Developing creativity in music secondary school students with different creative potentials

Makarova Elena Aleksandrovna Doctor of Psychology, PhD in Pedagogy Professor; Faculty of Psychology, Pedagogy and Defectology; Don State Technical University, Melitopol State University Professor; Department of Humanities; Taganrog Institute of Management and Economics Petrovskaya str., 45, Taganrog, Rostov region, 347900, Russia makarova.h@gmail.com

Introduction and theoretical foundations. Ancient philosophers and teachers (Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle) noted that music performs not only an educational, but also a harmonizing function, developing and deepening the emotional sphere of a person.Here is an accurate and structured description of the ancient views on the educational and therapeutic role of music: Music is a reflection of cosmic harmony. It affects not only emotions, but also ethics. Not all music is useful: a reasonable selection of scales, rhythms, and instruments is important.

We present a comparison of the approaches of Plato, Aristotle and Pythagoras according to three key criteria: the purpose of music exposure (character formation, catharsis, healing), as well as the mechanism of action and preferred musical means.

For example, Plato considered the main goal of music to be the formation of a stable moral character of a citizen, Aristotle saw this goal as catharsis — cleansing the soul through emotional reaction, and Pythagoras – as healing the soul and body, restoring harmony.

Key differences in understanding "catharsis":

For Plato (although he hardly uses the term himself), purification is close to "sobering up" — music displaces bad passions, strengthening the mind.

For Aristotle, catharsis is not suppression, but emotional release through compassion and fear (for example, in tragedy or in "enthusiastic" ways). The person seems to "get over" the affect and becomes calmer.

Pythagoras literally understood catharsis as a medical cleansing — musical tones "wash out" disharmony from the body and soul, like laxatives or bloodletting (the method of "musical medicine").

The ancient Greeks believed that music, based on strict mathematical principles (discovered by Pythagoras), is part of the Harmony of the Universe, connecting people with the cosmos and contributing to self-improvement and self-identification. In antiquity, music was considered not just as a form of entertainment, but as an important component in the formation of a harmoniously developed, comprehensively developed personality. Modern scientists involved in this area of research have come to the conclusion that music functions as an effective corrective tool with a pronounced psychotherapeutic dimension. An analysis of the concept of "educational technologies that preserve health" shows that its meaning is interpreted in different ways ^[1]. Nevertheless, the main psychological and pedagogical focus — the preservation of children's mental and psychological health throughout the learning process — remains unchanged. In the modern world, psychosomatic disorders are among the most common diagnoses in children, especially those who live in large urban centers. The term "psychosomatics" (from the Greek words psyche — soul and soma — body) refers to a branch of psychology that studies how psychological factors, especially psychogenic ones, affect the occurrence and progression of physical diseases. Within this framework, the corrective potential of music therapy is particularly relevant. Music therapy is proving to be an effective tool for solving a wide range of developmental problems, especially in children with intellectual disabilities. In such cases, it helps to correct development; for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), it helps to overcome barriers in communication and socialization; in the cognitive sphere, it improves concentration, memory and intellectual abilities; And in the personal sphere, it promotes the development of musical abilities and emotional self-regulation.

