A TYPOLOGY OF CLASSROOM NOISES

Many students, and especially those at the music centre had a tendency to listen to music through earphones, or headphones when they were working at their computers. The tutors did not object to this, unless the amount that escaped from any headphones was at an unacceptable level. My initial response to this when I was first in the music classrooms was how quiet they could be. If I was talking to a student, or a member of staff I was very conscious, even when keeping my voice low, of the intrusion this made to the level of noise. This was not always the case, in any session, as at other times there often seemed to be a lot of background noise as students chatted to those sat near them. Sometimes the tutors appeared to be oblivious to this, especially if they were preoccupied working on their computer, but at other times it drew a quick and sharp response from them. As the music students listened to music much more than the media students I was interested in how they perceived this practice.

Rob, who was aged 39, was the oldest of the year 1 music students and he and Ron, who was 37, sat next to each other on the opposite side of the room from the other students. Despite not knowing each other, prior to the course, both had been working full-time, prior to enrolling on the course and they had reduced their work to part-time so that they could study. Both were aiming for a career in the music business, with the hope that completing the course would facilitate this. Both were very

attentive to their coursework and neither of them listened to music while they worked and only occasionally did they talk to each other and that was usually a discussion on a topic of their coursework. As such I was interested in how they considered the noise levels in the room.

Ron: But that's it, another thing is sometimes...especially in the tutorial period, on like the

Tuesday, when we get the chance to do our work it can be hard to concentrate because there's too much noise going on…around the classroom, at times from other students.

Rob’s response was very similar to Ron’s. There was one other older student in the year 1 cohort and Geoff at 27 had been unemployed prior to starting the course.

Geoff: Yeah, yeah. I felt that, especially when I first started the course, you almost felt

embarrassed raising your voice a bit ye know...it's like you've got to be quiet, sort of attitude and I don't like that me cos I'm quite loud when I wanna be, ye know.

Despite Geoff’s remark, I never witnessed him being loud in the sessions.

What became apparent over the academic year of the ethnography was that especially at the music centre the noise levels differed quite significantly, particularly depending in which tutor was in the room. In Phil’s session the noise levels always seemed to be higher than in Dave’s. The result was that Phil often added to that noise by shouting at the students and telling them to be quiet. The students generally appeared to be more focused during Dave’s sessions and only discuss things between themselves quite quietly. Though Dave did need to remind them at times to keep the noise down and get on with their work. This was common across both music cohorts. At times during Phil’s sessions there were confrontations between him and some students, regarding what he considered to be inappropriate behaviour. This could be a number of students talking to each other on topics other than coursework, or not engaging in their work sufficiently through other

distractions.

Understandably, as all the young music students appeared to be passionate about listening to music and performing it they consistently listened to music while working at their computers. Although, not all of them all the time and there was no detectable pattern to this. Despite all students using earphones, or headphones, occasionally there was some noise leakage from them and at times it was quite audible. If it became too intrusive the students often policed the disturbance quite effectively between themselves, unless a tutor had already asked for the volume to be reduced. What was noticeable was if any talking was purposeful and coursework related it was not commented on, but

when it was more social chitchat it was deemed as disturbing. Therefore, getting an appropriate level of noise within the classroom was continually revised.

Art was a 23 year old, year 2 music student who had a degree in Drama, but his attendance and especially his punctuality could be inconsistent. Despite Art being one of the students who had a tendency to wear earphones to listen to music while he worked at the computer, the noise levels from others could distract him.

Art: Sometimes I think you just got to get your head down and try to get your work

done…erhm…sometimes it is hard, ye know, sometimes people have music on, or whatever and stuff, so it’s hard sometimes.

The media students only occasionally listened to music and that appeared to be when they wanted to focus on a particular task on the computer; notably the majority of the students commented that if they were working at home they would always have some form of media playing in the background. Again, cultural practices were replicated in the classroom and the students appeared to be much more focused and relaxed when working this way.

Bob, one of the Media tutors, very occasionally played music over the interactive whiteboard sound system. From observation I was unsure if the students enjoyed this, or merely tolerated it as they never commented on it between themselves and Bob was always the person who decided what music was be played. Therefore I was interested what their response was to this and the following were characteristic of other responses.

