Community music and collaborative learning:  
a case study of a Chilean batucada  
Música comunitária e aprendizagem colaborativa:  
um estudo de caso de uma batucada chilena  
Pedro Iglesias1  
ipedro@uahurtado.cl  
Cristina Pinilla2  
Ángelo Rivera2  
Jaime Riveros 2  
1 Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Instituto de Música, Santiago, Chile  
2 Universidad Mayor, Escuela Educación, Santiago, Chile  
SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE  
Submitted date: 29 aug 2025  
Final approval date: 26 feb 2026  
Publication date: 07 apr 2026  
Section Editor: Fernando Chaib  
Layout Editor: Fernando Chaib  
License: "CC by 4.0"  
DOI: https://doi.org/10.35699/2317-6377.2026.61274  
ABSTRACT: Using a case study research design framed within educational ethnography, this study examines the teaching practices  
of a batucada group operating independently in a vulnerable neighborhood of Santiago de Chile. Drawing on conceptual  
frameworks from Community Music and psychological and cognitive theories that support Collaborative Learning, it explores the  
tutors’ motivations, instructional strategies, and the benefits perceived by participants. The findings suggest that the group  
functions autonomously and acts as a transformative agent within its community. Members report experiencing significant  
personal changes through their involvement, identifying the group as a key influence in shaping their identity and fostering  
recognition in their social environment. The study concludes with a reflection on the paradox of achieving meaningful learning in  
processes led by tutors who lack formal musical or pedagogical training.  
KEYWORDS: Community Music; batucada; social learning; Collaborative Learning; critical pedagogy.  
RESUMO: Utilizando um desenho de pesquisa baseado em estudo de caso, enquadrado na etnografia educacional, este estudo  
examina as práticas de ensino de um grupo de batucada que atua de forma independente em um bairro vulnerável de Santiago  
do Chile. A partir de marcos conceituais da Música Comunitária e de teorias psicológicas e cognitivas que sustentam a  
Aprendizagem Colaborativa, explora-se as motivações dos tutores, as estratégias de instrução e os benefícios percebidos pelos  
participantes. Os resultados indicam que o grupo funciona de maneira autônoma e atua como agente transformador em sua  
comunidade. Os membros relatam mudanças pessoais significativas decorrentes de sua participação, identificando o grupo como  
um fator central na formação de sua identidade e no reconhecimento dentro do ambiente social. O estudo conclui com uma  
reflexão sobre o paradoxo da aprendizagem significativa em processos conduzidos por tutores sem formação musical ou  
pedagógica formal.  
PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Música comunitária; batucada; aprendizagem social; aprendizagem colaborativa; pedagogia crítica.  
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1. Introduction  
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in research on community music projects, which have  
shown benefits for participants from social, emotional, and psychological perspectives (Yi and Kim 2023).  
From this interest, the field of study known as Community Music (CM) has developed. This field of study,  
while seeking to embrace a broad and heterogeneous range of musical manifestations, has found elements  
that allow for the formulation of common principles (Bartleet and Higgins 2018).  
Although there are various definitions of what is meant by CM —which are not necessarily convergent—,  
Veblen (2007) proposes focusing the study on the community and collaborative aspects of these  
manifestations, thus including formal and informal contexts of musical activity indistinctly.  
A distinctive aspect of CM is the emphasis on the social and personal well-being of the participants, which in  
many cases may be more relevant than the artistic outcome (Veblen 2013). According to Higgins (2012), the  
focus of this field of study has mainly been directed towards manifestations outside the realm of formal  
education.  
It has been argued that observing non-formal and informal contexts could be significant for critical reflection  
on formal music education (Verneert et al. 2024). The integration of methodologies that emerge in spaces  
outside the educational institution implies a dialogical and egalitarian stance, which can be linked to the  
principles of critical pedagogy (Freire 2018). This stance is considered necessary to transform the paradigms  
of music education, as it seeks to connect students' prior learning and cultural values with new learning  
through Transformative Musical Participation (O’Neill 2018).  
In this regard, this article aims to study a type of community group that has become visible over the last 30  
years in Chile: batucadas. As explained below, these groups originated in Brazil and are closely linked to  
African culture. Although there are several studies on batucadas in Brazil (e.g., Béhague 2001; Reijonen 2017;  
Santana 2019; Sodré 1998), the perspective of these groups in Chile has not been explored in depth. This  
research offers a description of batucadas in Chile, situated within the theoretical perspective of CM, while  
also engaging with conceptual frameworks of Collaborative Learning drawn from cognitive psychology.  
