5.3 Pedagogical approach, program, and youth support
Teaching online allowed student facilitators to go beyond the pedagogical plan in their own way to lead the sessions. Exploration of new avenues that could be transposed to their professional work was also noted as a benefit, particularly in the present pandemic context:
With the period we’re living, maybe the distance element will be more present so it’s cool to be one of the first to experience it. . . I’m exploring things that I’ve never done in traditional singing lessons, so I find that really fun. I feel like if I was to teach again, either singing or another edition of the camp, I would be a completely different teacher.
The pleasure of teaching music to extra-ordinary youths in an online context was noted by all the session leaders: “Though I would have preferred to see them in person to create a bond, it’s still good, I see that the kids have lots of fun doing it even if it’s online, the pleasure doesn’t disappear with distance.”; “It’s fun to see them go and be more and more autonomous.”; “I’m super happy—it’s a bit more time than I thought as far as planning, it takes creative juices to adapt to each student, but they give back so much in interest and love, so it’s really a pleasure.”
Concerning intervention, the impossibility of using physical proximity and tactile interventions (e.g. a hand on the shoulder) to redirect behaviour was noted. A parent’s presence often became necessary to remedy the absence of proximity, which was sometimes uncomfortable for session leaders: “Often the parent will play an intervention role to reframe the child, so at that moment my own position is more passive, which I find a bit uncomfortable.”
In the same way, some session leaders felt that participants saw them more as a “game show host” than an authority figure, and that this perception could sometimes impede on their ability to get the youths to participate in proposed activities. Despite this punctual issue, though, the appreciation of parents’ interventions in the online context was also noted. For some session leaders, the online modality was found to be a barrier to spontaneity and to the use of humour during interventions and activities. For others, the presence of an intermediary (the screen) seemed to diminish their own shyness, and push them out of their comfort zone in order to attempt more extravagant interventions:
I think that it opens me up and I’m more willing to do things because I put myself on show. I have to give more because I’m in front of a screen, so I think that pushes me to go out of my comfort zone, to be silly, and I like that.
The student facilitator remarks here on the positive impact of humour, which contributes to reducing anxiety on both sides, maintaining the learner’s attention, and reinforcing the teacher-student bond. From another standpoint, the remote modality was sometimes considered to limit leaders’ ability to capture participants’ attention, bring them to their task and motivate them. Indeed, in some cases session leaders found difficulty enticing participants to act: “We’re on a screen; if we make a movement to catch their attention but they’re not looking, we can’t do anything more.” However, attention and participation depend on many factors, including those unrelated to the online modality (e.g. fatigue after a day at a summer camp).