Methodology for organizing an interactive music lesson in Chinese primary schools: pedagogical conditions and stages of implementation

Abstract

The article is devoted to the development and verification of a methodology for organizing an interactive music lesson in Chinese primary schools under conditions of transformation of the national educational paradigm, in which the demand for aesthetic education and the development of creativity is increasing while maintaining academic effectiveness. Interactivity is interpreted as a psychological and pedagogical phenomenon of multilateral communication and joint creativity, not reducible to the use of digital tools, and is considered through the prism of the sociocultural constraints of the Chinese school, including high class sizes and the tradition of reproductive learning. A theoretical clarification of the content of interactive music learning is presented, based on the polymodality of perception and the need to change the professional position of the teacher toward facilitation, management of group dynamics, and ensuring psychological safety. The effectiveness of the methodology is confirmed by a longitudinal pedagogical experiment conducted in ten schools of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces with the participation of 648 students in grades 2–4 and 32 music teachers; observation, questionnaires, testing, expert assessment of creative products, statistical testing of differences, and correlation analysis were employed. The indicators used included the engagement coefficient, emotional comfort, and creative autonomy, supplemented by indicators of mastery of music-theoretical material. In the experimental classes, a pronounced increase in engagement was recorded (from approximately 42 to 78 points) with a simultaneous decrease in the variability of results, indicating a leveling of students’ activity. Indicators of theoretical achievement also increased significantly (from about 58 to 82 points) with high statistical significance of differences, demonstrating the absence of a contradiction between interactivity and cognitive achievements. The most notable structural shifts were identified in creativity: the proportion of students with a high level increased from 5.87% to 32.71% with a sharp reduction in the low level. The step-by-step logic of implementing interactive practices (adaptation and motivation; activity-based improvisation; reflective analytics) and the pedagogical conditions for their implementation, including a multifunctional environment and the availability of instruments and materials, are described. The material of the article makes it possible to assess the relevance of the proposed methodology for the modernization of music education and its potential for transfer to disciplines of the aesthetic cycle.