Musical mastery is not the result of innate talent or "magical" talent, but an acquired competence that requires internal motivation and many years of disciplined, constant practice ^[2]. In this context, the acquisition of knowledge becomes an important educational task — a process during which relationships are formed, and these relationships, in turn, determine the actions and learning outcomes ^[3]. Given the complexity and versatility of the knowledge music teachers need to develop students' creative abilities in music education, we identify a key problem in modern music education: the synthesis of subject expertise and psychological knowledge when considering creativity as a multifaceted phenomenon. We assume that modern scientific literature has indeed developed an understanding of creativity not as a single skill, but as a polymorphic construct. Therefore, we consider various approaches (cognitive, socioconstructivist, and activity-based), and also add an important aspect that follows from Shulman's logic and his interpretation by R.A. Begetto. In the context of L.S. Shulman's concept of pedagogical meaningful knowledge (PZZ) and its adaptation to music pedagogy (Begetto) ^[4], three approaches to understanding creativity define three different vectors of professional competencies of a teacher: A. Cognitive approach (creativity as a mental skill). If creativity is conceptualized as a set of thinking skills (divergent thinking, flexibility, fluency, originality), then the teacher's specialized knowledge is transformed into: 1. Diagnostic competence: the ability to recognize not so much "talent" as the operational structures of the student's thinking (for example, the ability to go beyond the tonality or rhythmic grid). 2. Technological competence: mastery of the methods of "shaking" patterns (metaphors, limitations, compositional techniques of aleatoric music or graphic notation). 3. Reflexive competence: teaching students to become aware of their own mental strategies ("how did I come to this melody?"), which corresponds to your thesis about "awareness of the creative process." B. Socioconstructivist approach (creativity as social interaction). In this context, supported by A. Schiavio and M. Benedek ^[5] (going beyond the individual/collectivism dichotomy), the teacher's knowledge is shifting from the "transfer of skills" to the organization of the educational environment. In this case, the environment is used as a tool: the teacher does not act as a "source of knowledge", but as a facilitator who organizes "zones of immediate development" (according to L.S. Vygotsky) for joint musical creativity. Dialogic competence is considered as the ability to manage collective improvisation, where the result is born in an intersubjective space and is the result of mutual efforts. In this case, the psychological and pedagogical model includes an understanding of group dynamics, roles in an ensemble, and the ethics of collaborative creativity.

From the point of view of the "Creativity as an adaptation skill" approach, which is mentioned in the context of individual adaptation to the environment, creativity is considered as the ability to use new solutions to problems in the context of cultural norms. Contextual competence means that teachers should be able to root the creative act in a cultural and historical context (the epistemological roots of music). This requires the ability to explain to students why a particular creative solution makes sense in a given style (jazz, baroque, avant-garde), and not just "anything will do." The "support" approach develops the teacher's ability to create "supports" that are gradually removed as the student learns the skill of creative adaptation. Integration into pedagogical knowledge about creativity, returning to the key point about the need for teachers to access established psychological and pedagogical models, is important in order to emphasize that "pedagogical knowledge about creativity" in modern music education requires teachers to be capable of conceptual transformation. A teacher cannot be committed to just one approach. Depending on the type of student (with different creative potential) and the stage of learning, cognitive techniques (decomposition of thinking patterns) should be used for a child with high potential but rigid thinking. Also, for a child with low intrinsic motivation, socioconstructivist methods should be used (inclusion in an ensemble where the creative impulse comes from the group). Teachers usually rely on an activity-based approach, developing a "qualified adaptation" to the requirements of a professional musical environment for a child aspiring to a professional career. Thus, agreeing with A. Schiavio and M. Benedek in the need to go beyond dichotomies, we can conclude that the essence of specialized psychological and pedagogical knowledge in modern music education lies in the metacognitive flexibility of the teacher – the ability to choose a suitable theoretical model (cognitive, social or activity) to assess the student's condition and develop an individual way to support the creative process.. If a teacher is working on a specific pedagogical model or needs to clarify how these three approaches relate to assessing students' creative potential, a more detailed operationalization of these concepts can be used.

Music teachers should develop the creative potential of students by adapting approaches to various types of activities (vocals, composition, improvisation), providing psychological and pedagogical support and creating a productive environment (the method of "creative support" by M. Giglio) ^[6]. Key strategies of the educational process include system planning, support for autonomy, consistent learning from conception to execution (G. Jacco's method) ^[7] and expert assessment that takes into account individual giftedness. The main components of stimulating creative abilities within the framework of music pedagogy and psychology are diagnostics and a methodological approach. The teacher should identify the student's inclinations in a certain field of musical activity (for example, instrumental performance, singing, creating arrangements). The concept of "creative support" involves providing the student with sufficient time, necessary materials, psychological support and building productive interaction.

