Annabel Mackenney

Teaching Demonstration

Knowledge & Evidence

Using Social Constructivism

As a teacher, I create a focus on Social Constructivism (Lev Vygotsky/Piaget/ Bruner) as a way to teach my choir of over 40s women and non binary people. To do this I use the idea of putting people into groups for the exercises I facilitate, to help aid collaborative learning. In my teaching demonstration, I split the group into three smaller groups and taught them their individual parts, with the chance to discuss what went well and what could have worked better before we tried it again. With a larger group, I often find there is more feedback in between teaching sections, especially with slightly less confident singers. I welcome and encourage group feedback and discussion to help aid individual and group learning. Before I taught the individual parts, I played the group a recording of the full version of the song we would be putting together. This gives everyone a chance to process what is coming up and have a moment to think about what they will be doing. This can also help clarify the rhythmic phrasing, key, and melody of the separate parts and how they work together as a whole, before breaking it down into smaller chunks. This can help to manage cognitive overload, as it aligns with how the brain processes, stores and retrieves information, meaning it will be easier to recall the next time it is needed. This idea is often known as Chunking, which can be described as ‘the process of breaking down complex information into smaller, manageable units or “chunks.” ‘(Douglas, 2024)

Constructivism focusses on collaborative opportunities for the learner, and involves discussion and negotiation, (Schunk, 2020, p.313–319) so I try to include as much of this in my teaching as possible. This means letting the choir tell me when they have an issue, and working it out as a group, rather than me telling the group exactly how to fix the issues as they arise. I think this is a much more beneficial way of creating long term learning and improvement in the choir, as they will start to problem solve and understand problems themselves, rather than always being told and instructed. This touches on Problem Based learning, which focusses on critical thinking, real world context and problem solving. This can help students gain better retention of the knowledge and deepen understanding. (Maggi Savin-Baden and Claire Howell Major, 2004, p.3)

The Zone of Proximal Development

The Zone of Proximal Development is also a big part of Constructivism. ZPD is “the distance between the actual development level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers” (Vygotsky, 1978, p.86) I use this theory when deciding what sort of repertoire I should teach in my choir, as I can analyse what they are capable of and what they have the potential to achieve. It is not mandatory for my choir members to be able to read music, so I assume for most of the choir that this skill is currently ‘out of reach’, so I wouldn’t chose a challenging piece at the start of term and then only give out sheet music as a resource, as this is only going to create confusion and uncertainty. Instead, I might pick a song that is more well known to the age group, and provide multiple mediums for learning, such as lyric sheets, sheet music, audio recordings and live call and response teaching. I would chose a song that is challenging enough to further the learning of the group, but that can still be achieved with my help to begin with. This should then be a song the choir can eventually sing unaided, when they have achieved the necesssary skills.

Learning Resources & VARK

Multiple learning recourses are important for a large group, as there is likely to be more than one learning style in the group, as well as learning differences. For example people who favour auditory learning over visual stimuli. Learning styles refer to the way in which people prefer to acquire and process information. The VARK model (Developed by Neil Fleming in 1987) categorises the learning styles as Visual, Auditory, Reading/ Writing and Kinaesthetic (VARK). Most individuals use a combination of these, known as ‘multimodal learning’. Learners who only use one of the styles are known as ‘unimodal’ (Michael and Prithishkumar, 2014). I endeavour to find out what learning style the majority of the group prefer, so I know which style to focus on for the majority of my teaching. If people feel comfortable sharing, it’s good to know if anyone has any kind of learning differences, or disabilities, such as any kind of neurodiversity, visual stress/impairment or hearing loss, so I can aid them with as many recourses as they need to succeed. 

Vocal Health & Warming Up

I have demonstrated teaching a round which includes songs ‘When the Saints’, ‘She’ll be coming round the mountain’ and ‘Swing Low Sweet Chariot’. These are three well known songs, especially for the age group of people that I am teaching (age 40+) meaning it would not take a long time for them to learn the different songs before putting them together. I made sure that the pieces all have a range of less than one octave, and have notes no higher than an F#4, which is in the same octave as middle C. This should be accessible to most people, regardless of voice type, with most women falling into the Mezzo- soprano range, which spans around two octaves, usually from around an A3 to an A5. Anyone with a lower or higher voice type is always welcome to go up or down an octave, if that feels more comfortable for their vocal range. I began the session with a quick ‘me to you’ warmup, in which I used lip trills to help warm up the vocal cords and engage the diagram.

