Guided visualization in music education
Date
1989
Authors
Baker, Iris Paulette
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Abstract
This has been an exploratory study of the use of guided visualization in a grade five music program to assist in the achievement of specific attitudinal and aesthetic goals that focus on the inner experience of music. The program in which these techniques were applied was a combination of the discovery approach recommended in the Manhattanville Music Curriculum Project (Thomas, 1970) and the structured approach of Nanaimo's Kodály based program.
The specific goals addressed were that the student 1) become conscious of music as a medium for personal expression, 2) develop the capacity to find meaning in music by involving the emotions and the spirit, and 3) develop confidence in his own creative potential.
The research method used was based on the guidelines for action research outlined in Qualitative Research for Education (Bogdan and Biklen, 1982). The class was monitored during a two-month period of experimention with a variety of applications of guided visualization in the music lesson. The focus was on gaining more understanding about the practice and how it relates to music , and on determining the feasibility of using these techniques in the limited time frame of the half-hour music lesson.
The analysis of the data collected involved looking for evidence of the achievement of the curriculum goals as well as for insights into improving the practice of this technique. It was concluded that the effects of imaging could not be isolated but had to be seen as part of a total approach that included active involvement and a particular kind of working atmosphere. The imaging processes were influential in creating this atmosphere by making the students more aware of the creative potential of their minds and by giving them the experience of other ways to express things and the opportunity to see that their ideas would be accepted.
The imaging and creating activities were very time consuming. Recommendations for further research centered on the need to develop project- oriented curricula in which skill development could be maximized in a discovery approach that involved metaphoric teaching.