Although collaboration between participants in the various manifestations of CM is a fundamental aspect  
(Mantie 2023; Veblen 2007), no analysis of the phenomenon has yet been carried out from the perspective  
of cognitive psychology, a discipline that has explored deeply into the study of Collaborative Learning. This  
approach broadens the theoretical perspectives previously developed in the field of CM by presenting a  
specific case that integrates theory and practice through the observation of a community music group.  
1.1. Batucadas in Chile  
The batucada is an artistic-cultural manifestation that appeared in Brazil in the 1930s, associated with  
choreographic practices surrounding carnival and samba schools, which would have its origins in Africa  
(Béhague 2001). In a more technical sense, batucada refers to the rhythm performed by the group (Reijonen  
2017). In other words, batucada would be one of the rhythmic variants of Brazilian samba.  
The commercialization of samba during the 20th century as a Brazilian cultural product has meant that  
batucadas have been linked to different sectors of the industry, such as tourism, carnival, and the music  
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industry (Sodré 1998). Its presence in Brazilian carnival festivities has meant that since its origins, batucada  
drummers have been involved in competitive instances that follow strict rules (Santana 2019). However, the  
social character of their practice is still evident, in which they are an important space for teaching and  
learning (Santana 2013). In this sense, despite the links with the carnival industry, it is possible to observe  
batucada groups in non-competitive street carnivals called blocos, as well as in political protests, and football  
matches (Santana 2019). Sodré (1998) associates the character of cultural resistance that can still be  
observed in these groups with their origins in African culture that arrived in Brazil under conditions of slavery.  
The arrival of the batucada in Chile is much more recent and coincides with the period of the return to  
democracy in the 1990s. In those years, the Concertación governments designed a new plan for state  
intervention in art and culture, which included the creation of new cultural spaces (Antoine and Brablec  
2011). One of these spaces —the Centro Cultural Balmaceda 1215— hosted the first batucada workshop in  
Chile in 1994. This workshop was attended by 10 participants and was given by the Chilean musician Joe  
Vasconcellos, who at that time was returning to the country after a long stay in Brazil (Rojas 2015).  
It is important to emphasize that the cultural context of batucadas in Chile is substantially different from  
that of Brazil. As indicated above, it is a recent cultural phenomenon, less than 30 years old, in a country  
where links with African culture are not evident1. Nor are there any links between batucadas and the music  
and tourism industry. However, the participation of Chilean batucadas in manifestations of cultural  
resistance has been documented. For instance, during the Chilean Estallido Social of October 2019, some  
studies reported their presence in protest contexts (Angelcos et al. 2020). In Chile, these groups appear to  
be dispersed across the national territory, connected to popular sectors and countercultural expressions,  
and are organized and managed autonomously.  
Although the roots of the batucada are in Brazil, this study places it in the perspective of the Chilean reality,  
with a focus on the teaching-learning processes among the participants. In this context, the questions that  
will guide the research arise:  
What are the participants' motivations for organizing and managing the batucada? What  
benefits do the members of the group perceive? How is the teaching-learning process  
organized in the group?  
By answering these questions, a deeper understanding of the collaborative forms of pedagogy that emerge  
spontaneously outside formal educational institutions.  
1.2. Collaboration as the ontogeny of learning  
CM has been described as an act of welcome and hospitality to the community (Higgins 2007), structured  
around core values of concern and care for the other (Mantie 2023). In that sense, community is inherently  
1 Although this issue is currently the subject of debate, Chilean historiographical discourse has emphasized  
the idea that, during the colonial era, migration of African descent was limited. This perspective was  
consolidated by the work of historians who were fundamental to Chilean historiography, such as Barros  
Arana and Encina. According to their arguments, although the arrival of Afro-descendant populations in  
conditions of slavery has been documented, their presence would not have been significant in the formation  
of the Chilean race (sic), due to the high mortality rate caused by the cold and diseases such as tuberculosis  
and pneumonia during the crossing of the Andes (Cussen 2006).  
