Multicultural education researchers have long argued the advantages of culturally based pedagogical strategies for the education of students with non-dominant cultural backgrounds. Gloria Ladson-Billings theoretical framework — culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) — is one strategy that, though including acknowledgement of common characteristics of teachers implementing this critical pedagogy, is identified primarily by its results in students who display the three central tenets of CRP — academic achievement, maintained or enhanced cultural competence, and an understanding and critique of the existing social order. Seemingly in contrast to culturally based pedagogical strategies, I have observed Black band teachers who have engaged Hispanic students with pedagogy patterned after HBCU show-style marching bands. The purpose of this study was to investigate a Black band director’s use of show-style band pedagogy to engage Hispanic students as a possible example of CRP. The research questions centered around the three central tenets of CRP: 1. To what extent does the teacher consider students’ culture in the pedagogy in terms of students’ a. academic achievement; b. cultural competence, including i. navigation of and identification with their own culture, and ii. access of another culture; and c. sociopolitical consciousness? 2. What reactions do students have towards show-style pedagogy? 3. What perceptions do students have about the impact of show-style pedagogy on their: a. academic achievement; b. cultural competence, including i. navigation of and identification with their own culture, and ii. access of another culture; and c. sociopolitical consciousness? 4. What nexus exists between the teachers’ pedagogical intent in using show-style pedagogy and students’ a. academic achievement; b. cultural competence, including i. navigation of and identification with their own culture, and ii. access of another culture; and c. sociopolitical consciousness? This was an ethnographic case study executed at an urban high school in Texas with an African American band director and predominantly Hispanic band students. The director was interviewed; band classes, rehearsals, and performances were observed; and student informants along with representative caretakers of those informants were interviewed. Findings included evidence of the three tenets of Ladson-Billings’s culturally relevant pedagogy, though not always along the traditional cultural delineators of race, nationality, or ethnicity. Findings also included band as a culture as a salient theme; another was critique of the status of show-style band in the related milieus of music education and adjudicated scholastic performances The participating band director was found to have implemented some strategies in alignment with CRP independent of any consideration for the students’ Hispanic background. That finding aligned with Ladson-Billings’s own critique that many practices associated with CRP can be conceived of as universal pedagogical goals. The researcher concluded that the implementation of show-style band pedagogy was culturally relevant for the students in the study.

In this research, I investigated the ways that children engaged in collaborative processes with adults and their peers and music sight-reading skill acquisition. Using a quasi-experimental pretest/posttest non-equivalent control group design, I assessed melodic and rhythmic sight-reading among intact groups of sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade choruses at a North Carolina middle school. The purpose of the study was to compare the effectiveness of a teacher-only and two types of peer-assisted learning models on rhythmic and melodic sight-reading in middle school choral students. The instruments I used to evaluate melodic and rhythmic sight-reading included an adapted version of the Vocal Sight-Reading Inventory and a researcher-developed Rhythmic Skills Hierarchy. Composite scores were analyzed using analyses of covariance to compare differences between groups on adjusted posttest scores and to examine the potential benefits of peer-assisted learning (PAL) treatment types. There were significant differences between the teacher-only (T-O) and the symmetrical peer-assisted learning (SPAL) groups when compared to the asymmetrical peer-assisted learning group (APAL). The T-O and SPAL treatment types were both effective learning models for melodic sight-reading achievement but with nonsignificant results on rhythmic sight-reading. Collaborative learning models are not new in the field of education; however, in the field of music education, traditional teacher-directed instruction is predominant. I conclude that teacher modeling encourages the internal music representations necessary for sight-reading in choral students. Also, symmetrical peer-assisted learning strategies improve melodic sight-reading skills and are a suggested practice as a complement to teacher-directed instruction. Furthermore, symmetrical peer-assisted learning is effective in supporting melodic sight-reading. This study contributes to the body of research in music education, rhythmic and melodic sight-reading, and peer-assisted learning strategies in a chorus.

