What is the 3-step CCC approach in school ensembles?

Watch this short video to introduce you to Curious, Collaborative, Creativity for traditional ensembles----->

In the narratives below, Click on GREEN words for video examples.
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In Step One,  a variety of music is selected through a democratic process from a list generated by the students. The music selected represents the varied interests of the students, styles, and genres. The students begin their exploration of the music through the guidance of the teacher, in order to inspire their natural curiosity about the music. 

Students are given a questionnaire to determine objectives, roles they would be interested in assuming, and musical projects they would like to create.  Exactly what the teams decide to do is based entirely upon what the students desire to learn through the music they have selected with their teacher.

 During Step 2 the students work together in teams within the full ensemble. The PERFORMING TEAM collaborates with the teacher in analyzing, interpreting, rehearsing, evaluating, and refining the music being performed.  The CREATING TEAM works with the Performance Team in imagining,  creating, evaluating, and refining the music being improvised or composed.  RESPONDING TEAMS work with the both teams in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating the music being studied. This team enhances the understanding of the music through written word, visual displays, interpretive movement, videos, and more. The teacher becomes the facilitator as well as the director of the ensemble in leading the students in making connections to the music. 

Right: Brookline H.S. near Boston, Massachusetts of collaborative learning within a jazz ensemble with director Carolyn Castellano as facilitator. 

Below: collection of examples from an Informance from Oakdale, CT Montville H.S. chorus with Joshua Cushing.
Step Three is the culmination of the musical journey: The “Informance”.  Infused in the performance of the music, the students share what they have learned and involve the audience in a deeper understanding of the music.  This can include:
  • Performance team presentations with a student conductor leading the ensemble on a selected piece, or students teaching the audience how to sing-along or play-along with a piece,
  • Creativity team presentations with a student composer performing his/her piece, or student improvisers providing a demonstration with audience,
  • The Responding Team's musical enhancements of dance, movement, artwork, and videos while the ensemble performs their pieces. 
 
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Curious Collaborative Creativity, 2013 by Caron Collins is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.