

3

The Theory of Multiple Intelligences developed by Howard Gardner

4

is based on a

multi-dimensional concept of intelligence. It recognises that there are numerous facets of thought and suggests a broad range of intellectual capacities which the human being

receives from his or her parents and from the culture in which he m she lives. They may all, however, evolve and be continual Iv developed. Intellectual capacities (or intelligences) take form and are expressed through symbolic systems, for example gesture, numbers, musical notation, and written or spoken language. The human person expresses his or her experience and thought by means of each of these systems. The development of intelligence can thus be thought of as the ability to master these symbolic systems and to use them efficiently. Howard Gardner proposes the following definition of intelligence:

An intelligence [is} a biopsychological potential to process information that can be activated in a cultural setting to solve problems or create products that are of value in a culture. 5 According to this definition, an intelligence is not expressed out of a cultural context.

S. GARONER H., Intelligence /1.eframed,Basic Books, N.Y., 1999, p. 34.

The development and the realisation of an intelligence depend on the values of the culture and the opportunities available to individuals in that culture. Equally significant in the development of an intelligence is the individual pe1·son's motivation and the decisions he or she makes. Defining intelligence as the potential to solve problems or create products enlarges the field of human intellectual competences and includes capacities otherwise considered irrelevant to intelligence. And, therefore:

The intelligences are potentials or tendencies which are realised or not according to the cultural context in which they are found. Intelligence, or the intelligences, are always an interaction between biological tendencies and the learning opportunities existing in the given cultures. 6

6. GARDNER H., Les intelligences multiples, Retz, Paris, 1996, p. 182

What are the human competences which correspond to these definitions of Gardner? Eight characteristic signs of an intelligence

Gardner called on the biological sciences, logical analysis, developmental psychology and on traditional psychological research in order to establish characteristic signs of an intelligence. He then made various tests to finalise the eight following criteria:

1. Possible isolation in case of brain damage Following some kinds of brain damage, individuals may become aphasic. They do not, however, lose their ability to sing. If a faculty is destroyed, or not destroyed, in isolation, following brain damage, its relative autonomy seems probable. The composer Maurice Ravel for example, became aphasic. His intuitive musical abilities were preserved, but he lost those abilities relating to musical written and oral expression, since these aptitudes rely on linguistic intelligence more significantly than on musical intelligence.

7

2. The existence of marginal intelligences and exceptional individuals There are idiot savants, prodigies and other exceptional individuals who show a highly developed skill in one area but not in any other. Prodigies are generally

7. cf. VERDEAU-PAILLES J. et al., La « troisieme oreille" et la pensee musicale, France Editions ).-M. Fuzeau SA, 1995.

J .

~·

exceptionally gifted in one single domain. The other side of this criterion is that if

QJ CJ

C QJ

cJJ

ther·e is one intellectual capacity that is notably absent, this confirms "negatively"

:Jo

that intelligence. Autistic children can show outstanding ability in one selected

C

Jr·ea, whereas their performances in others are at best mediocre or even retarded.

.

I

r,;

.r.

:s

3. A key operation or a set of key operations An intelligence effects one or several core operations which allow it to manipulate various types of information. The ability to memorise with ease a series of gestures, for example, would be one of the core operations of kinaesthetic intelligence. In mcler to indicate or prove that they are distinct, it is important to identify these core operations in terms of their neurological

founclc1tiuns aml to Ix-,,able tu sepcHate

them from others.

I t j

4. A distinct developmental

history history which can be traced

Jnd mapped by looking at normal individuals, as well JS those who are gifted. The course of development is very important to know for those involved in education, as it is their task to be able to use and to modify this development during the learning process. All parents would be able to identify the stages, from babbling to mature oral expression, which mark the acquisition of language in their children.

5. Evolutionary history and plausibility An intelligence

must be able to retrace the roots of its evolution

and localise its

ancestors, including those aptitudes shared with other species. It is possible, for example, that diverse aspects of musical intelligence can be found among other 8.

GARDNER

H.,

species, but are only present in entirety in human beings 8 .

Frames of 1\1ind, Fontana

Press, London, 1983, p. 116.

6. Support from experimental psychology By using methods particular to experimental psychology it is possible to examine the relative autonomy of an intelligence, to ascertain which tasks are hindered or not, and which tasks change or not within given contexts. It is quite possible, for example, to concentrate on a conversation while walking

in the street with a

friend, since linguistic and spatial intelligences are distinct. It is much more difficult, however, to be engaged in a verbal exchange if one is driving a car, since driving uses linguistic intelligence, already solicited by the conversation, for reading road signs.

7. Support from psychometric procedures If we analyse standardised tests (I.Q. test for example), it is possible to see a correlation between the scores gained for groups of questions which test a certain aptitude, and much less correlation

amongst those questions testing a different

aptitude. This seems to point to the autonomy of different intellectual capacities.

8. The possibility of encoding in a symbolic system Any intellectual

capacity must be incarnated in human culture. The representa-

tion and communication

24

' t

An intelligence must have a distinct developmental

of knowledge is transmitted through symbolic systems,

for example, language, numbers, gesture, musical notation. An intelligence

must

therefore be able to be encoded symbolically.

Seven forms of intelligence Howard Gardner proposes at present approximately

nine forms of intelligence, each

of which conforms to the criteria described above. For this work I am referring only to the first seven of them of intelligence.

It is quite possible that future research will identify even more forms

9.

The precise number of intelligences

research is continually

is not important,

since scientific

evolving. It is, however, vital to be aware that

Rigour in reasoning is not reserved for mathematics. There is therefore no reason to priotise the intelligences or to limit their action to specific domains. :o The seven intelligences

defined by Gardner, and with which

research.

I work, are the follo-

wing, and each of them corresponds to the eight criteria described above. 1. Logical-Mathematical who manipulate

Intelligence

9. There are two supplementary intelligences currently under cliscussion: naturalistic intelligence and c·,istcntial intelligence. I refer univ tu the seven intelligences which were established when I began rnv

Ill. 8ARTH8-M .. "Faut-il rassernbler ou rlifferencier les el eves I" in Journal des lnstituteurs et des lnstitutrices N° 7. March, 1999.

is shown by those who treat abstraction well,

with ease long chains of reasoning, and who are capable of

posing and resolving problems of logic. The material of this intelligence

is ideas.

It constitutes the base of 1.Q. tests and is illustrated by mathematicians,

scientists

and logicians. 2. Linguistic Intelligence is that which gives the human person his or her sensitivity to the sounds, the rhythms and the different functions of language, as wel I as the capacity to follow the rules and conventions of grammar. Everyone, evidently, has this intelligence to a significant degree, since everyone succeeds admirably in learning his or her own native language and using it most efficiently. However, it is shown at a high level by the author or the poet, as well as by lawyers, politicians or religious leaders - all of whom need to understand and exploit the numerous functions of language. 3. Musical Intelligence is seen in those individuals gifted with acute sensibility to the sounds, the rhythms, the harmony and the timbres of music. It is expressed in appreciation, elements

composition

and performance of musical forms, even if these three

are not always rm~sent in everyone

said to be musically

talented.

Amongst all the capacities detected in human beings, none appears earlier than musical talent. Nevertheless, there may be many different reasons for the appearance of musical talent: one may have received a musical education, or have lived in/a family where music assumed great importance. It has been known for individuals to develop musical talent following an illness. There has been very little research done on the development

of musical compe-

tence. Of exception is the work done by Jeanne Bamberger of the United States 11, who has accomplished significant results by analysing musical development within the parameters of cognitive development proposed by Jean Piaget. Other research has begun to suggest links between perceptual tasks and brain function

12 .

For

11. Quoted by GARDNER H. in Frames of Mind, Fontana Press, London, 1983, p. 110. 12. Ibidem, pp. 118-119.

25

example, an individual succeeds better at identifying spoken sounds and consonants if they are presented to the left hemisphere of the brain (that is, to the right ear). Musical tones, however, are perceived more accurately when presented to the left ea1· (right hernisphereJ. Interestingly, the more musical education one has already received, the more one will call on the analytical capacities of the left

'"

hemisphere to identify and analyse these sarne musical sounds. There has been little research that is absolutely convincing. It is difficult, but not impossible, to develop tests to assess musical intelligence, as long as one assessesby rneans of the competences and materials which are appropriate to this intelligence. Difficulty in assessment arises from the fact that aside from perceptual factors (that is, objective factors), it is evident that one is engaged emotionally by the practice of music, and that it influcences immeasurably the psyche of the individual. Extensive scientific research has established that music affects and changes one's physical state: digestion, circulation, The Secret Power of Music, Destiny Books, Rochester Vermont, 1984.

13.

TAMED.,

14. VERDEAU-PAILLES J. et al., La "troisieme oreille" et la pensee musicale, France editions, J.-M. Fuzeau SA, 1995, p. 235.

nutrition,

respiration, and even the neurological

pathways of the brain. In his book, the author David Tame traces the history of what he calls the "secret power of music" t .l on the individual and on society - a power which is well beyond all analysis or explanation, and which is expressed poetically in La troi-

sieme oreille" et la pensee musicale: Music is within each of us, like a response to existential questions. It comes .to meet us_ It is up to us to take hold of all its dimensions, as a mode of expression and of communication that is eloquent and liberating, as an artistic domain that is a source of satisfaction and of well being ... a meeting between the music which surrounds us and penetrates us, and our interior music. 14 4. Spatial/Visual Intelligence is illustrated by the ability to recognise and manipulate spatial forms, to perceive the visual world with precision and to represent and transform mental images. In normal individuals spatial intelligence is closely dependant on one's visual perception of the world; it can, nevertheless still be developed in a person who is blind, and therefore without visual access to the physical world. Architects, graphic artists, map makers, navigators and sculptors all need different aspects of spatial intelligence. 5. Kinaesthetic Intelligence is the use of the body in ways that are precise, fine and diverse, in order to resolve certain problems or to create something, whether it be a dance or a tool. This intelligence can be seen within the athlete, the mime artist, the surgeon, the inventor, the dancer. It is the capactiy to use one's body for either expressive and aesthetic ends, or for practical ones. 6. Intra-personal Intelligence is the capacity to distinguish one's own sentiments and emotions, to discern them and to capture them in symbolic forms. It is the ability to use one's emotional consciousness to understand and to guide one's behaviour. Gardner says that someone "gifted with a good intra-personal intelli-

15.

H., Frames of Mind, Fontana Press, London, 1983, p. 236.

GARDNER

gence possesses a faithful and efficient representation of him or herself" can see this intelligence

15 .

One

in the young Jewish girl, Anne Franck by reading her

journal, or in an aged person who has attained wisdom through his or her own life experience, and uses it to help others. 7. Inter-personal Intelligence gives the ability to be aware of the emotions, intentions and motivations

of others, and to identify them. At a simple level, this

intelligence is demonstrated by young children who learn very early how to discern the emotions of the significant adults in their lives and use this knowledge to their advantage! Similarly, adults use the skills of inter-personal intelligence on more sophisticated levels to discern the motivations of others, and if they choose, to influence them. Politicians, teachers and sales people need this intelligence. The two personal intelligences - one directed interiorly and the other towards the exterior - correspond well to Gardner's criteria, even though we are not used to thinking of the capacities illustrated by these intelligences as "intellectual". According to Gardner, "the ability to know oneself and others is as essential to the human condition as the ability to know objects or sounds" 16 . As with the other forms of intelligence, the personal intelligences are distinct and

16. GARf1NFRH., Ibidem, p. 24-l

autonomous, and each has its own neurological pathway in the brain. I treat them together because the development of each is influenced by the other. One's self knowledge is influenced by one's relationships with others; equally, personal relationships contribute to self knowledge. Neither of these intelligences in fact can develop without the other: one could say that their development encompasses the personal growth of each individual within his or her cultural perspectives and the balance of his or her self knowledge with the demands of others. Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences values all human endeavour and achievement, whereas Western civilisation with mathematical

has become accustomed to equating intelligence

and scientific thought. His theory questions such limitations on the

infinite diversity of human potential and challenges our culture to understand that a. human beings have multiple capacities at their disposal which may be developed, b. for any given task they will put into action more than one capacity, and c. every human activity, regardless of its area of application,

demands intelligence

of one form or another, and probably of several forms of intelligence in collaboration, for the accomplishment of any given task. The performance in concert of a musical work, for example, engages musical intelligence of course, and as well, kinaesthetic and spatial intelligences. The preparation of this work for performance would have certainly combined the intelligences quite differently, and for its presentation to the public, the personal intelligences contribute to the collaboration of the others. "In reality", Gardner says, "nearly all cultural roles, whatever their degree of sophistication, require a combination of intelligences. One single area may engage several intelligences, and one given intelligence may be employed in several different contexts"

17 .

Before bringing this chapter to a close, I would like to address several questions

17. GARDNERH.,

Les intelligences multiples, Retz, Paris, 1996, p. 42, 56.

which are relevant to Gardner's theory: 1. Is there an artistic intelligence? 2. Can we speak of creativity as an inteligence? 3. Are there links between the intelligences?

27

Is there an artistic intelligence? Hovva,·d Gardner would say that there is not an artistic intelligence - let us remember the criteria he pmposes for including intelligence

a candidate

intelligence

may function either artistically or pragmatically

in the list. Each

according to the context.

For example, when a lawyer uses language to plead a case, he does not necessarily use it aesthetically. But when a poet manipulates the language metaphorically,

when he or

she chooses words which create images and engage the expressive qualities of language, then linguistic intelligence can be said to function artistically. It is true, however, that certain intelligences lend themselves easily to the arts, notably spatial, musical and kinaesthetic intelligences. In this sense one may speak of artistic intelligences.

Gardner's

theory

argues that all human

activity

demands

intelligent

thought, and thought that gives birth to art is as valuable as scientific thought. A myopic view of intelligence is useless: to say that this intelligence can only be developed artistically, or that another intelligence only functions scientifically ends up by oversimplifying and limiting them. Our attitude towards intelligence (intelligences) must be generous, and the unlimited capacities available to human beings are to be developed as far as possible. Human potential and human creativity are restricted only by our vision of them.

Can we speak of creativity as an intelligence? Gardner defines creativity as the ability to resolve problems, create products or pose questions in a domain in a way which is new, original and surprising. At first sight, this definition resembles that of intelligence, in that they both speak of creating products and posing questions. Creativity goes further: it implies that these products and questions are new, original and surprising. Gardner also suggests that creativity must be put to the test: has the area to which it is applied changed as a result of work said to be creative? Creativity confers the capacity to bring to an area a contribution

which is accepted

by the domain, which influences, and which subsequently changes it. Gardner adds that creativity is actually dependant on the judgement of a society or a culture; it is in fact the culture which declares a contribution

to be creative or not. According

to this

view, intelligences may, but do not necessarily, function creatively. This is not to say that creativity does not exist. Gardner simply does not consider it as a form of intelligence. He envisages it more as a faculty of each intelligence which may or may not characterise diverse contributions within a certain context or discipline. Gardner's definition

is logical within the parameters of his theory of intelligence;

it

accords, however, the right of judgement to a culture which may or may not be capable of it. Change in an area is sometimes not evident, especially immediately. One only has to look at artistic and scientific movements in history to see the difficulty

artists, musi-

cians and dancers, as well as scientists, have experienced having their work accepted and recognised by the dominant culture in their own lifetime. Nevertheless, creativity is an aptitude which may be and indeed must be developed. Gardner suggests several factors which dispose an individual to being creative: -

To be with others, from infancy, who are willing to take risks and who are courageous when confronted with the possibilty of failure,

-

To have the opportunity

and the discipline while young to master a domain to a

high degree of expertise, -

To live in an environment

vvhich encourages and values success, without it being

too easily achieved, To be born late in the falllily order, or to live in a falllilv which tolerates rebellion These factors have implications

18.

1;;. G,R,1Nrn H., intelligence Rclr,m,ed. Basic Books, c-1Y., 1')99. p. 121.

for education. Firstly, all students need to be encou-

raged to take risks, to create and launch new ideas, and to be ready to try thelll out, and fail, if necessary. Secondly, teachers must give to their students many learning experiences which engage the faculties of their imagination.

Are there links between the intelligences? Some intelligences seem to have a natural affinity with each other. There appear· to be fairly evident links between musical intelligence tic intelligence. musical

The American composer

Sessions 19

and kinaesthe-

has emphasised the links between

language and the physical gesture. And certainly

the conviction

of Emile

I 'J. Quoted by

G.,RllNER

in

Fr~imes ot" l\-lind, Fontzrna

Press, London, 1981, p. 123.

Jaques-Dalcroze was not only that links exist, but that music is rendered visible by the body, which he considers to be one's principal instrument of musicality. One has only to observe people in trains, listening to compact discs on their portable players, the only indication

of what they are listening to being the accompanying

physical gesture - a foot tapping, a head nodding, a hand moving. The composor Stravinsky always liked the ballet as performance because for him it allowed the music to be seen. Children find it almost impossible to sing without moving. So the links between the two intelligences

seem clear, even if the nature of these links and their

consequences are more difficult to explain. The connections

between music and spatial intelligence seem equally important, if

perhaps less obvious. We know today that these two intelligences are localised in the right hemisphere of the brain, as is kinaesthetic University (Irvine)

20

has made connections

intelligence.

Research at California

between musical and spatial intelligence.

One study in particular established that adults who listen to a lot of classical music

20. GARDNER H., Intelligence Reframed, Basic Books, N.Y., 1999, p. 86.

achieve better on spatial tests demanding them to rotate objects or forms mentally. In another study, the researchers Rauscher 21 , Shaw and their colleagues found that children

25. Ibidem, p. 86.

who play the piano (or another keyboard instrument) achieve better than control groups on tasks necessitating spatial-temporal operations. It has been suggested that the work of composing has spatial dimensions which may be compared to architecture. There are also clear parallels between music and language, although

the exact

nature of these links is less evident. Certainly, both linguistic and musical intelligences are primarily

auditory. Whether the connections

way of processing information,

lysis is not established definitively.

There is still debate on the nature and significance

of the parallels between these two intelligences Historically,

are concerned with a fundamental

or whether they are at the level of semantics or of ana22.

it has always been mathematical intelligence which was considered the

most closely aligned with musical intelligence. are clearly mathematical

Certainly, music contains elements that

in nature: the functions

of rhythm, the place of regularity,

22. Gardner discusses the debate on this subject in Frames of Mind, Fontana Press, London, 1983. Refer to the chapter on Musical Intelligence, p. 125.

form, proportion and relationships clearly implicate mathematical concepts.

29

When it comes to an appreciation of basic musical structures, and of hovv they can be repeated transformed embedded or otherwise played off one against another,, one encounters mathematical thought (however) at a some~,vhat higher scale. 2 l 1

n

H. rrames ot Mind. Fontana Press.

GARDNER

Lo nd017, 1983 , P- 126

1

1

One could speculate on the advantages of establishing beyond doubt the nature and signifcance of the connections between the intelligences. Do the parallels between them actually augment the efficiency of their collaboration? Is this co-operation a factor which increases the efficacy of all of them? In the future, perhaps, one of the intelligences may emerge as the one which facilitates the development of the others. Which intelligence would it be? For the time being, scientists are not in the position to answer these questions. The intelligences, at present remain autonomous in terms of their localisation in the brain and of their corresponding neurological pathways.

Summary The theory of Multiple Intelligences proposes a model of the intellect as multidimensional. It recognises the large range of intellectual competences of which the human being makes use to resolve problems and create products that are of value in one or several cultures. All human activity demands the exercise of thought. There is no reason to hierarchise the intelligences, of which the most prestigious, in Western culture, would be logical-mathematical intelligence. In any case, there is always more than one form of intelligence needed for any given activity or task and any one intelligence my be employed in several different areas. The theory of Gardner seems to come closer to explaining the diversity of natural human potential than a theory which proposes a unique intellectual faculty which works in the same way for any and all problems. His theory explains and affirms all human effort, as well as the differences observed among human beings, in considering all their competences. This multi-dimensional view of the human spirit is rich with hope, since it opens the way for the development of all an individual's capacities, regardless of their strength or weakness at birth. Gardner's conceptual psychological framework presents the functioning of the brain in at least seven different and distinct manners. These evident differences question,

24. GARDNER H., L'intelligence et /'ecole, Editions Odile Jacob, Paris, 1997, p. 28.

25. Ibidem, p. 29.

according to Gardner, "an education system which pretends that everyone learns the same things in the same way, and that a uniform and universal measure is sufficient to assess all students" 24 . Recognition of diversity in learning and acquiring knowledge has pedagogical consequences. Gardner explains, "not only the chances of arriving at comprehension increase if one identifies and uses several ways of access, but our conception of comprehension expands" 25 . The task is to present a conceptual

pedagogical theory which corresponds with

Gardner's psychological theory. This context brings coherence to pedagogical practice, while the Socio-Cognitive approach of Britt-Mari Barth acts as a frame of reference.

What then are the pedagogical consequences of Gardner's theory?

