The Program Of Accompaniment Of A Family Raising A Musically Gifted Child

Abstract

The article presents the elective course program for music college students, which is devoted to the preparation of future teachers of children's music school to work with the families of students. In their practice, the teachers of the children's music school face many complex difficulties in the process of interaction with the parents of students. Unlike musical abilities, pedagogical abilities and the necessary personal qualities of a future teacher of a children's music school should be fully developed during their studies at a music college. We believe that the ability to effectively and constructively interact with the parents of students is one of the most important abilities of a teacher of a children's music school, given the personification of music education with a significant role of parents in the musical advancement of the child. Training in children's music schools according to pre-professional programs involves a large amount of work for children at home and a high degree of participation and involvement of parents to achieve high academic performance. The task of the teacher of the children's music school is to establish cooperation with the parents of students, to organize joint forms of activity in the educational interests of the child. The problematic moments and typical difficulties in the interaction of a specialist with parents are revealed. The program of the course for music college students on interaction with the family of a musically gifted child studying at a children's music school is presented.

Keywords: Children's music school, interaction, parents, teacher

Introduction

The requirements for the professionalism of a teacher of a children's music school are developing together with the system of domestic secondary vocational education and correlate with the current labor market situation of teachers of additional education for children. Thus, the content of education directly depends on modern realities and approaches that reflect existing trends in building a career of a future music school teacher. The work duties of a specialist are largely dictated by the introduction of additional pre-professional educational programs that increase the status and prestige of children's music schools. These changes in the system of additional education of children affect the rethinking of the training of a teacher of a children's music school and form his readiness for productive professional activity after graduating from a music college. Modification of socio-cultural conditions necessitates the formation of demanded professional qualities of a teacher of a children's music school. Such qualities include adaptability, stress resistance, professional reflection, a tendency to self-education and research activities, further improvement of existing competencies, work in conditions of multivariance and multitasking (Mazilov & Slepko, 2019).

Problem Statement

A special place among the professional qualities of a young specialist is given to his willingness to work with the families of students, jointly develop, educate and socialize children by means of music as part of their studies at a children's music school. It should be emphasized that the role of parents is legally recognized as dominant in this process, and cannot be underestimated, replaced by the activities of an educational institution of general or additional education. The cooperation of a specialist with the parents of students is associated with the orientation of the educational process to interact with the parents of students. This implements the educational policy of the state on the priority of the family in the development of the individual and its integration into society. The well-known difficulty of mastering pre-professional programs by students and the need for the educational organization to fulfill the established "roadmap" imposes increased responsibility and increases the degree of participation of parents in the musical education of children. This reveals the pressing problematic issues of secondary music education and is expressed in the need to modernize the training of a future teacher of a children's music school in relation to preparing to work with the families of students as an important part of the competence of a future professional.

Historically, the specifics of music education in Russia, characterized by the continuity of educational stages “children's music school – music college – higher musical educational institution (conservatory, Institute of Culture, Institute of Arts, music Faculty of Pedagogical University)”, gradually took shape into a system with its own unique essential features, way of life and standards. Despite the unification inherent in any educational vertical, the personal beginning of a student, who himself has passed a long way of studying at a children's music school by the time he enters college, vividly colored by emotions experienced and personally significant situations is actively manifested in music education. This leaves an imprint on the professional orientation of the individual, creating an inimitable creative method and a set of professionally significant qualities for each teacher of the children's music school (Astashova et al., 2018).

The accumulated knowledge about ways out of creative crises, effective solutions to pedagogical problems becomes the basis for the subsequent development of professional pedagogical competencies, acts as an incentive for the development of versatile skills combining purely musical and broad general pedagogical education. The general professional orientation of the student's personality is expressed in continuous self-education and self-development in specializations corresponding to the diploma of the music college. Often, the independent activity of a teacher-musician in a children's music school goes far beyond the acquired competencies, which develop and expand with work experience (Vass & Deszpot, 2017). This evolution is expressed in the author's teaching style, recognizable features in the performance of students, the same values, the level of upbringing and musical culture, which was formed by the teacher of the children's music school among students. There is something similar to the concept of a “single creative community,” which unites a team of like-minded people connected by professional and personal ties. The diverse modern activity of a specialist (pedagogical, performing, methodological, research) creates a general picture of the professional self-identification of a specialist, a creative portrait of the teacher's personality, its universe.

Research Questions

We have developed and implemented a course program in order to minimize and anticipate the difficulties of a college graduate in the workplace, taking into account the current situation of preparing for interaction with the parents of students of the future teacher of a children's music school. It is aimed at developing narrowly focused skills of interaction with the parents of students and improving the psychological and pedagogical competence of the student. The formation of pedagogical competencies in a music college is based on the individual experience of a student, which gradually developed during his studies at a children's music school and is emotionally supported by the personal reflection of a future specialist and the facts of his own creative biography. Then, during independent professional activity at a music school as a teacher, the acquired competencies are modified by improving teaching skills and the style of interaction with parents, forming qualities and abilities that go far beyond the basic characteristics of a graduate (Sydykova et al., 2018).

