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FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
Miami, Florida
MUSIC LITERACY: A MULTICASE STUDY OF FIVE SECONDARY CHORAL
DIRECTORS’ USE AND UNDERSTANDINGS OF CHORAL LITERACY IN THE
CHORAL CLASSROOM
2019
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
in
CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION
by
Alicia Romero-Sardiñas
ii
To: Dean Michael R. Heithaus
College of Arts, Sciences and Education
This dissertation, written by Alicia Romero-Sardiñas, and entitled Music Literacy: A
Multicase Study of Five Choral Directors’ Use and Understandings of Choral Music
Literacy in the Choral Classroom, having been approved in respect to style and
intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment.
We have read this thesis and recommend that it be approved.
_______________________________
Candace Davenport
_______________________________
Eric Dwyer
_______________________________
Sarah Mathews
_______________________________
Keisha McIntyre-McCullough
_______________________________
Thomas Reio
_______________________________
Linda Spears-Bunton, Major Professor
Date of Defense: November 6, 2019
The dissertation of Alicia Romero-Sardiñas is approved.
_______________________________
Dean Michael R. Heithaus
College of Arts, Sciences and Education
_______________________________
Andrés G. Gil
Vice President for Research and Economic Development
and Dean of the University Graduate School
Florida International University, 2019
iii
DEDICATION
“Legacy is planting seeds you’ll never see grow.”- Hamilton
from Hamilton by Lynn Manuel Miranda
This manuscript is dedicated to my first teachers, Alina and Hugo Romero, who
worked tirelessly, encouraged me, and always supported me throughout any endeavor I
took on. It is dedicated to all the teachers who build up their students, who inspire and
guide along the journey of life; and it is dedicated to all the music teachers who selflessly
give of themselves daily so that their students may carry on their legacy.
iv
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This labor of love would not be possible without certain people, and for this
reason they deserve to be acknowledged and thanked. First of all, my husband who gave
up hours of time with me, as I would attend classes, sit to write, edit, think, read, etc. He
always gave me the space I needed, and also the affirmation and encouragement when
necessary. Secondly, my family, although they would playfully question my passion, they
were always proud of all of my endeavors. My immigrant parents who didn’t finish their
college degrees, but always emphasized the value of education, who proudly announced I
was a teacher, who attended every concert I ever performed in and all the ones I would
put on as a teacher, who never said no to any educational experience in my life – I thank
you (or something to this effect).
I must also acknowledge my professors, who took a chance on the outsider. My
chair Dr. Spears-Bunton, I never imagined the journey that this degree would put me on.
Thank you for teaching me the magic of a transition, and for believing in the very unique
ideas I presented. This songbird is thankful for the opportunities you granted and guided
her through. My unsung hero Carolyn Reid-Brown who helped make sure this degree
was finished in a timely manner, who read multiple iterations of my dissertation, who
understood it, and who got excited with me as it slowly began to come together. Of
course, the rest of the committee who has sat through countless pages, listened to me
speak, and has offered me guidance and support throughout. A final note, for the
professor who came out of retirement and helped me edit the bulk of this document in the
summer months.
v
Finally, I must thank all the teachers in my life; those who personally taught me,
those who have been my colleagues and allowed me to use them as guinea pigs in the
earliest moments of my research, and finally those who allowed me to observe and
interview them. I think all of these individuals are rock stars who deserve many more
accolades than our society permits. These are my heroes, and the people I hope to
continue to learn from.
vi
ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION
MUSIC LITERACY: A MULTICASE STUDY OF FIVE SECONDARY CHORAL
DIRECTORS’ USE AND UNDERSTANDINGS OF CHORAL LITERACY IN THE
CHORAL CLASSROOM
by
Alicia Romero-Sardiñas
Florida International University, 2019
Miami, Florida
Professor Linda Spears-Bunton, Major Professor
The purpose of the present multi-case study was to give experienced choral music
educators a voice. It sought to describe, examine, and understand the perceptions and use
of elements within choral music literacy of five choral music educators. These elements
were specifically sight-reading, text analysis, and composition. Research questions
included 1) What are the perceptions and understandings of choral music literacy held by
these choral music educators? 2) How do these choral music educators design and
implement their curriculum? and 3) How can choral music educators balance
performance requirements and the elements of choral music literacy, which are
invaluable in the creation of independent music making? The current research was
guided by ideas grounded in constructivism, critical literacy, and transactional theory as a
theoretical lens. Participants were selected purposively following the previous work of
Garret (2013). Participants included three females and two males, two middle school and
three high school choral music educators, with teaching careers ranging from eight years
to 38 years in an urban city in the south with diverse populations. Five mini cases were
vii
bound together including participants’ interviews, observations, and lesson plans. The
data collection included 15 interviews, 18 observations, and supplemental documents
such as lesson plans and musical scores. Data analysis was inductive; 48 codes emerged
and were gathered into five themes including musicianship skills and development,
interpersonal connection, teacher qualities and responsibilities, student involvement, and
growth mindset.
viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION…………….…………………………………..…...1
Literacy and Music Literacy: Differences and Similarities……………….……….5
Choral Music Education and Choral Music Literacy……………..….....…6
Choral Music Literacy: Interplay between Literacy and Choral Music…...8
Problem Statement …………………………………………………………..…..10
Purpose of the Study …………………………………………………………….11
Significance of the Study ………………………………………………………..12
Research Questions …………………………………………………………...…14
Organization of the Study ……………………………………………………..…14
Researcher in the Field ……………………………………………………….….16
Summary ………………………………………………………………………...17
CHAPTER TWO: EXPOSITION………………...………………………………….…..18
Discussion of the Theoretical Perspective: Building Knowledge….…………….19
Constructivism and Choral Music: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives..…...19
Critical Literacy and Choral Music: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives……24
Transactional Theory and Choral Music: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives.29
Historical Context of the Study…………………………………………………...33
Music Education in the United States….……...………………………….33
Arts Curriculum Theory.……………………………………………...….36
Literacy and Music: Elementary Instruction…………….………….....…38
Literacy and Music: Secondary Instruction………………....………...….40
Choral Music Literacy………………………………………………………..…..42
Music Teachers and Pedagogy: What is Known and What Needs to be
Learned…………………………………………………………………. 44
Qualitative Research in Choral Music Education……………………………..…47
Identification of Gaps and Limitations in the Research Literature……………….49
CHAPTER THREE: DEVELOPMENT……...…………………………………..……...51
Context of the Study………………………………………………………….…..53
Role of the Researcher………………………………………………….………...54
Researcher in the Field………………………………………….…..........54
Personal Relationship to Music Education……………………….………55
Relationships with Participants……………………………………...…...55
Position within the Community of Choral Music Educators……………..56
Participant Selection………………………………………………………….…..56
Description of Participants……………………………………………………….58
Data Collection…………………………………………………………………...61
Interviews…………………………………………………….…………..61
Observations …………………………………………….……………….63
ix
Procedures ………………………………………………….……………64
Sources …………………………………………………….…….………65
Analysis ………………………………………………………………………….66
Generalizability and Transferability ……………………………………………..68
Trustworthiness ………………………………………………………………….69
Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………….69
CHAPTER FOUR: MODULATING TRANSITION: INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDIES..71
Andrea Martinez …………………………………………………………………72
Classroom Set-Up and Preliminary Observations ……………….………75
Perceptions and Understandings of Choral Music Literacy……….……..77
Music Literacy and Choral Music Literacy………………………....……79
Curriculum Design and Implementation…………………………...…….81
Steps for teaching a song: a component of curriculum design
and implementation …..……………………..…………..……….84
Experiential Learning: a component of curriculum design and
implementation ………………………..…………………...……86
Student Involvement: a component of curriculum design and
implementation……………………………..……………………87
Growth Mindset: an unexpected component of curriculum design
and implementation………………………………………………88
Choral Music Literacy and Performance Requirements …………..……..90
Summary……….…………………………………………………………….…..91
Chuck Harris……………………………………………………………………..92
Classroom Set-Up and Preliminary Observations ………………………95
Perceptions and Understandings of Choral Music Literacy …………….96
Music Literacy and Choral Music Literacy ……………………………..98
Student leadership and music making: components of choral music
literacy……..………………………………………………….....99
Curriculum Design and Implementation…………….……………….…101
Teaching, learning, and evaluating: components of
curriculum design and implementation……………………..…..104
Choral Music Literacy and Performance Requirements ……………….107
Summary……………….……………………………………………………….108
Daniel Braunstein ………………………………………………………..……..109
Classroom Set-Up and Preliminary Observations ……………………...112
Perceptions and Understandings of Choral Music Literacy…………….114
Music Literacy and Choral Music Literacy ………………….…………115
Curriculum Design and Implementation………….………………...…..116
Teaching, learning, and evaluating: components of
curriculum design……………………………………………….119
Student involvement: a component of curriculum design and
Implementation……..…………………………………………..121
Choral Music Literacy and Performance Requirements ………………..123
x
Summary………….………………………………………………………...…..125
Elizabeth Owen…………………………………………………………………125
Classroom Set-Up and Preliminary Observations ………………..…….128
Perceptions and Understandings of Choral Music Literacy………….....129
Music Literacy and Choral Music Literacy………….……….………....131
Curriculum Design and Implementation………….…………………….133
Curricular changes over time: rote vs. literacy based ………......135
Choral Music Literacy and Performance Requirements ………….……138
Summary….…………………………………………………………….139
Ricky Miller…………………………………………………………………….139
Classroom Set-Up and Preliminary Observations………………...……142
Perceptions and Understandings of Choral Music Literacy …………...143
Music Literacy and Choral Music Literacy………………………...…..146
Curriculum Design and Implementation ……………………………….149
Teaching a new song: component of curriculum design and
implementation …………………………………...…………….151
Storytelling and connecting: component of curriculum design
and implementation………………..…………..………..………153
Choral Music Literacy and Performance Requirements ………………..154
Summary ………………………………….…………………………....156
CHAPTER FIVE: RECAPITULATION: CROSS CASE ANALYSIS…..………….…157
Theme 1: Musicianship Skills and Development…………………………….…158
Connections to Constructivism……………….…………………….…..162
Connections to Critical Literacy…………………………..…………….164
Connections to Transactional Theory……………………………..…….165
Theme 2: Interpersonal Connection…………………………………………….166
Connections to Constructivism…………………………….……….…..168
Theme 3: Teacher Qualities and Responsibilities……………………………....170
Connections to Constructivism…………………………………....……172
Connections to Critical Literacy……………………………………..….173
Theme 4: Student Involvement………………………………………………….173
Connections to Constructivism………………………….……………...176
Connections to Critical Literacy………………………………..…….…177
Theme 5: Growth Mindset as a Philosophy of Teaching……………………….177
Research Questions Answered Through the Data….………………………..….180
Choral Music Educators’ understandings of Choral Music Literacy……181
Choral Music Educators’ curriculum design and implementation ……..182
Choral Music Educators’ balance of performance requirements and
elements of choral music literacy………………………..……….……..184
Summary………………………………………………………………………..186
CHAPTER SIX: CODA- CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS………………….188
xi
Aim and Research Questions of the Study……………………………………...188
Findings ………………………………………………………………………...189
Constructivist Curriculum Designs and Development……………….....189
Critical Literacy in the Choral Classroom………………….………...…192
Recommendations for Future Research………………………………………... 197
More Observations of Longer Time Period………………………….…197
Music Teacher as an Island…………………………….…………….…198
Teacher Survey- Choral Music Literacy………………………………..199
Student Interviews or Survey………………………………….………..199
Limitations ……………………………………………………………………..200
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...201
REFERENCES………………………………………...…………………………….…205
APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………………. 214
VITA……………………………………………………………...………………….... 230
xii
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE PAGE
1. Andrea’s Classroom Set-up……………………………………………………….....77
2. Chuck’s Classroom Set-up …………………………………………………...……..96
3. Daniel’s Classroom Set-up…………………………………………………….…...113
4. Elizabeth’s Classroom Set-up ……………………………………………………...128
5. Elizabeth’s Middle School Choir Graphic Organizer ………….…………….…….132
6. Ricky’s Classroom Set-up……………………………………………...…………..143
1
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
". . . the arts have been an inseparable part of the human
journey; indeed, we depend on the arts to carry us toward
the fullness of our humanity. We value them for themselves,
and because we do, we believe knowing and practicing
them is fundamental to the healthy development of our
children's minds and spirits. That is why, in any civilization
- ours included - the arts are inseparable from the very
meaning of the term 'education.' We know from long
experience that no one can claim to be truly educated who
lacks basic knowledge and skills in the arts."
–National Standards for Arts Education (1994)
Literacy, in its various forms, is fundamental to the continuation of any
civilization and is intrinsic to every discipline in the education of the human race
(National Standards for Arts Education, 2014). Literacy is commonly referred to as a
skill; the ability to read, write, understand, and interact with text of a community or
discipline. Even so, the importance of literacy is often overlooked within the context of
the arts. The 1994 passage of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, brought on a
standards movement, which originally did not include the arts as a core content area. The
arts were later adopted as a core content area in the final version of the act, and a
consortium of organizations representing teachers of various art forms released the
National Standards for Arts Education in 1994. The National Standards for Arts
Education were revamped in 2014. A currently existing reality, the arts in general, must
fight for representation and acknowledgement as a valuable and integral part of
education. The current study was undertaken to elucidate literacy within the general
context of music and music education, but more specifically within the context of choral
music education. Music education is the large umbrella which includes all aspects of
2
music education; choral music education is specifically geared towards the choral art
form. Literacy is necessary as a means of allowing people to think, understand, and create
independently. In a world where so much information is constantly bombarding the
populace, literacy provides humans with a tool to sort through the muck.
Arts education, specifically music education, provides a way of helping students
develop and travel through the historical and artistic venues of humanity. It also prepares
students to shape and create the future. The ways in which this is accomplished is first, in
the recreation of music from the past or other cultures. The second, is by allowing
students to play with, alter, or create new artistic forms. The notion is supported in the
National Standards for the Arts Education (2014), which explained that the arts help our
civilizations by communicating experiences and feelings that transcend specific points in
time; ergo, we educate students in the arts for this reason. There is a convergence
between the purpose of music and literacy in that both are forms of communication.
Music communicates feelings, emotions, ideas, and sometimes stories to an audience as
well as the performer. Literacy is a means of communication. As such, music education
when intentional about enhancing student literacy, typically results in improved
(reciprocal) outcomes in both areas. Krist (2002) defined literacy as “a way of conveying
meaning through and recovering meaning from the form of representation in which it
appears” (p. 368). Through this lens of literacy as a means of communication, choral
music education is then specifically presented in the current study as a form of literacy
that teaches students to use their unique voices to better recover meaning from the past
and communicate that meaning with the present, and future communities and audiences.
3
Choral Music Literacy as a term does not currently exist in the research literature.
For the purpose of the current study, choral music literacy has been operationalized as the
ability to independently (a) analyze the musical and textual information on the page, (b)
evaluate and make choices about how to communicate this information to general
audiences, and (c) assess the outcome of these choices. The English Language Arts
Standards (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2019) state that students should be
able to “read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical
inferences from it” (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R1). The standards also state that
students should be able to “determine central ideas of themes of a text and analyze their
development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas,” (CCSS.ELA-
LITERACY.CCRA.R2) and that students should be able to “interpret words and phrases
as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative
meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone” (CCSS.ELA-
LITERACY.CCRA.R4). These are all examples of what Rosenblatt (1995) describes as
efferent reading. The efferent reading refers to the factual and functional aspects of a text.
When choral students are performing their music, the National Arts Standards for
Traditional and Emerging ensemble strands states that students should be able to “analyze
creators’ content and how they manipulate elements of music to provide insight into their
intent and inform performances.” In other words, the students should be able to
recognize what the composer intended in the music, on the basis of both musical
notation—the symbols on the page which denote units of time/measure, speed, volume,
and pitch—as well as the words utilized in conjunction with the notes to share the intent
with the audience during a performance. The National Standards also state that students
4
should be able to “make an interpretive decision based on their understanding of context
and expressive intent.” Again, students must look beyond the words alone, or the notes
alone, to recognize the context and intent of the music they will perform and have a
personal connection or engagement with the music, in effect an aesthetic reading.
Historically, music education classes at the secondary level sought to prepare
students primarily for performances (Demorest, 2001; Freer, 2009). Beginning in the
latter part of the 20
th
century and today, music education has recommended a
comprehensive approach to teaching music, which includes music literacy–commonly
understood as the ability to read and play or sing the notes on the page—and
composition—the ability to create musical phrases, or even songs for others to perform.
Unfortunately, the goal of this comprehensive approach is not always met because of
limited rehearsal time, student skills, and performance expectations (Berg & Sindberg,
2014). Amongst choral musicians, music literacy is often limited to sight-reading—
described as the ability to read and sing music at first sight. Sight-reading, while an
element and important skill in a comprehensive approach to teaching music, does not
necessarily allow the student to explore and understand all the nuances found on the
page. The present study was conducted to understand choral music educators’ perceptions
of choral music literacy and the processes in the classroom that facilitate choral music
literacy. The elements of choral music literacy include sight-reading, text analysis,
understanding of musical information, evaluation on how to best communicate
information to the audience, and assessing outcomes. The present study sought to
describe, examine and understand the choral music educators use of literacy elements
such as sight-reading, composition, and text analysis within the framework of choral
5
music. The next section examines some of the ways in which literacy and music literacy
converge and diverge.
Literacy and Music Literacy: Differences and Similarities
Literacy is a term used to mean a great many things. According to Kist (2002), “in
order to be read, a poem, an equation, a painting, a dance, a novel, or a contract each
requires a distinctive form of literacy” (p. 368). Powell (2009) stated that “genuine
literacy is purposeful and intentional; it is used to reflect, to express ideas, to entertain, to
persuade” (p. 11). Writing, reading, listening, speaking, and thinking are all components
of literacy that are developed through social interactions. Literacy is acquired through
meaningful, authentic encounters with text, teachers, peers, and other adults (Hayes,
2000; Rosenblatt, 1994). Therefore, literacy implies the ability to decode, process, and
synthesize information that is not necessarily verbalized or written, but is understood
given context and/or subtext. Literacy is the ability to understand beyond the plain sense
of the text or score, including nuance, sensibility, and sensitivity within a particular
community.
Given this background, literacy in the current study was defined as the ability and
volition to read and understand the symbols, sounds, and gestures within a community of
“readers” and interact with them beyond the superficial. Simply stated, literacy is a
means and form of communication. In this way, the general definition of literacy aligns
with music literacy; which refers to the ability to read and write musical notation, to
perform notation without the aid of an instrument, and to have a knowledge and
appreciation for multiple musical styles. In other words, individuals who are musically
literate can read and understand the symbols on the page, recognize the accuracy of the
6
sounds that are created, and understand the gestures of the conductors or other individuals
who may be leading an ensemble or playing in the group with them. If the goal of literacy
is to read and interact within a community beyond the superficial, plain sense of a given
text, then music literacy cannot be limited to the notes on the page because notation—
pitch and rhythm—is simply the lowest common denominator. Rather, music literacy
must include auditory responses and musical collaboration or communication between
students, director, the music, and the audiences. Music is complex, therefore music as a
form of literacy is written, heard, and felt; it is through music education that this form of
literacy is developed. General music education refers to all forms of music instruction,
including but not limited to general concepts, choral, instrumental, or theoretical. Choral
music education is specific to the study of choral music, which is a vocal art form in
which multiple individuals sing together. In the current study, choral music education
specifically was deemed as a vehicle that encouraged and built music literacy skills.
Choral Music Education and Choral Music Literacy: Similarities and Differences
Currently, choral music education in the United States of America primarily
involves groups of students singing together, music reading, and varying performance
opportunities. In 2017, the Give a Note Foundation conducted a survey of musical class
offerings in public schools and found that at the middle school level, the most common
music courses offered were band (91%) and choir (83%). The same thing was true at the
high school level, with band (93%) and choir (89%). Participation in a choir requires
individuals to sing in a group, with a variety of individual sections or parts, in multiple
languages, with or without accompaniment, while maintaining a sense of unity in the
sound that is produced. Unity here refers to blend, a technique which results in similarity
7
of tone production—the way in which the sound is created amongst the group—and
agreement on enunciation throughout the words. The choir must have a general
agreement on how to pronounce all the words including vowel formation throughout the
group.
Choral students and choral music educators are known to provide opportunities
for performances for the parents, schools, and community in which they teach. The
choral students and music educators also participate in adjudication events where they are
judged in terms of their choral tone. Tone refers to the timbre or color created by the
individual and ensemble when singing, and there are tones that are considered
appropriate for different genres of singing. Norris (2004) posited that only 17 states
include sight-reading as a part of the adjudication process, which means that this is an
aspect of choral music that is not adjudicated as often as tone, an element of performance.
As previously stated, sight-reading is the ability to see music for the first time, and
produce the sounds intended by the notes on the page at first sight. Many of the
secondary music components—Band, Orchestra, and Chorus—in multiple states have
sight reading as an element in their adjudication process. Amongst musicians, music
literacy is commonly understood to be the ability to read and write musical notation.
Music literacy education reflects the voice of Hungarian music educator, Zoltán Kodály
“who considered the goal of music literacy for everyone to be an ideal” (Mark & Gary,
2007, p. 439). If music literacy was an important goal in choral music education, it
would be a larger portion of the adjudication process throughout the country, as opposed
to just within 17 states.
8
Today, music literacy in the choral classroom is assumed to refer to sight-reading
or sight-singing music, which is the reading of the notes on the page and producing the
sounds intended. Although sight-reading is considered to be an important component of
music literacy, “surveys of choral directors [music educators] have found that while
many favor sight-singing [sight-reading] instruction, few devote significant rehearsal
time to teaching it” (Demorest, 2001, p. 1). In the scholarly literature to date, music
literacy and sight-singing are interchangeable terms; music literacy is reduced to sight-
reading. The consensus is that music literacy is important, but it specifically and narrowly
means sight-reading in the secondary choral classroom. While sight-reading is important
and valid, it is limiting. It means that literacy in the choral classroom stops at note
reading and does not take into account the text choir students sing, or the aesthetic
experiences they may have through their learning and performing of choral music.
Choral Music Literacy: Interplay between Literacy and Choral Music
The National Core Arts Standards Conceptual Framework (2014) stated that the
arts are a form of communication with “unique symbol systems and metaphors that
convey and inform life experiences” (p. 10) as well as a way of understanding. That is,
depending on the art form, there are symbol systems that are particular to each strand. In
music, the symbol system includes the notation that describes pitch, duration, and
dynamics. Additionally, knowing what the symbols mean and understanding the context
in which they are found, are a way of knowing the information that is particular to the art
form. Taken together, choral music literacy should include the traditional view of music
literacy as the ability to read the notes on the page; moreover, our understanding and
9
application of music literacy should additionally include what the students can do with
that information.
A search of the research literature did not produce any results on the term “choral
music literacy,” which means, as previously stated, that the term is not currently in the
scholarly literature. The searches that did yield results were when the terms were
separated, “choral music” and “literacy” with results that discussed connections between
the two as separate entities. Comprehensive musicianship did appear in a few articles, but
never connected to music literacy or choral music specifically. Comprehensive
musicianship is a term used in music education journals and it is derived from the idea
that music education could be improved by “integrating aspects of music usually studied
as separate and discrete subjects” (Mark & Gary, 2007, p. 441). It integrates music
history, theory, performance, and conducting. Mark and Gary (2007) pointed out that
traditionally, “American school performance ensembles had no formal curriculum” (p.
441). While comprehensive musicianship sought to remedy some gaps in the curriculum,
it is still very broadly used in music education journals and rarely specifically applied to
choral music education. It is important to research the concept of choral music literacy
further to build that bridge between knowledge from the educational spectrum, the music
education spectrum, and the choral music spectrum.
To reiterate, for the purpose of the present study, choral music literacy has been
operationalized as the ability to independently (a) analyze the musical and textual
information on the page, (b) evaluate and make choices about how to communicate this
information to general audiences, (c) and assess the outcome of these choices. Choral
music educators have the opportunity to teach their students to sing melodies, which are
10
the main ideas of a musical work. They also have the opportunity to teach students to
understand and sing harmonies, which are the supportive and sometimes implied parts of
a musical work. Choral music educators also have opportunities to identify text within the
musical works and teach students to respond to dynamics, how loudly or softly to
perform a section, both marked in the score or requested by the director. Taken together,
all of these things create an opportunity for an aesthetic experience—personal
interaction—for students and audiences alike. When choral students are performing, they
are interacting, with symbols, sounds, and gestures of the musical community. The
musical community includes the composer, the conductor, the audience, and other
students as musicians. It is the responsibility of the choral music educator to teach choral
music literacy in all of the layers outlined above.
Problem Statement
The National Core Arts Standards (2014) stated that literacy in the arts includes
creating, performing, responding, and connecting. Prior research states that choral music
educators often spend the majority of their time in the classroom focused on the
performance aspect of their subject matter, preparing students to perform for concerts and
evaluations or competitions. Research into sight-reading demonstrates that choral
directors do not spend enough time teaching how to sight-read (Demorest 2001; Freer
2009; Garret 2013; Ganschow 2014). Teachers working towards performance and not
teaching sight-reading skills, contribute to the creation of a teacher centered classroom
where performance is the end goal. The elements of choral music literacy include sight-
reading, text analysis, understanding of musical information, and evaluation on how to
11
best communicate information to the audience. The aforementioned research does not
include the voice of the teacher.
Choral music tends to have a text, often derived from poetry or storytelling.
Choral music educators must therefore teach their students to sing the notation and
understand and communicate the text to their audience. How can we understand the
pedagogy of choral music educators in the classroom without the voice of the teachers? I
believe that choral music educators need to be given an opportunity to explain what they
do, and why they do it, as means of helping the profession. By providing teachers an
opportunity to share their thoughts and work, concrete examples of teaching methods can
be presented, and choral music educators are empowered. The problem is, how do
exemplar choral music educators balance requirements that are historically, socially, and
culturally understood as part of a choral classroom and the elements of choral music
literacy, which are invaluable in a well-rounded education, and in the creation of
independent music making?
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the research was to give five experienced choral music educators a
voice and thus describe, examine, and understand the use of elements within choral music
literacy of five choral music educators. What are their curricular and instructional
choices? Why do these teachers do what they do? How do they do it daily? The current
study sought to identify whether or not choral music educators currently build choral
music literacy in the classroom through classroom observations, interviews with choral
music educators, and lesson plan analysis when provided. The present study investigated
possible connections between music education and general education whose common
12
thread is literacy skills. The goal herein was to identify how choral music directors (a)
teach in the classroom, (b) build understanding of the processes and curricular choices
that lead to performances, and (c) provide examples from which other choral music
educators could learn and grow.
Significance of the Study
Most of the previous research in the choral classroom is focused on the quality
and/or priorities and approaches of rehearsal time (Ganschow, 2014), on the effectiveness
of conductors (Silvey, 2014), on the use of nonperformance time in the choral rehearsal
(Watkins, 1993), and on how teachers teach (Kratus, 2007). Topics included in quality of
rehearsal time include, but are not limited to, musical repertoire, sight-reading inclusion,
and critical thinking. Research into critical thinking and music education by Topoğlu
(2014) discussed the teacher’s role and ways in which critical thinking skills can be
fostered within the music classroom. Topoğlu (2014) concluded that “assisting students
in their development of critical thinking skills will help them listen, study a piece of
music, and discover meaning beyond that which is elucidated by others” (p. 2255). In
other words, teachers can and do build broad critical thinking skills in the choral
classroom (Shaw, 2014; Topoğlu, 2014). Shaw (2014) argued that critical thinking in the
music classroom is atypical, but it is not impossible and that “the balance between time
spent on practicing skills vs. knowledge construction” (p. 69) needs to be considered
carefully by choral music educators. Garret (2013) discussed the relationship between
time spent in nonperformance and critical thinking skills in a high school choral rehearsal
and found that teachers spend the majority of their time instructing rather than allowing
13
students to respond. Garret also noted that 46% of nonperformance rehearsal activity was
spent on lower order thinking skills.
Choral music educators are often focused on performance and fail to engage
students in the other aspects of choral music literacy. These include creating and
composing, understanding and evaluating choral music meanings and intentions.
Importantly, relating choral musical ideas to personal meanings and external context, and
communicating these meanings are critical to building students’ capacities for
communication through the choral art form. “Concern remains that emphasis in choral
music teaching is on the performance rather than on the knowledge and skills that young
people can apply beyond their school’s choral rehearsal room” (Freer, 2011, p. 166).
Bower (2004) argued “a choral curriculum that focuses on performance without the
integration of history, theory, and composition, or without providing opportunities for the
singers to pose or to solve problems is limited in its effectiveness” (p. 3). Brinson (1996)
stated “if choral music educators broaden their focus to include a systematic study of
music reading, vocal technique, style, history, aural skills, basic theory, and music
terminology, students are more likely to gradually learn important skills and acquire
knowledge necessary to build a firm foundation for musicianship” (p. 56). However, the
available scholarly literature strongly indicates that choral music educators are focused
on performance and may miss opportunities to fulfill the scope of choral music literacy.
Research shows that many choral music educators work diligently on the
performance aspect of the standards (Bowers, 2004; Freer, 2011; Garret, 2013; Watkins,
1993). As such, much of their class time is spent on learning notes, sight-reading, and
vocal technique. While the literature explains what happens in the choral classroom, very
14
few studies address the perspective of the choral music educator; that is who they are and
why they do what they do. Considering all these factors, the present study sought to first
give the choral music educators a voice in the literature. The present study also sought to
find ways in which secondary choral music educators built choral music literacy. Finally,
it sought to find how choral music educators developed an understanding of their
curricular choices and definitions of choral music literacy.
Research Questions
Central Question
The central research question was: How do choral music educators balance
requirements that are historically, socially, and culturally understood as part of a choral
classroom with the elements of choral music literacy?
Sub-Questions
1. What are the perceptions and understandings of choral music literacy
specific to choral music educators?
2. How do choral music educators design and implement their curricula?
3. How do these choral music educators balance performance requirements
and the elements of choral music literacy that are invaluable in the
creation of independent music making?
Organization of the Study
The study was a multi-case study analysis of five individual choral music
educators. Bogdan and Biklen (2007) define a case study as a “detailed examination of
one setting, or a single subject” (p. 271). Bogdan and Biklen (2007) further defined a
multi-case study as a study where two or more “subjects, settings, or depositories of data”
15
are being examined. Stake (2006) argued that the “single case is of interest because it
belongs to a particular collection of cases” (p. 31). Stake (2006) also referred to the
multi-case study as the “quintain” or the group, category, or phenomenon to be studied,
of which the individual cases are a part (p. 31). The present multi-case study began by
examining the particularities, or unique elements, pertaining to each individual choral
music educator’s definitions of choral music literacy. Following that, the cases were
examined to understand or note, “what is common among the cases as well as dissimilar”
(Stake, 2006, p. 34). The current study sought to understand how choral music educators
are teaching choral music literacy skills.
A case study should go in depth, but a multi-case study of two or three cases
“does not show enough of the interactivity between programs and their situations” (Stake,
2006, p. 50). As such, the subjects were limited to five choral music educators. Given the
sample size, the present study was not intended to be generalizable to the general
population of choral music educators. The study began with an interview of each director
for a minimum of one hour. The first interview explored the question of who these choral
music educators are and their backgrounds in music in general and choral music in
particular. Additional interviews were conducted to understand what the choral music
educators perceived choral music literacy to be, as well as the understandings of how
their perceptions influenced their pedagogical practices. In an effort to understand how
the choral music educators designed and implemented their curricula, the study involved
three to four live observations per director of their classroom and two 45-60-minute
interviews, one half way through the observations and a final interview following the last
16
observation. As previously stated, choral music literacy is not currently a term used in the
literature, the study sought to define it and describe elements of it in action.
There were three delimitations for this study. First, the possible participants
chosen within the area were selected using the descriptions found in the Garret (2013)
study on choral director’s use of instructional time which included: (a) a minimum of five
years teaching, (b) participation in regional choral music performance assessments, (c)
minimum scores of excellent or superior at music performance assessments, and (d)
students who had participated in all-state within the last five years. Second, a large
portion of the research was derived from interviews of these five music educators.
Brinkman and Kvale (2015) state that qualitative research interviews attempt “to
understand the world from the subjects’ point of view” (p 3). As one can never
completely understand another person, extra effort was made to ensure that the subjects’
point of view was clear. There was extensive use of member checking, whereby the
subjects were continuously asked to read over their responses and provide further
feedback as well as adjustments if necessary. Third, participants selected were public
school choral music educators from a specific geographical area, an urban city of a
southern state. The community of choral music educators is quite small as compared to
general teachers. Given the requirement of maintaining anonymity amongst a very small
subset of teachers, details that could threaten anonymity, such as specific location and
ages, were removed.
Researcher in the Field
The subjects are in the same field as the researcher. As such, there was a prior
professional relationship with most of these individuals. I have been working as a public-
17
school choral music educator in this community for the past 17 years and spent four years
as the District Chairperson for the state vocal association. I am a person who has worked
in the district, in the public schools for this long.
Summary
Music has been an official part of the public education curriculum in the United
States of America since the early 18
th
century all the way through the 21
st
century to date.
Choral music is currently one of the primary group courses offered in high school to
teach music. The National Core Arts Standards (2014) stated that literacy in the arts
includes creating, performing, responding, and connecting. The literature indicates that
choral music educators often spend the majority of their time in the classroom focused on
the performance aspect of their subject matter, and while performing is important, more
time could be spent creating, responding, connecting, and communicating elements of
choral music literacy. The purpose of undertaking this study was to give experienced
choral directors a voice and thus begin to understand, describe, and examine choral music
educators’ perceptions and use of concepts within choral music literacy. The following
Chapter 2 review of the literature gives a strong theoretical background and shows gaps
in the literature that the current study was conducted to help fill.
18
CHAPTER TWO
EXPOSITION: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
The present study was grounded in three theoretical lenses: constructivism,
critical literacy, and transactional theory. As such, this chapter is presented in four
sections. First, I describe the theoretical perspectives that informed my research. Second,
I give a historical context of music education within the United States and an
understanding of Arts Curriculum. The third and fourth sections of the research, I point
out the gaps in the voice of the teachers, as well as qualitative research.
Throughout the current study, choral music literacy was operationalized as the
ability to independently analyze and realize musical and textual information on the page,
evaluate and make choices about how to communicate the information for audiences, and
assess the outcome of those choices. The study is a multi-case study of five experienced
choral music educators in an urban, southern city, specifics have been omitted to protect
the anonymity of the participants. The parameters set for a review of the literature were
keywords: (a) literacy, (b) choral literacy, (c) music literacy, (d) choral music and
literacy, (e) music and literacy, (f) critical theory in music education, (g) critical theory in
choral music, (h) constructivism in music, and (i) constructivism in choral music.
Together, these ideas created the focus for this chapter. The final parameter was set for
research between 2002-2017, although for some elements the only articles or studies
found were prior to those dates. Because of the specificity of my study, the review of the
literature was concerned more about finding connections than finding full articles that
discuss all the elements required.
19
Discussion of the Theoretical Perspective: Building Knowledge
As previously noted, given the definition of choral music literacy, the theoretical
lenses that correlated best with my study were constructivism, critical literacy, and
transactional theory. Choral music literacy includes the ability to analyze musical and
textual information, and communicate this information. Therefore, choral music literacy
is connected to constructivism, in that the student musicians co-create the information
that is communicated to the audiences and how it is interpreted (Cleaver & Ballantyne,
2014). Choral music literacy is also connected to critical literacy, which is an
instructional approach that encourages “readers” to analyze text and discover or
construct, underlying messages. Choral students and their music educators must consider
the musical notation and the text to recognize why the composer may have set the words
to those particular notes; this discovery of the underlying meanings or messages are
examples of critical literacy. Finally, choral music literacy is connected to transactional
theory, which argues that it is in the interaction and the experience of the music that
students are transformed. The interaction among the music, the text, and the performer,
empowers the performer to choose how best to communicate the musical information
with general audiences (Rosenblatt, 1995). All three theories work together and have
similar tenets at their core and together provide a strong framework which helped to
construct the study. In the following paragraphs, each theory is described in general, and
then specifically within the context of the choral music classroom.