30

Chapter 11: The pedagogical consequences of the theory of multiple intelligences

Education does not consist in creating for the student Faculties that he does not possess/ But rather in empowering him to Draw the most that is possible from The faculties that he does possess. Emile Jaques-Dalcroze

Pedagogyfor diversity

Instead of appreciating the richness and the diversity of our students, we are ready to eliminate a large part of this richness by measuring the differences uniquely in terms of superiority or inferiority. 1 The traditional

Western concept of intelligence

situates it on an ascending scale

I 8.\RTH8-M., L ·aµprentissage de /'abstraction, Retz, Paris, 7987, P- 199_

which attains its highest point at the level of scientific thought. The theory of 1\i\ultiple Intelligences, on the other hand, considers intelligence

more as a wide range of intel-

lectual capacities

according

which are called into collaboration

With such a conception

to a given context.

there is no place for the idea of superiority

or inferiority.

Education based on an appreciation of the diversity among students - not only tolerating it but actively encouraging it - opens the way for all students to succeed.

Each individual comes into a new situation with his or her own comprehension, his/her particular way of seeing things, with his/her own music, and will interpret each new situation according to their own cognitive history, from his or her own "musical score".

2

2. BARTH 8-M., Le savoir en construction, Retz, Paris, 1993, p. 13.

Practically speaking, how do we affirm and value these differences so as to render knowledge accessible

3

for al I students?

Firstly, we must know and recognise the intellectual

3. Ibidem, P- 13_

aptitudes of each student. By

observing the children when they choose their own activity or task, note what draws their attention and interest, where they seem comfortable,

where they are most i nteres-

ted and engaged, and what they do best. This kind of observation helps the teacher to have a true indication of the real aptitudes of the child and of his or her intellectual potential

4.

These aptitudes do not so much indicate limitations,

but rather departure

4. Ibidem, p. 41.

points for future development.

It is necessary to provide a rich learning environment, filled with a variety of material which attracts the interest of the students.

Secondly, it is necessary to provide a rich learning environment, filled with a variety of material which attracts the interest of the students, regardless of their intellectual prefe-

33

V1

QJ

rences. The teacher uses these diverse materials to engage each student in learning through his or her own preferred intellectual capacities. Consequently, learning experiences may be constructed in such a way as to respond to these differences. There is no

u C

QJ

O!J

2C ~

reason to teach the content of a course in the same way to every student, nor to demand that all students learn in the same way. Education which takes seriously the differences

::,

E

0 >-

0 QJ -:5 QJ

s. Ibidem,

p. 41

-:5 0

amongst students conceives learning experiences which take into account these distinctions. As a result, methods of learning and of evaluating must also be varied: to each type of intelligence there must correspond a coherent pedagogical "entry point" 5 . Such pedagogy makes imaginative decisions regarding teaching methods as well as evaluation procedures. It is education centered on the individual.

V1

QJ

u

C: QJ

::, CJ" QJ

V1

C

0

v

"'

.>:! u 0

O!J

u"' QJ Q. QJ

..c f-

6. Ibidem, p. 35-36.

Whatever is proposed to the learner as cognitive support (in regard to learning) must resonate with her or her existing cognitive repertoire. For in this context it is not the clarity of the message, from the teacher's point of view, that is the most important factor for the learner's understanding, but rather the capacity of this message to awaken something that resonates with what already exists in the student's cognitive repertoire. 6

Oh darling, how wonderful! What a sucessful teaching method!

34

l By relying on the interest and the motivation of the child the school may better succeed in its essential task: to make it possible for the child to engage authentically in his/her own learning. 7 1

7. G,RoNrn H, Les

Intelligences multiples, Retz, Paris, 19%, p. 21 0.

According to Britt-Mari Barth, "motivation is not necessarily a pre-condition for learning, but something that is constructed during the learning process. In order to involve children affectively, one must give them the experience of learning successfully by teaching them to use their existing intellectual capacities consciously, so that they may realise that they are capable of reaching the goal of learning: acquiring knowledge" 8 . These visions are commendable, but how to attain them when one has a class of twenty or more students? How do we structure teaching so that each student is engaged in learning with all his/her capacities? It seems sometimes an insurmountable task, Yet it is indispensable:

Teaching which engages the whole person - with his/her emotions as much as with his/her intellect - is that which is absorbed the most deeply and which 1s retained the longest. 9

8. BARTHB.-M.,

«

Enseigner

et apprendre dans la

perspective d'une approche par competences )), Conference l'Universite de Sherbrooke, 2003, p. 2.

a

9. Rogersp. 161 Liberte pour apprendre !, Du nod, Paris, 1972, p. 161.

Teaching: an act of mediation The Socio-Cognitive approach to learning, theorised by Britt-Mari Barth, regards teaching not as a transmission of knowledge but as an "act of mediation". Barth's approach is rooted in the Vygotskian perspective, in which learning is considered firstly as "a social process before becoming an individual act. The idea that learning happens by participation in common reflection, guided by someone more experienced, who lends his/her consciousness, is a cultural conception of learning, different from a biological conception" 10 , Learning therefore becomes "a transaction, an exchange between the learner and a member of his or her culture with more experience than them" 11 .The teacher "chooses structures of interaction according to the desired outcomes; he or she engages students' intelligences by means of problem posing, he/she guides in a subtle way their participation so that each student may enter into this common reflection and give form to his or her own thought" 12 • The teacher is no longer at the centre of the learning process, and his or her task is not to fill the heads of the students with knowledge and facts. The Socio-Cognitive approach focuses on teaching as a partnership between teacher and student. 11The pro-

a

10, « Questions B.-M. Barth», in EPS 1/n° 114, 2003, p. 5. 11. BARTHB-M., Le savoir en construction, Retz, Paris, 1993, p. 37,

12. BARTHB,-M., Lev Vygotsky aujourd'hui, Les Cahiers de l'ISP, n° 33, 2001, p. 27.

cess of learning becomes as important as the content, as it influences decisively the quality of reflection - knowledge is indissoluble from the process which leads to its acquisition." 13 This is a new conception of learning. Learning becomes a process of "sense construction". 11The body of knowledge, itself the product of thought, cannot be easily separated from the processes which give form to it. Rather than viewing knowledge as static content, a curriculum transmitted by a prescribed course to be memorised, one may see it as a collection of cultural tools whose use must be learned, through the intervention of someone more experienced." 14 "In fact", writes Barth:

13. BARTHB-M., Le savoir en

construction, Retz, Paris, 1993, p. 18.

14. BARTHB-M., « Transmission et appropriation des savoirs formels ». Actes du C.R.E.A.D., 2002, p. 6,

35

r i

what the children are in the process of learning - while learning content - is how knowledge is constructed, how it functions how one may construct knowledge oneself and hovv to appropriate knowledge constructed by others_ They learn to structure knowledge, and at the same time, to structure their thought. 15 1

15. B-\1\lH B-1\'\., "En:-ieigner

et apprendre clans la perspective d'une c1pproche p,1.r compt-~tences", Conference l'Universitt'

::i

de Sherbrooke.

2003, p. I.

For this work they need to be empowered by concepts, methods of analysis and reflection, questions posed, or other symbolic tools, of which one is language. In turn, teaching strategies involve such mental processes as "perception,

Ir,_ Ibidem, p.4

rence, verification

and abstraction"

comparison,

infe-

16 .

The role of the teacher

Teaching seen as an act of mediation mediatm, that is, the teacher.

gives critical

importance

to the role of the

According to Britt-Mari Barth: 17. BARTH13.-M., "Comment avons-nous appris ce que nous savons? )) in TranS\/f:HSafites 17° 7, p. 59. 18, BARTHB.-M., « La mediation dans les demarches d'apprentissage: un nouveau rapport au savoir,,; Colloque: La mediation, une nouvelle relation dans l'action educative de l'ISP - Faculte d'education, 10 avril 2002, published in Les cahiers de l'ISP, n° 35, 2002, pp. 17-34, p. 23.

The rule of the teacher ... (is) to be the mediator between the student and the domain of knowledge he/she must study in order to have access to it and in turn to participate in its evolution.17 The mediator creates "meetings" with knowledge which permit students to have a contextualised chological affectivity

experience. He or she is a custodian of "intellectual

security"; within

freedom" and "psy-

does not separate the affective from the cognitive,

the pedagogical

act itself by integrating

and situates

it into learning processes.

Through creating structures which guarantee that all students may express themselves, may be listened to, and will listen to others, the teacher acts as a partner in a common project in which he or she places his/her experience at the service of the students 18 .

This implies: -

identifying

and defining

content according intended goals;

to

il

j

- constructing rich and diverse situations for the student to observe and interact with, in order to discern what is essential in a given context;

I

19 . BARTHB-M., "Questions Barth", in EPS 1/n' 114, 2003, p. 5.

a B-M. - guiding exchanges and facilitating interaction by creating structures which allow all children to speak; - encouraging students to justify and argue their understanding, thereby allowing them to clarify ambiguities and to give sense to the vocabulary they use.19

The teacher's task essentially is to offer "accompaniment

20. BARTH B.-M., "La mediation dans les demarches d' apprentissage: un nouveau rapport au savoir »; colloque, Les cahiers de l'ISP, n° 35, 2002, p. 23. 19 . BARTHB-M., "Questions Barth", in EPS 1/n° 114, 2003, p. 5.

a B-M.

which seeks to render

accessible to students reflection and knowledge of any subject area ... (it creates) an attitude of research and collaboration, of autonomy, self esteem and respect for others. This demands rigorous preparation in order to choose and define the elements to be taught, whether they be content, intellectual tools, or attitudes and values" 20 • The role of the teacher, then, is: -

to render knowledge accessible to the students, in a more concrete and living form, which allows them to familiarise themselves with it, to interact with it and to think with it. 21

37

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to be a good model of the behaviours and competences he or she wishes to deve-

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lop in his/her students, to be imaginative, creative and passionate in looking at developing the capacities of the students, by reflecting on the content of courses and the teaching methods he or she employs, - to construct his/her teaching in relation to the differences among students, so that the domain of knowledge be accessible to each student, to provide a variety of entry points or images, use many different materiels, allow for different ways of doing and of learning, and encourage the student to find and choose his/her own response to problems. Within these parameters education becomes a shared responsibility. Teachers and students look in the same direction; goals are set and achieved through collaboration. Its context is:

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discern what is essential in a given context."

48

Practice must preceed theory: this phrase is well known by rythmicians, and evidently, we all agree with it. It is equally important to turn it around and view it from the other end: that theory must follow practice. It is not sufficient to give students even the most enriching physical sensation and lived experience; such experience must absolutely be made conscious, and analysed so that it be integrated into the students' repetoire of cognitive knowledge. A full musical education implies both practice and theory. What is particular in regard to the teaching of Eurythmics is that the theoreLe savoir en construction, Retz, Paris,

48. BARTHB-M.,

1993, p. 19.

tical knowledge acquired through analysis remains inscribed and integrated in what is natural for the student, to the same degree even as the stages of physical sensation and becoming aware. All stages of the teaching/learning process are based on movement, that is, on physical and sensorial experience. I am convinced that analysis effected in such a way leads to knowledge and comprehension which remain solid and secure.

49. BERLIOZ H., A travers chants l 862, Editions Grund, Paris, 1971, p. 21 / quoted by VERDEAU-PAILLES J.et al., La « troisieme oreille" et la pensee musicale, France Editions J.-M. Fuzeau SA, 1995, p. 13.

Le savoir en construction, Retz,Paris,

50. BARTHB-M.,

1993, p. 168.

Music is at the same time a feeling and a science. It demands of him who practises it... a natural aptitude and inspiration, as well as a body of knowledge and expertise which is only acquired by extensive study and profound reflection. The union of knowledge and inspiration constitutes the art.49 Eurythmics unites knowledge (theory) with intuition (practice). Assimilation, transfer to another context

The notion of transfer refers to the capacity to put to work a concept or acquisition, learned in a given situation, in a new context. In other words, it concerns the ability to make generalisations about what one has learned so as to use it in a new situation. 50 The children show that they have assimilated a concept when they are capable of transferring it to a different context. When an acquisition

becomes in its turn the point

of departure for another musical concept, it becomes a stepping stone for new knowledge. At this point it has been transferred into a tool on which the children can count. They know that they have learned something and that they have understood it. This certitude is a source of immense security for the learner.

51.

Ibidem, p. 140.

Knowledge does not consist only of words in a book or in the mind of someone; knowledge is created from real activities in a social interaction, situated within different contexts. 51 The use of an assimilated body of knowledge in another context may also reinforce its solidity. In the new context, the student will continue to feel the concept already learned

68

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The child's thought processes will only be awakened after having had physical and sensorial experiences

I

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(feel in the Dalcrozian sense), by comparing it with or opposing it to something else. Sometimes an acquisition is used simply as a "trampoline": giving the student the jumping off point for further learning. He or she "takes the old knowledge in his pocket" in some way, to begin a new journey. Through the work of transfer, the students become conscious of what they know. They begin to have knowledge about their knowledge that which Barth calls "meta-cognition" 52 .

s2. Ibidem, p. 170-171.

Example 11 gives a simple example of transfer:

Example 11 The students have completed extensive work on the concept of the musical phrase and phrasing 53 : at the end of a musical phrase there may be a sense of rest (the phrase is finished) or a sense of suspension (the phrase is not finished). They have identified and named the tonic as the note of rest and the dominant as one possibility of a note of suspension (the tonic being the first degree of the scale and the dominant the fifth). They are in the process of singing the melodic pathway between the two notes in the scale of DO. They sing, touching each finger of one hand with the index of the other: 00 RE Ml FA SOL. .. 7-2-3-4-5 ... DO SOL DO ... 1 - 5 - 1 ... They sing the five notes of the melody several times, and the interval between 1 and 5. They sing tonic on 00 while touching the thumb and dominant on SOL while touching the little finger. The teacher then asks them, if the tonic were FA, who could find the dominant?

53. Example n°. 6 in chapter IV describes extracts from lessons on phrasing and the musical phrase.

The children set to work, humming and counting on their fingers. They find that the dominant is DO. They sing the new melody between FA and 00 and the interval which

69

separates the two notes. The teacher's question required that they use knowledge already acquired to transfer it to another context (in this case, to another tonality). In fact, this exercise requires both understanding of the function of the degrees of the scale and perception

of finished and unfinished

musical

phrases. Transfer of these notions to another context assists in deeper assimilation of them, which in turn allows for the transfer to occur. Assimilation and transfer may be considered as two sides of the one coin. Assimilation assumes that the students have understood a concept with all that this implies:

lived experience, consciousness of what they are doing,

analysis of the concept, repeating the intuitive learning with consciousness, and, finally arriving at comprehension. Without this depth of understanding, students may only be memorising certain facts, and if this is the case, they will be unable to use the knolwedge

in another context. Conversely, by

transferring what they have learned to another context, students demonstrate that they have assimilated their learning. Barth explains that "a first condition for ulterior transfer to have happened would be that the object of learning be understood, and that it be translated by a competence proven by acts of comprehension" prehension

5 .i_

In the context of Eurythmics, these acts of com-

refer to the stage of conscious

repetition.

This stage is revisited often,

allowing teacher and students to verify and evaluate their acquisitions:

after the stage

of becoming aware, after analysis, and, yet again, "just for the pleasure"! Example 12 54. Ibidem, p. 169. 55. Example n°. 3 in chapter IV describes a lesson of introduction to the triplet.

Prior to this exercise, the students have completed

learning experiences on the tri-

plet rhythm, and the concept is well assimilated

The teacher asks them to walk

55

and to change direction when they hear this rhythm. If they are walking forwards, they walk backwards after hearing the triplet, and vice versa. She slides (into her improvisation) responding

an arpeggio, ascending or descending in the rhythm of a triplet, corto the

= backwards).

changes

of

direction

(ascending

=

forwards,

descending

We walk forwards when it ascends, backwards when it descends; and it is an arpeggio. Onto this She asks the children

what they have noticed.

observation is built an exercise of auditive reaction, as the ascending or descending triplets do not always arrive alternately. In its context,

this exercise was one of reaction to

ascending or descending

notes, with the support of the

arpeggio, itself an assimilated concept for the children. By using the triplet (the next concept to be learned), in an instinctive and intuitive way, the teacher puts a structure into place which allows for its introduction students acquisition

had already will

learned

about

later on. The

the arpeggio;

its

support the learning experiences of the

new concept, the triplet. The principle of the stage of transfer is to use knowledge already acquired as a support and a tool for new learning

70

experiences. This process is actually very complex, demanding the ability to reflect on what one has learned. Knowledge is dynamic, and must always be demonstrated by a particular competence. The ability to transfer a competence to another context empowers one to acquire knowledge about one's knowledge

56 .

Expressed differently, the students

that they have learned, and 1vhat they have learned, and are able to say consciously, / understand. know

56. B.,RTHB-M., Le savoir en construction, Retz, Paris, 1993, pp 170-171.

Evaluation

If I leave it to the encl to speak of evaluation, it is not because it is the least important, but, on the contrary, because it is integrated into all the learning stages. Nothing can happen in Dalcrozian pedagogy without some kind of evaluation. Since learning experiences occur through the body, the reactions of the students are immediately visible, and therefore, measurable. In this sense, evaluation happens as a natural and inevitable part of the teaching/learning

process. According

to Howard Gardner, "instead of being imposed

from the exterior from time to time during the yea1·,evaluation should be included in the natural learning environment. Wherever possible, it should intervene as an integral element in an individual's natural engagement in a learning situation"

57 .

Evaluation may be effected in different ways, and often, implicitly. bility

of the teacher to install good evaluation

examinations).

procedures

It is the responsi-

(out of the context of

The most important is of course, auto-evaluation:

that is to say, evalua-

tion done by the student of his or her own work. One excel lent and implicit way of assessment is to systematise, that is, to construct an exercise of reaction that becomes systematic (see example 7). The students become aware of a theme, for example, where one must realise each element a certain number of times, and they therefore can anticipate the required reaction. If they do not, it is visible, and both the student and the teacher realise that either awareness or understanding has not happened. The teacher, for his/her part, is able to react immediately and repeat the exercise with a changing emphasis so that this particular student understands. Such immediacy of evaluation and remediation (or confirmation) is a valuable characteristic of Dalcrozian

pedagogy. Inherent in its methodology,

it requires no extra effort or time.

What it does require is acute attentiveness on the teacher's part (pedagogically speaking) and excellent, adaptable improvisation skills (musically speaking).

Example 13 The students use the gymnastic ribbons to express two rhythms:

m

and

J Ji.

The exercise develops, and the class decides on one movement for the first rhythm, and another for the second. (That is, having invented their own movements, one common

the students choose amongst these movement

that everyone

enjoys.)

The exercise becomes systematic when the class knows it will move to the first rhythm 4 times and then to the second 4 times.

57. G,\RDNERH ., Les intelligences multiples, Retz, Paris, 1996, p. 157.

er.

It is at once apparent if a student does not hear that the music changes each four times: he or she does not change his/her movement at the right moment. Due to the

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fact that the whole class moves in the same way, the teacher sees at once if everyone has understood the exercise. When an exercise becomes systematic, the anticipation in the body is visible. It is

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not only a matter of changing the movement at the right moment, but more importantly of anticipating the change: of preparing the body to express a different energy or to use

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more or less space. Such evaluation is not necessarily an end in itself; it is part of a more precise goal, in this case, to experience the physical sensation of the two

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rhythms, one of which was probably new. The objective of all evaluation must be to improve and to correct. Dalcrozian methodology gives the students such means, of which one of the most powerful is improvisation. For example, the teacher plays a lovely improvisation which the students follow by skipping. The music is light and they ignore it! They are all caught up in the joy of skipping, and their steps are heavy. The teacher says nothing: she adapts the character of her improvisation so that it mirrors, for a few moments, the heaviness of step shown by the students. Then she returns to her original improvisation and the children react by skipping lightly. I find this manner of correcting discreet and very respectful of the student. It is not necessary to say anything; it is the music which corrects and improves. Moreover, correction which comes from music is intrinsic to Dalcrozian pedagogy, and in the context of musical education by and for music, correction coming from the improvisation is logical.

