Activating and Developing Free Improvisational Creativities in Higher Education: Contesting Authority, Exploring Creativities, Stimulating Dialogue

Atton, Chris; Cowan, Matthew; Docherty, Harry; Farnish, Kaelin; Moir, Zack; Pattie, Euan

Abstract

This chapter explores the concept of improvisational creativities in higher education and the ways in which such an approach to music education is beneficial. We report on a collaborative autoethnography, conducted by the authors, in which we explore our experiences of working together as a free improvisation group comprising students and staff from Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland. Findings pertain to the ways in which our work challenged authority and hierarchies within traditional formats of music education, stimulated dialogue among participants, eschewed ‘method’, and activated and fostered a diverse range of musical, scholarly, and improvisational creativities. We advocate for the centrality of improvisational creativities in higher music education as such an approach makes possible a vision of music education that does not consider the transmission of knowledge, training, or skill acquisition as central; rather, as one that develops participants creatively, musically, interpersonally, and democratically, through an exploratory, collaborative, and ultimately liberatory praxis.

Citation

Atton, C., Cowan, M., Docherty, H., Farnish, K., Moir, Z., & Pattie, E. (2022). Activating and Developing Free Improvisational Creativities in Higher Education: Contesting Authority, Exploring Creativities, Stimulating Dialogue. In C. Randles, & P. Burnard (Eds.), The Routledge Companion to Creativities in Music Education. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003248194-35

• Online Publication Date: Dec 29, 2022
• Publication Date: Dec 30, 2022
• Deposit Date: Jan 18, 2023
• Publisher: Routledge
• Book Title: The Routledge Companion to Creativities in Music Education
• ISBN: 9781032163611
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003248194-35
• Publisher URL: https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Companion-to-Creativities-in-Music-Education/Randles-Burnard/p/book/9781032163611