Music Education Commons^™

Choral Repertoire: Promising New Directions For Music Theory Teaching, Meghan Hatfield

Music Student Research

Choirs are an integral part of music departments and schools, particularly at institutions with large choral education programs. In its standards for music education, the 2022 NASM handbook states that “Teachers should be prepared to relate their understanding of music… both in general and as related to their area(s) of specialization.” Yet despite the large number of students participating and/or specializing in choir, choral music is nearly absent from music theory textbooks. Perhaps as a result, research has shown that high school choir directors struggle with harmonic score study (Rowher et al. 2014) and, anecdotally, choir students and teachers are …

Influences On General Music Teachers' Mental Health During The Collective Trauma Of Covid-19, Abigail Van Klompenberg

Visions of Research in Music Education

The purpose of this collective case study was to examine elementary music teachers’ mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research questions were: 1) What factors influenced music teachers’ mental health and well-being during COVID-19?; 2) How did music teachers support their own mental health and well-being during COVID-19?; 3) How might stakeholders (such as schools, administrators, and community members) better support educators during challenging times? Data included semi-structured interviews, informal observations, and a researcher journal. Participants were three elementary music educators teaching K­­–5 music in geographically and demographically diverse public schools throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Through “data …

Classroom Management And Student Behavior After The Covid-19 Pandemic: Perspectives From Five Elementary General Music Teachers, Jennifer Gee

Visions of Research in Music Education

The purpose of this study was to examine elementary general music teachers’ experiences and perspectives with classroom management within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants consisted of five practicing elementary general music teachers in Southern California who participated in three individual interviews, one focus group, and two classroom observations during the fall of 2022. I analyzed data through axial coding (Creswell, 2012), yielding four themes: positive classroom management, social and emotional learning, support from classroom teachers and administrators, and challenges. The findings of this study highlighted participants’ positive perceptions of classroom management, the importance of building relationships, students’ social …

"Being Able To Play For A Wider Audience": Student Musician Perspectives On Performing In The Library, Gisele Schierhorst, Christine Fena

Library Faculty Publications

In the United States, the library-as-concert-space has a substantial history and has been a way for libraries of all types to build partnerships and create community, while providing free, educational, and shared experiences for patrons. Less discussed, however, is the impact that informal concerts have on student musicians who perform in academic library spaces. Conventionally, student musicians perform well-rehearsed repertoire in recital halls for an audience that consists of their peers, teachers, family, and friends. These formal performances are often part of the required academic curriculum for music majors. There is little opportunity, however, for them to experience what it …

Singing Our Stories: Building Community And Developing Self-Empowerment In The Childless Voices Choir, Laura Curtis

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Involuntary childlessness is a complex and identity-shaping experience moulded by parameters of a pronatalist society. For the women who participated in this study, isolation, silence, and shame were experienced as a consequence of their childlessness. Motivated by the idea that singing, particularly in group contexts, might aid in unburdening women whose identities have been stigmatized by their childless circumstances, this ethnographic study examined whether, and in what ways, women experienced community and developed self-empowerment through participation in the Childless Voices Choir.

Framed by theories of community (Delanty, 2018) and empowerment (Adams, 2008; McLaughlin, 2016), this research explored how meaningful engagement …

The Extraordinary Legacy Of Lee Pogonowski, Richard Carr

Visions of Research in Music Education

This article is a memoir of the author’s experience studying music education at Teachers College Columbia University with Professor Lenore Pogonowski in the mid 1990s. The author completed four years of study at that institution earning an MA. Ed.M., and an Ed.D. He was also a teaching artist for the Creative Arts Laboratory, a US government funded program headed by Dr. Pogonowski, during that time. Professor Pogonowski had a profound impact on the author’s teaching practice during the ensuing decades. In his interactions with other music educators, he was surprised to learn how many of them were trained in a …

Lessons From The Stairwell: Celebrating And Sustaining The Pedagogical Legacy Of Lee Pogonowski, Shane Bordeau