When evaluation occurs progressively along the way, there is no longer any need to distinguish it from other activities that happen in class. According to everything that constitutes good teaching, the students are always in the process of evaluation. 58

58. Ibidem, p. 157.

I observed a lovely example of "non-verbal" correction in a class of seven year olds. They were doing four walking steps alternated with four groups of hopping steps (twice on each foot), thus:

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One little boy did not change at the right moment. He began his hopping steps one eighth note too late. I began to reflect on the possible responses of the teacher. She could have asked, did you hear that the music has changed? Count the steps. How many times for each one? She could have asked everyone to clap the walking steps and to tap the hopping steps on their knees (left left- right right), before repeating the exercise. What she did, in fact, was to say to the whole class, find yourself a partner and hold hands. She put the little boy with another student who had mastered the exercise. The child in difficulty somehow "caught" the correct reaction from his partner, and once he began to change at the right moment, he also began to hear the changes in the music. From that moment on, he could anticipate them. The teacher could just as well have made other choices in terms of the corrective goal of evaluation. She could have isolated the hopping steps to see if the little boy

72

could do them correctly. She could have asked him to choose the number of times that the class would

do each step, thinking that if it were he who chose the number of

times, he could perhaps succeed in changing his step. She could also have asked one child to show the class his or her \Nay of moving. All these solutions would have been viable, and certainly, all of them are congruent with the principles of Dalcrozian

tea-

ching. Why, then, did she choose one solution over the others? Evidently, thanks to her experience; but, equally, I think, because using these teaching principles has become intuitive and automatic for her. This experience impressed me and made me appreciate the large choice of possibilities inherent in Dalcrozian pedagogy, all of which are valid; and, furthermore, to what extent this pedagogy gives the freedom to choose the most efficient way of correction in any given context. I was astonished to see how quickly the teacher identified the source of the child's difficulty and its solution; this ability corning from her experience and from the observation she had already made on his abilities beforehand. In the context of Eurythmics, characterised by co-operation self-evaluation

rather than competition,

is a natural consequence. It occurs through working with one's fellow

students and creating something together. Learning by seeing how someone else does it is acceptable and valid, and such evaluation does not crush the student nor destroy his or her confidence

and self esteem. This kind of evaluation

is always within a positive

context, and truthfully, focuses just as much attention on what the student does well as on what he or she has difficulty caught up in correction

in doing! How often as teachers do we find ourselves

rather than in affirmation? We tend frequently to look for what

is incorrect rather than rejoicing in what is well done. Eurythmics is a methodology affirmation! It is the teacher who installs positive attitudes towards evaluation;

of

firstly, by being

for and giving to the students a good model of desired behaviours and practices. He or she constantly calls forth during lessons the quality of movement he/she wishes to see from the students. Sometimes, he/she shows them an incorrect example, saying, Who

can correct my movement? This technique

is extremely efficient!

The students enjoy

having the right to correct the teacher, and they do it very well, observing meticulously what he or she does and finding as many faults as possible! This quality of contact between teacher and student creates a learning environment

of co-operation

between

teacher and students, and evaluation which is "taken for granted."

Example 14 The children are seated on the floor, near the piano. In front of each one, are placed three cards, thus:

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1ffl

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The teacher plays two of the three rhythms. The children must listen and choose the card showing the rhythm that is not played. They pick up this card and step the rhythm drawn on the card. At a certain moment, the teacher played showing the [

Jffl [ (that is, a running

n i

and the children

chose the card

speed). I saw one student who had the correct

73

er,

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card ill her hand, but who was not rnoving at the correct pace. Suddenly, she hesitated a

.s::.

second, looked around her, then looked again at the card in her hand. A huge srnile

::J

spread over her face as she began to run to the sixteenth notes (serni-quavers) that she

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had heard but had not done.

There's something wrong here ... is it the card or my steps? But I'm sure that I heard correctly ... what's not working? Yes, I have the correct card ... it must be my steps that are wrong, then. Now I have it right! Frorn rny place in the roorn, I could alrnost see her "inner conversation":

I was very irnpressed to watch this self-evaluation

in operation.

She realised that

there was a problern, took the steps to identify it, and corrected herself. /'v\c1kingchoices or decisions can also constitute evaluation.

Exarnple 15 The children are singing a song, while beating tirne at 2 beats to the measure. Only one child is beating at 4 beats, but twice as quickly as her classmates. The teacher says, is it possible to beat as Claire is doing? Try it. What is she doing? Everyone begins to beat 4 beats. The teacher then asks everyone to beat 2 beats, saying, what

seems to you to be more natural? The children decide that beating at 2 beats is easier and more logical. Let's do that then, the teacher says. Games provide excellent means of evaluation: Example 16 The children are lined up with their backs to a wall. The teacher asks them to listen to what she plays. If I play a melody which makes you want to take big strides, do

that; if you feel you want to do little steps, do them. She plays two well-known songs, "Frere Jacques" (little steps) and "Savez-vous planter les choux ?" (big strides). Each child

in turn takes his/her steps: srnall steps when he/she hears a melody

which passes from one note to the note next to it in the scale, and large strides when he/she hears a melody which "jumps" from one note to another note further away, as with an arpeggio. This game evaluates the aural acquisition of melodies progressing either in the manner of a scale or of an arpeggio. The evaluation two-fold:

occuring

in this context is actually

firstly, the childrens' movement indicates their understanding.

understanding

is verbalised

Secondly, this

when the teacher asks, what did I play? The children

respond not with the names of the songs but with the vocabulary

indicating the musi-

cal progression: one song went in steps and the other like a chord. Evaluation· is normally effected within the context of lessons, using materiels with which the students are comfortable. The exercise which follows was given after several lessons on the minor scale:

Example 17 On the floor the teacher places two rows of hoops: one row shows the major scale with its arrangement of tones and semi-tones; the other showing the arrangement of tones and semi-tones in the minor scale. Each child in turn listens to the scale played by the teacher (either major or minor). He/she chooses one of the rows of hoops and steps in each of the hoops while he/she sings the scale the teacher has just played. Major scale: Minor scale:

0 0

0 00 00 0

0 0 00 00 0 0

This exercise of evaluation is also an exercise of physical sensation, similar to example 16. The chil-

I

dren do one step in each hoop. Given that they sing while walking,

they sing a semi-tone at the same

time as they do a small step (where the hoops are close together) and a larger step (in the hoops spread out) while singing a whole tone. The child must, nevertheless, choose the correct row of hoops, and therein lies the evaluation. What is important is the fact that evaluation is a natural

element

of

lessons: effected

in diverse

ways, often in the form of a game, using materials familiar to the children and more often than not, non verbally. Within Dalcrozian parameters, evaluation celebrates

success as much as it corrects weakness or

improves performance. Such evaluation

provokes joy that is peaceful and confident an intimate satisfaction which invades the entire being. This joy comes from a physical and spiritual calm created by decreasing nervousness, timidity and anxiety resulting from lack of harmony between the faculties of imagination and those of realisation. It is increased by self confidence which gives the security of quick action, the clear awareness of the development of will, and the certitude of having the power to accomplish what one has decided to accomplish, and to do it exactly as one wishes. 59

59. ]AQUES-0ALCROZE

E.,

quoted by OUTOIT-CARLIER C-L., Emile Jaques-Dalcroze,

createur de la rythmique,

Summary: A successful pedagogy

La Baconniere, Neuchatel,

1965,p.411.

In this chapter I have described and analysed the pedagogy of Eurythmics, following the progression of its stages: physical sensation/lived analysis, transfer/assimilation. ghout the teaching/learning

I.

I presented evaluation

experience,

becoming

as an element occuring

aware, throu-

process. My analyses lean extensively on the conceptual

75

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pedagogical framework of Britt-Mari Barth. There are indications that Barth's sociocognitive approach, i.e., mediation, is able to shed light on the pedagogical principles

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which are the foundation of music education through Eurythmics:

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The methodology of Eurythmics emerges during the teaching/learning process as credible to the students. They understand at each moment what is required of them and how their acquisitions are to be demonstrated. The parameters are clear and

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well defined. Eurythmics is a pedagogy of interaction and of participation, based on confidence. "And it is not about empty words but about action: it concerns what we are going to DO to learn, and under what conditions; taking into account

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that the students' affectivity is engraved, in fact, in the very act of learning itself, in the way of making knowledge and learning processes accessible to the students, and of empowering them to succeed in what is asked of them." 60

60. BARTHB.-M .. « La mediation dans les

demarches d' apprentissage · un nouveau rapport c1u

-

savoir »; Colloque. ISP, 2002.[)21

The students "clearly understand the rules of the game of the proposed activity, and what is expected of them, they feel reassured about the help they will be given along the way, if needs be; they have multiple occasions to verify by themselves if they know what they have to do to demonstrate their comprehension, and all this, while teaching/learning is progressing" 61 .

61. BARTHB-M., « Transmission

et appropriation des savoirs forrnels,,. Actes du CR.EAD, 2002, p. 4.

-

It is the teacher who creates an environment which invites the engagement and facilitates the success of the students. Teacher and students become "partners in a common undertaking", the relationship, nevertheless, remains asymetric, where "the teacher places his or her expertise at the service of the students so that they may construct their own. Instead of telling students what they must understand, the teacher equips them so that they are able to understand for themselves" 62 .

62. Ibidem, p. 6.

-

63. BARTHB.-M.,

«

Enseigner

et apprendre dans la perspective d'une approche par competences,,. Conference a l'Universite de Sherbrooke, 2003, p. 9.

The entry points (images) which are diverse and varied give to each student the possibility to be at ease in one way or another. The purpose of this variety is twofold: "to multiply the experiences with knowledge in concrete form, and to provoke collective research arising from this common object of attention. Abstraction has its source in lived experience; if the student has not had it, he or she must be provided with it, along with the time to express his or her initial understanding of it, and to confront this understanding with that of others" 63 • Thanks to the images, stories and exercises, the student engages in the learning process with confidence. At times these strategies call into play a capacity which is well developed, at other times, one which is weaker. In the latter case, students have the opportunity to develop those aptitudes in which they are less at ease, by throwing themselves into activities which correspond perhaps less well to their innate abilities, but more to those of their fellow students. The student continues to look within him or herself for his/her own ideas, and make them visible in his/her body. This pedagogy engages the students with all their capac1t1es. By taking into account the human person in his or her totality, the teaching/learning processes "favour for the student positive expectations on him or herself which, in turn,

64. BARTHB-M.,

L'apprentissage de /'abstraction, Retz, Paris, 1987, p. 34.

76

create efficient functioning of his or her thought. The affective and the cognitive come into play in continual interactivity: one influences the other, one nourishes the other" 64 .

l

Ii

-

Engaging the students' imagination leaves them free to choose their own parameters, and to adopt, among numerous possibilities, that which is most natural to them. This accords them the responsibility of choosing their own responses and of finding their autonomy as learners. "A primary condition of discovery ... is the possibility of exploring, without being penalised for errors."

65

The regular practice of inviting students to imitate the movement of a fellow student enlarges their preferred imaginative field and suggests to them other possibilities. In this way "we benefit by diversity as a means of creating coherence" 66 • As well, "this practice leads students to employ mental operations such as observation, perception, comparison, interpretation and inference, which help them to clarify the sense" 67 • -

The unfolding of the various stages of the teaching/learning process, implying the simultaneous engagement of the various intellectual, physical and sensorial capacities of the students, creates and maintains constant communication between the abstract concept and its concrete realisation. "In order that analysis of a real situation be useful for the learners' conceptual evolution, the analysis must be able to be effected by continual interaction between the concrete and the abstract to render them coherent. The process of abstraction depends on the relation the learner is capable of creating between the two. This is the meaning of

simultaneous alternance." 68

65. ibidem, p. 79.

66. BARTHB-M., « Transmission

et appropriation des savoirs formels ». Actes du C.R.E.A.D., 2002, p. 3. 67. BARTHB-M.,

L'apprentissage de /'abstraction, Retz, Paris, 1987, p. 123. 68. "Simultaneous alternance" is the term used by Barth (1987, pp. 135-136), to describe the process of alternating between the analytical and analogical modes of treating information so swiftly that it occurs almost simultaneously.

,.,

Well constructed questions leading to critical reflection empower the children to

CJ

express what they know and what they think; these questions helping them to ::J

clarify their ideas, to verbalise what they have done, and as a consequence to

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deepen their consciousness and awareness. Such a process leads to understan-

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ding. "By putting words on the learning processes happening,

u

become aware of them, to remove them from their initial context, to take them

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aside to analyse them, and to understand them as a process, a method of thought

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that one may re-use everywhere."

1 ti 2

one is able to

69. BARTHB-M.,

-

((Transmission ct appropri,1tion des savoirc; formels "· Actes du C.R.EAD, 2002, p. 5.

69

This pedagogy of co-operation exposes the child to the needs, capacities and aptitudes of others, and gives him/her both the possibi Iity and the power to be adaptable to others, sharing physical space, accomplishing creative work together and being conscious of others and appreciating them. "By creating structures of interaction, we guarantee a place to each student to listen and to speak. Through intellectual competence, we make sure that each student is able to take the place offered to him or her, and really participate."

70. Ibidem. p. 9.

-

70

Evaluation is present in each stage of Eurythmics, and it occurs regularly. It is effected often as a game, using material familiar to the students, and is inherent to the methodology. "Evaluation is integrated into teaching/learning, may become the source of students' active participation, ming aware of their own competences."

71. Ibidem, p. 9.

-

and because of this,

and the means of beco-

71

Music is the ever present element which appeals to the emotions and feelings: it suggests, it leads, it inspires, it corrects and it improves. It is the bridge between the instinctive and the abstract. It leads from intuition to knowledge:

72. BACHMANNM.-L.,

La rythmique jaquesDalcroze: une education par le musique et pour la musique, La Baconniere SA,

It is in music that tones, timbres and rhythms, nuances, pauses, accents, tempi, and all the physical and dynamic phenomena of the world of sound, find themselves brought into conjunction, arranged, super-imposed, measured and shaped by the power of creative thought. 72

Neuchatel, 1984, p. 23.

-

Undoubtedly,

Eurythmics privileges the body - as much as an instrument of lear-

ning, as the first and principal instrument of music.

Chapter IV: Image and imagining

She (music) is the Muse to whom we dance and through whom we dream our dreams, who beguiles or assails our ears as readily as our thoughts, who guides our sentiments and lays our instincts bare ... not one human faculty is capable of resisting her appeal. Marie-Laure Bachmann

Legends for pages I to XVI

I.

Teaching which engages the whole person - with his or her emotions as much as with his/her intellect - is that which is absorbed the most deeply and is retained the longest. (Carl Rogers)

II.

All that the students learn is born in their experience; this experience always preceeds intellectual comprehension.

Ill.

The role of the teacher is to be the mediator between the student and domain of knowledge he/she must study ... (Britt-Mari Barth)

IV

... to create a welcoming and stimulating environment - which inspires confi-

V.

dence - ... ... where the blossoming of each and every one is possible .... (Britt-Mari Barth)

VI.

to be a good model of the behavious and competences he or she wishes to develop in his/her students.

VI I.

A successfu I pedagogy gives students the means : Of acquiring the body of knowledge particular to the subject studied,

VIII.

Of engaging in the learning process with enthusiasm, curiosity ... confidence and joy,

IX.

X.

Of manipulating and employing with ease all concepts and materials pertinent to the domaine in question,

XI.

Of evaluating their work in a positive and constructive context, one that is natural, comfortable and enjoyable,(Howard Gardner)

XII. XIII. XIV.

Of being involved equally at the level of the intellect, the emotions ... the mind and the body.

A successful pedagogy gives the certitude of having the power to accomplish what one has decided to accomplish, and to do it exactly as one wishes ...

XV.

(Emile Jaques-Dalcroze) and of taking pleasure in one's learning.

XVI.

And that, by the grace of the music. (Emile Jaques-Dalcroze)

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= f Chapter V: Unfolding intelligence Description and analysis of the lessons

The best education is that which has its origin in music, because harmony and rhythm penetrate to the depths of the soul and take possession of it, giving to the human being its benefits of Wisdom and Reason Plato The Republic

Parameters of the research Education by and for rhythm is based on personal experience. It was in this spirit that I began my research in the childrens' classes at the lnstitut Jaques-Dalcroze at Geneva.

During the period of my research I was present at childrens' classes from Presolfege II to Rhythmic-solfege V l. At times I simply observed, as discreetly as possible. At other times I participated as an assistant to the piano and improvise for exercises, in To have been able to observe all situate each class in the context of

teacher, often having the opportunity to go to the the spirit of an apprentice teacher. the levels of classes was very helpful. I was able to the whole five year programme, and each lesson

within the perspective of the programme of the current year. It was also possible to follow the progress of the same students during significant periods of time - months and even years - which gave me a realistic view of their aptitudes and their acquisitions. For the detailed research for this work, I remained with one single teacher and several of her classes at different levels, giving me continuity of approach and taking away the variables which could have influenced the results of the research. The children knew me and were not distracted by my presence and my participation. This collaboration is the source of the lessons described in this chapter, as well as most of the 2. examples of chapter 111 I imposed certain limits for myself:

-

-

To be with the children and to participate in the class with them. I did not wish to sit down and watch the interaction between teacher and students from the side of the room: I experienced the lessons as if I were a student, I "learned" with the children. Being among the children allowed me to really see what was happening from their point of view: their reactions to proposed exercises, their understanding of instructions, and their responses, which were sometimes unexpected. I observed their learning from within. To take no notes. I was convinced that if I spent the time at lessons taking notes, I would miss what was happening in front of me, and that the only truthful way of describing and analysing the lessons that was faithful to the reality was to "live" their learning experiences with the children. I was often tempted to take myself out of the action to note down something: for example, when an exercise had been particularly lovely, or had worked especially well. (This happened quite often!) Not taking notes liberated me from all distraction. I was receptive to all the impressions of the lesson. As soon as possible afterwards, I reviewed the lesson and wrote down my impressions.

1. Children may receive their musical education at the lnstitut with five years of Rythmique-Solfege (1-V), preceeded, if they so wish, by one or two years of Pre Rythmique-Solfege, and followed by two or more years in secondary classes.

2.Sincetheteacherwith whom I worked is a woman, I chose to use the pronoun, "she" in all references to the teacher throughout chapters Ill and IV. While respecting the need for inclusive language, my choice respects the gender of the teacher with whom I worked.

Attentive, I reflected on the factors which contribute to the success of exercises and teaching/learning experiences: the skill and musicality of the teacher, the engagement of the students, the quality of the improvisation, the standards required by the teacher

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in terms of movement and the communication between teacher and students. I learned that each teacher and each class of children is unique and that we must, each oneI uncover our particular and precious path ourselves. In this chapter I present the descriptions and detailed analyses of six lessons. In describing them I try to be as faithful as possible to the spirit of the lesson and to my observations of the moment, whether they be of the mind or the heart. I analyse the intelligences which, in my opinion, are engaged throughout the lessons. I am conscious that "Eurythmics is above all a personal experience, and that it is very difficult to depict to a reader the experiences that he has not had himself" 3 . I hope that submitting these lessons to such analysis does not destroy them, but, instead, illuminates them. The chosen examples show a variety of subjects, exercises and approaches, and they are addressed to students at different levels of learning.

100

Lesson I

a single lesson of fifty minutes given to seven year old children (Rythmique-Solfege I)

Lesson II

represents a subject presented to students of the same level as the preceeding lesson, but during several lessons.

Lesson Ill

a lesson of introduction - the first experience - to the concept of the triplet.

Lesson IV

part of a lesson, this example of evaluation and assimilation implying a solid understanding of the concepts involved.

Lesson V

the abstract subject (time signatures in ternary time) of this lesson of seventy five minutes illustrates the role of Eurythmics in the context of music theory.

Lesson VI

this example illustrates the musical phrase and phrasing. It is in two parts, describing several exercises. The first part analyses exercises introducing the concept of the musical phrase to seven year old children. The second part describes several exercises on phrasing, and the length of phrases, given to a class of ten year olds (RS IV). The children had already had many experiences with the concept of phrasing; these exercises are based on one particular aspect of phrasing: its duration.

II

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Lesson 1 Description of the lesson

Stage: physical sensation/ lived experience Teacher: Today is Wednesday. It's market day. I'll take my basket to the market to do the shopping. It is empty and very light. The teacher plays at a walking speed, quite lively, and the children leave for the market, their imaginary baskets in their hands.

T: What are we going to buy? Children: Some bread, apples, toma-

toes, cheese, some flowers... They mime the actions of choosing these products and putting them in their baskets. Child: My basket is really heavy!

Pedagogical observations

Observations of Intelligences

Kinaesthetic, spatial and musical The teacher makes the subject of the day's lesson concrete by engaging the students in an experience which is part of their daily lives. They leave for the market walking with a hurried step. The improvisation is light and joyous and the walkers are carefree. I can see a sense of purpose in their bodies, as if they know they're going somewhere for a precise reason!

intelligences are placed in relationship by the fact of moving in the space (sharing physical space with others, also adapting one's movement in one's own space); of reacting instinctively to the music and of searching for precision of movement which corresponds to what the student hears.

The teacher joins the children "at the market" and together they fill their baskets. If a child puts down his "basket" saying, my basket is so heavy, it's quite full! it is evident that he is really involved in the story!

She is looking to "create in the pupil the intention to learn, so that he or she is ready to receive, ready to react intellectually to the questions posed.4 4. BARTHB-M., L'apprentissagede /'abstraction,Retz, Paris, 1987, p. 67.

The children already have "intuitive perception" s of the subject of the lesson, demonstrated by the ease with which they follow the walk that is twice as slow.

The teacher returns to the piano and begins a walk slower than the first one to come home: twice as slow exactly. The children walk, carrying their baskets that are full and heavy.

5. Ibidem, p. 68.

Stage: becoming aware, conscious repetition, evaluation The children repeat the story. The teacher plays and sings a song about the market (see Annex), accompanying the song at the tempo of the rapid walk. They fill their baskets and return home. The teacher sings the second verse of the song, while playing at the tempo of the slow walk.