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linked to collaboration. Collaborative Learning has been defined as ‘the instructional use of small groups so  
that students work together to maximize their own and each other’s learning’ (Johnson and Johnson 1999,  
5). This mode of learning draws on various cognitive theories, which operates in a complementary way.  
From the Cognitivist Theory, Vygotsky (1978) argues that knowledge is constructed collaboratively through  
interpersonal social constructions. The theory of Social Cognitivism posits that members of a community can  
join their efforts collaboratively to achieve results that they could not achieve individually (Bandura 1977;  
Lave and Wenger 1991). In this way, Lave and Wenger (1991) introduced the construct of Situated Learning.  
They describe different learning communities —such as midwives, tailors, butchers, and non-drinking  
alcoholics— in which modelled learning plays a fundamental role in the formative process. In these  
communities, learning is achieved through a process called legitimate peripheral participation, which  
enables newcomers to acquire skills by observing more experienced members. Through this process, new  
participants are fully integrated and acquire the right to participate in the community (Lave and Wenger  
1991).  
Social Interdependence Theory describes the dynamics of interdependence between individuals within a  
community (Johnson and Johnson 2015). Within this framework, it distinguishes positive interdependence,  
which arises when individuals perceive that they can achieve their goals only if the rest of the community  
also achieves them. In contrast, negative interdependence occurs when individuals perceive that they will  
achieve their individual goals at the expense of other´s failure, generating competitive environments  
(Johnson and Johnson 2009).  
Collaboration has been studied also from a cognitive psychology perspective by the Theory of Cultural  
Learning (Tomasello 2016). This theory proposes that Collaborative Learning among members of a species is  
not exclusive to humans. However, through processes such as shared intentionality —the ability to organize  
collaboratively around common goals— humans have developed biological, social, and cultural learning  
capacities that provide an evolutionary advantage over other species (O'Madagain and Tomasello 2022).  
Humans learn culturally through the other, sharing intentions and goals through empathic faculties  
(Tomasello 2016). The biological skills involved in organizing through collaboration could be considered the  
ontogeny of different forms of learning (O'Madagain and Tomasello 2022; Tomasello 2014).  
From a perspective from the Global South, authors have put forward significant and distinctive pedagogical  
proposals that can be understood from the point of view of collaboration. Thus, Freire (2018) proposes  
problem-posing education, based on a dialogical relationship between teacher and student as the essence  
of education, understood as a vehicle for liberation from oppression. This dialogical relationship is  
collaborative and horizontal in nature, in contrast to banking education, which employs strategies of  
domination (Freire 2018).  
Finally, current studies of Latin American music education from decolonial perspectives have proposed  
pedagogies based on Buen Vivir—a cosmology based on the native peoples of South America—which  
propose community, intercultural, and spiritual strategies based on a sociomusical approach (Angel-  
Alvarado 2021).  
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2. Methodological design  
The study was based on the constructivist paradigm, seeking to understand a social reality from the  
perspective of the participants (Lincoln and Guba 2013). A Case Study research design was chosen, as it is a  
current phenomenon with a defined group occurring in a natural environment, where researchers did not  
exercise control over participants' behaviour (Yin 2018). An inductive, generative, and constructive approach  
was adopted (Goetz and Lecompte 2010). This approach entails the generation and construction of  
categories and emergent theoretical constructs that enable interpretation of the observed phenomenon  
based on the data obtained.  
Theoretical sampling was used to select a setting that would maximize the possibility of obtaining meaningful  
results (Corbin and Strauss 2008). The selection criteria were: 1) that the batucada group operated in a highly  
vulnerable environment; and 2) convenience, as some members of the research team had prior connections  
with the group. This facilitated the research team's entry and acceptance to carry out the observation in the  
group without disrupting its usual functioning. It is important to note that although part of the research team  
had participated in batucadas for several years, they had never been involved in the observed group.  
Since the research sought to describe teaching and learning processes situated in a socio-cultural context,  
educational ethnography techniques were used (Goetz and Lecompte 1988), understood as the attempt to  
analytically reconstruct the teaching and learning processes present in cultural groups without the  
intervention of the research team. Data collection included semi-structured interviews with two tutors from  
the group, who held a leadership role in the batucada. A focus group was also conducted with four  
participants from the group. Finally, non-participant observation was carried out, allowing the research team  
to observe the group’s rehearsals for approximately one month and to take field notes. This made it possible  
to describe the field from different perspectives and to triangulate the data.  
