Case Study 1: Swanwick and Tillman 1986

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Case Study 1 Swanwick and Tillman (1986)

• MUSI 2912 Musical Development

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Overview

• Swanwick and Tillman (1986)
• Aims of the study
• Methodology
• Underlying theoretical assumptions
• Details of the theory
• Theory and data
• Potential problems
• Applying the theory
• Further reading and tasks
• Connections to next weeks lecture
• Summary

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Aims of the study

• To refine/test a theory of how school-age
  children develop musically
• To extend and refine earlier work on musical
  development
• To study school-age childrens compositions
• To suggest ways to improve the music curriculum

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Methodology

• Observed 745 compositions
• free and more guided compositions (see pages
  311-12)
• Ages from 3-11
• 48 children
• London school
• Multicultural sample
• Attempted to match observations to broad
  theoretical ideas
• Revised and refined their theoretical account

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Underlying theoretical assumptions

• Musical skills develop
• They develop at roughly the same rate
• They develop discontinuously
• The environment is a strong factor
• The stages of development are qualitatively
  different
• Musical development reflects the general
  developmental characteristics of play
  (Piaget/Moog)
• Mastery
• Imitation (accommodation)
• Imagination (assimilation)

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Details of the theory

• The three types of play occur at roughly fixed
  ages
• There is a 4th stage of development
  (Meta-cognition Bruner, 1966)
• Each type of play is subdivided into a
  progression from individual to socialised play
• Each type of play is associated with particular
  types of musical engagement

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Types of Play (Piaget/Bruner)

• Mastery
• sensory
• manipulative
• Imitation
• personal
• vernacular

• Imaginative
• speculative
• idiomatic
• Meta-cognition
• symbolic
• systematic

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Theory and data

• Judges could accurately age the children
• Judges referred to similar criteria in their
  decisions
• The compositions seem to fit the theoretical
  spiral quite closely (up to 11)
• Theory was derived from the data?

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Potential problems

• Is the theory testable
• precise predictions?
• How would one disprove it?
• Can other similar theories account for the same
  data
• how can we tell which is better

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Applying the theory

• Curriculum should reflect the different stages in
  the spiral
• Ages should not be regarded as fixed
• When approaching a new domain the stages may be
  repeated at a smaller time scale

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Further reading and tasks

• You may wish to follow up some of the references
  to the general literature made by Swanwick and
  Tillman, or some of the more specifically musical
  sources they cite.
• Another way of going further would be to perform
  a citation search using a database searching tool
  such as the Web of Science. This kind of search
  allows you to find out who has referred to their
  work, so that you can see how it has been
  followed up.
• Searching for articles using keywords such as
  development, music and sequence or stages
  might be an idea. You can do this on Web of
  Science, but PsychInfo is another tool you can
  use.

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Connections to next weeks lecture

• Similar approaches
• Different methods/focuses
• Different theoretical outlooks

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Summary

• Data can support the view that there is
  discontinuous development
• Some problems in testing developmental theories
• Developmental theories might be helpful in
  planning curricula