Constructivism and Choral Music: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives
Constructivism begins with the premise that knowledge exists in the mind of an
individual. In an article called “Constructivism and Educational Practice,” Hendry
20
(1996) argued, “constructivism represents a fundamental challenge to many aspects of
educational praxis and may change significantly the ways by which young people are
mass educated” (p. 19). The article described key principles of constructivism and how
they can be applied in the classroom. The principles that are most applicable to the
present study were: (a) knowledge exists in the minds of people only; (b) the meanings or
interpretations people give to things depends on their knowledge; (c) knowledge is
constructed from within an interrelation with the world; (d) knowledge is constructed
through perception and action; and (e) construction of knowledge requires energy and
time. Given these ideas, knowledge of choral music literacy exists in the minds of the
teachers who teach choral music and the students in their classrooms who co-create the
knowledge. The goal of the present study was to examine and understand choral music
literacy knowledge from the teacher’s perspective and give the teachers a voice. The
voices of teachers are critical given the lack of literature.
Choral music educators and students interpret the music, or text, depending on
their knowledge; knowledge is constructed by interacting with the music via listening,
creating, responding, and recreating it. These are elements of choral music literacy that
are common knowledge to those who practice choral music on a daily basis, such as
individuals participating in the high school choral classroom. The choral music literacy
knowledge is constructed through perception of the music, perception of directors’
expectations, and the action of creating or realizing these sounds. Students bring with
them their own knowledge, which can be as individual as each student; with their teacher,
students can create a choral world in their classroom. Finally, within this context of
choral music, construction of knowledge is dependent on energy and time given to the
21
art. Hendry (1996) stated that in constructivism, “curriculum is the materials, language
and behavior which teachers use to promote students’ construction” (p. 24).
Ylimaz (2008) described the basic features of constructivism and explained the
assumptions and principles of constructivist pedagogy. While Hendry (1996) discussed
the individual nature of knowledge, Yilmaz (2008) described the interaction between the
teacher and the student in the creation of knowledge. Yilmaz (2008) stated, “the locus of
intellectual authority resides in neither the teacher nor the resources, but in the discourse
facilitated by both teachers and learners” (p. 163). Translated to the choral classroom, it
is in the discussions and collaborative choices that directors and students make, that they
co-create the music they present to the audience. Constructivism as applied to the choral
classroom is an argument in favor of giving students more ownership of their musical
experiences in the classroom. Yilmaz (2008) argued, teachers should “facilitate and guide
rather than dictate autocratically.” Autonomy, mutual reciprocity of social relations, and
empowerment characterize a constructively conducted classroom.
Fox (2001) had a very different perspective concerning constructivism. In the
article “Constructivism Examined,” Fox (2001) argued that constructivism is an
oversimplification of common sense. “Constructivism is basically a metaphor for
learning, likening the acquisition of knowledge to a process of building or construction”
(Fox, 2001, p. 23). Like Hendry (1996), Fox (2001) described a series of tenets that
together define constructivist views of learning. Unlike Hendry, (1996) who noted six
categories. They are: (a) learning is an active process, (b) knowledge is constructed,
rather than innate, or passively absorbed, (c) knowledge is invented not discovered, (d)
all knowledge is personal and idiosyncratic and is socially constructed, (e) learning is a
22
process of making sense of the world, and (f) effective learning requires meaningful,
open-ended, challenging problems for the learner to solve. While they are not in the same
order, these statements are extremely similar to Hendry (1996) and point to similar uses
in the choral classroom. The difference between Hendry (1996) and Fox (2001) is in the
overall tone as Fox (2001) concluded that while
Learners do need to interact, to have dialogues, to solve problems and to make
sense of new ideas; but they also often find it difficult to see why they should
make the effort, fail to pay attention, misconstrue new concepts, forget what they
learned ten minutes ago and fail to apply fragile new knowledge effectively to
new contexts. (p. 33)
I found that constructivist research articles involving music educators were few
and far between. In one such qualitative research study involving informal interviews of
teachers, Cleaver and Ballantyne (2014) discussed their perspectives on constructivism
with a focus on how constructivism would look inside a classroom. Cleaver and
Ballantyne (2014) affirmed that “constructivism links the knower and known by
assuming meaning to be a personal, individual construct rather than external to the
individual” (p. 229). The goal of their research was not to find a correct approach to
implementing constructivism in the classroom, but to explore the issues with which to
continue dialogue. Cleaver and Ballantyne (2014) found multiple ways in which music
teachers use constructivist ideas in the classroom. My study was undertaken to document
what choral music educators do in their classrooms, as well as to expand the Cleaver &
Ballantyne (2014) study.
23
In an article entitled “Between Constructivism and Connectedness,” Gordon
(2008) posited the importance of understanding “who” the teacher is in addition to
constructivist methods in teacher education programs. Much as Cleaver and Ballantyne
(2014) described, Gordon (2008) agreed that constructivist pedagogy is not meant to be
prescriptive. Gordon (2008) emphasized that there must be room for teachers to teach in
the ways that are most comfortable for them and that it is not enough to give future
teachers a “how to” but also to help them see who they are. Gordon (2008) argued that in
“most teacher education programs that emphasize a constructivist model of learning, the
focus seems to be on helping candidates develop a deeper awareness of content
knowledge, pedagogy, and students with diverse needs and to acquire the knowledge to
help all students learn” (p. 327). However, “the ability to connect with one’s subject
matter, students, and self is more essential to good teaching than technique” (Gordon,
2008, p. 328). In other words, at the core, a teacher’s knowledge of their students and
subject matter are much more important than their knowledge of the best teaching tricks.
Hendry (1996), Gordon (2008), and Cleaver and Ballantyne (2014) all concurred
on the importance of the teacher in a constructivist classroom; yet they also noted the
limitations. Hendry argued that, “in communication we generate meaning for the
language used by others and partly to the extent that we attribute agency to ourselves and
others, we evoke meaning in others” (p. 21). Hendry further noted, “knowledge exists in
the minds of students and the teacher only” (p. 23); from a constructivist perspective,
meaning is given to the curriculum presented by the students and the teacher, guided by
their existing knowledge and beliefs. Hendry’s theories applied to choir implies that it is
in the everyday work of singing, sight-reading, analyzing text, and deciding musical
24
interpretation that teachers and choral music educators co-create the knowledge of choral
music literacy.
Cleaver and Ballantyne (2014) found that “it is often difficult for teachers who
claim to be constructivist to teach constructively all the time, when dealing with the
realities in the classroom” (p. 237). The realities of the classroom create a need for
scaffolding and facilitating of learning, regardless of constructivist ideas and the
appropriateness of teacher centered vs. student centered approaches to music teaching.
Cleaver and Ballantyne concluded, “in order to close potential gaps between theory and
practice, constructivism is best not studied as isolated, technical and methodological
theory abstracted from reflective, self-inquiry” (p. 239). Constructivism works if there are
conditions to support it in the classroom. “There is a need for a teacher to provide a
supportive environment so that students can feel free to take risks” (Hendry, 1996, p. 28).
Gordon (2008) concluded that “a constructivist classroom is one in which there is a
balance between teacher and student-directed learning and requires teachers to take an
active role in the learning process, including formal teaching” (p. 325). Constructivist
ideas are embedded in critical literacy theory.
Critical Literacy and Choral Music: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives
Critical literacy is a term that stems from critical pedagogy, which was developed
by Paolo Freire (1970) as a way of engaging economically and literarily oppressed
Brazilian people in the process of learning. Critical literacy is founded on three
guidelines, first that learners exist in a cultural context. Second, unless learning facilitates
a change in the perception of reality learning has not occurred. Finally, students must
realize and “know that they know” (Freire, 1970, p.?). Much like constructivism, critical
25
pedagogy is not intended to prescribe a particular curriculum, rather is a means of
empowering students. Critical pedagogy encourages teachers to engage with the literacies
of students. That is, the information and literacies students come to the classroom with
and connect them to their own literacies as a means of facilitating growth. As Abrahams
(2005) put it, critical literacy enables teachers to “create a rich and varied music
program” (p.12). “Critical literacy provides a framework for helping students take greater
control over their lives and can help to transform the world around them” (Thomas, Hall,
& Piazza, 2010, p. 91). Thus, if we consider critical pedagogy in the choral classroom,
we could anticipate gradual “transformative experiences for both students and their
teacher” (Abrahams, 2005, p. 19). The students can have transformative experiences that
could lead to conscientization, where they understand that they know; teachers could be
transformed into facilitators encouraging students to grow and act independently. Critical
pedagogy in the choral classroom would allow teachers to recognize the strengths in their
students and learn from them. Critical pedagogy “nurtures critical feeling in the act of
reproducing culture” (Abrahams, 2005, p. 19).
As an instructional approach, critical literacy encourages “readers” to analyze text
and discover underlying messages. Critical literacy is not limited to text in the formal
written words on the page. It can imply text in any context including but not limited to
music. It provides “a framework for helping students take greater control over their lives
and can help to transform the world around them” (Thomas & Piazza, 2010 p. 91).
Critical literacy, like constructivism, begins with the idea that students have literacies
thus empowering students. These literacies have been developed through their culture and
background prior to their arrival in the classrooms. The goal is conscientization, whereby
26
students can learn to “perceive social, political, and economic contradictions and to take
action against the oppressive elements of reality” (Abrahams, 2005, p. 13). It is in
conscientization or empowerment and encouragement that students will learn to explore,
investigate, and identify the possibilities. “It is important to use texts [paper or musical]
as a way of supporting students’ evolving ideas and not as a set of ideas students must
conform to” (Thomas & Piazza, 2010 p. 93). Critical literacy in music translates into
recognizing that the text is not the ultimate authority as it has often been edited by
someone, but it is the job of the students and the director to create musical experiences
for themselves and the audience based on the knowledge they have and the choices they
make together.
In the theoretical article called “Critical and Transformative Literacies: Music and
General Education,” Benedict (2012) presented an argument which encompasses the
status quo in music education and its relation to some of the requirements and methods
that permeate most of education within the early 21
st
century. The intended goal of
Benedict was to make educators, both music and general, aware of some of the
assumptions made about each other. Additionally, the goal of Benedict was for educators
to recognize ways in which functional literacy—also known as reductionist literacy, with
an emphasis on the lowest levels of literacy—has pervaded all aspects of education.
Benedict discussed what students come to school within terms of multiple literacies and
musical understandings; “students are hearing and engaging with musics in their homes
and communities that are as varied as they are multiple” (p. 156).
Benedict (2012), a professor of music educators, made a claim that many music
teachers have not experienced literacy as critical or transformative in their respective
27
music programs throughout their careers. As a result of not having experienced literacy as
critical, it causes a reliance on methods or teaching to standards that provides a safety net
and confidence for those who observe them. However, this produces “particular kinds of
learners and learning” which “denies and prevents engagement with critical or
transformative literacies” (Benedict, 2012, p.155). Specifically, these teachers have
learned that a “good teacher” utilizes a teacher centered decision-making role in the
classroom and a more formal understanding of music, often limited to literacy as reading
notes on a page or rote learning. Benedict concluded that the goal is not to see an end to
some of the traditional music making and teaching programs which currently exist, but to
have a more inclusive musical program which would make use of multiple literacies.
Specifically, the current study sought to see what choral directors, in traditional music
teaching programs, were currently doing in terms of choral music literacy, and how they
spoke about their actions.
Another scholar researching critical literacy, Schmidt (2005) made a case for
applying many of the perspectives of Pablo Freire to the world of music education in his
theoretical piece. Schmidt referenced acceptance and encouragement of utilizing the
music students come to the classroom knowing. Schmidt argued against some of the
common practices in music education, such as teacher centered music selection and
interpretation. Furthermore, he encouraged the reader to question what the purpose of
music education is, how it should be approached, and the interaction of the word in the
world. “Music education works to foster the reproduction of dominant ideals, while
alienating dialogue and critical inquiry. Music needs to relate to the realities of
individuals and communities in which it engages” (Schmidt, 2005, p. 3). Applied to the
28
choral classroom, teaching students from diverse communities nothing but Johan
Sebastian Bach may be working to deny the student’s their heritage. Thus, music teachers
should learn from the students about the music that speaks to them. Schmidt proposed,
“education can only be effective if learning is associated with creative acts that see
expression as both connecting to the emotional and as a critical understanding of the
relationship between word and world.” Therefore, a student needs to connect
emotionally and critically to the music they are learning and/or performing. This
emotional and critical connection would help the students recognize the purpose it may
have in their lives.
Choral music education provides an excellent vehicle for such work. “Music
education as transformative practice embraces problem posing, thus offering a connection
of word to world. It challenges teachers to engage in dialogues that conceptualize music
not as an object but as a conduit for understanding” (Schmidt, 2005, p. 10). In other
words, music can be a way of understanding and making sense of the world but is often
focused simply on the recreation of music from the past. Although music education
should be transformative, it is sometimes restrictive in the preconceived notions of how it
should be done, both by the musical canon and by how “it should be taught.” Music
teachers often have an understanding of music as something that is taught first by
learning notes and rhythms, then by watching a conductor dictate the emotional reactions
and interpretations of the music. The teacher centered idea is not in line with the point
Schmidt (2005) was trying to make. As Cleaver and Ballantyne (2014) noted, “I have
always found it odd that people, in such a subjective, emotional kind of subject, are so
concerted and so restrictive in the way they go about it.” Cleaver and Ballantyne’s
29
statement refers to the idea of classical musicians, sometimes slaves to the written page,
with a conservatory philosophy of how to best learn the material.
Articles in music education that include discussions on critical literacy are few
and far between. Even so, there are opportunities for teachers to implement it. Lewison,
Flint, and Van Sluys, (2002) defined critical literacy as having four components: “(a)
disrupting the commonplace, (b) interrogating multiple viewpoints, (c) focusing on
sociopolitical issues, and (d) taking action and promoting social justice” (p. 382.)
Regeleski (2005) wrote about how critical theory could be considered in music education
“due to its focus on empowering teachers and students to be effective agents of their own
histories and satisfactions” (p. 15). The idea here is that teaching music could contribute
to creating reflective practitioners. The difficulty Regeleski noted is that “People
[teachers] will often resent and resist any perceived threat to the status quo” (p. 19).
While critical literacy as a theoretical perspective guided the present study, it was
rarely found in music education and choral journals. When critical literacy was found, it
was within the context of a theoretical or philosophical ideology, but not in practical or
active research. That does not mean that critical literacy is non-existent. It does mean that
it needs to be researched further and is a unique lens through which to view choral music
literacy and practice. Although constructivism and critical literacy are not overtly related
to transactional theory, it is nonetheless the missing component in choral music literacy.
It relates to the self in the interpretation and performance of the choral music.
Transactional Theory and Choral Music: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives
The theory of the literary transaction was first developed and explained by Louise
M. Rosenblatt in Literature as Exploration (1995). Rosenblatt began by discussing the
30
intersection between two separate stances of literature. The two stances are first, the
aesthetic stance wherein the reader’s emotions and background interact with the text and
the second, the efferent stance wherein the facts and functionalities of the text, or what is
to be taken or carried away, exists. Rosenblatt likened reading to art stating, “art provides
a more complete fulfillment of human impulses and needs than does ordinary life” (1938,
p. 33). She argued that the literature teacher must begin instruction from the perspective
of how a literary work moved, touched, or reached the student. Rosenblatt (1995) made a
case for transactional theory via the aesthetic reading. Transactional theory is the
interaction between the reader and the text, the reading is dependent on what readers
bring with them and their focus during the reading during the reading. Rosenblatt argued
that a book without a reader is much like a musical score without an orchestra. Without a
reader’s engagement, Rosenblatt argued, the text is just ink on a page; this includes where
the reader comes from culturally, gender, race, and past and present preoccupations. Life
experiences both lived and read, and how prepared the reader is to work with the text at a
given time are also critical. All of these factors will impact how much the reader will be
able to interact with the text and have an aesthetic response.
Choral music literacy can be examined through this transactional lens. Like
literature, it has two primary stances, the first is the efferent posture—being the notes,
rhythms, and harmonies found on the page. The second stance is the aesthetic posture that
is evoked by the emotions and feelings that are experienced by the listener through the
music and by the musician in the experience of making the music. The aesthetic stance in
choral music specifically often has an added layer of poetry embedded in the music.
While the harmonies can incite an emotional response on their own, they are often
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inspired or augmented by the written text. An example is the first movement in Mozart’s
Requiem, “Lacrimosa.” The strings begin the movement with rising and falling intervals;
many listeners find them haunting on their own. The entrance of the voices is also
haunting and impressive, but it is the text, which originates from the Latin Mass and
states:
Full of tears will that day
When from the ashes shall arise
The guilty man to be judged;
Therefore spare him, O God,
Merciful Lord Jesus,
Grant them eternal rest. Amen.
First one must understand that the Requiem is the funeral mass, and the Lacrimosa is
known as one of Mozart’s last works, as he died before the work was completed. The text
is powerful, describing man’s judgment upon death. The text combined with the music
becomes more powerful and one can almost hear the strings crying. The goal of choral
music educators is therefore to help the students recognize these two stances, and not
only interact with the music and the text, but also to impart this to their listeners or
audience members. The more the students or musicians can recognize and understand the
work, the more emotionally invested they may become; the more they interact with all of
the parts, the greater the potential for an aesthetic experience for themselves and the
audience. While the reaction of the audience may not be exactly the same as that of the
performer, the goal is to create an avenue to an aesthetic experience for all parties
involved.
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Tony B. Perry (2006) wrote an article describing ways in which, recognition,
acknowledgment, and incorporation of multiple literacies can help students as young as
middle school to truly understand not only schooled literacies, but the world at large.
Perry defined multiple literacies as “the meaning making systems (print and non-print)
that are deeply enmeshed in culture and everyday lives of people” (p.329). Learning does
not happen in a vacuum but within the context of the day-to-day living and interacting
within a culture. Perry reiterated the idea that the most effective learning takes place
when students can take specific content from their background and make generalizations
and connections to their school concepts. “Students bring to school with them an
understanding of literacy in multiple forms, but it is the responsibility of the classroom
teacher to access the hidden literacies students possess and integrate them into the
learning environment to maximize engagement and learning opportunities” (Perry, 2006,
p.331).
While choral music educators often believe they have the majority of musical
knowledge in their classroom, many students have been interacting with and experiencing
music long before they walk into the choral classroom. One particular statement made by
Perry (2006) in the discussion of the gaps between hidden literacies and academic
literacies is poignantly appropriate for choral music educators. “This gap, left un-nurtured
and unattended by educators, can result in students who see little or no connection
between themselves and school” (p. 331). To counter the phenomenon, choral music
educators must find ways to recognize the musical knowledge or multiple literacies
students bring and incorporate them into their classrooms.
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Historical Context of the Study
Music Education in the United States
Music became a part of the public education curriculum in the early 1800s and began
with singing (Demorest, 2001). Prior to the 1800’s, music education in the United States
came in the form of the singing school, which Demorest stated was “an idea that
gradually spread throughout New England and beyond” (p. 6). It was comprised of
traveling musicians who would offer individuals a “series of classes in the art of ‘singing
by note’” (Demorest, 2001 p. 6). The singing school had two primary goals, to teach
choral singing and music reading; they had the tertiary goal of creating a social event
where people with similar interests could interact.
Choral music has a long history that surpasses its arrival in the American public
education system. Today it is one of three primary courses used to teach music at the
secondary level. Choral singing requires individuals to sing in a group, in parts, in a
multitude of languages, with or without accompaniment, while maintaining a sense of
unity in the sound that is produced. The 2014 National Music Standards for ensembles
states that students should be able to “create, perform, respond, and connect through
music and to music” (National Core Arts Standards pp. 11-12). As previously noted by
Watkins (1993) and Garret (2013), research regarding time use in both secondary choral
and instrumental classes demonstrate that performance preparation is the main activity.
Given the National Core Art Standards, it is the responsibility of directors to engage their
students in other activities, such as creation, response, and connections.
Campbell, Connell, and Beegle (2007) sought to find the significance of music
and music education to middle and high school adolescents in their qualitative analysis of
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student essays. Campbell et al. stated, “music plays a valuable and valued role in the
individuals’ social-emotional and intellectual-artistic domains” (p. 221). The study
included 1,155 American Middle/High School students age 13-18. Each of them wrote an
essay for a contest by Ban deodorant run by musicedge.com. Participation was voluntary
and the enticement was a visit from a well-known violinist from the pop-punk band,
Yellowcard. A MusicEdge representative mailed a hard copy of the adolescents’
reflective responses to researchers. There were more female respondents (78%) and the
samples included grades 7-12; however, 2/3 of the respondents were 14-16 years old.
Campbell et al. (2007) read the essays and identified commonly used terms and
meaningful themes. They then met to compare noted terms and classifications and
designed a coding frame. Five main themes emerged: (a) identity formation in and
through music, solo (listening, vocal, instrumental) and group (band, choir, orchestra); (b)
emotional benefits that span enjoyment, expression, emotional release, and control; (c)
music’s benefits to life at large, including the building of one’s character and life skills;
(d) social benefits encompassing camaraderie, acceptance of differences, high morale at
school and at home, distraction from vices such as drugs and alcohol, and prevention of
suicidal behaviors; and (e) music in schools including positive and negative impressions
of the program, particular courses, and course content and teachers. The results
demonstrated that students do find music important to their lives; 2/3 made references to
the emotional meaning and value of music in their lives. However, secondary students
tended to discontinue formal musical study by age 14-15 (Campbell et al., 2007).
Somewhere, there is a disconnect between the importance of music in adolescent lives,
and what or how teachers are teaching it in the classroom.
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Campbell, Connell, and Beegle (2007) believed that the respondent motivation
was multifaceted. Regardless, “music still emerged as highly valued by this sample of
self-selected adolescents as a central aspect of their identity” (Campbell, et al. 2007, p.
225). Over 1/3 of the respondents were currently involved or had been involved in music
learning experiences, or the academic study of music history, culture, or theory. There
was a general sense of music as culture and as a means of knowing their own and other
cultural histories and beliefs. Campbell et al. concluded that music continues to be a
necessary element in many adolescents’ lives.
While Campbell et al. (2007) made a case for the value of music in general in
adolescent lives, Kratus (2007) noted some of the pitfalls of music education in his
article, “Music Education at the Tipping Point.” Kratus discussed some of the methods
that have been used for many years of teaching music education and explained that while
music teachers may be good at teaching in this way, they are not necessarily culturally
relevant methods. As such, Kratus stated that music teachers need to discover ways to
evolve alongside teaching counterparts in other subject matters and in the music industry
as well. Kratus provided some speculation on reasons for the decline in music education
participation, but also made note of pockets where things have been booming. Kratus
points out steel pan drum ensembles as well as the growth of mariachi bands, and
teachers who have gone against the norm to create these programs. One of the elements
Kratus pointed to is the Internet, which “has not only changed the way music is
distributed, it has also encouraged the development of communities of mavens who may
live thousands of miles apart” (p. 45). The argument Kratus made is that with technology,
connections can be made across oceans and landmasses. However, the power of
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technology is not being fully employed in music education classes for the sharing and
making of music.
Kratus (2007) like Schmidt (2005) pointed out that it is easier to teach as we have
been taught, and as such “the ensemble director sets the music, makes all the artistic
decisions regarding interpretations, and shapes the resulting performance through tightly
managed rehearsals to match a pre-conceived notion of the piece, correcting errors along
the way. It is an autocratic model of teaching that has no parallel in any other school
subject” (Kratus, 2007, p. 46). Ultimately, Kratus’s article is a call to arms, for music
teachers to recognize their flaws and strengths. Furthermore, music teachers are called to
build off of their strengths as a means to remain relevant and continue to share their
musical heritage and be a part of the current and future waves of music education. As
Kratus stated, “the nature of music education should reflect the cultural and social milieu
in which it exists” (p. 46). Ultimately, music education falls under a larger umbrella of
arts education. The U.S. has national music standards that are guided by the National Arts
Standards.
Arts Curriculum Theory
The National Arts Standards.org created a document that presents the reasoning
and methodology utilized in creating national standards for the arts in general. It presents
historical data, which state that arts education has had a formal place in American schools
since the early 1800s and is grounded in educational research and theory. The National
Arts Standards is a general overview that can be applied to any art form and allows space
and understanding for the various terms that might be used in different art forms. Based
on the Goals 2000 of the Educate America Act Title II, different arts organizations came
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together on the basis philosophical foundations, established artistic processes. These
processes were defined as cognitive and physical abilities by which arts learning were
characterized: creating, performing, responding, and connecting.
The National Arts Standards (NAS) stated “artistic literacy is the knowledge and
understanding required to participate authentically in the arts” (p. 17). NAS defined
fluency in the arts as “the ability to create, perform, produce, present, respond, and
connect through symbolic and metaphoric forms that are unique to the arts” (p. 17). The
National Arts Standards further stated “for authentic practice to occur in arts classrooms,
teachers and students must participate fully and jointly in activities where they can
exercise the creative practices of imagine, investigate, construct, and reflect as unique
beings committed to giving meaning to their experiences” (p. 17). These statements
emphasize what has been stated before; the director must do more than rehearse music in
preparation for a performance. The emphasis on “investigate and construct” used similar
language to critical theory as applied to music; “critical pedagogues encourage children
to gain the courage to grow by assigning activities that propel students forward to
explore, investigate, and identify the possibilities” (Abrahams, 2005, p. 15). The goal of
responding is reminiscent of transactional theory, as students can respond once they have
interacted with the material. Finally, the goal to produce, present, and connect through
symbolic forms particular to their art seem related to constructivism, providing
opportunities for students to create new material. All of the research presented above is
related to the lenses through which my study was designed. Below is a brief summary of
other important related topics connecting music, literacy, and choral music.
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Literacy and Music: Elementary Instruction
The most pressing time for literacy appears to be elementary school age given the
number of articles that deal with literacy and music at the elementary level. However,
when looking at elementary music literacy skills, one finds that they are primarily
focused on the act of reading and writing, mirroring the non-musical research. In a short
introductory article, compiled from previous research, called “Music and Literacy”
Darrow (2008) discussed the use of a music intervention, “when music interventions
incorporate specific reading skills matched to the needs of identified children or when
music activities are used to reinforce reading behavior, then benefits for students are
considerably more extensive” (p. 32). Darrow primarily dealt with literacy acquisition
when literacy means learning how to read. The subjects were young students, in second
and third grades, and exceptional education students. “Music and Literacy” was pertinent
at the time of publication due to the impetus of No Child Left Behind and reading
comprehension tests. Darrow stated, “a child’s ability to read text has important
implications for his or her success in learning to read music” (2008, p. 32). However,
Darrow defines literacy at the basic state of reading, phonological awareness, phonemic
awareness, sight word identification, and decoding.
In a subsequent article discussing the extended study, Darrow et al. (2009) share
the results. Their research looked specifically at word decoding, reading comprehension,
and vocabulary skills as assessed by the Gates-MacGintie Reading Test given in group
format pre and post music/reading intervention. Darrow et al. compiled the data from
across the nation, including 458, second grade students as subjects. A music/reading
curriculum was designed and implemented in five locations, 18 lessons for 30 minutes;
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each which included literacy skills such as rhyming, letter sounds, vocabulary, and
decoding. The music lessons also included the reading or singing of storybooks and
singing, playing instruments, listening, and moving to music. Darrow et al. argued that
the research “demonstrates the general benefits of music as a viable methodology for
teaching reading skills at a comparable level while promoting enjoyment in an academic
area that is receiving a great deal of national emphasis” (p. 13). The researchers pointed
out that music should be taught for music’s sake, but also made note of the fact that
classroom teachers do not always perceive music as important on its own. The results
proved to be inconclusive due to a variety of factors specific to each location. The
Darrow et al. study does point out the more common understanding of literacy and is one
of the first articles that appeared when researching the topics of music and literacy.
In a literature review of early elementary education, O’Herron and Siebenaler
(2007) discussed the similarities of vocal skill development and early literacy instruction
and described ways in which these commonalities can help young children’s quality of
speech patterns as well as auditory processing. The main goal was to provide the
educational community with research as well as applications that could assist in the
improvement and development of speech and auditory processing through the areas
where language arts and vocal music overlap. O’Herron and Siebenaler described
extensively how children begin to learn a language and connected this to how children
learn how to sing. They claimed that these events are crucial for learning how to read and
pinpointed key elements of development including phonemic awareness and fluency,
which require auditory processing much like vocal production. The line was then drawn
that while parents lay out the foundations at a young age, they are further developed by
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teachers, and can be enhanced by music instruction, specifically singing. O’Herron and
Siebenaler (2007) argued that students who participated in music instruction were “better
able to hear a word and respond with its phonemes” (p. 19). They made a case for
utilizing choral music style teaching as a means of improving prosody, which is the
“intentional grouping of words into phrases” (p. 20).
In an action-research article “Reading and Rhythm: Binding Language Arts and
Music in an Academic Notebook”, Pearman and Friedman (2009) recommended the use
of an academic notebook in an elementary music classroom as a means to integrate
language arts into music instruction. The article is practical, offering teachers a way of
improving their classrooms. Pearman and Friedman (2009) pointed out that “reading and
writing strategies make content area instruction more comprehensible for students and
makes content come alive in ways to make their own connections between their lives and
the texts they read” (p. 13). Using the academic notebook engaged students further in
music instruction and provided a means by which other teachers could recognize the
learning and skills involved in music classes as opposed to viewing music merely as an
enrichment class or an emotional outlet (Pearman & Friedman 2009). While many
articles were available connecting music and literacy instruction at the elementary level,
the research at the secondary level was more limited.
Literacy and Music: Secondary Instruction
In the field of literacy and secondary instruction, music is used as a tool to
connect students and other subject areas. In “Using Music as a Second Language,”
Dethier’s (1991) action research article described the use of music in a secondary English
class. Dethier (1991) stated that “connecting the new to the known is the basis for all
41
learning, all education, yet most English teachers overlook what may be the easiest and
most productive way to connect students to the terminology and processes of reading and
writing—using music” (p. 72). Dethier (1991) made a case for utilizing music, something
students know, as a means of making them feel more comfortable in an English
classroom as well as making connections to the things literature has to offer. The article
presented different ways that music can be used to bridge the gap between student and
literature; that is analysis, artistic, context, and realizing that music is particular to a time
period and a culture, just as literature has a context. Dethier (1991) went on to describe
practical ways and reasons for music to explain images, irony, leads, metaphor, narrative
and meaning, revision, symbol, theme, and voice. Ultimately, Dethier (1991) claimed that
when students are connected and invested in what they are discussing, reading, or writing
about, they are much more willing to participate. Dethier (1991) concluded that the
students are listening, “the question is whether we’re [the adults/teachers] willing to
speak their language in order to help them learn ours” (p. 76).
In another action research piece involving secondary education, Hutchinson and
Suhor (1996) begin with the premise that teachers of music and English Language arts
can draw on rich traditions and on renewed interest in relationships between music and
the spoken word to connect with their students and encourage understanding. Hutchinson
and Suhor (1996) specifically named jazz and poetry and encouraged music teachers and
English language arts teachers to collaborate or learn from each other ways in which
students can participate in both. Hutchinson and Suhor (1996) made the music the
accompaniment to the poetry of the students and advocated for creating a place where
students can perform these creations.
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Hansen, Bernsdorf, and Stuber (2014) wrote an outstanding text with research and
teaching suggestions, that examined the connective threads that exist between literacy
and music teaching and learning. It looked at these threads from different perspectives,
how to use literacy in music classes, or how to use music in literacy classes. While the
authors believed that music is important on its own, they saw the connections between
these two “separate” educational planes. It is valuable work and it lays the groundwork
for the current research, which is more specifically looking at choral music. “Children are
learning valuable skills in music class that are an integral part of becoming a literate
person. It is the definition of literacy that is critical here, and literacy extends beyond the
regular classroom and reading instruction” (Hansen et al, 2014, p. 1). The key element to
my study, on the basis of critical literacy, is that literacy should not be so singularly used
to mean reading notation, or words. Literacy is a multifaceted concept that requires a
broader and deeper understanding. My dissertation uses the standards set by the National
Core Arts Standards (2014). These standards are comprehensive and allow for a more
well-rounded education, with skills in music that can be transferable to other areas of life
and learning. From these National Core Arts Standards (2014), we can begin to look at
the specifics of choral music literacy as it currently exists in the research literature.
Choral Music Literacy
Given that literacy is defined as the ability and volition to read and understand the
symbols sounds and gestures within a community and interact with them beyond the
superficial. Choral music literacy must be examined with the same degree of analysis.
Music literacy is generally understood to be the ability to read musical notation.
Demorest (2001) began with “Music literacy is a means to musical independence” (p.1).
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Steven Demorest’s book presents an analysis of the historical role of sight-reading—the
ability to read music and perform it upon first sight—in the choral classroom, followed
by a review of the literature demonstrating what research says choral music educators do
and how successful these things are. Finally, Demorest describes different ways in which
this skill (sight-reading) can be taught in the classroom. Sight-reading is a great tool for
any choral music educator and helps to challenge possible preconceived notions of sight-
singing success in the classroom. However, it does not include teacher voices in the daily
how to, or why of teaching sight-reading. Demorest claimed at the end of the first
chapter that the current state of choral music education struggles to be “comprehensive.”
Comprehensive musicianship seeks a balance among performance, analysis, and
creativity in music education. Demorest (2001) argued “comprehensive musicianship
developed in response to the performance-based focus of secondary music education at
the time, both instrumental and vocal, that emphasized teaching literature rather than
teaching music through the literature” (p. 15). Demorest reasoned that choral music
education struggles due to a lack of teacher training activities to encourage this method of
teaching. The emphasis on listening does not necessarily encourage transfer of the
knowledge. Additionally, the role of performance does not necessarily seem congruent
with the need for musical notation reading skills. “The conceptual organization of
comprehensive musicianship encourages teachers not to just teach pieces but to use
literature to explore musical elements through a variety of experiences” (Demorest, 2001,
p. 15). Given this historical emphasis on performance with the current study’s previously
stated emphasis on creating knowledge and sight-reading, choral directors are tasked with
finding a balance which leads us to the performance pedagogy paradox (Freer, 2011).
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Music Teachers and Pedagogy: What is Known and What Needs to be Learned
The article “The Performance Pedagogy Paradox in Choral Music Teaching,”
Freer (2011) was a reflective and theoretical article. In it, Freer described how teachers’
intentions may influence their choices and actions in the classroom. The article described
the value of both performance and pedagogy and how a choral music educator must learn
to straddle this fence. Like Demorest (2001), Freer stated that the emphasis in choral
music teaching is on the performance rather than on “the knowledge and skills that young
people can apply beyond their school’s choral rehearsal room” (p. 166). Freer further
emphasized that “choral teachers in the US generally focus on rehearsal of a limited
repertoire with specific goals for performance excellence at the expense of any other
educational goals” (p. 166). The focus on performance goals was the basis of the
problem in the present study, how do choral music educators balance requirements that
are historically, socially, and culturally understood as part of a choral classroom with the
necessary elements of choral music literacy?
In another action research article, Goering and Burenheide (2010) asked “How
does a teacher come to a new pedagogical approach?” Their article began with the idea
of how teachers come to do the things they do in their classrooms. Two teachers
specifically added music to their otherwise non-musical classes, found it to be a great
tool, and published their results. Goering and Burenheide discussed the ways in which
they used music, the reasons why they used it, and provided ideas for others to use it.
