Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of two distinct learning approaches to preparing culturally responsive music teachers. In this article we will describe the two different learning experiences, one in a graduate-level course and another as part of a preservice music teacher professional development session, and interpret the impact of these two approaches on music teachers’ observations and thinking regarding others, themselves, sociocultural issues, and teaching practice. Preservice and experienced music teachers were asked to reflect on their experiences resulting from one of two learning experiences—simulated or situated. We analyzed their reflections using grounded theory techniques. Five themes emerged from this analysis: (a) observations of diversity and difference; (b) awareness of intersections; (c) awareness of macro structures of power; (d) feelings of “otherness” and empathy; and (e) social agency and application. Despite the differing learning approaches applied, both experiences moved teachers beyond singular and simplistic notions of culture and diversity, towards understandings of intersections, structure, and power, as well social action and agency.
Keywords
Introduction
The cultural backgrounds and life experiences of the majority of teachers in US classrooms are different from their students. Teachers are overwhelmingly White, non-Hispanic (82%) (US Department of Education, 2016), whereas students are only 48% White, non-Hispanic (https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest). On ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic lines, teachers are not representative of their students, and this cultural/economic divide is projected to continue growing through 2024 (US Department of Education, 2016). The case is much the same for music teachers (Elpus, 2015).
Teachers, whose backgrounds differ from the majority of their students, often possess limited or problematic understandings of the perspectives, cultures, and life experiences of students of color, of low socioeconomic backgrounds, and whose native language is not English (Delpit, 1995; Gay, 2000; Ladson-Billings, 2006). These include stereotypical beliefs and deficit orientations surrounding students’ cultures, intelligence, and potential (Amatea, Cholewa, & Mixon, 2012; Darling-Hammond, 2006; Nieto, 2002). In music education, cultural differences and misunderstandings of students’ cultures can lead to disconnections between what music teachers think culturally diverse students need/want and the music pedagogies they apply (Abril, 2009; Kelly-McHale, 2013). Many music teachers report applying a color-blind pedagogy, which focuses on music content and pedagogy, to provide a seemingly “equal” education for all students (Salvador & Kelly-McHale, 2017). Superficial knowledge and misunderstandings on the part of music teachers, combined with pedagogies that may be equal but not equitable, may partially explain the significant under-representation of Latinx, English language learners, and lower socioeconomic students in elective music courses (Elpus & Abril, 2011).
Preparing teachers to work with children of diverse racial, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds is a pressing matter in teacher education today and will continue to be for some time (Darling-Hammond, 2006; Villegas & Lucas, 2002). We cannot assume that music teachers will acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and dispositions to work in culturally diverse settings, especially when their life experiences and backgrounds are so different from those of their students (Kelly-McHale & Abril, 2016). Research has suggested that the community settings of music teacher practicums do not significantly affect cross-cultural competence (McKoy, 2012). Developing culturally responsive music teachers may require more than field placements in schools that are culturally diverse.
Developing culturally responsive teachers
What does it mean to be a culturally responsive teacher? Villegas and Lucas (2002) claim that culturally responsive teachers (a) are socioculturally conscious and understand that perceptions of reality are shaped and influenced by social positionings; (b) have affirming views of students from diverse backgrounds; (c) see themselves as being responsible for and capable of being responsive to all students’ needs; (d) understand how learners construct knowledge and are capable of supporting knowledge construction; (e) demonstrate empathy for their students; and (f) utilize their knowledge about students’ lives to design effective instruction.
