Abstract
The terms culturally responsive teaching and culturally responsive pedagogy have become more common in the vernacular of public-school teaching. However, practical applications of cultural responsivity are not often clearly presented due to the nature of being responsive. Responsivity requires knowledge of students and community (context) specific to each teaching context. Content and materials should then be derived from the development of the contextual understanding. This is why presenting a tool box of culturally responsive practices is not possible when seeking to become more culturally responsive in the classroom. This article seeks to situate cultural responsivity as a mind-set as opposed to an approach or method within the elementary general music classroom. Practical steps that can be taken toward the development of this mind-set are then presented with a focus on context and content.
Keywords
Culturally responsive teaching begins with teachers acknowledging the importance of understanding the culture of students and community and then developing the knowledge and skills required to navigate cultural differences within the specific context where they teach (Gay, 2018). Being responsive enables teachers to create opportunities for students to achieve academically while they work to develop an understanding of the cultural differences that make up the broader community. The primary objective of culturally responsive pedagogy according to Gay (2018) is to improve the achievement of students of color and those who have been marginalized due to culture. Gay emphasized two primary truths when it comes to being culturally responsive: (a) culture counts and (b) competence or incompetence is never universal. In other words, broad-based stereotypes about groups of people, with regard to achievement, race, ethnicity, gender, economic status, or ability status, contribute to misinformation about the value of diversity. Because the roots of culturally responsive practice are situated within the context of positively affecting the achievement of minority students, it is understandable that people believe that culturally responsive teaching is only for minority students. However, the importance of understanding and applying this concept to all classrooms cannot be overstated.
Lind and McKoy (2016) described culturally responsive teaching as “a mindset that requires careful thought in regards to content, context, and instruction” (p. 97). It is not a method or approach. It is through the development of a culturally responsive mind-set, which embraces responsive practice, that all students can come to understand and acknowledge the importance of diversity to society and achieve academically or, in our case, musically.
For this article, I am going to focus on two ways for elementary general music teachers to think about culturally responsive teaching: (a) context, the classroom environment, and (b) content, the materials. Context and content are not the only two ways to consider this topic, but they will serve as the basis for the discussion of how we might apply the research in culturally responsive pedagogy to the elementary general music classroom.
Context
Context refers to the aspects of teaching that are related to space and place. I believe that there are two primary ways that we can explore the issue of context in the elementary general music classroom. Both are related to the development of cultural competence, which is an important aspect of culturally responsive teaching. Teachers who have developed cultural competence know who their students are, understand their goals and aspirations, and seek to incorporate the strengths that each student possesses into the classroom (Lind & McKoy, 2016). Elementary general music teachers can see anywhere from 200 to 900 students a week, depending on the size of their school, making the possibility of developing cultural competence seem impossible. Below are some strategies to consider when working to develop cultural competence.
Greeting and Learning
As students enter the classroom, say hello to each student. Make eye contact and work to memorize each student’s name. Recognizing that it is often necessary to reset the classroom for the lesson when you teach back-to-back classes can make this seem impossible. Yet taking the time to do this shows the students that you are happy to see them and that you genuinely want to teach them. It is also important to learn how to pronounce all of your students’ names. As a child grows, his or her name connects the child with family and culture (Kohli & Solórzano, 2012). When a teacher mispronounces or arbitrarily changes a child’s name, the child begins to develop a disjuncture between school and home. According to Kohli and Solórzano (2012), this can have a negative impact on the identity development of the child. “Teachers carry a great deal of responsibility in shaping the minds of their students, and it is fundamental that they treat that power with care” (Kohli & Solórzano, 2012, p. 459).
Knowing Your Biases
After years, or even months, of teaching, we all develop certain habits. For example, we may find that we teach to one side of the room more than the other, or that we tend to call on boys more than girls. These habits are typically not meant to marginalize our students, but they can be perceived to be that way. Lind and McKoy (2016) suggested video recording your lessons from multiple perspectives in the classroom to determine if you favor one side, group, or particular people in your classroom. Recognizing your instructional habits can help break down any unintended favoritism.