Goering and Burenheide specifically stated that it was not music for music’s sake,
contrary to Hansen et al. (2014) who state that music should stand on its own. One’s
subject matter should exist and be validated on its own. However, it does not mean that
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cross-curricular teaching is not valid. Goering and Burenheide (2010) described personal
practical theory as
an intense analytical look at one’s own instructional practice and examine how a
teacher can best enhance their instruction so that all students can learn. A teacher
has a set of ideas that they believe are the best way to engage students and
through experience, become the best way to reach students and guide their
teaching. (p. 45)
Thinking about what teachers do results in “a teacher empowered to explore what fully
works and respond to the information that is gathered through the process of teaching,
self-reflections, and inquiry” (Goering & Burenheide, 2010, p. 45).
In “Strategies of Improving Rehearsal Technique: Using Research Findings to
Promote Better Rehearsals,” Silvey (2014) compiled a checklist of behaviors that may
increase effectiveness of rehearsals based on a review of the literature. A secondary goal
was to enhance expressivity of conductors and improve ensemble performance. The
majority of these recommendations for directors, address literal comprehension on the
part of the students; warm-up time, need for eye contact, specific feedback. There is one
recommendation that functions on the inferential level of comprehension, moving beyond
notes and rhythms, which recommended that directors address tone, balance, blend, and
intonation. Silvey (2014) argued, “teachers need to instill the importance of how phrases
and sections join together to create an entire piece of music, a concept known as
comprehensive musicianship” (p. 15).
Ganschow (2014) conducted a quantitative electronic survey of 239 secondary
school choral conductors from the United States in search of their choral rehearsal
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priorities and approaches. The survey results showed that the most frequently cited
rehearsal priorities were intonation and tone quality. Ganschow (2014) noted, “the way in
which a rehearsal is structured combined with the conductor’s interpersonal skills and the
expressivity of the music, can create an aesthetic experience for students that is life
changing” (p. 53). Ganschow (2014) noted that previous studies found that the
fundamentals of correct rhythm, pitch, and pronunciation are generally given immediate
attention. These are elements on the literal levels of comprehension. However, the
elements that can achieve the choral sound and lead to an aesthetic experience, which live
in the inferential and evaluative levels of comprehension are often left for last. Ganschow
(2014) concluded that “further research investigating the relationships between conductor
intention and conductor performance, and singer perception is needed” (p. 59). Ganschow
(2014) further stated that a study concerning teaching beliefs and instructional practice
and how they inform one another was important to add to the discussion because teachers
need to be given a voice and further explain their choices.
In an article discussing the influence on curriculum choices of middle school
choir teachers, Hamann (2007) noted that school music through the early 20
th
century
was based on “singing and learning music fundamentals” (p. 65). Furthermore, Hamman
(2007) discussed how the strongest influences on curricular choices were items within the
school setting; things such as “developmental appropriateness, personal preference,
budget, and available materials” (p. 70, 2007). Taken together, this demonstrates a gap in
the literature. Although we have an idea of what the choral music educators are choosing
to be their curriculum, the voice of the choral music educator in particular is missing.
Their reality must be defined by their cultural and educational experiences to add depth to
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the discussion. Additionally, all but one of the research studies presented above were
quantitative in nature. Qualitative research in choral music education was limited during
the time this research took place.
Qualitative Research in Choral Music Education
The aforementioned qualitative study looked at student responses to the
significance of music (Campbell et al., 2004). Of the qualitative research studies in music
education, one included “The Researcher as Instrument: Learning to Conduct Qualitative
Research through Analyzing and Interpreting a Choral Rehearsal” (Barrett, 2007), which
involved watching and re-watching choral rehearsals within the context of a qualitative
research class. Graduate students used the choral rehearsal to learn about qualitative
research methods. Another example was “Exploring Student Experiences of Belonging
within an Urban High School Choral Ensemble: An Action Research Study”, in which 26
tenth through twelfth grade students were interviewed to describe their experiences of
belonging within an ensemble (Parker, 2009). One study that fulfilled the keyword
requirements of qualitative research, and choral music educator voice was “The
Experience of Creating Community: An Intrinsic Case Study of Four Midwestern Public
School Choral Teachers” (Parker, 2016). The article interviewed four choral directors,
who had taught either middle or high school and also interviewed students in their
programs. Qualitative research is not typically generalizable; however, it provides
opportunities to answer different questions.
Oldfather and West (1994) created a metaphor for understanding qualitative
research functioning and sharing many aspects similar to jazz. The article begins by
explaining how jazz functions among the musicians and participants and how it is a
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collaborative act at the core. “Jazz musicians participate in a shared culture. They carry
common (but not identical) repertoires, and a common body of knowledge that allows
them to make music together” (Oldfather & West, 1994, p. 22). A big idea behind it is
also that it is an improvisational activity that works under guidelines and certain
structures that allow for the improvisational nature. Similarly, qualitative research is
collaborative at its core, both between researchers and the participants being observed, as
well as between researchers when there are more than one. It is also an activity, like jazz
that is not solely found in one location, it has multiple venues: classroom, playground,
meetings, or even a pub where people are swapping stories. Oldfather and West likened
classical music to quantitative research, seeking an idealized perfect performance or
research answer. “Jazz is adaptive and is shared by the participants. Their improvisations
are collaborative and interdependent; the quality of the music depends on each musician’s
hearing, responding to, and appreciating the performances of the other players”
(Oldfather & West, 1994, p. 22).
The present research study was designed with ideas similar to Oldfather and
West’s (1994); it was collaborative with the participants, it had multiple locations
including the classrooms and places where the author conducted interviews. Additionally,
while this research had guidelines and structures in advance, there was room for
improvisation and adjustments that were made throughout the research study. Some of
the reasons for this particular study are evident in the gaps in the research literature
referenced above and further described below.
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Identification of Gaps and Limitations in the Research Literature
As previously noted, when examining the literature, there were a few notable
gaps. First, there were very few studies exploring secondary students and literacy.
Second, the definition of literacy that was commonly used referred to literacy as a skill in
its simplest form. In “Enhancing Literacy in the Second Grade”, Darrow et al. (2009)
demonstrated the more common understanding of literacy to mean the ability to read and
comprehend at the literal level. This article showed how music could help with this skill
and while it was invaluable, it also showed that there is a gap in the understandings of the
depth of the term literacy amongst music educators. Third, in the field of choral music
education, the studies that included critical literacy as a key element were few and far
between. Benedict (2012) and Schmidt (2005) looked at critical literacy as far as general
music education. Garret (2013) discussed the use of critical thinking skills in a high
school choral program; however, there is a difference between critical thinking and
critical literacy. Lastly, the perspective of the choral music educator was not often
discussed, while there were studies and articles that described ways in which choral
music educators could be better in the classroom, the director’s perspective was mostly
overlooked. Butke (2006) conducted a study of choral music educator’s reflective
journeys and Parker (2016) utilized a case study of four midwestern public school choral
teachers.
The present study was different from other studies because it looked at how
current choral music educators created and implemented their curriculum and their ideas
of choral music literacy. It was similar to Ganschow’s (2014) study, in that it focused on
secondary choral music educators. However, the present study was not a survey but
50
rather an in depth look at what the conductors believe and how they behave. The biggest
contribution of the current study is giving a voice to choral music educators who are so
often overlooked.
In the following chapter there is an explanation of the research methodology, the
role of the researcher, as well as the criteria which guided the participant selection. There
is a brief description of each of the participants, as well as the tools and sources for data
collection.
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CHAPTER THREE
DEVELOPMENT: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The purpose of my study was to give five experienced choral music educators a
voice and describe, examine, and understand their perceptions and use of elements within
choral music literacy. Specifically, the present study explored choral music educators’
knowledge and use of sight-reading, text analysis, and composition in their classrooms as
key components of choral music literacy. The study sought to identify ways in which
choral music educators currently build choral music literacy in their classrooms. As
previously stated, choral music literacy was defined as the ability to independently (a)
analyze the musical information on the page, (b) evaluate and make choices about how to
communicate this information to general audiences, (c) and assess the outcome of these
choices.
In building a research approach, my conceptions of the self and the other,
combined with the constructivist and critical theorist perspectives (Creswell, 2013),
yielded an observational multi-case study analysis of five individual choral music
educators. The multi-case study analysis “is a special effort to examine something having
lots of cases, parts, or members” (Stake, 2006) provided the best way to understand how
specific individual choral music educators perceive and begin to teach choral music
literacy in their classrooms. The multi-case study was deemed appropriate because of its
ability to research in depth a few cases, for a topic that is not broadly utilized yet in the
research literature. Stake proposed that “for a multi-case study, the case records are often
presented intact, accompanying a cross-case analysis with some emphasis on the biding
concept or idea” (p. 34). The present study employed observations of the choral music
52
educators in their classrooms as well as formal and informal interviews with the choral
music educators both before and after observations to ensure maximum understanding
and provide opportunities member checking. As per Stake, each case is a complex entity
located in its own situation, each choral music educator had unique and different
backgrounds, upbringings, experiences, and goals. However, there are elements that are
similar or dissimilar between each case, including the reasons they teach as they do, and
the particular things that they choose to emphasize in their classrooms. An intended
outcome of the study was additional appreciation for what the choral music educators do;
how they accomplish musical performances, and their thought processes as they
accomplish the tasks of teaching choral music literacy. This approach allowed me to
grasp some of the possible definitions of choral music literacy, and how they affected the
classroom process. The central research question was: “How do choral music educators
balance requirements that are historically, socially, and culturally understood as part of a
choral classroom with the elements of choral music literacy?” The purpose of the
research was to give five experienced choral directors a voice and thus describe, examine,
and understand these choral music educators’ use of elements within choral music
literacy. The three sub-questions that were explored through this research were:
1. What are selected choral music educators’ perceptions and understandings of
and towards choral music literacy? (sight reading, text analysis of musical
information, evaluation on how to best communicate information to the
audience, assessing outcomes, and musical independence)
2. How do these choral music educators design and implement their curricula?
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3. How do these choral music educators balance performance requirements and
the elements of choral music literacy that are invaluable in the creation of
independent music making?
The methods used to achieve this goal were observations and interviews of choral
music educators; additionally, lesson plans and song selections were requested and
analyzed when made available as a form of triangulating the interview data. The data
were then read and reread to (a) identify how choral music educators taught in the
classroom, (b) understand the processes and curricular choices that directors and students
make that lead to performances, and (c) potentially recognize places in the secondary
choral music education classroom where more work may be necessary. To review, the
central research question was:
How do choral music educators balance requirements that are historically,
socially, and culturally understood as part of a choral classroom with the elements
of choral music literacy?
Context of the Study
The scholarly research currently available indicates that choral music educators
spend the majority of their time rehearsing for a performance, and as such do not provide
enough opportunities for students to participate and grow in their use of choral music
literacy skills such as sight-reading, text analysis, and composition (Berg & Sindberg,
2014: Demorest, 2001; Garret 2013). Despite the literature, experiences as a choral music
educator have led me to seek to know if there were perspectives that had not been
addressed, specifically those of the choral music educators who do the work daily. The
use of the multi-case study provided an opportunity to not only observe the music
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educators in their natural habitat, but to gain a deeper understanding of who they are, and
how that affects their choices and their teaching methods.
Role of the Researcher
Researcher in the Field
As a choral music educator for over 18 years, as well as a member of American
Choral Directors Association and the Vocal Association. I had a working relationship
with most of the choral music educators who were interviewed for the study. My interest
was in exploring what choral music educators are already doing in their classrooms that
promotes choral music literacy. Additionally, I recognized the limited voice that choral
music educators often have specifically within the research literature. As a past District
Chairperson for the Vocal Association, the working relationship with these choral music
educators was significant prior to the study. I had multiple emails, conversations, and
dialogue concerning events within the community prior to the research.
Given these factors, there was a risk of research bias in the understanding I
personally have of choral music literacy. For that reason, choral music literacy as a term
was not used with participants until after the first classroom observation. As previously
noted, it is not currently a term used in the research literature on choral music. A journal
was maintained throughout the research process as a means of self-reflexivity and
sincerity of personal biases and opinions (Tracy, 2010). While these biases cannot be
completely stopped, they can be observed and noted throughout my research process.
Additionally, transparency throughout the process means that I have included information
concerning challenges as well as successes.
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Personal Relationship to Music Education
Growing up, given both a paternal and maternal aunt who played the piano, I
wanted to play the piano; at the age of 7, I began lessons. I participated in choirs
throughout my K-12 education. For me, education was not complete without the musical
component; for this reason, I enrolled in a choir class freshman year of college. In that
class, I met someone who helped me decide on Music Education as a college degree and
helped me audition for the school of music. I completed my course of study within four
years of starting the degree, and immediately became a music teacher. Within many
states, music education students get certified in Music K-12, without specifications as to
their particular instrument. Although I was a vocalist, my first full time job included
teaching Band, Chorus, Orchestra, Jazz Band, Marching Band, and Dance. During that
first year of teaching, there was a community of musicians, music education majors, and
current teachers, who helped me survive.
I have continued as a choral director for the past 18 years, teaching in various
parts of the area, participating in all of the events run by the state and district vocal
association. Within the last five years, I have joined and participated in events sponsored
by the American Choral Directors Association.
Relationships with Participants
Throughout my career, I have had a working relationship with all of the choral
music educators who were interviewed for the study. Some were established and were
leaders of the vocal association when I began teaching, some began teaching when I was
a young teacher, and some began teaching when I was considered a veteran teacher. One
of the participants was a senior in the high school where I interned over 19 years ago. My
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job as chairperson included running meetings for the district and voicing concerns to the
state as well as scheduling events run by the organization where the teachers brought
their students to participate.
Position within the Community of Choral Music Educators
As a veteran teacher, the district calls on me from time-to-time to participate in
district events, or decision-making processes as a result of my consistent participation,
and my own personal successes as a teacher. I have had the policy of helping anyone who
requested help for a few years now. None of the participants have been official mentees.
When I was a new teacher, and I struggled, my own internship supervisor became my
mentor. Anytime I asked for help, he would answer my call, take time out to observe me
and give me feedback in the classroom, or would stop by with a cup of coffee before a
big event. My first year of teaching was especially difficult, as I was asked to do many
things that were outside of my wheelhouse. My mentor was instrumental in helping me
overcome the difficulties I faced and bolstering my confidence to continue in the face of
adversity. He had a great deal of love and passion for music education. He has since
retired and passed away, so my desire and willingness to help others who seek it, is my
way of giving back and continuing the legacy of a person who helped me greatly in my
career.
Participant Selection
The participants for my research were a convenience sample of five secondary
choral music educators from an urban city in the south. As previously noted, specifics are
being omitted to protect the anonymity of the participants. The rationale for five
participants was proposed by Stake (2006); the “benefits of a multi-case study are limited
57
if less than four cases are selected as 2/3 cases do not show enough interactivity between
programs and their situations” (p. 50). In a qualitative study, the goal was to have a
purposeful sample, which means that the sample is one “from which the most can be
learned” (Merriam, 2002, p. 12). In line with previous research by Garret (2013) the
choral music educators each had (a) a minimum of five years teaching, (b) received
consistently high-performance ratings at their District Music Performance Assessment
(MPA), and (c) consistent student participation in All-State choirs. Similarly, the
individuals chosen had a minimum of five years teaching choir at the secondary level,
which could be either middle or high school. Garret’s (2013) study included directors
who consistently received high performance ratings at State MPA, however, this element
was not required for this study. The Music Educators National Conference in the state has
a website which confirmed participation and scores in MPA.
Given the purposive criteria—which means they were very specific—stated
above, the age, gender, and race/ethnicity was not considered, but were noted once the
participants agreed. One teacher was African American, two teachers were Hispanic, one
teacher was White non-Hispanic, and one teacher was White and Asian. Three teachers
were men, two were women. The youngest teacher was 29 at the time of the interviews
and observations, and the eldest teacher had been teaching full time since the 1980s. All
the teachers participated in the choosing of their pseudonyms. The following paragraphs
give a brief description and introduction to each of the participants. Participants were
listed in alphabetical order based on the first names they chose.
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Description of Participants
Andrea Martinez (pseudonym) had been teaching for the past eight years, first in a
local middle charter school and more recently in a local Title I public high school. She
was native to the community where she taught, a product of the local school department,
and a graduate of two public universities. She has a Bachelor of Music Education and a
Master of Music Education with an emphasis in choral conducting. Her primary
instrument was the piano and she has sung in choirs since elementary school. During her
time as a teacher at the middle school, her choirs consistently received superior ratings at
district MPA (Music Performance Assessment) and her students participated in the
Annual All-State choirs. Upon her recent move to the high school, she introduced the
school to MPA participation, where her choirs received Excellent ratings in 2017, 2018,
and received Superior ratings in 2019. Additionally, she introduced the high school
choral program to all the choral events in the district.
Chuck Harris (pseudonym) had been a teacher for 10 years, in six schools and had
taught elementary through high school. He had been at his current school for 4 years,
which is a high school and includes a magnet for the visual and performing arts. He was a
graduate of a traditional public high school in the area where he resided, and a graduate
of local private and public universities as well. He held a Bachelor of Music Education
and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting. His first formal musical training was in
piano, but he later pursued a vocal career. Throughout his time as a teacher at this most
recent post, his choirs had consistently received superior ratings at district MPA and
overall Superior or Excellent ratings at State MPA. His students had participated in state
ACDA (American Choral Directors Association) Honor choirs, as well as national
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ACDA Honor choirs. His school included students in the All-State choirs for the past 3
years. While the school has been a magnet school for some time, his work there has been
evident in the community as the school has been receiving more distinction.
Daniel Braunstein (pseudonym) had been teaching for the past 13 years and had
taught both middle and high school. Another high school graduate of the public schools
in the area, he also graduated from a local private university with a Bachelor of Music
Education. Daniel’s first instrument was the piano, but he sang in choirs beginning in
middle school, and focused on both instruments (piano and voice) throughout his college
career and beyond. His initial teaching position was at a local Title I high school, and
more recently at a magnet middle school, teaching Grades 6-8. During his time at this
school, his students had consistently participated in All-State Choirs, received Superior
and Excellent ratings at district MPA for the past 5 years, and numerous choral and solo
competitions throughout the United States.
Elizabeth Owen (pseudonym) had been teaching in the area for upwards of 30
years. She has taught both middle and high school throughout her career, in multiple
neighborhoods. She was a graduate of a local traditional public high school as well as
local private universities where she received a Bachelor of Music Education and a Master
of Music Education. She has spent the last 15 years at a magnet middle school.
Throughout her career, she has had students participate in All-State Choirs. Her choirs
have received Superiors at district MPA events, and she participated in a number of state
events when she taught high school. Elizabeth was originally a pianist; she majored in the
organ and participated in the orchestra in high school. Her initial goal was not to teach
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choir, but throughout her career, she has become a staple in the local choral music
education community.
Ricky Miller (pseudonym) had been teaching high school in the South Florida
area for the past 18 years. He was also a native of the area, having graduated from a local
traditional public high school, as well as a private and public universities within the state.
Ricky held a Bachelor of Music Education and a Master of Music Education with an
emphasis in Choral Conducting. His primary instrument was the voice, although he was
adept at the piano. He had been teaching at a magnet school for the visual and performing
arts for the past four years. Overall, his choirs had received Superior ratings at district
MPA as well as Superior and Excellent ratings at state MPA. Additionally, students from
this school had consistently participated in All-State Choirs since his arrival.
The participants were interviewed in locations at their discretion, thus ensuring
procedural respect and ethics for the human subjects. The participants were each
observed while teaching a specific and previously agreed upon choral class period. The
reason for asking the teachers to choose the times was to respect the subjects’ time and
work. The teachers were also very flexible and open to whatever worked best for all
parties involved. While this choice may have affected their overall performance, the end
goal was to see how they taught choral music literacy. Therefore, observing a class that
had more behavioral issues might have obscured the goal of the study. The goal was for
me to be “in the field where the participants live and work, in an effort to get as close as
possible to the participants being studied” (p. 20). None of the teachers had any
observable behavioral issues. All the teachers had a good rapport with their students; they
were generally down to business and very respectful. The teacher’s personalities shined
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in different ways, but the end goal was always music making. The types of data that were
collected were audio interviews, observations, and lesson plans as well as musical
repertoire for analysis up to the teacher’s discretion. While most participants were always
available for interviews, there was one participant who requested email format for the
second interview. Both the participant and the researcher were struggling to find time
given personal circumstances. Data were secured in an external hard drive, which was
stored in a locked office in my home.
Data Collection
Interviews
The present study required the researcher to conduct semi-structured interviews
with each choral music educator a minimum of three times, for a maximum of two hours
per interview. However, choral music educators were open to emails for member
checking and confirmation of their intent when questions came up.
Table 1. Participant Interview Questions by Category
Category
Questions
What are the choral
directors’ perceptions
and understandings of
choral music literacy?
What does choral music literacy mean to you?
How do you teach choral music literacy?
Describe a typical lesson where you incorporate
choral music literacy
What do you think about the following statement -
“The quality of the performance is a direct result of
what has transpired in the rehearsal”?
How do you get your students to connect with the
music you are working on?
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How would you describe your repertoire?
What stories do you tell through your repertoire?
What stories are you teaching through music?
When your students leave your program, what do
you think they would have gained in their time with
you?
How do these choral
directors design and
implement their
curriculum?
What is your “curriculum” in your classroom?
How do you think about your curriculum?
What is your teaching philosophy? How does it
guide your teaching?
How did this theory come about in your work?
How does learning occur?
How do you facilitate the learning process?
What do you start with when learning a new song?
(notes, rhythms, text)
How do you evaluate your students?
How does technology play into your program?
What is the relationship
between the directors’
announced theory of
teaching, design, and
delivery of choral
literacy practical
learning experiences?
What have you learned in your time as a teacher?
(Either about yourself as a teacher, your students,
your subject matter.)
What qualities do you think you bring to your choral
students?
How often do you allow students to participate in the
selection of repertoire? What does that look like?
How often do you allow students to be a part of the
decision making process in the interpretation of
musical works?
What does that look like?
Why do you establish the classroom culture and
climate as you do?
What do you value in your curriculum?
How did your training help/hinder/ or shape the
choices you make in your classroom?
Who do you think you are as a teacher?
What is your biggest strength and how does it
translate into your teaching?
What is your biggest weakness; does it affect your
teaching? How do you work to overcome it?
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Observations
Observations were agreed upon by joint decision of the choral music educator and
the interviewer. The observations were mostly agreed upon after the initial interview as
defined by each school’s schedules. The high school directors, all chose their “women’s
choir” for observations. Each choir has a different name, but for the sake of anonymity,
they are being called women’s choir. The middle school directors chose their advanced
mixed choirs for observations. The high schools were all on rotating blocks, which meant
the groups met every other day. At both Chuck’s and Ricky’s schools, the class period
ran for 2 hours, at Andrea’s school, the class period ran for 1 ½ hours. Between
September and December 2018, I visited classes a total of four times and observed,
beginnings of songs, development of songs, and some final performances. The middle
schools are on six period days, and the teachers see their students daily for an hour.
Between the months of September and December, these schools were visited a total of
three times. The third observation yielded little new information, after discussing it with a
professor and given time constraints, I decided I had enough class material to reach data
saturation.
Some issues that had been accounted for—block scheduling, holidays, teacher
workdays and other general scheduling issues—caused some delay in the observational
schedule and resulted in the period lasting from September to December. Two to three
schools were observed per week and on one occasion, the teachers requested a
rescheduling due to illness in the family, or general school events that would not have
permitted an actual observation of classroom teaching. Observationally, I was looking for
elements of choral music literacy, sight-reading music notation as well as elements of text
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analysis. I was interested in whether or not they were engaged in discussions of text and
harmonic coexistence? Meaning, as Giroux (1992) articulated, “teaching is about
providing students with the knowledge, capacities, and opportunities to be noisy,
irreverent, and vibrant” (p. 8). How do choral music educators encourage and guide
students through understanding of choral music in all the layers that exist?
A note must be made about the iterative nature of qualitative research. While
these methods mostly matched the proposed methods, accommodations were made, such
as one email interview and a change in the proposed schedule. Additionally, whereas
initially it was assumed each participant would be observed in one month, all participants
were observed once, then all were observed their second time. Consequently, the second
interviews were done, and so on and so forth. Following the qualitative research methods
outlined by Ortlipp (2008), Creswell (2013), Tracy (2010), Merriam (2002), and Bogdan
and Biklen (2007), room must be made for the ability to change questions and request
additional observation time. The information found along the way and the
accommodation of the participants guided the continued pursuit of research and methods
throughout the remainder of the study.
Procedures
Following IRB approval, the first step was to confirm the participants who were
willing to participate and who had met the criteria set beforehand. Recruitment of
participants involved a preliminary email of all possible choral music educators fulfilling
the requirements listed, which were seven in the immediate vicinity. An initial email
requested their participation; while all responded positively, the first five to respond were
selected. Following their confirmation of participation, each choral music educator
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provided me with a day and time where we had our first interviews. These first interviews
took place between the months of July and August, when teachers were still unsure of
their schedules. Once the preliminary interviews had been reviewed and schedules were
known, the next step was to agree upon observation times with each choral music
educator. Due to the variable schedules at different schools, the goal was to observe each
director for a minimum of 4 hours throughout the course of a month. These observational
data from the field offered firsthand encounters with how directors design and implement
their curriculum.
During each observation, field notes were taken, and once the researcher was
home immediately transcribed to the computer, along with photographs of the classroom,
lesson plans, and schematics of the classroom set up. Following two observations, the
choral music educators agreed to a time when we could reconvene for the second
interview. Almost all of the third observations happened during a time when my father
was in the hospital, and two happened on the day of his passing. My loss slowed the
process of data acquisition and brought it to a halt for almost a full month. Once ready to
resume, I returned to the participants who were missing observation three. I discussed
with professors, the possibility that I had reached data saturation since I had not seen
anything new since my second observation. I scheduled observation four for the high
schools and concluded that I was seeing more of the same amongst those participants.
Sources
The main data sources were individual interviews and observations; however,
data analysis was simultaneous with collection, allowing for adjustments along the way.
The use of both interviews and observations helped “enhance the validity of the eventual
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findings” (Merriam, 2002, p. 12). The interview questions were validated via a pilot
study with colleagues willing to review the questions and their meanings. Two different
colleagues were interviewed a year prior to the study and helped to hash out which
questions were beneficial, as well as recognizing where more questions were necessary.
Initial interviews were recorded and later transcribed by an iPad application named
“Transcribe.” The first interviews happened during all the teachers’ down time in the
summer, and I personally listened and edited the transcribed versions. Fifteen minutes of
interview took me one hour of editing. The benefits to personally editing and listening to
the interviews multiple times, was that there were things discussed that I remembered
vividly during observations. The downfall was that time was a constraint; the process
took me roughly three months to go through and transcribe the data for all the interviews.
While this was a tedious and time-consuming exercise, it forced me to relive the
interviews, and understand nuance and emphasis in the voices of the choral music
directors.
The interviews were then coded and analyzed for themes. “Data analysis is an
inductive strategy” (Merriam, 2002) whereby the researcher is looking for patterns,
giving them codes, and refining and adjusting as the analysis proceeds. My study began
with a comparative method between the different participants. It was done in this manner
to determine similarities or differences which appeared throughout the interview
transcripts and observations of classroom instruction.
Analysis
Rubin and Rubin (2012) stated that analysis “takes you step by step from the raw
data in your interviews to clear and convincing answers to your research question” (p.
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190). As per Rubin and Rubin (2012) the first step was transcribing each interview.
Following that, there was an initial reading of each interview to see what words or
phrases jumped out at me as repetitive or consistent. The first reading of a transcript was
supposed to allow space for thoughts and comments that occurred throughout the reading.
The second reading of the interviews looked for larger themes or ideas amidst those
words or coding. Larger themes were made up of smaller themes that could be grouped
together under a larger umbrella. Coding involved marking the transcript for words or
phrases that represent what you think a given passage means (Rubin & Rubin, 2015). The
third reading aimed to connect the similarities and differences from the themes that arose
from the two previous readings.
Brinkman and Kvale (2015) recommended condensation categorization of
transcribed interviews. Condensation builds off of coding and “entails an abridgement of
the meanings expressed by the interviewees into shorter formulations” (Brinkman &
Kvale, 2015, p. 255). The whole process took place largely by utilizing the data
alignment chart after multiple readings of the data. Although there may be many concepts
or themes in the interviews, the goal was to focus on those that were relevant to the
research problem at hand (Rubin & Rubin, 2012). I began with the concepts and themes
explicitly explored: teaching philosophy, music literacy, and choral music literacy.
Following that I looked for concepts and themes that had been frequently mentioned by
the participants.
Rubin and Rubin (2012) recommended sorting all the interviews by codes, and
then summarizing the coded information. After coding was accomplished, my next task
was to sort the material within and compare the results. My method used for sorting of
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the material involved using the Data Sources Alignment chart. I created a chart for each
participant, and included either direct quotes, or explain participant answers with a quote
that demonstrated my interpretation, as well as observational situations that reinforced
their interview responses. After that, the material was integrated into the narrative and
was used to generate a hypothesis.
Five themes arose from the coding and summarizing. Four of these themes were
overtly mentioned by the participants, the fifth theme was observed by the researcher
after reading and re-reading the interviews as well as revisiting the observations and
lesson plans. The five themes are: (a) musicianship skills and development, (b)
interpersonal connection, (c) teacher qualities and responsibilities (d) student
involvement and (e) growth mindset. The five themes were listed in order of repeated
importance across participants. Each of these themes was designated as an umbrella
under which a series of related topics had been discussed or observed.
Generalizability and Transferability
As previously stated, the participants for this research were a sample of five
secondary choral music educators. The rationale for five participants followed Stake’s
(2006) recommendations and explanations of multi-case studies. Given the specific
characteristics of the participants the sample size, and limited scope, the study was not
designed with generalizability in mind. Rather, it was designed to begin conversations
about the breadth and depth of what and how high school choral music educators work
with students and think about their curricula.
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Trustworthiness
Trustworthiness or credibility is achieved through “practices including thick
description, triangulation or crystallization, and multivocality and partiality” (Tracy,
2010, p. 843). Thick description refers to creating an in-depth illustration of what is
happening as well as extensive details. “Thick description requires that the researcher
account for the complex specificity and circumstantiality of their data” (Tracy, 2010, p.
843). The researcher must use words to make the reader feel as if they are in the
circumstances being described. Triangulation has been used by qualitative researchers to
mean many things, but the term is derived from the application of trigonometry to
navigation (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007). Tracy (2010) however, stated that triangulation
assumes that “if two or more sources of data, theoretical frameworks, types of data
collected, or researchers converge on the same conclusion, then the conclusion is more
credible” (p. 843). Multivocality refers to research that includes multiple and varied
voices (Tracy, 2010). In this sense, the inclusion of the choral music educators’ quotes,
feedback, and edits assisted in adding their voices to this study.
Conclusion
This chapter presented in detail the methods which were used in conducting this
study. It included the study design as well as a description of each participant. It also
presented the questions and some of the data collection tools that were used throughout
the study. The goal through this research was to give choral music educators a voice and
to describe, examine, and understand five choral music educators’ pedagogical
methodology. The best way to accomplish this was through direct observation of five
high school and middle school choral music educators, as well as in depth interviews and
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lesson plan analysis when made available by the teachers. In the next chapter, there is a
more detailed description of individual participants with many of their own quotes, as
well as observational data as it related to the questions at hand.
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CHAPTER FOUR
MODULATING TRANSITION: INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDIES
The present chapter provides individual case reports on each participant.
Participants chose pseudonyms for their first names and I assigned pseudonyms for their
last name. Throughout the multiple iterations of the participants’ stories, they were all
made aware of their fictitious last names and made no comment about them. Throughout
this chapter, I provide more detailed descriptions of the participants, taking into account
biographical information, instructional philosophies, and classroom observations as they
pertain to the research study. This chapter provides readers with a fully developed vision
of the participants as musicians and educators and was designed to capture how
participants think about what they do and why they do it. The chapter, therefore,
exclusively presents each of the participants’ backgrounds and philosophical standpoints
within the field of choral music education as recorded and observed throughout their
interviews and observations.
Each section begins with a biography of a participant. Due to the small size of the
choral community, as well as the close-knit workings of the community, there are
limitations to the biographical information given. The individual participants’ anonymity
must be protected; therefore, the biography of each individual does not include the
individual’s ethnicity. After the biography of each participant has been presented, the
structure of each participant’s case report follows this order: (a) participant’s answers to
interview questions pertinent to the bigger questions of the study, (b) an overview of each
participant’s teaching based on observations, and (c) a summary of each participant that
synthesizes the previous sections from the perspective of choral music literacy.
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Throughout this chapter, various forms of data collected during the study are presented to
provide the reader with the participant’s voice; observational data and interview
statements were woven together to create the narrative. Finally, a synthesis of the
previous sections is presented for each individual case to describe the participant’s
perceptions and use of elements within choral music literacy in their classrooms. It
should be noted that because each case study is meant to provide a thorough analysis of
each participant, various subsections have been added when appropriate that are based on
critical themes found within each participant’s narrative.
Andrea Martinez
Andrea Martinez has been teaching for the past eight years in a large urban city in
the south. She began her career first in a local middle charter school and more recently in
a local Title I public high school. Andrea, a product of the local public-school system,
began studying piano after a summer spent with an older cousin.
So, I was like six years old, and I spent an entire summer with my aunt and uncle
who lived in Pittsburgh and they have five children, of which I'm really close to
one of my cousins. And at the time, she was very serious about her piano studies
with her piano teacher who is Russian and teaches at Carnegie Mellon. Very cool
guy. She was vigorously practicing the piano and I came back home that summer
after I had chickenpox and everything. I was like, Mom, I have to play piano, I
have to play piano… I had just turned six over there.
By the age of eight, she had begun piano lessons; this gave her the ability to learn theory
and impress her elementary school music teachers.
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In elementary school, music classes became super easy. I was in the choir, I was
in the bell ensemble, I was in the recorder ensemble. All at the same time while
taking still my private piano lessons, which were weekly. I never changed piano
teachers so that was a big deal.
Andrea continued her studies in piano and attended a magnet arts school for middle
school and high school. While in high school, she had the opportunity to accompany
many choir students individually as well as the full choir and began to recognize her
affinity towards the choral art form. It was also during this time of her life, that a simple
school project guided her towards her college acceptance requirements and her eventual
career.
Andrea is graduate of two public universities; she holds a Bachelor of Music
Education and a Master of Music Education with an emphasis in choral conducting. Her
journey as a middle school teacher was challenging because the music culture prior to her
arrival in that school did not have a choral emphasis, but which focused on the soloist.
During her time as a teacher at the middle school, her choirs consistently received
superior ratings at district MPA (Music Performance Assessment) and she had students
participating in the Annual All-State choirs.
Andrea recently moved to the high school level, where she has introduced the
school to Music Performance Assessment participation, an annual assessment for choral
directors to bring their students for adjudication. Her predecessor at this school had a
guitar emphasis, and while students were encouraged to sing in the choir, their
expectations were contained to what they could accomplish within the classroom. This
teacher taught four class periods of guitar, and only had one class period of choir. The
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only outside performance for the students was at the end of the year during graduation.
Since Andrea’s arrival, the choirs have received Excellent ratings in 2017, 2018, and
received Superior ratings in 2019.
The high school where Andrea currently teaches is a Title 1 school, with a 94%
Hispanic population. When observing the classroom, there was a sprinkling of Spanish
being spoken throughout, amongst the students, and sometimes Andrea used a few
colloquialisms to really accentuate a point. This spoke to Andrea’s willingness and ability
to connect with the students and accept their backgrounds. When students would do
something funny, or beyond belief, on more than one occasion, Andrea said, “no puedo,”
a typical saying which means, “I can’t”.
