Approaches to Composition Mentorship in K-12 Settings

In schools today, there are numerous education concepts that define effective teaching. Often these concepts become important buzzwords in education circles and help to direct successful teaching strategies. It is important to stress that the process of composition mentorship does not consist of one single process. There are many ways to approach mentorship that help to define it as “good teaching!”

Scaffolding and Mentorship. There is some debate as to who is responsible for introducing the term “scaffolding” into education research literature (Shvarts & Baker, 2019). The idea is sometimes connected to Jerome Bruner, who often related scaffolding to problem solving. Wood, Bruner, and Ross (1976) explained that scaffolding done well begins with a teacher guiding a student into actions that will produce solutions that are meaningful. The teacher helps the student to understand problems and discrepancies and serves in this role until the students are ready to proceed on their own (p. 90).

In a meaningful discussion of scaffolding and its important connection to music composition instruction, Jackie Wiggins and Michael Medvinsky (2013) explain it more clearly. “Everything teachers do to support student learning can be considered scaffolding, including framing and planning the learning experience, providing appropriate groundwork to foster and enable student success in the experience, and assessing student understanding throughout the experience” (p. 111). Scaffolding is another excellent framework for consideration, as we investigate just what mentors do in the collaborative mentorship process.

Wiggins and Medvinsky suggest eight areas of focus as teachers plan for music composition instruction:
- Supporting students musically
- Fostering a supportive environment
- Fostering invention and articulation of musical ideas
- Respecting and honoring the learner’s voice
- Meeting learners where they are
- Laying groundwork through prior experience
- Framing compositional problems to foster success
- Providing time and space

Each of these strategies, when used in the process of composition instruction, will help to establish a safe environment for creative musical interaction between teacher and students. These suggestions also help to create a community, where collaborative mentorship is possible.

Problem-Solving and Mentorship. Problem-solving is often seen as a critical thinking skill and necessary in the process of learning how to compose. In an analysis of the composing pathways used by students when creating, Burnard & Younker (2004) determined that the many pathways characterizing students’ composing processes are influenced by each individual’s culture and life experience. Problem-solving by the young composer is embedded in the process of navigating the pathway. Peter Webster (2002) shared his Model for Creative Thinking in Music, which outlines the cognitive processes used in creative activity. At the center of the model, Webster proposed that the creative thinking process involves an interaction between four areas: preparation, working through, time away, and verification.

These steps are informed by divergent and convergent thinking. Webster shares that “creative thinking is driven by a problem and a need for a solution” (p. 28). The process of moving between divergent and convergent thinking during the composition process is a clear illustration of critical thinking and the problem-solving process. Today, domain- specific problem-solving has been identified as a 21st-century skill that is necessary for student education in contemporary settings (Grieff et al., 2014). The domain of music and the process of composition is an ideal setting for students to exercise these important 21st-century skills.

Young composers are asked to explore their musical ideas and make decisions about how to shape and share those ideas. It is also important to realize that creative thinking and the development of a composition occur in a social and collaborative setting. Social interaction in problem-solving is a beneficial and necessary part of the education process for students in our schools (Care et al., 2016). Esther Care and colleagues propose a framework of Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS), that stresses the importance of shared engagement in problem-solving. Activities such as asking questions, peer mentoring, and teacher feedback “can help a student to solve problems that they may otherwise not have been able to, and moves them toward higher competency” (p. 252). This is one very positive way to approach the collaborative mentorship process in music composition. Thinking about and making decisions about musical ideas is a cognitive problem-solving process that teachers must guide and support. Teachers, classmates, and each individual composer are members of a collaborative community, and all are part of the joint problem-solving process in music composition classes.

Feedback and Mentorship. As I shared at the beginning of this chapter, the music composition instruction I provided to my gifted music students in their enrichment class did not start out with great success. One of the areas I really struggled with was assessment. How would I assess learning in these projects? I tried checklists and rubrics with assessment areas such as: required number of measures, dynamic markings added, etc. This was clearly not valid assessment of the true process of creative thinking and composition. I found myself responding with comments like “sounds good,” or “nice job,” instead of offering meaningful critique. Daniel Deutsch (2016) states that authentic assessment is required when providing meaningful feedback for student compositions. “With authentic assessment, teachers treat student composition as meaningful musical expression, not merely as a school exercise. They accomplish this by shaping assessment and instruction in response to the musical intentions of each composer within the context of each composition” (p. 59).

I learned through the years of working with my students, that what was truly important was the process that the students were working through. The formative feedback that the students received from me during the composition process needed to be specific and meaningful, as well as designed to give direction on how each piece could move forward. The other area of critical feedback came from fellow students in the classroom. Sharing their compositions in class and receiving critique from their peers was perhaps the most important assessment and validation that these young composers could receive. Sam Reese (2003) shared an important point: “Teaching composition might be thought of as providing a structured environment in which students teach themselves or each other” (p. 212).

Yes, feedback is critical to the collaborative mentorship process. It is important to reflect upon how to respond to novice composers in a way that will support musical growth and creativity without overpowering or inhibiting it. Because the young composers come from such different backgrounds and levels of ability, the feedback needs to be appropriately addressed to be helpful for each individual.

Sam Reese provides a general list of suggestions to guide teacher feedback for young composers:
- Acknowledge, recognize, and/or verify student work
- Encourage, motivate, and/or set expectations
- Describe salient characteristics and successful aspects of the piece. Be a “mirror” to increase awareness of what others are hearing.
- Provide explanations and definitions of unfamiliar musical material.

- Point out composers and compositions that students might find interesting based on the type of music they are composing.
- Ask students to describe their piece and to explain the feedback they are seeking and ask about student intentions.
- Facilitate critique and reflection by questioning and probing about the piece or the composing process.
- Point out musical problems and potentials in the piece.
- Encourage students to experiment—to extend, alter, and develop.
- Provide suggestions for changes, additions, or deletions to students’ music.
- Play or sing musical examples and possibilities (p. 220).

There are clearly many ways to eliminate the roadblocks to implementing composition instruction in our music education classrooms. The value of composition instruction for our students is often first recognized by teachers when they actually jump in and begin mentoring their students in composition activities. It was definitely that way for me.