Visions of Research in Music Education

As a teacher and researcher of music education for more than forty years, Lee Pogonowski was an early voice in disrupting traditional approaches to teaching and learning, inviting student-centered approaches that emphasized music as an aesthetic experience (Biasini & Pogonowski, 1969; Pogonowski, 2001). The influence of her work continues to reverberate throughout the field of music education, through the legacy of her impact on her students (Allsup, & Baxter, 2004; Greher, 2004; Robinson et al., 2011). Reflections on this legacy, through stories and memories of experiences in her classroom serve as a reminder and challenge to continue and expand the …

Selected Elementary Music Educators’ Perceptions Of Curriculum, Scheduling, And Workload, Mara Nowlin

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Elementary music is a field that many people would agree is important, but the subject does not always get an equal opportunity when stacked up against subjects that are regulated with standardized tests, such as math or language arts. I set out to study elementary music programs in the region where I am employed (the Four State Region of Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma) in the Midwest. Some questions I sought to answer were what types of elementary music curricula are available and popular, and how districts come to select their music curriculum. Additionally, I wanted to examine the school …

Repertoire Selection For High School Band Assessment, Miranda Cook

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Selecting repertoire is one of the most dynamic responsibilities music educators face, as it often serves as the music curriculum for band directors. Selecting high quality repertoire for students that achieves musical, educational, and culturally responsive goals is vital as part of their ensemble experience. When selecting repertoire for assessment, band directors must determine what repertoire their ensemble can perform well according to the Virginia and Band and Orchestra Directors Association performance rubric, while demonstrating musical and educational growth. The purpose of this study is to examine elements used by high school band directors when choosing repertoire for assessment. Research …

Musical Behaviours, Dispositions, And Tendencies: Exploring Church Music-Making Through A Theory Of Practice, Laura E. Benjamins

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of this study was to examine two churches’ music-making practices and their reflection of, and response to, the musical and theological fields in which they are located. Using central concepts from Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice (1977) including habitus, capital, and field in connection with religion, the study considered how worship leaders and musicians strategized their musical behaviours and “disrupted” or affirmed traditional norms of music-making in each contemporary worship music-making setting. The study further explored whether such musical behaviours reflected and shaped habitus both institutionally and individually, and if so, the ways in which the process occurred.

This …

Performance Anxiety In Young Musicians: A Case Study Of Music Educators' Experiences, Carmen L. Rodriguez

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Anxiety is a common emotional reaction in musicians that can negatively influence their performance. Some studies have proved that Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) can be found not only in adults but also in adolescents and children from 3 years old. Since MPA is a significant aspect of musicians’ development, it is essential that music educators take preventive action against MPA in young musicians, specifically under 18 years old. The purpose of this study is to examine the strategies used by music educators to address MPA in young musicians. Educators were interviewed regarding musical performance anxiety and its presence within their …

Approaching Fifth To Sixth Grade Flute Pedagogy Considering Vark Learning Styles Model, Julie Vanderlugt

Senior Honors Theses

The benefits of learning an instrument for childhood development intersecting with the positive growth trend in homeschooled families generates increased demand in value for supporting resources. Creating resources that would include learning styles defined by the VARK model (Visual, Auditory, Read/Write, Kinesthetic) designed to engage students during their particular developmental stage enhances at-home music education. The compiled research surrounding VARK learning styles and flute specific pedagogy would provide a foundation for specialized flute exercises and activities for fifth to sixth grade students learning to play the flute in a homeschooled or private lesson setting. The structure of the thesis is …

A Multiple Case Study Of Adolescent Piano Students: Examining Motivation Through The Lens Of Interest Development, Carla Lucia Salas Ruiz

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

One way of understanding motivation is through the factors that influence it. These factors analyzed as psychological constructs give rise to the notion of motivation variables such as interest. Interest is a powerful variable that affects student motivation to learn (Hidi & Renninger, 2006; Hulleman et al., 2017; O’Keefe et al. 2017; Renninger & Hidi, 2016; Tin, 2013). In 2006, Hidi and Renninger proposed the “Four-Phase Interest Development Model” for the characterization of interest in learning. According to this model, learners can move from a situational level of interest development to a well-developed individual interest, in a sequential manner. This …

