Developing agency through music and movement

From individual obstacles to collective action

Throughout the teaching experiment, six of the students were more or less on their own. Alex had challenges in behavior as he continuously took initiative and space. However, he got along very well with everyone. In contrast, Beth, who had difficulties in social relationships, had been excluded in her own class because of her aggressive behavior toward classmates. Other students avoided her company, based on their previous experiences of her. Cathy also had challenging behavior and was thus also often rejected by her peers. While they were all active, they had difficulties in tolerating disappointments, which made them interrupt and disturb the flow of actions during the musical activities. It could be interpreted that their activity and interactivity often became unconstructive when they faced obstacles in their actions. On top of that, they tended to comment negatively on the exercises and actions by others, which did not help them to get accepted by the group. According to the reflections of the teacher and teacher assistant, Beth, just like Cathy, ‘did not really know how to be a friend, and caused all sorts of hassle just because not many want to be her friend, ‘cause it’s got to go on her terms’ (Pauline, Interview, September 22, 2015). They needed to be supported by adults for their participation. Alex, in turn, was friendly toward the others, but often considered himself superior to them, causing confusion in the group. Initially, these three students were mainly aggressively active and responsive or, in Alex’s case, hyperactive and often self-centeredly motivated, and all three were therefore socially isolated from the others.

During the teaching experiment, they all learned to calm themselves down through music-and-movement exercises, which enabled them to concentrate on interaction with their peers and make constructive initiatives toward them. For example, the video data reveals how Alex learned to manage his hyperactivity through pairwise music-and-movement exercises. Consequently, toward the end of the teaching experiment, he was able to interact in and through musical exercises that were first rejected by him (Figure 2). He was also able to support others’ ideas, be responsive to them, and wait for his turn. In Mackenzie’s (2009, p. 115) terms, his engagement in the musical exercises turned to be structured by his collectively constructive practical aims.

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Figure 2.

Alex Giving a Massage to Beth as Part of Relaxation Exercise at the End of the Lesson.

Similarly, Beth learned to calm herself down and to shift the focus gradually from subjective actions to collective ones. In the middle of the school year, she was able to express her creativity and skills through bodily movement, for example when bouncing a ball or playing the djembe in pulse and showing her example to other students. Furthermore, she performed musical exercises in pairs several times toward the end of the school year, which could be interpreted as her development in interaction. Moreover, she started taking initiative when asked to pair with her peer. The teaching assistant of her class described her development at the end of the teaching experiment: ‘music is what brings her that success and those experiences of succeeding . . . that way, she got to really show her good sides and the abilities she has’ (Tina, Interview, April 5, 2016). Music-and-movement activities supported Beth’s expressive attempts to make judgments of the situation, helping her to direct her actions toward positive interaction with her peers (see e.g., Burrow, 2009; Maclaren, 2009).

In similar fashion, Cathy, who very much liked to dance, clearly enjoyed being recognized by the others, especially through the various dance movements she invented in front of them. At the beginning of the school year, she showed several unconstructive actions toward the musical activities. For example, she laughed at others’ movements and spoiled shared exercises. Occasionally, she refused to be part of the lesson. However, her ways of approaching others changed from impulsive and self-absorbed to more sensitive and interactive. Her teacher described her actions at the end of the teaching experiment: ‘Cathy was more restrained and calmer’ (Pauline, Interview, April 12, 2016). She began to make initiatives toward her peers, changing her focus from herself to others. For Cathy herself, the independent decision-making and her sense of agency – the sense of ‘I can’ (Merleau-Ponty, 1962, p. 159) in musical activities – came to play an important role in participation.