To facilitate comprehension, the textual quotations from interviews and focus groups presented in the  
results section were translated and simplified from their original versions, which contained fragmentations  
and hesitant utterances typical of spoken discourse, as well as a strong Chilean dialect.  
Emergent categories of analysis were generated inductively using Thematic Analysis techniques (Braun and  
Clarke 2022). This iterative procedure enables the development of emerging concepts and abstract  
categories derived from the empirical data. This abstraction facilitated a new understanding of the  
phenomenon studied, establishing relationships with literature as the abstraction process progresses. Four  
themes emerged: 1) Motivations and purposes of the group; 2) Benefits perceived by participants; 3)  
Rhythmic notation; and 4) Teaching and learning strategies in the batucada.  
Before entering the field, a conversation was held with the tutors and participants of the batucada to explain  
the scope of the research. The data presented were obtained from informants of legal age, who signed an  
informed consent form.  
2.1. Context  
The observed batucada group operates in the district of San Ramón, located in Santiago de Chile. This district  
has been identified as one of the most critical areas of the city, and among the most affected nationwide by  
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crimes related to drug trafficking (Fiscalía Nacional 2016). Its residents are constantly exposed to violence,  
shootings, and territorial control by drug cartels (Poduje 2017).  
Within the district, the batucada operates in the area known as Población la Bandera, a locality that was  
founded in 1969 as a result of an illegal occupation. Since then, the population has been closely linked to  
social movements, revolutionaries, and popular militias that were violently repressed during the military  
regime. Today, some authors describe it as a community that has been stigmatized, often associated with  
contexts of marginality and criminality, a situation that has generated a ghettoization of the neighbourhood  
(Cofré 2021).  
The batucada group was formed in 2014 by members who live in the neighbourhood. It is a self-managed  
organization with no institutional ties, operating in the community center building, where they share the  
space with other activities and workshops. Most of the rehearsals take place in a square in the area.  
3. Results and discussion  
3.1. Motivations and purposes of the group  
When exploring the motivations and purposes of the ensemble, social issues predominate over what might  
be considered strictly musical ones. Although the ensemble focuses on performing music, these issues do  
not occupy a central place in the participants’ discourse:  
Of course, of course, it's like one worry about playing and making it sound nice, but when  
you play, you still must worry about the other (Tutor 1 interview).  
In the conversations, the principles of the batucada clearly emerge:  
Of the people, by the people with the people and for the people (Tutor 2 interview).  
This statement of principles resonates clearly with Röhrs' definition of social pedagogy: “education in the  
community, by the community and for the community” (1973, 363).  
Generating a community space managed by the community itself and concern for the other participants in  
the batucada always seems to be a priority. This concern manifests itself in different ways. The aim of  
creating a drug- and alcohol-free space for development appears often:  
For the children who come to the batucada workshops, we try to avoid bad habits. In our  
workshops we don't say bad words, we don't fight, we don't argue. [...] Never smoke in  
front of the children, never give them to consume [drugs or alcohol], never give them a  
bad example, from the beginning these are our principles (Tutor 2 interview).  
It should not be forgotten that the group's environment is a highly vulnerable environment, which is  
currently affected by drug trafficking:  
Of course, many children are here for the same reason, because their parents are drug  
users. The ideal is not to go to a place to see the same issues, but rather to be distracted  
and, above all, to share experiences with other young people (Tutor 1 interview).  
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The connection with the community of their local area also seems to be an important motivation.  
Make your town beautiful, make a vegetable garden next to the children's house. So that  
they see that they can change their reality. [...] We are going to show our art to other towns  
because we have a beautiful town. That generates a sense of belonging. In fact, we  
rehearse in the town square (Tutor 1 interview).  
From the perspective of the Theory of Social Interdependence (Johnson and Johnson 2009), a strong positive  
interdependence between the members of the batucada can be inferred, extending to the surrounding  
context. There is also evidence of community purposes that are above the musical ones, with concern and  
care for the other appearing in the foreground, similar to what has been described in other CM  
manifestations (Higgins 2007; Mantie 2023; Veblen 2013).  