The competence-based approach, which currently dominates in secondary vocational education, appeals to the accentuation of the individuality of a teacher-musician, building an individual trajectory for the development of his pedagogical career. During his student years, work is underway to enrich the inner world of the future teacher-musician with heartfelt impressions, to form an attentive attitude to his personal professional opinion, despite the lack of a great life and many years of pedagogical experience. All this contributes to the development of one's point of view and a subjective view of the phenomena of pedagogical reality, which then positively affect the acquisition of professional confidence, reflected in fruitful work with children's families (Efimenko & Rachkovskaya, 2016).

The recognition of cooperation with parents as a separate type of pedagogical activity and one of the guarantors of a child's successful music education is still somewhat formal and declarative in the content of secondary music education. Learning to interact with parents is no less important than purposefully developing the skills of making or composing music. It can be stated now that at the moment insufficient attention is paid to the competencies of interaction with the parents of students, as part of the communicative culture of a teacher-musician, in professional training. The whole range of competencies – from specific musical to general pedagogical – creates a favorable basis for further professional growth of a teacher of a children's music school (Ballantyne & Zhukov, 2017). Thus, the task of the teaching staff of the college becomes the personal development of students, without dividing the knowledge they receive into primary and secondary priority. Improvement in the field of musical and performing, theoretical disciplines should be carried out without dominating the psychological and pedagogical abilities of the student. Finding such a harmonious balance gives confidence, personal maturity, stress resistance to the future young specialist (Rachkovskaya, 2008). These qualities allow a specialist to interact with parents without anxiety and panic, to constructively solve emerging problems and overcome crisis situations: The modern concept of vocational education, without denying the professional-subject orientation and training of a specialist, shifts the emphasis towards the personal development of a student, thereby asserts the priority of personal development over the functional side of the training of a future teacher (Petelin, 2005).

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the research was to identify the current state of issues of interaction with the parents of students among the teachers of the children's music school and students of the music college. Based on the results a course program was developed to prepare future specialists to work with a family raising a musically gifted child.

Research Methods

We conducted a pilot study among teachers of children's music schools in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in the form of a questionnaire and a clarifying conversation, taking into account the importance of the effectiveness of the interaction of a teacher-musician with parents. 80 people took part in the survey. Work with the families of students, problems in interaction with parents took the leading places (1–3 places) in the ranking of 76 % of questionnaires. 38 % of the responses are characterized by abstract judgments that cooperation with parents “improves the student's academic performance”, “educates discipline and contributes to the organization of home classes”. 84 % of the respondents noted that interaction with parents “contributes to the creation of a unified music-developing space between the music school and home conditions”, “helps in the development of uniform academic and educational requirements in the music school and the family.” Only 35 % of teachers were able to identify specific and detailed aspects of creative and pedagogical cooperation with parents. Practical activities in such traditional forms of interaction with parents as conversations and consultations were noted by 85 % of respondents, parent meetings were noted by 48 %. Innovative types and forms of work with parents (master classes, trainings, roundtable discussions, conferences, trainings, musical living rooms with parents) were used in practice by themselves or observed in their educational organization by only 30 % of teachers of children's music schools.

The survey of music college students revealed similar problems with the survey data of practicing teachers of children's music schools in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. 93 % of students indicated the expected similar difficulties in the upcoming independent pedagogical activity when completing the job analysis (from 0 to 10 points). They named such problematic moments as discomfort in personal communication with parents, fear of failure in building partnerships, a feeling of lack of psychological and pedagogical knowledge and practical skills, their own psychological tightness, blocking the effective building of interaction with the families of students.

Findings

Approbation of the elective course program "Psychological and pedagogical support of a family raising a musically gifted child" in the amount of 24 hours was held among students of the music departments of the Kamchatka College of Arts of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in the domains of study 53.02.04 Vocal art; 53.02.05 Solo and folk singing; 53.02.07 Music theory; 53.02.03 Instrumental performance (by type of instruments). Let's focus on the design process of this elective course.

The course content contributes to the formation of students' awareness of the role of the family in musical education and development of children, strategies and tactics for providing psychological and pedagogical assistance to parents, activation and inclusion of their personal resources in the musical development of children through raising the level of musical and general pedagogical culture. During the study of this course, students should form knowledge about the structure and typology of families, the meaning and potential of the family in the musical development of the child, concepts and categories related to the psychological and pedagogical support of the family of a student at a children's music school.

The course consists of thematic sections arranged in accordance with the logic of the formation of professional competence of future teachers-musicians in the aspect of working with the family. Along with obtaining theoretical knowledge, the course is aimed at developing practical skills, forming initial experience in providing support to parents through the expedient application of methods and techniques of effective interaction with them. Also, within each topic, there is a consideration of creative issues on the formation of a student's pedagogical position, his self-identification in this type of professional activity, characterized by pluralism of approaches and solutions in view of the uniqueness of each pedagogical situation associated with the families of students. Let's focus on the structural and substantive sections of the course.