Well, yeah, I sort of like to move to music and so, but then if, like, you should be doing something the teacher tells you to, then it always goes to like me not taking part, but then, if I got to decide by myself what to do, then it was like different so that you’re totally in it. (Cathy, Interview, March 31, 2016)

In comparison, David, Ellen, and Noah were more introverted. At the beginning of the school year, they were shy, withdrawn, and often passive in lessons. Ellen was a suspicious student who seemed to fear new situations and usually first refused to do an exercise or went away from the classroom. Rose, the teaching assistant of the class, pondered that Ellen may have sought attention through her behavior: ‘that way she got the attention that the girls here compete for’ (Rose, Interview, April 12, 2016). Noah, in turn, had already been diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder, and largely lived in a world of his own having lots of challenges in communication and interaction. ³ At first, these three students manifested passivity in new situations. This was apparent, for instance, in the video data, where Ellen and Noah literally walked away from new learning situations and sat passively on the side. The following excerpt shows an example of this kind of a situation, ending up with Ellen returning and participating again, after all:

We are doing an exercise in which we walk around the room to the beat of music, throwing a soft toy to each other. Ellen participates fully, and she knows from whom to catch the toy and to whom to throw it while moving. Suddenly I shout: ‘Hi, dj, stop the music! And please come here all!’ At the same time, Ellen walks away from the room. Others don’t see that. I start to give new instructions to change the direction of toy throwing. When it is Ellen’s turn, we notice that she has disappeared. ‘Ellen!’, Pauline shouts and goes to look for her. The exercise is interrupted, and we are waiting for Ellen. After a while, Ellen comes back and decides to stay out of the exercise. After watching others doing the exercise for a minute, she walks to Pauline and says her ankle and neck are hurting. However, she is soon participating in the exercise again. (Videotape transcription of music-and-movement lesson, November 5, 2015)

During the teaching experiment, these three students needed, and were given, constant support by adults in their actions. In a way, they had difficulties in committing to the exercises. However, especially Noah’s and David’s agency developed during the teaching experiment through the musical activities. Noah changed from a passive outsider to an active participant and even leader, as he learned to communicate through non-verbal, embodied ways in music. His agency was manifested in his embodied capacity to act in and through music with others. The change in his agency development was also noticed outside the classroom: he started to take initiative and interact with others. ⁴

Noah immediately noticed that ‘hey, here’s a sledge and a child on it, and a rope, and this needs someone to pull it’ and joined the play. And afterwards, people in the teachers’ lounge were astonished that one day someone came over to say that ‘Come, look, Noah’s there pulling that child’. [. . .] Noah’s participation has increased by 500%. At least. What happened with Noah was that first his gaze changed, to the kind that he sought attention, and every now and then peeked from there. And then he came out into the open, [showing] that ‘I am here’. And then his participation in the intermission activities. It’s really amazing. (Sarah, Interview, April 5, 2016)

David actively began to participate in everything, despite his many challenges in learning and motor skills. He was active and responsive, but lacking initiative in decision-making. For David, the turning point in the development of his agency took place on 29 October, when the teacher-researcher had problems with the internet connection in preparation for the lesson and with the music she was using. David volunteered to help her with his own phone. After that, he became responsible for music playing in the lessons. The next excerpt depicts the situation:

We are gathering together to start the lesson. David comes to me and hugs me, saying: ‘Wasn’t it good that I could help you?’ ‘Yeah, thank you – I was totally lost’, I answer. ‘You don’t understand anything about information technology, do you?’, he continues. ‘No, I don’t’, I laugh. (Videotape transcription of music-and-movement lesson, October 29, 2015)

From this event on, he turned from a passive and rarely responsive student to an active DJ, who wanted to choose the music for some of the exercises. He found his own way of taking responsibility in the lessons, and through interconnectedness with the teacher-researcher he gained the confidence necessary for individual acts (Lotan & Ells, 2010, p. 114). As far as Ellen’s agency is concerned, there was no notable development during the school year. She continued to disappear during new turns in the lesson and only participated occasionally. However, she took initiative toward the teacher-researcher and her peers at the end of the teaching experiment. It seems that she would have benefited from a longer period of music-and-movement teaching.