They repeat the story. This time the teacher plays and sings the song about the market (see Annex): the first verse to go to the market and the second to return. The children adapt one and then the other step to the song. They do not hesitate at the moment of changing from one to the other; the two walking speeds are part of the story and I think they do not even reflect on what they are doing. The body learns by doing, it seems to me. To what can we attribute this facility of learning? Firstly, I think it has to do with implicating the students in ways which engage their interest and appeal to their imagination by, in this case, giving an image, a story to which they can

When the speed of the walk changes, the students must adapt their step, and it is their kinaesthetic intelligence which is engaged more particularly. The relationships between the intelligences change. The personal intelligences, in frequently varying shades of collaboration, are in evidence at each moment: the relationships amongst the students, and between teacher and student. Musical intelligence is, of course, always present. Its importance becomes more subtle through the song: it gives the children the support of melody and words, while asking them to adapt their speed to its verses. Again, the configuration

101

relate. They are free to respond according to their own personal life experience: the knowledge they have already acquired, their interests, their successes, in fact all which makes up their personalites. A student will not feel "disempowered" in such a learning atmosphere: he or she takes from it what he/she wishes to and what empowers him/her. All that the children learn

of intelligences changes.

must be born in their experience; lived experience always preceeds intellectual comprehension 6 . Or, to express it differently, "performance before comprehension" 7 . The attitude and the approach of the teacher favour in the student "a positive attitude to him or herself, which, in turn, facilitate efficient functioning of his or her thought processes" 8 . Secondly, the power of improvisation is such that the student feels "carried" by the music. He or she does not fight against his/her natural inclinations: on the contrary, the music awakens in him/her all that is natural.

Stage: becoming aware, analysis, physical sensation/lived experience The children are sitting on the floor near the piano.

T: / have bought some real pears 9. She takes a real pear from her real basket and cuts it in two. The puts together the two halves to make a whole pear, saying: pear pear, at the speed of the slow walk.

The children become aware that there are two elements (two speeds). It is at this point an awareness that comes from the body rather than from the intellect. At the piano, they separate these elements, clapping one on their knees and the other in their hands. By using a real pear, the teacher recalls and makes use of the images of the story. I watch the childrens' eyes grow big and round seeing food (generally forbidden) in the eurhythmics room!

Linguistic intelligence is always in use; its function is adapted to each moment of the lesson: at times it tells a story, or explains a concept; perhaps it expresses a feeling or an idea; at other times it asks or responds to questions, etc.

6. WEBER-BALMAS Mireille, Seminar, 03.1998. 7. BARTHB-M., Lev Vygotsky, op. cit., p. 46. 8. BARTHB-M., L'apprentissagede /'abstraction, op. cit., p. 34. 9. The teacher used apples (in French pommes) for this lesson; the chlldren clapped the "whole apples" and the "half apples" saying pomme and pim - words which sit well on the relative values of the whole and half note.

T: And we'll call the halves pip. She separates the two halves,

The teacher shows them the pear and the half-pear to represent and

Saying rhythms with words uses the musical and rhythmic qualities of

102

J

saying: pip pip pip pip at the speed

make concrete the two speeds. The

of the fast walk.

children clap the slow speed, saying

The children say pear or pip while

pear and the fast speed saying pip, according to what the teacher holds up (the whole pear or its halves). I observe with interest that they clap, instinctively, one on their knees and the other in their hands. The teacher writes on the blackboard:

clapping according to what the teacher

holds

up:

either

separated

halves of the pears, or the halves placed together to make whole pears.

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T: Let's say the rhythm using quick and slow.

These lines render the sense of the speeds visible, and the children are

C: slow quick quick slow quick quick

already accustomed to reading and

Quick quick quick quick slow slow T: And with the pears and the pips? C: (clapping at the same time) Pear pip pip pear pip pip Pip pip pip pip pear pear C: You could say that the pears are whole notes! 10

clapping them. The teacher adds drawings of pears and half pears on the

10. In translating these lessons into English, I am aware that English speaking countries employ different terminology for note values. Whole note equals semibreve, half note minum, quarter note - crotchet, eighth note quaver and sixteenth note equals semiquaver.

Stage: analysis T: And what about the half pears, then? C : Haff a note? (everyone laughs!) T: We//, that's exactly what it is! What should we call it? Nobody knows. T: It's called a half note. She draws it. T: Can we say the rhythm again using whole and half? C: Whole half half whole half half Half half half half whole whole.

Stage: conscious repetition, assimilation T: Would you like to repeat the song, just for the pleasure? Pick up your baskets, then! They repeat the song as before, stepping half notes during the first verse and whole notes during the second.

lines; next, she draws whole notes

language: pear is said more slowly than pip.

Kinaesthetic

intelligence

supports

the analytic work (logico-mathema-

tical i ntel I igence) : the students feel the space around the slow speed (spatial i ntel Iigence) and less space while clapping the rapid speed.

and half notes. She superimposes the two images, (the second one being the more abstract) on the image - the lines - which has already been well assimilated by the children.

CJddudddddduu ~~~~------~~

oddoddddddo

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"Language is at the same time a means of finding the sense in lived experience, and a reflection of what we have understood: it produces what it constitutes." The teacher helps the children to structure the content by their reflection and their inferences. 11 11. BARTH B-M., Le savoir en construction, Retz, Paris, 1993, p. 39.

The teacher consciously uses as support what the child already knows, giving him or her the ability to "recognise the significance of the content he/she receives" 12 . 12. Ibidem, p. 35.

In my opinion, the to and fro of which I spoke in chapter Ill is impor-

When they finally repeat the market story, the students are conscious of

tant, so that the students may experience the new abstract concept

the values that they step. The analysis (logico-mathematical intelligence)

again, physically. The analysis nourishes this physical musicality and is in turn itself facilitated by the conti-

feeling of walking in refernce to its speed (spatial intelligence). They

nuing appeal to physical sensation.

have already felt this aspect by clap-

allows them to be conscious of the

103

The music helps the children cross the bridge between instinct and abstraction with ease.

ping (kinaesthetic intelligence). The children walk with attentiveness. I·· see their bodies sure and stable, and they change the energy of their walk with precision. The fact of having "negotiated the sense" by labelling the two speeds, now nourishes their walk as they repeat the exercise with , awareness of what they are doing 13. 13. Ibidem, p. 37.

Stage: physical sensation/lived experience, analysis, evaluation, transfer The children step the rhythmic phrase given by the teacher.

They clap it and the teacher writes it on the board. She asks the children to clap it and say it using slow and quick; then pear and pip, then whole and half.

It is the first phrase of the song. This exercise of musical theory helps the children analyse the rhythm of the song, but in any case, the analysis has just been done in their bodies. All that is left to do is to write it down and verbalise the rhythm. Several children are able to step it more precisely after having seen it written. In clapping the rhythm of the first phrase, the children use the gestures corresponding to the different speeds without hesitation. They leave more space between the palms of their hands when clapping the whole notes and less for the half notes.

Collaboration of several intelligences helps the children to assimilate a new concept. They know it through their bodies (kinaesthetic intelligence); they have sensed and felt the relationship of one speed to the other (musical, spatial intelligences). They ~ use words to verbalise the two i speeds (linguisticintelligence). The instinctive gesture to widen the/: space between their palms wheri\ clapping demonstrates assimilation of the concept. The students reco-· ·.··• gnise the new value rhythmic context.

Stage: assimilation, evaluation, analysis The children clap the whole notes on their knees and the half notes in their hands, according to the teacher's improvisation. Next, she plays the whole notes and the children clap with her. When she says hop they clap two half notes (once only) in their hands. She does the exercise with the children to be sure they have underst0od. Then she plays: hop

o

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o

etc.

o

!lo

hop

o

!lo

etc.

This exercise of analysis calls into . play several intelligences: to realise there are two half notes in a whole • note uses the capacities of logicomathematical intelligence; the ,'f 'I;'.'}, . students clap it, felling the division:::·/. of the whole note (kinaesthetic(fHt intelligence). They see this division":~; (spatial/visual i ntel Iigence) on the··i :-·,,

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board with the lines on which the, .. teacher superimposes the images (pears) and the musical notation (note values).

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The objective of this lesson was to learn, recognise and read the musical notation of the half note. It was placed into relationship with the whole note that they know already. The lovely physical work done throughout every stage of the lesson rendered the learning of the musical theory (solfege) easy and enjoyable. Before leaving, each child takes a half pear from the basket to eat after the lesson. They eat a half note! What better way to assimilate something than to eat it!

Lesson II Description of the lesson

Pedagogical observations

T: I'm going to take you on a jour-

The children are seated on the floor. The teacher begins the story, and immediately there is a perceptible change in the children. The sense of well being that seems present when a story begins is difficult to define. The children's backs straighten, nobody moves, calm reigns in the room (with the parents as well!). All eyes are fixed on the teacher, who has their total attention. Everybody loves listening to stories. Pedagogically, the story is an excellent means of drawing the students' interest. It has the power of immediate engagement. Through its concrete images it holds their attention and awakens their imagination.

ney into the desert, where there are some dromedaries ~ that's a kind of camel. The teacher begins to tell a story which happens in the heart of the Arabian desert.

Observations of Intelligences

The personal intelligences contribute to the creation of the sense of well being of listening to a story in combination with linguistic intelligence: in this case language is used metaphorically and poetically. The children are engaged at the level of their emotions and the affective. "The affective and the cognitive thus participate in a continual interaction: one influences the other, one nourishes the other. 11 14 14. BARTHB-M., L'apprentissage de /'abstraction, Retz, Paris, 1987, p. 34.

Stage: physical sensation/lived experience T: Find a way of walking like a camel.

Find a way of walking like a camel... this is an example of an

of musical, spatial and kinaesthetic intelligences are enga-

The "trio"

105

The teacher plays for a slow walk (whole notes). Its character is "Arabic" : a melody using augmented seconds and harmonies evoking the spirit of this music.

Stage: becoming aware, physical sensation/lived experience T: Look at Amelia! Do you see how she is walking? Now, there's a real camel!

106

"open" instruction: it imposes no limits. It gives latitude to the child to respond according to his or her aptitudes and imagination: he/she does what comes to him/her, what he/she feels. The teacher wishes to see what response the children give. For the moment, I think she does not want to set limits by a more precise instruction. She does, however, improvise music which invites and sustains a walk of a certain tempo and character. She observes the children to see how they feel and express the music. It is not only a question of tempo. It is about the physical sensation of this slow walk and of its special character. The walk of a camel has continuity in the alternance of his hooves. Even as he places two hooves in the sand, he is preparing for the next step. His walk is deliciously undulating - something easily remembered by anyone who has been on a camel's back! I think that it is this quality that the teacher wants the children to feel: those qualities of alternance and continuity which give duration to a slow walk. She will obtain it by accumulating images - firstly from the story, and then by means of the music she plays.

ged simultaneously ... the music pr poses a certain character, speed and energy of the walk and the responds. A slow walk demand· awareness of space, (which is, i turn, influenced by the energy which the body moves.)

She calls attention to the child who shows this quality in her walk, inviting the other children to watch her. I think this student must really have a muscular memory of walking in sand. She places her feet so deliberately on the floor, and as soon as she has let her body weight rest on one foot, she begins to lift the other, with an almost imperceptible shift of weight from one foot to the other. Each step prolongs itself until the next one. The teacher works with the children to explore this quality. She allows them to watch Amelia for a few moments, drawing their attention to the movement of the

Spatial/visual intelligence is· calle

bod;

on for this non verbal awarene · (observing closely the movement someone in order to imitate it); th personal intelligences as well. Working together to improve t · quality of their walk, the cla actually must decide to agree o what is essential 15 . As well, th children improve their walking b observing one of their classmates: i is a lovely example of mediation! 15. BARTHB-M., Le savoir en construction, Retz, Paris, 1993, p. 180.

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16. WEBER-BALMAS Mireille, Seminar, April 2000.

child's legs which is rhythmic and regular. How is the quality of a movement improved? Sometimes it is by means of a word from the teacher; at times she might go to a child and touch one part of his or her body to correct or maintain its tone; at other times she moves with the children or for them to demonstrate. Very often, however, she achieves this improvement with a subtle change in her improvisation: that, in fact, is the role and the power of music in Dalcrozian pedagogy. What is indispensable is the need and the willingness to take whatever time is necessary to work intensively on physical sensation and movement, being convinced that musicality will be incarnated by this work well done. "It is not sufficient to do the work: one must do it WELL. At every moment one must be attentive to the students and render them attentive: receive what comes from them and take them further in their reflection and their awareness." 16

The corporal work is based on kinaesthetic intelligence, supported by the personal intelligences (communication between the teacher and students) and spatial intelligence.

She asks the students to adapt one, then the other step to the song. They sing while walking now, and I notice how their movement is influenced by the fact that they sing. Sometimes, in learning new concepts, the children can be so concentrated on the movement that they forget to sing. Once they feel at ease, however, singing seems to reinforce and support their movement, and vice versa. These children sing so well, and obviously love doing it!

Correction by improvisation calls on the child's sensitivity to the music (musical intelligence): he or she can "reflect muscially"; this same intelligence allows him/her to react correctly to the two elements proposed (two speeds). Also in play are spatial and kinaesthetic intelligences, their "conductor", one could say, this time, is the music.

Stage: becoming aware, physical sensation/lived experience The teacher continues the story of the camel. Then, beside the camel

is his master who is leading him. She plays for a walk twice as fast as the preceeding one, at the tempo of half notes. Its character is still "Arabic" but this walk really advances in the space, and is no longer undulating.

The teacher changes from one walk to the otller. At the same time, she plays a song "In the Immense Desert" (see Annex) with which she gives the students the energy of one, then the other walk, by adopting the character of the song. The children realise the two steps without difficulty.

It is by reacting to the two elements that the students become aware that there is a difference. It is more exactly an intuitive awareness than an analytical one. They hear two things and they react. I watch them change instinctively not only the speed of their step but also its character: this seems to be a sensory

awareness and not one based on theoretical knowledge.

Stage: becoming aware The children are seated on the floor near the piano.

T: What have we done? C: We walked in different ways. C: The camel's steps were slow and those of his master were quick. She asks them to clap the camel's steps on their knees and those of his master in their hands. She accompanies their clapping on the piano.

Stage: conscious repetition, assimilation T: Let's do the two walks again.

What have we done? The response of the second child is more precise than that of the first. By means of her questions, the teacher is able to discern where the children are in their thinking and their understanding. Through posing questions which provoke reflection, she helps them to clarify and deepen their awareness. They clap one speed on their knees and the other in their hands: separating the speeds physically and spatially in this way leads them, I am sure, to separate them mentally.

The children step the two speeds, changing from one to the other according to the improvisation. I observe one student who seems to be able to anticipate the teacher's changes. She prepares her body ahead of time. How does she know? It doesn't happen each time without exception, but sufficiently often for it not to be coincidence, I see this anticipation. The changes in the improvisation are not regular; with my experience, I can sense the musical clues, for example, dynamics, energy, phrasing. I am impressed, however, to see such sensitivity in a young child.

The students use language to reflect on a kinaestheticexperience, and to prepare for the movement which will come afterwards.

It is musical intelligence which supports this child's movement and facilitates the anticipation (kinaesthetic and spatial intelligences).

Stage: becoming aware, analysis The teacher continues the story of the camel and of his adventures in the desert... he is thirsty and he finds a hole, a well, filled with water ... She_presents the song "The Camel" (see Annex) which the children sing.

T: What do you notice about this melody? C: It's a bit like a scale. C : It ascends and then it descends. C: It has quicks and slows. T : Are there leaps between the notes?

108

The teacher helps the children put words on what happens in the melody. Her first question is open ended, indicating that for the moment she is content to let them say whatever they have noticed. According to the precision and perception of their replies, she will then lead them further in their reflection.

17. BARTH B-M.,L'apprentissage de /'abstraction, Retz, Paris, 1987, p. 29.

The students begin to analyse what they have perceived. This work by their logico-mathematical intelligence is sustained by the kinaesthetic sensation of showing the melody with the movement of their hands, and also supported by their spatial/visual intelligence. By asking a precise question, are there leaps between the notes ?, the teacher assists the children to know where to place their attention.17

I C: No ... not really ... T: Draw the me/adv in the air with your hands. Show how it ascends and descends. The children use their hands to show:

It is an analysis both physical and abstract. The children draw the melody with their hands while singing it; by doing so they see and they feel the melodic line. The become aware that the melody ascends and descends by steps and not by leaps.

C : Oh, in the first half it ascends,

and in the second, it descends! T: You are right! Well done!

Stage: analysis, assimilation, transfer, evaluation The teacher draws on the blackboard the "hump" of the camel, and the "well" full of water:

I\ •

•

•

•\/ • •

which trace the melodic fragments of the song.

The teacher takes the images from the story and uses them to show the stepping ascent and descent of the melodic line with a drawing. She asks the children to sing these drawings, commencing on various different notes in turn. She touches on the board the points of the "hump" and the "well" in order to install and memorise sequences of neighbouring notes. This exercise illustrates the transfer of a concept from one context to another. The neighbouring notes are illustrated by the two drawings. Being able to begin on any note shows that the children have assimilated the concept. It is, among other things, an exercise in logic.

Transferring a concept (the note of departure) from one context to another demands a whole chain of reasoning (logico-mathematical intelligence) which is supported by musical and spatial intelligences.

T: If I want to sing a "hump" beginning on DO, could you tell me the notes? And from SOL ? From Ml? The children sing the three neighbouring notes like this:

Re

I\ • • •

Do

Do

Do

Do

•\/ • • Si

C : The well is the opposite of the

hump. T: Well done! Let's sing the wells then. If I begin on DO what will I sing? And from FA ?

109

The teacher plays either a "hump" or a "well".

The children make a movement either of the hump or the well while they sing the three notes they hear on the piano.

Stage: evaluation The teacher gives to each child four cards, on each of which is drawn a melodic line of three notes. She plays three notes corresponding to the drawing on one of the cards. The children listen, sing and choose the correct card which they hold up. For example, the teacher plays FA-SOLLA. The children sing "la, la la" and choose the third card.

~1\71~~ ~ L__Y_J L_J

110

~

After having understood the melodic difference, the children must then listen to and recognise the three note melody instead of constructing it. They react to the three notes played by the teacher by making either a "hump" or a "well" with their arms: an exercise both of reaction and of evaluation. "hump": "well":

Re

I\ • • Do• Do

La

La

•\/ • • Sol

This exercise of evaluation is more abstract than the preceeding one. It places the two melodic lines previously experienced (hump and well) amongst others, and the cards are already prepared: the children do not have the added support of watching the drawings being done. (watching the teacher draw gives them the immediate link between the sound and the drawing). The difficulty of this exercise now increases because the choice is larger. The children are learning one of the symbolic systems of music: that of musical notation. This graphic notation (not yet written on the musical stave) prepares them for formal symbolic notation: the little dots for the notes, left-right eye movement, the sense of ascent and descent visually clear. realise how many different approaches have been used to give the children the means of feeling, recognising, hearing and constructing these melodic fragments with neighbouring notes. Diverse learning experiences have accumulated one on the other so that the children have a large choice of supports to reinforce their learning. "The role of pedagogy is to give the students the means of succeeding." 18 This manner of teaching enriches the students enormously, and at the same time is itself enriched by their

The intelligences which are working together are: - Logico-mathematical, reading of musical notation, associating a sound with symbolic notation - Musical, evidently, as main theme or vital lead. - Spatial, the drawings show the space between the notes - The personal intelligences, shown in the relationships amongst the students, and between teacher and student, likewise support the work.

18. WEBER-BALMASMireille, Seminar, October 1999.

r

diverse aptitudes. The process is realised, as always, through physical sensation and lived experience.

Stage: assimilation, evaluation, transfer from one context to another The teacher asks the students again to clap the two speeds, the "quicks" in their hands and the "slows" on their knees. She plays either whole notes or half notes and the children clap with her.

T: Be careful! I'm going to do some-

thing different. Don't let me disturb you. Continue what you are doing. She plays half notes while the children continue to clap whole notes.

T: What did I do while you clapped on your knees? C : You played the quick notes. T: Do you know how many quicks I played while you clapped one single slow clap? We'll do it again and you count. They clap, counting 1-2- 1 - 2 etc.

T: When did you clap? C: On the "1". The teacher writes on the board the lines representing the two speeds: the steps of the camel and that of his master. The children identify the two speeds as whole notes and half notes. The teacher then draws the note values on the appropriate "footprints" of the camel and of his master.

This exercise has several objectives: 1. It helps the students be aware of two speeds. Clapping them differently on the body allows the children to separate them mentally in order to compare them more easily. 2. When the teacher plays the opposite of what the children clap, she prepares the way for analysis, and for the following exercise, which will ask them to realise one speed in terms of the other, by stepping it. This is also evaluation; the teacher sees at once if the children react correctly (either on the knees or in the hands) and the children evaluate themselves. The "immediacy" with which both teacher and student receive feed back on the teaching/learning process is, I think, one of the very valuable assetsof Dalcrozian pedagogy. 3. The teacher asks the students to be precise. How many quick movements equal one slow movement? This analytical question helps them to feel, to understand and to articulate the fact that one slow step corresponds to two quick steps. 0

0

0

The spatial, musical and kinaesthetic intelligences support the logico-mathematical work of analysis which is being effected. "In order that analysis of a real situation be useful for the learner's conceptual evolution, it must be effected by constant interaction between the concrete and the abstract, for them to be coherent and credible. The process of abstraction depends on the connections that the learner is capable of making between the two." 19 This exercise provides a means of making these connections. 19. BARTH B-M., Le savoir en construction, Retz, Paris, 1993, p. 162.