Studies in teacher preparation suggest that certain types of experiences in preservice teacher education can be important in preparing teachers to be culturally responsive (Villegas & Lucas, 2002). First, teachers must reflect on their own cultural identities, values, and knowledge. Through guided self-reflection (“reflexivity”), preservice teachers can analyze their cultural backgrounds, values, and unique perspectives. Danielewicz (2001) described reflexivity as “an act of self-conscious consideration that can lead people to a deepened understanding of themselves and others, not in the abstract, but in relation to specific social environments … [and] foster a more profound awareness … of how social contexts influence who people are and how they behave” (pp. 155–156). Through reflexivity, teachers may come to recognize how life experiences and philosophical orientations of teaching influence their relationships with students (Whipp, 2013); they may also come to recognize their assumptions, beliefs, expectations, and behaviors toward diverse students (Chou, 2007). As teachers become increasingly self-aware through “reflexivity,” they might develop greater empathy towards marginalized and diverse students, which is a reflection of understanding. The goal is that teachers will then become more responsive to students’ needs, backgrounds, and learning styles—that they will become more culturally responsive.
To be culturally responsive, teachers should also develop critical consciousness, that is, the ability to perceive social, political, and economic oppression and to take action against oppressive elements of society (Freire, 1974). Critical consciousness may provide a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the lives of students who are marginalized along lines of race, social class, language, and/or sexuality (Whipp, 2013). To develop culturally responsive music teachers, then, teacher educators or professional development providers may need to provide opportunities for teachers to (a) reflect on their own cultural backgrounds to develop a nuanced understanding of themselves and “others” (reflexivity), (b) recognize the forces of power that impact people’s positions in society (critical consciousness), so they can (c) respond to and act on behalf of their increasingly diverse students (social agency).
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of two approaches to culturally responsive music teacher education. Two experiential learning experiences were designed and implemented with experienced and preservice music educators. The first was a situated learning experience implemented with experienced teachers during a university course; the second was a simulated learning experience with preservice music teachers offered in a two-day workshop. Both approaches aimed to prepare culturally responsive music teachers; they differed in respect to pedagogy, contact time, and location of instructional delivery. This study will describe the two learning experiences and examine their impact on music educators’ observations and thinking regarding themselves, others, sociocultural issues, and their music teaching practices.
Methods: Situated and simulated learning
Situated and simulated learning experiences are both hands-on approaches in which participants are immersed in new/unfamiliar situations for the purpose of learning. They are also both grounded in constructivist theories of learning, in that knowledge is co-constructed through social interactions, inquiry, and discussion (Robinson, 2016). The difference is that simulated experiences replicate specific aspects of real-world through things such as guided games, modeling, or even traditional instruction (Lateef, 2010), whereas situated experiences happen in “authentic” communities, contexts, and cultures, rather than through abstractions alone (Lave & Wenger, 1991). Our conjecture is that both of these could be valuable approaches to developing music teachers who are culturally responsive, if they were specifically designed to stimulate thinking surrounding sociocultural issues that affect learning in the music classroom. We sought to investigate how the learning outcomes of these two compared to one another.
The situated learning experience (SIT) of the current study was embedded in a graduate-level course on culture, diversity, and equity in music education for experienced music teachers. It was conducted with five different cohorts of teachers over the period of seven years taught by one of the authors. There were a total of 33 teachers who participated in two phases of SIT. The first phase was for teachers to write an autobiographical essay reflecting on their ethnic, cultural, professional, and/or musical identities, and how that related to their teaching. This was based on the notion that teachers must understand themselves and their cultural position before they can understand others and how that relates to their teaching practices (Chou, 2007; Gay & Kirkland, 2003).
Phase two of SIT was to conduct a mini-ethnographic study of a community within an unfamiliar place in one of two large cities. Teachers were instructed to spend between 5–6 hours in a given community where they could immerse themselves in as many experiences as possible, with attention to music, dance, art, food, conversation, meanings, values, traditions, etc. They were encouraged, when appropriate and natural, to engage in conversations with people in the community and to document and reflect on those experiences. At the conclusion of the fieldwork, they prepared a documentary report of the field experience, connecting their observations to readings and reflecting on what they had learned about themselves, others, and their music pedagogy. In-class discussions and readings 1 provided a research and theoretical orientation before and after each phase, encompassing conceptions of culture, sociocultural theories, deficit model perspectives/language, and ethnographic methods. Class meetings provided a communal space in which to clarify concepts, share reflections, and test theories. The final reports served as the primary source of data for this study. Course materials and researcher reflective journal entries were used to contextualize the data and enrich interpretations.