Among these six students, the challenge was how they could adjust their own decision-making to that of others. At the beginning of the school year, many of them manifested their agency (or lack thereof) by turning or walking away, by refusing to participate, and by resisting or by negatively affecting the interaction in musical exercises by interrupting the flow of the exercises or making initiatives in musical activities. Some of these manifestations of agency restricted their possibilities for interaction and further actions in the class. The teachers and teaching assistants performed musical exercises with these ‘loners’ in pairs, encouraging them to try new things and helping every student to achieve their highest level of participation. This support helped them to practice their bodily skills – and through them, their social skills – safely, and thereby to ‘gain the confidence necessary for autonomy’ (Lotan & Ells, 2010, p. 114). This was manifested, for example, in their increased ability to finally perform musical activities alone or as a student-student pair. The exercises activated their self-regulation and invited them to act and interact with others. As Sarah (the teacher of the ninth grade) reflected on their increased participation during the lessons, the students no longer feared each other so much:

In my opinion, toleration within that group has grown, at least in some ways, very delicately. That they, just like [with] that trust, that they are not so afraid of one another. And that their joint experience also has unified them in a way. So there has been, between the two groups, [. . .]clearly some fearfulness towards some students, but we’ve got rid of it a little. (Sarah, Interview, April 5, 2016)

Creation of one’s own world in the music-and-movement lessons

Gaby and Holly were already good friends with each other before the teaching experiment. They were kind girls who did everything as asked, never questioning or resisting teachers’ instructions or causing any harm. They were always paired, sitting next to each other, and holding hands. In a sense, they created a private space of their own where there was no room for others. In comparison to other students, the girls were quite invisible to the participating adults to the point that the teacher and teaching assistants barely mentioned them in the interviews.

The video data showed that the girls’ movements in the musical exercises were mainly small and limited and turned inwards or toward each other (Figure 3). In a way, Gaby and Holly were active and responsive in the lessons, as they followed the instructions given, but still passive in relation to the other participants and their initiatives. In a way, their agency was responsive to and shaped by their relationship with each other.

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Figure 3.

The Girl Duo and the Trio of Boys Kept Themselves as Distinct Groups, Physically Distant From the Others. In Music-and-Movement Lessons, that Kind of Physical Separation was Dissolved, Leading to Closer Social and Empathic Relations.

Toward the end of the teaching experiment, the girls showed small signs of reaching out to others. For example, in an exercise where the students were instructed to make pairs in the group of students according to what they heard in music, Gaby reached her hand toward Noah, who was shy and, at that point, still unable to make an initiative when choosing pairs. Similarly, Gaby did not turn away from Cathy, who wanted to have a conversation with her at the beginning of one lesson. The next excerpt describes the situation:

We are about to start the lesson. Isaac is improvising with the piano and I am gathering my things in order to get started with teaching. Some students are walking around, some are sitting and waiting. Cathy and Gaby are walking and talking to each other, while Holly is undressing her outdoor clothes. Gaby turns towards Cathy, talks and listens to her, until Holly comes to pick Gaby up. They hold each other by the hand and Cathy walks away from them. (Videotape transcription of music-and-movement lesson, February 18, 2016)

This was the first time Gaby showed any activity toward Cathy during the teaching experiment. Gaby and Holly were so bound together that there had been no room for others. Holly especially was dependent on Gaby in her actions. However, in an exercise where everyone showed a movement pattern for others to follow, Holly was active and demonstrated her willingness to be the first to show hers:

We are in a circle, and after the first round of movements, I say: ‘Hey, let’s take one more round where those who want to show a new movement, do it!’. I turn away and go to pick up Noah, who is standing behind Isaac and at the same time Holly walks and shows her movements, raising hands high and whirling around. Others follow her and she laughs when watching them. (Videotape transcription of music-and-movement lesson, February 11, 2016)

All in all, the accumulated data gave little evidence of any development in their agency. Gaby and Holly had their own world within the lessons, which isolated them from the others. They did break out of it when asked, but always ‘bounced back’ and resorted to their own safe space. They were active and responsive within their own world. In addition to this, their limited movements, gestures, and restrictive postures expressed ‘a femininity of compliance’ (Burrow, 2009, p. 126), and thus decreased their chances for action and self-expression. Their passive, restricted bodily movements may represent how they were in fact undermining their own agency in comparison to the physically bigger students demanding more space. Gaby’s and Holly’s self-motivated initiatives and interactivity in the group started to manifest at the very end of the teaching experiment. However, they would have needed more time and more scaffolding to further adjust their own actions to those of others in a group.

