Success for All: Eroding the culture of power in the one-to-one teaching and learning context

Abstract

This study applied a cultural lens to the “expert–novice dyad” (Kennell, 2002, p. 243) and explored the learning experiences of indigenous minorities studying in this context. The purpose of this study was to gather narratives that reflected the nature of teaching practices in the one-to-one studio context. The resulting data presented more complex stories that described how indigenous and minority students participate in the conservatory learning culture. The narratives described strategies for overcoming educational and institutional obstacles, and outlined examples of social practices within their ‘learning culture’ (Hodkinson, Biesta, & James, 2007, p. 419) that students had culturally modified in order to optimize their educational experience. The article examines the notions of critique, resistance, struggle and emancipation in a specific learning culture, a School of Music founded on the European conservatory model.