The simulated learning experience (SIM) used in this study was a two-day workshop with 22 preservice music teachers, taught by one of the authors. The workshop utilized a researcher-designed game, called “impact,” combined with group discussions surrounding the relationship between music education and cultural diversity, equity, and deficit perspectives. The game (“impact”) 2 involved randomly sorting teachers into four general socioeconomic categories: poverty, working, middle, and owning classes. Teachers had to respond to various “real-world” scenarios from the perspective of the socioeconomic category they were given. They worked in groups to make decisions surrounding real-world challenges and obstacles that a person might face. Participants were required to conceptualize how the specific decision would impact the lived experience of people in specific socioeconomic/sociocultural groups. The game was designed so that teachers would recognize the ways in which socioeconomic resources intersected with cultural identity and social structures of power. Finally, as part of the workshop, teachers reflected on how the lessons they learned from the game could relate to school music education and pedagogy.
Since the concept of access and privilege is often abstract to teachers, this SIM was designed to make these concepts more concrete. The SIM was designed to deepen teachers’ understandings of cultural diversity, intersectionality, equity, and systems of power. Presentations and discussions provided a research and theoretical orientation, as well as a space for clarifying ideas and connecting to matters impacting the music classroom. After the two-day SIM workshop, teachers were asked to submit anonymous reflections on the workshop, with attention to things learned and potential impact on future practice. Those reflections served as primary data source for this component of the project.
Analysis and themes
A grounded approach was applied in the analysis of the data. Data were analyzed from our respective projects independently, but we agreed to (a) read the texts, (b) memo on codes and their relationship to one another, (c) code the data, and (d) develop tentative themes and relationships. After we conducted our preliminary analysis of our own projects, we discussed our codes, tentative themes, and reflections with each other. During this period of critical discussion, we challenged and questioned each other’s themes and codes, asked for clarification, and searched for points of convergence and divergence. We then shared our codes and themes with one another and re-analyzed the data with each other’s codes and themes in mind. After a series of further discussions, we agreed upon five emergent themes: (a) observations of diversity and difference—reflecting a distanced, objective view or description of culture; (b) awareness of intersections—going beyond a two-dimensional view of culture and beginning to realize the complexity of culture intersecting with and around one another; (c) awareness of macro structures of power—noticing larger societal mechanisms that result in power imbalance, inequity, and opportunity gaps; (d) feelings of “otherness” and empathy—describing personal feelings of empathy or feeling like an outsider; (e) social agency and application—statements of doing something different in community or in the classroom resulting from these experiences.
Findings by theme and approach
Observations of diversity and difference
One teacher did not describe the visible so much as her understanding of the limits of visible culture in her fieldwork at a Japanese cultural arts festival: I like to take something away from the experience that is tangible. So I was seriously considering buying some Japanese fabric or a parasol to take with me back to my classroom. But I stopped myself by remembering my insights from the last paper [the autobiography]. Just because I have an artifact in my classroom, it doesn’t give true insight into a culture or into the music … but maybe it could serve as the start of a discussion about meaning in a song or in the culture … I’d just have to go further with that.
Given the request to do so and readings that were a component of this SIT, it was no surprise that the vast majority of music teachers sought to notice and write about less-visible aspects of the community. These included descriptions of values, meanings, attitudes, and beliefs. For example, one teacher not only described hearing bomba (a Puerto Rican musical style) but talked to an informant who explained the music was “comedic and silly at times, but often politically oriented … offering a scathing critique of the establishment.” It was through conversations with cultural informants or extended immersion in the field that teachers were able to get to a deeper level of understanding. One stated: it wasn’t until we warmed up to each other that we got into deeper explorations of the nuances and meaning of being black and African in Chicago. They helped me to better understand what it meant to them to be called African or Nigerian or African American or just American.