Andrea stated that the administration is very laid back yet “supportive of teachers
when they see them working for the kids.” Her classroom is a tapestry of students,
Exceptional Student Education (ESE), advanced academics students, and English for
Speakers of other Languages (ESL). Her students are mostly juniors and seniors, with
fewer sophomores and freshman due to scheduling. Regardless of the students’
exceptionalities or abilities upon entering the classroom, her students “seem to excel
regardless of how rigorous I may or may not be with them.” The goal is to improve, and
her students respond. “I think my philosophy of teaching is definitely making a person
better than when they walked in. Whether it's musically, or just personally, or just
someone who can appreciate something different. I think that's my new philosophy.”
Her passion is the choir, she works diligently to grow the choral program. Andrea
also teaches beginning and advanced piano classes as well as beginning and advanced
guitar classes. In her choral classes, her goal is to promote student independence, but as
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music is both an auditory and visual subject, thus she begins by teaching rhythms. Every
observation included a rhythmic reading component. On the promethean board, a
rhythmic exercise would be displayed via a program called thesightreadingproject.com.
Andrea would guide her students through producing the sounds congruent to the rhythmic
symbols which were new. Rhythmic exercises were done utilizing syllables, but not
solfege syllables. Then, she would have them produce the sounds of the portion of the
exercise that was being displayed. Finally, Andrea would have the students speak through
the entire exercise, producing the rhythmic sounds represented. Her ability to scaffold her
classes provided every student with opportunities for success from the beginning levels
all the way up to the top levels.
What was most striking about this teacher, was the passion with which she
approached her students and the work that was teaching them to be better people through
music. She loved teaching at her first school but loves it at her new school even more.
And after teaching there [the new Title I school] for a year. I loved it. I realize
how much change I can instill in someone, whereas in my other school I was just
enriching people, here I was changing people's lives and giving them a ticket to
something different.
Classroom Set-Up and Preliminary Observations
Andrea’s classroom was a bit like her, bright and orderly. Walking through the
building to the room, the old floor was an authentic tile floor, not the usual linoleum of
modern school buildings. Her classroom was on the second floor and had an entire back
row of beautiful windows that overlook the front lawn of the school. There were blinds
on the windows, but the room had a warm feeling with natural light. Throughout the
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classroom, most wall space was neatly decorated with motivational quotes, pictures, and
calendars.
On my first visit, I arrived during lunch time and students were hanging out in the
classroom. This was obviously a place where they felt comfortable and were choosing to
be. One student was playing the piano, short little clips of songs, and his friends were
around him encouraging and recommending new songs. There was another group of
students chatting with the teacher, discussing random things including the liver as she
was trying to input grades from previous classes.
The room felt structured, but also had what I describe as a lightness and an
element of fun. Andrea was consistently encouraging and modeling all the behaviors she
expected from her students. The flow of the classes always included a great deal of
questioning from the teacher, in an effort to remind and review previously learned
information, but also allow students to catch up if they had missed something. One such
questions, following a portion of the song that was out of tune, Andrea asked the
students, “Does posture affect how you sound?” Later on, during that rehearsal, she
announced where in the music she was beginning, as students were fidgeting and not
everyone was paying attention, she asked the class, “bottom of page what?” and the
students responded, “page 4.”
Students and the teacher were allowed to make mistakes, and everyone was
consistently supportive of one another. During the first observation, Andrea and the
students were working on a Catalonian carol which had a strange rhythmic passage that
did not seem to line up with the text. Andrea attempted to speak it for the students and
made a mistake. The students tried to speak the text and did a better job than her. She told
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the students, “you speak Spanish better than I do.” Later on, while working on the same
musical piece, Andrea asked the students, “did I mess up,” to which they responded,
“everyone makes mistakes.” Andrea was very animated throughout the class, reminding
me of a great cheerleader. But not only was she excited, she was very clear and spent a
great deal of time explaining. The room had risers and was very long, so student and
teacher mobility and flexibility within the room were limited. However, the teacher and
the students seemed very comfortable with the set up.
Figure 1. Andrea’s Classroom Set-Up
Perceptions and Understandings of Choral Music Literacy
To understand Andrea’s perceptions of choral music literacy, first we must
understand what her life at her school was like. Andrea taught four periods of choir, two
periods of guitar, and one period of keyboard. When asked, she explained that her
primary responsibilities on the job were to “teach them [students], keep them in my
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classroom, keep them ‘entertained,’ give grades, give assignments, and measure their
accomplishments in some way, shape or form.” The job also included a performance at
graduation and at the school’s holiday show which is a performance during the day. She
says her secondary responsibilities were to
have a winter concert, have a spring concert, and make this school a competitive
school. Because as large as this school is, as beautiful as the school is, as old as
the school is, it’s obnoxious that it doesn’t have a competitive program.
The school was 115 years old, making it the oldest school in the city where the research
took place. For Andrea, going to MPA—Music Performance Assessments—is a non-
negotiable. So, while the school has certain expectations, she has added her own
expectations to the program; participation in a fall showcase, a caroling competition, solo
and ensembles, all county, and All-State auditions.
When asked who she is as a teacher, Andrea was unsure at first. She began by
describing herself as a human being, “I think I am first just a regular, normal, human
being, just trying to figure it out, just like everybody else.” She also called herself an
experimenter,
I don’t know if certain things are going to work for certain kids, or if certain
things are going to be successful for them. I have to try it out and see if it works
out, even if it is my eighth year.
She also believes that she teaches people how to read people through music. She said,
“connecting people is such a big deal to me, making eye contact, whether through the
music or just like when we’re talking about the words we are saying.” This idea of
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connecting to people is related to Andrea’s interpretation of choral music literacy and
will be explored further in Chapter Five.
Throughout the interviews, it was obvious that Andrea held a great deal of respect
for past teachers, and current mentors. She listed every teacher she ever had. One of the
mentors recognized, is a teacher in a local private school. This teacher, who will be called
Jasmine (pseudonym), helped ensure that teaching for Andrea was not just operating
under trial by fire. Jasmine helped Andrea organize and structure her lessons, as well as
prepare for classroom management issues; a huge portion of her pedagogy goes back to
this organization and structure. For Andrea, Jasmine was a huge reason she was as
successful as she was, early in her career. More recently, Andrea has another colleague
who has helped her in the transition from the charter to the public schools.
Music Literacy and Choral Music Literacy
Andrea’s definition of music literacy is “to read music just like you read a book. I
want students to be able to pick up a piece of music just like you pick up a chapter book
and start reading it.” Teaching her students to read music is of the utmost priority for
Andrea. It was evident not only in the interviews, but in every classroom observation.
The beginning of her class, once attendance, announcements, and warmups had been
completed, was teaching music literacy and sight-reading. As stated earlier, sight-reading
refers to the ability to sing the notes on the page at first sight. The specific components of
music literacy she taught were aural skills through scales and intervals, followed by
rhythmic reading. In this way, she separated the rhythmic and melodic components.
Following these preparatory skills, Andrea would present the students with a three-part
melodic and harmonic exercise that students had to sing at first sight. She would scaffold
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these components specifically, such that the music they were learning would include a
component she had reviewed in the sight-reading exercises.
As previously noted, the term choral music literacy is not in the literature.
Therefore, Andrea answered the question concerning the term with some trepidation.
Choral music literacy would mean, as we harmonize through a piece of music,
where your vocal part in the chord lies within that harmony. Because now
not only are you okay, I have mi- Great. Who has Do? Who has Sol? That's
your most important chord.
Andrea said that it involved not just knowing the notes and reading them, but also
“knowing where the harmony goes.” Harmony in music is generally made up of
consonant and dissonant intervals and chords which have specific functions within the
music. Intervals are the distance between any two notes, whether the notes are being
sounded simultaneously or in sequence, and chords are generally built off of intervals.
Based on her definition, she stated that it was an important part of her curriculum, but one
she had not yet achieved completely. She explained that prior to understanding chords in
the classroom, she was working on intervals for her students to understand, and these
intervals were based off of the scales they were learning.
It is something I'm still working on. So, right now we're still working on your
intervals, your skips between, we’ve gone up to 4ths. This week now we're doing
fourths in minor, with my, with those top two groups. With the beginning group
they’re now going to do thirds in minor.
While her definition of choral music literacy did not include references to the text
that singers inevitably sing with, when asked about getting students to connect to the
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music, Andrea explained that her first goal was always to get students to experience the
song first. “I don’t like to give them a song, look how cool it is and play it for them. I feel
like that gives it away.” What Andrea is specifically referencing, is having a student
passively listen to a song as opposed to interacting with the notes on the page and going
through the process of figuring it out. When she says experience it, she means sight-sing
through it first, and then hear as the students sing: working to get her students to sing
parts of the harmony and engage them so that they will react. As she says, “then they’re
like, ‘Oh that does sound cool, we need to fix that.’”
Another way that Andrea got the students to connect to the music was by
explaining why she had chosen a song; the students would become excited to perform
and work on it. For Andrea, the text also helped the students to become engaged and
connected to the piece, especially if it is in English.
They do read it if it's in English. They’ll read it and be like, especially with like
Lully, “What, this king killed the children, but why?” And I’m like, I know right?
So, I let them decipher things on their own first, and then obviously we'll talk
about it as a group eventually.
Having the students connect with the music allows the students to perform better, as she
says, “it’ll move the music a little bit better.”
Curriculum Design and Implementation
Andrea’s philosophy of teaching is to, “make a person better than when they
walked in, whether it’s musically, or personally, or just someone who can appreciate
something different.” She explains that music did a lot for her, but it wasn’t until her
student teaching that she was able to realize all the things that music could provide for
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others. According to Andrea, “Music connected me to people, it has connected me to my
faith, and it emotionally speaks to me so much. This philosophy is embedded throughout
Andrea’s curriculum. Her curriculum is self-described, and observed by me, as sight-
reading based. When asked, she explains that her steps are:
We start with how to read rhythms. Quarter note, half note, whole note, eighth
note, that’s how we start. Four-fourths. Ta ti-ti- ta. That’s what I use. We learn
rhythms, we learn how to make a sound; so, I have them hum. Then I have them
phonate. Not be scared of their sounds, I remind them of the first time you picked
up that saxophone and their sounds weren’t the best. Yeah, guess what, it’s the
same thing, look I’m yelling. And then they’re like, she’s crazy. So how to make
a sound, and how to sight read; starting with rhythm then I add scale and
arpeggio. Scale actually, just major scale, do-re-mi on solfege.
Eventually we’ll start skipping through the scale and then do the arpeggio.
And then, stepwise motion of the notes. I tell them where Do is and then look,
like it's going up, so the pitch has to go up, oh look the pitch is going down so we
have to go down. So, we use that scale so, if this is do, that’s re, that’s mi, that’s
fa and so on and so forth. And then, we speak the solfege in rhythm.
In other words, the three steps to reading a piece of music are, speak the rhythm,
then speak the solfege on the rhythm, and then sing the pitches using the scale. As per
Andrea, “this is after a lot of step wise singing within the scale.”
Once that skill—sight-reading—has been established, she moves to singing
intervals within the song but that takes months to perfect. Using this system, choir
classes with beginners start off by learning a unison piece, to build tone. Amongst choral
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directors, tone refers to the timbre or color created by the individual and ensemble when
singing, and there are tones that are considered appropriate for different genres of
singing. Once the students have learned that unison piece, she takes that same unison
piece and makes it a round or canon. Andrea’s goal is to split that class into three parts by
the end of the year, but that is dependent on the students’ levels of success with the
different steps.
When initially asked about these steps, Andrea noted that this was the basic way
of teaching all students without prior knowledge. She was unsure with her women’s choir
if all the steps would be necessary. She did know, that depending on how the students
responded, she would have to increase the level of difficulty. She said, “I kind of have to
go with how they're doing. So, I don't know, I can't tell you because I haven't had a
women’s choir before.” She explained that the group was going to be “treated more like a
beginning choir, because if the women's choir didn’t work out, beginning choir is the
same exact thing, just with guys.” Following the sight-reading skills and the unison
song, Andrea moves on to pieces that are intended for performance. Again, decisions
about whether the piece is unison, two part, or a partner song, depends on how the
students react to the previous material. “I usually pick out two [songs] and just work on
two and then if they are doing well, I’ll pick out [songs] three and four. I’ve realized in
high school, four [songs] is as much as I can do till December.” Her goal is to push her
students such that they can learn seven songs in the first semester, but given the emphasis
on sight-reading and skill level as well as how consistent she is, her current students are
not yet able to learn more than four songs within the first half of the school year.
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Steps for teaching a song: a component of curriculum design and
implementation. When introducing and teaching a new song, Andrea describes a few
different scenarios:
Sometimes I do unison sections so that they have a good experience. It kind of
depends on the day of the week, too. Another time I started in the middle section
where they do split off into three parts. I was also trying to challenge that group to
sight-read more. That's a hard group because I want to consider them intermediate
so, it's just like trying to push them to the next level. So then always on solfege,
finding the key, finding the first note in that section, and then let’s sight-read by
section. I will always give them the shot, let’s try it. Ok, that didn’t work out. So,
then we start with one section and I make the other sections hum through. And
then still try and do those hand signs, so that obviously muscle memory gives you
a pitch. And then I make now that new section that we just, like let’s say I was
working with soprano II, now they hum, next section, out loud.
Andrea was very interested in ensuring that students have a positive experience
from the beginning. Once the unison sections are learned, Andrea switches and provides
each section time to work on their individual parts, depending on the classes’ skill level.
She will allow them to attempt to sight-read it together, or she will break it down and
then put it back together. She encourages the use of hand signs—hand gestures used as a
kinesthetic, tangible observation of the rise and fall of pitches on the staff as they are
sung—throughout her teaching and insists that it helps the students with muscle memory
and pitch. Even when working with only one group at a time, sopranos for example, the
other sections are expected to be working on their parts either by using their hand signs,
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or by humming along with the group that is actualizing the pitches. Actualization of
pitches refers to when a sound is made, whereas audiation is the ability to hear the pitches
inside the mind, using the inner ear. When asked why she had students humming, Andrea
explained that “it gives them a shot to actuate or sing out loud in some way. It also helps
the students to hear some of the harmonies that the piece will have.”
The major difference between her more advanced class procedures and her
beginning choir procedures is that the steps are much more consistent and broken down
with her beginning choirs. “What I do, because the beginning groups will have trouble
obviously skipping, when we have a weird skip, so let's look at this phrase let's sing all
the pitches in that phrase.” Once the students are confident that they do in fact know all
the pitches in the phrase, she begins to break it down especially around skips. “It’s
tedious, but it gets the job done, and they actually have gotten to their second piece and
have learned both parts in that song.”
When the students return in January, the sight-reading skills are transferred to
paper. Prior to this, most of the exercises used in the classroom come from
thesightreadingproject.com. After December, the class continues to work on sight-
reading, as this is their sole method of learning music in class. However, they also add
tone building into the mix in preparation for the assessments that are usually in March.
Tone is a component all unto itself within the rubric used for MPAs.
Andrea reported that the curriculum has changed over time, primarily in the fact
that there are more events. Each element that gets added to the curriculum directly
correlates to specific events in the year. December’s big goal is teaching the students how
to perform and learning performance etiquette. As she explains: “by March, tone quality
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is everything. So, a more unified sound happens in March and then by May they should
be transformed. They should realize this is bigger than just them.”
According to Andrea, the curriculum has also changed
more in the sense of having fun and creating a safe space for students to express
themselves, rather than being so competitive. This class isn’t just music, it is
about being a part of a team, having to work together, and having fun in the
process.
Experiential learning: A component of curriculum design and
implementation. All of the events and activities that Andrea works toward, stem from a
belief that learning occurs through experiences or by doing. As she explains, “you can tell
someone how to hold a spoon 300 times, but until they do it, they didn’t really learn it.”
Similarly, she doesn’t believe students realize how much they’ve learned, until a
performance. She facilitates learning by allowing her students to experience things for
themselves. One of the things she does, is host open mic nights, which students must
audition to perform in. Those who go and watch, can recognize that “it’s possible. And if
it’s possible, then students realize they just have to continue learning.” She also
facilitates learning by giving students a step by step process. Her steps include the
following questions. “Did you take a low breath? Did you bend your knees? Did you
open your mouth and make sure that the soft palate was up?” She also has a step by step
for sight-reading, “rhythm first, solfege syllables on rhythm, add the pitches. Do one step
at a time.”
Andrea’s evaluation system is very well thought out. First there is a class
participation grade which “entails having your music, being actively participating by
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singing and standing up, and having a pencil.” There is also a weekly assignment, which
is often turned in via Onenote, an application offered to all teachers and students via
Microsoft Word. It could be a theory assignment via www.musictheory.net, they could
have to sight-read something and make an audio recording, a reflection of a recording,
and finally, performances. Her goal is to teach for understanding, which makes teaching
songs a slow process. This is something she recognizes as a current barrier, but she is also
confident that once the students have fully bought into the sight reading and musical
independence aspect of her teaching, the process will speed up.
Student involvement: A component of curriculum design and
implementation. In this class, students were involved in the music making process
primarily through discussion and offering suggestions for issues they may hear from
recordings. Andrea admits to often recording her students, and then playing their
performance back for them. As stated previously, it is a classroom where students seem
to be very supportive of each other and where they want to work together to improve.
Andrea also believed in giving her students opportunities to participate in the decision-
making process of musical interpretation. She says that she often asks her students
questions to help them get to the musical points, “because at the end of the day, the one
who’s performing is them. I’m performing with them, but they’re the ones that are
actually making the noise, so I need them to get that next level.” If the students like the
music, they will want to perform it and work hard on it. Andrea states that the ideal
classroom climate for her would be “a safe environment for myself and my students to be
able to not just learn, but that everybody understands that mistakes can happen, as long as
we work hard to fix them.”
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She goes on to explain that it would be a place “where no one is judged for any
reason, and we all work together, including myself and anyone who is there in that
classroom setting, for the betterment of each other not just whatever exterior goal could
be.” Andrea feels that she is close to this goal, because students will invite other students
into their classroom and call it home. (Remember on my first visit, students were hanging
out there during their lunch hour.) She has created this culture in her classroom.
Growth mindset: An unexpected component of curriculum
implementation. Although the term growth mindset is never mentioned specifically
throughout the interviews, or observations, it is a clear idea throughout the conversations.
The goal is not to have the most talented students, but to have students willing to work
hard to improve. Everyone can learn. Andrea told me a story in her first interview, of a
drama teacher she had in a high school musical theater wheel.
In that class, at the start of the year, he told us to draw a self-portrait on a sheet of
paper with pencil, you give it some time to think that, to draw it. We’re all
complaining about like, this isn’t a drawing class, like why do we have to draw.
And he was like, “ok, you should be done with your picture now”. I can’t draw, or
so I thought. And he tells us to switch our papers with someone else. And, the
person that got our paper has to then on the back, write how if you were to see
this picture on a wall, based on skill alone like, how old would you think the
person that drew it was. We had to write it down on the back, and then give back
the paper. We did that, and then we were all like, can we see how old we are?
And I think I got seven years old. I can't remember now, but he said, the age that
you see on that paper is pretty much the last time you drew.
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I started thinking about it. And I was like, oh my God yeah. It was
definitely a moment of silence in the class. I even remember going back
home and looking at my drawings, but I realized that oh yeah, I stopped
drawing. And he said, “usually, you stopped because someone saw your
drawing, and said that doesn't look like whatever it is that you're supposed
to be drawing. Or someone told you, you can't draw.” And then he said,
“the same goes for singing, the same goes for acting, and you know it's not
that you can’t. It’s because you don't know how, it can be taught. You can
learn how to draw. If you drew every single day wouldn’t you think you
would get better?
Andrea uses this idea at the beginning of the year with all her students. She
explains from the beginning, “It’s not that we can’t sing, it’s that we don’t know how to
sing, and anybody can sing if they can speak.” This experience affected Andrea so much
in her way of thinking, that she has carried it with her and continues to use it year after
year. The other people that she believes have shaped her include her piano teacher who
taught her how to practice, and her high school directors who established a safe
environment for her to grow. As she explains,
they helped me flourish as a musician, and I’d like to do that for somebody else.
All these people were such great mentors, teachers, and people who I looked up to
so much, they gave me so many opportunities. It’s just a pay it forward or a
continuing of that legacy like they did for me, and hopefully I can do it for other
people.
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Choral Music Literacy and Performance Requirements
As previously described, the experience in high school with the musical theater
wheel, taught Andrea that, “you may not be good at something because you don’t know
how, but it can be taught. You can learn. If you drew every single day, wouldn’t you
think you would get better?” Andrea’s internship provided her with opportunities to
learn time management and tough love. At her first job at the charter school, she was
able to build a culture of choral singing and taught her students how to sight read despite
feeling micromanaged. She eventually got a master’s degree in choral conducting, and it
was during these classes that she realized that she had been intuitively doing the right
things all along—scaffolding, building confidence and giving students steps for
success—and was able to work on her conducting skills.
Andrea schedules for her students roughly eight performances per year. These
performances vary in purpose from community service experiences such as singing in the
cancer ward at a local hospital, to recruitment performances for local middle schools, and
competitions and evaluations. As previously stated, Andrea believes that students learn
from experiences, and to her, “a performance is a complete experience. So, I don’t teach
to perform, but I do teach to try to get the best experience out of the performance.” Her
reasoning is, if the students were to have a bad experience, they won’t want to perform
again.
The repertoire choices in Andrea’s classroom are very precise. Andrea admits to
having a formula for her holiday concert. She begins by thinking about the voicing and
level of the choir. Then she considers range, because not all students can sing all the
notes of the range. Her holiday formula is a winter song, a world peace song is also
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usually included. Then a Hanukah or Israeli piece, a piece with a djembe, and then what
she calls “the Jesus song.” Andrea does believe it is important that the students buy into
the piece of music, “because if they hate it, they’re not going to want to learn it.” Often,
she will give her students a few songs to choose from based on range, and level of
difficulty, but allow her officers to pick from the options she provides. When asked about
the relationship between rehearsals and performances, Andrea said, “the way someone
behaves in rehearsal will then transcend to performance. Not at 100% because being in
front of people puts you on the spot so you try your absolute best. But dealing with
teenagers, they’re not consistent.”
Summary
Andrea is a teacher who as a person, is constantly seeking to be better.
Throughout her educational career in high school and throughout college, she took pride
in doing the best she could, and learning how to improve. At one point, she described
being disillusioned with an aspect of her college career, but rather than quitting, she
found an alternate avenue to push her to continue improving. So faithful is she to this
ideal, that she continued on to get a master’s degree, which proved to her all she was
doing well; then she focused on improving her conducting skills. As I watched her in the
classroom, it became clear that she approaches her job with this same zeal, seeking to be
better. She also hopes to instill this drive in her students, as she teaches that it does not
matter where you began, but that there is growth in each individual student, and in the
group as a whole. She focuses much of her time on the basic building blocks of
musicianship, but she also ensures that students feel a sense of safety in the steps
established, safety in the group should there be a mishap, and confidence in all that they
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have learned. Performances are not the goal, but a goal, as they help provide
opportunities for the students to recognize how far they have come, and still how much
farther they have to go.
Chuck Harris
Chuck Harris has been a teacher for 10 years, in six schools and has taught
elementary through high school. His path to becoming a teacher was not necessarily a
straight line. Chuck described his earliest memory of music,
I think my earliest memories of singing come from my mom tucking my brother
and me to sleep and singing nursery rhymes with us in our room. This would
happen very often; I think probably every day when we were kids.
As a traditional public high school student, he took piano classes and his senior
year of high school, auditioned for a role in the school musical. Unexpectedly, he landed
the lead.
The director selected me for the lead of the show. And because of that I got my
first formal singing experience. And through that my drama teacher, convinced
me that I should audition for colleges… for scholarships and such. And that's
what I did, and that’s how I ended up starting my music education career in
college, because I received the scholarship to sing.
This one moment provided him with guidance from the drama teacher and
opportunities for college scholarships. He then began to pursue singing as a career, but
due to family situations, he felt he needed a more stable career than soloist.
I wanted to sing professionally, but my parents divorcing, while I was in college
made me change my mind. Where I needed, I felt like I needed to put my solo
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career or solo studies on the back burner so that I could, so that I could graduate
from college and have a job teaching and help support my family.
Chuck had a choral director in college who provided him with countless musical
experiences. He graduated from a private university with a Bachelor of Music Education
and went into the classroom where he taught elementary and high school choir. He taught
for a few years, but left teaching and focused on his singing career for 15 years, traveling
and performing. Five years ago, Chuck returned to the classroom.
Chuck has been at his current school for four years. It is a high school and
includes a magnet for the visual and performing arts. He holds a Master of Music in
Choral Conducting from a public university, a degree he completed upon beginning his
job at this current location. Throughout his time as a teacher at this most recent post, his
choirs have consistently received superior ratings at district MPA and overall Superior or
Excellent ratings at State MPA. His students have participated in State ACDA (American
Choral Director’s Association) Honor choirs, as well as National ACDA Honor choirs.
His school has had students in the All-State choirs for the past 3 years. While the school
has been a magnet school for some time, his work there has been evident in the
community because the school has been receiving more notoriety due to their growing
music program.
When walking into Chuck’s classroom for the first time, the most striking thing
was his very neat, subtly colorful classroom. There were a few focal points. The school
demographic is “heavily Hispanic with African American and Caucasian students.” The
official report published for 2018-19 stated that the school was 58% Hispanic, 19%
black, 18% white, and 5% Other. The school has an administrative team that is
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supportive of the arts “I feel that, for the for the most part the administration is very
supportive. They appreciate what I do, and how I represent the school to the public.”
A unique component of Chuck’s classroom is an emphasis on solo singing in
addition to choral singing. The students in his classes, depending on their year within the
group, must learn four solo art songs, one per semester. Chuck explains that many of his
students “do not have the ability to have private vocal teachers or coaches. They just
can’t afford it. So, I think that part of my job is to teach solo voice.” Another of the goals
he listed for himself as a teacher was to prepare students for their college auditions and
make them competitive and eligible for scholarships. Throughout the observations,
students seemed to have much to do in the classroom, yet Chuck’s kindness and humor
made the work seem accessible. The focus in the classroom was evident, students had
folders, pencils, and were ready to go before the bell. Chuck was consistently
complimentary with the students, even when he needed to make corrections. Mistakes
were allowed and gently noted, but strengths were continuously reinforced and
recognized. There was one student in the group who had a paraprofessional assigned; she
was autistic. However, the structure of the class made the student’s exceptionality
unnoticeable. The student worked and accomplished all of the tasks within the class, and
only required redirecting once, throughout the four visits.
Chuck’s personality shined through regardless of the job at hand. He carried
himself with a sort of quick-witted kind humor, as well as an obvious commitment to
accomplishing the goals or task at hand. His work ethic was clear and consistent
throughout every rehearsal. The class I observed was an early morning class, and I
always arrived early enough for him to meet me in the office and walk me around before
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we arrived at his classroom. He met everyone with a smile and a warm greeting, but
always with that same sense of purpose. It was an interesting balance which made him
seem approachable and yet no nonsense. Throughout our interviews, he would approach
the questions asked with that same sense of humor, sometimes trying to self-correct. His
instinct was usually one of joviality sprinkled with his obvious love for his job and his
students.
Classroom Set-Up and Preliminary Observations
When I arrived for my first visit, Chuck was already waiting in the office
speaking with an administrator. He was casually dressed in jeans and a button-down shirt
with casual brown shoes. His classroom included a large mural in the back of the
classroom, a red treble staff with musical notation that grows larger and expands to the
left, that greeted everyone upon arrival.
Students knew upon entering the class where things should be; bookbags in one
place, cell phones in another, music folders and pencils in hand. On the promethean
board there was always a sight-reading rhythmic exercise page, ready for the students to
do first, while the teacher took attendance. The classroom had an overall positive
environment.
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Figure 2. Chuck’s Classroom Set-Up
Perceptions and Understandings of Choral Music Literacy
As previously noted, Chuck teaches in a high school magnet program within a
community school. During the 2018-19-year, Chuck taught five periods of choir and one
period of music theory. When he arrived at this school, he adjusted the curriculum for the
students in the magnet program and designed a scope and sequence that was competitive
with other magnet schools in the area.
When I decided to take the current, my current job, I made sure that I convinced
the administration to change their curriculum to a curriculum that I felt would
benefit my students, the way I wanted to teach them. So, I created a scope and
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sequence for the choral magnet students to all follow, which would include the
learning of music theory, sight singing, ear training, as well as a vocal techniques
class. Where they would learn to use their solo voice and begin learning solo
repertoire; art songs and arias, in various languages. And then also be introduced
to choral music as they progressed through the sequence, they would then move
on to the advanced choirs where they focus more on the choral music.
Chuck saw himself as “someone who helped students see potential that they don’t
yet see in themselves.” He described himself as willing to give his time and talent above
what the job description may entail: he loves his students, his job, and his career. As he
says, “I’m proud of what I do, most of the time.” For him, “my main goal is to help my
students have a competitive edge when they are seniors, to be able to go to college
auditions, and be accepted, as well as get scholarships for themselves.” His secondary
goal is, “for students to have an appreciation and love for the choral art form and singing
in general; to feel pride in their art, what they do, and in themselves.”
Chuck described a number of mentors and teachers who led him down the path of
music. His first mentor was his high school piano teacher, “who instilled in me a passion
for music. Thanks to her, I learned to play piano, music theory, and music history. She
was always very supportive.” His second mentor was the drama teacher at his high
school who “helped me realize that I had a lot more talent and potential than I even
knew.” Chuck described both of his college choral directors with great admiration, “my
first college professor exposed me to a lot of choral repertoire, which I fell in love with.”
His last college director at the university, is still a mentor and someone who Chuck
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continues to look up to. “My last choral director was able to show the passion he had for
music and then impart that on the people around him.”
Music Literacy and Choral Music Literacy
When asked about music literacy, Chuck had an interesting answer. As he
explained,
Language literacy means understanding words on the page, interpreting those
words and creating sophisticated ideas about them. I think music literacy
translates into something similar where, a musician can see a piece of paper and
decipher what music is. It’s the ability for the student to read the music, to
interpret the music in correct cultural and musical styles, interpret styles, and
performance styles.
Chuck explained that when he was helping his students to understand their music, in
addition to sight reading and theory skills, he tried to give his students cultural historical
background for the music. He described how often Mozart is placed in his own bubble
and is disconnected from everything else around it. He explained to his students that
Mozart was actually writing around the time of the American Revolution, by connecting
it to “other subjects they might be familiar with, you give them a little bit of context.”
Another way he assists his students in their music literacy development is by
playing recordings for his students, various recordings of either that same song or that
style of music. In this way, he provides his students with some context from which they
can base some of their decisions. Each year, the students focus on different languages,
and at the end of every nine weeks, the students were required to perform a jury “with a
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report of the research on the style, composer, time period, and country of the aria they
perform.”
When asked about the differentiation between music literacy and choral music
literacy, Chuck said “It’s music literacy but specific to choral music. So, it’s
understanding what you see on the choral page, the text, composer’s intention, the
composers cultural background, historical background, and performance necessities for
the appropriate performance of that music.” Chuck helps students connect to the music.
In his words, “I tell the students at the beginning, that they don't have to love the music
that we are singing, but they have to keep an open mind and to recognize its place and its
value in our choral world.” Chuck is a firm believer that students cannot and will not
love everything they perform, and as a performer himself, he has experienced performing
some things he did not personally love. But he says, “that’s ok. They [the students]
should just decide not to make an opinion about it right away or give up on it, but they
should keep an open mind.” For Chuck, by exposing his students to something they may
not initially like, he believes he may sometimes change a student’s perception of music
when they give it a try.
Student leadership and music making: components of choral music
literacy. Student leadership and a certain level of autonomy were obvious throughout the
observations; it was impressive how seamlessly students took their leadership positions,
and just as seamlessly returned to be student participants. Chuck explained
I give a lot of freedom for the students to do their own learning at the very
beginning. I give them some basic guidelines as to what needs to happen
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throughout the day, but I let them decide how they're going to get to it, and I
check in and I pluck out some notes here and there.
On three of the four observations, there was a point in the class period where students
switched into sectionals. Chuck had written on the board their “goals” for their sectional
work and then traveled between the rooms, ensuring the students were on track. From
where I sat in the middle of the classroom, their work was bleeding through, and it was
obvious everyone was on task. This kind of freedom amongst the students is dependent
on having a good mix of both new and veteran students. However, for Chuck this is a
productive way of using the time, “where the students are not just learning from their
teacher but also learning from their peers. And the advanced students are learning by
teaching, which is a huge component for them.”
When asked about the definition of making music, Chuck described a video he
showed in class:
I remember showing my class a video of a robot playing a violin. And the
robot was playing, I forget which composer, it may have been Bach or Mozart,
mostly just plucking out the notes and it sounded far better than anything I could
do because I don’t play violin, but then I asked my students, is this music? And it
was very interesting to hear their response because some of them thought that it
was music, but some of them thought that it was sound but that it did not have a
connection to emotions and feelings because it came from a robot. So, it opened
up a discussion about what is music and how… and you know, are humans able to
make sound which imitates music without actually being music. It became a huge
conversation.
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But you know music is, it has five components: it is sound that is created
by a person that has a definite time, it has form, and an emotional connection.
Those five components need to be present for a piece to be music and we always
analyze are these five components there. And if they are, then we can define
whatever we're doing, or hearing or producing as music or not.
Chuck believes that his most important work is that he helps his students become better
people. In his words,
I think I help them work towards common goals, help each other, work with each
other, feel compassion towards each other, develop a sense of love for themselves
and for their music, for their art, and build a sense of pride in their school and
their friends.
Curriculum Design and Implementation
In his classroom, Chuck always had a lighthearted joviality to his demeaner,
amidst an obvious emphasis on making music and a great work ethic. At the end of class,
he would tell his students, “I love you more than I love a cold sore.” During the first few
observations, a lot more time was spent on vocal technique and general warmups. As
time passed, vocal warm-ups and technique were always discussed, and the priority
slowly switched to more music learning, and later polishing in preparation for
performances. The last observation included a mini performance as a means of school
recruitment.
During the first observation, Chuck was simultaneously preparing his students for
both state and national ACDA auditions, solo work for their end of the year assignment,
and music for their performance at the annual state music conference which the group
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had been selected to perform at. By the time the second observation came, these auditions
had passed, and the main focus of the rehearsal was singing with the best technique
possible. Some accepted behaviors that were noteworthy; singing, reading music,
participation in music making, counting, tapping, snapping, and use of hand signs.
Unacceptable behaviors included not being in rhythm and as Chuck said, making “bird
beak” sounds. Students were constantly reminded of what a good sound and a bad sound
was. Rehearsals were very productive and sprinkled with Spanish sayings. During my
first observation, right before announcements were made on the speakers, Chuck said,
“Oye! [listen!] Announcements.” On more than one occasion, a student arrived late.
Rehearsal procedures were so predictable, that these students did not take long to know
what was happening and where they belonged.
Asked about his philosophy of teaching, Chuck said he believed every student
was teachable. “I feel that, if you are able to spark interest in the students, then you're
able to teach them, any of them. It's those students that you failed to grasp; it's not that
they can't learn, it’s that you can't teach them.” Chuck believes it is the teacher’s
responsibility to be able to reach out to students. He says, “I think if you’re really
masterful, you might be able to reach every student in a certain way. Every student is
teachable. Not everybody's going to win an award, but everybody's going to come out
with an experience.”
As previously stated, Chuck altered the school choral curriculum and explained
throughout our interviews, how and why he changed the curriculum to what it is today.