It is important to involve at least a small warmup before each practice or lesson, to prevent injury, encourage good vocal health practices and improve vocal performance. Over time, these warmups can improve overall vocal control, quality, and tone, which can also improve participants confidence in their own vocal abilities. Lip trills are a very effective warmup method as they are ‘Semi Occluded Vocal Tract exercises’ (SOVT) meaning they only let a limited amount of air into the vocal folds. This creates a back pressure which can help reduce strain on the folds while warming up. (Dr Ingo Titze, 2023, p.111)

Hormones & The Voice

I have created a focus on warming up, and keeping the pitch within reach for perimenopausal and menopausal women. Voice change can be something that occurs during this time for a lot of singers. For example during a menstrual cycle or perimenopause, hormones fluctuate wildly. Ovarian functions slows down and oestrogen and progesterone are imbalanced, fluctuating up and down. There can be dominance of oestrogen in the system, which can mean singers can find their voices sound imbalanced or heavy. (Cooper, 2025)

People experiencing perimenopause can also experience change in vocal range, instability and changes to timbre and tone, because the larynx is sensitive to hormone fluctuations. If a singer had issues during their pre-menstrual phase, these could be exacerbated. Choosing relatively easy and conjunct melodies, doing effective vocal warmups, changing keys to fit the group, and providing water and a supportive environment can all be ways to help singers feel more comfortable with their potential voice changes. Menopause can have similar effects, although during this period the hormones do begin to settle down. Though with a reduced amount of oestrogen now being produced in the body, androgen (testosterone) levels can create a lowering of the voice, while increased dryness of the mucosal layer of the vocal folds can also cause some trouble with singing such as loss of high notes, decreased agility, changes in tone/timbre, loss of power, slowed vibrato, stiffness, intonation issues, cracking, dry throat and raspiness. (Bos, Bozeman and Frazier-Neely, C, 2020, p.1–9) However, some women may find they experience no changes whatsoever, though this may be due to a lack of awareness or voice training.

Women who find their voices have changed during this time are often quick to blame themselves for these changes and think they are doing something wrong- I would be very proactive in explaining to anyone having these problems that they don’t need to worry, and that there are plenty of ways to help them.

Bibliography

Bos, N., Bozeman, J. and Frazier-Neely, C (2020). Singing through change : women’s voices in midlife, menopause, and beyond. [online] Suquamish, Washington: Studiobos Media, pp.1–9. Available at: https://www.nats.org/_Library/ICVT_2022_Vienna_/Bos_AH_final.pdf [Accessed 6 May 2026].

Cooper , J. (2025). Hormones and Vocal Health – Coaching Insights . [online] Youtube . Available at: https://youtu.be/WL1uHy8AeRQ?si=pv1EF1yvlytc9KGc [Accessed 6 May 2026].

Douglas, M. (2024). Unlocking Learning Potential: The Power of Chunking in Education. [online] Engineering Management Institute. Available at: https://engineeringmanagementinstitute.org/unlocking-learning-potential-the-power-of-chunking-in-education/ [Accessed 2 May 2026].

Dr Ingo Titze and Titze Cox, K. (2023). Voice Is FREE After SOVT. The National Centre for Voice and Speech , p.111.

Maggi Savin-Baden and Claire Howell Major (2004). Foundations of problem-based Learning. Maidenhead: Open University Press, p.3.

Michael, S.A. and Prithishkumar, I.J. (2014). Understanding your student: Using the VARK model. Journal of Postgraduate Medicine, [online] 60(2), p.183. doi:https://doi.org/10.4103/0022-3859.132337.

Schunk, D.H. (2020). Learning theories : An educational perspective. 8th ed. 221 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030: Pearson, Inc, pp.313–319.

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society: the Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Harvard University Press, p.p.86.