Other teachers gleaned further understanding after, before, or during their field experience from research at a museum, online, or through a book.
Simulated learning: This theme was not present in reflections from the SIM group, which seems logical given that they were not immersed in visible culture and did not actually interact with individuals in a given community as part of the workshop.
Awareness of intersections
Simulated: Awareness of intersections was a prominent theme found in the analysis of preservice teachers’ reflections. The concept of intersectionality, the “notion that identity is formed by interlocking and mutually reinforcing vectors of race, gender, class, and sexuality” (Nash, 2008, p. 3), resonated with many participants. One stated: I had not heard of intersectionality before … Politically, I think a lot of people do not understand what intersectionality is, so when they hear that they might be privileged, they get offended and reject the notion because they don’t feel privileged. Intersectionality explains that you can be privileged in various areas … while being marginalized in others. I also learned how the same event or situation affects people of different classes differently. For the poor and the working class, a lot of the problems they experience end up piling up on top of each other, despite their best efforts to escape.
Some reflected on the way a label for the concept helped them to see it more clearly and notice other intersections that had not been overtly addressed in the SIM. Some mentioned becoming more attuned to the ways these culture boundaries intersect and reinforce or impact one another, rather than functioning independently. One student wrote: “My colleagues and I have not stopped making transfers from our normal conversations to intersectionality, and then reflecting on what that means, and how maybe our conversations can change based on this new lens.” Preservice teachers were able to develop an understanding of the ways identities intersect in more complex ways than they (or others) may have previously considered. One stated: Buzzwords such as “white privilege” and “marginalization” are used in all sorts of public, private and classroom discourse regarding social issues … I both celebrate and decry the proliferation of these ideas in society at large. I celebrate because there are people who are on the fringes of our society that need attention and need the opportunity to rise. At the same time, I am frustrated with the broad strokes used to describe privilege/marginalization as well as the victimhood status it sometimes ascribes to certain people. The intersectionality matrix is useful for combatting these broad descriptions because it redefines privilege and marginalization from broad terms (you are privileged or marginalized) to more specific and nuanced definitions (I am privileged in one way and marginalized in another).
Situated: A number of experienced teachers made observations about intersections in their reports. These included intersections between ethnicity and socioeconomic status, ethnicity and musical culture, and musical genres. One teacher, who studied a primarily Puerto Rican neighborhood, noted musical intersections: … the Spanish-language songs I heard in the restaurant sounded very much like any pop ballad you might hear on a US English-language radio station. I guess I expected to hear salsa or bachata exclusively. In my time in the field I also heard US style rap … I wanted to know more about who listens to what and why and how people feel about these musical cultures coming together.
Some came to realize that culture, identity, and musical preference are more complex than simplistic sociocultural categorizations and perceptions may initially suggest. One teacher, studying a Mexican community, claimed to have had “such simplistic ideas about Mexico as a nation and a people … we often talk about Mexicans as a singular type of person but digging deeper has helped me to learn that they are multicultural and multi-ethnic, linguistically and musically diverse …” One teacher studying an Asian American hip hop dance crew at the university stated that her immersion in this community helped her to move beyond stereotypes and generalizations: Without having done this project, I might have had the same, simplistic generalizations about both Asian Americans (even though I am Asian) and hip hop. The complexity of defining identity in a group that became an Asian American hip hop group named REFRESH, taught me the importance of providing … a “third space” where teachers use the local diversity as a resource for students to discover new means of expressing their individuality, where unexpected sides of one’s cultural diversity come together in unexpected ways, thereby furthering pluralism.
The unexpected juxtaposition of hip hop and affluent Asian American college students seemed to lead to the conclusion that teachers should use complex culture as a resource and find ways to tap into students’ interests and identities. Most of those who addressed intersections in their reports went further by challenging simplistic generalizations and stereotypes, and considering what this understanding might mean for teaching.