Listening to Your Students
Day in and day out, we admittedly listen to our students. But do we genuinely hear them? The casual conversations that our students have as they enter the classroom often contain valuable information about their likes, dislikes, and lives outside of school. Ayers (2001) emphasized the importance of teachers and students “being partners to the enterprise” (p. 122) of learning. Sharing information about yourself and inviting your students to also do so can be a very valuable way to build your cultural competence. Yet doing this within the time constraints and with hundreds of students each week can seem impossible. One strategy that I have encouraged my students to use in their practicum experiences is to create a sharing space in the class schedule. Start by explaining to your students that for the last 2 minutes of class three students will be invited to share something about themselves. This can be combined with a closing activity where learning objectives are reviewed. To save time, create a schedule so that students know when it is their turn to share and always start with yourself sharing something. The benefits will far outweigh the initial chaos when you first begin this process.
Representation
The issue of representation is twofold for the purposes of this article. The first question is how do students see themselves and others within the classroom? This is purely from a visual perspective. Do the images in your classroom not only look like the students that you teach but also look like the immediate community as well as the broad community of people who make up our country? Images are “powerful conveyors of meaning” (Gay, 2018, p. 51) that help students see the importance of their own place in the classroom as well as the value of people who do not look like they do. The second question about representation is when do students hear and perform music that is representative of their background? It is important for students to recognize themselves in the music they interact with at school. Additionally, students should interact with music that is composed or performed by people who represent backgrounds that are different from theirs.
The frequency and timing of our repertoire decisions can have a profound impact on how students view diversity. When we set aside a month to focus on one style or genre, we are implicitly telling our students that that music is only worthy of school-based interaction during tightly scheduled periods of time. This practice, which is replicated throughout all of education and society, creates what Banks (1989) referred to as the Contributions Approach, level one of four in his Levels of Integration of Multicultural Content. It is important to be purposeful with our repertoire selections throughout the year and not just when the calendar dictates that it is time.
All of these strategies can help create a more responsive environment in our classrooms. Working toward developing music spaces where students feel welcomed, seen, heard, and respected will go a long way toward developing a culturally responsive mind-set for all.
Content
Research has shown that student academic success is influenced by the choices that teachers make. When students feel that their lives are reflected in the classroom, they are more likely to make connections and achieve (Gay, 2018). We also have come to understand that knowledge is socially constructed. For example, when we teach history, we are oftentimes presenting it from one viewpoint—that of the dominant culture. When this occurs, the experiences of the nondominant culture are often forgotten or marginalized. This social construction of what occurred historically shapes how we view the society that emerged as a consequence to the historical event. This is directly applicable to the music classroom. Every decision that is made on repertoire carries with it the reality that the teacher’s beliefs and values are being represented.
Representation Matters (Again)
Materials and repertoire provide an essential starting point for this discussion. The songs we sing, pieces we perform, games we play, and music we listen to define our classrooms and our practice. We may purposefully choose repertoire based on a music concept that we wish to teach. Consciously seeking out songs that isolate a particular rhythm or melodic phrase leads us to many opportunities to effectively teach music literacy in an elementary school. Thematic concerts, special occasions, and the time of the year also provide frameworks for repertoire decisions. Yet there is a deeper reality that repertoire choices articulate. We may not be aware of the implicit bias that emerges from the choices made in the music classroom. An elementary music teacher who primarily uses songs that are from the American folk canon may believe that he or she is choosing music that is representative of the students’ music mother tongue, and therefore, it provides a strong foundation for the development of music literacy, a common belief within Kodály-inspired classrooms. Yet these choices can also create a feeling that this music is the only music worthy of study in that context and therefore marginalizes other music. This example is extreme, but it can be applied to all of the repertoire choices teachers make in their classrooms.
