B. J. Music Ed. page 1 of 19 C  Cambridge University Press 2016 doi:10.1017/S0265051716000267 The Role of Metacognitive Strategies in Learning Music: A Multiple Case Study Barbara Colombo 1 and Alessandro Antonietti 2 1 163 S. Willard St., Burlington, VT 05402 USA 2 Largo Gemelli 1, 20123 Milano, Italy bcolombo@champlain.edu, alessandro.antonietti@unicatt.it The positive role of metacognition in music learning and practice is well assessed, but the role of musicians’ metacognitive skills in such a context is not yet clear. Teachers often state that they apply a metacognitive approach during their lessons, but students fail to acknowledge it and report that they become metacognitive learners thanks to their own practice. In this multiple case observational study the spontaneous metacognitive behaviour of a teacher during four piano lessons with expert and novice students was analysed. Data supported the notion that teachers use metacognitive strategies during their teaching practice, but students are not aware of this because a metacognitive focus on strategies, as well as a strong emphasis on monitoring, appears to be lacking. Teachers are also able to differentiate their teaching behaviour between expert and novice students. Students’ age, however, affects teachers’ behaviour more deeply than expertise. Implications for music education are discussed, highlighting the main issues that can be derived from the results and how they can be effectively used to enhance professional development and improve practice in music education. Introduction This multiple case study is focused on metacognition, a complex concept that refers to the ‘knowledge about knowledge’ that learners can develop during the process of acquiring new information. To be more precise, we can refer to Kuhn’s definition of this concept: Metacognition concerns ‘cognition that reflects on, monitors or regulates first order cognition’ (Kuhn, 2000, p. 178). Metacognition can be divided into metacognitive knowledge (knowledge about declarative knowledge) and metacognitive control (or metastrategic knowledge, that is, knowledge about strategies and their effective uses) (Kuhn, 2000). All these metacognitive aspects play important roles in music learning and practice. Metacognition allows performers and music students to understand the task demands of a musical piece (metacognitive knowledge), identify potentially difficult passages (metacognitive control), select appropriate cognitive and physical strategies (metastrategic knowledge) that work best for them (metacognitive knowledge about themselves as musicians), and decide how to effectively structure learning/practice/performance in relation to such factors (metacognitive control). Students and performers also monitor and regulate the real effectiveness of their chosen strategies (metacognitive monitoring). These phases of the metacognitive process are well summarized in the model proposed by Fogarty (1994). He suggests that metacognition can be divided into three phases. The first 1 http:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0265051716000267 Downloaded from http:/www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 68.142.45.249, on 03 Dec 2016 at 02:32:24, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at