Awareness of the macro structures of power
Simulated: Teachers seemed to develop an awareness of “social structures of power” and the way specific social constructs either granted or denied “access” to various educational opportunities for many poor, minority children. One wrote: playing the game [i.e. impact] has established my understanding of different groups in the society. It has broadened my awareness of low-income people. I now understand the social construct of America better after the experience. I understand the achievement gap impacted by different social, political and economic. It is important for a teacher to understand students under different situations.
Another wrote: I was unaware just how much people have to struggle at the poverty/low income level … Just trying to get to school on time can be a great task or even trying to complete a project at the library can be a very stressful ordeal. Normal things that we take for granted every day don’t exist when you have that little money …
This SIM was organized around social economic strata as a way to make “access” a concrete concept for preservice teachers. One stated: I had conversations … about how there are major gaps in our economic and educational system, especially when it comes to the idea of making assumptions. We were all amazed at the different reasons that a student might be unable to attend school, or why they are going through different stressors.
Preservice music teachers may have little previous cross-cultural and cross-racial experiences prior to entering teaching (McKoy, 2012), in which case they might rely on stereotypical beliefs when working with students from sociocultural backgrounds that differ from their own. It seemed as though preservice music teachers began developing an awareness of the struggles of diverse students. The understanding also seemed to connect them to an attempt to conceptualize support structures for such students. As one wrote: I think those who have not interacted with marginalized students often romanticize their condition in an attempt to demonstrate they are caring and socially aware people. They see marginalized individuals as victims of an unfair society and, indeed, problems that marginalized communities face are the results of economic hardship and historic racism. In a general sense, we respond to victims with various modes of help. For example, if someone’s house burns down, we offer them shelter. If someone has been injured, we bind their wounds. If someone has had a traumatic experience, we provide a listening ear and counseling. So, what if a student is a victim of an economically devastated geographic location? What if they live in a community that has been hurt by historic racism? I think it is important to realize that they have been marginalized by society and must be given equitable access to resources that will help them move from marginalization and towards privilege.
Situated: Despite having read and discussed macro structures of power and oppression in the course, this theme did not emerge from the SIT group. It may be because the reports were designed to focus on observations of and reflections on local communities, which naturally drew attention to the more visible, micro-level aspects of culture and community.
Feelings of “otherness” and empathy
Situated: A common theme from many of the reports was how SIT made them feel like an “other.” They used terms like “stranger,” “other,” “out-of-place,” and “foreigner” to describe how they felt about being in a particular setting. One said: “I walked around feeling like I was in another universe and that I was out of place.” A handful said it was their first time ever having such a feeling. Some described the feeling as “odd” and “strange” because they were in city they had considered familiar. This feeling was expressed by most students who were visiting ethnic neighborhoods or who found themselves to be a racial “minority.” Some described their anxiety in speaking with an informant or walking around. One described her discomfort and related it to her own students: My feeling of anxiety in being different, in an unfamiliar and uncomfortable situation, gave me a way of realizing that some of my students might feel that way when they come to school … School might be right there in their neighborhood but yet so far away, culturally.
A number of them claimed that the experience helped them better understand the position of another. Some claimed that this would give them greater empathy for some of the students in their classroom. One said: Pushing myself out of my comfort zone and having the courage to step outside the borders we create, I was able to imagine what it is like for a teacher or a student to be a cultural outsider in some context.
Simulated: The experience seemed to provide students with a small window into the “lived” experience of low-socioeconomic and marginalized children they may teach in the music classroom. One preservice teacher stated: It was striking to see the disparity between the rich and the poor. I thought I understood the data which defines poor, working class, middle class, and the wealthy, but this game put a human face on the poor—those were my friends and students at that corner of the game board … The lesson I took away was that poor people today just can’t get a break.