0

Stage: physical experience/lived experience, assimilation, evaluation The teacher puts the children in two lines, asking them to follow the two speeds played alternatively. Line 1 follows the slow walk and line 2 the quick one. Next, the two lines step together, each line following, its own speed. Then they change roles.

The children take up the two walking speeds. The corporal sensation and physical memory of the two speeds must now support them so that they may maintain their own speed while hearing and seeing the other one realised simultaneously. The teacher constructs the exercise with her improvisation in such a way as to introduce progressively the difficult

The analysis (logico-mathematical) sustains the movement (kinaesthetic) and aids the children in maintaining their own speed in relation to the other.

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element (that is, of stepping the two speeds together) in this way:

MD MG o

o

o

o

JJJJJJ

... arret

JJJ J J O J j Jj JJ J J

... arret

0

0

0

This exercise translates: the two lines alternatively, then together; at certain times one or other of the lines stops, and restarts. At a certain moment, the second line had stopped; when the piano re-introduced its speed everybody in the line moved except the student in front. The children behind him all collided and everyone began to laugh! The child at the head of the line quickly realised that he hadn't heard the piano ! Even if its use is primarily evaluative, this exercise demands that the children organise the space well. The child in front must lead his/her line so as not to mix it with the other one. This already is fairly difficult for children of this age; they need to anticipate the path they will walk and be conscious of the pathway taken by the other line.

0

0

... arret

0

0

0

0

leans on musical and kinaesthetic intelligences, as well as spatial intelligence (the latter for the This work

two lines to organise their space). It is inter-personal intelligence which helps the child correct himself!

Etape: assimilation, transfert, sentir/vivre, evaluation The teacher asks each child to find a partner. To one of the two she gives a skipping rope which he/she will loop around his/her neck ... this child is the camel. The second child will hold the ends of the rope to lead his "camel". The camel walks slowly and the master steps twice as quickly. They change roles.

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This last exercise is a development of the preceeding one. Each child is now "alone" with the speed he or she is stepping, without the support of the line and without the moments of rest to prepare his/her step mentally. He/she must now establish immediately his/her own speed in relation to the other one. Each child must place his or her steps in agreement with those of his/her partner. (The children have already become aware of this by clapping and counting 1-2-1-2). The master adapts his steps, taking smaller ones to stay with his camel, who takes slow, and larger steps. The teacher again plays "In the immense desert": to recall the images of the story and the physical sensations of

This exercise demands cooperation between each couple (camel and master) - thus interpersonal intelligence is used - in order to master their movement together (kinaesthetic intelligence) in the space (spatial intelligence); supported and sustained by the teacher's improvisation and the song (musical intelligence).

the first exercises which are memorised in the children's muscles. Each child must not let him/herself be disturbed by the speed of his/her partner; instead, ideally, to be supported by it. This exercise could be used for assimilation or evaluation. The physical experience of the quality and speed of the two walks allows the children to be stable in their step. The children of this class almost all succeeded in this difficult exercise, even though it was the first time they had done such an exercise. It allowed them to physically experience two speeds simultaneously. They had effected a detailed analysis on which they can lean, and which makes the physical sensation felt during this last exercise conscious.

Lesson Ill Description of the lesson

Pedagogical observations

Observations of Intelligences

The students "draw" what they hear, with their ribbons. The teacher plays phrases containing triplets, but the children do not know this. The exercise appeals to their global perception. Even if the objective of the lesson will be to learn the rhythm of the triplet, the teacher takes time to explore the physical sensation of the rhythmic phrases, in which the triplet is included. I speak of globality in this sense: for the moment, the triplet has no more importance than all the other rhythms; the children are in the process of expressing what they hear with their ribbons. I notice, in fact, that within these phrases are other rhythms that the children have not yet encountered. This is not important, as the goal of the present exercise, I think, is to savour the natural movement and to feel the energy and elan of the different rhythms. "At the moment of doing an exercise, it is itself more

Musical intelligence is sollicited in the most instinctive sense (this intelligence has also an analytical component) to inspire and canalise physical sensation. The movement is less fluid when the children concentrate; if they react instinctively, the music will sustain and support their movement. The relationships between musical, spatial and kinaesthetic intelligences change and adapt: at any given moment it is one, or the other which is the most in evidence.

Stage: physical sensation/lived experience The teacher gives each student a gymnastic ribbon. T: Follow what you hear at the

piano and express it with your ribbon. She plays a series of phrases, each of which contains a triplet, for example:

rn rn n fffl rn n 3

3

j

:11

j

:II

3

The

relationship

music/movement

(musical and kinaesthetic intelligences) is one of dependence : music inspires movement which renders the music visible ...

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important than the final goal; to feel, fully, the joy of the exercise one is in the process of doing - this is vital." 20 The exercise is not one of analysis but of physical sensation. The children do not even need to know what is going on in the music; they simply allow themselves to be guided by what they hear and to respond. Nevertheless, the teacher asks for movement that is precise and clear. She wants to see the rhythms drawn. She wants to "see" the music in the movement of the ribbons and the children's bodies, and not something vague which accompanies the music but does not render it visible. She plays with a certain and clear energy to inspire and draw forth these qualities in the children's movement. The human body must be well mastered lo render music visible and to express its own musicality. The teacher is demanding of the quality of the children's movement. For their part, they are concentrated on the rhythms they are describing. They listen and react correctly, but not expressively. They remain in the one spot and move only their arms and the hand that holds the ribbon.

20. WEBER-BALMAS

Mireille, Seminar,

December 1998.

Stage: becoming aware, conscious repetition The teacher takes a ribbon and imitates the children's movement. T : Who can correct me ?

C: Your movement isn't very good. C : You only move your arms. C: Your legs are stiff. Maybe you could bend your knees a little. C: It would be better if you looked at your ribbon. The children repeat the exercise and the teacher reminds them of their own advice!

The teacher demonstrates to them the kind of movement she sees. She gives them an example of a movement that is not expressive and asks, who can correct me? The children laugh! They easily find ways to correct the teacher! They repeat their movements, and immediately, these are "alive". They seem to be permeated by what they are doing, rather than reacting because the teacher asked them to do it. We hear the swish, swish of the ribbons which now move with energy, and I observe that the children have instinctively moved farther apart from each other. Evidently, now, they need more space!

Linguistic and spatial/visual intelligences work together to improve the quality of the children's movement: observing and describing what they see helps them define the movement qualities they are seeking. But it is not always possible to describe a quality of movement, and sometimes it is better simply to observe it and do it. Before drawing the attention of the children to particular aspects, the teacher needs to know what they have perceived. She gives a negative example so that the children are able to isolate what is essential, and to come to agreement on the quality of movement desired.21 21. BARTHB-M., L'apprentissage de /'abstraction, Retz, Paris, 1987, p. 180.

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Stage: becoming aware T : What did you do?

C: There were quarter notes and eighth notes. C : And some sixteenth notes. T: We'll look at the note values afterwards. For now, tell me what you felt. C: (several in turn) We// then, we

did several different movements .. . there were some faster than others.. . the ene,gy was different.

What did you do? The children immediately reply from their intellect. The teacher does not want a "cerebral" response for the moment; she is looking for a response which expresses their physical sensations. Why? If I reflect, I think it is because by responding, quarter notes and eighth notes the children externalise their response: that is, they give an objective and limited response instead of an open ended response which comes from their personal experience. The teacher wants to know, what did you FEEL? What have you experienced in your body? Listening to the children's responses, I realise how accustomed we are to wanting to give the correct answer! We feel safe when we give an objective response, because such a reply is quantifiable: we know that we are right (or wrong). A personal response makes us more vulnerable: we are not sure of knowing what the teacher is looking for. In fact, a personal response IS the correct answer ! Asking what did you feel? removes the question from the intellect and attaches it to physical sensation. Such a question asks the children to listen to their bodies: once they are conscious of what their bodies are doing, they are able to express music. At the same time, expressing the music gives clarity to the body's intentions.

The children

want

to

use their

logico-mathematical intelligence to answer the question; the teacher is looking for a response which comes from their kinaesthetic intelligence (and from their intra-personal intelligence). The invitation "to observation and interpretation allows the teacher to perceive what the students understand, a primary condition for communication. At first, one calls on their intuition, on their personal knowledge, on their affectivity; their imagination, in order to pave the way, through a reciprocal weaving, for a relationship with logical thought. These two modes of thought complement each other" 22 . 22. BARTH B-M., "Transmission et appropriation des savoirs formels", Actes du C.R.E.A.D., 2002, p. 5.

Stage: physical/lived experience, becoming aware, evaluation The teacher asks the children to follow her music. She plays for them to run lightly in triplets. Next, she plays at a tempo where the quarter note remains constant, but in eighth notes. (This is, therefore, running in twos.)

The children run lightly. The teacher plays triplets. I see a lot of the students give a very slight weight to the first of the three notes; I think that they are conscious, physically, that they are running in threes. Beginning with the ribbons, the teacher introduced the triplet in terms of is character and its energy. By running, the students are going to begin to quantify, even if they are not conscious of it. At the level of physi-

115

..

·"7 •

I

cal sensation it is more than possible that they know that there is running that happens in twos and running that happens in threes.

Stage: conscious repetition, assimilation The students take the ribbons again. They look for movements for each rhythmic motif. From these, the teacher suggests one or other of the movements that the whole class will do.

Fixing precise movements allows the children to focalise more and more closely on the new element. By expressing the differences, they respond to the energy particular to each rhythmic motif. I am convinced that it is very important to allow the children to find their own movements; nevertheless, when they decide on a common movement, there is a shared energy that can be quite impressive - as if each student contributes and at the same time feels sustained by his/her fellow students. This exercise develops into series of precise rhythms and finally rhythmic phrases.

Deciding on particular movements allows for the liberation of kinaesthetic intelligence in order to concentrate on the new element. The personal intelligences are in evidence during this communal exercise; they sustain movement as does spatial/visual intelligence. This is an example, in the context of Eurythmics, of "communal signification" 23 . The musical, spatial and kinaesthetic intelligences are called into play, here. Kinaesthetic intelligence awakens logico-mathematical i ntel Iigence, in order to intervene directly later on. 23. BARTHB-M., Le savoir en construction, Retz, Paris, 1993, p. 180.

Stage: physical sensation/lived experience, becoming aware T : Step with the piano. Follow eve-

rything I play. She plays quarter notes... eighth notes triplets ... and finally sixteenth notes. T: What did you feel was happening in the music? C : It became faster and faster. C : We accelerated.

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By stepping all the different speeds, the students are able to compare them. They still do not know that there is a triplet; they simply perceive that there is a regular acceleration. The triplet has its own life, one could say, by comparison with the other elements. The teacher places the triplet amongst the other rhythms to highlight the acceleration which is produced by its presence. Seated near the piano, the students clap the four speeds, each in a different way: the quarter notes on the floor, the eighth notes on their knees, the triplets in their palms and the sixteenth notes they tap lightly on their

The acceleration demands consciousness and mastery of the space (spatial and kinaesthetic intelligences). As well, being regular, this acceleration calls on the child's sense of logic (logico-mathematical intelligence) to understand the regularity - even if for the moment this is non-verbal.

chests. In this way they isolate each rhythmic element and deepen their awareness of it.

Stage: physical sensation, assimilation, evaluation, becoming aware, conscious repetition T: Walk with the piano; when it tells you, make a half turn. The children walk. The teacher plays, once only, a triplet; the children do half a turn and continue their walk. Next, she asks them to change the direction of their walk when they hear a second signal on the piano: to walk backwards (or forwards if they are walking backwards).

This exercise of reaction continues to install the triplet as a rhythm which takes the place of one quarter note. It helps the children assimilate the triplet by comparing it with two eighth notes. Sometimes it is better to compare a new concept to one other only, as in this exercise; at other times the new concept can be placed in a larger context (as in the exercise where the children followed the acceleration: they became aware that they were stepping more and more quickly.)

Likewise for this exercise which opposes the triplet to one other note value... logico-mathematical aptitudes are sollicited, but differently.

Stage: evaluation, assimilation T: Let's react to both the signals. The exercise is repeated, this time with both the signals included.

T: When you are at ease, we'll have a competition.

The complexity of the exercise increases gradually, as it develops: First triplet: half turn; first reaction to two eighth notes : step backwards; ' again two eighth notes: step forwards; triplet: half turn; two eighth notes: step backwards; triplet: half turn AND continue to walk backwards. Many children made a mistake at this moment, by changing the direction of their walk! Children adore competitions! Alerted by the game, these children are very concentrated, and they rarely make mistakes. Obviously, the goal of the exercise is not concerned with making or not making errors, but of reacting to a musical signal with precision and musicality. Not only is this an exercise of rhythmic reaction, but also of spatial orientation; it has at least two objectives: to hear the rhythmic signal, and to react correctly, given the variations in spatial orentation which the exercise implies. It is, evidently, also an exercise of evaluation.

This exercise demands the ability to foresee and infer in terms of elements in a series, to anticipate the consequences: if I'm walking backwards and I make a half turn, where will I be? This is as much physical and spatial logic as it is analytical logic. The child decides how to organise him or herself to succeed - this depends on the intelligences which are his/her strongest - but always relying on the music as support. This exercise illustrates a collaboration between the following intelligences:

logico-mathematical,spatial, kinaesthetic, musical and intra-personal.

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-7 I

Stage: analysis, physical experience The children are seated close to the piano. The teacher plays quarter notes which they clap. When she says hop they clap two eighth notes. When she says hip they clap a triplet.

This exercise begins abstract analysis, while appealing to the physical sensation of clapping either two eighth notes, or a triplet: each happening within the duration of one quarter note. As well, each student must be autonomous: capable of constructing and realising the rhythms without external assistance. Thus, it is possible to see if each one has felt and understood the difference. The gestures express the particular energy of each speed well, and they are reinforced by the words spoken at the same time. The sensation of the triplet is round and fluid, whereas that of the two eighth notes is more pointed and "sharp". (The exercise of reaction to the two eighth notes or the triplet appealed to this sensation: doing a half turn is more physically "round", and changing the direction of the walk is "sharp": it is cut in order to go elsewhere.)

In this kind of situation of teaching/learning, "errors are not only allowed, but they serve as tools to improve capacities of analysis and critical judgement. It would be better to speak of provisional knowledge" 24 • 24. Ibidem, p. 165.

Stage: becoming aware, analysis, assimilation The teacher tells a short story relating to preparing and eating breakfast, in order to relate each speed with a gesture and words. Eat/drink= Cut it= Marmalade=

j

n

Language lends itself well to music, and its rhythms accompany the physical gestures and reinforce them. The children mime the actions of cutting, saying cut it

J7 Of spreading, saying

m

mar-ma-lade

m

3

Cappucino =

Jffl

The children identify the rhythms thatthey know while doing the gestures of cutting, spreading, sprinkling and eating/drinking. "Marmalade" they do not yet know. They propose three of something and the teacher explains that these are three "special" eighth notes, that they are closer together and faster than three

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3

Of sprinkling chocolate, saying cap-pu - ci - no

j JJJ Of eating (or drinking), saying eat /drink)

The analysis thanks to the children have prehension

is easily understood, physical gestures the just done. Their comis facilitated and

The story of breakfast is a concrete image which unites linguistic, kinaesthetic and musical intelligences.

Logico-mathematical, musical, kinaesthetic, spatial and linguistic intelligences all work together, but in changing configurations, to effect this analysis.

l

I

normal eighth notes and that they are called a triplet. She goes to the board and writes the triplet, as well as the other values.

J JJ

.lffl

She points to one after the other. The children clap and say them. Next she draws:

OCD 0 j

logical comparison between the rhythms hy drawing circles that she cuts in two, then in three, and in four. It is visually clear that each one takes the place of one quarter note. This lesson was the introduction to the concept of the triplet. In the

3

m

reinforced by their gestures and their voices. The teacher shows the

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weeks to come, the students will meet it constantly. They will have many occ;1sions to "play with" this concept in various contexts, to experience it physically, to become aware of its rhythmic and musical subtleties and finallv to assimilate it into their musical vocabulary.

JJJJ

Lesson IV Description of the lesson

Stage: physical/lived experience, becoming aware, evaluation T: I would like you to walk, following what I play. The teacher plays a walk that is fairly lively. She stops playing and joins the children, asking them, what do you think? Is it a timid walk or one full of assurance? C : It is confident! The teacher demonstrates the kind of walk she would like to see. The children set off. The teacher returns to the piano ... I'm changing, she says; she plays twice as quickly as the former walk; and again, I'm changing, and she doubles the speed a second time. The children adapt to each speed. For this latter one, they run quickly with very small steps.

Pedagogical observations

Observations of Intelligences

The children walk. They seem tired; they walk with very little energy and

Musical

they are all bunched together in the middle of the large eurhythmics room. Unfortunately, they do not seem to hear the lovely improvisation, so lively and joyous, played by the teacher. She stops playing. She goes to the children and poses one or two questions to help them become aware of the quality of movement she would like. She demonstrates: holding herself well, her step moving her forward in the space and her weight well placed as each foot touches the floor. She returns to the piano and the quality of the children's walk immediately improves. They seem to have grown two centimetres taller! It is interes-

intelligence renders the individual sensitive to the music, and gives music the power to influence him or her. In this case, the students are not influenced probably because they are not listening! The teacher improves their work by asking them to describe the quality of the music they are hearing (and, by consequence, to describe the quality of the movement required); at the same time she demonstrates th is movement. She calls on linguistic and spatial/visual intelligences to support musical and kinaesthetic intelligences; the result corresponds to her wishes, thanks to this "intelligent cooperation ! "

ting to see that they are no longer squashed together in the middle of the room: the simple fact of walking in a way which moves them forward gives them the need to look

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ahead of them and therefore to need more space. They are listening to the improvisation now, and their bodies are showing the quality of the music. I am, yet again, astonished by teaching which influences the behaviour of the student beyond the immediate goal, and in ways which are non verbal. One student is not running in time with the music. She shows no energy, her steps are too large and she seems unable to run quickly enough. From the piano, and continuing to play, the teacher says to the whole class in general, are you using very little steps? The student adapts her steps (as well as all the others who did not need to!) and she runs in time with the music. Another student has the opposite difficulty. As soon as he hears the music for running he begins to run like a wild horse! The teacher says nothing: she begins to improvise in a way which corresponds with his movement, and the whole class reacts; after a short time, she returns to her former improvisation of a light and joyous run. The student calms down and he runs lightly with the piano. This example illustrates what I call the canalising role of improvisation, which adapts itself, at first, to what the child is doing. Once the child senses him or herself in accord with the music, the music may change and the child adapts. It is this complicity which gives the child the ability to hear the music, and, then, to adapt to it. The child thus corrects him/herself without any word by the teacher. An exercise such as this is a Dalcrozian exercise of reaction, well known to rhythmicians; the students, likewise, are used to such exercises and they follow the piano with ease. They adapt their energy without difficulty and they manage equally well the spatial adaptations to the speed changes. I find it interesting to realise how a change in

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Now it is musical intelligence (in particular, the power of the improvisation) which corrects and shapes the movement. This intelligence works with intra-personal intelligence to awaken the child's awareness of what he or she is doing and to correct him/herself.

This exercise establishes "more direct communications between the senses and the mind, awakening intelligence and emotions to recreate one's sensorial means of expression." 25 This interchange between the concrete and the abstract renders them coherent. 26 25. ]AQU[S-DALCROZE E. quoted in BACHMANN M-L., La rythmique jaquesDalcroze ... , op. cit., p. 16. 26 BARTH B-M., Le savoir en construction, Retz, Paris, 1993, p. 162.

speed is able to improve the movement ior the preceeding speed. I ask myself if the students relate each speed to the others mentally, and if it is this that enables them to adapt

I

their energy and their perception of the space so wel I. Or the contrary. ls it perhaps the physical sensation of the three speeds that helps the

i

students to organise them mentally?

II I lil

I

i

Stage: physical experience, consciousness, analysis, transfer T: What did you do? C: We walked, then we walked faster; then we ran. T: Can you be more precise? C: We//, you could say whole notes, half notes and quarter notes. C: Or maybe half notes, quarter notes and eighth notes. C : Or even quarter notes, eighth notes and sixteenth notes. T: Yes, let's choose these. You really had to run very fast!

The teacher poses this question (a precise one) knowing that the children have the musical vocabulary to put words on what they have done. She asks for an immediate abstract analysis. She allows them to explore all the possibilities of relative speeds, before proposing the three speeds of quarter note, eighth note and sixteenth note, this choice being motivated by the current work on sixteenth notes which the class is

All speed changes have a reciprocal effect on the i ntel I igences. By adapting his/her engergy and spatial perception the child orders the speeds mentally, one with the other; it is a process of logic. So, spatial,

kinaesthetic, logico-mathematical, musical and intra-personal intelligences are all working together.

doing.

