ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is to empirically examine a case of informal learning, especially addressing opportunities for learning that are constituted in the interaction between the teacher and the students. The case is extracted from a larger project on music education in a Swedish secondary school—a context that has been highly influenced by informal teaching strategies since as early as the 1970. Donald Schön's concept of reflection-in-action is here used as a tool for analyzing the teaching practice. The result shows that the students struggle with musical problems they cannot manage on their own. The teacher avoids to meta-communicate on the problem he identifies. He uses typically informal strategies (such as modelling rather than verbally explain in musically relevant terms), and this shows not to be helpful for the student. The aim of including the students in a “real” (i.e. informal or authentic) musical setting is shown to be contra-productive. An area of development in music education is argued for, and that is the use of verbal language. This is a lesson to learn for other subjects as well, when moving in a more informal direction.