It was interesting that those who were placed in the position of privilege during the simulated learning experiences seemed to have a stronger emotional response throughout the process. Some participants, placed in more advantageous social positions during the game, expressed frustrations in seeing their colleagues in disadvantaged social positions.
During the game I was of the group that already had a sufficient amount of money and things in the game didn’t surprise me … However, the other groups, the lower income groups that were working hard never seemed to be able to pull out of their situation. It made me think about the way our society is structured. I know we have a system that is based on a capitalistic society. I think it is great that we have the ability to dream and achieve education and job security for ourselves. I also think it is extremely important for those who are able to have an advantage in these areas to give back to society. Helping others can help our society as a whole and can make a difference. I don’t believe in socializing society, but I do believe in teaching and helping people to be able to achieve success and reach their goals.
Social agency and application
Situated
Most participants drew connections between SIT and their music teaching. These ranged from lesson plan ideas, to pedagogical approaches, to community connections. Several sub-themes emerged surrounding social agency and applications that came from their experiences in the field and were documented in their reports.
Music
Some described how they would likely apply what they learned or collected during their time in the unfamiliar community: “I bought a CD at the museum and will definitely create some lessons using that music”; “This project helped me to recognize and to think more deeply about how I can use or engage my students in music education through hip hop. I think it might be essential to the continuation of music education.”
A few focused on the music of the community and the inspiration to study the music more deeply and as part of a life-long pursuit. One said: By exploring this community … I got excited about reggaeton music … and will hear more and learn to dance more … This project made me realize that my learning is what I can bring to my students … it does not have to be rigid and stopped. It keeps going and it will keep me going.
Pedagogy
Others were able to apply abstract ideas that might influence their pedagogical approaches in the classroom. For example, one student said: This project taught me the importance of providing … a “third space” where teachers use the local diversity as a resource for students to discover new means of expressing their individuality, where unexpected sides of one’s cultural diversity come together in unexpected ways, thereby furthering pluralism.
Community
Some teachers were inspired to approach their community and students more mindfully and empathically. One said: “I need to open my eyes and ears and heart more to students who I may have previously seen as a group rather than as individuals.” Another claimed: “I am inspired to do this same project in the community where I teach. I had never thought of doing it before …”
Simulated
As empathy developed throughout the simulated learning experience, preservice teachers began to grapple with the vastness of the socioeconomic challenges some students face. There seemed to be a dampening of their spirits as these problems seemed insurmountable; however, there also appeared to be a strength that emerged and a confidence in their ability to be a part of positive change for better opportunities for their students. One wrote: I have definitely always felt there was more that could be done to help students that come from historically marginalized backgrounds succeed, but I always found it difficult to wrap my head around what could be done to help so many different children with such different backgrounds with such different issues faced each day … I no longer feel overwhelmed by an insurmountable systemic problem because as long as I am able to utilize my experiences from this workshop and maintain a critical consciousness of what each student is bringing or not bringing to the classroom, I feel like I will be able to help each student find success.
As preservice teachers embrace an understanding of the misconceptions of poverty, urban schools, and diverse students, they started to reflect on their previous encounters with students during teaching experiences with a seemingly deeper understanding of the situation. In order to present contexts of equity, diversity, and inclusion, preservice teachers were guided through a process that deconstructed the historical, economic, sociopolitical, and moral paradigms that underpin the quality of education for many children in the USA. For example, one teacher explained: I was teaching classes/sectionals at a middle/high school a few years ago. There were students who had broken glasses. They had trouble reading the music, and they couldn’t get a replacement. I realized that they really couldn’t afford a new pair of glasses. There were a group of students who had behavioral issues in rehearsal, and when we tried to reach their parents, it was very often that the parents would not be available. This experience provided me a context to why this was happening. The parents were usually working at that time. It wasn’t that they didn’t care to be involved in their child’s education, but they were working to survive. There was a lot of emphasis on students coming to afterschool performances and football games, but students couldn’t because they themselves were working. It was a shame how their grades were depended on choosing between work and their grades. This [game] has opened up my perception of what students and their parents might have gone through.