The batucada also shows the need to express their discontent through participation in different forms of  
protest. The tutors consider the batucada to be “political marching and agitation” (Tutor 1 interview). It was  
seen in the Estallido Social of 2019 (Angelcos et al. 2020), but also in previous events:  
We used to do huge parades where we played with other batucadas. Always agitating  
things. At that time, we discovered that the mayor of San Ramón was related with narco-  
dealers2. Then the kids fought with the guards of the municipality (Tutor 1 interview).  
In what has been observed, there are similarities with the Brazilian batucada groups, which still retain their  
character of cultural resistance to what they consider hegemonic practices of the dominant class (Santana  
2013; Sodré 1998).  
3.2. Benefits perceived by participants  
From the tutors' perspective, the responsibility of organising and leading the group is not seen as a burden,  
but rather as a joy, as they identify themselves as agents of social change in their community:  
I feel joy, which still feels like a responsibility (Tutor 1 interview).  
When tutors and participants are asked about what it means to participate in the group, the answers  
converge that it is a milestone that has brought about profound changes in their lives:  
For me, it means a lot to join the batucada. I was looser. When I joined the group, they  
took me in, it became my second family (Tutor 2 interview).  
Participation in the group goes far beyond being a recreational activity, identifying it as a crucial factor in  
shaping their identity:  
Because if it hadn't been for the batucada, who knows where I would be (Participant 4  
focus group).  
2 This refers to incidents in which the Chilean press investigated the San Ramón mayor's relations with drug  
traffickers.  
See  
www.ciperchile.cl/2017/11/04/la-historia-del-alcalde-de-san-ramon-con-el-narco-que-  
hundio-su-carrera-politica/  
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From the point of view of the relationship with the community, belonging to the batucada is identified as a  
factor of respect:  
I used to be bullied. Now that I am in the batucada they respect me. I go to some places,  
and they tell me: look, there's the guy who plays in the batucada (Participant 2 focus  
group).  
Participation in the group has provided some members with work opportunities, which have allowed them  
to develop in other areas:  
I work in construction. Now I am doing workshops paid by the municipality. We [refers to  
another participant] also work for the municipality. We have a different batucada. If I  
hadn't joined this batucada I wouldn't have been able to do these paid workshops, so they  
pay me. We have our own workshop. Because everyone can come in here, there is no  
charge, and it has helped me to expand my job opportunities (Participant 2 focus group).  
The scope and impact of these workshops organized by the municipality have not been verified. As previously  
mentioned, constant tension persists between the group and the surrounding institutions, with the  
municipality occupying a prominent place in this dynamic. However, it is crucial to note that participants  
interpret payment for the workshops as recognition. The reiteration of this point in their discourse can be  
understood as an evident form of seeking social distinction from a cultural manifestation they consider their  
own. Although this article does not analyse the perspective of the municipality, it suggests an  
institutionalized attempt to disseminate this type of manifestation. It is also important to recall, as pointed  
out at the beginning of this paper, that the batucadas arrived in Chile as a result of government policies.  
3.3. Rhythmic notation  
Despite the predominantly percussive character of the batucada style, rhythmic notation in the traditional  
musical sense is not applied. Instead, phrases and phonemes are used, onomatopoetically representing the  
rhythms to be performed. This method of naming the different rhythms appears to possess a certain degree  
of universality, being understood across various batucada groups:  
So, for example, one uses the rhythm pattern pasa'pa'aca', which is an Afro samba pattern  
that everyone knows and is universal. Or por el payaso, which are universal rhythms.  
Instead of so many figures [referring to traditional notation], since there are many figures.  
I´m illiterate in writing [traditional rhythmic notation], I don´t have the skills to do it (Tutor  
1 interview).  
In the observation of rehearsals, the research team noticed that, to remember some rhythms, the tutor  
consulted a notebook in which he had written them in a particular notation. Figure 1 shows a page from this  
notebook. This type of rhythmic notation can also be found in Brazilian batucada. Reijonen (2017) attempts  
to transcribe the notation system, associating certain syllables —bum, pan, ti, cum, bu— with specific sounds  
of batucada drumming. Santana (2015) also attempts a transcription in modern notation, noting that the  
usual practice is to communicate rhythms through onomatopoeias: tchiqui, tumtim, taticaracatá.  
What is relevant to the present study is to link this form of rhythmic notation to the Brazilian batucada.  
Although the origins of this system are not known, it could be linked to the Orff Schulwerk methodology.  