This study makes a unique contribution to the body of literature in choral-music education by equipping high school choral directors with a theory-based understanding regarding how their leadership behaviors influence the attitudes and perceptions of students. I employed Bass’s (1985) theory of transformational leadership as the framework for this investigation in order to understand the effects, if any, that leaders have on their followers, and to determine the net impact among the behaviors that they use to achieve these effects. The following research questions guided this investigation: (1) What specific leadership behaviors may be attributed to effective high school choral directors? (2) To what degree do the leadership behaviors of effective high school choral directors influence students’ self-reported levels of extra effort, satisfaction, and assessment of their directors’ overall effectiveness? I employed the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (5X-Short), an online survey tool, to measure 223 choral students’ perceptions regarding the transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership behaviors of five high school choral directors. Multiple regression analysis revealed a statistically significant positive relationship among the transformational leadership behaviors of directors and all three outcome variables. The findings illuminated ways that transformational leadership behaviors can be used to foster positive personal relationships and improved pedagogical strategies that may lead to greater satisfaction within high school choral music education.

The music teacher attrition rate is similar to that of all teachers in the United States, but the unique characteristics of music teachers make it important to study the work conditions of music teachers. New York music teachers were surveyed about nine work conditions through the use of the TELL survey. The work conditions examined were time, resources, community support, student conduct, teacher leadership, school leadership, professional development, and instructional practices and support. Through analysis of these work conditions, teacher job satisfaction and career decisions were examined. Using regression analysis and univariate analysis, the findings were then compared to the results from the North Carolina 2018 TELL survey results. The univariate findings from the music teacher in NYS were not statistically different from the results from the North Carolina teachers. This finding helps to show that the work conditions of music teachers can be impacted by the study of all teacher work conditions. The small sample size did not allow for a single work condition to be isolated as the main work condition that impacts the job satisfaction of teachers. Further research with a larger sample should be done to determine if there is a unique finding in the regression analysis of music teachers.

Includes abstracts. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 137-147). / This study investigates inshimi - a musical storytelling practice of the Bemba people in Zambia. The objectives of this study are to collect inshimi and study their educational underpinnings as a teaching medium; study published materials on philosophical approaches to music education; derive an emergent model for musical arts education. The data for this study were collected from the abaBemba nkonko (original Bemba people) of Mungwi and Kasama districts in the Lubemba region.

The last twenty years have shown increased focus on expanding the stylistic boundaries of string music education. The many styles of traditional fiddling are a natural answer to the call for a culturally responsive curriculum in the string classroom, but they each come with their own history, context, and methods of transmission. These can pose challenges to music teachers with experience only in Western art music. To what extent and how are methods of folk music transmission finding their way into classrooms? How are string teachers meeting the need to teach music outside of their own experience? How does the context of the music change when it enters a classroom setting? This ethnographic multi-sited case study was designed to investigate existing examples of how traditional fiddling is currently taught. The result is a picture of how two individual educational scenarios incorporate elements of traditional music transmission, informal learning, social collaboration, and group instruction into their educational design. I explored the backgrounds and values that instructors and directors bring to each program and those of the musical traditions represented, and investigated how these are negotiated in the development of instrumental music programs. These programs are unique in that they feature group instruction, but classes are taught by tradition bearers. The programs studied here are Mountain Music for Youth (MMY, a pseudonym) in two counties in the southeastern United States. The two programs are primarily focused on traditional Southern American mountain music, with classes offered in fiddle, banjo, guitar, flatfoot dancing, and mountain dulcimer. Data was collected through observations of classes and performances, interviews with teachers and program directors, and document collection. First, I identified and explored four themes: “Music became my social life,” playing with others as a curriculum, values of the musical tradition, and need for instructor training. Then, using Schippers’s (2010) Twelve Continuum Transmission Framework (TCTF), I explored context, modes of transmission, dimensions of interaction, and approach to cultural diversity. Aural/oral and holistic learning, ties to lifelong social groups through music, and skills for participation in music communities play significant roles in the findings of this research. I argue for development of a participatory competency to be included in secondary instrumental curricula and in music teacher preparation programs to prepare students for lifelong participation in a wide variety of musics. Findings from this study can offer tools and perspective for string educators: a window into musical and non-musical elements that are central in the minds of tradition bearers as they pass their music on to the next generation.