Strategies for representation with regard to repertoire begin with the understanding that the students in the seats should be where you start when choosing music. It is important not to assume that your students only listen to the most recent popular music, or that your English Language Learner students only listen to what you may perceive as being their folk music. Lind and McKoy (2016) noted that just adding popular music, hip-hop, or a mariachi ensemble assumes that all students of certain ethnic and or racial groups like that kind of music. The objective should be a more fluid passage between home and school music so that students begin to recognize how music is an important part of many aspects in their lives. Ways to become more informed about the music lives that students lead outside of the classroom include the following: (a) survey parents at open house, (b) ask parents to share music that they enjoy at home or that is meaningful to the family, (c) provide opportunities for parents to either share in person with the teacher or to share with the class, (d) survey the students about what they listen to or how they make music at home, and/or (e) take the time to attend a community or local church event.
Music for Listening, Moving, and Appreciation
It is very important to break the assumption that only dead White men write music that we categorize as classical or art music. We still continue to rely on the pieces that we are most familiar with and are very responsive to the way that we were enculturated into the academic music culture that we participated in as college students. Yet we have the opportunity to begin to broaden those circles when we purposefully show students that African American, Latinx, Hispanic, and Asian musicians contribute to the development of a classical music culture. This is also true for women and members of the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) community. Taking the time to purposefully show a composer and speak to the composer’s history is essential.
Contextualizing Repertoire
In the music classroom, we have the opportunity to create spaces where students can not only become more musical but also become critical music thinkers. Presenting repertoire and then discussing why the music was chosen, situating the music within the greater societal context, opens doors to growth and achievement that is musical, socially just, and culturally responsive. For example, when choosing a song to teach in the elementary classroom, a teacher can simply take a moment to explain why the song was chosen and then further that to include information about the use of the song outside of the classroom. There are many songs that may include lyrics that may be viewed as inappropriate for the elementary classroom, for example, Drunken Sailor. A recent discussion in the Kodály Music Teachers Facebook group presented the issue of teaching a song that to some seemed to promote drunkenness. However, the responses revealed that historically there were issues of clean drinking water on ships so sailors would ration alcohol. They also shared how when someone was irresponsible with their rations, other sailors would have to do their work for them. This led one teacher to have her students write new verses about consequences for poor behavior (https://www.facebook.com/groups/148185548632076/). All music lives and breathes; treat it as such; don’t make it a museum piece. Every piece of music that a student interacts with presents the possibility for the development of music and personal identity, as well as broadened cultural and historical perspective.
Recognizing Your Music Bias
It is important that music teachers recognize their own implicit bias when it comes to certain types of music. Just because we are the experts due to our degrees and experience does not mean that we are the arbiters of quality when it comes to music. My beliefs and values may or may not align with my students’ music tastes. But my degrees do not allow me to disparage my students’ opinions through implicit or explicit actions within the classroom. Quality is often the mask that we hide behind when making music decisions. If something has been determined to be a quality piece of music, it is OK to include it within the classroom canon. Who ultimately decides what is quality? This is a question that goes well beyond the scope of this article, but it is an important one to address in a limited fashion. Our views on quality repertoire are largely tied to experiences in the very selective and narrow context of a department, school, or college of music where admission is largely based on a high level of proficiency rooted in art music. This dynamic often creates a sense of personal authority that manifests itself within the classroom in the form of implicit and explicit bias, especially with regard to music preference. An example of explicitly disparaging students’ music preferences, which are markers of individual identity, is when a teacher responds to a request to perform or listen to a particular song, style, or piece of music by saying no based on a lack of quality.
Conclusion
The literature on culturally responsive pedagogy in the music classroom continues to demonstrate the importance of instruction that focuses on the development of cultural awareness for all students. Being culturally responsive challenges all music teachers to carefully consider the classroom environment, materials, and products that become the tools of music instruction. The classroom needs to become a space that is “dependent on the two-way interaction between teacher and student, culture and knowledge” (Kelly-McHale, 2011, p. 75).
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.