I chose case study as the research design in investigating the development of expertise of the participants through professional conversations. Case study allowed investigation RI WKH ERXQGHG FDVH RI ¿YH WHDFKHUV LQ DQ XSFORVH LQGHSWK DQG GHWDLOHG PDQQHU (Bassey, 2000; Creswell, 1998; Flyvbjerg, 2011; Merriam, 2009; Stake, 1995; 2000; Yin, 2003). Flyvbjerg (2011) connects case studies to development of expertise by stating that common to all experts is the ability to “operate on the basis of intimate knowledge of several thousand concrete cases in their areas of expertise” (p. 303). Thus, case studies
produce “the type of context-dependent knowledge that research on learning shows to be necessary to allow people to develop from rule-based beginners to virtuoso experts”
(Flyvbjerg, 2006, p. 221).
The demarcation of the boundaries of the researched case is decisive in considering whether a case study is an appropriate method (Flyvbjerg, 2011). The case of this VWXG\ ZDV LGHQWL¿HG DV WKH SDUWLFXODU JURXS RI SRSXODU PXVLF DQG MD]] YRFDO WHDFKHUV participating in a particular project. This case is not merely the object of the study, but a bounded system, around which there are intrinsic boundaries of time (11 months), space (a conversational space), and activity (professional conversations) (Harrison, Birks, Franklin & Mills, 2017; Merriam, 2009). Such boundaries comport to the essential features of this case study in which the bounding of case selection, time frame, implementation of the project, methods of data collection and analysis are systematic and rigorous.
Several scholars (Creswell, 1998; Merriam, 2009; Silverman, 2000; Stake, 2000; Yin, SUHVHQWGL̆HULQJSKLORVRSKLFDOIRXQGDWLRQVRIWKHFDVHVWXG\DSSURDFK+DUULVRQ et al. (2017) and Yazan (2015) suggest that a distinction of a philosophical stance can be made between Yin, Stake and Merriam, the foundational case study methodologists ZKRVH VXJJHVWLRQV ³ODUJHO\ LPSDFW HGXFDWLRQDO UHVHDUFKHUV¶ GHFLVLRQV FRQFHUQLQJ case study design” (Yazan, 2015, p. 134). Epistemologically Yin can be placed in the positivist or realist-post-positivist stance because of his positivist view on emphasizing objectivity, validity and generalizability in building a case study design (Yazan, 2015).
6WDNH¶VDSSURDFKRQWKHRWKHUKDQGFDQEHSODFHGRQWKHVWDQFHRIFRQVWUXFWLYLVPDQG existentialism, as he conceives qualitative case study researchers “as interpreters, and gatherers of interpretations which require them to report their rendition or construction of the constructed reality or knowledge that they gather through their investigation”
(Yazan, 2015, p. 137).
<D]DQVHHVWKHSKLORVRSKLFDOSHUVSHFWLYHVRI0HUULDPEHLQJFORVHWR6WDNH¶V views and emphasises that reality is being constructed by individuals interacting with their social worlds. Merriam (2009) understands reality not as an objective entity but rather as “multiple interpretations of reality” (p. 22). The ontological stance of the present study is based on understanding realities as experiences that are multiple in existence and embedded in social contexts. In this study I apply the approach to case study proposed by Merriam, that a case study is “an in-depth description and analysis of a bounded system” (p. 40). Thus, I consider my position as a researcher in this study VLPLODUO\ WR 0HUULDP ZKR VXJJHVWV WKDW ³UHVHDUFKHUV GR QRW µ¿QG¶ NQRZOHGJH WKH\
construct it” (p. 9).
0HUULDP SURSRVHV WKDW WKH VSHFL¿FLW\ RI IRFXV RI FDVH VWXG\ DSSURDFK DV particularistic, descriptive, and heuristic makes it “an especially good design for practical problems – for questions, situations, or puzzling occurrences arising from everyday practice” (p. 43). By particularistic Merriam suggests that case studies focus on a particular situation or phenomenon, in this case the project as a bounded system.