Emily: That awful stuff….

Liz: [laughs at Emily’s comment] Emily: It’s really loud as well. Liz: It actually distracts me.

Emily: But ye can’t say anything, cos then he’ll just have a go at ye…. Liz: Yeah….

Emily: For trying to talk.

From Bob’s comments to the students about the music he seemed to assume that they appreciated the music creating a more relaxed atmosphere while they worked. The students’ remarks contradict this and consequently illustrate the tutor as authority in the room, as throughout the sessions they

never asked for the music volume to be reduced, or alternative music played. At times, Bob could be quite firm with the students and my impression was that they were quite intimidated by him and therefore tolerated his choice of music, unless they had their headphones with them and then they wore those to listen to their own choice of music.

At the music centre there appeared to be a realisation that music tastes varied, even into a multitude of music subgenres, as music was never played through the interactive whiteboard speakers when the students were working independently. I noticed that the students’ seating arrangements often reflected a similarity in music tastes. At times students who were sat next to each shared earphones to listen to the same music, so each of them had one bud in an ear to listen from. Though if their discussions on the music they were listening to became too much of a distraction from their course activities, the tutor split them up by asking one of them to relocate elsewhere in the room.

As indicated above the noise levels from the music students could either be from the music they listened to, or social chitchat. The media students occasionally listened to music, but at times the classroom could get quite noisy from students talking to each other socially. If the level of noise became noticeably high, the tutor Bob was quite often firm in his tone when telling the students to be quiet, the students then quietened down immediately and the room was silent. Although, I noticed that he was inconsistent with this and the room became quite noisy during those times when Bob appeared to be engrossed in his own activities at the staff computer.

During a third interview with Debbie, a media student, she had appeared to develop a more pragmatic attitude to the classroom conditions. As Debbie’s aim was to progress to one specific university’s media course, which needed high grades, I asked her if she was doing any college work at home to help her achieve these grades.

Debbie: Yeah a LOT more than I would do at college because…I don't find it a good

environment to be doing a course like a media one….Like we were in this room [a room for

Foundation Degree students] at the beginning of the year and that…I found that much better

to work cos there was like a divide right between…right in the middle and everyone…we had space, kind of separate. But in the room we have now it's just like a rectangle and it seems too crowded to be doing...work, and when everyone's like talking quietly it's still really loud, so I found that just going home and doing all my work.

AB: So have you done that throughout the year?

The students had only used the other room that Debbie refers to temporarily while their usual one was needed for some online exams. Debbie always had good attendance but clearly realised how and where she could work more productively. Clearly, Debbie had rationalised her decisions, partially by discussing the situation with her grandfather and her mother who both worked in education. Although this interview was late in the academic year I had noticed that Debbie had been more socially active in the sessions for some time and less attentive to her work than in the first part of the year. Many factors can affect this and when she formed a relationship with Scott, they usually sat next to each other and talked more than before and this changed when they broke up. This was not unusual amongst the cohorts, as changes in friendships, or relationships had a tendency to dynamically modify the classroom seating arrangements and noise levels.

The implication in Debbie’s instance was she had realised that the conditions of the classroom were not conducive for her to engage with her coursework as effectively as she wanted to and therefore she relaxed her workload and made up for it at home. So, whereas Debbie had initially viewed the classroom as a place of study, it then became a partial study and social space.

The matter of music, and other media, as a distraction, or facilitator for students to engage with their work will be investigated later in Section 6.3, which in part illustrates the complex dynamics of this environment and what can affect students’ approaches to their coursework.

Maintaining an ambient working environment was clearly an issue as the students, at times needed to tolerate less than ideal conditions. This needs to be considered with the duration of the sessions and a need to work independently over those periods. As identified, at times noise, either from other students talking, or listening to music, or even what a tutor played did become a distraction. In this sense the isolated condition of students working individually at their computer resulted in the creation of a microenvironment around them within the micro space of the classroom itself, and any noise external to that could intrude into their individual space. Therefore one student’s preferred environment may impede another’s. This created quite a conundrum in what ideally should be a social learning community.