Stage: assimilation, evaluation, transfer from one context to another 1. T: I'll give each of you a card. When you hear the rhythm drawn on your card, follow it; if not, stay still. The teacher selects cards at random and gives one to each child. She plays one of the speeds, then another, and then two of the three or even the three together

27. Ibidem, p. 167.

In these exercises 1 to 4, each stage is constructed on the preceeding one, adding complexity and becoming more abstract. All the while the task is to hear three speeds, presented either in isolation or superimposed (two together or three together). As well, these exercises are concerned with the recognition and reading of the rhythms heard. The process of reflection and reaction which becomes more and more complex is sustained and supported

These exercises, 1 to 4, "play" with the intelligences, calling on one, and then another in varying relationships and configurations. I think that it is this supple kind of collaboration which changes constantly which increases the efficiency of teaching and learning. Employing a variety of learning situations allows one to recognise and use different ways of expressing the same knowledge and, at the same time, different ways of evaluating knowledge 2 7 .

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by physical sensation. It is, equally, facilitated by the variety of approaches used by the teacher. She is not limited by one unique way of presenting the content of the lesson, but exposes the children to diverse learning experiences. Exercise 1 implies abstract thinking. The children must infer what they hear from what they do not hear, and extract the appropriate card from their choice. They appear very concentrated, confronted by th is problem, and seem to extract enormous pleasure from their success at solving it! "The well-being and the pleasure due to intrinsic motivation - that is, that which is nourished by the activity itself - are powerful forces which stimulate one's potential for learning." 28

I When you hear your speed, follow it: musical, kinaesthetic and spatial intelligences;

28. Ibidem, p. 146.

2. The children are sitting near the piano on the floor. In front of each child on the floor are three cards, each of which has one of the speeds drawn on it, so that each child has the three speeds. The teacher plays two of the three speeds; the children hold up the two cards representing the speeds they hear. 3. The teacher plays two of the three speeds. The children listen for the speed which is NOT played and clap it.

Etape: analyse, evaluation 4. T: Now I want you to listen to what I play. I will continue to play two of the three speeds. Pick up the card showing the speed you do not hear and step this speed. She plays, for

122

Exercise 2 asks the children to show the speeds they hear, while in exercise 3 they must listen for the speed which is absent. They are obliged to calculate twice: once to identify what is present, and a second time to choose what is not present.

c.n n r

Jm

T.r

orT.

C.

Jm

Exercise 4 is concerned with an analysis that is both abstract and physical. At a certain moment the

teache, plays ,

r

Show the two speeds heard: musical and spatial/visualintelligences;

Hear and clap the speed which is missing: musical, spatial and logicomathematical intelligences. logico-mathematical intelligence is used in all four exercises, in fact, through the use of cards depicting the rhythms heard. "Reading" in this way is a work of logic.

Choose the card showing the missing speed and step this speed: musical, kinaesthetic, spatial/visualand logico-mathematicalintelligences.

The children pick up the card

Jffl

example, quarter notes and sixteenth notes; the children choose the card showing eighth notes and they step these. They return to the piano and replace the card with the others they have in front of them. The teacher gives a fourth card (chosen at random) to each child. The children invent a rhythm by arranging their four cards to give a short phrase of four beats.

showing the sixteenth notes and run. Very discretely, the teacher plays the opposite, that is, quarter notes in the right hand and eighth notes in the left hand. The children are troubled! They return quickly to the piano to find a different card; the teacher laughs, and they realise that she is still playing the same two speeds, and that they need change nothing! (I have described this moment in Chapter Ill: Evaluation). I am surprised to see how well the children succeed! They were destabilised when the teacher reversed the placement of the two speeds in her hands, but once alerted to this possibility they remain concentrated, and they do not make the same mistake a second time! This solfegic exercise leans on the memory of physical realisation of the rhythms. It is fairly complex. It is concerned with inventing a rhythm, of hearing interiorly the rhythm constructed and of being sensitive to the energy of the small phrase of four beats. One child, for example, places his sixteenth notes as the fourth beat, so the phrase does not come to rest. The teacher asks him to clap the rhythm twice without stopping. He cannot stop at the end. She asks,

Each exercise brings one intelligence more into play than others at any given time; at another time perhaps two intelligences collaborate more closely than previously. Or again, an added intelligence is engaged, thereby changing the relationship between the others already in use.

The exercises which terminate the lesson become more and more conplex, and logico-mathematical intelligence is called upon to reason, infer and generalise. This intelligence itself needs other capacites to create the rhythm using a selection of cards (spatial/visual, musical intelligences);

what could you do so that your phrase comes to rest? He reflects, and says that maybe if he put his quarter note at the end it would be better. (I see two other students who discreetly change their rhythms when they hear this conversation!)

Stage: assimilation, evaluation, transfer,, The teacher plays on the piano one of the rhythms she sees "written". The child whose rhythm she plays must recognise his/her rhythm and raise his/her hand, for example:

Next the student must recognise his/her rhythm played by the teacher: it is a kind of rhythmic dictation. He/she must link what is heard to what is seen in order to recognise that it is his/her rhythm the teacher is playing.

To hear one's rhythm played by the teacher, and to recognise when it is not played (musical intelligence);

123

For the next stage, the teacher again plays a rhythm and the children must construct it with their cards.

Finally,

in twos, they invent two

measures of four beats and clap them, each couple in turn, saying at the same time the values, or reading the rhythms while beating time.

Even more complex is this exercise where the students must reproduce with their cards a rhythm played on the piano: a rhythmic dictation written with cards. To succeed. they must isolate all the rhythmic elements heard and then reorder them correctly. (This work of isolating the rhythmic elements was, in fact, already done physically earlier in the lesson). In twos the students have a larger choice of cards with which to invent a longer rhythm. They set to work to compose a rhythm which pleases both of them. I have the impression that they certainly do not arrange their cards at random. I circulate among them, hearing snatches of their whispered conversation... is

this all right?.. no ... let's put the two eighth notes here ... yes, that's better like that... but now we don't have two eighth notes to put in the second measure ... where do you want to put this quarter note? etc. When they are satisfied with the result, each couple clap their rhythm. It is excellent work which has been well prepared kinaesthetically.

124

To write with cards a heard rhythm (spatial/visual, musical intelligences);

And to collaborate with a friend to create a longer rhythm, linguistic and the personal intelligences are required as well. This exercise illustrates acts of comprehension by which learners become conscious "of the function of evaluation and of the importance of being able to evaluate oneself and to measure one's own progress" 29 . 29. Ibidem,

P.

168.

LessonV Description of the lesson

Pedagogical observations

Observations of Intelligences

Exercises of physical sensation offer, very often, the opportunity of appealing to the student's imagination, and of giving him/her latitude to choose a personal response. In this case, however, the teacher has imposed certain movements on the students. Why? I think it is to provide a foundation on which she may construct something more complex. Perhaps the goal of the exercise in this context is not to find movements in order to feel intuitively the two groupings of the eighth notes, (since the class has already worked intensively in this way) but to play with the two elements and to sense the differences between them. Perhaps the teacher wants the students to experience the difference in energy between a group of three eighth notes and one of two eighth notes in order to call on this physical memory later on. In fact, choosing movements that are easy to do allows the students to turn their attention to the sequence and to adapt rapidly to it. The exercise of physical sensation by which this lesson commences is at the same time, and immediately, the means of becoming aware. The children meet two different elements by following the piano. They react well to the changes in the improvisation; nevertheless, the teacher demands a quality in their movement which is not only correct, but beautiful. Certain students, from time to time, seem to be able to anticipate the changes (before they are regular). I observe the energy which is released when they change from the waltz step to the hopping step (or vice versa) in order to adapt their elan. (I think of a cat which is preparing to leap: one can see the preparation in

Kinaestheticand spatial intelligences are needeed for this exercise; the students do not look for a way of responding personally to the music, but rather they concentrate on the quality of a movement imposed by the teacher.

Stage: physical sensation/lived experience, becoming aware, evaluation The teacher asks the children to do a lovely waltz step. She plays groups of three eighth notes. Next, she asks the children to hop twice on each foot and she plays eighth notes in groups of two.

J)"'J n

She changes from to several times, without saying anything. She begins to present the following sequence:

mmmm1nnn1J:II (that is, the waltz step four times followed by the hopping step four times.) She does not describe this sequence to the children, but leaves them to discover it and to adapt to the music.

T: Be careful! I'm changing something! She takes away from the sequence one waltz step and one hopping step. Then, after several times with the sequence of three steps of each kind, she takes away another of each step so that the sequence only contains two of each.

They are receptive to feel in their bodies the distinct groups of eighth notes and the musical implications of these groups. (kinaestheticand musical intelligences). Demanding a high quality of movement (kinaesthetic intelligence) and precise consciousness of what they are doing helps the students to understand the changes (logico-mathematicalintelligence). Students who instinctively feel the changes from one group to another show increased sensitivity to the improvisation (musical intelligence) and the ability to translate this in their movement (kinaesthetic, spatial intelligences). The teacher's

125

Stage: becoming aware T: What did we do? C (several in turn): we did each step four times, then after that we did each step three times, and at the end each step twice only.

11.6

the cat's body, and one can almost predict the moment when he will leap!) I listen attentively to the improvisation. The changes are not yet systematic - and therefore difficult to anticipate - yet I detect the energy and the anticipation of which I have just spoken in the improvisation. I think this results partly from the teacher's presence and physical gestures at the piano: I have the impression that she "waltzes" or "hops" with her fingers. It is this quality in her improvisation which allows the student to anticipate changes. As well, the rhythms of the different groups of eighth notes, even if not systematic, are engraved in musical form and harmonic phrases. Likewise, dynamics help to predict changes. Equally true is the fact that the practice of exercises of reaction accustoms the students to being attentive and to adapting rapidly; to being prepared for surprises.

improvisation draws on "qualities of expression, precision, imagination and of controlled spontaneity indispensable to her playing, in order to align auditive sensation with physical movement" 30 .

The teacher systematises the exercise. The students realise this almost at once and their steps are precise. There is, nevertheless, a student who does not change at the right moment; I have the impression that he looks at his classmates and imitates them. Without really having understood, he reacts somewhat at random. The teacher asks him to count how many times he must do each step. He counts four times, and when he recommences, his physical movement appears more conscious, even if it is still awkward. He seems more at ease with the hopping step than the waltz step. Perhaps it is the need to alternate feet for the waltz step which destabilises him. Next, the teacher plays a new theme: three times each step, and then after that, twice only each step. When the students have understood the development of the exercise,

Early in this lesson logico-matheis used to understand the series that are systematised by the teacher. This intelligence is supported, still, by physical sensation (kinaesthetic intelligence) and the students' ability to listen (musical intelligence). "The practice of accompaniement (evident here) - the importance of being attentive to the students helps them to be conscious of what they know and understand; the practice of evaluation/self-evaluation which encourages them to participate actively in their own evaluation during the learning process."31

30. BACHMANNM-L., La rythmique Jaques-

Dalcroze: une education par la musique et pour la musique, Editions de la Baconniere, Neuchatel, 1984, p. 123.

matical intelligence

31 . BARTHB-M., "Enseigner et apprendre dans la perspective d'une approche par competences", Conference l'Universite de Sherbrooke, 2003, p. 9.

a

they execute one whole series, thus:

JTI JTI rTJ JTI

I

nnnn1mmm1 nnnImmInn:I1 State: becoming aware, conscious repetition, evaluation The teacher proposes a series: 4 x waltz step and 4 x hopping step (once only) 3 x waltz step and 3 x hopping step 2 x waltz step and 2 x hopping step. The children realise this entire series several times.

They are obliged to concentrate! At times it is obvious that they are counting: 4,4,3,3,2,2. Their movements are less fluid than before. After several repetitions, however, the movement becomes more supple: it seems no longer to be initiated in the intellect but in physical sensation. The children do not need to count, as they feel instinctively the experience of the length of the measures, which shorten progressively. The exercise appears to be easier when they allow themselves to be carried by the physical sensation of the music and not by analytical calculation! There seem to be two relationships in play: firstly, the fact that four groups of three eighth notes are longer than four groups of two eighth notes; secondly, the sensation of the entire length of a phrase: four times' three eighth notes plus four times' two eighth notes in comparison with three times' three eighth notes and three times' two eighth notes. These complex relationships are grasped more easily with instinct than with calculation. I notice that the students actually make fewer mistakes when they do not count!

logico-mathematical

and musical intelligences work together to clarify this exercise of systematisation. Consciousness of the relative length of the goups of eighth notes, and of the relative length of the whole phrases, is achieved by cooperation between spatial, kinaesthetic and logico-mathematical intelligences. This cooperation is supported by musical intelligence. Of this collaboration between mind and spirit, Jaques-Dalcroze wrote: "The certitude of obtaining without difficulty continual exchange between the brain which imagines and commands action, the nerves which transmit it and the muscles which accomplish it... the very nature of this certainty is calm and order in the entire organism." 32 32. JAQUES DALCROZE E., La musique et nous, Perret-Gentil, Geneva, 1945, p. 153. (republished in 1981 by Slatkine, Geneva).

The teacher then leaves aside the groups of two eighth notes.

Stage: physical sensation, becoming aware The teacher asks the children to find ways of swaying or swinging their arms. Sheplays

J

ClJ

Several children

demonstrate

the

This swinging movement is lovely and very pleasant to do; added to the waltz step it gives a feeling of balance. Alternating the feet (which several students had previously found difficult) is facilitated by the

For an exercise such as this, one needs, at any given moment, one particular intelligence more than another. To execute this series the children need their logico-mathematical intelligence for several

I movements they have invented and the class tries some of them. The teacher chooses a lateral movement where the arms are swinging from left to right; the class adds to this the waltz step.

movement of the arms. The children take a little time to find the logic of the exercise, and the teacher helps them by asking, do your arms swing

to the same side of the body as the foot that is stepping? They find it

i

moments; afterwards, this intelligence actually gets in the way, and they do better using their kinaesthetic, spatial and musical intelligences. In any case, one intelligence will inform and facilitate the other(s).

more comfortable to direct their waltz step slightly to the right or the left, corresponding to the direction of the arms, than directly in front.

Stage: becoming aware, physical sensation/lived experience, conscious repetition T: Adel J swinging movement 111 front... left, right, in front... just the movement of the arms. She demonstrates the three swings, then returns to the piano and plays for the movment of the arms.

T: Add the waltz step to the swinging movements. The children do the third waltz step to the left. The teacher stops playing and asks them, in what direction could you do this step so it corresponds to the swinging movement in front? The children experiment; they find that the third step must be slightly forward. They repeat the series several times, but are still not comfortable with it. The teacher demonstrates the movement, then she does it with the children, saying, to the left, to the right, in front. (she speaks in a rhythmic way corresponding to the groups of three eighth notes). T : What do you notice? Does the

series always begin on the same foot? The students realise that for the following series they must in fact begin on the right foot.

T: Now/add a swinging movement behind, and a waltz step backwards. The students move, using feet and arms: to the left, to the right, in front, behind. T: How many swinging movements are there? C: There are four. It's almost like

128

The teacher firstly works with the movement of the arms so that it is fluid and supports the waltz step. The students are awkward with the series combining three waltz steps and three swinging movements. How can they be put at ease? They work with the teacher, saying, to the left, to the right, to the front. The difficulty in fact is alternating the feet: they want to begin each measure on the left foot. In order to connect the measures they must alternate the beginning foot, with a corresponding movement of the arms.

The theme at four beats appears to be easier to realise, and the children move with more fluidity and suppleness. The fourth step, behind them, gives them the impulsion to recommence, and they seem to use this energy instinctively. The arm movements, in fact, resemble the gestures of beating time. Using the traditional gestures, the children beat time, feeling the pro-

These exercises will lead the student to effect the abstract analysis (logico-mathematical intelligence) of measures at ternary time. Already, I am tempted to call it "corporal and spatial analysis." (kinaesthetic and spatial intelligences) favouring their logicomathematical intelligence will work Children

by counting - 4,3,2. Children favouring kinaesthetic intelligence will put into their muscular memory the swinging movements (giving the beats) and the waltz slept (giving the groups of eighth notes). And children whose spatial intelligence is stronger will lean on the impression of" increased space" when changing from three swings to four. Whichever the case, it is the music which is omnipresent, and which supports learning, since "music is a significant psychic force, a result of our impulsive and expressive functions, which by its power of excitation and regularisation is able to balance all our vital functions" 33 . 33. JAQUES DALCROZE E. quoted by DUTOIT-

Emile Jaques-Oa/croze, createur de la rythmique, La Baconniere, Neuchatel, 1965, p. 320.

CARLIER C-L.,

beating time! T: We//, let's do it with the real gestures of beating time. Without stepping, the children beat time with the teacher's improvisation, which begins with measures at four beats, then passesto three beats, and then to two beats. The students follow these changes, adapting their gestures.

Stage: analysis, physical sensation/ lived experience The teacher gives to each child twelve wooden sticks: three red, three yellow, three green and three blue. She asks the children each to construct a large square on the floor using all their sticks. T: Walk around your squares. (They do so). Now, walk around again, counting your sticks as you go. C : There are twelve! T : How many sticks for each side of the square? (and, therefore, steps!) C : Three steps and three sticks. T : How many is four times three? C: Twelve.

gressive shortening of the measures from four beats to two. These exercises have demanded intensive and concentrated work with the body and physical sensation; I realise, yet again, how important it is to consecrate to this kind of work whatever time is necessary, and not to take short cuts. "Often we have in our minds the goal of a lesson but forget the means of achieving that goal. We must always remain 'present' to what we are doing, and give to the activity of the present moment its full measure of attention" 34 . The analysis which follows such work unfolds easily, since, strictly speaking, it has already been done physically.

Through this work, the children learn how to work out time signatures for measures in ternary time. It is precise, logical and analytical work, but is initiated and supported by the activity involving physical sensation. The children construct their shapes and walk around them, taking three steps for each side (corresponding to the interior of the beats, three eighth notes). Walking around the square allows the children to feel the measure at four beats, each side of the square representing one beat. They calculate twelve steps altogether. I watch a child seated inside his square. He is counting his sticks; I hear him, one, two, three ... one, two, three ... one, two, three ... and then, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve. Suddenly, he gets up and starts to walk around his square, as if he wants to verify with his feet what he has just counted! When he has finished, he announces to himself, yes, there are twelve!

34. WEBER-BALMAS

Mireille, Seminar,

May 1998.

The work of analysis, of calculation and of abstraction (logico-mathematical intelligence) makes use of other intelligences: spatial intelligence (walking around the perimeter of the shapes) linguistic intelligence (discussions, explanations, conversations between teacher and student, or amongst students, to clarify abstract notions) personal intelligences, which are always in evidence, creating and sustaining the human relationships of the class, these relationships nurturing the learning process.

129

T: Take away three sticks and re-

construct your shape. The children construct a triangle, and then walk around it counting their steps and their sticks for each side. They repeat the process done with the square.

T: Take away another three sticks -

there are only six left. The students construct a shape using the six sticks, and walk around it, counting, as before. The teacher draws the three shapes on the board, explaining the calculation necessary for measures in ternary time. She explains in this way: each stick represents an eighth note. Since 8 is the symbol for eighth notes in music, four groups of three eighth notes equal twelve eighth notes, hence, 1s2 Similarly she explains measures of three beats and of two beats.

130

For the triangle as well as the sixstick form, the children walk around the perimeter. They count the number of steps required, (this number being translated into eighth notes) and they can calculate the time signature for three beats at and for

§

for two beats at ~

II II I I At the encl of this lesson it is clear that the objective was to learn the time signatures of measures in ternary time. But how creatively it was done! And the pathway to arrive at the end result was scattered with diverse and interesting learning experiences. The work of physical sensation was savoured, even if in this case it was for an ulterior goal. I would go so far as to say that only work of physical sensation which is well and intensively done can be useful for further ends and goals. It is, after all, a balanced and rhythmic human body that best expresses itself musically. It would have been quite possible, I imagine, to teach this content in other ways; by work uniquely analytical, which certainly would have taken less time. This lesson, however, installed the physical experience of measures at ternary time at deep and instinctive levels, and I am convinced that it was this that sustained and facilitated the analysis. Concepts acquired from such work will be assimilated deeply, permanently and without difficulty.

Spatial/visual i ntel I igence cooperates with logico-mathematical intelligence to enable the student to understand and assimilate these abstract theoretic concepts. The teacher assisted her students to appropriate knowledge already "acquired" but needing time to reconstruct its sense. She was not content to give them a ready made response to memorise. She empowered them to immerse themselves in this process of abstraction 35 . This "learning of abstraction" 36 gives students the power of real comprehension, because they have participated in its construction.

35 BARTHB-M., "Enseigner et apprendre dans la perspective d' ue approche par competences" Conference a l'Universite de Sherbrooke, October, 2003, p. 7. 36 BARTHB-M., L 'apprentissage de /'abstraction, Retz, Paris, 1987, title.

Lesson VI

Part one

Description of the lesson

Pedagogical observations

Observations of Intelligences

The teacher begins the story and I watch the children, immediately attentive, enter into it. They adore stories! After the first time when the teacher interrupts the story, they settle back into it; after the second time, they begin to become a little agitated, as if they are thinking, what

The personal intelligences are in evidence; as well as linguistic intelligence - these two intelligences animate the children's interest in the story. The teacher engages them both through their affective and their cognitive capacities. "The playful aspect of an inductive process invites active participation and stimulates research for a solution." 37

Stage: lived experience The children are seated on the floor in front of the teacher. T: I'm going to tell you a story. She begins: Once upon a time there was a little boy called Paul. It was his

bithday. His mother had organised a party. Paul was very excited and woke up early ... She stops suddenly, and asks the children, is my story finished? NO, they reply. She tells a little more; after a short while she stops again and asks if the story has ended. She continues in this way until the end of the story, the end of the little boy's birthday, where he goes to sleep. She asks, again, is that the end of my story? The children reply, YES!