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This musical didactic approach was proposed at the beginning of the 20th century in Germany (Orff 1963);  
it belongs to the so-called active methods in music education, being widely spread worldwide and still in use  
today (Jorquera-Jaramillo 2004). It seeks the integral development of musicality in children, focusing on  
rhythmic activities. Although it has not been possible to establish concrete links between the batucada  
teaching methodology and the Orff Schulwerk method, there are several points of convergence; both focus  
on rhythmic aspects, the use of language patterns and phonemes to designate rhythms, and the use of a  
wide variety of percussion instruments (Jorquera-Jaramillo 2004; Shamrock 1997).  
Figure 1 – Notebook of the batucada tutor, in which different rhythms are written in non-conventional notation.  
3.3. Teaching and learning strategies in the batucada  
Participants and tutors stated that they had no musical or pedagogical knowledge when they joined the  
ensemble. They have made some comments and judgments about what they call formal musical knowledge,  
which they relate to elements of musical literacy that they learned at school and quickly forgot. It is clear  
how little significance they attribute to this knowledge, which they do not consider useful in the context of  
the batucada:  
[When I came to batucada] there was little that I really knew, at school, I worked on certain  
contents, some musical notes. For example, the treble clef and things like that, but then  
over time I forgot them (Participant 4, focus group).  
Well, before I joined the group, I didn't have much to do with music (Tutor 2, interview).  
We are self-taught, and we have no musical studies. But we like it, and it is rooted in our  
sense of life because you always go to play (Participant 1 focus group).  
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Contradictory perspectives emerge. Even though on several occasions the participants externalize the lack  
of significance of musical learning in school contexts, one tutor expresses his desire to study music pedagogy:  
I want to study music pedagogy. I'm dreaming about it. I hope it can become a reality. But  
I still think that popular education has many tools or things that are not inferior to formal  
education (Tutor 1 interview).  
This contradiction highlights what Freire (2018) calls cultural invasion, which he associates with banking  
education; the invaded begin to see their reality through the eyes of the invaders, which leads them to  
become convinced of their intrinsic inferiority. In the tutors' discourses, although they point out the  
importance of popular education, in a context in which they recognise that musical literacy and formal  
knowledge are of little relevance, the desire to study music pedagogy appears.  
Tutors and participants learn by observing each other. Learning takes place through doing, without planning  
or didactic sequencing of content. One of the tutors remembers his experience when he joined the batucada:  
They told me: here's a drum. You start playing today. You do this, this is the rhythm. Start  
beating along with the others, now, look, play this (Tutor 2 interview).  
What Lave and Wenger (1991) call legitimate peripheral participation is evident here. Members acquire the  
skills necessary to participate in the batucada through observing more experienced peers, gradually  
becoming fully integrated into the socio-cultural practices of the community. As Santana (2013) observed in  
Brazilian batucada groups, there is no reflection on the methodological processes, nor any fragmentation or  
sequencing of teaching. The learning process depends on the ability to imitate and memorize what is heard  
(Santana 2013).  
The teaching-learning process takes place in a collaborative environment, which could be interpreted as a  
situation of authentic dialogue. According to Freire (2018), Dialogic is the fundamental element of problem-  
posing education. Banking education understands knowledge as a gift from the teacher to the learner  
(Silverman 2022); by contrast, in problem-posing education knowledge is constructed through dialogue  
between teacher and student (Iglesias 2024).  
Interpreting from the point of view of cognitive psychology, it reveals a shared intentionality that motivates  
peer learning: one learns from the peer next to them, who explains and models what to do through  
legitimate peripheral participation (O'Madagain and Tomasello 2022; Lave and Wenger 1991). This happens  
in a horizontal, non-hierarchical way. The leader is considered as part of the group, and the term director is  
not used. In this respect, the person who could be considered the leader of the batucada states:  
There is no different treatment, everyone is treated the same. I am not the director of the  
group. [...] I can't get all the applause (Tutor 2 interview).  
Although they do not use the name of director —they call themselves tutors— there are participants who  
exercise clear leadership. They assume different responsibilities, such as promoting the batucada, organizing  
rehearsals, and choosing the repertoire to perform. The batucada tutors thus fulfil the role of learning  
facilitators, again showing similarities to the manifestations of CM described in other contexts: leadership  
when exercised horizontally allows for the redistribution of control without relinquishing responsibility  
(Higgins 2012). According to Higgins (2012), this stance enables creative energy to flow within the group.  
