Collaborative Pedagogy, Teacher-Becoming and Unbecoming through the Zone of Generativity

• In Event: Always Becoming: Identity Work in the Making of Teachers

Abstract

We explore how collaborative pedagogy in a graduate-level music production course shapes the evolving professional identities of in-service music educators. Using a Participatory Action Research (PAR) design, nine participants and one instructor engaged in narrative reconstruction, democratic decision-making, and a culminating collaborative composition project. Grounded in a dual framework comprising the Zone of Generativity and the Mandorla Model, the research investigates how processes of becoming and unbecoming unfold through reflective inquiry, risk-taking, and co-constructed practice. Our study reveals that participants moved through the Zone of Generativity by navigating cycles of learning, unlearning, and identity transformation in relation to belonging. This process fostered professional growth through disruption, collaborative pedagogy, and reflective spaces that encouraged risk-taking and critical engagement.

Authors

• Katy Ieong Cheng Ho Weatherly, University of Macau

• Drew Xavier Coles, Teachers College, Columbia University