ABSTRACT

This chapter presents an examination of group composing within the context of summative assessment for the New Zealand National Certificates of Educational Achievement (NCEA). The development of two pedagogical models is outlined. The aim was to make visible for both students and teachers the conceptual and embodied processes of collaborative composition. The models assisted students composing in contemporary styles and employing informal ways of working to conceptualise their interactions, thereby leading to a clearer understanding of the interplay between “messy”/ divergent and “focused”/convergent creative processes. The models offer music educators flexible socio-musical frameworks within which both group composers and their teachers might communicate their intentions to one another across multiple musical styles and genres.