From collective resistance to individual decision-making

Akin to the girl duo, the group of three ⁵ boys – Isaac, Jim, and Kenny – did everything together in the lessons. They were from the same class, always sat next to each other, and performed all the exercises together, if not instructed otherwise. When the teacher-researcher gave instructions to the class, they turned to each other to get a mutual confirmation of how to react and respond to the instructions. Isaac was an exception: he occasionally had the courage to resist the joint decision-making.

At the beginning of the school year, they expressed their agency through collective resistance, for example, by performing musical exercises together but apart from the others, collectively resisting the teacher-researcher’s instructions, interrupting, or slowing the flow of the exercise (e.g., by bouncing the ball too hard for others to catch it). Their interaction was mainly focused on their own faction, and not on others in the group. Like Gaby and Holly, they were responsive and took initiative within their own sphere, but not much outside of it. They were allowed to improvise the exercise by themselves, in case they showed strong resistance or passivity toward the instructions. Jim in particular showed active resistance to many exercises, trying to lure Isaac and Kenny to join him by turning his back, laying down on the floor, or whispering to them. Being the tallest of the trio, Jim captured the space with his big and masculine movements. The trio reported that early morning and their tiredness were the reason for their refusal in some musical activities: ‘Well, hmm, sometimes [I] felt a little tired and kinda often just didn’t have the energy to do [the exercises] then. I did listen to what was said, though’ (Jim, March 31, 2016). They decided the level of their participation themselves, often led by Jim. Their classroom teacher interpreted the students’ resistance as a process of independence or fear of failure:

Some of them showed some contradiction in that they also wanted to bring forward their need to become independent and grow up. . . what might be behind this questioning might basically be some kind of inability to function for some reason. Then [there could be] some incapacity, fear of failing and low self-esteem. (Sarah, Interview, April 5, 2016)

Little by little, Kenny started to show resistance to the trio’s collective decision-making: ‘Kenny clearly would like to do the exercises, but because the other boys don’t participate, he just stands there for a moment, arms crossed, and doesn’t know what to do’ (Research Diary, October 10, 2015). Gradually, his bodily position changed, and he opened up himself – both physically and socially – toward the others, as if waiting for an invitation to join the musical activities. He began manifesting his agency through his embodied and social capacity to act and interact. Gradually, he became more active, stronger with his self, and started making individual decisions. He also began to resist Jim’s authoritative position in the group. The changes in Kenny’s agency affected Isaac and Jim, as well: ‘Jim and Isaac try to cop out every now and then, but Kenny is actively with us and clearly gets Isaac and Jim to stay with us as well’ (Research Diary, October 29, 2015). As the teaching experiment progressed, Kenny participated more actively in musical exercises and interacted with other students. He also started to move in more open ways, while his bodily stance and movements had been very limited at the beginning.

Following Kenny, Isaac, who had been strong in his decision-making from the beginning (if he wanted), also started to be more active and take initiative in the lessons. For example, he accompanied one relaxation exercise with the piano and led a chain dance. Moreover, he started to develop the musical exercises further by developing movements and gestures, and improvising ‘stories’ within drama exercises, and thus, being interactive outside of their trio, exhibiting autonomous agency.

We are performing and exercising in pairs to develop kinesthetic awareness. In the exercise, one participant acts as a marionette, while the other one moves the marionette by pulling the imaginary strings attached to the joints. It is Isaac’s and Kenny’s turn to perform their marionette to the others. Kenny starts to pull imaginary strings attached to Isaac. However, Isaac takes control over Kenny and ‘comes alive’. He starts to move around the ‘stage’ and Kenny runs after him. Everyone is laughing as Isaac performs his marionette coming alive. (Videotape transcription of music-and-movement lesson, February 18, 2016)

Isaac also began to show his newly developed skills actively in singing and dancing. His agency was manifested in his autonomous and constructive acting in musical exercises. Finally, toward the end of the teaching experiment, Jim started to show some initiative. For example, he led the chain dance (Figure 4). He also contributed to the drama exercise. Still, he stayed mainly passive and his attitude toward the musical exercises was often negative even at the end of the experiment. He decided to manifest his agency through negative attitudes and resistance.

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Figure 4.

Jim Leading the Chain Dance Display of Autonomy and Intersubjectivity of Agency in Deciding where to Lead the Group.