Interestingly, some documented an emergent desire to act as an agent of positive social change. One teacher examined personal privilege and realized how infrequently they advocated for social change. This person stated: I’ve always recognized and advocated for people with not as much access as I … While I am part of the Hispanic/Latino community, technically a “minority,” I still have so much more privilege than some people do … [This workshop] inspired me to speak up for those who cannot be heard.
Activism and serving as a change agent is the highest developmental stage of a socially just teacher and of multicultural education (Banks, 2006). When socially just teachers develop knowledge about and passion for activism, they leverage their position of power to impart change for their students, families, and communities. It was interesting to see that several students did not wait until they were teachers in the classroom to serve as agents of change. Several of them began serving as an advocate in their own sphere of influence, including family members, friends: My father, whom I love more than most people on this Earth, is a biased and hard-headed man. He grew up poor, with a mom who worked two jobs, and no father figure. Because of his intersectionality, he is very closed off to the progression of society, specifically in the context that our discussions were centered around. I hear from almost everyone in my family that [we] are extremely similar … but also in the way we approach particular situations … I love my father, but I am so frightened that over time, I will be just as closed off to societal change as he is. I share this with you because, after this weekend, I am less frightened … as a teacher, I cannot think of anything more important that I can instill in my students. I’m excited for the next time I go home, and I can talk about this with my dad.
Between the time of the SIM and the writing of the reflection, some of the preservice teachers had already demonstrated an action towards what they perceived to be a social injustice. One explained: I had the opportunity to take part in a peaceful protest of the national anthem inspired by the actions of Colin Kaepernick … I chose to protest on the field by raising my fist in solidarity and not playing the national anthem. I later received a picture from a friend showing me protesting. I had mixed feelings about whether or not to post it on social media because I was nervous there would be repercussions for my actions … It was right after we ended on Saturday that I realized how much power my privilege has given me and I would be being doing a disservice to those who are marginalized if I chose not to speak up because I was worried about the outcome. The amount of criticism I would receive wouldn’t compare to the oppression that people of color are facing. When I become a teacher, I want my students to know that I will fight for them. I will be their biggest advocate.
Concluding thoughts
While different in their approach to preparing more culturally responsive music teachers, both the situated learning and simulated learning experiences helped clarify students’ misconceptions about people with different sociocultural backgrounds than their own. Both experiences appeared to provide music teachers with opportunities for deep reflection and reflexivity on their own socialized cultural identities based on their past experiences, knowledge base, and value systems. These findings suggest that both short, simulated and longer, situated learning approaches can serve to challenge preconceived notions of “others,” deepen understandings of the complexities of intersectionality and culture, and heighten attention to culture. With that said, a minority of participants’ descriptions of “others” remained superficial and played into common tropes and stereotypes. It may be valuable to ensure there is sufficient time in a course or professional development program to unpack some of these (mis)understandings and carefully consider how they can meaningfully inform music teaching practices, to better serve students.
One striking result is how music teachers (experienced and preservice) in different learning situations were able to develop greater empathy for others, which has the potential to transfer into action for change in the classroom and school. Many of the teachers in SIT described feeling “different” or “out-of-place” being out in an “unfamiliar setting in a familiar city,” which some related to the feelings some of their students might feel in school. Many in SIM expressed signs of empathy in their reflections, particularly around issues of poverty and wealth disparities that emerged from the game, interrupting many socially constructed narratives of “poor” and “minority” children (Chou, 2007). Whipp (2013) suggests that feeling empathy is imperative for respecting difference and diversity in the classroom and helps teachers develop approaches that make learning more relevant and ultimately more effective for students. We must also consider that temporarily feeling like an “outsider” or “standing in someone’s shoes” may not have any long-term impact on practice or in developing cultural competence (McKoy, 2012).
