Thesis (M.M.)--Boston University

In this study, I examined gender associations of instruments in five international schools in Japan, judgments that student musicians made about other musicians based on perceived social roles, and how those judgments might have been influenced by the participants’ age, gender, nationality, and school type attended. Using social role theory as a framework, I sought to understand how model musicians were perceived as having agentic (masculine), communal (feminine), and gender-neutral qualities based upon the model’s gender and instrument played. Band students at the international schools (N = 491) served as participants in this study, completing surveys that helped to answer (a) the extent to which gender stereotyping of instruments existed in participating schools, (b) the judgments that participants made about model musicians, and (c) how those judgments were influenced by participants’ demographic differences. Data indicated that gender associations of instruments in participating schools was not as prevalent as has been seen in earlier studies conducted in the U.S. and the U.K. (Fortney, Boyle, & DeCarbo, 1993; Hallam, Rogers, & Creech, 2008; Wrape, Dittloff, & Callahan, 2014). The findings for this study indicated that the flute was played by a high percentage of female participants, and the trombone was played by a high percentage of male participants. The alto saxophone and the trumpet were played by more male than female participants, while the clarinet and percussion were played nearly equally by male and female participants. Responding to Likert-type questions, participants rated model musicians on three agentic qualities, three communal qualities, and three gender-neutral qualities. MANOVA was used to examine differences in participants’ perceptions of musicians. Participants scored female musicians significantly higher than male musicians in perceptions of leadership, caring, friendliness, comfort, and happiness. Males scored significantly higher in activity. There was little difference between males and females in scores of strength, success, and sensitivity. Instrument played by the model musician, however, seemed to have less impact on participants’ judgments. Flute players scored significantly higher than other musicians on measures of comfort and happiness. Snare drummers scored significantly lower than flutists and trombonists on measures of success. I further analyzed data to determine how specific demographic variations in participants contributed to differences in perceptions of musicians. I found some significant differences for each characteristic based on the participants’ gender, nationality, and school grade level. By examining interactions among variables, I discovered additional significant differences in perceptions of musicians by participants.

The primary purpose of this action research study was to find if there were any measurable differences between community college students learning piano with an integrated aural/reading approach and those learning piano with an all-reading approach. Specifically, I examined the differences in performance outcomes and sight-reading ability. Data were collected from pre- and post-test performance measures in note reading, playing of a familiar tune, sight reading, and performance of prepared pieces. As a secondary measure to assess student enjoyment and preferences, student journals were kept, and interviews were conducted for both the integrated aural/reading (aural group) and the all-reading group (reading group). The researcher-instructor also maintained a teacher journal to annotate and reflect on instructional activities and teaching strategies throughout the semester. The study was conducted in two different phases over two consecutive fall semesters. Participants included students enrolled in two community colleges in California. Results showed that the aural groups had the largest pre-and post-test gains in reading notes in the grand staff for both phases. For sight reading music with limited preview time, the reading groups scored highest in both phases. For performance of Prepared Pieces, the aural group outscored the reading group in Phase 1 but the reverse happened in Phase 2, consistent with higher pretest scores in playing of any familiar tune for each group. Most students in the aural group enjoyed the by-ear activities and felt that such activities should be included in a beginning piano course. Some students expressed they gained a deeper understanding of what they were playing and were able to self- check for mistakes. I found that by-ear activities seemed to work best for students in the first five weeks of instruction before playing pieces with hands together became more complex. Based on my experience as a musician and teacher and the results of this study, I believe that an aural approach merits consideration as a core component of the piano course curriculum. Learning by-ear did not hinder reading development and may have helped it, consistent with extant research (Brown, 1990; Glenn, 1999; Haston, 2004; Musco, 2006). Integrating an aural approach with an existing reading-based approach may better suit the needs of today’s community college students.

In recent history, the desire for an internationally competitive economy has driven education policy and reform. Creativity has become a signifier for innovative growth in global economies. As a result, creators of recent international education policies expect teachers to develop creative attributes in students. Tensions can exist when writers of educational policy encourage teachers to develop creative attributes in students while enacting other policies that subject teachers to high stakes accountability. The purpose of this study was to explore how two of my colleagues and I engaged students in creative activities while we were implementing the National Core Arts Standards for the first time in elementary music classrooms. Using Burnard’s adaptation of Csikszentmihalyi’s systems model of creativity as a conceptual framework and narrative inquiry as the approach, I sought to determine (a) what choices we made to provide creative opportunities for students when implementing the National Core Arts Standards in the elementary music classroom, (b) what choices we made to allow students to engage in risk-taking and flexible thinking with agency and relevancy, and (c) how we provided students with opportunities to engage in collaboration and use technology while engaging in creative activities. My colleagues and I shared that we engaged all grade levels in agency and flexible thinking in nearly all the lessons we taught throughout the year, and provided many lessons relevant to students’ lives outside of school, other subjects, and other music lessons. We found that we provided many opportunities for students to collaborate with other students in the classroom. However, we realized that due to the many roles we were involved with at our sites, we did not have the resources necessary to provide opportunities for students to collaborate with people outside of the classroom either in person or through technology. We also felt that we did not have time to plan to provide creative opportunities for students while they were preparing for their grade-level performances. To provide these opportunities for students, teachers may need to emphasize the benefits of the creative process to parents, administrators, and students, and devote planning time to developing collaborative lessons.