Prior to his arrival, “students were enrolled in various choirs, depending on what the
previous teacher needed them to be in. And some students were enrolled in two or three
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periods of choir, depending on how it could fit into their academic schedules.” His
concern was that there was no clear end goal as to the groups or ensembles the students
were in.
The solution Chuck came up with was “to enroll every freshman in vocal
techniques class and the music theory class as well.” Students can take up to four years of
Vocal Techniques, and through that class, the students not only learn choral music, but
also solo repertoire that can be utilized for solo and ensemble performances as well as
college auditions. They learn the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) as well as
harmonic and interpretive analysis in addition to text analysis of the songs. The students
also learn vocal health and basic anatomy as it applies to the human voice. If a student
continues to take the class, each year there are different languages the student sings in.
Freshman year the emphasis is Italian Art Songs; Sophomore year is German Diction and
German Art Songs; Junior year continues with German and adds English Art Songs; and
Senior year has a potpourri of languages, Spanish or French, English and Italian, and last
but not least, vocal jazz.
I think that, you know, it's nice that the kids get to perform in choir, and that kind
of thing. But I think that, that most of my students particularly, do not have the
ability to have private vocal teachers or coaches. They just can’t afford it. So, I
think that part of my job is to teach some quote-unquote literature and choral
performance but also teach them solo voice… that's just part of teaching voice.
Voice is also solo voice. And develop their solo repertoire and their solo
technique, so that they can, you know, perform in solo and ensemble, and so on
and so forth, and prepare them for their college auditions.
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Changes over time to his curriculum include the addition of jazz, a better
organization of the presentation of each language, and allowing students to take the AP
Theory class or Music Theory II, allowing students time to prepare for the AP Theory
class and test.
Teaching, learning, and evaluating: components of curriculum design and
implementation. The ideal classroom environment for Chuck would be “a place where
kids are excited to be there, enjoying themselves, learning with each other and helping
each other, and a safe space for my students to express themselves.” Chuck has officer
positions and appreciates his students in moments when he needs to do non-music things.
He sees these as “opportunities for me to put students to the test. And sometimes it's not
an officer. Sometimes I'll say you, I know you have this potential that I'm going to exploit
it so that you can build on it; do warm-ups today.” This is good for the students because
once the moment of shock has passed, they realize that they have “acquired information
and materials which now they're able to then transfer to other students.”
When teaching a new song to the group I observed Chuck began by assigning
students to write in their solfege— system of syllables used to represent the notes of a
scale, often used to teach sight-reading—for their individual parts. During one of the
observations, students had to demonstrate that they had completed this task, and Chuck
would input a grade for each student. In this way, he ensured that students were cognizant
of the choral score or road map as he called it. He admitted that he does not check the
assignment for accuracy but for completion, because as they begin to sing, the mistakes
become clear and students can fix through the rehearsal process. He tends to assign the
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students three songs to work on per class period during sectionals, and they are given a
timeline for the sectional work.
Beginner groups have the same system in place for learning new music; however,
sectional time is shorter as the student skills may be more limited. In this way, he can
double check or correct things along the way. Despite having more limited skills, he still
ensures that they experience being independent learners through the allotted sectional
time. Chuck gives the students a lot of freedom to participate in their own learning. As he
describes it, he gives them some
basic guidelines as to what needs to happen throughout the day, but I let them
decide how they're going to get to it, and I check in and I pluck out some notes
here and there, to make sure that they are on track, but then leave again so they
can continue to work on their own.
For Chuck, learning is a two-part process; “for learning to occur you teach the
material to the students who are receptive to receive that information. And those students
then take ownership of that information.” This is the most important element, “it's when
the students take ownership of that information that learning occurs.” According to
Chuck, learning occurs when students create something personal with the information
and the best way to facilitate this learning is to just “get out of the way.” He insists that
he places the onus on the students, “at some point, you have to allow kids to take the
information you’ve given them and run with it.” These ideas are what allow for student
leadership; he encourages students to teach each other, to correct each other, and to push
each other. “Sometimes the kids can communicate better with each other than I can
communicate with them.” Chuck also asks students about their opinions and tries to
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incorporate these ideas into his decision-making process. He admits, that sometimes he
doesn’t ask for student’s input, but when that happens, it usually is an issue of time. As
he so aptly explains “sometimes it's not easy to hit every single point at every single
time.”
When asked about evaluating his students, Chuck answered first with a joke, “I
tell them not to make my ears bleed. If you do not make my ears bleed, you’re ok.” His
serious answer, however, was much more thought out than he realized. Chuck recognizes
that every student is different, and as such it the teacher’s responsibility to really know
their students. In order to evaluate students, “you have to give them a baseline of your
expectations, and then you have to see how they progress from that baseline.” Chuck
explained that everybody is going to have different capabilities. As an example, he tells
the story of a student who might have trouble singing an ascending major scale. The
major scale is one of the building blocks of tonal harmony as understood in the western
traditions of music. This scale is often sung on solfege syllables, but the pitches have a
specific pattern of whole steps and half steps. Although his neighbor can sing ascending
and descending scales without a problem, “when the next week this kid comes in and has
finally mastered his ascending scale, that was progress for that kid.” This statement
reflects how Chuck evaluates learning
Chuck did not feel that he necessarily told stories through his musical choices; as
he explained,
I want my students to experience various things. So the choir that you observed is
preparing for a performance, and the music that I selected has components that
have very different messages; everything from an homage to matriarch family
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members, one that is a cultural Japanese fisherman song, one describing magic in
the Arabic worlds, a fun whimsical song about choosing the right guy, and a
holiday carol that has significant historical importance.
Chuck’s goal in choosing such a varied repertoire is that the students have a vast source
of experiences and that they can learn to perform the different styles correctly.
Choral Music Literacy and Performance Requirements
Chuck has been teaching music for a total of 10 years in a number of different
schools and grade levels. The group I observed had six or seven scheduled performances
throughout the school year. Some of these performances were as a group, others were
regrouped with other students from the overall choral program. In this way the teacher
provides opportunities for students to perform pieces that might not be performed at
MPA (Music Performance Assessment). It also provides students with ownership of the
music when it is performed in smaller ensembles, as well as a sense of community
beyond their classroom when they are combined with other groups within the school.
When choosing repertoire, his first step is figuring out what voices are in the
group and if it is a balanced group. A balanced group would include roughly similar
numbers of students on each voice part. Questions choral directors often have to ask
themselves include, “am I able to perform music that has a lot of the divisi? [Divisi refers
to one voice part such as alto or soprano, that is further divided within the piece into two
groups] Or, do I have enough kids in men’s chorus to do two part or three part?”
Additionally, depending on the skill level of the group, the repertoire chosen must have
elements that are challenging to the students, while also teaching them cultural, historical,
and musical elements. And finally, “hopefully it is enjoyable to both the students and I.”
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Although Chuck would like to have students at the level that they could assist in the
repertoire choices being made, he admits that currently he does not allow for much
student input on that front. He says, that it is “something that I look forward to once my
program grows and the students are reaching a certain level where I think that they can
participate in some music selection.” When asked about rehearsal and performance
results, Chuck says “practice like you would perform and perform as you practice. So, the
two should not disconnect.” Because the students are in fact not professionals, it doesn’t
always happen, but it is the goal.
Summary
Chuck is a kind choral director, who wants to ensure he provides for his students
as many opportunities as his music teachers provided for him. He has a love of choral
music, from a number of different cultural and historical backgrounds, and in an effort to
expose his students to as much variety as possible, presents different songs to his
students. Although he does not use the words constructivism or critical literacy in his
interview, his definition of learning makes it clear that these are practical parts of his
philosophy of teaching. Chuck also recognizes that time constraints, and other
responsibilities make it so that he may not get to all the specific goals he may deem
important. His main goal, of teaching students and preparing them to be competitive
when they leave the building, is evident in his interviews, as well as in his classroom
teaching. Beyond that, his secondary goal of building student appreciation for, and love
of the choral art form and singing were evident in the classroom I observed.
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Daniel Braunstein
Daniel Braunstein has been teaching for the past 13 years and has taught both
middle and high school in an urban city in the southern United States. His musical
background began when an elementary art teacher, having known his older brother,
assumed he would be a problematic student and sent him out of the classroom. While
waiting in the hallway, the music teacher found him and gave him refuge in her class.
This offered Daniel an opportunity for two music periods per week in elementary school.
While in elementary school, a neighbor was teaching piano lessons, and his brother had
begun lessons. That provided Daniel with an impetus to further his musical studies,
because as he put it, “as siblings do, I saw him and monkey see, monkey do.”
These early experiences led to his auditions and acceptance to his magnet middle
school for music. While in middle school, his teachers offered him countless experiences
in both piano and choral music, including a situation that still influences him today.
Daniel tells this story; all names have been changed to protect anonymity.
One time in Honor Choir we were all monkeying around, and I got in trouble with
Jennifer Fuentes. The director was Camila Pemberton at the time, but Jennifer
Fuentes called us out on our behavior, and Camila Pemberton reamed us a new
one. I had not been used to that kind of approach to teaching before, it was a very
in-your-face approach. I didn't take it well and I got upset with everybody, my
friends and Camila Pemberton. Because of my reactions to the situation, Camila
Pemberton, who was a no-nonsense type of person, promptly put me in my place
by kicking me out of Honor Choir.
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As I sat there waiting for my parents to come pick me up, I had to wait for
my dad to get off work to come on over. I was sitting in the audience kind of
moping and regretting my actions, because all my friends got to stay. Another
teacher walks over to me, and I don't even know what she was doing there. She
came on over and said, “Hey, what are you doing?” Now I tell her what happened
and then she said, “Well, you're here anyway. Why don't you make the most of
your time?” That just really resonated with me, and is something that has stuck
with me since then… Well if I'm here anyway, I might as well make the most of
my time; no matter what it is that I'm doing, regardless of how I feel, regardless of
what's going on. It really stuck with me, so I pulled out my music, and rehearsed
the rest of the day.
Dad didn't come pick me up until an hour before the concert anyway, so
by that point I had actually gone through the entire rehearsal process, but from the
back of the auditorium instead of with everybody else in the choir. Personally, I'm
really thankful for that experience.
Daniel went on to attend a magnet high school in the area and then attended a
local private university where he received a Bachelor of Music Education. Daniel’s first
instrument was the piano, but he sang in choirs beginning in middle school, and focused
on both instruments throughout his college career and beyond.
His first teaching position was at a local Title I high school where he spent 8
years. The school had a very active piano and band program, and he was interviewed to
teach guitar and choir. However, he worked with his administration to teach choir full
time and rebuild the program into an award-winning choir with numerous accolades. He
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says his first job was where he considers he learned a lot about classroom discipline. He
also thinks he learned that “a big part of student engagement is related to student
motivation and student success. When students feel empowered, they’re much more
engaged and they become less of a discipline issue.” This first job also taught him how to
motivate students even if they had not initially chosen his class. “You’re not just teaching
the curriculum in the classroom; you’re teaching the students that are in front of you at
that time.”
For the past 5 years, Daniel has been teaching at a magnet middle school, teaching
Grades 6-8. During his time at this school, his students have consistently participated in
All-State Choirs, received Superior and Excellent ratings at district MPA, and numerous
choral and solo competitions throughout the southern United States. At his current
location, the environment is different because it is a magnet school, and the school has
challenged him as a musician to “constantly push these students to achieve higher levels.”
He explained, “there’s definitely an expectation of success, an expectation of doing well,
and an expectation of being on top. And if it’s even close to not being on top, there’s
concern.”
When you walk into the classroom, it is a relatively small room with risers that
have been added. The room feels tight. There are windows, but they sit behind the
students and the risers, and they are closed. The room has very little storage, many things
are stacked and stored behind and around the risers. Once the students enter there is a
relaxed and jovial attitude amongst the students. The most impressive thing is the amount
of autonomy these middle school students are afforded. There is a student leader and
when the bell rings, she begins the class by explaining the sight-reading elements
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included in the exercise on the board. Students then sing through the exercise. On every
occasion, the student leader makes notes to the class, and they are then given an
opportunity to fix their errors. Students in this room seamlessly flow from leadership
activities to student group activities. The classes run for one hour, so there is a fast pace,
but students were active throughout the class period. The variety of activities make this a
very dynamic class.
Classroom Set Up and Preliminary Observations
When I first arrived at Daniel’s classroom on that first day, it was during his
planning period. I checked into the office, and after the secretary had ensured that I was
supposed to be there, a student walked me to the room. The teacher looked very polished
and professional, a white-collar shirt, a blue blazer, green jeans, and light brown dress
shoes. He was writing on the board a sight-reading exercise and preparing for his class.
What was most striking was how small the room seemed. There were two pianos in the
room, one in the front of the classroom and one off to a corner. The room had a lived-in
feel, with a lot going on, but still relatively organized. The compactness of the room
could lead one to believe it would have limited movement. My observations would soon
prove otherwise.
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Figure 3. Daniel’s Classroom Set-Up
As students entered the class, the atmosphere felt comfortable, there was a
conversational tone amongst the students. Some students greeted me before heading to
their seats. Some walked up to the sheets of paper on the wall behind me and discussed
their successes with their fundraising activities. Once the bell rang announcing the
beginning of class, the student leader ran through the sight-reading exercise on the board.
It was four measures in three voices, soprano, alto, and baritone. The student leader gave
the class their starting pitches, and the students began humming and singing through the
exercise independently. While this was happening, the teacher would take attendance and
redirect any students who may be off task. This use of leadership was consistent
throughout every observation. The classroom was an active room, with obvious student
engagement throughout and evident participation based off of student facial expression,
reactions to the conductor, and singing.
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Perceptions and Understandings of Choral Music Literacy
Daniel is a choral director at a magnet middle school. He teaches five classes a
day; music theory, vocal techniques, vocal ensemble, treble choir, and a mixed choir
class. He believes his primary job is to “teach the students that are in front of me at that
time and prepare them for what their next route is going to be.” He also believes that it is
his job to “create as many open-door opportunities for the students so that they can
choose where they want to travel on their path.” Daniel strives to provide his students
with a well-rounded curriculum, explaining that music is easily integrated with other
subjects. He also wants his students to feel confident and comfortable to go wherever
they choose once they leave his classroom.
When asked about his role as a teacher, Daniel chose to describe himself as a
guide. As he explained,
I am a guide along the process [of learning]. It’s a space for them to make their
own choices, and to go along with what they believe. I mean, being the guide, I
do set forth the guidelines and rubrics of what’s expected, and it’s their choice to
match to that expectation.
As he further explained,
I think that my goal is always to help them [the students] become them and that
goes vocally, characteristically, and behaviorally. I try to help them understand
that their actions are impeding what they’re doing, to get in the way of themselves
along that journey.
He believes his job is to help his students find the best version of themselves possible.
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His mentors included (a) elementary and middle school teachers who pushed him
in the direction of music in the first place, (b) a colleague who “helped me feel more
confident in my skills as a musician and as a teacher,” (c) his high school director who
was someone he could turn to when he had struggles, and (d) his college professor who
showed him “what dedication and discipline can actually bring. The guy’s a beast, a
monster. I’ve seen him conduct a five-eight pattern in one hand and a three-four in the
other hand simultaneously.” Conductors learn patterns related to the number of beats per
measure, although these patterns tend to be consistent. When describing the five-eight
and three-four patterns, these two patterns would be different, but must include the down
beat at the same time. It is not commonly done and would require a great level of skill
and practice.
Music Literacy and Choral Music Literacy
Music literacy, to Daniel, is “the ability to read, analyze, compose, dictate,
something that’s black and white on the page, and turn it into colors.” He considers it to
be an important part of his classroom but has the benefit of a theory class where he can
give the “basic understandings of things,” which are then “further developed in the choral
classes.” Daniel believes that composition and dictation are great tools for using sound
before sight. For him, sound before sight “works really, really well, to the point that, by
the time they’ve finished that first year, they can start to piece together symbols when
they’re encountering other things. They can take what they know and stay within their
zone of proximal development.” Daniel says that because “I choose all of the songs with
something that they [the students] need to learn, then it allows the music literacy to be at
the core of it. They see it, they analyze it, and then they can figure out what’s going on.”
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When asked about choral music literacy specifically, Daniel responded it was the
same as music literacy except for the added element of text. He believes that it is easier
for choral directors, because “we see the text, we know, we read the text. This helps us
figure out what the composer meant. What do you think, how do you think the composer
interpreted this line?” From Daniel’s perspective, text connection is very important
because as he put it, “I can’t sell text that I don’t believe. If I think it’s hokey or not very
good, then that’s going to play a factor in their [the students’] success.”
Daniel strives to get his students to connect with the music, but states that it has to
begin with him. “if I don’t connect with it, then there’s almost no way that they’re going
to connect with it. It’s very, very rare, I would say that they are going to connect with
something that I don’t connect with.” He does believe that student connection is
important because as he puts it, “that’s our job as performers. That’s part of what we’re
training them to do. If you can’t connect to the text, then you can’t perform that text.”
Daniel explains that there is a difference between presenting and performing. In his
words, “you can present the text, but that’s not performing. There’s a difference between
your science project presentation versus your choral performance.” When students
connect to the text, it allows them to access a part of themselves that doesn’t necessarily
always have an outlet, no matter who you are.
Curriculum Design and Implementation
Observing Daniel was sometimes personally overwhelming, not because of what
he was doing, but because of how much was going on in the classroom. What was most
fascinating was how unfazed the students were with all that was happening. As
previously stated, there was a lot of student leadership. There were also a lot of teacher
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led activities. The teacher always led the vocal warm-ups and had an obvious emphasis
on vocal health and technique. Upon that first arrival and walk through the room, there
were remnants of a previous project where students had to create a 3D model of the vocal
tract and the breathing mechanism.
The first observation included time for sectional work; one group outside with
two student leaders, and another two groups inside simultaneously. The men with the
teacher, and two student leaders running the alto rehearsal. The teacher later ran the two
groups that were inside while the sopranos outside continued to work independently. The
second rehearsal began similarly but went straight into the teacher running through all the
music listed on the board. After that, the teacher did part check tests. While he was at his
desk listening to the groups performing, the rest of the room was a chaotic cacophony of
sound: students rehearsing the portion to be tested, groups forming and reforming,
students at a piano, another student organizing music. As each group performed for the
teacher, they got feedback, and received a grade. The student leaders who were tested
first, then began running mini sectionals with students who had not yet been tested. It was
fascinating to see how many students were consistently working either independently or
for the good of the group. It was a hub of activity, both separately and then coming
together into small groups.
Daniel’s philosophy of teaching has changed over time. His current philosophy is
to teach students to love music and to be very accomplished in music. His original
philosophy of teaching was “music is for everybody.” While he still believes this, as he
explains “because I'm at a magnet school, and there is an expectation of success, my
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philosophy has had to change to. Music helps provide the structure and motivation to
help students succeed at their highest aspirations.”
When Daniel entered his first position, there were no expectations of what he
should or could accomplish with his students. This lack of external expectation allowed
him to focus on creating experiences for his students with an emphasis on learning to
love music. When he began at his current position, however, the previous teacher had
established a program that was already successful in the eyes of the students, parents,
community and administration. At this point he realized that success is based on how you
define it. As he explains, “there was an expectation amongst the parents and
administration, ‘we know what quality is, and we know what quality is supposed to be.
So, if you’re not that, then what are you doing?’” This reality pushed Daniel personally
and made him more driven. Ultimately, when at his first school Daniel’s goal for music
was about “helping them [the students] realize a different level of love for music. A love
beyond turning on the radio when you’re driving in the car.” He described his goal for
music at his new school saying, “I want you to love it [music] and be really damn good at
it.”
Daniel’s curriculum in the classroom is primarily, based on the end goals. As he
explains, “I always start at the end and then work my way to the front. What skills do I
want my kids to learn by the end of the year, and then how am I going to get them there?”
The class I observed was the mixed choir class which includes all the male students in his
program and mostly second- or third-year female students. As Daniel explained, “I
choose to mainly focus on the higher level of the students, so the younger kids that are in
there have to catch up or take their questions and ask their student mentors. If their
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student mentors can’t help them, they’ll bring it up in their theory class.” The students
learn how to sing their parts and how to match along things by listening to the other kids,
which as Daniel explains is “sound before sight, which means that the students always
hear a musical element or aspect first before they see it on the page.”
The curriculum in his class has changed over time, specifically his pacing,
difficulty, and motivation. Daniel’s first full time teaching experience was at the high
school level. When he began teaching middle school, he was not sure how far he could
push his students. He explains that, “I started off I think easier when I first started here,
and then have grown into accomplishing more difficult things since then.” His middle
school students often sang high school repertoire, and Daniel now feels comfortable
tackling mixed meter and more challenging harmonies with his middle school students.
Teaching, learning, and evaluating: Components of curriculum
design. Daniel’s ideal classroom climate would be “a place where students are open and
willing to accept failures as an action, rather than a source of identity. And through that,
be willing and able to grow, to improve on their actions.” In his ideal world, it would be
a place with a hundred percent engagement of all the tasks and an understanding and
acknowledgement as to the amount of work that is necessary outside the classroom. In his
classroom, Daniel has created a sense of independence not often associated or expected
amongst middle school students. As he explained,
I think that a lot of times we don’t give them [students] enough credit to believe
that they will make the right choices. I think we feel that the only way that the
right things can happen is if we are in absolute control.
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Daniel describes a metaphor and says,
I think when that happens, we become like an apple tree. We drop the apples right
by our trunks and we think that it’s the safest place, but the truth is that tree will
never grow to be as large or as great as its parent tree. We need to be more willing
to let them [students] fly so that they can grow and become better than we are.
True to his previous interviews, when asked about how to teach a new song,
Daniel stated that he doesn’t actually teach song to his students,
It’s more like we come to realize the song together. And I try to create that kind
of environment, prompting questions to get them thinking about their parts, or get
them thinking about the text, or why a composer might have written something
this way.
He explains that he has to introduce aural concepts students may not be familiar with
whether they are rhythmic or tonal and tends to guide the students to recognize places
where they similarities either to other sections in the song or to other parts within the
group. As he explains, “I think all learning is pretty cyclical.” The only times when he
may teach a piece by rote, is if it is culturally appropriate to do that. As he explains, he is
always thinking sound before sight before symbol. Daniel clarifies that the major
difference in how he begins a piece is related to the level of the group, and that beginners
have more auditory stimulus. In his words, “beginning groups definitely need a lot more
sound before symbol. I don’t necessarily rote teach them, but I do make sure that they get
accustomed to a certain tonality.”
Daniel believes that learning occurs through experience. “When you have an
aesthetic process that clicks within you, it makes connections in a way that… I mean, I’m
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not a neurologist, but I think there are connections going on inside your brain that will
cause you to learn easier, more efficiently, and more often.” Based on this idea, he
facilitates this learning process by choosing music that will help reach goals. Every day
he asks himself, “what kind of experience can I set forth, to help the student to gain the
element I want to focus on?”
Within his classroom, Daniel has formal and informal assessments to help him
evaluate students. Informal assessments are usually within the context of the class at
large, based on what’s on the page, “are they doing correct rhythms? Are they doing the
right pitches?” Formal assessments are part checks, like the one observed on the second
day of observation. Students are given a specific date; they are called up to sing in octets
and are asked to sing a specific set of measures. “They [the students] have to be able to
know their part well enough that even if the person next to them messes up, they still
keep going.” Meanwhile, once the section leaders have done their test, they are to go out
and run sectionals.
Student involvement: a component of curriculum design and
implementation. For Daniel, student leadership was a huge component in his own high
school experience but not in his middle school experience. He explains that this reality
gave him an incentive for sneaking around and some misconduct on his part. Having had
leadership positions in high school, he felt that he could provide that experience for his
current students, regardless of their age level.
Daniel involves his students in the music making process in a very unexpected
way at the middle school level. Daniel explains, “at the superficial level I have student
leadership positions going on. I have two soprano section leaders, two male section
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leaders, and two alto section leaders. And then I also have a student conductor as well.”
Daniel believes that there is a difference in the way kids interact with their peers as
opposed to how they interact with adults who are “constantly barking at them telling
them what to do.” Daniel perceives that when students have someone that is their own
age in front of them, it works as a sort of inspiration. “I think it provides students with an
opportunity to get on board and try to figure out.” His idea is, that when a student sees
another student leading, it may help the student realize that it could be an opportunity for
themselves as well. Additionally, Daniel teaches in the class that “the weakest person in
your group or in your area, is the person who needs the most help.” Student leaders and
non-leaders alike are challenged to help build up students who need help. “If you happen
to be sitting right next to that person, then that's your job. Because everybody has
something to offer at all times.”
Daniel involves his students in the music making. His leadership component is
exceptionally interesting, students help choose the other students who will lead them, and
past leaders help choose future leaders as a means of leaving their legacy. Students
connect to their music via text and understanding how the text works with the composer’s
musical ideas. The job of choral directors, from his perspective, is to help teach students
how to perform and performing requires a connection to the text. “If you can’t connect to
the text, then you can’t perform that text.”
Daniel also allows his students to participate in the decision-making process
regarding interpretation of the music. One example he gave was in the learning of a piece
called “My Lord what a Morning.” In that piece, students must repeat the phrase, “my
lord what a morning” three times. So, Daniel describes a scenario where students may
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repeat themselves three times, and the class discussed and decided together, which word
or words should be emphasized in each repetition of the phrase. Following that group
decision, it became his job to “ensure the students perfect that choice in the sense of
consistency. Constantly being mentally and mindfully aware of those three words that we
chose. One per phrase to make it the apex of the phrase.”
When asked about stories or messages, Daniel explains that he begins with
themes in his classroom which help him choose his repertoire throughout that year. One
year the theme was “believe the world can change, but the subtext was ‘Be the Change.’
The class did repertoire that focused on how you treat other people. What are some
grievances that other people may have gone through, and what are some situations and
how would we deal if something similar was happening inside our area?” Daniel did
explain his own idea that “I think life doesn’t happen to people, life happens because of
people.”
Choral Music Literacy and Performance Requirements
Daniel’s description of his musical background was very complete. He went as far
back as elementary school. As previously noted, he had two periods of music per week
and private piano lessons during his elementary years. He auditioned and attended a
magnet middle school where he played piano and sang. He then attended a magnet high
school as well. A common thread throughout his story were the times he made poor
choices in his behavior. One of these occasions previously mentioned, he felt had a huge
impact on his life.
Daniel could not confirm the number of performances he schedules in a year,
because there are many, and always added opportunities. On the day of the second
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interview, he had just completed another performance the day before with a smaller
ensemble of students. For him, performances are the “culmination of everything that’s
coming together. It is a way to showcase to the parents and get them hyped up about the
program, so they hopefully spread the word.”
Daniel chooses his repertoire based on themes. He tends to choose a theme for the
year, and then begins to choose music first, based on the theme, then based on the goals
for the group.
What are the elements that I’m looking for to make sure that my students have
access and experience with like, dotted quarter, eighth note rhythms. I need that to
be something that I’m doing. And finally, I need to ensure that my students have
enough in class experiences such that I can have a more supervisory role for all
the extra things they may choose to participate in, such as All-State.
One other question he poses to himself while choosing the repertoire, “can the choir
handle the pieces, or can I stretch them this far?”
This particular year, the theme Daniel chose for his class was passion and
purpose. As a result, his students were going to have a more involved part in the choosing
of the repertoire. He admits to not giving the students a bigger hand in the process due to
the fact that his choral pieces are his vehicle for bringing specific concepts to life for the
students. He was going to use their passions to guide their musical selections for the choir
this year. Outside of the choral pieces, students are allowed to choose solos for winter
concerts, Federation, and coffee house.
Although Daniel does agree that performances are related to rehearsals, he does
recognize that there is a nerve situation. He admits,
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The times that I’ve been nervous in a concert, or performance, or solo, it’s been
because of my lack of preparation. When you come on stage and you realize that
everybody is looking at you, all of your insecurities are, magnified. If you are so
focused on those magnified insecurities, it becomes easy to forget what you’ve
practiced.
Summary
Daniel is a driven teacher, who believes his actual role in the classroom is that of
a guide, presenting opportunities and experiences, but ultimately allowing students the
freedom to choose their path and be the best they can be. He strives to help students be
independently successful in their future choices, and also tries to balance the definitions
of success as established by the community, administration, and parents. He approaches
teaching his students utilizing a sound before sight system, similar to the way students
learn a language. Although the word constructivist was never used, the classroom
teaching style is constructivist. Additionally, his emphasis on student leadership and
ownership has components of critical literacy.
Elizabeth Owen
Elizabeth Owen has been teaching upwards of 30 years. She began teaching part
time in the early 80s and eventually began teaching full time. She has taught both middle
and high school choir throughout her career, in all corners of an urban city. She is a
graduate of a local traditional public high school where she played piano in the orchestra.
She participated in middle and high school orchestra, and even did orchestral All-State
while in high school. She had originally believed she would go to college as a piano
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major. She ended up being an organ major. “I really did not have any interest at that point
in becoming a choral director.”
Elizabeth went on and graduated from private universities where she received a
Bachelor of Music Education and a Master of Music Education. When asked about how
her prior experiences affected and impacted her career as a choral director, she said, “I
thought that my background had given me the right experiences to produce a choral
program and in fact it was the exact opposite.” She began her career believing that the
best way to teach choir was to play out the parts for the students to learn by ear.
However, as she says, “I was successful at it, but it was not literacy-based teaching.” It
was not until she began teaching at a high school with students who did not want to
cooperate, that she changed her teaching style to solfege.
At my second long-term high school job, I inherited very hostile aggressive
students who were not used to rehearsing every day, much less cooperating. I
basically went home, and I thought what is the worst thing I could come up with
to punish these children? Their previous teacher had done numbers, so I
announced that we were starting solfege syllables. And lo and behold, all of a
sudden, my choir started getting really good. And it was a learning experience
because I had sung syllables, solfege in college. But because I was really not
chorally based on sight reading, I didn't really have that experience.
Elizabeth has spent the last 15 years at a magnet middle school in the same urban
city. Regardless of the school, throughout her career, she has had students participate in
All-State Choirs, her choirs have received Superiors at district MPA events, and she has
even participated in a number of state events. As a music teacher who has been teaching
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for a number of decades now, Elizabeth tells of a time when music education was not
really a field. As she said, “music ed[ucation] people were the performance kids who
couldn’t get gigs.”
The classroom I walked into was a long room, and the seats are all on a flat
surface. The classroom was very orderly, with little to no storage area. Students have new
seating arrangements every time they walk in the door. As the students walk in, the
teacher is announcing who sits where. Once that has been made clear, she began the class
by singing a four-measure melody. This was the most unique aspect of her classroom, the
melodic dictation activity which begins the class period. She sings the melody on solfege
syllables: the students echo it back on solfege syllables while also using their hand signs.
During the next minute or so, students quickly write down as much of the melody as they
have retained using musical notation. Meanwhile, the teacher has on the board a sort of
“cheat sheet” which the students can reference, and the teacher is giving them portions of
the answer. This call and response of the melody happens a total of three times, after
which everyone should have their answers. On that first day, the students then played
composers, and had to complete the exercise by creating the last measure.
In that short 10-minute opening of class, this teacher has reinforced melodic
reading, writing, creating, and composing. It was inspiring to watch the engagement of
the students. This experience happened on every observation, as well as warmups to help
students learn and retain all the scales and modes. Although this teacher may have begun
with a more rote form of teaching, she has evolved to a completely literacy-based
teaching style.
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Classroom Set-Up and Preliminary Observations
The first time I visited Elizabeth’s classroom, she had prepared a desk for me in
one corner of the room, behind the students. Elizabeth was dressed professionally; black
slacks, smart flats and a green top with earrings to match. It was clear she had taken the
time to match her earrings to her shirt. Her hair was neatly picked up in a bun. On the
desk was a copy of the lesson plans for the day, as well as copies of the music she would
be teaching throughout the class period. Her room was orderly, rectangular, with limited
space. The classroom does not have risers. Elizabeth taught bell to bell, gave students
cues for everything she wanted to accomplish, and went through the entire lesson plan
with seamless transitions from activity to activity. Every observation was pretty much the
same, she was clearly a teacher who has her system down.
Figure 4. Elizabeth’s Classroom Set-Up
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The classroom felt clean and neat; students were engaged from the beginning to
the end of the class period. Participation was evident due to the use of hand signs
throughout their singing and writing. Things that caught me off guard upon my first visit
included the warmup comprised of singing all the scales and intervals. It was clear from
that first observation, that the emphasis in this class, just as Elizabeth had shared in the
first interview, was on theory and sight-reading, decoding, audiation, and tracking. The
classroom felt like a no-nonsense class, but there were moments of fun interspersed
throughout. Elizabeth was precise when she gave a compliment to a student, there was no
question as to what she was encouraging.
Perceptions and Understandings of Choral Music Literacy
Elizabeth’s job is to teach middle school choir to students in a magnet school. She
teaches five periods, four of them are choir, and one music theory class to the beginners
in the group. Her primary responsibility “is not to teach choir, is not to teach voice. It’s to
develop musicianship and core values through music.” Elizabeth defines musicianship as
creating musical readers and having students who are engaging in the creative process.
She declared that her job was to “create experiences through the music where they
[students] are engaging in the creative process, even if it’s at a very simple level.” She
was very explicit in her expectation; as she said, “I try to make connections with the
students to emphasize that music must have a purpose, and the music has to get off the
page.” She also states that her secondary responsibilities in her job is to demonstrate
values and vulnerability. “Creating an environment where people can build each other
up.” Elizabeth’s mentors included a Spanish teacher who was “very charming and
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charismatic, and made you want to learn.” He was the teacher she wanted to emulate; she
is a firm believer that teachers have the power to produce quality programs.
Elizabeth believes that “choral music literacy must include solfeggio, ear training,
composition, and dictation. It must be engaging melodically, rhythmically, and
textually.” Students in her program learn how to “audiate, identify intervals, tune chords,
shape phrases, compose, listen to their recordings and critique, and how to make music.”
Elizabeth believes that the best way to get students to connect to the music is to first
choose worthy literature (repertoire). “If it is worthy repertoire, it must last throughout
the learning process. I don’t want to insult their [students’] intelligence. I give them
substance and tell them they are worthy.” According to Elizabeth, middle school choral
repertoire leaves much to be desired:
Middle school repertoire is the worst; it is condescending, trite, and lacks
integrity. I am determined that my students will have repertoire that has a
message, is meaningful, challenging, and lasting. When we had our eighth-grade
farewell circle on the last day of school last year, their overwhelming choice of
favorite song was "When He is Silent" by Arnesen, that we had sung at the
Orlando Holocaust Memorial. They may look young, though most are taller than
me, but middle school kids are capable of deep thought and vision. Many of them
have experienced much more "life" than we did when we were their age. I find
they appreciate being valued enough to sing complex rhythms, challenging
melodic passages, dissonant harmonies, profound texts, and especially the
challenge of foreign languages!
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I am a proponent of SSAA, or 4-part soprano and alto music. Also, of
changing keys! Teachers limit their students by not being innovative. Why make
the smallest part of your mixed choir, the guys, try to outbalance the largest part
of the choir on lousy literature? Rather I choose to find quality rep, find the key
that my few guys are comfortable with, and build confidence.
Elizabeth began her third interview by saying “I’m an imperfect teacher, living in
an imperfect world, teaching imperfect students.” She said “sometimes I don’t think of
myself as a music teacher. I’m more of a teacher with music.” The qualities she claims
she brings to her students are the ability to challenge them and prepare them for high
school. She also brings her students fairness. “I’m fair till it hurts, and I don’t play
favorites.”
Music Literacy and Choral Music Literacy
When asked about music literacy and choral music literacy, the two terms were
one and the same for Elizabeth. For her, music literacy is
Ground Zero. We must educate administrators that music literacy is not for band
and orchestra. When will be rid of the myth that chorus just sings by ear, no skills
needed? Choral literacy is the foundation of our success. Can you take
multiplication out of algebra?