Both approaches seemed to help many teachers recognize how simplistic and misguided singular categorizations can be in referring and responding to students. After their SIT field work, a few teachers wrote about how labels (e.g. Asian or Black) can be overly simplistic, leading to misguided assumptions about students (e.g. musical preferences, behaviors) and their families (e.g. values, aspirations). In SIM, many teachers wrote about their understanding of the ways privilege and marginalization are created through the intersection of social categories, and more importantly, how such intersected categories reinforce one another. Understanding intersections enabled preservice teachers to recognize the complexity of social identities and their relative positions of power. The hope is that music teachers might better recognize the complex relationship between social identity and identities in music or music in identities (Kelly-McHale, 2013) as a way to inform their pedagogy and curriculum. Of course, this is not fail-proof; to become culturally responsive, music teachers must continually construct knowledge about and respond to their students, while reflecting on those practices (Abril, 2009, 2013).
Themes that emerged from SIT suggest that these types of experiences, along with readings and in-class discussions: (a) provide a framework for stepping into and coming to understand the community where one teaches; (b) deepen observations of unfamiliar people, places, and cultures; (c) lead to recognizing and dispelling simplistic notions of culture, ethnicity, music, and people; and (d) provide ideas for curriculum and instruction. These are some of the behaviors, frameworks, and dispositions essential in developing more culturally informed and responsive music teachers (Abril & Kelly-McHale, 2016; Gay, 2000; Villegas & Lucas, 2002). The project, along with a period of reading, reflecting and discussing before and after the ethnographic field experience, offered them time to unpack, reflect, and weave ideas into their reports. They were able to clarify ideas/misconceptions and to solve practical curriculum and instructional puzzles for their future practices in music classrooms.
It is worth noting that the SIT group did not address matters surrounding macro structures of power in their reports. This can be explained in part by the fact that teachers chose projects around places and events, and framed culture around race, ethnicity, music, and religion. It might be one of the limitations of a short immersive field project or the guidelines experienced teachers were provided to complete their reports. Furthermore, the project was designed for teachers to develop a micro level understanding of people in a local community.
In the shorter SIM, preservice teachers seemed to develop an awareness of marginalized and underserved students through an immersive game and group discussions. As they began to develop a critical consciousness, it appeared as though they were able to delve deeper into understanding some of the overarching economic, social, and political constructs that hinder equity and social justice in the classroom. Additionally, it appeared as though the simulated game may have disrupted some preconceived notions about “others” that can marginalize and ostracize some students. Teachers in SIM did not write about their observations of specific cultural groups, possibly given that the nature of the project was less “ethnographic” in nature. SIM was intentionally designed to address systems of power in order for them to better understand the lived experiences of many of their students. Themes that emerged parallel some of the characteristics of culturally responsive teaching: (a) awareness and acknowledgement of their perceptions of reality of the “lived” experience of students and how their own personal location in social order may hinder clarity and understanding; (b) empathy for the lived experience of others who are less fortunate; and (c) affirming views of students who may be from different backgrounds than their own (Abril, 2013). More importantly, it seemed as though these teachers felt empowered to use their personal positions of privilege, both socially and professionally, to make education in their future classroom more responsive to the needs of socioculturally diverse students. That energy and passion may need to be tapered by interrogating the line between being culturally responsive and holding a savior complex, which might further marginalize students.
Participants in both groups seemed to be emboldened to act in new ways that might lead to more socially just learning spaces that draw on the cultural diversity as a resource and that furthers music learning. Culturally responsive teachers strive to be socially just, reflective, and culturally informed agents in the classroom, school, and community (Abril, 2013; Gay, 2000). As some teachers expressed a critical consciousness, they seemed to become empowered to consider how their understanding and position of power can serve as a platform for social justice in the classroom and in school. Their reflections and reports suggest that most teachers held concrete ideas for becoming more actively engaged (as both teachers and community members) in issues of social justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. This might be a step towards becoming a more culturally responsive music teacher.
Footnotes
Funding
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.