Theoretical framework for facilitating young musicians’ learning of expressive performance

Since communication and expression are central aspects of music performance it is important to develop a systematic pedagogy of teaching children and teenagers expressiveness. Although research has been growing in this area a comprehensive literature review that unifies the different approaches to teaching young musicians expressiveness has been lacking. Therefore, the aim of this article is to provide an overview of literature related to teaching and learning of expressiveness from music psychology and music education research in order to build a new theoretical framework for teaching and learning expressive music performance in instrumental music lessons with children and teenagers. The article will start with a brief discussion of interpretation and expression in music performance, before providing an overview of studies that investigated teaching and learning of performance expression in instrumental music education with adults and children. On the foundation of this research a theoretical framework for dialogic teaching and learning of expressive music performance will be proposed and the rationale explained. Dialogic teaching can be useful for scaffolding young musicians’ learning of expressivity as open questions can stimulate thinking about the interpretation and may serve to connect musical ideas to the embodied experience of the learner. A “toolkit” for teaching and learning of expressiveness will be presented for practical application in music lessons. In addition, a theoretical model will be proposed to further our understanding of teaching and learning of expressive music performance as a multifaceted and interactive process that is embedded in the context of tutors’ and learners’ experiences and environment. Finally, implications of this framework and suggestions for future research will be discussed

BESTÅR – Beständig betong med återvunnen ballast

BESTÅR – Durable concrete with recycled aggregate In this project the properties of different types of recycled aggregate were investigated: recycled excavated masses, recycled construction and demolition waste (CDW), and reclaimed crushed concrete from concrete production. The content of different minerals, rocks, manmade materials, and chemical substances has been analysed, as well as the freeze-thaw resistance and alkali-silica reactivity. In addition to the testing of aggregate properties, concrete with recycled CDW was tested with respect to compressive strength, freeze-thaw resistance, carbonation resistance, and the risk for deleterious alkali silica reactions. The high water absorption of recycled CDW and reclaimed crushed concrete means that these materials can not be regarded as freeze-thaw resistant. As expected, the freeze-thaw resistance testing in salt water resulted in about five times as extensive scaling for concrete where 30% of the coarse aggregate fraction consisted of recycled CDW, as anticipated with concrete with only natural aggregates of typical igneous and metamorphic rocks. The content of potentially alkali-silica reactive particles was low in all batches (<8 %) and all batches were classified as innocuous aggregate when tested with RILEM AAR-2 and NT Build 295. When concrete with 30 % of the coarse aggregate consisting of recycled CDW and with two different binder compositions was tested, neither exceeded the maximum accepted expansion value. However, the results indicated that when the effective alkali content of the concrete is calculated, the alkali content of aggregate of recycled CDW or crushed reclaimed concrete must be included. The replacement of up to 30 % of the coarse aggregate by recycled CDW did not affect the concrete strength development, and the carbonation resistance even increased. Due to the higher water absorption of recycled CDW, it should be ascertained that all accessible pores in the aggregate are filled with water during mixing of the concrete, to avoid negative effects on the water-to-cement ratio and misleading measured air content