As previously stated, for Elizabeth, choral music literacy is synonymous with music
literacy. It is “solfeggio, ear training, composition, and dictation.” It must be engaging
for the students not only melodically and rhythmically, but also textually.
Elizabeth’s focus in her classroom is clearly reading and singing musical concepts
with the use of solfege; there were a few noteworthy components she shared about text
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analysis. After discussing how she helps her students analyze text, Elizabeth shared a
graphic organizer she uses with her students. The organizer includes the text of a song
called “I Am Not Yours.” This particular text is by lyricist Sara Teasdale, set to music by
composer David Childs.
Figure 5. Elizabeth’s Middle School Choir Graphic Organizer
The organizer has a box with the text and includes a series of questions for the
students to answer based on the text and listening to the song. As Elizabeth had
explained, she will not shy away from challenging texts or music, but she tries to find
ways to help students understand the layers of meaning within the music they listen to
and perform.
Write 2 sentences about the
lyricist Sara Teasdale.
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
I Am Not Yours
I am not yours, not lost in you,
Not lost, although I long to be
Lost as a candle lit at noon,
Lost as a snowflake in the sea.
You love me, and I find you still
A spirit beautiful and bright,
Write 2 sentences about the
composer David Childs.
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
List all tempo words and
definition:
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
List all dynamics words and
definition:
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
List all expression words and
definition:
________________________________
________________________________
Critique a youtube
performance.
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
Critique your performance.
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
List any similes or metaphors:
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________
MIDDLE SCHOOL CHOIR GRAPHIC ORGANIZER
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Curriculum Design and Implementation
Elizabeth’s philosophy of teaching is that music is for every child. “My door is
open.” Her ideal classroom climate is one in which “everybody wants to be there and
wants to learn.” “The ideal classroom rehearsal would be where people got something
out of it. Where they have shown me that they are capable of growing. So not necessarily,
the most difficult musical challenge, but getting it, and creating. Developing this
environment takes a long time for Elizabeth. She claims “I kind of have to put on my
used car salesman, televangelist, cheerleader face with my beginners, especially because
we need the numbers. The school where Elizabeth teaches is currently under enrolled at
1320 with a capacity for 1690.
As previously noted, the focus in this classroom was clearly sight-reading and
theory based. During every observation, students were given seating instructions as they
arrived. Whichever student had the most impending event or activity, that was the student
who sat in the front. Elizabeth confirmed my observation, and explained that when there
is no upcoming event, the students who do not have two periods of choir sit in the front.
During my observations, what Elizabeth had previously described was evident.
Once the students had reached their seats, before the bell rang, she began to sing for her
students a melodic exercise on solfege. On the board, there was information that the
students could use as a sort of guide. First, a staff with the key signature and the starting
pitch clearly established. Second, another staff with all the notes of that scale drawn as
whole notes, labeled with solfege above the note heads, and the letter names below. The
exercise was in six-eight time, four measures were prepared for students to begin their
notation. She would sing the exercise with hand signs, the students would echo it with
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hand signs, and then they would begin to notate what they had sung and heard. The first
time it was listened to, students were to only notate the note heads. As the students were
notating, Elizabeth was providing students with a sort of cheat sheet. The answer was
slowly being notated by her on the board, using the same steps she announced they
should use. Elizabeth sang the melody a second time, the students echoed it, and then
proceeded to notate as much as they could recall. This time, she announced that they
should go ahead and place the stems on each note. She sang it one more time, students
echoed. This time, everyone was to add the names of the notes below the pitches, and the
solfege syllables above the pitches.
Once this was finished, she said, “come up with a new ending… make it practical
since you have to sing it.” As the students were working diligently to compose the
ending of this exercise, she announces, “what do you have to end on?” The class
responded, “Do.” She helps the students by allowing them to use previous parts of the
melody in their response. And then, students offer to sing their compositions. Elizabeth
would sing the original melody, and the student volunteers would answer with their
responses. Her feedback was always precise, “Love it, do we have a Ti on level 3?” She
was referencing the sight-reading criteria for the All-State test the students take in early
September. The class knows the rubric from memory, and she reinforces this knowledge
by asking the students what elements of composition they are using.
Following this bell ringer activity, Elizabeth goes into warm ups. The students
sing through the Major Scale in half notes and use their hand signs throughout the warm-
ups. Following that, they sang the chromatic. The major scale, the arpeggio, the whole
tone scale, minor scales in all their forms, back to the major scale, and then they sang
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through the interval song. The teacher would periodically change the rhythmic patterns in
which they sang the scales, would alter the tempo, but it did not matter, the students kept
singing and kept using their hand signals.
Elizabeth describes her curriculum very plainly as solfege-based studies. Just as
what I observed during every visit, she describes it specifically as “dictation, eight bars,
melodic and rhythmic.” Students in her classes do one of these daily and have a quiz
Friday, which will be a repeat of any of the previously used exercises. It also includes
warm-ups which includes all the scales. “We go through major, chromatic, the three
minors, we do the whole tone pentatonic, then we sing through all the modes starting on
low G.” Her students are “run of the mill, off the street kind of group. The one thing that
I can say, that really helps my program is having them twice a day.”
Curricular changes over time: rote vs. literacy based. The curriculum in
Elizabeth’s classroom has changed over time. As previously stated, her initial mode of
teaching was primarily rote, very dependent on the piano, and people singing by ear. It
was not what Elizabeth refers to as literacy-based teaching. Elizabeth does not do
anything the way that she did it as a student. She explains that the methodology of music
education while she was going through schooling was very rote based.
I emphasize to my students that we reference, we use our resources, and that we
use the whole hierarchy of rote all the way up to transfer. I think we need to teach
administrators what we do. Because we’re tracking and decoding, tracking and
decoding, or transferring.
In other words, Elizabeth believes the act of learning to read musical notation teaches and
builds skills which are used in the reading classroom, namely tracking and decoding.
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Today, Elizabeth rehearses primarily without the keyboard. The use of solfege in the
classroom forced her choirs to improve. At that time, a friend recommended that she try
hand signals. “I thought well that’s stupid, that looks goofy. But I tried it and my choirs
kept getting better. Elizabeth says the practice of the hand signs give teachers a visual
clue as to student participation.
When you sing on the solfege, it’s like brain glue. Now I don’t remember the
words to those songs, I don’t remember the French. But those kids could stand
up and with their hand signs they could sing the whole song, in tune… that’s
scary.
Elizabeth asserts that learning occurs when she sees that students are not copying
the board. When she can see that “their hands are moving and not writing. Audiation [the
ability to hear the pitches inside the mind, using the inner ear] separates the piece of
wood, from the musician. Because anybody can write it down. I want to see what they’re
doing.” For her, the hand gestures indicate that students have learned something and are
internalizing the pitches and relationships between the notes. “Learning occurs when they
can be independent of me.” She facilitates the learning process by promoting an
engaging, nurturing atmosphere and by encouraging independence of reading and
composition. “By the middle of the year, it’s amazing because they are creating. They are
starting to get a sense of melody and harmony in a predictable sense and cadences.”
Elizabeth assesses her students through weekly interval quizzes, classwork assignments,
and singing for homework which includes sending the recordings via email.
Beginning to teach a new song depends on a variety of factors for Elizabeth.
Sometimes it begins with having the students watch a video on YouTube. Once the
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students have the music in their hands, it is always using solfeggio. Elizabeth insists that
everyone sings all the parts, beginning from the bottom up, and then stacking upwards
adding voice parts thus “giving confidence to the boys.” Male participation in choral
programs is often significantly smaller than female participation. As a result, teachers are
often trying to find ways to ensure the boys are comfortable enough to continue singing.
She sometimes uses part circles within the classroom and slowly transitions to a big
circle. She will also sometimes add a singer after beginning with a quartet of strong
voices, adding parts until all are singing. Also, sometimes beginning on the last page first.
The variations in teaching methods depends on the level of the students. Younger
groups might begin with tracking. “I play and ask them to track and identify where I
stopped with bar and beat or word, leading to what solfeggio I stopped on. I may do some
echo phrases by rote before that.” Older or more experienced students are expected to be
able to sight read using the solfege tools Elizabeth teaches. All of my observations were
of the older seventh and eighth grade classes.
Elizabeth doesn’t involve her students much in the music making process. While
she doesn’t often ask her students to help in the decision-making process, she does ask
them what they think or if it was better or worse. She recognizes that she may not have
these conversations often enough. When she has these discussions, she insists that the
students not imitate her typical responses. She will say to the students “you must use your
own words and use details.”
For Elizabeth, the definition of what it means to make music is “the ability to
audiate, identify intervals, tune chords, shape phrases, compose, listen to recordings and
critique, and thus they make music.” The stories told in her classroom depends on the
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intended purpose of the music, but ultimately Elizabeth believes that “our music must
have a purpose and intent.” This was a point she iterated a number of times.
Choral Music Literacy and Performance Requirements
Elizabeth’s musical life began as a pianist. Although throughout her early
experiences, she did not have any interest in becoming a choral director, it was only after
some college experiences that she changed her mind. She has been teaching full time for
36 years; the last 15 of those years have been spent at this particular location.
She teaches middle school music and her primary job responsibility is “developing
musicianship and core values through music.” Her secondary responsibility is to teach
team building, respect, leadership, and create an environment where people can build
each other up. Elizabeth schedules roughly eight or nine performances throughout the
year with a strong focus on academics. Elizabeth is a teacher who insists that her students
are not only good musicians, but good at their academics. Students who are not achieving
minimum marks in their academic classes are not allowed to perform. Performances
include college tours and community service performances as well as Music Performance
Assessment. There are also in-class performances and recitals to “give deserving students
performance opportunities.” Performances with outside sources provide the students
with opportunities to “be in the community, get good press, have a fun day out, and sing
some fantastic literature.”
For Elizabeth, “middle school repertoire is the worst. It is condescending, trite, and
lacks integrity. I am determined that my students will have repertoire that has a message,
is meaningful, challenging, and lasting. Her students do not participate in the selection of
repertoire. While the performance quality is related to the rehearsal room, Elizabeth
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explains that “middle school students have difficulty adapting to different acoustical
environments. Their confidence is easily shaken, and as such, I try to psychologically
prepare them so they will feel and sound different.”
Summary
Elizabeth is a serious, no nonsense kind of teacher, with high goals and
aspirations for her students; both academic and musical. Her classroom was efficient,
little time was spent on transitions, and included multiple opportunities for success for
students. Although she teaches in a magnet school, she does not exclude students from
other magnets, if they want to participate there is a place for them and she believes they
can be successful. Her successes are well known amongst her colleagues and within the
state, where she has been a teacher for so many years. Her high standards provide her
students with consistency within the classroom and success beyond the classroom. Her
ultimate goal is to provide her students with opportunities to become musically
independent and to teach students to be good human beings.
Ricky Miller
Ricky Miller is a shy, business-like, no-nonsense gentleman. He has been
teaching high school in an urban southern city for the past 18 years. He is a native of the
area, having graduated from a local traditional public high school, as well as private and
public universities. When asked about his early experiences with music, he described
aspiring to be like his uncle, who was his biggest influence. “When he joined the choir of
the church, I wanted to join the choir at church, even though I was too young.” Ricky
describes an event at his middle school that required guys to sing, but the choir had no
guys. His friends told the teacher, “Ricky can sing.” Ricky denied it, not wanting others
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to know about this side of himself. However, the teacher and other girls in the choir
proved to be convincing, and he got a standing ovation. As Ricky puts it, “I was hooked.
I started thinking, maybe I can sing a little bit.” In high school, Ricky tried to stay away
from choir, choosing drama instead. However, the class was full, and his counselor
recommended choir. His choral experiences in high school choir were so great, to this
day he recognizes and tries to bring many of these components into his daily teaching.
Ricky didn’t know he could major in music in college. Thanks to his guidance
from his voice teacher and his high school choral director, he auditioned for voice and got
accepted to most schools where he applied. Although accepted as a singer, he realized, “I
did enjoy singing a lot, but I got my thrills when I was in choir.” Ricky soon recognized
that he wanted to be a teacher, “the idea of conducting, and directing, I felt was really
challenging and I thought that would sustain me in music.” He graduated with a
bachelor’s in music education and eventually got a master’s in music education with an
emphasis in choral conducting.
For the past four years, he been teaching at a magnet school for the visual and
performing arts. Prior to this position, Ricky taught at another high school for 14 years.
Throughout his career, his choirs have received Superior ratings at District MPA as well
as Superior and Excellent ratings at State MPA. Additionally, students from this school
have consistently participated in All-State Choirs since his arrival. The demographics at
his school as per Ricky are “75% Spanish or Hispanic and about 15% black, the rest
other, non-Hispanic, non-black.” The actual numbers are not that far off with 68%
Hispanic, 17% white, 9% black, and 6% multiracial/other. He teaches an intermediate
Women’s Chorus class and intermediate Men’s Chorus class, two advanced choir classes,
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an elective choir class for students who are not a part of the music magnet but want to
sing, and a theory class for ninth and 10
th
graders in the program.
When I walked into his classroom, there is a lot of visual stimulus. At the
entrance is a large bulletin board that says, “Welcome to Chorus.” There is a calendar of
birthdays on the back wall of the room. On the white board in the front of the class, Ricky
lists the songs that will be addressed for the day and in what order. The room is long, the
piano and teacher desk are in the sunken portion of the room, and the students sit on built
in risers facing the middle. There was a lot of work that was constantly being done.
During my first observation the pace was fast, going from song to song with very little
time in between. Students had leadership roles, and when a need arose, they quickly
jumped to the task. Singing well, with an active body was the main goal throughout the
rehearsals observed.
Ricky’s shy personality can initially come across as aloof. After three interviews,
it was obvious that he was far from aloof. His passion for choral music, healthy singing,
and teaching in general is clear, engaging, and exciting; when asked to help out beginning
teachers, he has always said yes. A side conversation with his department head prior to
one of his observations, gave a clue into his biggest passion, the students. The department
head informed me that this teacher was aware of his students needs beyond the
classroom, situations of home life that needed school assistance, financial or otherwise,
and his willingness and commitment to provide for his students was impressive to her.
This choir director is all in, heart, mind, soul, and action.
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Classroom Set-Up and Preliminary Observations
As an observer, my first time in Ricky’s classroom immediately felt comfortable.
After a few hiccups in traffic and parking restrictions, I arrived at the front gate. Ricky
had sent two students to greet me at the front office and walk me to his room. There was
a seat ready for me in the back of the room, facing the teacher, but behind the students.
Ricky was wearing a pair of jeans, a Star Wars t-shirt, and high-top sneakers. The main
focus of the classroom was in the front where there is a mural on the wall to the far right.
It says the name of the choir with two hands in front of a sunset. Scanning that same wall
from right to left, next to the mural was the promethean board, the white board, the
teacher’s desk and a copy machine. Every visit included a list of songs on the white
board. This was the agenda for the teacher and the students to stay on task and be
reminded of the goals for the day. In front of the board, center stage in a sort of sunken
pit was a grand piano. Ricky spent most of his time walking around the piano or at the
piano. The rest of the classroom is set up with built in risers or steps, all facing that center
position where the piano sits.
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Figure 6. Ricky’s Classroom Set-up
It was clear that students had a lot of leadership roles, they knew what to do and
jumped in without direction. The chorus president was seen passing out papers, setting up
chairs for guests, and helping to clean up a spill that happened. Throughout the
rehearsals, students were constantly asked to think about dynamics and phrasing, being
reminded of their role as individuals in the musicality of the group. Students were very
engaged, as evidenced by movement, singing, and attentiveness to the director or each
other during a sectional.
Perceptions and Understandings of Choral Music Literacy
Ricky’s mentors included his uncle, and his high school choral director. His high
school director was very influential “in everything that I do as far as a teacher. Her
discipline, how she teaches music, everything. If it wasn’t for that, I definitely would not
be the choral director I am today.”
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Ricky believes that he is fair, disorganized with organization, demanding,
passionate, patient, and forgiving. He says that he’s disorganized because “it’s all up here
(points to his head). So sometimes, it looks like I’m disorganized, but I know what I want
to do. The how it comes into play doesn’t always fit everybody’s timeline, but I do get it
done.” He also says he’s very meticulous and specific. “I know what I want, and I have
to get it.” When asked about the qualities he brings to his students, Ricky says his
biggest quality is passion, “I love what I do, I believe it’s just bringing passion about
what I do by showing that I care for my students.” Of interest, Ricky doesn’t know if his
students recognize his passion, care, and concern for them. He hopes they do but doesn’t
feel as if this particular group of students shows him the appreciation.
When asked about primary responsibilities, Ricky said, “My primary
responsibility is to ensure that my students have a well-rounded music curriculum. That's
my biggest responsibility.” For him, music learning can help his students not only in
music, but as human beings. Part of his primary responsibility is that his students
“become better people, better leaders, and better musicians.” For Ricky, this means that
his students are able to excel in any form of music, whether it be classical, pop, or
musical theater.
Ricky provides something for every student in his program, “any child can come
to my school and feel like they were able to focus on what they loved; that they’re better
at whatever they loved before they got to my program.” Ricky is trained classically and
uses classical techniques in voice for his students but does not limit the repertoire they
perform to classical music. As he explains, “my kids will be prepared for college, and
that's why it's my responsibility for it to be a well-rounded curriculum.” All things
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paperwork are secondary in his eyes. “My secondary responsibilities are all the silly
grading and all that stuff. I don't know if I can say that, but that's kind of how I feel.
Grading and paperwork, in the county I work in is terrible.”
A big part of that well-rounded music curriculum is music literacy. Ricky
explains it with a sports analogy:
I got to prep my kids for college. So, they got to have a curriculum that is able to
teach them and so they can feel prepared. And music literacy obviously is
important because, you want your kids to have tools. You can't have a football
team and a quarterback who doesn't know who to throw to. You didn't teach him,
you didn't teach him coverages, you didn’t teach him formation. You didn’t teach
him anything, you just gave it to him. Like you know, teaching just by rote is the
same as if you just kind of told the quarterback everything in his ear. So, in his ear
piece you'll say okay, when you hike the ball, I want you to take three steps back,
I want you to look to the left and I want you to throw up to the tight end.
I don't teach like that. I try to give them [students] all the tools so that they
are able to be professionals on their own. For this reason, literacy for me is
extremely important. And I want them to feel like it's important too.
One of the goals for Ricky’s students is that they are prepared for college, and that
requires sight reading skills. So, there is always a push to sight read better. A large
percentage of his students, based on his report, make concerted efforts to continuously
improve their sight-reading skills. Although, he began with defining music literacy in
terms of sight-reading, later in the conversations he says this, “I think that’s what I
provide them through everything we do; working for concerts, how we learn our music,
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all that stuff. I think all that entails music literacy. The history, all of that, the
terminology.” Although he began by describing the need for sight-reading, he continued
through and described other aspects such as vocabulary, history, and performing, which
he considered to also be a part of the music literacy.
Music Literacy and Choral Music Literacy
Ricky acknowledged that he taught music literacy at various times throughout the
school year. He explains “I teach it through the music that we learn.” Ricky explains a
tradition that has kind of begun in his classroom. When students in his program are
sophomores, they take a music theory honors class. So, in the choral room, he asks
questions and reinforces terminology, but only sophomores are called upon. “Ask anyone
in my select women class, or my select mixed, all my sophomores; they are the only ones
allowed to answer any question about theory or terminology.” As he explains, in this
way he ensures that the sophomores are getting ready for leadership opportunities or
more advanced choral ensembles. It also allows the older students to recognize the
sophomores and creates a camaraderie as the students can relate, and they root for each
other to be successful.
While Ricky doesn’t believe that choral music literacy and music literacy are
separate things except for the repertoire that is used in the respective groups, he does state
that it is a part of the literacy. “I think the only thing I would say would be different in
regard to choral literacy vs instrumentals, is repertoire because I do feel that’s part of the
literacy.” Although Ricky teaches in a magnet setting, he admits that he doesn’t
necessarily choose the hardest repertoire.
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You can set your students up to do a lot of things in a song even if it's the easiest
song. It goes right back to your musical literacy questions. I can ask them about
the crescendos, I can ask them how to phrase.
Ricky believes that musical challenges exist in all music, and a good teacher will help
their students find and meet all those challenges, regardless of the level of difficulty in
the music.
Music literacy and choral music literacy are one and the same for Ricky.
However, he acknowledges that the best way to get students to connect to the music they
are working on is through the text and musical phrases. “Just challenge them to feel
phrases. Feel what a crescendo does to your body. Why am I accentuating this particular
word?” Throughout his rehearsals, this physicality was evident, Ricky would
consistently and intentionally add movement as a form of emphasis depending on what
he was teaching. He explains that “I really try to teach them about connecting to the
music through the text. Why am I crescendoing here? Why am I cutting you off like that
here?” Ricky tends to pose questions, and he reported that one of his methods for
involving students is probing. When trying to get students to connect to the music, Ricky
says, describes the value of the text and having students understand what the text is doing
within the context of the music.
Ricky believes that student connection to the music via text or otherwise is
valuable because the audience should be able to relate and feel something. “I feel like my
students should be able to sing a song that the audience can to relate to. The audience
should be connected to something, something that we're doing.” Ricky explains to his
students his own concert going reactions, “When I go to a concert, I want to be fulfilled. I
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want to feel something; I want it to be memorable.” With this idea in mind, he
challenges his students to help the audience feel something, connect to something in their
program.
The day before our second interview, Ricky had his fall concert. That concert
included music the different groups had been working on, but also included songs
students had composed. During the interview, I noted his joy and pride in describing the
concert. It was evident in both his energy and his vocal inflection, “You should see how
the kids were singing their songs. Or how they’re writing, they’re personalizing things.
And the way they express it, you can see it. So, it’s all working.” Ricky recognizes that
the way he approaches his program is different, but he feels that it works for him. His
favorite choirs provide him with something emotional. He describes being able to watch
the choirs and enjoy them because he feels something in their expressiveness, so he
challenges his students to do the same. “You know, we are trying to be able to express
our song in that way; visually, everything.” These interviews and the observations I had
gave me the impression that Ricky has a holistic view of teaching choral music literacy.
Ricky involves his students in the music making process primarily through
probing questions. “I probe them [students] about phrasing. Sometimes I ask them ‘how,
how should I phrase this?’ because sometimes I get stuck and I ask, ‘What do you
think?’” Ricky describes one song during that fall concert, where he was not sure of
whether he wanted to cut off the students all at once or have them sing longer. So, he
tried it a number of different ways, and allowed the students to give their feedback. He
does wonder, did they really like the one they chose or “maybe it’s because they kind of
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know how I am, what I like.” But his primary method for involving his students is giving
them opportunities to voice their opinions.
Curriculum Design and Implementation
Observing this classroom was very dynamic, it was fast paced and energetic. The
second observation provided me with a view of how the students entered the classroom.
It was an empty room, and the students quickly set up their seats and also a few extra
seats. As the students set up, Ricky went into his office and then proceeded to write out
his list of songs in the order they would be worked on. As the names of the songs would
appear on the white board, the students began putting their music in that order. That
morning, the student leader was asked to lead the class in physical warm ups. The teacher
followed that with vocal warm-ups, which lasted roughly 17 minutes. Every visit, the
teacher and the students ran through a minimum of six songs in the 2-hour block. While
the first visit was shortened due to another presentation Ricky had planned for, the
second and third visits had more student interactions with Ricky, asking questions,
reminding the teacher about things that had been addressed prior. As the weeks passed,
the teacher became more complimentary and encouraging with the students.
Ricky’s ideal classroom climate would be an accepting or comforting place. A
place where students feel comfortable, but also are down to work and are efficient in the
learning process. He wants students to also feel accomplished and recognize their own
strength and knowledge independently of their teacher’s knowledge, elements of critical
literacy. According to Ricky, students “can be more expressive if they feel free, free to be
themselves.” His own high school experiences have guided Ricky throughout his
teaching. His high school director was strict, and everything was very fast paced. He
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admits that while that is his guide, he does give his students a bit more freedom, and
allows his own students more outlets within his classroom rather than outside his
classroom.
The curriculum in this class includes musicianship skills, vocal production,
singing with emotion or understanding, performance practice, leadership, and self-
discipline. When asked if this curriculum had changed over time, he said it hadn’t. He
described arriving at this curriculum through past experiences, learning from other
teachers, graduate and post graduate work and through intuition. “By believing in my
system, believing that it works. I guess that's kind of how I got to it. Hours and hours and
hours of working at it just like, self-correcting. I just need to do that better.” Ricky’s
philosophy of teaching is his love of the music and passion for teaching. I cannot
properly share with you the emphasis in his voice as he repeated the words love, each
time growing in volume. It is one of the reasons why I am glad that I transcribed the
interviews myself. In his words,
Passion guides everything for me. I love, love, love what I do. I can’t expect my
students to give a hundred percent, if I’m at home being lazy. I can’t do it. I feel
like I’m selling out. I have to practice what I preach. Look at the best athletes, the
best lawyers, the best doctors, they love what they do. People can do this thing, do
teaching and so forth although they don’t love it. But at some point, there’s a
limit. I don’t have a limit. If you have a limit, you don’t love it, you’re not in love
with it.
According to Ricky, learning occurs “through influences, through community,
and sacrifice.” He explains, that if you want to really learn a song, you have to sacrifice a
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few extra minutes and sometimes a few extra hours. For him, learning also requires “self-
discipline, you got to want it. You got to have the need or the yearning for something. If a
person doesn’t want to learn anything, they’re going to just be ok.” And finally, curiosity
and love of the subject are important parts of learning as well.
He facilitates this learning by giving his students tools and opportunities. The
tools Ricky shares are confidence, and the system he uses which includes music literacy
components, individual attention and responsibility, and vocal production. As for
opportunities, he gives many performance opportunities and leadership opportunities.
“Student-led things, like the end of the year show, which is a student-run production. It's
basically my senior leadership that does it. They get the opportunity to use the tools.”
Evaluating students requires knowledge of the students in the first place. Ricky
claims that he evaluates students by “noticing improvement in whatever their weakness
is. I get to know my students, all my students. I just have a knack of knowing what their
strengths and what their weaknesses are very quickly.” Given that knowledge, it is easy
for him to recognize individual growth over time.
Teaching a new song: component of curriculum implementation. Teaching a
new song in Ricky’s classroom is dependent on the difficulty level of the piece. When
pieces are more difficult, the process is more streamlined for students beginning with
rhythms, followed by tonality and pitches, and then putting those pieces together to hear
how the piece works as a full piece. “I don’t believe in playing parts for my students, but
sometimes you have to give them a little support when it’s weird [harmonically]. I mean,
not everyone can sing seventh chords and all this crazy stuff, so you have to be realistic.”
Although when pieces are simpler for the students, he may ask them to write in their
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solfege, or ask the students to just sight read the piece slowly without rhythms, so they
get a harmonic vision of the piece. If it is more challenging what he will do is, “I'll write
all the rhythms down on a sheet of paper, I'll pass it out to them, and then we'll patch, and
we'll work through the rhythms before they even know what it is.” And then after that,
on the other side of the paper the solfege would have been written down and the students
will sing the pitches in quarter notes to get a feel for the intervals that may give them
trouble. Once all of this has been done, “we just do it really slow. And then from there,
then I start to try to transfer it to the music.”
He tries to make the parts of learning the song easy enough that accomplishing
one goal will feed into accomplishing the next goal. Otherwise students use a lot of
solfege, are sometimes given a time limit and told to write in as much of the solfege as
they possibly can within that limit. The ultimate goal is college readiness. Since he
cannot predict where the students will go for college, or the systems particular to each
college, he tries to use all the tools at his disposal. “I want them to be comfortable when
they go to college, regardless of where they go.”
The only variation between groups is the degree to which he breaks things down.
For his younger/ less experienced classes, he will write out all the rhythms and the
solfege, but Chuck “believes in accepting students even if they don’t sight-read well,
because he knows the student will work hard to overcome their limitations.” Ricky
doesn’t believe in getting upset with students who are trying, but it means he must
provide these students with the tools necessary to be successful. However, students must
work with him. “We will have to fix it. But you’re going to have to work. You have to
practice too. You’re going to have to spend time at home, and you’re going to get
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assessed, and I’m going to have a vocal test.” Although this teacher works hard and tries
to help all his students reach his high expectations, he does require that their work ethic
matches his.
Storytelling and connecting: component of curriculum design and
implementation. When asked about stories or messages that Ricky is trying to teach
through his repertoire selections, he describes how choral music allows people to “relate
on so many different levels.” He describes a song done early in the year, called “Until
All of Us Are Free.” That song inspired discussions in class about being individuals,
“living in the world, focusing on being you and being happy with yourself.” These
conversations included topics on the environment created within the choir program, how
to feel free to express yourself, and learning how to express yourself in front of other
people. In this way, Ricky is preparing his students for the real world, so that they might
feel like they can conquer it. The goal through the repertoire selection is to help students
relate. “This is how we can really connect, so much through choral music.” According
to Ricky, when students know what they’re singing about, they sing better. Getting
students to connect to their music is “all about the story telling and then connecting. They
need to feel the phrase move, know what they’re singing about, and enjoy the music.”
Ricky allows his students to be a part of the decision-making process by allowing
them to help choose articulations in the music such as crescendo, decrescendo, etc. He
also likes to stay out of the way sometimes, “when they’re doing their own thing, I kind
of try my best to stay out of the way and try to see what they do.” In this way, he can
evaluate if the tools he has been teaching are actually becoming a part of the student’s
musical development. He describes an innate need to be in control at times, but
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recognizes, “I know sometimes I got to let them be involved. And it helps, I think they
retain better too, if they felt like they were part of it.”
Choral Music Literacy and Performance Requirements
As previously stated, Ricky’s main instrument is his voice and he began singing
in the church through a family connection. “My uncle is the person that I wanted to
follow his lead in everything and he’s an amazing singer. So, I just followed his lead, and
I did everything that he did.” His high school choral experiences got him hooked. “I just
had an amazing experience in high school. My choral director, how she teaches music…
everything. If it wasn’t for that, I definitely would not be the choral director I am today.”
He has been teaching for 18 years, the last 4 years at his current posting.
Ricky’s primary responsibility is to provide his students with opportunities to
become well rounded musicians through his curriculum. The term well-rounded
musicians means that “when my students graduate my program, they will be able to excel
in any form of music, whether it be classical, pop, or theater.” His goal is that students
have access to an individualized curriculum with opportunities for all to pursue their
musical passions.
Throughout the school year, this choir director schedules roughly eight
performances for his students. The roles these performances play are all different, some
are for assessment. “The fall concert helps me kind of assess where my choirs are right
now, because they all have to have their two songs. And I’ve been working on tone, been
working on initial conducting mannerisms, dynamics.” The fall concert also provides
students with an “opportunity to feature their music.” Performances also provide
opportunities to do extracurricular things, “so if they want to do opera in college or
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musical theater, it’s preparing them for that atmosphere because of the rehearsals, not
everyone is required to do it. It’s teaching them commitment.” Other concerts provide
students with goals, “kids have to have something to do.” And finally, some
performances prepare students for the second half of the school year. “A lot of it is
prepping for the spring. When the spring comes, we’re all on the same page with
everything.” Ricky doesn’t do concerts because he has to. He likes to change up the
concerts so that they are different; always providing the students with something to look
forward to. Finally, the spring concert is an opportunity for students to celebrate
everything that they’ve done all year. “Students need to feel like there’s a finish to the
school year.”
When asked about his repertoire selections, Ricky says “I pay attention to what
type of story is the music telling? I take an account of my students.” Not only must he
like the music, but he has to think, will the students appreciate it? He recognizes that
music must also take into account the different levels of musicianship within the different
choirs. “Since I have different levels for my women, I have to make sure that what I
select is good for each choir.”
Students participate in the repertoire selection as officers, and for the end of the
year show. “Just before State MPA’s, I’ll let my officers be in on the decision. I give
them options, and they tell me which ones they like. And that’s how the third piece is
determined.” This is a new occurrence, but one that helps Ricky put into action his belief
in student leadership and involvement. “I didn’t always do that, but I decided that I
needed to practice what I preach, because I want my officers to be involved.” The end of
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the year show is also where the students get to choose the repertoire and they have
complete freedom there, “They do the directing, teaching the music, and stuff like that.”
Summary
Ricky is a veteran teacher; a shy, serious, no nonsense teacher, with a clear
passion for what he does. His priorities are his students, their well-being, and their ability
to grow within his program, such that they feel confident taking advantage of any and all
opportunities presented to them. His emphasis in the classroom is on healthy singing,
making music, connecting to the music, and relating to audiences during performances.
His successes throughout the years, make him knowledgeable of repertoire, and his
passion for the choral art open him to helping other teachers who reach out. And although
his training and background is in classical choral music, he does not limit his students to
any one vocal genre and works to make his students successful in the music world,
without limitations.
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CHAPTER FIVE
RECAPITULATION: CROSS CASE ANALYSIS
In this chapter, the five themes that appeared throughout data analysis across the
different transcripts and throughout observations are presented and analyzed. The themes
are ordered based on how often each came up throughout the interviews, and then
corroborated through observations and lesson plans when they were available. The last
theme, growth mindset, was not overtly mentioned by any participant, but appeared as an
underlying theme in all of the participants’ answers. Each theme is also analyzed for
connections to constructivism, critical literacy, and transactional theory, although theories
are not always present for every theme. Following the presentation of the themes, are my
responses to the research questions from the perspectives of the participants.
As previously noted, the term choral music literacy was operationalized by this
researcher as the ability to independently analyze and realize—sing or perform—musical
information on the page, evaluate and make choices about how to communicate the
information for audiences, and assess the outcome of those choices. The purpose of this
research was to give five experienced choral music educators a voice and thus describe,
examine, and understand these choral music educators’ use of elements within choral
music literacy. With these ideas in mind, the themes that arose and were most related to
the topic at hand were
1. musicianship skills and development,
2. interpersonal connection,
3. teacher qualities and responsibilities,
4. student involvement,
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5. growth mindset.
All participants discussed elements of musicianship skills and development and
interpersonal connection often and extensively. Components of teacher qualities and
responsibilities were brought up moderately but consistently by both Daniel and Ricky;
student involvement was an important topic for Chuck, Daniel, and Ricky.
Theme 1: Musicianship Skills and Development
The most prevalent and expected of themes found throughout all of the
transcripts, observations, and lesson plans was musicianship skills and development
which included discussions on: (a) sight-reading, which is the ability to sing musical
notation at first sight; (b) theory or the rudiments of musical notation, both rhythmic and
melodic; (c) music history; (d) audiation which is the ability to hear the sounds
represented on the page within the mind without actually singing them; (e) terminology
or musical vocabulary; (f) composition which is the creation of musical phrases; (g)
performance; and (h) vocal pedagogy, which is the study of how the voice works.
Elements of these components were discussed and clearly observed within the lessons of
all the participants, as well as notated within the lesson plans that were submitted.
Ganschow (2014) stated that the fundamentals of choral music—rhythm, pitch, and
pronunciation—were generally given the most attention. These components are elements
on the literal levels of comprehension and are also listed as the first part of the definition
of choral music literacy. Examples from each teacher are shared below.