The system process, in turn, means step-by-step, well-structured learning, whereas the research component includes the collection of musical ideas, collective discussion of performance solutions and their evaluation. It is especially important that the assessment requires special professional criteria and competencies, that is, it should be based on aesthetic characteristics, the degree of talent shown and the dynamics of personality development, and not be reduced to a simple analysis of the finished composed piece or the level of concert performance.

The teacher should organize a space for personal self—expression, self-regulation, changing perspectives of perception and autonomy of students in a comfortable and psychologically safe educational environment, which should contribute to the development and personal growth of students.

To foster a creative atmosphere in music classes, a teacher needs to gain knowledge about creativity as a phenomenon in general, as well as understand the details and nuances of the performing process and specific professional aspects. Modern psychological and pedagogical research identifies three key areas of such teacher knowledge:

This is, first of all, general theoretical knowledge about the nature of creativity and creativity (concepts, conditions of development). The teacher should master the theoretical foundations of the creative act in order to competently guide the activities of his students. This involves getting to know the general models of creativity, its definitions and schemes, as well as how these models are reflected in understanding music and composing skills. The teacher also needs to distinguish between divergent thinking (the ability to generate many possible solutions) and convergent thinking (choosing the best option from the many available ones).

In addition to general theoretical knowledge, the teacher will need specific pedagogical techniques and performance details to develop students' creativity. These are the practical tools of the teacher, helping to build a creative educational environment and supporting the student at the stage of realization of the idea. Among the most well-known are creative support, the ability to provide students with materials, tools, and time without imposing ready-made solutions.

Such tools can also include the use of restrictions, that is, the understanding that rigid pedagogical frameworks do not slow down, but, on the contrary, provoke and stimulate the search for non-standard solutions.

Specific activities should be mentioned as techniques, such as detailed knowledge of the features of arrangement, improvisation, composition and composition of musical works as various forms of musical creativity.

The last but not least tool is the assessment of the creative process. During the assessment, the teacher's ability to judge not only the final product of a student's creativity, but also how this result was achieved, his perseverance, willingness to take risks, and the originality of his creative approach to the task is very important.

Knowledge through creativity (professional position of a teacher). This is the knowledge that is embodied in the teacher's pedagogical behavior. The creative position is expressed in flexibility, in the willingness to accept unexpected ideas from students and act in conditions of uncertainty. This also includes the bodily aspect: the use of non-verbal signals of support and engagement, which create an atmosphere of trust and aesthetic responsiveness in the classroom. Professional identity: self-awareness is not just a translator of knowledge, but a practicing musician-artist, whose personal creative experience serves as a role model.

The development of musical creativity is not a spontaneous process, but the result of thoughtful, systematic work by a teacher. The key points to highlight are Flexibility: the teacher must adapt to a specific field (from vocals to arrangement), realizing that creativity manifests itself in different ways in each of them. "Creative support": The mentor's role is not to provide ready-made answers, but to create a secure "infrastructure" (time, space, support) where the student can take risks and make mistakes. The process is more important than the result: the methodology of J. Jacco and M. Giglio shift the focus from simple execution to the stages of research and reflection. Personality at the center: not only the final "product" (work) is evaluated, but also the dynamic development of the student's creative potential. When children whose musical abilities are present, obvious and manifest as gifted, are taught music, everything seems to go naturally, although this does not exclude the need for daily, persistent and diligent work. But what to do when musical abilities exist only as potential — hidden somewhere deep inside, waiting to be extracted - and when learning takes place not only in individual lessons, but also in group settings? In such situations, teachers often find themselves at a loss [8:451].

