Elementary-aged students are most likely participating in a school music Community of Musical Practice (CoMP) in addition to other CoMPs outside of school; therefore, knowing a student’s entire Landscape of Musical Practice (LoMP) can help music teachers better align in-school music practices with the music practices of other CoMPs in a student’s landscape and provide appropriate space inside the music classroom for identity work to occur. The purpose of this study was to identify how elementary-aged music students engaged within a landscape of musical practice to determine to what extent, if any, a student’s identity was reconciled, renegotiated, or modulated by participating in multiple practices across their landscape. Five students, five parents, and one vocal music teacher participated in this study. All students attended the same elementary school near a large metropolitan area in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all data were collected virtually. School music classes were visited remotely using Google Meets, and interviews were conducted using Zoom. Parents recorded and uploaded to a secure Google folder three-to-five-minute videos of music activities in which their children participated. Evidence suggested that the students in this study participated in multiple CoMPs across a LoMP and that their musical identities were reconciled, negotiated, or modulated by competing demands. This study also revealed theoretical terms that can aid in the understanding of how children inhabit and journey across a landscape of musical practice. These terms are the imaginary CoMP, the dabbler, and the steward. The imaginary CoMP is a constructed substitute in a child’s mind where they play or imagine participating within a musical community. Children may not know what types of activities they enjoy, prefer, or have competence in; therefore, they may dabble within and between different activities. The dabbler is someone who tries out and bounces between different musical activities without intention or understanding of full participation within a CoMP. Because children are minors and lack full agency, they cannot join CoMPs without permission and help from an adult. The steward, therefore, can be understood as someone who is responsible for managing the child’s LoMP. The steward is especially involved when searching out and locating access to participation in a CoMP. With these three terms, more can be learned about how a child’s LoMPs may be different than that of an adult, and how music teachers might be better able to understand how to align music class activities with those of the child’s LoMPs. Based upon the findings of this study, music teachers may wish to consider ways to encourage exploration in the music classroom. It may also be important for them to find ways to encourage students to dabble between musical activities that help them discover what kind of musician they want to be as well as what musical activities they might wish to engage, both in school and outside of school, across a LoMP. / 2023-09-02T00:00:00Z
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/45091 |
| Date | 02 September 2022 |
| Creators | Goetschius, Melissa A. |
| Contributors | Smith, Tawyna D. |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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