Music teachers often have life and educational experiences which lead them to identify with a specific role and community of individuals with common interests—for instance, band director, choral director, or orchestra director. But if teachers lack experience and identification with jazz improvisation, and their teaching positions require them to teach a jazz ensemble, how do they find membership in a community of jazz improvisers and educators? To what extent do the borders of the jazz community of practice intersect with those of other music communities of practice? Moreover, who are the brokers that facilitate movement between different music communities of practice? Viewed through the lens of Lave and Wenger’s (1991) concept of legitimate peripheral participation, in this qualitative multiple case study, I investigated three instrumental music teachers as they became more adept both at improvising and at teaching jazz improvisation. As the research suggested, the process of learning is not merely about acquiring information; it is also about changing a music teacher’s practice, resulting in his or her increased confidence as an improvising musician within a community of practice. Pre- and post-study visits to the participants’ respective schools, participants’ enrollment in an eight-week jazz improvisation workshop (jazz community of practice), and their subsequent attendance at a one-week summer jazz residency generated this study’s data, which took the form of recorded video, audio observations, and interviews. The qualitative research analysis program NVivo facilitated several cycles of coding, categorizing, and sub-categorizing data. The following themes developed from the data analysis: finding time to practice; motivation; past experiences; confidence; and piano skills. The findings of this study suggest that creating a community of practice, mentored by a professional in the field of study, and lasting for an extended length of time, creates an effective situated learning environment that enhances professional development. To varying degrees, each participant incorporated information, concepts, and techniques from the workshops and summer jazz residency into their school curriculum, and became more confident teachers of jazz improvisation. As important as professional development is for inservice music teachers, a well- rounded undergraduate music curriculum, which includes jazz pedagogy, may help preservice music teachers become better trained inservice music teachers. Future researchers might consider studying extended music teacher professional development workshops as well as research student learning as a result of teachers participating in those workshops.

The earliest mass media images of a private music teacher in the United States were found in The Etude Music Magazine (1883-1957), the preeminent monthly music education journal marketed specifically to a profession that enjoyed accelerated growth in the early 20th Century. The Etude fostered an image of the private music teacher as a community leader and moral compass, charged with the responsibility of defending 19-century values of Christianity, patriotism, and Victorian mores in the face of rapid upheavals in the social, cultural, and political fabric of the times. Extensive research has established that the construction of individual and collective identities is largely the result of the commercial discourse published in mass media. The early 20th Century saw a phenomenal surge in commercial illustrations in newspapers and magazines, images that were specifically designed to promulgate a national character, establish cultural proprieties, encourage aspirations, and manipulate commerce. The Etude was no exception, and my grandmother, a private music teacher herself, and the person who raised me, was a perfect example of the intended audience for this inculcation. Her worldview was in large measure shaped by what she learned from The Etude, and consequently formed the basis for her parenting skills. Like the music it championed, most of the images in The Etude reflected its commitment to an exaltation of a refined, Eurocentric culture. Teachers were usually rendered in iconographic detail reminiscent of maternal or even divine tropes. However, in its first hesitant foray into the tabloid genre of cartoons, The Etude published a series of pen and ink illustrations in 1910 that examined encroaching forces of Evil that threatened the private music teacher’s obligation to maintain the culture, a duty my grandmother fervently embraced. Two research problems emerged. First, the impact of commercial illustration specifically targeted to music educators has never been examined; second, music iconography has not yet examined the genre of American commercial illustration, thus leaving a gap in the literature and an unresolved question of influence. Utilizing an autoethnographic narrative, this dissertation establishes the influence The Etude exerted on the culture of the time, and explores the intergenerational effect it had on my family and my own personal and professional identity as a music educator.

<p> In this dissertation, I addressed early career music teacher identity as it relates to d/Discourse in the narratives of three second-year teachers. I drew on existing narrative research in the field of music education (Barrett &amp; Stauffer, 2006, 2009; Bresler, 2006; McCarthy, 2007). I used Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA; Gee, 1990; Fairclough, 1992, 2012; Wodak, 1996) to identify the three main themes that emerged from data: (1) Official Expectations, (2) Encountering Music Teaching, and (3) Negotiation and Contestation. I then overlaid the Irvine and Gal (2000) model of language ideology onto the three themes drawn from data. This model is comprised of three linguistic processes: Iconicity, Recursivity, and Erasure. Finally, I discussed the process of how music teacher identity co-construction operates within the context of both <i> identity politics</i> and <i>the politics of identity</i>. I used these concepts to propose a possible explanation for how music teacher identity co-construction is affected by how d/Discourse flows through the socio-linguistic domain.</p><p>

Thesis (M.M.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the teaching of musicianship in a high school chorus, and explore the pedagogies of three high school choral directors. Using the praxial theory of music education (Elliott & Silverman, 2015) as a framework and a multiple-case study design with elements of portraiture, I developed case studies of three high school choral directors that included musicianship instruction as a regular part of their rehearsal activities. Research questions addressed: (a) the ways high school choral directors address and assess performing-and-listening in the rehearsal to build the musicianship of their singers through sight-singing, audiation, performance practice, and aesthetic elements; (b) the ways high school choral directors address conducting-and-listening in the rehearsal to build the musicianship of their singers; and (c) the ways high school choral directors foster musical creativity of their singers as part of a plan to build their musicianship. The primary means of data collection were interviews, rehearsal observations, and document review. I conducted observations using the rehearsal planning model advocated by Abrahams and John (2015) as a guidepost. Results indicate that the development of musicianship among high school choral students does not rest exclusively on instruction in areas such as sight-singing, music theory, performance practice, piano proficiency, and vocal technique, but rather through the values asserted by Elliott (1995) and Elliott and Silverman (2015), which serve as the foundation of music education: self-growth, self-knowledge, and the emotional experience of musicing and musical enjoyment. Implications for music education include incorporating constructivist strategies in instruction, moving toward student-centered rehearsals, and devoting meaningful time to listening and assessment in order to empower student musicianship.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University