Numerous studies, as well as their results and conclusions, allow us to better understand the dynamics of the educational process and the behavior of students at different stages of music education. One such study showed that the internationally accepted model of music education does not take into account all the factors that students themselves associate with success or failure in music; this model reflects only two categories — efforts and musical abilities ^{[9, 10]}. Based on these results, the concept can be expanded to include a wider range of factors contributing to success in music. These include, first of all, efforts, cultural background, classroom environment, musical abilities, and the emotional impact of music on the student. Several secondary factors can be added to them.: the ability to accurately assess oneself, a personal passion for music, an attitude towards musical culture, and the value attached to music in relation to other creative pursuits. Working with "potentially" gifted children is always a challenge, as it requires teachers to move from the role of a translator of skills to the role of a researcher, motivator and facilitator. While obvious abilities make it possible to avoid methodological errors due to the child's natural motivation, hidden talents require the creation of special conditions. Based on success factors (effort, environment, emotions), strategies can be identified to unlock this "hidden" potential, especially in groups.: 1. Switching attention from "Result" to "Effort". Since studies ^{[5, 6]} point to effort as a key success factor along with abilities, it is important for teachers to visualize progress, to notice not how "pure" children sound, but how far they have progressed on the first attempt. Group dynamics should also be used: in a group, the efforts of one person can be contagious to others (social learning) if an atmosphere of support rather than competition is created. 2. Creating an "emotional resonance". If a student's musical talent is hidden, "undiscovered," then the "key" to its disclosure often lies in the student's emotional state. The teacher should allow the student to play the music that he likes (perhaps melodies from his "cultural context"). When students play music they like, their creative potential unfolds faster. 3. A teacher can use the method of "creative support" in a group, such support will provide a safe educational environment in which the student is not afraid to make a mistake, but perceives it as a way of research. In order to "reveal" hidden talent in the conditions of collective studies, one can rely on the techniques proposed by M. Giglio.:

Autonomy in music teaching is the student's ability to take responsibility for the process of mastering an instrument, consciously manage the development of skills and show self—motivation. It includes independent work, goal setting and the development of critical thinking, which improves cognitive abilities and the effectiveness of classes. Differentiation of roles. Within the framework of group work (for example, in a noise orchestra or when composing musical accompaniment to a fairy tale), a child can express himself not through technically difficult performance, but through a subtle sense of timbre or a sense of rhythm. It is these qualities that can become the starting point for further disclosure of his talent. Development of self-esteem and meta-awareness. Students with potentially high but not yet demonstrated abilities are often insecure. Introduce the practice of reflection: do not ask the question "How did you do it?", but "What did you feel at that moment when the melody changed?". This approach shifts attention to the inner world of the child, in which his abilities are rooted.

Our reflections highlight the key competence of a modern music teacher - "pedagogical improvisation" as the ability to flexibly and creatively respond to unpredictable manifestations of child talent. While traditional learning relies on a rigid plan and follows a specific procedure, creative learning views the plan as just a set of dynamic constraints within which the teacher acts as a living performer. These are the key pillars underlying the concept of "teaching as a creative act": 1. Pedagogical risk and "the right to make mistakes (it is human nature to make mistakes)". In order for students to dare to create, they must see a pattern of creative behavior in front of them. The teacher must be a researcher; if the teacher is afraid to make mistakes or deviate from the set plan, the student will never feel freedom. 2. Accepting uncertainty. When a student suggests a "strange" or "wrong" musical idea, the creative teacher does not immediately correct it, but considers the possibility and says, "This is interesting, let's see where this leads us." This is exactly the volitional aspect that was mentioned earlier. 2. Improvisational learning. This is the teacher's ability to change the course of the lesson "here and now", reacting to the emotional climate or an accidental discovery in the classroom.