California Preservice Teachers And Music Integration In Elementary School Settings, Jennifer Potter Gee

Visions of Research in Music Education

The purpose of this study was to examine California preservice teachers’ experiences and beliefs with music and music integration in elementary school settings. Preservice elementary teachers (N = 149), currently pursuing a Liberal Studies degree at one of several universities in California, consisted of the participants in this investigation. Results indicated participants agreed that an elementary classroom teaching should integrate content from music class into other subjects, while also reflecting a significant association between participants’ year in school and their agreement that an elementary general music teacher should integrate other subject area content. Results also indicated a significant association …

A Survey Of K-12 Music Teachers’ Classroom Management Experiences In Music Teacher Preparation Programs, Jennifer Potter Gee

Visions of Research in Music Education

The purpose of this follow-up study was to explore classroom management sources and content in music teacher preparation programs. K-12 music educators, who self-identified as members of various professional music education organizations, were the participants in this study. Similar to the initial iteration of the survey with elementary general music educators, recurrent sources of classroom management reported by participants included mentoring from a licensed teacher and supervised fieldwork. Teaching procedures and pacing instructions were common examples of classroom management content included in a music teacher education program, which differed slightly from those identified by elementary general music teachers. Mentoring from …

Music Education Majors And Mental Health: A Follow-Up Study, Philip D. Payne

Research & Issues in Music Education

Music education majors across the United States (N = 1029) self-reported indicators of depression, anxiety, personality, and stress. According to the results, music education majors are highly busy, and report elevated levels of stress as compared to their peers. Semester enrollment averages include: 18.5 hours (including 0 credit courses) a semester, rehearsing an average of 9.08 hours a week, and a majority of whom work an average of 13-15 hours a week all while reporting high perceived stress levels. Furthermore, 74% of respondents required additional screening on the DSM-V for depression with over 70% exhibiting symptoms of moderate or severe …

Soundcurrents: Exploring Sound’S Potential To Catalyze Creative Critical Consciousness In Adolescent Music Students And Undergraduate Music Education Majors, Jashen I. Edwards

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of this study was to examine how and in what ways a reorientation towards sound could catalyze creative critical consciousness in high school music students and university music undergraduates. Specifically, this study sought to uncover how and in what ways sonic lifeworlds: everyday sound currents streaming in/out/through participants’ lived experiences at school, home, neighborhood, park, playground, street, alleyway, train station, cyberspace could potentially excite creative aspects of knowing and being via “cultural production” (Gaztambide-Fernández, 2011) and also elicit critical ways of thinking about and responding to the world as “cultural citizens” (Benedict & Schmidt, 2014). This study stems …

In Search Of A Better World? Reconsidering Sociology And Music Education As Utopian Fields, Alexandra Kertz-Welzel

Visions of Research in Music Education

Music education research has in recent years been interested in defining music education’s societal mission. Concepts such as praxial music education, artistic citizenship, or an activist approach tried to determine that music education’s foremost task would be to transform societies. This seemed urgent in view of global crises. But is music education’s foremost mission really social change? To a certain degree, this is a sociological question. To answer it, a look back to the beginnings of sociology as a field of research is a promising way to go. When sociology emerged as a specific field of investigation, it was not …

Defining Music Of A Questionable Past: A College Musician’S Approach, Noah Whetstone

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In recent years, social movements have raised awareness on issues like whitewashing and the oppression of minority voices in fields such as music. These social movements have drawn attention to the cultural appropriation that sometimes occurs in music classrooms. Outcomes from recent legislation proposals and social conflicts across the United States threaten to limit educational opportunities. Although many people have understood these pieces of legislation to affect topics such as history and English, it may also affect music education. When choosing music to teach their students, music educators are often challenged as many songs have questionable pasts and make references …

Guide To The Robert Leigh Morris Collection, Columbia College Chicago

CBMR Collection Guides / Finding Aids

Robert Leigh Morris (b. 1941) is an American composer and music instructor. The Robert Leigh Morris Collection contains his personal music scores, from published works to drafts, and programs from his performances, as well as scores by other composers. Professional correspondences, documents, and some of Morris’s writings are also included.