Stage: lived experience, becoming aware T: Now I'm going to tell you another storYt without words. It's a story in music. She plays a melodic phrase and asks the children, is my story ended? They reply as before, NO! The teacher plays several phrases, and, finally, a phrase which finishes her "musical story".

!

is she doing? Is she playing a game? After the third time, they understand and they play the game with her.

37. Ibidem,

The game of a musical story, coming after the verbal story, is clear for the children and they play the game with the teacher as before. They know, this time, that the teacher will continue until the end, and I think, in fact, that part of their pleasure is to be able to anticipate the interruptions and to reply to the question, is that

P.

83.

Linguistic intelligence is still used, as it is by this intelligence that the children understand the musical story, as they understood the verbal one: it is a way of thinking that is, in fact, linguistic in nature. At the same time, they use their musical intelligence to hear the end of the musical story.

the end of my story?

Stage: physical sensation/lived experience, becoming aware, conscious repetition T: I want you to go for a walk with my music. If the music stops and you think that my story is not yet ended, _you remain standing. If you think the story is finished, sit down on the floor. She begins to play for the children to walk, adding harmony to the melody. She plays several phrases, and at the end of each one, asks the children if they think the story is finished.

The children have listened to several stories, finished and not finished; now they feel them in their bodies. They react to what they hear at the piano, and they react well, with precision, most of the time. I observe with pleasure that the sense of suspense (which increased little by little as the verbal story was interrupted before the end) is present in the same way in this exercise of physical sensation. The teacher

Kinaesthetic and spatial intelligences enter into play during this exercise, supported by musical intelligence which helps the children feel the length of the phrases and to adapt their energy to them. The children sense the phrases instinctively, globally. For the moment, knowledge and awareness is being infused into them through several entry points. The teacher introduces them to a variety of physical expe-

131

The children do not always anticipate the end of the phrase (whether it is finished or not). The teacher warns them that the story may be short or longer, finished rapidly, or with several parts to it.

repeats the exercise several times: several phrases which remain in suspension, then a phrase which comes to rest. The children sit down on the floor almost with a sense of relief - AT LAST! In fact, this is exactly what happens in music: the phrases are constructed and develop, and there is indeed this sense of suspense present. Its qua Iity varies, of course, according to the musical context, but the sense of surprise is there. The teacher gave the children this impression of suspense through the use of the verbal story which she interrupted several times (the students were not at all expecting this!); their emotional reaction to the first story nurtures and nourishes their physical experience of a similar musical story. Initially, they expect that all the phrases will be of the same length. Each time they repeat the exercise, they expect the second phrase to be the same length as the first, and this anticipation is visible in their bodies. The teacher does not play systematically: 1 - not finished, 2 - finished. She gives them some auditive surprises in order to encourage them to feel, hear, and understand with more acuity; she keeps them alert and their attention focused.

riences to establish "more direct communication between the senses and the mind, between sensations which awaken intelligence and emotions which recreate sensorial means of expression" 38 . 38. ]AQUES-DALCROZE E. quoted by BACHMANN M-L., La rvthmique Jaques-

Oalcroze: une education par la musique et pour la musique, La Baconniere, Neuchatel, 1984, p. 16.

Stage: physical sensation/lived experience, becoming aware, assimilation, evaluation Next, the teacher places a hoop on the floor for each child, spaced throughout the room. She asks them to stand in the middle of their hoops. T: You are at home. You are going to set out to go for a walk.

132

The automatism of the phrases of going (not finished) and of returning (finished) allows the children to feel the difference spatially, without the surprises of varying phrase lengths. They can thus be more sensitive to and aware of the difference between the two phrase endings. Starting from the interior of their hoops gives them a precise point of departure and of arrival. This exercise calls on muscular (or physical) and spatial memory: they must return by the same route by which they set off. It is interesting to notice the difference

The same intelligences are used; the

capacity, given by spatial intelligence, to perceive forms allows the children to feel physically (kinaesthetic intelligence) the form of the phrases, (musical intelligence) which, finally, come to rest.

between their movement for setting off and that for returning. In setting off, the children do not know how many steps they will be taking (that is, the length of the musical phrase the teacher will play), and their walk is less assured, as if they are feeling their way. On the return journey they walk confidently. She herself sets out from one of the hoops, singing a phrase as she walks. At the end of it (not finished) she does a half-turn and, taking the same route, she returns to the hoop while singing a phrase that terminates. She returns to the piano and plays for the children to do the same journey; at the end of the first phrase, they do a half-turn and return to their hoops, arriving exactly at the end of the second phrase. The music gives them a phrase of interrogation (question) and a phrase of conclusion (answer). They repeat the exercise several times. The teacher gathers the students together near the piano and asks them, did you notice if you thought

The teacher shows them the path while singing. Demonstration is an efficient non verbal way of giving instructions! Instead of giving several complicated explanations, she performs the exercise once, or several times, herself. The children observe her and Iisten to her; they take note of the path she takes. They choose their own paths instinctively, in reaction to the improvisation; they must step into the hoop exactly at the end of the second phrase. The ability to anticipate the end of the second phrase comes from the memory (physical and aural) of the first phrase. The improvisation helps them: the second phrase often begins exactly like the first one, but finishes differently.

It is also this intelligence which works with musical intelligence in this exercise with the hoops: the "musical"path is congruent with the "spatial" path experienced kinaes-

thetically. Musical and spatial intelligences

I

work together for the efficiency of this exercise; the teacher's demonstration takes away the need for verbal instructions. Kinaesthetic intelligence helps the children to remember the route they took, in order to repeat it on the return journey. Musical intelligence assumes the role of "reconciler" of the other intelligences: it coordinates and unifies their cooperation, if you like.

the musical story was finished at the moment when you were away from the hoops? The children finished.

agree that it was not

T: And when you returned to the

hoops? C: Yes, it was finished the second time.

Stage: becoming aware, analysis T: How did you know that it was finished? The children reflect, they hesitate ... C : Because it descended ... The teacher plays a phrase which ends on the tonic of the octave higher.

C: Because you left your hands longer on the piano ... She plays a phrase which does not end, but which, nevertheless, has as its last note a longer note.

The teacher asks, how did you know that it was finished? She wants the children to articulate all that they have noticed themselves, before giving explanations herself. I find their responses very interesting they are instinctive replies, coming from the physical sense of rest and arrival at the hoop. They try to find words to express this feeling; in fact, all that they say accurately describes the quality of a terminating phrase:

Linguistic intelligence is used while explaining, expressing ideas, reflecting. Words clarify the lived experience and order it in the brain. The work of logico-mathematical intelligence often needs linguistic intelligence in order to clarify itself.

133

•••I •.••::!'-.

Because loudly ...

C:

you

played

more

The teacher plays a phrase which ends very softly on the tonic. The children have no more ideas!

T: In fact, it is difficult for you to

explain why, but you feel it accurately. We have the impression that the melody has told us something complete, or that there is still something more to come. She explains tonic.

the concept

of the

T: This note is not always DO. That

depends on the scale, the tonality. You can, however, easily find this note instinctively. Finish my phrase: do you like choco - late? I enjoy sail - ing. etc.

She plays several phrases on the piano, stopping each time just before the last note, and the children sing this note, just as they finished the spoken phrases. T : You see ? You found the end of my

phrase; it wasn't always DO; sometimes it was Ml, or SOL. .. but it was always the TONIC.

it descended - the instinct of resting is often to be lower: to sit down, to lie down or to sit or lie on the floor. you left your hands longer on the piano - there is likewise an impression of prolonging time when one is resting. you played more loudly - I am tempted to guess that the feeling of coming to the end of the phrase gives the children the impression of something which they describe as "loud" or "strong". What gives the sense of rest to a musical phrase is, in fact, arriving at the tonic, which is the strongest note of the scale. The errors in the children's reasoning are rather "provisional attempts at knowing" 40 by which they organise and adapt their initial and prior understandings to this new problem.

The teacher helps the children "negotiate the sense" (Barth) of this new concept. She directs their attention on what is essential. For each "incorrect understanding" she responds by playing a phrase which "obliges them to plunge more deeply into reflection" 39 . The personal intelligences are also in action: intra personal intelligence helps in finding one's own ideas and expressing them; inter personal intelligence nourishes the interaction amongst all members of the class, and the teacher. 39. B.s!ffHB-M., "Questions EPS 1/114, 2003, p. 4.

a B-M Barth, in

40. BARTH B-M., Le savoir en construction, Retz, Paris, 1993, p. 165.

The teacher explains that there are notes in a scale that are stronger than others. The children are already aware that in the scale of DO there is a low DO and a high DO. This note that is stronger is called the TONIC, and it gives its name to the scale. One is in a key, or a tonality, whose name comes from the tonic.

The teacher uses linguistic and musical intelligences together, by calling on the childrens' linguistic instincts and knowledge to understand a musical phrase.

This exercise is lovely to watch. There are so many messages that pass between the partners! The first child sets off, and it is his or her task to indicate the path that his/her partner is to take. The first child has all the power! I observe the "A" children vary the path each time, or comp I icate it! When they arrive at the end of their phrase, they watch their partners attentively to see if they reproduce their path exactly! They wait for the arrival of "B". This waiting gives a correct impression of the musical suspense

Kinaesthetic and spatial intelligences work together, supported by musical intelligence. Inter personal intelligence is also necessary (all the time, in fact but) more particularly during an exerise where the children work together.

Stage: physical sensation, conscious repetition, assimilation. The teacher places each child with a partner. (child "A" and child "B") "A" sets out, walking in a certain ,direction; he stops at the end of the phrase. "B" sets off, rejoining his/her partner at the end of the second phrase (which finishes on the tonic). Next(it is "B" who sets off on a new route, and "A" who comes to join him/her.

134

'

between two phrases, of which the second comes to rest. The first phrase finishes in suspension ... the second one completes it. This exercise is a variation on the exercise with the hoops, another way of feeling the finish, when the two partners come together. Changing roles gives each child the opportunity to experience the two situations - alone (not finished), together, (finished).

I

I...

Stage: physical sensation/lived experience, evaluation The children are spread throughout the room. One child holds a ball. He

In this exercise the child is alone in deciding whether the phrase is "fini-

Such an exercise of reaction calls on musical and kinaesthetic i ntell i-

or she walks with a phrase played on the piano, towards another child. Ii the phrase finishes on the tonic, the first child gives the ball to the second child, who sets off in his/her turn to give the ball to someone else, and so on. If the phrase is not finished, the child keeps the ball and continues towards another child, until a finished phrase allows him/her to give the ball.

shed" and whether he or she gives or holds onto the ball. He/she is no longer supported by possible imitation, he/she must listen him/herself and make his/her decision. It is a form of evaluation. In the improvisation I can hear qualities which lead either to a sense of suspension or to a sense of repose; the children also, at times, seem to be sensitive to this quality, but instinctively. From time to time the child who is to receive (or not) the ball shows in his or her body the anticipation either to receive or not to receive the ball. Music has the power of influencing us unconsciously.

gences. As well, the child must be aware of the space he/she needs (spatial intelligence) in order to

41 . Ibidem, p. 166.

choose a path and a destination which corresponds with the phrase he/she steps. Less evident, perhaps, is the work of logico-mathematical intelligence: he/she must predict consequences of an action, in this case, if I hear this, I must do that ...

and if I do that, then ... In this exercise, all the children are in the process of evaluation, and not only the child with the ball - it is clearly observable in the children's attentive and physical alertness. Self assessment has become an integrated part of teaching and learning 4 1 .

Part two Description of the lesson

Pedagogical observations

Observations of Intelligences

This exercise was done with these students when they were younger. Since that time, they have had many experiences with various aspects of musical phrases. Such an exercise may be a goal in itself, or it may be a stepping stone to other later physical and musical experiences. In the context of this particular lesson the

This exercise demands the capacity to manipulate space and to adapt one's movement to this space; likewise it places space in relation to the musical phrase which encapsulates movement in space. Musical, spatial and kinaesthetic intelli-

Stage: physical sensation/lived experience, becoming aware, conscious repetition, evaluation The students are in pairs ("A" and "B"). "A" sets out walking a path defined by the duration of a musical phrase played by the teacher; "B" sets out with the next phrase, taking the same path as that of his/her partner. The students realise the exercise several times: firstly it is "A" who begins, the next time it is "B".

gences, then, are used, as well as interpersonal intelligence. It is,

135

T: What have you noticed about the

phrases? C : We took the same path ... C: They were of the same length... T: Now I want you to step with the music. At the end of each phrase, make a quarter turn, either to right or left, but always in the same direction. The children step four phrases, after which the teacher stops and asks:

Stage : analysis,consciousrepetition T: Did you arrive at your point of departure? Several children have come back to the point from which they left, others not. The teacher proposes that they repeat the exercise. Are you aware that you walked a square? she says. She asks the children to walk a square and to ensure that at the end of the four phrases they arrive at their point of departure.

136

exercise establishes a base of physical sensation which will serve as comparison with another. The students realise the exercise confidently; knowing what to expect. They have previously improvised vocally on this form of question and answer. The teacher requires a walk of beautiful quality; she demands that the students be precise in their use of space: that they arrive neither too soon nor too late and that she "sees" the musical phrase drawn by their movement and the paths they take. She poses a question so that they are aware of what they have felt. One could say that this is an easy exercise for students at this level. Its value is in the awareness with which it is effected. When students are at ease with a task, they can sometimes work unconsciously and without reflection; their movement, in this case, will be less well done. The teacher wants the children to be conscious of what they are doing so that the exercise is satisfying for them and their movement is of a high quality. "It is not sufficient to do the exercise: it must be done well. The teacher must be attentive to the students, receive what comes from them and then take them further in their reflection and their awareness"42. The students are not simply stepping a question/response; they are expressing a musical phrase with all that renders it unique: its dynamics, its length, its energy, its sense of suspension and repose - these qualities will change, probably, for each phrase.

partly, the teacher who determines to what extent these intelligences will be used: by demanding a beautiful quality of movement, this particular teacher ensures that these intelligences are at the core of the students' work: spatial intelligence supports physical sensation (kinaesthetic intelligence) and musical awareness (musical intelligence).

42. WEBER-BALMAS

Mireille, Seminar,

avril 2000.

Musical intelligence The square is felt instinctively by means of the musical phrase. The need to find a path which works in the space is facilitated when the students allow themselves to be carried by the music which "draws" this square pathway by means of its phrases.

supports the work of finding an efficient path in the space (spatialintelligence) and of negotiating it precisely (kinaesthetic intelligence).

I Stage: physical sensation, becoming aware, evaluation T : / want you to step with the music again. At the end of each phrase, change direction. You may go where you wish this time.

The phrases played by the teacher are not all of the same length; the change of direction awakens the students' awareness of the lengths of the phrases. It is, literally, a physical sensation which averts them to this length: they must change direction, with more or less regularity. They cannot predict the direction changes, as they could in the previous exercise. They must be attentive to the music, but not with an analytical attention: they need, rather to be physically, intuitively (and musically!) attentive. In other words, if they listen to the phrases and are sensitive to all musical qualities (whether or not they are able to articulate them), they cannot but feel the direction change.

Musical, spatial and kinaesthetic intelligences work in collaboration. At each change of musical phrase, the other intelligences adapt. In their turn, they are able to influence the duration of the phrase. (This is shown when the students walk while improvising vocally: it is often impossible to identify whether the music influences their movement or the contrary.)

The children are in pairs. The teacher gives a tennis ball to one of each pair. She again plays phrases of varying lengths, and the students roll the ball to their partners on each phrase, whether long or short.

Ball games are very efficient ways of feeling the length of a phrase. At the moment when the ball is set in motion, so is the musical phrase. The students "draw" the path of the phrase with their balls, giving the corresponding energy they feel to the musical phrase. The ball is going somewhere, so is the musical phrase. They must roll the ball so that it covers a space dictated by the length of the phrase they hear. The three notions of time, space and energy, so vital to eurhythmics, are placed into relationship in very concrete and visible ways through ball games. I find it encouraging to see how the students become sensitive to the phrases, as if the improvisation helps them physically to roll the ball with the appropriate energy, so that it rolls across the space in just the right amount of time.

This ball game demands and develops spatial awareness (spatial intelligence) and the capacity to control the ball's speed and its path (kinaesthetic in tel Iigence) through the support of the musical phrase (musical intelligence).

Next she gives each student a tennis ball, asking them to roll the ball to their partners on the long phrases, and for themselves, from one hand to the other, on the short phrases.

During the longest phrases, the children roll the ball to their partners. They must roll with the right hand, catch with the left and quickly change the ball to the right hand. The balls must pass each other

She plays several phrases of varying lengths; sometimes long phrases, at other times very short phrases. The students follow the phrases, changing direction at the encl of each one.

I Iii

137

I without colliding. The children have often used balls and other materials to feel and express the duration of phrases; nevertheless, this exercise demands co-ordination and concentration. There are one or two small irritations amongst the students - you rolled the

ball too fast... you rolled it crookedly ... how can I catch it when you roll like that? I'm amused! It is a perfect illustration of the need to adapt to one's partner so that the work is refined and the ball game succeeds.

Also much in evidence is inter persometimes it is not easy working with a partner!

sonal intelligence;

Stage: transfer, evaluation, assimilation This work prepares the students for a short "ball choreography" on Schwesterlein (J. Brahms - see Annex) The teacher places the children in two lines, facing each other, in groups of four. The choreography develops in this way:

The form of the choreography:

-

-+---

A:

roll

A.....-

the ball

~

Al:

B

-

-+---

B

n-------1

roll

the ball

and then

A-Al

-B-C-C-A-Al

-B

B:

n----------j j IJ I

will roll

to

you

----------n

C:

j

Now And

J

j

it rolls a - gain

In

j

to the o - ther side it comes back to me

Repeat A - A - B.

138

The words express the sense of the length and the energy within the phrases. The students appear to roll with greater facility while they sing: singing seems to help them understand the form of the piece of music. They have already learned to sing the melody using the names of the notes, and have memorised it. It consists of three phrases of varying lengths, for which the students realise three different movements with the ball: The shortest phrase (A, A 1): they roll "for themselves" - to the left

:II

Linguistic intelligence supports the students' grasp of the sequence and length of the phrases, lending its natural linguistic rhythms to the work. Spatial intelligence, called into play

I..

(rolling with the right hand) and to the right (leit hand); twice. The phrase a little longer· (B): they roll the ball to their neighbour at the right (with the right hand). The longest phrase (C): they roll the ball to the student opposite (rolling with the right hand and receiving with the left hand). When they have successfully rolled with these three phrases, the students put them all together and do the entire piece of music. The balls render the music and the form of its melody and phrases visible.

by the varying lengths of the musical phrase worked on during the preceeding exercises, takes its place in this short choreography, giving the students the ability to render the phrases visible (their melody, their length and their form) by means of the balls.

139

pedagogy of all possibilities: through many and various ways, it offers its service as a means of reunification of self

Reflections on the lessons These six examples of lessons (or part of lessons) were chosen to illustrate the principles of Dalcrozian

pedagogy in practice. Amongst numerous possibilities, I chose a

selection of lessons to show a variety of subjects, approaches and exercises. The descriptions and analyses have attempted to describe not only how the lessons are constructed,

but the lived reality of each one. I have attempted to describe the

dynamic operating in each lesson, the "ping-pong" of human relations between the teacher and the students, and among the students themselves; their responses to exercises proposed and the adaptation demanded of the teacher according to the reactions of the students. I tried to "photograph in words" the lessons, so that the reader may feel him/herself present at them. This task is difficult, and Jaques Dalcroze knew it well. My analyses identify and reveal what I found to be the most important, the most beautiful, the most unexpected, the clearest, according to the research paramaters I had set. Then, taking into consideration what I observed, described and analysed, I attempted to identify the intelligences that I considered to be involved, and the relationships among them. This research was empiric: that is, it was a research of observation rather than one of statistics. It is, I would say, neither possible nor desirable to submit Eurythmics to a statistical enquiry. It has always been, and is still, a personal experience, in constant evolution, that one must live for oneself. To a significant degree Eurythmics is dependant on the personality of those who teach with it, and more importantly on their musical and pedagogical skills and talents. Herein reside both its fragility and its force. My observations rely on my own teaching experience and on the conceptual pedagogical framework of Britt-Mari Barth. The descriptions and the analyses of the intelligences I considered to be called upon during these learning situations endeavour to clarify the coherence between Barth's manner of conceiving pedagogy and Gardner's way of regarding human development. In summary, I observed during these six learning situations, the following elements, which I consider contributary to the success of Eurythmics 43 : - the variety of approaches and material used by the teacher in order to engage each students and render knowledge accessible to all; - the assiduity with which the teacher observes the students in order to know the strengths and weaknesses of each one, and, in consequence of this, the environ-

-

mel)t structured for speaking, listening, exchange and collaboration between teacher and students, and between the students themselves; the teacher's willingness to benefit by the preferred intelligence(s) of each student in order to develop another that is less favoured, so that the learning content may articulate with his or her existing cognitive repertoire;

-

the competences and practices sought in the students being already present in the teacher, allowing him or her to fulfil his/her role of mediator, as someone with more experience;

43 Each of the summary points combines an idea of Barth and one of Gardner to illustrate the coherence I claim between the two theoretical frameworks.