Andrea prepared her students for music, by ensuring rhythmic or melodic
components of the songs were included in warm-ups as well as sight reading exercises at
the beginning of each class period. Andrea described music literacy as the ability to read
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music as you would read a book. Chuck used rhythmic sight-reading exercises as his bell
ringer, he used daily melodic and harmonic sight-reading exercises, and students were
expected to sing and write in their solfege pitches in their music prior to singing a piece
for the first time. Daniel had a daily sight-reading component as well as a separate theory
class for beginners, ensuring students had the opportunities for musicianship skills
necessary to succeed regardless of the level of difficulty placed before them. He
emphasized that the music chosen for his students was the vehicle through which he
taught the skills which he deemed necessary for their success. Elizabeth had a melodic
dictation component as part of her daily routine which included a compositional element
an example of synthesizing their previous knowledge with the information given and
creating as well. She stated that students have learned when they no longer need her to
figure out a score. Finally, Ricky required that sophomores answer all questions related to
theory and terminology, in an effort to certify the students are ready for music leadership
in the future. Taken together, all of the teachers emphasized and made space in their
lessons to ensure sight reading as part of an exercise, or as part of learning their music
was presented to the students. All of the teachers worked to varying degrees on
components of music theory as applied to their music. These teachers were also interested
in helping their students become successful in learning these components of choral music
literacy.
Another component included under the umbrella of musicianship skills and
development was vocal technique. Vocal technique refers to the different techniques that
can ensure proper vocal production. This particular component was not evidenced in
observations for Andrea or Elizabeth. However, Chuck, Daniel, and Ricky had specific
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phrases, activities, or warmups designed to build the understandings of vocal techniques
amongst the students. Chuck asserted that one of his jobs was to offer students solo vocal
lessons and described the difference between choral sound and solo sound. As Chuck
described it for his students,
Part of your job as a choral student is to make sure that you are a member of the
ensemble, of the whole. That you're performing with proper vocal technique,
understanding that you have to be a part of the texture. Your voice and the voice
of your neighbor need to be matched, vowels, balance, etc. etc. When you are a
solo performer, you take away those ingredients and focus on the best projection
as a solo singer. And then you add all the colors of your voice that maybe you
need to kinda hang on to with your choral voice.
Daniel also had a vocal technique component in his classroom. Although I did not
observe the lesson, I caught a glimpse of the results in Daniel’s class, where students had
to create a 3D model of the vocal tract. When conducting his students, some of his
feedback was related to breathing, vocal placement of sound, and vibrato. These are all
elements related to vocal techniques. Ricky spent a great deal of time on vocal warmups
and recommended that students have motion in their bodies as they sang. He often
discussed connecting the breath to the body, a basic component of vocal technique. The
common thread between the teachers who included this component, is that their primary
instrument was the voice. The two teachers, Elizabeth and Andrea, whose primary
instruments focused on the organ and piano, spent much more of their time on theory and
sight singing skills. Andrea did say on occasion, “sound like a human not like the piano.”
Hamann (2007) stated, the strongest influences on curricular choices were items within
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the school setting; things such as “developmental appropriateness, personal preference,
budget, and available materials” (p. 70). The fact that these teachers seemed to emphasize
the material with which they were most comfortable is in line with Hamman’s (2007)
statement.
Performance was also included under the umbrella of musicianship skills and
development as each but Elizabeth described performances as the culmination of the
skills the students had been taught. Andrea included performance etiquette—walking on
and off stage, bowing for applause, and not waving at the audience—as a goal and said,
“I think students learn from experiences and a performance to me is a complete
experience.” Performances for these teachers were many, but they were varied and
included civic and social additions to the curriculum. Performances were not limited to
holiday events and evaluations or competitions. Andrea had her students carol at a cancer
ward and Chuck had students sing for a senior home center. Elizabeth included a stop at
Ronald McDonald Houses regardless of where the spring trip took them and even
encouraged the students donate supplies for that visit. Ricky arranged for students to
perform for a church as a community service event. In this way the traditional view of
performances for evaluation only is different. These teachers included performance as a
part of their curriculum, but it is not the competitive aspect alone that drove them. It was
the human aspect of choral music that ultimately guided the experiences these teachers
provided for their students.
While these teachers did succumb to performances prescribed by their schools or
their community, each one described other performances for student growth and to
present opportunities for independence and responsibility. Ricky discussed giving
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students a venue for their own compositions, Daniel, Chuck, and Andrea had coffee
houses as venues for students to be more autonomous in their musical selections as well
as inspiration for other students. Taken together, there were many reasons, beyond the
expected, explaining why these teachers scheduled and prepared for performances.
Connections to Constructivism
Musicianship skills and development included discussions on sight-reading,
theory, music history, audiation, terminology, composition, performance, and vocal
pedagogy. These translated into the basic curriculum in these classrooms. These
classrooms were at least in part, constructivist in nature. Each classroom was unique in
the teacher’s approach to the material, which aligns with Hendry (1996) who asserted that
in a constructivist classroom, “curriculum is the materials, language and behavior which
teachers use to promote students’ construction” (p. 24). There were commonalities in the
emphasis in musical notation and interaction with that notation; all teachers used solfege
and sight reading as important components of their curriculum. Gordon (2008)
emphasized that there must be room for teachers to teach in the ways that are most
comfortable for them. The specific components which were emphasized had a connection
to the training and primary instruments studied during their respective teacher
preparations; teachers tend to teach what they taught. Andrea and Elizabeth as pianists,
mentioned vocal technique in reference to vowels, while Chuck, Daniel, and Ricky
emphasized breathing, phonation, and the vocal mechanism. They also provided the
students with exercises and tools to help them improve their vocal technique.
Two of the tenets of constructivism as per Fox (2001) are that learning is an
active process, and knowledge is personal, idiosyncratic, and socially constructed. These
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are elements of each of the teacher’s responses. The principles of constructivism as
defined by Hendry (1996) that were most applicable to this study were: (a) knowledge
exists in the minds of the people only; (b) the meanings or interpretations people give to
things depends on their knowledge; (c) knowledge is constructed from within an
interrelation with the world; (d) knowledge is constructed through perception and action.
When asked about how to define learning, Andrea and Daniel both said learning occurs
through experience, a constructivist idea. Chuck and Elizabeth said that learning occurred
when students take ownership of the material and can be independent, another
constructivist idea. Ricky’s definition was the only one that was very separate, he said
that learning occurred by influence, community, and self-discipline. It is worth noting
that his definition, it included a constructivist component. Even so, these teachers never
specifically said that they had a constructivist philosophy in their teaching or
development of their curriculum, there were clear components of constructivism
throughout their discussions as well as in their classroom observations.
Hendry (1996) stated that “knowledge exists in the minds of students and the
teacher only” (p. 23). Therefore, from a constructivist perspective, meaning is attributed
to the curriculum enacted by the students and the teacher, guided by their existing
knowledge and beliefs. These teachers acknowledged that much of what they were
teaching had been learned through experiences, colleagues, experiments, and most
compellingly, by focusing on the needs of their students. Throughout observations,
teachers and students began the work of co-creating knowledge in the everyday work of
singing and sight-reading. The components that were not observed were analyzing text
and determining musical interpretation. Cleaver and Ballantyne (2014) stated that it was
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almost impossible for teachers to constantly teach constructively. In accordance with this
idea, the constructivist perspective was not evident in every activity. However, it was still
a guiding force in the participants’ definitions of teaching and learning. The realities of
life—recognizing where students were and where they needed to be—provided needs and
opportunities for teachers to scaffold and build skills in a variety of methods. “In order to
close potential gaps between theory and practice, constructivism is best not studied as
isolated, technical and methodological theory abstracted from reflective, self-inquiry” (p.
239). In one of his interviews, Chuck said, “Sometimes it’s not easy to hit every single
point at every single time.” Although he was referencing the time permitted to have
discussions with students on how to best bring the music to life, that sentence applied to
many more issues that teachers face.
The first theme, musicianship skills and development, encompassed a number of
different elements that the teachers focused on in their classrooms and constantly
emphasized throughout their interviews. While these teachers never once stated the word
constructivism, it was clear that there were elements of constructivism inspiring and
affecting how they taught in their classrooms and how they understood learning.
Additionally, these elements can help guide and inspire other teachers in the field.
Connections to Critical Literacy
Critical literacy in music translates into recognizing that the text or notes on the
page are not the ultimate authority as it may have been edited by someone. However, it is
the job of the students and the director to create musical experiences for themselves and
the audience based on the knowledge they have and the choices they make together. It is
also a literacy of respect for the learners and the process involved in learning. Critical
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literacy connections were harder to find in the teachers’ descriptions of what they do, and
in the observations I was present for. However, there were little glimmers of critical
literacy throughout.
The director who more obviously seemed to touch on components of critical
literacy was Ricky. In one of his interviews, he specifically described asking his students
to consider reasons why they may not honor the notations of dynamics or accents written
on the page. He described posing questions to his students, reminding them to recognize
the meanings of the text as a better guide of what dynamics or articulations they may
want to use. Chuck made a statement in one interview, which taken at face value seemed
commonplace. Upon a second look, it was more powerful than he may have even
realized. Chuck stated that when he allowed students who were not officers to lead a
sectional, it provided the students with an opportunity to realize that they had “acquired
information and materials which were now able to transfer to other students.” In other
words, he was providing his students an opportunity to “know that they know” (Freire,
1970). Schmidt (2005) contended that although music education could be a vehicle
through which students can use to understand the world, teachers are often unable to
engage in dialogues to help students accomplish this goal. The teachers observed
mentioned class discussions, but these were not observed.
Connections to Transactional Theory
Transactional theory is the interaction between the reader and the text. The
reading is dependent on what the readers bring with them and their individual focus
during the reading. It is not a common idea amongst music educators. I anticipated that
finding connections to this theory might be more challenging. In Daniel’s definition of
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music literacy however, I saw a connection. Daniel stated, “music literacy is the ability
to read, analyze, compose, dictate, something that’s black and white on the page and turn
it into colors.” For Daniel, Choral music literacy, has the added component of text, and
without connecting to the text, you cannot perform that text, “you can present the text,
but that’s not performing. There’s a difference between your science project presentation
versus your choral performance, or there should be.” Furthermore, Daniel stated, “when
you have an aesthetic process that clicks within you, it makes connections… I think there
are connections going on inside your brain that will cause you to learn easily and, more
efficiently.”
In other words, choral music literacy implies that students perform and may have
an aesthetic experience in that performance, if they can connect to the text. Like Daniel,
Rosenblatt (1995) argued that art and aesthetic experiences are more fulfilling, or perhaps
human, than efferent experiences. Rosenblatt regarded reading and response to literature
as a work of art. She stated that the literature teacher must begin instruction from the
perspective of how a literary work moved, touched, or reached the student. Rosenblatt
made a case for transactional theory via the aesthetic reading, she argued that a book
without a reader is much like a musical score without an orchestra. Daniel’s explanations
of choral music literacy and performances specifically, seem to be in line with
transactional theory when applied to the choral realm.
Theme 2: Interpersonal Connection
The theme of interpersonal connection was an unanticipated theme, yet it was
consistently presented and discussed throughout all the transcripts with slight variations
amongst the participants. Interpersonal connection grouped together ideas such as
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confidence, comfort in the classroom, use of icebreakers, building trust, community
outreach, and classroom environment. Many of the teachers described having students in
the classroom who may not have chosen their classes. Chuck explained,
I need to help my students feel comfortable that they’re in chorus, and not make
them want to run away. Because many of them didn’t choose to be in chorus. So,
during the first few days and weeks, my job is to convince them that they don't
need to be afraid of being in choir and that they might actually enjoy being in my
class.
Daniel explained that his male students are all in one class because “it allows the
kids to psychologically feel more comfortable; they can look around and see other kids or
older kids that have gone through the same changes as them.” Again, all of the teachers
made statements describing reasons why or ways in which they tried to ensure students
were comfortable and willing to take risks in their classrooms. At their core, they all
considered the students to be their primary goal.
During all of the observations of the participants, the students appeared content as
evidenced by their general facial affects and manners of engagement with the teachers.
The classroom where the students’ arrival was the least relaxed was Elizabeth’s room.
The lessons began before the bell rang; there was no time to chit chat upon entering the
room and students were not late. Although that room had a lot of structure, she was kind,
complimentary, and consistent with the students. She had explained, this was a more
advanced group, many of whom had been with her for at least one year prior. Elizabeth
mentioned having a different approach in her personality with beginners; she said, “I kind
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of have to put on my used car salesman, televangelist cheerleader face with my
beginners.”
Almost all the participants made statements such as music should make students
“changed human beings, they should realize that this is bigger than just them,” (Andrea).
Chuck said,
I think I help them [students] become better people. I think I help them work
towards common goals, help each other, work with each other, feel compassion
towards each other and develop a sense of love for themselves, for their music, for
their art.
Elizabeth stated that her students should “have gained confidence in themselves,
established a solid foundation of musicianship, and most importantly become incredible
human beings—a microcosm of what society could be if the world had the right
priorities.” Ricky stated, “my primary responsibility is to ensure that my students have a
well-rounded music curriculum…and through that they become better people, better
leaders, and better musicians.” The idea amongst almost all of the participants was that
music learning and education, should be a tool to make the students better humans. Elliot
(2005) appears to have had similar ideas when he wrote, “music has many important
values. Self-growth and self-knowledge—and the unique emotional experiences of
musical enjoyment that accompanies these—are among the most important values of
music and music education” (p. 10).
Connections to Constructivism
This theme was important to all the teachers and had a clear connection to
constructivism. “There is a need for a teacher to provide a supportive environment so that
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students can feel free to take risks” (Hendry, 1996, p. 28). I believe that one of the
reasons this was important to all the participants is that all of them had prior experiences
with students who did not want to be in their classrooms. Additionally, their intrinsic
belief that music education, specifically choral music education is important, suggested
that they want to teach anyone. Elizabeth specifically said that her philosophy of music is
that “music is for every child; my door is open.” An article by Hendricks et al. (2014),
offered a practical model for creating a safe space in the music classroom. The authors
stated, “teachers can foster emotionally safe learning environments and instill music
students with a positive sense of self-belief, creative freedom, and purpose” (p. 35). Each
of these teachers, had their own methods for creating these safe learning environments; it
was an overtly stated goal by each one.
Chuck and Ricky both described the use of icebreakers at the beginning of the
year in an effort to get students to feel comfortable. Elizabeth acknowledged that the first
few times the composition element of her bell ringer was presented, she affirmed all
students for the attempt, regardless of errors. Personally, I witnessed her praise of
students, amidst an error correction. Andrea created an environment whereby students
laughed at themselves and her. She made it a point to show that she was “human” and
capable of making mistakes. During the first observation, Andrea was struggling to give
the pronunciation of a text in a foreign language while also emphasizing the rhythm on
the page.
Of note, all of these teachers have had students in their classes with
exceptionalities, but it was not obvious during the observations. Andrea had a blind
student. Chuck had an autistic student with a paraprofessional. The student was only
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redirected during class on one occasion; during all other observations, the student
participated well, and the exceptionality would not have been noted. Hendricks et al.
(2014) stated, “learning environments foster intrinsic motivation and musical engagement
when students are treated as unique individuals” (p. 36). I believe these teachers
understood this to their core, and although they are teaching group ensembles, the
students appear to feel important, welcomed, and were treated as individuals.
Theme 3: Teacher Qualities and Responsibilities
Four out of five participants overtly discussed elements of teacher qualities and
responsibilities; these included discussion topics such as classroom management, how to
teach, providing students with opportunities, love and knowledge of students, pride,
patience, passion, and professionalism. Throughout the discussions and observations, it
was clear that these teachers took their jobs seriously, cared for their students, and
worked diligently to ensure their classes ran smoothly and efficiently. A snapshot of each
of their personalities was evident in their classroom procedures and composure; there
were no behavior issues observed.
Andrea discussed teacher qualities and responsibilities such as classroom
management and paperwork throughout the interviews. When I walked into her room, the
organization and calendars around the room allowed everyone to recognize what was
due, when it was due, and what the long-term goals and short-term goals were. During
the second interview, she attempted to define differentiated instruction and described
scenarios where she might have used those strategies. As Andrea explained:
a great example would be, I don't care how you get me answer there are multiple
ways of getting the answer. I just need you to get the answer sometimes this
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works for some people sometimes this works for other people. Example, finding
the key. I show them two ways to do it. And then, you use whichever way is
better for you. One way is the order of the flats, go back one, bro that’s so easy,
for some. Some people don’t like memorizing. Another way is ok, your last flat is
fa, find do.
Andrea further explained student capabilities, and the need for the teacher to understand
what students could do before, and how to direct instruction to different student aptitudes.
Chuck, like Andrea, had a similar opening of class. Students had prescribed
locations to put away their belongings, thus ensuring absolute attention to the task of
singing. He described some attributes he remembered from his own piano teacher in high
school and stated that some of these were his own goals in the room.
She [the piano teacher] had a way of encouraging her students in a positive way.
She always made us feel capable and important, and had a lot of energy in her
teaching, and I know that I do use a lot of those techniques and methods.
Daniel described the role of the teacher as first a guide, second a creator of
opportunities, and third a motivator of passion and for additional work beyond the
classroom. He explains that, ultimately, “you’re not just teaching the curriculum in the
classroom, you’re teaching the students that are in front of you at that time and what they
need is what you're there for.” When observing Daniel, his words rang true. He allowed
the students a lot of freedom, but the guidelines he established were clear and observable
to an outsider concerning student behavior and participation.
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Ricky had a lot to say about teacher qualities and responsibilities. He holds
himself to a high standard of work and research for his students. Words he used to
describe teacher qualities were accepting, energetic, fair, and demanding, but the word
that continuously came back, he emphasized this the most, was passion. In response to
the question of what qualities Ricky brought to his students he said, “Just the passion of
what I do; I love what I do.” In another interview, he described how much he loves what
he does, and how because he loves it, there is no limit for him.
Now people can do this thing, do teaching so forth well, although they don't love
it. But at some point, there's a limit. I don't have a limit. If you have a limit, you
don't love it. You don't. You're not in love with it.
Although Elizabeth did not overtly discuss teacher qualities to the same degree as
the others, there were mentions of related topics. For example, Elizabeth explained that
her job was to make sure her students were successful. “If you buy into the program,
you're going to be successful and they all have choices. My goal is not to get kids into
high school. My goal is to have successful students.” In her classroom, classroom
management was evident, her assessment procedures were clear, and the goals for the
students were attainable as made clear by the constant “key” and assistance she shared on
the board. When describing the few issues that arise in general, she says, “focus on the
good kids, document, contact parents, move on.”
Connections to Constructivism
Throughout the interviews, Daniel consistently referred to himself as a guide
rather than a teacher. “My job is to create as many open-door opportunities for the
students so that they can choose where they want to travel on their path.” (July 13, 2018).
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“I am a guide along the process [of learning]. It’s a space for them to make their own
choices and to go along with what they believe” (January 11, 2019). “I don’t teach a new
song to my students, it’s more like we come to realize the song together” (October 11,
2018). Yilmaz (2008) argued, teachers should “facilitate and guide rather than dictate
autocratically” (p. 169). Throughout his interviews and after observing his classroom, it
is evident in words and actions that Daniel is a constructivist teacher.
Connections to Critical Literacy
Throughout our discussions, Daniel pointed out an intrinsic belief that “life
doesn’t happen to people, life happens because of people.” This idea guided Daniel’s
teaching, as he wanted to inspire his students and empower them to choose their paths
through life. “Critical literacy provides a framework for helping students take greater
control over their lives and can help to transform the world around them” (Thomas, Hall,
& Piazza, 2010, p. 91). In his belief that students should be empowered; he is beginning
to provide students with additional components of critical literacy.
Theme 4: Student Involvement
The theme of student involvement came through with greater prevalence in three
of the five participants. Student involvement was evident both in the classrooms, as well
as through discussions on student ownership, leadership, and independence. Chuck,
Ricky, and Daniel all had obvious examples of student involvement during observations
and explained through the interviews, ways in which this was a part of their classroom.
Chuck’s classroom consistently had sectionals—students working in smaller
groups based on voice parts such as soprano, alto, tenor, or bass—embedded within the
class period. Student ownership was a big element as Chuck stated on multiple occasions
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that he placed the “onus of music learning” on the students early on. Officers must apply
and are selected the year before; these students have a biweekly meeting, and even
students who are not officers are sometimes selected to help run sectionals or warm-ups.
When asked how this culture arose in the classroom, Chuck claimed that it was not a
conscious effort. It was more of a need that arose,
I think that at one point I said to my students, you know I need your help with
this, and they were more than happy to help to do it. And I knew that they were
capable of doing it. I think that they just feel a sense of responsibility toward each
other, towards the group that it's kind of seamless.
The level of student involvement in Daniel’s class was most impressive because
they were middle school students. He explained in the third interview, “I think that a lot
of times we don't give them [students] enough credit to believe that they will make the
right choices.” The student leadership model for Daniel, (a) provides other students with
easier communication as they can relate to their peer leaders, (b) provides aspirations for
students, recognizing that if a peer can be in charge, so could they, and (c) gives the
students a voice in the choosing of their leaders, and those leaders help Daniel monitor
the feelings and motivation amongst the students.
Like Chuck and Daniel, Ricky has section leaders, a choir president, and other
officer positions. Unlike Chuck and Daniel, Ricky allows his students to assist in the
choosing of repertoire for MPA. Ricky presents the students with a list of two or three
songs, and the officers choose which one should be used for MPA States. This is a new
occurrence for Ricky. He explained,
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I'm going to need to practice what I preach because I want my officers to be
involved. So, I’m like you know what, they can be involved in saying we like this
song. And most of the time the choir did like the song.
Ricky also reported that although he wanted to be in control at times, the best way to
ensure student learning was to stay out of the way and observe what they had learned and
could put into action.
Andrea identified officers and sectionals, but this element was not as prevalent in
her discussion, nor was it observed in the classroom. Through her interviews, she stated
that one of her weaknesses was the ability to delegate. She also stated that she was trying
to remedy this. Although this was not a huge component of her interviews or the classes
observed, she did share that, like Ricky, she periodically allowed students to assist in the
choosing of their musical repertoire. Like Ricky, she presented her officers with two or
three song selections, and the students then voted on the best one for the choir to perform.
All four of these teachers, also have solo and ensemble opportunities where the
students are free to choose their own music. Coffee House or Open Mic Night as Andrea
calls it, is an event hosted by Daniel, Chuck, and Andrea separately in their respective
schools. This event functions as both a fundraising activity, and also an opportunity for
student performances of their own choosing. Andrea reported it functions as a way of
encouraging other students to strive for new experiences, by observing others like
themselves accomplishing it. Ricky allowed for students to perform their compositions or
music of their own choosing during the fall performance, and also had an end of the year
show during which student leadership is completely in charge, from selecting the
repertoire to the costumes and sometimes even choreography.
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The expectation based on previous research was that “the teaching model most
emulated in secondary ensembles is that of the autocratic, professional conductor of a
large, classical ensemble” (Kratus, 2007, p. 45). While there were occasions when this
was observed, it was not the only thing observed. These teachers embraced a more
modern role in their teaching practices while also retaining a dominant role more closely
related to the past.
Connections to Constructivism
The practice of constructivism in the choral classroom allows discussions and
collaborative choices that directors and students make, as they co-create the music they
present to an audience. Yilmaz (2008) described the interaction between the teacher and
the student in the creation of knowledge and stated, “the locus of intellectual authority
resides in neither the teacher nor the resources, but in the discourse facilitated by both
teachers and learners” (p. 163). While the participants did describe these components,
they were not described as a daily occurrence, and they were not observed. This does not
mean that it is not happening. Rather, it suggests it is not a high priority for the teachers,
because they must teach the other components before they can get to the point of
discussion. My experiences in these classrooms, and after the interviews lead me to
believe that this is a work in progress. Gordon (2008) concluded that “a constructivist
classroom is one in which there is a balance between teacher and student-directed
learning and requires teachers to take an active role in the learning process, including
formal teaching” (p. 325). This balance may not have been reached yet, but it appears to
be a goal for these choral music educators.
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Connections to Critical Literacy
A component of critical literacy is understanding that the teachers do not own all
the musical knowledge, and that the students do come to class with musical knowledge.
These are the hidden literacies that students arrive with. One particular statement made
by Perry (2006) in the discussion of the gaps between hidden literacies and academic
literacies stated, “this gap, left un-nurtured and unattended by educators, can result in
students who see little or no connection between themselves and school” (p. 331). Some
of the teachers who had student involvement as an important theme, were trying to find
ways to recognize their students’ critical literacies. As previously stated, Andrea, Chuck,
and Daniel’s Coffee House or Open Mic Night events, provided a venue for the students
to showcase their critical literacies, and sometimes the new literacies they have added to
their knowledge base. Ricky’s composer element in the fall performance is another way
of bridging these gaps. As he noted, some students wrote pop songs, rap songs, or
collaborated with other instrumentalists to create the music they performed. Based on the
interviews and what was observed, these teachers are not critical literacy practitioners.
Even so, there were components of critical literacy taking place.
Theme 5: Growth Mindset as a Philosophy of Teaching
The theme of growth mind-set was unexpected, like the theme of interpersonal
connection. In fact, it was not until the third time reading the transcripts, and then
synthesizing the data that it became obviously something that was worth discussing. The
idea of fixed mind-set versus growth mind-set is a relatively new one; fixed mind-set is
the belief that intelligence and talent are “fixed” or inherent, and hard work would have
little to no effect on success. Growth mind-set is the belief that effort and practice has an
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effect on skill and achievement. This idea is usually viewed as a personal one; however, I
think that personal belief has an effect on the teacher. Teachers who have a growth mind-
set may be more likely to believe that students are only limited by their willingness to
work on the task at hand. Throughout the interviews, the idea that learning was an
experience, that it is ok to fail, came up consistently. In an article in the Choral Journal,
Potterton (2019) wrote, “learning is a process and getting an answer is not a failure—it’s
a not yet” (p. 61). This idea comes through in the language of each of the participants.
When asked about their ideal classroom climate, each participant described
mistakes or failures. But that was not what stood out. Rather, it was how to deal with
them. Andrea said, “my ideal classroom climate would be a safe environment for myself
and my students to be able to not just learn, but that everybody understands that mistakes
can happen, as long as we work hard to fix them.” The component that is most obvious if
you met Andrea, is her work ethic. It was evident in everything observed, and she was
trying to instill this work ethic in her students. The work ethic was more important than
“talent.” Andrea taught in a regular public high school, and her students came with some
prior knowledge in the music she’s was teaching, but more often than not, very limited
prior knowledge. She was not auditioning students seeking out talent, she just wanted
students who wanted to be better and improve.
Chuck had a similar statement, “my ideal classroom would be a place where kids
are excited to be there, enjoying themselves, learning with each other, and helping each
other.” Davis (2016) stated, “growth mindset creates a hunger for learning rather than
approval.” Chuck wanted students who want to learn. The theme of growth mindset in
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Chuck’s philosophy of teaching became even clearer when he was asked about his
weaknesses. Chuck said,
sometimes I have to take a step back and remember that I don’t have to have the
best chorus in the city. I don’t have to have perfection every single moment… I
have to have a little bit of wiggle room to let the kids fail a little bit and learn
from that.
Although Chuck taught in a magnet program where he auditioned students, he had many
students who have never sung before who were combined with those in the magnet
program. Like Andrea, Chuck’s work ethic was also evident. He recognized, that the
students can learn through the failure.
Like Chuck, Daniel believed failure is not an end, but a step along the path to
success. His ideal classroom climate would be “a place where students are open and
willing to accept failures as an action, rather than a source of identity, and through that be
willing to grow and improve on their actions.” Although Daniel taught in a magnet
school, he had taught in a regular high school before. Truthfully, his track record of
success had been relatively similar regardless of his location. Students in his program
have been able to participate in all state events, have received excellent or superior
ratings at district MPA’s, and have been able to choose the next steps along their paths.
Elizabeth’s ideal classroom climate was “one in which everybody wants to be
there and wants to learn.” On a number of occasions Elizabeth stated that music was for
every child. Her door was open to any student. Elizabeth, like Daniel and Chuck, taught
at a magnet school, but allowed non-magnet students to take her classes, and accepted
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new magnet students regardless of their grade level. She taught for many years at a
regular public high school, and again, her success rate was fairly similar.
Ricky taught for many years in a regular public high school, and even at this new
location, he stated that he does not always choose a student based on prior knowledge or
talent, but their willingness to work. In another interview, he stated, “I don’t believe in
getting upset with students who are trying.” But if a student is trying, then it is his job to
help the student be successful.
All of these teachers had a strong personal work ethic. It was not their
pedagogical background that made them successful as teachers. It was this belief in
themselves, in their ability to work and improve, and growth mind-set which pushed
them to work with any student present before them. They believed that if the student
wants to work, the student will succeed. They believed earnestly that success can be
measured in many different ways, and you must look at where you began as a
measurement of how far you have come. They instinctively gave students praise for their
effort as opposed to their talent (Potterson, 2019).
Research Questions Answered Through the Data
The general goal of this study was to describe, examine, and understand choral
music educators’ perceptions and use of elements within choral music literacy.
Specifically, the study explored five choral music educators’ knowledge and use of sight-
reading, text analysis, and composition. This study was conducted to answer the
following questions:
1) What are the choral music educators’ perceptions and understandings of and
towards choral music literacy? (sight reading, text analysis of musical
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information, evaluation on how to best communicate information to the
audience, assessing outcomes, and musical independence)
2) How did these choral music educators design and implement their curriculum?
3) How did these choral music educators balance performance requirements and
the elements of choral music literacy, which are invaluable in the creation of
independent music making?
The following paragraphs are data-based responses to each of the questions based on all
the data that has been presented.
Choral Music Educators’ Understandings of Choral Music Literacy
Choral music literacy was operationalized as the ability to independently analyze
and realize or sing musical information on the page, evaluate and make choices about
how to communicate the information for audiences, and assess the outcome of those
choices. These choral music educators’ perceptions of and understandings of choral
music literacy were that music should be read and understood much as you would read a
book, while recognizing cultural and historical origins and honoring them stylistically, as
well as honoring composers’ intent and textural emphasis. The participants of this study
agreed that the music must be analyzed and realized or sung. This is the component that
the teachers spent the most of their time addressing, as evidenced in their discussions and
observations. The participants agreed that the ability to make choices about how to
communicate the information was also necessary. This component was not as evident in
the observations, and the ways they accomplish this goal was not as clear in their
discussions. The final component, assessing the outcome of those choices was not
discussed or observed at all. Andrea and Elizabeth both stated that on occasion, they
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would record the students in class and ask the students to evaluate themselves in a group
format. This, however, was not evident in the limited observations that took place.
Choral Music Educators’ Curriculum Design and Implementation
These choral music educators’ design and implementation of their curriculum had
similarities in that all the teachers used solfege as a tool for theory and sight reading.
There were differences in how that was observed in each class. Andrea had a three-step
system for sight reading new music: (a) read the rhythm on a neutral syllable or syllable
system, (b) speak the solfege in rhythm, and (c) sing the solfege in rhythm. Once the song
had been learned, the next point to be learned and worked on was tone. Regardless of her
system, she believed that part of her curriculum was to create better people who had a
continued thirst for learning. She evaluated her students with a weekly participation grade
for having all materials in class and participation, a weekly written or sung assignment,
usually submitted digitally, and finally performances.
Chuck’s curriculum contained a theory and sight-reading component. It usually
took place prior to warm-ups. He also had an additional component of vocal techniques,
harmonic, interpretive, and text analysis of a song. Additionally, he included the use of
the International Phonetic Alphabet and vocal health and basic anatomy. His evaluation
system was much more dependent on student’s abilities and skills when they entered as
compared to their individual successes over time.
Daniel’s curriculum discussion was much more generalized, but he described that
it was developed backwards, beginning with the skills he wanted his students to learn by
the end of the year. Due to the mixed group I observed, he explained that he would aim
for his higher leveled students but had a system in place whereby the younger students
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would be mentored. These mentors were supposed to help the younger students should
they be unsure of some material that was discussed in the classroom setting. Additionally,
his curriculum included auditory input in concordance with his “sight before sound”
ideology, as well as class discussions about text and composer’s intent. His assessments
were informal, based on the group’s knowledge of notes and rhythms. His formal
assessments included part checks—where students sing their individual part while others
sang their respective parts simultaneously—an activity that I witnessed during my second
observation.
Elizabeth’s curriculum was described by her as “solfege-based studies” which
included dictation, scales as part of the warm up, and the use of hand signs. These three
components were combined and utilized throughout all the of the music learning that
took place. Her assessments were weekly interval quizzes and dictation quizzes,
classwork assignments, and singing for homework which consisted of recordings
submitted digitally. Students in her program learn all the parts of a song and are later
assigned which part they will permanently sing. All of the elements discussed during
interviews were witnessed during observations and noted in her lesson plans.
Ricky’s curriculum was self-described as musicianship skills, vocal production,
emotion or understanding, performance practice, leadership, and self-discipline.
Musicianship skills were further explained to be solfege, sight-reading, and harmonic
context. Ricky explained that the degree of breaking things down is what differed
between classes, depending on the skill level of the group.
All of these teachers encouraged and used solfege as a means of teaching and
reinforcing sight-reading skills. During observations they consistently used these skills in
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the classroom to learn music. Chuck and Ricky included components of vocal technique
or production within their curriculum. Chuck, Daniel, and Ricky employed the use of
sectionals or mentors as a means of having student leadership and engagement
throughout the learning process. These elements were not only discussed but observed.
All the teachers acknowledged choosing the bulk of the repertoire in the classroom, if not
all of it. Additionally, while the teachers did ask the students for their input on the
interpretation, this was not a consistent occurrence. Personally, I did not witness this in
the observations. Schmidt (2005) argued against some of the common practices in music
education, such as teacher centered music selection and interpretation. Overall, these
teachers did not employ one system of teaching, and while there were components of
teacher centered style teaching; there were multiple examples of student centered or
flipped classroom teaching.
Choral Music Educators’ Balance of Performance Requirements and Elements of
Choral Music Literacy
Traditionally, choral music educators spend a great deal of time preparing for
performances. Freer (2001) stated “orientation toward performance might lead a teacher
to deemphasize music reading skills in favor of rote teaching for the sake of expediency
even when the comprehension of notation is clearly within the students’ potential grasp”
(p. 165). In other words, the focus on performance could create a scenario where teachers
spend more time on performing, and less time on understanding and interacting. Freer’s
(2001) perspective was not observed and did not come through during my interviews
with these teachers. Additionally, while performance was an important component for
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these educators, they were balanced by spending the time to reinforce sight reading skills
through the learning of the music.
For Andrea, “students learn from experiences, and a performance is a complete
experience. So, I don’t teach to perform, but I do teach to try to get the best experience
out of the performance.” Her students spent the bulk of their time in class learning to read
the musical notation they would perform and discuss the meanings of the text as a final
component in preparation for performances. For Chuck, performances included
opportunities for students to take ownership of their music, in smaller ensembles, as well
as opportunities to recognize a larger community of singers beyond those in their
classroom when combined with other classes. His goal was to ensure the musical
selections provided students with knowledge that is cultural, historical, and musical as
well as enjoyable. Daniel, like Andrea, believed that performances provided a
culmination of everything that had been taught, coming together. It provided an
opportunity to showcase for parents and the community what his students had been
working on, but also, the music that was performed presented vehicles through which
Daniel taught the skills he had deemed necessary for his students.
Performances for Elizabeth were a privilege. Students who did not have good
grades in all of their classes were not allowed to perform. The songs that were learned,
were a vehicle for learning harmony, and reinforcement for the solfege-based teaching
that she was doing daily. Her repertoire selection must have a meaning and must be
challenging. Ricky on the other hand, believed that each performance provides a different
goal. As he described it, the first performance in the fall “provides students with an
opportunity to feature their music and assess their tone development.” Performances for
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Ricky also provided opportunities for celebration, unity, extracurricular events, and
ultimately for meeting goals.
As evidenced in their interviews and observations, these teachers believe in
process over product. The performance was not the thing, it was a thing. The thing is all
the steps that lead up to the performance, which include sight reading, theory,
discussions, text analysis. Although not all the elements were observed, they were
discussed. The question was, how do these teachers balance the performance
requirements and elements of choral music literacy. The skills and goals these teachers
had, took precedence. They were both necessary, but ultimately, the performance was not
greater than the learning process.
