Dialogic Communication in the One-to-One Improvisation Lesson - Part 1 - A Qualitative Study

Oct 15, 2026

This qualitative study investigates dialogic interactions between teacher and student that enhance learning and teaching in one-to-one music improvisation lessons. It analyzes how teachers elicit students’ actions, thoughts, and processes to develop improvisational skills, critical and creative thinking. Data from six Australian conservatoire students show dialogic interactions spanning instruction, conversation, inquiry, and enablement of knowledge and skills within a socio-cultural framework.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Teacher mediation and situated learning

Pedagogies in one-to-one music education

Prior research gaps and study focus

Australian Journal of Teacher Education | Volume 43
Issue 5 Australian & New Zealand Association for
Research in Music Education | Article 1 | | --- | --- | | 2018
Dialogic Communication in the One-to-One Improvisation Lesson: A Qualitative Study
Leon R. deBruin
RMIT University, Australia, [leon.debruin@monash.edu](leon.debruin@monash.edu) | | Recommended Citation de Bruin, L. R. (2018). Dialogic Communication in the One-to-One Improvisation Lesson: A Qualitative Study. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 43 (5). Retrieved from [http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol43/iss5/1](http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol43/iss5/1) This Journal Article is posted at Research Online. [http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol43/iss5/1](http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol43/iss5/1) Australian Journal of Teacher Education Dialogic Communication in the One-to-One Improvisation Lesson: A Qualitative Study Leon R. de Bruin RMIT University Abstract: This qualitative study investigates the dialogic interactions between teacher and student that enhance learning and teaching within the one-to-one music improvisation lesson. This study analyses the ways teachers elicit student actions, thoughts and processes that develop student skills, critical and creative thinking processes necessary for improvisational development. Interactions and interplay between six Australian conservatoire improvisation students and their teachers were investigated. Data reveal dialogic interactions that span instruction, conversation, inquiry and enablement of student knowledge and skills that constitute a complex socio-cultural tapestry of discursive threads. Teacher-student interactions that activate desired creative student activity engage meta-cognitive processes and the cultivation of creative habits of mind that allow improvisational skill to flourish. Teachers engage in dialogic interaction and shape interactional behaviour, asserting a learning culture that makes explicit and visible the acquiring of skills and knowledge. Implications for skilled teaching that can effectively craft the at times improvisatory and ephemeral nature of teacher-student interactions are suggested. Introduction Teachers in the classroom can mediate action and thought and shape the parameters and perceptions of what students think they are capable of achieving. By engaging students in talk, play, gesture, or demonstration through other modalities, teachers create a situated learning environment that not only passes on skill and knowledge within a cultural mindset, but also establishes a temporal understanding of these processes, contexts and environments. It is through student-teacher interactions during the learning process that learners construct or'map' their own meaningful networks of understanding and possibility (Sannino, 2015) . Teachers design learning situations and utilize pedagogies that can engage students inan interactive process of teaching and learning. Within higher music education the one-to-one lesson is the clear pedagogical model that facilitates the interaction and organization of effective, empathic learning between student and teacher (Dillenbourg, 2013; Gaunt, 2008) . Research within the one-to-one lesson has evinced strategies such as scaffolding (Wood, Bruner & Ross, 1976), coaching (Schon, 1987), mentoring (Creech, Gaunt, Long & Hallam, 2012), cognitive apprenticeship (de Bruin, 2017, 2016) as well as communicative learning within a 'master' and 'apprentice' culture (Koopman, Smit, De Vugt, Deneer & Den Ouden, 2007) . Investigating student-teacher interactions can reveal better understandings ofthe way dialogue between teacher and student can shape student actions, thoughts and processes. Whilst Gaunt suggests 'teachers are the musical agents, the models and the motivating forces Vol 43, 5, May 2018 1 Australian Journal of Teacher Education for their students' (2008, p. 215) who strive to develop optimal

FAQs

What does the study examine in the one-to-one improvisation lesson?

The study examines dialogic interactions between teacher and student that support learning and teaching within one-to-one music improvisation lessons.

How do teachers influence students during improvisation learning?

Teachers elicit students’ actions, thoughts, and processes that develop skills and critical and creative thinking necessary for improvisational growth.

What participant and data scope does the research use?

The research investigates interactions among six Australian conservatoire improvisation students and their teachers through a socio-cultural lens.

Oct 15, 2026

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