Therefore, the case itself is important “for what it reveals about the phenomenon and for what it might represent” (p. 43). By case study being descriptive Merriam refers to the precondition of complete, literal description of an entity. Heuristic according to Merriam refers to the illuminative features of the case study: that it discovers, extends DQGFRQ¿UPVDVSHFWVRIWKHSKHQRPHQRQIRUWKHUHDGHU
The aim of this study was to understand the phenomenon using the case as an illustration (Creswell, 1998), and “in the process, to see things we otherwise might not have seen” (Donmoyer, 2000, p. 63). In choosing the case study research design I relied on the notion that “in-depth knowledge of an individual example is more helpful than ÀHHWLQJNQRZOHGJHDERXWDODUJHUQXPEHURIH[DPSOHV´*HUULQJS7KLVFDVH R̆HUHGDSRVVLELOLW\WRVWXG\WKHLQWHUDFWLRQDQGWKLQNLQJRIWKHSDUWLFLSDQWVIRU³ERWK their uniqueness and commonality” (Stake, 1995, p. 1). Gerring (2007) suggests that
“the product of a good case study is insight” (p. 7). Through in-depth investigation this study aimed at gaining insights to popular music and jazz vocal pedagogy from the WHDFKHUV¶SHUVSHFWLYHVDQGWKXV³WDNHXVWRSODFHVZKHUHPRVWRIXVZRXOGQRWKDYHWKH opportunity to go” (Donmoyer, 2000, p. 61). On the other hand, it must be acknowledged that “a complete description of the phenomenon is impossible” (Donmoyer, 2000, p.
63) and the outcome of a case study is the expanded understanding through which the phenomenon can be viewed.
A case study requires data collection over time through detailed, in-depth process involving multiple sources of information rich in context (Creswell, 1998). The data of this in-depth case study is indeed rich and was collected using multiple sources providing comprehensive depth and breadth to the study (for more see 4.5). In case study approach WKHFRQWH[WLVVLJQL¿FDQWWRXQGHUVWDQGLQJWKHFDVHDQGWKHGDWD(YHU\FDVHLVGHOLQHDWHG by contextual variables such as political, economic, social, cultural, historical, and/or organisational factors (Harrison et al., 2017). In this study contextual variables can be LGHQWL¿HGIRUH[DPSOHLQWKHJHRJUDSKLFDOGHPDUFDWLRQRIWKHFDVHWKH1RUGLFFRXQWULHV and the position of popular music and jazz in higher education as a historical variable.
%RWKPXVLFDOVW\OHVDUHWRGD\SURPLQHQW¿HOGVRIKLJKHUPXVLFHGXFDWLRQLQWKH1RUGLF countries, but the historical perspective reveals how they still are comparatively new in UHODWLRQWR:HVWHUQFODVVLFDOPXVLFWHDFKLQJWUDGLWLRQDQGLQPDQ\FRXQWULHVWKHFODVVLFDO tradition still prevails. This is especially true with popular music, as jazz was introduced
WRKLJKHUHGXFDWLRQHDUOLHU7KXVWKHLQVWLWXWLRQVRUGHSDUWPHQWVR̆HULQJSRSXODUPXVLF and jazz studies often are small in size (see 1.3).
Some aspects emphasised as key features of case study method by methodological literature were compromised in this study. Merriam (2009) states that being
“anchored in real-life situations, the case study results in a rich and holistic account of a phenomenon” (pp. 50-51). Because of the small amount of popular music and jazz vocal teachers working in higher education, and especially because of the small amount of them working within each institution, the requirement of “situating the case within its setting” (Creswell, 1998, p. 61) could not be met, nor could the professional FRQYHUVDWLRQVEHRUJDQLVHGLQSDUWLFLSDQWV¶LQVWLWXWLRQV³LQUHDOOLIHFRQWH[W´<LQ p. 1). Also, the fact that the project of this study was organised by me separates it from real-life situations. Still, considering that the focus of this study was on the descriptions of development of expertise and teaching practices and not the factual teaching of the participants, I did not consider this feature to be bounded by the physical location of the professional conversations. Therefore, the knowledge gathered in the project may be considered as another form of context-dependent knowledge as the participants would still provide real-life context experiences into these conversations.