3. Situational behavior. Creative activity in the classroom is not chaos, but a high degree of concentration, when the teacher "reads" the potential of the moment and transforms the learning task in accordance with the emerging idea. 4. Flexible application of constraints is essential. Teachers need the ability to adjust task parameters on the go – tightening some restrictions and relaxing others (for example, limiting rhythmic choice, but allowing freedom in choosing timbre) – to maintain student engagement and motivation. 5. Integration of theory into practice ("Knowledge in action"). It is important to note the connection between theoretical models and strategies. Knowledge of divergent thinking is useless if the teacher cannot create situations in which it is necessary. Creative pedagogical development is when a theoretical model (for example, "creative support") becomes a natural part of the teacher's physical and verbal interaction with the class. Conclusion. In our opinion, modern music teacher training programs (especially in professional and higher education systems focused on academic standards) are still largely tied to formalized results: clear performance criteria, repertoire lists, and exam requirements. The "volitional aspect" (the ability to support the creative process without rigid algorithms) and work in conditions of uncertainty often remain at the level of the teacher's personal initiative, rather than a systemically defined competence. At the same time, there are positive developments: in master's degree programs, advanced training courses, and teacher practices focused on inclusive education and modern approaches (for example, improvisation, ensemble music making, and music therapy), these skills are beginning to be perceived as professionally significant. However, it is too early to talk about the system's readiness for such a large-scale restructuring. The inertial desire for a "measurable result" (concert, competition, evaluation) is too great. Today's music teachers are no longer just "censors" of performance accuracy, but co-authors of the creative process. Their task is not to "teach creativity" (it is impossible to teach in the classical sense), but to create conditions and an educational environment in which creativity becomes inevitable. Do you think the modern teacher education system is ready to develop this "volitional aspect" and the ability to work in conditions of uncertainty, or is it still too focused on formalized results? There is still a lot of work to be done to make creativity a natural part of learning. But the results are worth it! Music has the power to transform children's thinking, helping them to understand and be understood. It stimulates emotional development and intellectual growth. Music can become a tool for them, even a language that allows them to communicate with the outside world and express their inner world.

Teaching creativity is a form of creative pedagogy based on the idea that "self—learning can be a creative act." In other words, creative learning requires an activity-based approach. This concept suggests that teachers should have the skills to demonstrate creative behavior to their students: willingness to take risks, tolerance for uncertainty, and the ability to flexibly respond to unexpected ideas from students. The emphasis on learning strategies, understood as the creative pedagogical development of knowledge, forces us to consider the relationship between theoretical models (knowledge about how to teach creativity) and practical strategies in music education. Lesson planning always involves the implementation of many pedagogical constraints, which, in turn, are directly determined by the models and definitions of creativity, both in the general sense and in the context of the musical sphere. This understanding is consistent with what we call the flexibility of constraints. The teacher is obliged to promptly adjust the degree of rigidity of the task during the lesson — for example, to rigidly set the rhythmic pattern, but at the same time leave complete freedom in choosing the timbre — in order to maintain student engagement. Such adaptability is a concrete realization of the volitional component mentioned above: the ability to make situational, context-dependent decisions that maintain a balance between structure and freedom, guiding students, but not suppressing their initiative.

A teacher-musician should not only know his subject perfectly, but also be able to use the specifics of creative work in the context of "momentary decision-making in the classroom." We believe that the teacher's willingness to function in a situation of uncertainty and unpredictable outcomes can be legitimately considered as a volitional aspect of learning, which is inextricably linked with personal creative experience. This also includes practical guidelines that help teachers build interaction and make decisions based on specific circumstances.

Creative teaching is not about broadcasting theories about creativity, but about creating an environment in which the learning process itself becomes a creative act. The teacher acts as a mentor, demonstrating a willingness to take risks, be flexible, and respond sensitively to unexpected children's ideas. In music pedagogy, this requires combining theoretical knowledge (how creativity is taught) with flexible, situationally adaptable lesson strategies. One of the key competencies of a teacher is the ability to make decisions in real time — what can be called "instant classroom decisions." This skill is directly related to what we call the volitional aspect of learning: the willingness to overcome uncertainty and accept unforeseen results, which underlies creative experience for both teachers and students.

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