The first section: “The family of a musically gifted child as the subject and object of professional interaction of a teacher of a children's music school” gives a general idea of the family in historical retrospect, describes the current crisis of family relations, outlines the features and essential characteristics of the modern family, designates its socio-pedagogical functions. This section reveals the component of musical culture in the overall picture of the psychological and pedagogical culture of the family, examines the functioning of the family as an environment for the musical development of the child through leisure, familiarization with music by the parents themselves to promote the education and upbringing of the child by means of music from their sides (Petrenko & Galitskaya, 2007).

Practical tasks that are solved during the passage of this section allow the student to further understand the typology of families (Goshin & Mertsalova, 2018). The student gets acquainted with the tasks and content of modern family education of children. The future teacher-musician learns to define goals, tasks and to plan work with the child's parents, including for the long term. In addition to the above, the specialist takes into account the existing and potential pedagogical capabilities of the family, taking into account external and internal factors. In the practical classes of the course, various tactics of psychological and pedagogical assistance to families are analyzed. The issues of organizing effective interaction with the parents of students aimed at creating the most favorable conditions in the family for the development of the child's personality and his musical talent are also considered. The algorithm for developing a consultation plan based on the characteristics of the family on training and career guidance is explained. The skill of designing an optimal educational route is being worked out, taking into account the prospects of the student and his desires for continuing musical education in the future.

The second section “Peculiarities of child-parent relations in the family of a musically gifted child” is devoted to the issues of physiological prerequisites and psychological foundations for the development of musical hearing and musical abilities in general. This is exactly what is the main task of teaching at a children's music school: for the effective development of the necessary abilities for various types of musical activities, the cooperation of adults surrounding the child – the parties of educational relations - is required. A characteristic of the personality of a musically gifted child and his psychological portrait are provided to students is provided for students. Related and interdependent abilities with music are indicated: general intellectual, spatial-coordination, logical-mathematical and others. The complex of family responsibilities in relation to a child studying at a children's music school is shown. The role of the family in matters of adaptation, control, motivation, tactics and strategies of musical development from the point of view of the family, parental attitudes and mistakes affecting the musical education of children is emphasized: “Parents (legal representatives) of underage students have a preferential right to education and upbringing of children over all other persons. They are obliged to lay the foundations for the physical, moral and intellectual development of the child's personality”, “On Education in the Russian Federation” (RF Government, 2021)

The third section “The teacher as an intermediary between the family and musical culture” contains essential characteristics, types, and forms of interaction of the specialist with the families of students. The stages of interaction, monitoring technologies and control and measurement procedures are disclosed here. Samples of documentation on working with students' families, which reflects the modeling and construction of the partnership process, tracking its dynamics, taking into account informative methods of cooperation: survey, analysis, compilation of methodological recommendations based on the use of modern pedagogical technologies are presented for students.

Conclusion

At the end of the course, a control work and a final conversation were conducted with students, the results showed a positive dynamics of expertise, knowledge and skills that allow a young specialist to work with the legal framework of an educational organization regulating interaction with parents. Indicators of development and readiness to interact with parents include the ability of a teacher-musician to consult, diagnose, conduct psychological and pedagogical expertise within the framework of his profile education. Practical skills of creating a scenario for conducting face-to-face and remote parent meetings, ways to attract parents to participate in classroom and school events were worked out. From the sphere of the research work of a teacher-musician, the program reflects the issues of methodological work on the dissemination of positive experience of working with the family, its replication in the pedagogical community.

Much attention was paid to psychological and pedagogical diagnostics as a starting point for the work of a teacher of a children's music school with families. This approach once again objectified the value of the ability to reflect on communication with the parents of students as a professionally significant quality of a teacher-musician. A control work, including a theoretical test part and a practical case analysis followed after the diagnosis. As a result of the final examination of the acquired knowledge and practical skills, 98 % of student papers confirmed the effectiveness and practical value of the implemented elective course, which proved the significance of the implemented program of the course “Psychological and pedagogical support of a family raising a musically gifted child.”

Thus, this course focuses on aspects of interaction with parents of students of the children's music school, equips students with practice-oriented knowledge and methods of work. Professional knowledge of the skills of working with the families of students, the ability to transform problems into pedagogical tasks, successfully “pass” the crises of growing up of a child with his parents contributes to the improvement of academic performance among students of the children's music school. All this has a positive effect on the development of the teacher's professionalism and is reflected in the achievements appearing in the personal pedagogical portfolio. Successes in applied areas of work of a teacher of a children's music school (work with family) contribute to the improvement of his qualification category, motivate and inspire him to create an unlimited space for joint creative creation and help the child to self-build a personality as a musician and a person together with his parents.

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