Summary
The purpose of this study was to describe, examine, and understand choral music
educator’s perception and use of elements within choral music literacy. Through the
interview, observation process, and data analysis process, five themes emerged. These
themes were,
1. musicianship skills and development,
2. interpersonal connection,
3. teacher qualities and responsibilities
4. student involvement and
5. growth mindset.
As expected, the theme that was the most prevalent amidst the participants was
the musicianship skills and development theme. An unexpectedly important theme for all
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the participants was interpersonal connection. Growth mind-set was another unexpected
find amidst these teachers’ philosophical views.
The research yielded some answers to the sub questions. First, the choral music
educators chosen for this research agreed that choral music literacy should include the
ability to read and understand music symbols on the page, understand cultural, historical,
and stylistic expectations of that music, and the ability to honor composers’ intent and
textural emphasis. Most of the time in class was spent on the first element, the ability to
read and understand the symbols on the page.
Secondly, these choral music educators had similar designs and implementations
of their curriculum; they all included the use of solfege as a tool for theory and sight
reading. All of the teachers recognized that they made the majority of the choices when it
came to repertoire. Additionally, and perhaps most telling of this set of individuals, they
all believed that a part of their curriculum was to help create better people.
Finally, these choral music educators did not have an issue in balancing the
performance requirements with elements of choral music literacy. Throughout interviews
and observations, it was evident that the goal was helping create musically literate
individuals. The performance was a part of that, but it was not the ultimate goal. In the
next chapter, I discuss some limitations of the research, and recommendations for future
research.
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CHAPTER SIX
CODA: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
Aim and Research Questions of the Study
The purpose of this research was to give experienced choral music educators a
voice and thus describe, examine, and understand five choral music educators’ use of
elements within choral music literacy. The intended outcome was a deeper understanding
for what these choral music educators did, how they accomplished their goals, and their
thought processes as they accomplished the tasks of teaching choral music literacy. As
such, the research method used was a qualitative, multi-case study. Qualitative research is
defined as a “means to study research problems inquiring into the meanings individuals
or groups ascribe to a social or human problem” (Creswell, 2007, p. 37). Through this
method of study, I was able to give each individual participant a voice and context for
their respective answers and choices in their classrooms.
The main question was, “How do choral music educators balance requirements
that are historically, socially, and culturally understood as part of a choral classroom with
the elements of choral music literacy?” Within this question, three sub questions helped
to formulate an overall description. These questions were:
1. What are the choral music educators’ perceptions and understandings of and
toward choral music literacy?
2. How do these choral music educators design and implement their curriculum?
3. How do choral music educators balance performance requirements and
elements of choral music literacy, which are invaluable in the creation of
independent music making?
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Findings
Constructivist Curriculum Designs and Development
The choral directors involved in this research project were varied as to age,
personality, and experiences. Moreover, their respective race/ethnicities were Asian,
African American, white, and Hispanic. Similarly, their teaching styles were as unique as
their personalities. Despite this, they all had intended goals of teaching the students in
front of them, trying to create experiences for them, and making them independently
knowledgeable. The purposeful sample created a group of teachers with similar
successes, regardless of their differences; teaching students choral music literacy. As
previously noted, this researcher operationalized the term choral music literacy as the
ability to independently analyze and sing musical information on the page, evaluate and
make choices about how to communicate the information for audiences, and assess the
outcome of those choices.
Given these teachers’ responses to interview questions and observed teaching
methods, they agreed that music and more specifically choral music, must be analyzed
and realized or sung. This was the component that the teachers spent most of their
teaching time on, as evidenced in their discussions and observations. They agreed that the
ability to make choices about how to communicate the information was also necessary,
although this component was not as evident in the observations. Due to gaps in the
visitations, a limitation of the study, how they accomplished this goal was not as clear in
interview discussions nor was it ever observed. The final component, assessing the
outcome of those choices within a performance, was not discussed or observed at all.
Some teachers reported recording their students within the classroom rehearsal and
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having the students give feedback and assessments in the moment, but this was also not
observed. The time frame for observations offered me the opportunity to observe the
teachers beginning a piece and working through the piece. These teachers did not
typically move to the text until the musical notation of the pieces was learned. The time
period where the discussions and text development would have taken place, coincided
with a temporary hiatus in the research due to situations beyond anyone’s control.
Finally, assessing the outcome of choices was difficult to observe, as I imagine these are
conversations and discussions that could happen in preparation for, or after a
performance.
Each teacher approached this idea of choral music literacy from a different
perspective, whether it was because they were most comfortable with that approach or
because they believed it was the most important or the most fruitful tool to teach. The
design and implementation of their curriculum had similarities in that all the teachers
used solfege—a system of syllables as part of the scale—as a tool for theory and sight
reading. There were differences in how that was observed in each class.
While Elizabeth spent time on dictation and composition skills daily, Daniel gave
a preliminary sight-reading exercise at the beginning of class, in three to four-part
harmony. Meanwhile, Chuck and Andrea tended to break down the music learning
further, ensuring the use of both rhythmic and melodic sight-reading review at the
beginning of class. Andrea broke it down even more extensively, ensuring that the
elements that would be found in the musical rehearsal of the day, were included in the
sight-reading exercises at the beginning of class. All of the teachers had students sing in
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scales. Elizabeth ensured that her students could not only sing the major scale, but also,
all the forms of the minor, as well as the chromatic, and modes—different scalar patterns
used in a variety of different musical styles. While many of the teachers encouraged hand
signs, Elizabeth enforced it, and used it as an informal method of assessment, thus
making certain all students were participating. Chuck, Daniel, and Ricky included
components of vocal technique or production within their curriculum. They also
employed the use of sectionals or mentors as a means of having student leadership and
engagement throughout the learning process. These elements were not only discussed but
observed. Andrea also had officers, but their jobs were not as clearly defined in the
classroom observations. As previously noted, all the teachers chose the bulk of the
repertoire in the classroom, if not all of it. Although there were a variety of approaches,
one of the major commonalities was that learning music was a process.
As evidenced in their interviews and observations, for these teachers, the
performance is not the thing, it is a thing. The thing is the process, all the steps that lead
up to the performance; these include sight reading, theory, discussions, and text analysis.
For these teachers, music is a process rather than a product (Bower, 2004). Although not
all the elements were observed, all were discussed. The question was, how do these
teachers balance the performance requirements and elements of choral music literacy.
The skills and goals these teachers had for their students, took precedence over the
performance requirements. Performance and the skills were both necessary, but
ultimately, the performance was not greater than the learning process. In this way, all of
these teachers had a constructivist method of teaching, which emphasized process over
product and created a rehearsal environment where “students apply knowledge to real-life
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problems and solve those problems with analytical and evaluative thinking and action”
(Bower, 2004, p. 4).
Critical Literacy in the Choral Classroom
Schmidt’s (2005) argument against teacher centered music selection and
interpretation stated that students need to connect emotionally, intellectually, and
critically to the music they are learning and/or performing and recognize the purpose it
may have in his/her life, or the life of his/her audience. While all the teachers in the study
generally chose the music, their students were learning and performing, they reported
working to assist students so they may connect to the music emotionally and
intellectually. However, observations of discussions and lessons that included the
teachers working toward the goal of students connecting to the music were missed.
Nevertheless, everything else the participants had mentioned in the interviews was
observed. Therefore, I must give them the benefit of the doubt, at the very least it was an
intention. Verification would require further research. I believe, that missing component
is more related to the time period where I could not visit the classrooms. In one interview,
Elizabeth told a story about how students had learned a challenging piece, the title is,
“Prayer of the Children,” by Kurt Bester. The text of the first verse and chorus reads:
Can you hear the prayer of the children?
On bended knee, in the shadow of an unknown room
Empty eyes with no more tears to cry
Turning Heavenward, toward the light
Crying Jesus, help me
To see the morning light-of one more day
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But if I should die before I wake,
I pray my soul to take
Post February 14, 2018, her students gathered in her room and sang this piece for one
another, not for performance, but as a form of healing, after the tragedy of the Stoneman
Douglass High School shootings. This was a literal connection of the music they had
learned to an experience that these students and the teacher had through witnessing the
news.
While I agree with Schmidt (2005) that there are ingrained systems in our
educational culture, I also believe we do not need to throw out the “baby with the
bathwater.” Why must music be changed, and transformed? Why can’t it be redefined,
and understood to be used for a multitude of purposes, including those in the past, those
in the present, and those in the future? Limiting ourselves to the new is still a form of
limitation. We cannot grow if we do not know where we came from. There must be a
way to balance all the components of our past and history, with the future we are trying to
build in the classrooms. My observations and discussions with these teachers lead me to
believe that they walk that line carefully and thoughtfully.
In today’s complex realm of education, scripted curriculums and pacing guides
are established to help ensure that teachers are adequately preparing students for state and
national exams. There are scripted curriculums that exist for music teachers as well. At
the secondary level, in the area where the research took place, teachers were allowed to
develop their curriculum as they see fit. With this particular set of teachers, there were
overarching goals that were similar, but they were not dictated by any supervisor.
Scripted curriculum was defined by Benedict (2012) as teacher proof curriculum.
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According to Benedict (2012), an unconditional reliance on scripts train students and
teachers to produce particular kinds of learners, disinterested and uncreative. The
teachers interviewed, did not outright say they used differentiated instruction, and some
of them even struggled to define it. Despite this fact, they stated that they taught the
students in front of them and they adjusted the curriculum based on the needs they felt the
students had. They believed that students’ learning successes were based on individual
starting points. They stated that students who work hard, may need more support, but it
was their job to provide that support. As Chuck describes a student,
I know she's trying and she's giving it a go. She's not shying away and trying to
shut up, she's actually trying. Like, you can't get mad at your kids when they're
trying. You know, so I’m saying to myself okay, so I got to provide her the tools
in order for her to be successful.
These teachers were trusted to teach as they see fit, and their results are evident. Perhaps
teachers in other subject areas deserve that same kind of trust, to be treated as
professionals. Teachers feel so unempowered, the classroom is the one place where I
think they should feel like kings/queens of their dominions. But they should be like
Camelot, with the students being the knights of the round table.
Of note, there were two components of this research which I had not accounted
for in advance, nor had I thought about until I was firmly entrenched in the task. First,
these teachers do so much that is not discussed in the research literature or in preparatory
classes for teaching. These teachers participated and did all the things that are required
195
and expected such as: (a) teaching the musical concepts necessary to make sense, or have
understanding, of the music on the page, (b) teaching the students to connect these
musical elements to the words on the page, (c) teaching the students to find an emotional
connection to the words on the page, (d) having performances to make the subject matter
they teach real to their students. In addition to those things, they also had to fundraise, in
order to purchase the long list of things they want and need for their programs. Every
teacher took time out of teaching, during at least one observation to discuss fundraising
activities. They needed to promote themselves and their program by participating in
school events and activities to show that they are a worthy and integral part of the school
life. Additionally, they must wear all the other hats that all teachers must wear: nurse,
psychologist, parent, friend, and educator.
This is literally the impossible task. Higgins (2012) called music teaching the
impossible profession, “the music teacher finds him/herself trying to craft her story in
two genres at the same time, like someone trying to combine the mission statement and
the warning label” (p. 225). In watching these teachers, I was overwhelmed by the extra
hats that they had to wear. While I wear them myself, it is a component of teaching I
forget. It is like putting on pants in the morning. You do it without thinking about the
how. It was in watching these teachers do it as well, that I was reminded of these added
components.
The second component I had not accounted for was the idea of the music teacher
as an island. At the conclusion of every interview, I asked the teachers if they had any
questions for me, and if there was anything else they would like to share with me. Often
times, the teachers thanked me for making them think about these components of their
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daily life. The teachers wanted to have conversations with me after observations, often
times asking me for feedback on their teaching, or their student attention. When I looked
at the research, I discovered that teacher isolation is an issue in the literature. Sandberg
and Lipscomb (2005) stated that the “isolated conditions in which teachers practice
prohibits professional growth by making it difficult for teachers to exchange ideas and
places teachers in a position in which their primary mode of learning successful teaching
techniques is through trial and error” (p. 46). Andrea had made mention of a mentor who
helped her through her first years of teaching, so that it was not trial and error. Music
teachers specifically are often the only individual in their building who does that job.
Unlike English or math teachers who all have colleagues on campus, the music
department, if there is one, will include a variety of different specific ensembles. On my
campus, there is a band and orchestra teacher, a piano teacher, a guitar teacher, and a
choral teacher. As Sindberg and Lipscomb (2005) stated, “teachers work in a culture of
isolation, and opportunities to engage in meaningful professional dialogue are rare in the
schools” (p. 47). While we all know and teach music, there are nuances that are specific
to each area. Organizations like American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and
state and local organizations can help offer teachers professional developments particular
to their field but can also offer spaces for camaraderie and brainstorming. The concern is
how do we find and ensure we retain new teachers?
Teachers are the sole proprietors of their specific musical knowledge and skills.
They hope to share this with their students. But because these teachers were alone in their
worlds, they seemed to be eager to share glimpses of their classrooms, and their thoughts
on what they were doing. The participant teachers claimed that they enjoyed being able to
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reflect on their teaching and their ideas about teaching. But it felt as if they enjoyed
having someone who knew what they were doing in the room. When music teachers are
observed by administrators, these administrators often are just happy that the students
look engaged, and do not tend to understand the dynamics of the work or ask relevant
questions. As Sindberg (2011) stated, “some of the stressors they [music teachers]
encounter include a lack of understanding of what they do on the part of their colleagues,
lack of administrative support, and workload” (p. 18). The teachers in this study did not
seem to feel a huge lack of administrative support, except for Elizabeth. Much like Kratus
(2007) recommended, all the teachers wanted to learn from their strengths and
weaknesses and sought out feedback. Kratus’s (2007) article recommended learning from
strengths and weaknesses as a means to remain relevant and continue to share our
musical heritage as well as be a part of the current and future waves of music education;
“The nature of music education should reflect the cultural and social milieu in which it
exists” (p. 46). Our interviews never felt rushed, participants always seemed at ease and
comfortable explaining exactly what they did in their classroom. Furthermore, it was
exciting, and I was reassured when I was able to observe them doing exactly what they
had described in their interviews.
Recommendations for Future Research
More Observations and/or Longer Time Period
Previously I stated that the goal of choral music educators was to have the
students not only interact with the music and the text, but also to impart an aesthetic
experience to their listeners or audience members. The more the students or musicians
can recognize and understand of the work, the more emotionally invested they are, the
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more they interact with all of the parts, the greater the potential for an aesthetic
experience for themselves and the audience. Throughout the interviews, all the
participants stated and emphasized the importance of having the students connect with
the text of the music and/or understand what the text is saying. I observed most of the
preparations, the learning of notes and rhythms, teaching and building of vocal skills. I
had the opportunity to watch a mini performance in one school. However, I missed the
month where the discussions about the text, where the emphasis on connecting would
have been made. Looking back on the design of the study, I recommend more time
allotted for each participant observation and build in more flexibility to accommodate for
unprecedented life events. Additionally, perhaps the specific time period half way
between concert season and the beginning of the year may be a better focus.
Music Teacher as an Island
I also believe that the idea of the music teacher as an island needs to be explored.
As I looked into this phenomenon, I found some research. This is a question for another
study, because it is important to note that teachers in the present study enjoyed the
process of being listened to and observed. I kept wondering, why? I was thankful, but it
struck me. Was it validation, was it being seen, or was it perhaps just being given the
space to reflect on their practices with what they imagined was a sounding board? In the
process of thinking about what these teachers did, were they inadvertently “empowered
to explore what fully works and respond to the information that is gathered through the
process of teaching, self-reflections, and inquiry” (Goering & Burenheide, 2010, p. 45).
These are questions that should be explored in future studies. Furthermore, perhaps we
need to research ways to remedy this situation.
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Teacher Survey – Choral Music Literacy
Scholarly research indicated that critical literacy was not commonly practiced,
especially in traditional ensemble classes (Schmidt, 2005). Scholarly research also
showed that choral music rehearsals were focused on performance outcomes much more
so, and thus did not incorporate music literacy skills into the rehearsal (Demorest, 2001,
Freer, 2009, Ganschow, 2014, Garret, 2013). Although most teachers may in fact be
concerned with the performance outcome, how many of them use sight reading skills as a
means to learn the music? How many of them spend time discussing, analyzing, and
interacting with the text once the musical notation has been learned? How many of these
teachers are seeking to create better humans through their teaching?
The specific participant criteria yielded a unique result, these exemplary teachers
may or may not be the norm. However, if someone wanted to find if these results were
more generalizable, one recommendation would be a larger sample, with a survey of
what teachers are doing in their classrooms, using some of the interview questions used
in this study.
Student Interviews or Survey
During each of my observations, I purposefully changed the location of my seat to
get different perspectives on the classroom setting. One day I sat where I could watch the
students’ faces. As I watched I thought, “I wonder what the kids are thinking of while
they're going through all the warm-ups?” Of course, this question was not part of the
present research study, because it was about the teachers. But teachers are not teachers
without students. Therefore, another aspect of a future study should be interviewing and
asking the students to describe their performances, rehearsals, etc. A series of questions
200
could be designed to see how the students interact with their music and the text, and how
they interpret the process of learning music. Another study could also include integrating
the students’ as well as the teachers’ understandings of choral music literacy.
Limitations
There were several limitations for this study. First, the possible sample within the
area was limited. While the teachers had all chosen pseudonyms and their descriptions
had been purposefully vague, the choral community in the district is small, and I feared
they would be recognizable. Due to the small number of choral music educators within
the area where the research took place, not to mention the state, maintaining
confidentiality was a limitation. To assist with this, the choral music educators were
asked to choose their pseudonyms within the text. While a description of their school
demographics, and specific systems within the schools were included, the names and
locations of their schools were not shared. Additionally, as previously stated, specifics
about each participant’s racial/ethnic and cultural backgrounds were not shared.
Another limitation for this research was the time requirements and constraints.
Each teacher had a different schedule, the high school educators were all on block
scheduling, while the middle school educators were on 7 period schedules. Additionally,
time after school for interviews became a challenge given personal responsibilities that
both the researcher and the participants had.
The intended benefits for the participants were the possibility of a professional
development activity of their choosing. The participants however, felt that the ability to
think about what they do, the opportunity to ask for and receive feedback following their
observations, and their opportunities to discuss ideas not often discussed was beneficial
201
to them. Every participant thanked me for the ability to participate and the time to think
about their work. The documents were kept secure on an external hard drive, which was
locked in my home office.
A large portion of the research was based on interviews of these five music
educators. Brinkman and Kvale (2015) stated that qualitative research interviews attempt
“to understand the world from the subjects’ point of view” (p 3). As one can never
completely understand another person, extra effort was made to ensure that the subjects’
point of view was clear. As a means of remedying this, there was member checking,
whereby the subjects were asked to read over their responses and provide further
feedback as well as adjustments if necessary. Daniel did have some feedback on details
that had been missed. Chuck and Elizabeth commented that they believed they had never
thought of all they did and how successful they seemed when reading it. In other words,
the process of being interviewed and observed, and reading their results helped them
reach conscientization. Another way of ensuring that the subject’s point of view was
clear, were the multiple opportunities for clarification made available both in person and
via email. All the participants reported that the narratives were good representations of
themselves, and that their quotes were explained appropriately.
Conclusion
The teachers in this study did not speak of critical literacy or transactional theory
throughout interviews. These theories were also not obvious in their teaching. What was
evident was the groundwork for these theories being laid down. These teachers made it
apparent that they were trying to help their students to become better humans through the
important work of choral music education. The individual participants of this study were
202
a unique grouping. Despite obvious differences in methodology and curriculum design,
their similar philosophies of teaching created a similar path to learning choral music, and
considerably similar end goals. Throughout the interviews, they made statements and
created lessons that firmly established them as constructivist practitioners and alluded to
tenets of critical literacy practitioners. They did not, however, name these things as parts
of their philosophies of teaching when asked. Perhaps now they have these terms at their
disposal. Although these teachers do not currently have major issues with their
administrators, the tides can change quickly. If teachers can speak to the important work
they do, they can better advocate for themselves, and their students.
It is significant to me that these exemplary teachers could not name the theories
they appeared to be using as part of their teaching philosophies. In a world where the arts
are constantly under attack, arts teachers need to be able to defend and explain their own
validity to the administrators who have the final say. What these teachers are doing is
invaluable. Although the music portion of what they do may not be understandable to an
administrator, constructivism, critical literacy, transactional theory, should be, and could
be a means of validating the subject matter’s importance in the lives of the students.
Throughout this text, “choral music literacy” was used to mean the ability to
independently analyze and sing musical information on the page, evaluate and make
choices about how to communicate the information for audiences, and asses the outcome
of those choices. Based on the interviews, observations, and lesson plans provided by the
participants, this seems to be a goal they each have in their classrooms: teaching choral
music literacy. The participants never stated this and struggled with defining choral
music literacy; but it seemed evident that they were doing these things. I had anticipated
203
that defining choral music literacy may be difficult for the teachers, as it has been
operationalized by this researcher. However, even music literacy, which is a term in the
literature, was difficult to define by the participants. Again, this is something they were
teaching. If an administrator asked, could these teachers speak in a way to defend and
truly help others understand what they did? In having the words, the teacher voice in
practice becomes more powerful.
The defining factor of good teachers is their ability to connect to their students, to
their material, and to their community. In the classroom interactions I observed with
these teachers included a variety of different methods to connect to their students, to
accept their students, and to connect their students to the material at hand, choral music
literacy. These teachers tried to ensure the students connected to their school community
and a larger community. These teachers were using choral music, to teach their students
how to communicate and to be better citizens. They were appealing to their students on
an aesthetic and efferent level, and they were empowering their students to continue to
make music beyond themselves.
The goal of this study was to give the teachers a voice, to understand what these
teachers are doing in their classrooms. The voices of these exemplary teachers is
important as it is underrepresented in the scholarly literature. At the time of writing this, a
new school year begun. I am in my classroom as usual, but I have adopted many of the
teaching techniques I observed. Like Andrea and Chuck, my students are now expected
to leave their bookbags in designated spaces. My students are using hand signs daily. My
classes always began with vocal warm-ups and sight reading, but Elizabeth’s melodic
dictation component has been added to the routine. Like Daniel, student leaders are
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beginning my advanced classes while I take attendance. Although I have borrowed and
implemented many of these techniques, I know that I have altered them slightly, so that
they work for me and my population. This research can help other choral teachers to see
some examples of best practices. But ultimately, it gives these teachers a voice, and it is
important because, these are the people who do the hard work of educating students daily.
205
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APPENDIX
Interview Protocol #1: Introductions/ Pre- Observation
1) What’s your name? (Please come up with a pseudonym)
2) What can you tell me upfront about your program?
a. Demographics (School’s/Classroom)
b. Administration
c. Schedule/courses taught
3) Describe your background in terms of musical experiences, main (primary)
instrument, and any other details that you think play a role in your work as a choral
music educator.
a. How long have you been teaching?
b. How long at this particular location?
4) Describe how you became a music teacher and what led you to this job you currently
hold.
5) Describe your “job” in all of its detail. What are your primary and secondary
responsibilities?
6) Is there a teacher or mentor who has made an impression on you? What kind of
impression was it? How did it influence or affect you?
7) Describe a “first day” in your class. What are the procedures you establish and why?
8) What is your “curriculum” in your classroom?
9) Has this curriculum changed over time?
10) How do you think about this curriculum?
215
11) What guides your teaching (i.e. a philosophy of teaching)? How did you arrive at
this?
12) How does learning occur?
13) How do you facilitate the learning process?
14) How do you evaluate your students?
15) As we look towards the upcoming observations, is there anything in particular you
want me to look for in your observations?
16) Can I have copies of any of your past or upcoming lesson plans?
17) Is there anything else you would like to add to anything we’ve discussed today? If so,
what would you like to add?
18) Is there anything else you would like to share with me that I haven’t asked you about?
If so, what would you like to share?
19) Should I have any further questions about this conversation, can I email you follow
up questions?
216
Interview Protocol #2: Post 2 Observations
1) Have you been able to look over our previous interview transcripts? Is there anything
you would like to clarify or add?
2) How many performances do you schedule for your class in a year? What role does
performance play in your curriculum?
3) How do (describe an observed moment in the classroom) align with your curriculum
goals?
4) Going back to your curriculum, how do you begin to teach a new song to the group
previously observed?
5) Is there a variation depending on the groups, and if so describe it.
6) How would you describe the repertoire most often chosen for your classroom? How
are these pieces or works chosen?
7) How often do you allow your students to participate in the selection of repertoire?
a. What does that look like?
b. If so, how is it similar/different from choices you would have made?
8) What does the term music literacy mean to you?
a. Is this an important component of your curriculum?
b. How do you teach this?
9) What does the term choral music literacy mean to you?
a. Is this an important component of your curriculum? How?
10) How do you get your students to connect with the music you are working on?
a. Do you believe this to be an important element in teaching?
b. Why or why not?
217
11) How do you involve your students in the music making process?
a. Describe what it means to make music?
12) What stories or messages if any, are you teaching through the repertoire chosen?
13) What do you think about the following statement- “The quality of the performance is
a direct result of what has transpired in the rehearsal.”
14) When your students leave your program, what do you think they would have gained
in their time with you?
15) As we look towards the upcoming observations, is there anything else you would like
me to look for in your observations?
16) Is there anything else you would like to add to anything we’ve discussed today? If so,
what would you like to add?
17) Is there anything else you would like to share with me that I haven’t asked you about?
If so, what would you like to share?
218
Interview Protocol #3: Post Observations/ Closing Statements
1) Have you been able to look over our previous interview transcripts? Is there anything
you would like to clarify or add?
2) What is your ideal classroom climate? (These are the elements that I have observed)
Why/ how do you establish this classroom culture/climate?
3) Think back to your experiences as a student, student teacher, and time as a teacher.
How have these experiences affected or shaped the choices you make in your classes
daily?
4) Who do you think you are as a teacher?
5) What qualities do you think you bring to your choral students?
6) How often do you allow your students to be a part of the decision-making process in
the interpretation of the music you work on?
7) What is your biggest strength and how does it translate into your teaching?
8) What is your biggest weakness; does it affect your teaching? How do you work to
overcome it?
9) Looking back on the observations and or lesson plans, is there anything you think I
may have missed?
10) Is there anything else you would like to add to anything we’ve discussed today or in
the past? If so, what would you like to add?
11) Is there anything else you would like to share with me that I haven’t asked you about?
If so, what would you like to share?
12) Are there any questions or comments you would like to share or ask me about this
process?
219
13) Moving forward, is there anything I can do to help you?
220
Table for Alignment of Data Sources
Research Question
Instrument
Data Source
What are the choral
music educators’
perceptions of and
understandings of
choral music literacy?
Interview Protocol 1
Questions
1. Describe your “job” in all of
its detail. What are your
primary and secondary
responsibilities?
2. Is there a teacher or mentor
who has made an impression
on you? What kind of
impression was it? How did
it influence or affect you?
Interview Protocol 2
1. What does the term music
literacy mean to you?
a. Is this an important
component of your
curriculum?
b. How do you teach
this?
2. What does the term choral
music literacy mean to you?
a. Is this an important
component of your
curriculum? How?
3. How do you get your
students to connect with the
music you are working on?
a. Do you believe this
to be an important
element in teaching?
b. Why or why not?
4. How do you involve your
students in the music making
process?
a. Describe what it
means to make
music?
Interview Protocol 3
1. Who do you think you are as
a teacher?
2. What qualities do you think
you bring to your choral
students?
221
How do these choral
music educators design
and implement their
curriculum?
Observation 1- 4
See Observation Protocol
Document Analysis:
Lesson Plans
See Document Analysis Protocol
Interview Protocol 1
Questions
1. What is your “curriculum” in
your classroom?
2. Has this curriculum changed
over time?
3. How do you think about this
curriculum?
4. What guides your teaching?
(i.e. a philosophy of
teaching) How did you
arrive at this?
5. How does learning occur?
6. How do you facilitate the
learning process?
7. How do you evaluate your
students?
Interview Protocol 2
1. Going back to your
curriculum, how do you
begin to teach a new song to
the group previously
observed?
2. Is there a variation
depending on the groups,
and if so describe it
3. How do you get your
students to connect with the
music you are working on?
a. Do you believe this
to be an important
element in teaching?
222
b. Why or why not?
4. How do you involve your
students in the music making
process?
a. Describe what it
means to make
music?
5. What stories or messages if
any, are you teaching
through the repertoire
chosen?
Interview Protocol 3
1. What is your ideal classroom
climate? (These are the
elements that I have
observed) Why/ how do you
establish this classroom
culture/climate?
2. Think back to your
experiences as a student,
student teacher, and time as
a teacher. How have these
experiences affected or
shaped the choices you make
in your classes daily?
3. How often do you allow
your students to be a part of
the decision making process
in the interpretation of the
music you work on?
How do choral music
educators balance
performance
requirements and the
elements of choral
music literacy, which
are invaluable in the
creation of independent
music making?
Interview Protocol 1
Questions
1. Describe your background in
terms of musical
experiences, main (primary)
instrument, and any other
details that you think play a
role in your work as a choral
music educator.
a. How long have you
been teaching?
b. How long at this
particular location?
2. Describe your “job” in all of
its detail. What are your
223
primary and secondary
responsibilities?
Interview Protocol 2
1. How many performances do
you schedule for your class
in a year? What role does
performance play in your
curriculum?
2. How would you describe the
repertoire most often chosen
for your classroom? How are
these pieces or works
chosen?
3. How often do you allow
your students to participate
in the selection of repertoire?
a. What does that look
like?
b. If so, how is it
similar/different from
choices you would
have made?
4. What do you think about the
following statement- “The
quality of the performance is
a direct result of what has
transpired in the rehearsal.”
Interview Protocol 3
1. What is your biggest
strength and how does it
translate into your teaching?
2. What is your biggest
weakness; does it affect your
teaching? How do you work
to overcome it?
224
Table 2
Participant Data
Teacher
(Pseudonym)
Total
yrs.
teaching/
Yrs. at
current
school
School
enrollment
Classes taught
School racial/ethnic
demographics
Free/reduced
priced lunch
eligibility
Andrea
Martinez
8/3
2985
Beginning keyboard (unauditioned), beginning
choir (unauditioned), women’s choir
(auditioned middle group), advanced choir
(auditioned), beginning guitar (unauditioned),
advanced guitar
94% Hispanic
4% Black non-Hispanic
2% White non-Hispanic
83%
Chuck
Harris
10/4
2100
Elective choir, Magnet Women’s, Magnet
Mixed, Select Vocal Ensemble
58% Hispanic
19% Black non-Hispanic
18% White non-Hispanic
5% Other
41.6%
Daniel
Braunstein
13/5
880
Music theory, vocal techniques, vocal
ensemble, treble choir, mixed choir
(all groups are auditioned)
76% Hispanic
14% White non-Hispanic
9% Black non-Hispanic
1% Asian
58%
Elizabeth
Owen
38/15
1320
6
th
grade general choir (all students are
auditioned), 7
th
and 8
th
grade general choir
41.8% Hispanic
32.4% White non- Hispanic
22.7% Black non-Hispanic
2.9% Asian/Pacific Islander
0.2% American Indian
Data
unavailable
Ricky Miller
18/4
3400
Intermediate Women’s (9
th
-12
th
grade),
Intermediate Men’s (9
th
-12
th
), Select Mixed
Choir, Select Women’s Choir, Music theory
honors, elective choir (unauditioned)
68% Hispanic
17% White non-Hispanic
9% Black non-Hispanic
6% Other
51%
Source: Public School Data and US News and World Report, “2019 Best High schools
225
Musical Terms
1) Actualization- or realizing a sound, when a sound is made versus audiation.
2) Audiation- the ability to hear the pitches inside the mind, using the inner ear.
3) Blend- relationship of one voice to those around it
4) Choir- group of voices singing as one
5) Choral Music Literacy- the ability to independently analyze and realize musical
information on the page, evaluate and make choices about how to communicate
the information for audiences, and asses the outcome of those choices
6) Composition- an original work or piece of music, written in musical notation
7) Comprehensive music
8) Divisi- one voice part such as alto or soprano, that is further divided within the
piece into two groups
9) Duration- length of time a pitch or tone is sounded.
10) Dynamics- degrees of loud and soft
11) Hand Signs-
12) Harmony- generally made up of consonant and dissonant intervals and chords
which have specific functions within the music.
13) Intervals- the distance between any two notes, whether the notes are being
sounded simultaneously or in sequence.
14) Literacy- ability and volition to read and understand symbols, sounds, and
gestures within a community and interact with them.
15) Melodic Dictation- involves the ability to hear a piece of music and quickly play
it back or write down the notes of the melody.
226
16) MPA- Music Performance Assessment- an annual event held within the area;
teachers bring their students to perform two pieces. A panel of three judges listen
to the choirs with a rubric and score the choir as well as give feedback on ways in
which they could improve.
17) Musical Notation- the symbols on the page which denote units of time/measure,
speed, volume, and pitch
18) Musicianship skills- skills understood as necessary for creating and performing
music, these include but are not limited to sight-reading, theory, harmony,
audiation, and performance.
19) Part checks- small group vocal testing where students sing their individual parts
while others sing their respective parts simultaneously
20) Pitch- how high or low a note is be played
21) Repertoire- body of choral and solo music that is regularly performed
22) Rhythm-a strong, regular repeated pattern of sound represented by symbols
demonstrating duration (length of time).
23) Sectionals- students working in smaller groups based on voice parts such as
Soprano or Alto.
24) Sight-Reading- the ability to read music and perform it upon first sight
25) Solfege- system of syllables used to represent the notes of a scale, often used to
teach sight-reading
26) Theory- rudiments of music including rhythmic and melodic notation and time
and key signatures.
227
27) Tone- refers to the timbre or color created by the individual and ensemble when
singing, and there are tones that are considered appropriate for different genres of
singing.
28) Vocal Pedagogy- study and science of vocal instruction as applied to singing
technique.
29) Vocal Techniques- the different techniques that can ensure proper and healthy
vocal production.
228
HAND SIGNS
229
VITA
ALICIA ROMERO-SARDIÑAS
Born, Miami, Florida
B.S., Music Education
Florida International University
Miami, Florida
2002 Choral Music Teacher
Homestead, Florida
2003-2006 M.M. Music Education
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida
2006 Choral Music Teacher
Doral, Florida
2009 Teacher of the Year
Ronald W. Reagan/Doral Sr. High
Doral, Florida
2010 Curriculum Leader Visual/Fine Arts
Ronald W. Reagan/Doral Sr. High
2017 Doctoral Candidate
Florida International University
Miami, Florida
PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS
Firestone, E., Marchese, A., Romero-Sardiñas, A. First (2018). Alternative Performance
Opportunities: How to Get Started. Presentation at the Annual Conference of the Florida
Music Educator’s Association.
Romero-Sardiñas, A. (2020). Five Choral Director’s Experience and Use and
Understandings of Choral Music Literacy in the Classroom. Poster Session at the Annual
Conference of the Florida Music Educator’s Association.
Romero-Sardiñas, A. (2017). Building a Choral Program at a Non-Magnet School. Panel
discussion leader at the Florida International University Arts Day.
230
Romero-Sardiñas, A. (2015). Passing Notes: Choral-tivity, Literacy, and Meaning
Creation in Word, Song, and Performance. Presentation at the Annual Conference of the
Florida Music Educator’s Association.
Cowo, A., Romero-Sardiñas, A. (2013) What are they Really Selling? Developing
Students’ Critical Literacy Skills Using Pop Culture. Presentation at the National Council
for Teachers of English National Conference.