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Somehow, it seems that in the batucada, in an intuitive and non-bureaucratized way, it has been possible to  
overcome the teacher-student contradiction, which Freire proposes as one of the fundamental aspects of  
problem-posing education:  
The teacher is no longer merely the-one-who-teaches, but one who is himself taught in  
dialogue with the students, who in turn while being taught also teach. They become jointly  
responsible for a process in which all grow. In this process, arguments based on ´authority´  
are no longer valid. [...] Here, no one teaches another, nor is anyone self-taught. People  
teach each other, mediated by the world (Freire 2018, 80)  
It is important to consider that Freire´s problem-posing education has been criticized by some authors as  
utopian (Silverman 2022). On the other hand, educational institutions currently consider teaching a highly  
complex task that involves the development of professional skills supported by a series of professional  
resources (CPEIP 2022). Considering that the group was formed by participants who declared that they had  
no musical or pedagogical training, two questions arise: Have the principles of problem-posing education  
been assumed intuitively? How is it possible for a group of people with no musical or pedagogical knowledge  
to achieve meaningful learning?  
The paradox of the Ignorant Schoolmaster emerges here: a teacher manages to successfully teach students  
content that he himself does not know (Rancière 1991). According to Rancière (1991), this is possible by  
abandoning the explicative model of teaching. The abandonment of this traditional model of the teacher  
could be related to the role of the learning facilitator proposed by constructivist pedagogical approaches  
and by CM (Gautam and Agarwal 2023; Higgins 2012). Although the link is not explicit, this phenomenon can  
also be understood from a decolonial perspective and related to pedagogies of Buen Vivir, where  
sociomusical relationships function as nutrients for personal and collective identity, thereby enhancing  
learning processes (Angel-Alvarado 2021).  
As we have pointed out, from the cognitive dimension this could be understood as a form of learning through  
the other, a capacity that Tomasello (2014) identifies as a human biological ability that enables cultural  
learning. From another perspective, positive interdependencies between individuals in the community are  
necessary to enhance this learning (Johnson and Johnson 2009). In this sense, a horizontal teaching model  
led by a learning facilitator could foster learning by strengthening empathic capacities through collaboration.  
4. Conclusion  
The present study has succeeded in establishing convergences between the theoretical framework of CM,  
theoretical constructs from cognitive psychology, and critical pedagogy, an articulation that, to the best of  
our knowledge, has not been systematically developed in the existing literature. This contributes to  
broadening the geographical and epistemic scope of CM by examining a Chilean case in a context of high  
social vulnerability, in contrast with the prevailing focus on English-speaking countries. Beyond the CM  
framework itself, the analysis shows that Latin American traditions such as Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy  
offer robust conceptual tools to interpret community-based musical practices such as batucadas, particularly  
when collaboration is understood as the foundation of teaching–learning processes.  
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The batucada case discussed in this article is of particular interest, as it emerges spontaneously in a highly  
vulnerable context. None of the participants claim to have any musical or pedagogical training, nor are they  
familiar with theoretical frameworks or CM research. Nevertheless, meaningful learning processes, the joint  
construction of cultural identity, and the adoption of teaching models related to constructivism and critical  
pedagogy were observed. The findings suggest that collaborative, empathetic and horizontal pedagogical  
relationships—where tutors are conceived as facilitators of learning—can emerge intuitively in community  
settings, even in the absence of formal training and without explicit knowledge of CM or critical pedagogy.  
From a broader perspective, the results further indicate that the implementation of collaborative teaching  
strategies—such as the notion of the teacher as facilitator or the dialogicity proposed by Freire—can  
significantly enhance pedagogical processes. In short, it is hypothesized that, on the basis of this horizontal  
pedagogical model, it would be possible to develop biologically grounded collaborative skills that facilitate  
learning. In this regard, an aspect that has received little attention in educational research is that  
Collaborative Learning, according to current cognitive theories, could be considered a biological ability3.  
Understanding this form of learning as a biological instinct may help to explain more accurately the paradox  
of the Ignorant Schoolmaster developed in the article, as well as the emergence of common patterns in  
different descriptions of CM manifestations that are unrelated to each other and that, in many cases, are  
organized spontaneously and intuitively.  
5. Data Availability Statement  
The entire dataset generated or analyzed during this study is included in the published article.  
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