According to Gerring (2007) the methodological status of the case study is still VXVSHFWHGDQGRIWHQLGHQWL¿HGZLWKORRVHO\IUDPHGDQGQRQJHQHUDOLVDEOHWKHRULHVELDVHG case selection, informal and undisciplined research designs, weak empirical leverage, subjective conclusions, nonreplicability and causal determinism. Also Stake (2000) QRWHVWKDWFDVHVWXGLHVDUHEHOLHYHGWREH³XVHIXOLQWKHVWXG\RIKXPDQD̆DLUVEHFDXVH they are down-to-earth and attention-holding but that they are not suitable basis for generalization” (p. 19). These views have been objected by for example by Flyvbjerg (2006; 2011) and Donmoyer (2000) who both have made convincing propositions of KRZFDVHVWXGLHVKDYHPXFKWRR̆HUHSLVWHPRORJLFDOO\)RUH[DPSOHZKHQFRQVLGHULQJ generalizability of case studies, Donmoyer draws on the schema theory and states that
“the purpose of research is simply to expand the range of interpretations available to the research consumer” (p. 63). Flyvbjerg (2006) proposes that general, theoretical and context-independent knowledge is not more valuable than concrete, practical and context-dependent knowledge provided by case studies. In addition, he suggests that the generalizability of a case depends on how the case has been chosen, that “formal generalization, whether on the basis of large samples or single cases, is considerably RYHUUDWHGDVWKHPDLQVRXUFHRIVFLHQWL¿FSURJUHVV´SDQGWKDW³LWLVIDOVL¿FDWLRQ QRWYHUL¿FDWLRQWKDWFKDUDFWHULVHVWKHFDVHVWXG\´S7KLVFDVHVWXG\KDVIRUFHG PH WR VHW DVLGH P\ SUHFRQFHLYHG QRWLRQV DQG WKHRULHV DQG UHTXLUHG PH WR UHÀH[LYHO\
³¶FORVHLQ¶RQUHDOOLIHVLWXDWLRQVDQGWHVWYLHZVGLUHFWO\LQUHODWLRQWRSKHQRPHQDDVWKH\
unfold in practice” (p. 235). The limits created by the sensitivity and integrity of the
investigator must also be considered in case study design (Merriam, 2009). The fact that the researcher is the primary instrument of data collection and analysis has its advantages but also creates a challenge, as the investigator has to rely on his or her instincts and abilities throughout the study. Aspects of sensitivity and integrity in this study are addressed in section 6.7.
'HÀQLQJDQGVHOHFWLQJWKHFDVH
0HWKRGRORJLFDOOLWHUDWXUHR̆HUVGL̆HUHQWZD\VRIIXUWKHUGH¿QLQJWKHFDVHVWXG\&UHVZHOO 1998; Gerring, 2007; Miles & Huberman, 1994; Stake, 1995; Yin, 2003). As my aim was not to compare the individual teachers but consider them as a unit taking part in the case studied, as certain people developing their individual expertise through a collaborative process, this research design should be considered a single-case study (Stake, 1995).
From the three variations of case study presented by Stake – intrinsic, instrumental and collective – the features of this project and the way it was conducted mostly resemble instrumental case study, as it aims to accomplish more than understanding the particular FDVH<LQDOVRSURSRVHVDIXUWKHUZD\RIGH¿QLQJDFDVHVWXG\DVexploratory, descriptive or explanatory 7KH GH¿QLWLRQ RI D FDVH VKRXOG EH FRQVLGHUHG WKURXJK the questions asked in the study. An exploratory study aims at developing pertinent hypothesises and propositions for further inquiry instead of enumerating the answers.
This study asks how the participating popular music and jazz vocal teachers of Nordic higher education articulate their development of expertise and pedagogical thinking within the project, questions that clearly point towards exploratory ways of looking at WKHSKHQRPHQRQ7KHUHIRUHWKLVVWXG\FDQEHGH¿QHGDVDQLQVWUXPHQWDOVLQJOHFDVH study with an exploratory design.
I built the case of this study using what some scholars call purposeful sampling (Creswell, 1998; Gerring, 2007; Miles & Huberman, 1994). Gerring (2007) proposes that the goals of representativeness and causal leverage must be met through purposive and non-random selection procedures. The information-oriented selection of the participants was based on the expectations about their information content, which maximised the XWLOLW\RILQIRUPDWLRQRIWKLVVWXG\)O\YEMHUJ,GRQRWFRQVLGHUWKHWHUPµVDPSOLQJ¶
appropriate in addressing my colleagues as its etymology leans towards quantitative enumerations, and therefore I refer to the procedure with the term purposeful selection.
In literature of social sciences, the optimal number of participants in a collaborative study can vary from four to eight (Breen, 2006; Liamputtong, 2011) depending on the research design. I originally recruited six participants from Denmark, Finland, Norway
and Sweden which I considered optimal for allowing enough time for each participant to express their views in the professional conversations, creating possibilities of long-term networking with international colleagues, and creating a trustworthy environment IRUWKHFRQYHUVDWLRQV7KHJHQGHUGLVWULEXWLRQ¿YHIHPDOHDQGRQHPDOHWHDFKHUZHOO represented the existing condition within Nordic higher music education, where the vast majority of the teachers are female. In August 2015 the only male participant withdrew IURP WKH SURMHFW 6LQFH WKHUH ZDVQ¶W D SRVVLELOLW\ WR UHFUXLW DQRWKHU PDOH SDUWLFLSDQW DQG DOVR EHFDXVH WKHUH ZRXOG EH VHYHUH GL̇FXOWLHV LQ SURWHFWLQJ WKH DQRQ\PLW\ RI PDOHSDUWLFLSDQWVLQJHQHUDO,FRQWLQXHGZLWK¿YHIHPDOHSDUWLFLSDQWV7KHUHDVRQVIRU emphasising anonymity are discussed in section 6.7.
