Theorising ‘participatory creativity’ in music education: unpacking the whole process at a Spanish secondary school

Abstract

The seminal conceptualisation of the varying forms of authorship associated with different creativities developed as social practices has deep implications for research into music education in secondary schools. One such type is ‘participatory creativity’, which is explored through a cross-cutting secondary school study. Aimed at the creation of a soundtrack based on cooperative compositional methods, we aspired to gain an in-depth understanding of the participatory processes involved in creative learning. Data was gathered through observation, interviews, a classroom diary, classroom assessments, questionnaires and video and audio recordings. In the findings, students’ participation was identified in three forms: (1) decision-making; (2) shared goal, which encouraged a group sense of identity, high motivation (individual and social), positive emotions (multidimensional and dual) and the construction of meaningful musical experiences from their musician’s role; and (3) enculturation in the creative process. Participatory creativity could be construed as a paradigmatic approach in secondary education.