The purpose of this study was to examine elderly amateur musicians’ motivation for participating in community choirs and their perceptions to discover the possible relationship between community music-making and potential benefits for the older adult population. Through a framework of motivation, specifically situational and individual interest, this study sought to ascertain what motivates older adults to participate voluntarily in community music and to explore their perceptions of their involvement. Eighteen adults, aged 55 or older, involved in three different community choirs participated in focus group interviews to generate primary data. Participants reported health/well-being, socialization, sense of purpose/personal growth, and identity as benefits of their musical activities. Additionally, members reported repertoire, leadership, atmosphere, performance venues, and previous experiences as having an influence on their participation. These results indicate that the participants’ perceived benefits directly affect the development of motivation and the decision to continue involvement in musical activities.

I examined what a music educator considered critical for students to achieve and maintain autonomous musicianship (Tobias, 2013) with the aid of current music technology, thereby seeking ways that their viewpoints did or did not blend with those of students in their classroom. I sought to record one teacher’s attitudes about music technology implementation in an Advanced Placement Music Theory classroom, a branch of the “secondary student population…traditionally excluded from music programs” (Tobias, 2010, p. 559). Next, I searched for ways that participating students’ uses of music technology revealed alignments or misalignments between their informal and formal learning environments. Finally, I explored the ways in which the teacher’s and students’ attitudes revealed a cooperative learning environment, defined according to pure and pragmatic constructivist theories of learning. Participants in this ethnographic case study comprised one teacher and nine students. Within one month, I interviewed students and their teacher, conducted classroom observations and collected several artifacts. Data analysis comprised a priori and open coding processes, as well as inductive, axial and selective application of codes to data. I organized data according to each research question and ensuing themes. Data analysis revealed the teacher’s attitudes about implementing technology into his curriculum and his students’ music technology use outside of school. Students discussed a variety of ways in which they work with music technology in and out of school, and some of these ways aligned with how their teacher facilitated their classroom routine. The classroom environment revealed constructivist qualities wherein students built their knowledge with music technology while making use of their informal learning experiences. Future research could look further into the extent to which students’ experiences play a role in the teacher’s music technology implementation in other non-band, choir, and orchestra classrooms and the role that a teacher’s assumptions play in that implementation.

Despite calls from The National Standards Curriculum (NSC) to incorporate music that reflects the wider society of Jamaica, the opinions and cultural systems of youth often go unnoticed in the classroom. This can create a disconnect between the established curriculum, students’ culture system, and how they are taught in the music classroom. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine how secondary school music teachers practiced culturally responsive teaching by functioning as cultural organizers, cultural mediators, and orchestrators of social contexts for learning when student learning was (a) related to their preferred music, and (b) related to cultural systems beyond their preferred musical culture. Three music teachers from three public secondary schools in the city of Kingston, Jamaica, participated in this research. Using an instrumental case study design (Stake, 2006), I observed each teacher’s lesson online on three separate occasions and conducted three semi-structured interviews with each teacher. The data collected were analysed and used to describe the themes that emerged. The findings from this study suggest that culturally responsive teaching does not only support ethnically diverse student populations but can function effectively with music teachers supporting students in Jamaica’s postcolonial environment. The teachers’ understanding of Jamaican culture did not necessarily align with students lived popular culture but learning about students’ preferred music and employing contextual teaching and learning was beneficial to the students. Understanding students’ cultural background, including their popular culture experiences, and including historical aspects of their culture to broaden their understanding of their own heritage, were critical to how teachers operated. Their teaching strategies included students’ preferred music and the teachers’ selected music, both used to develop a broad-based music curriculum aimed at engaging and expanding the students’ knowledge beyond what they already know.

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