As discussed in section 1.3, this research is concerned with a rather small target population: popular music and jazz vocal teachers working in full-time positions in higher music education in the Nordic countries. The exact number of the target population has not been compiled in statistics, but my estimation of the number of such teachers is XQGHU0\SUHYLRXVNQRZOHGJHRIWKH¿HOGZDVXVHGLQVHYHUDOZD\VLQFDVHVHOHFWLRQ within the target population, for example in considering that the educational culture may have similar traits in the Nordic countries, especially if compared to the rest of Europe and the wider world. Thus, the Nordic context provided a large enough target population to conceal the identity of the participants.
$IWHUGH¿QLQJWKHEDVLFWDUJHWSRSXODWLRQLWZDVQHFHVVDU\WRGH¿QHVXEFULWHULDZLWK which the purposeful selection could be accomplished. I created these sub-criteria with the aim to select a case in which the diversity of teachers of the target population would be present. Firstly, the selection pursued to engage both teachers with long careers in higher HGXFDWLRQDQGWHDFKHUVZKRKDYHUHFHQWO\MRLQHGDKLJKHUHGXFDWLRQVWD̆7KLVFULWHULRQ assumed that the more adept the teacher, the more her pedagogical thinking is based RQ DQG D̆HFWHG E\ KHU ORQJ ZRUNLQJ H[SHULHQFH ,Q SDUDOOHO WKH \RXQJHU WKH WHDFKHU the more her pedagogical thinking is based on her recent formal education. The second VXEFULWHULRQGLUHFWHGPHWRUHFUXLWWHDFKHUVZLWKGL̆HUHQWEDFNJURXQGVDPRQJSRSXODU PXVLFDQGMD]]VW\OHVDV,DVVXPHGLWWRKDYHDQH̆HFWRQWKHLUSHGDJRJLFDOWKLQNLQJ As the third sub-criterion I considered varying educational backgrounds, because it PLJKWDOVRKDYHDVLPLODUH̆HFW)RXUWKO\SDUWLFLSDQWVIURP'HQPDUN)LQODQG1RUZD\
and Sweden do not necessarily share a common mother tongue and being able to have professional conversations in English was considered a requisite. Most of the literature and research on popular music and jazz singing as well as the most common language of repertoire is English, which therefore can be considered the professional language of the
¿HOG7KH¿QDODQGREYLRXVO\DYHU\LPSRUWDQWFULWHULRQIRUWKHVHOHFWLRQZDVWKDWWKH possible participants showed interest in taking part in the project.
,QRUGHUWRSURWHFWWKHSDUWLFLSDQWV¶DQRQ\PLW\WKHGHPRJUDSKLFVDUHKHUHSUHVHQWHG without connecting country of origin, age, educational and musical background and working experience. In summary, the participants were between ages 36 to 52 and had from 1 to 25 years of working experience each in higher education at the time of WKHSURMHFW7KHLUHGXFDWLRQDOEDFNJURXQGZDV0DVWHU¶VGHJUHHRUHTXLYDOHQWRIPXVLF HGXFDWLRQSHUIRUPDQFHRUPXVLFRORJ\LQGL̆HUHQWFRPELQDWLRQV7KH\GHVFULEHGWKHLU musical background to be jazz, pop, folk, gospel, traditional dance music and western FODVVLFDO WUDGLWLRQ DOVR LQ GL̆HUHQW FRPELQDWLRQV ,Q DGGLWLRQ WR WKH IRUPDO GHJUHHV PHQWLRQHG DERYH DOO SDUWLFLSDQWV KDG WKH SHGDJRJLFDO FRPSHWHQFH DQG FHUWL¿FDWH UHTXLUHGE\WKHLUFRXQWULHV¶PLQLVWULHVRIHGXFDWLRQ,QUHSRUWLQJWKHSDUWLFLSDQWVDUH given pseudonyms. It is notable, that even if a participant would have only one year of working experience in higher music education, it is likely that she would not be a novice in her profession as teachers receiving full-time teaching positions in higher education in the Nordic countries often have established a career in vocal pedagogy beforehand e.g.
as part-time teachers.