Why teach music? To answer this question one has to be able to see the full value of musical education. One has to recognize its effect on the unfolding of character and personality on the one hand and, on the other, its value for the development and sharpening of the intellect. In ancient Greece, the cradle of Western culture, the significance of music for man, the people, and the state was frequently emphasized. The Greeks regarded music almost as a magic force, the inherent harmony of which was capable of transforming things and creating order by reconciling contrarieties. Similarly they believed that the power of music could restore the harmony in man's soul. Intro., p.1.

Each music teacher steps into their classroom as an educator shaped by their unique life experiences. Former music teachers, ensemble participation, culture, media, teacher education, and family dynamics are just a few of the influences that make each music teacher unique. Acknowledged or not, these factors shape the verbal messages of music teachers in the classroom. This study explored how elementary music teachers explicitly share what they believe about the potential of their students’ musical ability through verbal messages during instruction. Symbolic interactionism was used as the theoretical framework for this study because it helps explain how people attach meaning to language through social interactions. Carol Dwek’s growth mindset research was the lens for the theoretical framework. The growth mindset framework of Dweck was adapted for music in this study to help teachers identify and reflect on their mindset and explore how applicable it might be as a framework for music educators to foster growth in developing musicians. This intervention study recruited four elementary music teachers. Interviews, classroom observations, a Likert scale survey, open-ended questions, and reflection prompts were used to collect data. Each instrument's design was built on Dweck’s research regarding mindset identification but adapted for musical ability. The four research questions sought to capture the experiences of participants from their existing knowledge of growth mindset practices to observable changes after the growth mindset intervention. The data were analyzed and coded to find evidence of fixed and growth mindsets explicitly in elementary music instruction before and after the growth mindset was used as an intervention. This study showed that a growth mindset framework can only be observed through verbal messages when opportunities for skill development are authentically facilitated. The bulk of verbal examples presented in this study indicate that a growth mindset is embedded in the scaffolding of effective teaching strategies. Triggers of a fixed mindset with verbal examples are presented with implications for practice and suggestions for future research.

In this multimodal dissertation album, the author utilizes a Hip Hop Research Design framework to explore the youth poetry slam as a site of radical healing that embodies specific Hip Hop aesthetics. The author reflects on his own journey as a poet, musician, and Hip Hop based educator. Part novel, musical album, and collection of poems, this hybrid text employs a multimodal remix poetics. The dissertation extends the current literature on Hip Hop and education by utilizing specific Hip Hop aesthetics and literacies, such as sampling, as a way to critically reimagine Hip Hop pedagogy in K-12 classrooms. The aim of this study is to provide a new methodological framework for doing Hip Hop based research in education while connecting an embodied theory and practice. This innovative methodology is demonstrated through “samples” of personal and educational experiences that are remixed into a narrative exploration of the youth poetry slam as a site where young people practice critical Hip Hop literacies. The retrospective study contains original writing and interviews with four youth poets who participated in local and regional slams while high school students. The data in this study are original music and spoken word compositions created in Ableton Live and Adobe InDesign. This data are derived from poems, interviews, focus groups, field notes, and reflections about the intersections of Hip Hop, spoken word, and critical pedagogy. Finally, through a critical Hip Hop praxis, the author demonstrates how Hip Hop Based Education can be pushed towards a new frontier of activism, healing, and social change. The full multimodal text can be accessed at https://www.brianmooney.com/dissertation

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The purpose of this project is to develop an integrative unit for peace education that is based on analyzing song lyrics and developing critical literacy.