Can teacher and children in the primary school classroom, develop musical knowledge together, through dialogue and listening and responding to music, to explore the composing process?

Considering the current contemporary focus on the child’s voice within the 2020 consultation process for the new curriculum in Ireland, this project is timely bearing in mind and taking into account the creative voice of the child. The plight of the teacher’s voice regarding music composition has been documented nationally and internationally. This research sets out to examine if teachers and third-class children in the primary school classroom co-construct musical knowledge through dialogue and listening and responding to music when exploring the composing process. Using an interpretative lens, the voice of the students and researcher are recounted through pictures, classroom dialogue, and reflections on the workshops presented. An interactive learning experience between students and facilitated by the teacher revealed how musical imagination, collaboration and communication can develop knowledge in music composition via unexpected directions in the Irish classroom. A qualitative approach was used to capture the powerful voice of third-class students. A phenomenological approach encapsulated the lived and social experience of all participants on music composition. Direct quotes from students shed light on the music composed and performed, the thought process behind the music and the connection between the multi-faceted layers of listening and responding, composing, performing, and reflecting.N