-

the teacher's imagination and creativity in designing course content and method enabling him or her to guard the intellectual liberty and psychological security of each student, and the importance given by the teacher to the processes of learning - as much as to the content itself;

-

the welcoming and stimulating environment created by the teacher which empowers the child to invest him or herself authentically in his/her own learning; the methods of evaluation that are congruent with the intelligence(s) and with the subject studied, its regular and automatic place in teaching/learning; ning errors into tools which are used to improve students' performance;

-

44. Compare with Introduction•· I believe that a successful pedagogy must give students the means .. "

45. My most sincere thanks to Madame Mireille WEBER-BALMAS for having welcomed me to her Eurythmics children's classes, allowing me to experience and observe the richness of this methodology and her teaching.

thus tur-

structures of self-evaluation which are inherent to the pedagogy of Eurythmics and which empower the students to assume responsability for their own learning.

In the light of my research, I accord to the pedagogy of Eurythmics the power of giving students the means 4 4 . -

of learning with confidence, efficiency and permanence, of acquiring the body of knowledge particular to the subject studied,

-

of manipulating and employing with ease all concepts pertinent to the domain in question,

-

of applying knowledge already acquired to new contexts, of resolving problems and creating new problems to solve, of recognising and using while learning all their intellectual capacities (including those of the senses),

-

of evaluating their work in a positive and constructive context, of engaging in the process of learning with enthusiasm, curiosity, confidence and

-

joy, of involving themselves equally at the level of the intellect, the emotions, the mind and the body, of knowing that they have learned and what they have learned; of being able to say not only I know, but I understand, and of taking pleasure, finally, in their learning.

45

Chapter VI : Conclusion

Musique, you are the language which flows forth there where words come to an end. Rainer Maria Rilke

l

I• I

In every art there is a part that defies definition; who can say how were created those works which have the power to move us so inexplicably and so profoundly? This peculiar sensitivity to certain forms - can it be taught ?1

1. PUJAS P. et UNGAR ).,

Une education artistique pour tous ?, Editions Eres,

I

By means of a pedagogy such as Eurythmics, this sensitivity that Jaques-Dalcroze called interior hearing can certainly be taught: this is my conviction. If we take the arts seriously (in this case, music, but it is equally applicable to dance and all other theatre or creative arts), we must accord them education of high quality. In the introduction of this book, I proposed a list of criteria which I consider charcteristic of successful pedagogy. In situating Eurythmics within the framework of general education, I submitted it to the norms appropriate to any methodology and imposed on it an educative rigour, while at the same time illuminating all that is particular and precious to it as a methodology of Music Education. In the context of education in general, Eurythmics claims its credibility from the fact that it imposes high standards with regard to teaching and learning. It demands methodology that is rigourous - useful, efficient and serious 2 - while leaning on physical sensation and lived experience, and on musical improvisation, as vital leads. These elements enable it to give itself to the service of art. To answer the intial question, from where doesa successfulpedagogycome? I chose two theoretical frameworks, one psychological, the other pedagogical, and wove them together using Eurythmics as the thread. These are: - the theory of Multiple Intelligences of Howard Gardner, and - the socio-cognitive approach of mediation of Britt-Mari Barth. In chapter I, I presented the theory of Multiple Intelligences of Professor Howard Gardner which proposes a multi-dimensional view of intelligence, and which identifies at present abount nine forms of intelligence congruent with the criteria he established. It questions the concept of a single and unique intellectual capacity (that of logico-mathematical intelligence), and gives equal importance to all forms of intelligence, according the same value to the aptitudes of a musician as to those of a doctor, to the achievements of a sculptor as to those of a scientist. My reflections in chapter II on the pedagogical consequences of Gardner's theory led to an analysis of the socio-cognitive approach of BrittMari Barth. There is clear coherence between Gardner's view of human development and Barth's vision of teaching and learning. Chapter Ill describes and analyses the methodology of Eurythmics in the light of/ Barth's approach to teaching/learning as mediation. My conclusions are that there are certain significant elements which contribute to the relevence of Eurythmics as a teaching methodology. These are: - Dalcrozian pedagogy utilises a variety of approaches and materials which awakens the physical sensations of the student through many and diverse exercises, each building on the previous one. Such variety of approach gives each student the possibility of engaging with confidence in his or her learning, while appealing to his/her imagination.

Ramonville Saint-Agne, 1999, p. 22.

2. Ibidem p. 23.

145

"By feeling with the senses and learning through the body, all children, regardless of their strengths and weaknesses, are able to acquire musical concepts, thanks to the diversity of exercises." 3 This approach affirms the learning process as much as the content of learning itself. (Barth) As well, it looks to "multiply experiences with knowledge in a concrete and tangible form" 4 · -

In bringing the student to the centre of the learning process and seeing his or her role as one of accompaniement, the teacher observes students regularly and sees immediately their reactions and responses to the teaching/learning process. If an exercise does not work well, he/she adapts or transforms it, slows it down or speeds it up, adds or subtracts one or more elements. Eurythmics is about improvisation! The development of a lesson always depends on the students' responses and reactions, and the rhyhmician-teacher must be creative and supple; at each moment, the "improvisor''. In this sense we may speak of Eurythmics as peda-

gogy of the imagination ... which does not exist ... or which exists only at the moment where it is created. Such pedagogy may never be reduced to a series of recipes", It is a pedagogy of risk and uncertainty ... which is not learned ... but which is invented. 5 11

-

The teacher possesses the competences and the practices he or she wishes the students to develop: as musician, rythmician, and improvisor, he or she gives the students models of excellence. The teacher's role during a Eurythmics lesson is coherent with the vision proposed by Barth: he or she is mediator, making knowledge accessible to students, creating an environment where each student has his or place and may participate. The teacher invites the students "to participate in playful activities, where the action itself leads them to use their thought processes, without even being conscious of doing so" 6 .

-

Evaluation is effected within the context of lessons and in diverse ways. It uses materials familiar to the students and is often accomplished by means of games. It is a regular and systematic part of learning, thanks to the immediacy of assessment inherent in the methodology. It places as much importance on self evaluation as on external assessment, and celebrates achievement at least as much as it improves performance. Barth writes that "evaluation is integrated in learning and because of this is able to become a place of active participation for the students and a means of becoming aware of their own compe-

3. WEBER-BALMAS Mireille, Interview, February 2002.

4. BARTHB-M., "Enseigner et apprendre dans la perspective d'une approche par competences", Conference a l'Universite de Sherbrooke, 2003, p. 9.

5. )EANG., Pour une pedagogie de l'imaginaire, Casterman, 1976, p. 79. 6. BARTHB-M., op. cit., p. 4.

146

tences ... the fact of helping students to become aware of what they know and understand ... creates a practice of evaluation/self-evaluation ticipate

actively

which empowers them to par-

in their own evaluation

during

the

learning process" 7 . Dalcrozian

pedagogy is one of co-operation.

It depends

on a learning environment which is open and receptive to individual differences, affirming and valuing them. Its methodology

engages students in learning experiences

which lead to the confidence of having acquired knowledge and the certitude of having assimilated concepts through rigorous mental processes.

1. tbiciern, ,,. 11

In chapter IV, I tested the theory through practice. To be of use, any theory must be able to be appllicable to practical situations; likewise, practice can be precarious if it is not based on theory. To what extent, then, do the principles underlying the teaching of Eurythmics correspond to the theory of Multiple Intelligences? Does Eurythmics call on all the intelligences of students? Here are several indications: Linguistic intelligence is engaged during all dialogue between teacher and students: by the telling of stories, giving of instructions, posing of questions and providing explanations. It is also in use during moments when the students discuss among themselves to invent, improvise or create something together. It supports the assimilation of rhythms which can be felt through the use of language, the natural rhythms of words corresponding to musical rhythms and giving precision to them. Likewise, when students invent a new verse for a song, they lean on this intelligence. Logico-mathematical intelligence is required for analysis, enabling the students to reason, and transform their intuitive and physical sensations into the abstract. They take a lived experience and analyse it by discerning, comparing and generalising. Here are some concrete examples: - Find the note which is half as long or twice as long as a given note. - Recognise a rhythmic motif in a new context, for example in a different measure -

or on another beat of the measure. Understand the function of the degrees of the scale. Read musical notation or note rhythmic or melodic dictations; concerned with musical theory calls on logico-mathematical

in fact all that is

intelligence.

Spafo~I /visual intelligence is constantly employed during a Eurythmics lesson. Firstly, the students move in a space limited by four walls. This space is restricted also by the others who share it. Secondly, the student moves in his or her own personal space, and learns the relationships between time, space and energy (this relationship being one of the most important bases of rhythmic work). Every exercise which demands a sense of orientation in space (for example, the exercises of left/right or forward/backward orientation) calls on spatial intelligence and develops it. Likewise, exercises of imitation, "mirror" exercises or other exercises with a partner use aspects

,

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C

of spatial intelligence. Exercises of imagination develop this intelligence: when the tea-

0

cher asks the students to walk like a robot, for example, they must find for themselves mental images that their bodies can make visible. Intra-personal intelligence is called upon, firstly, by every exercise of imagination.

8.

G1A,~ADDA

Ruth, Interview, January 2002.

The students must search within themselves for their ideas and images, and translate them in their body. The student must look for "something that is 'possible' for him/her. .. search for al I that he/she is - it is a way of thinking that is absolutely positive" 8 . Secondly, Eurythmics places the individual in connection with him or herself by asking of him/her a personal response to the music, eliciting his/her feelings and emotions as much as his/her intellect. Expressing a response to the music invites a person to identify and discern his/her own feelings and to encapsulate them in symbols - this is particularly relevant to musical improvisation. Students draw on the capacities of their inter-personal intelligence constantly. Eurythmics engenders co-operation rather than competition. Sometimes it is through their fellow students that students learn best, although this is often intuitive and unconscious. If an entire class, except one child, is walking with the music, this child is quickly drawn into the energy and the common speed with which the others are walking, and ends up walking in time. Other similar examples may be found in chapters Ill and IV. This "social intelligence" is shown at the simplest level in the sharing of space with others and adapting to them. As well, all partner or group work demands sensitivity to the skills and talents, the emotions, the intentions and motivations of others. Likewise, improvisation or creative work realised in a to be conscious of one's own behaviour with viour can affect others, and that it reflects behave in ways which invite and support the

9.

BACHMANN

M.-L.,

La rythmique JaquesDalcroze: une education par le musique et pour la musique, Editions de la Baconniere SA, Neuchatel, 1984, p. 28.

10. Ibidem, p. 22-23.

group calls on and develops the capacity others. The students learn that their behaa personal choice: they may choose to relations they wish to have with others.

It is certain that musical intelligence is present during Eurythmics lessons! Firstly, because it is concerned with Music Education, and it implies learning the body of knowledge in this domain. Secondly, Eurythmics brings to music education the capacity to think, reflect and react musically (see chapter Ill). Music implies "the possibility of experiencing and representing for oneself the movement that it contains" 9 . Musical intelligence finds itself engaged, therefore, in a double sense: on one hand at the level of practical and theoretical knowledge, and on the other at a more subtle level, inherent in itself✓ beautifully expressed by Marie-Laure Bachmann:

She (music) is the Muse to whom we dance and through whom we dream our dreams, who beguiles or assails our ears as readily as our thoughts, who guides our sentiments and lays our instincts bare... not one human faculty is capable of resisting her appeal. 10 Kinaesthetic intelligence. Eurythmics privileges the body. It is a methodology

of musical education through the body; and is, equally, kinaesthetic education through music. The importance of this intelligence is explained by Jaques-Dalcroze's conviction that physical harmony and mental alertness are mutually dependant:

The human body is an orchestra in which various instruments, muscles, nerves,

148

ears and eyes are directed simultaneous/ by two conductors: the intuition and the inte/lect. 11 Eurythmics places students in contact with their physical bodies, giving them the sense of being present in their bodies, grounding them by constant awakening and awareness of their physical resources. -

Eurythmics exploits what is most natural and fundamental to the human person: his or her physical body and its ability to move. It reveals and expands all physical capacities: those of precision and those of expression. "A person of rhythmic propensities," wrote Jaques-Dalcroze, "always presents acertain harmony, an effect of perfect corporal balance; and physical grace can only be acquired or developed in children in corresponding degree to their instinct for rhythm" 12 .

-

Eurythmics moulds rhythmic consciousness through exercises of reaction asking students to place (space) all rhythmic combinations in all their gradations of rapidity (time) and strength (energy).

-

Eurythmics facilitates precise and regular representation of rhythm (physical and mental) by repeated exercises which install in one's muscle memory all muscular relaxations and contractions necessary to this precision.

-

Through exercises of initiation or inhibition, association or disassociation (exercises of reaction) Eurythmics perfects physical mastery and control so that the body is capable of responding immediately to the directives of the brain, in order to, as Jaques-Dalcroze said, diminish the time lost between the conception of an

activity and its realisation.

11 . )AQUES-DALCROZE E., Notes bariolees, Edition Jeheber, Geneve, 1948, p. 7. 12. )AQUES-0ALCROZE E.,

Le rythme, la musique et /'education, Foetisch, Lausanne, 1965, p. 41.

r

I '

And since it is Music which guides our sentiments and lays our instincts bare, it is Music that assumes the role of collaborator for kinaesthetic education. Containing all nuances of time, space and energy perceptible by and available to the human person, Music facilitates their physical expression. Acknowledging the fact that Eurythmics calls on all the students' intelligences leaves a dimension even more profound for consideration: that of its power to unify and harmonise the intelligences. Not only does Eurythmics engage all the intellectual capacites of the student, it does so simultaneously: by the nature of the exercises themselves and by the unfolding of the stages as described in chapter Ill: physical sensation/lived experience, becoming aware, analysis, transfer. As soon as one single element in an exercise changes, the configuration of the intelligences changes. Expressed differently, the teacher modifies the exercise according to the emphasis he or she wants to place on one or other of its components. If, for example, he or she changes the space, or the rhythm, or another element (by adding or subtracting something) the students react. Their response to each variable relies on one or more intelligences to a greater or lesser extent. What remains constant is the participation of the body, responsing in physical movement and gesture (kinaesthetic intelligence). This collaboration of one's faculties uncovers the power of

149

C

:::,

Eurythmics to harmonise and draw the intelligences into coherence. It inspired JaquesDalcroze to state that Eurythmics is not only a method of Musical Education, but of all education. Eurythmics provides,

13. B.sRrHB-M., "Questions a B-M. Barth", in EPS 1/no. 114,2003, p. S.

in

Barth's words, "concrete expressions, substance". It places

"knowledge on the stage, renders it alive so that the students have the opportunity to observe, to interpret, to discern what is essential ... to finally constitute new knowledge"13. Eurythmics, as well, gives students the possibility of living and experiencing knowledge. By assuming his or her role as mediator between the student and the domain of knowledge, the teacher makes knowledge accessible to each student. This is the result of rigourous methodology and a teacher respectful of both the subject and the students. They are engaged in their learning and empowered by it. Because they succeed, they naturally invest energy in it. The welcoming and stimulating environment created by the teacher inspires confidence and engages students with their intellects, their physical senses and bodies, and their emotions. I bring these pages to a close by posing several questions for reflection: -

Any observer in a Eurythmics class would say that Eurythmics privileges the body. Does this call into question the theory of Gardner, who gives to each intelligence equal importance, stating that all intelligences are more or less innate in the human spirit, and one is not more important than another? I think the core of the response to this question is to realise that while Eurythmics does develop physical aptitudes, its power is that it actually privileges the communication between body and the mind. It reconciles, harmonises and unifies all human capacities.

-

Could the development of kinaesthetic intelligence facilitate the development of the other intelligences? To my knowledge there is no scientific research that either confirms or denies this possibility. Certain observations suggest that children's sequential motor development may be indispensable for the acquisition of cognitive concepts.

-

Each individual possesses one or two intelligences that he or she favours over the others. Would one learn more capably if one learned through one's preferred intelligences? Gardner would say that one learns more efficiently through his or her strongest intelligences, but that ideally, education aims to develop all of them as fully and richly as possible. Eurythmics in fact reconciles the intelligences, and, to the development of all of them, obliges them to work in co-operation! In this, Dalcrozian pedagogy illustrates Gardner's theory and develops even further its implications.

-

Can one be a good musician without having developed one's kinaesthetic intelligence? Will the musical education of a child who is clumsy and unco-ordinated in his or her physical movement be actually hindered by the practice of Eurythmics? Or is the power of music such that it can develop this intelligence while educating in music? This is a difficult question, and all I can say is that my observation of lessons has shown me the power of music's complicity. If a child does not walk with the piano, for example, the music adapts itself to his or her speed. Once the child

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feels him/herself in accord with the music, he/she will be able to hear it, and adapt his/her movement This collaboration ensures the development of physical mastery and control, and at the same time, musical education. 14. r,,1-\S P. et UNCAR I., Une educ,1tion artistique pour taus?, Editions Eres, Ramonville Saint-Agne, 1999, µ. 22.

"In every art there is a part that defies definition."

14

Thanks to a methodology privi-

leging physical experience and intuitive sensory learning, what is elusive becomes accessible. This does not mean that the experience of music does not always remain partly mysterious and inexplicable. Of course it does. Learning through movement, however, sible.

renders music visible: incarnated in the physical body and therefore acces-

In these pages I analysed, in the context of two theoretical frameworks, a pedagogy which engages students through all their intellectual capacities (intelligences), calling on those they prefer and developing those which are less favoured. I revealed Eurythmics as the reconciler of the intelligences, actuating them simultaneously, and putting them in relation with each other. In this way it creates collaboration and coherence among them, leaning all the while on two elements that remain constant throughout the teaching/learning process: physical and sensorial experience and musical improvisation. Eurythmics 15. BACHMANN M.-L.,

La rythmique JaquesOalcroze: une education par le musique et pour la musique, La Baconniere SA, Neuchatel, 1984, p. 18.

assigns to musical rhythm the twin functions of drawing out individual potential and drawing one into the subtle world of music. 15 Pedagogically, the methodology of Eurythmics is compatible with contemporary scientific research on human development and learning such as it has been theorised by Professor Howard Gardner and Professor Britt-Mari Barth. Centered on the individual, the methodology of Eurythmics concerns "the relation to knowledge and to learning, the way by which learners succeed at understanding the nature of knowledge and how it is constructed, as well as the way in which we become conscious of it, of our potential to learn, which may increase and develop - and of our own responsability. This conscious-

16. BARTH B-M., Le savoir en construction,

ness implicates self confidence and affirmation of self, indispensable qualities in all development and in all learning" 16 .

Retz, Paris,

1993, p. 148.

Those who practise, teach or experience Eurythmics in one way or another, know that it brings a remarkable success to Music Education and an indefinable sense of well being to the individual. Analysing Eurythmics in scientific contexts certainly affirms its credibility and elucidates its effectiveness. But my experience, and that of others, convinces me that there is indeed another dimension to its significance. Perhaps the power to integrate the various human capacities - physical, sensorial, affective and intellectual - (described by Gardner as forms of intelligence) is that which gives the individual a sense of wholeness - an indefinable sense of well being. The power of Eurythmics is to reveal, reconcile and harmonise all innate personal potential, at the same time as it educates in music. It is the pedagogy of all possibilities:

17. )EAN G., Pour une pedagogie de l'imaginaire, Casterman, 1976, p. 84.

152

through many and various ways, it offers its service as a means of reunification of selfl 7 •

Then said a teacher, Speak to us of Teaching...

And he said:

No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge. The teaher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness. If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind. The astronomer may speak to you of his understanding of space, but he cannot give you his understanding. The musician may sing to you of the rhythm which is in all space, but he cannot give you the ear which arrests the rhythm, nor the voice that echoes it. And he who is versed in the science of numbers can tell of the regions of weight and measure, but he cannot conduct you thither. For the vision of one man lends not its wings to another man. And even as each one of you stands alone in Cod's knowledge, so must each one of you be alone in his knowledge of Cod and in his understanding of the earth.

The Prophet Kahlil Gibran

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1. « Je prends mon jol i panier (le sou/ever des deux mains) Pour aller faire le marche (marcher un pas par croche) Oh! les belles pommes, les pommes dorees (s'arreter et admirer) Je les mets dans mon panier. 2. Maintenant, je vais payer: Combien dois-je vous donner Pour ces belles pommes, ces pommes dorees Qui sont la, dans le panier? 3. - Un franc, vous devez payer. C'est vraiment tres bon marche Pour ces belles pommes, ces pommes dorees Qui sont la, dans le panier. 4. - Je souleve mon panier; j'ai peine le transporter (marcher en noires) Car ces belles pommes, ces pommes dorees Pesent lourd dans le panier.

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5. Lentement, je dois aller (marcher en blanches) En revenant du marche Mon panier me pese, pese, pese, pese: Je le depose mes pieds. »

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