The purpose of this study was to determine the instructional methods of Oklahoma's elementary school music educators with respect to the inclusion of an authentic repertoire of American Indian music in the curriculum. The research was conducted through two methods. First, an analysis and review of adopted textbook series and pertinent supplemental resources on American Indian music was made. Second, a survey of K-6 grade elementary music specialists in Oklahoma during the 1997-1998 school year was conducted.

This study is a biography of the life experiences of Nathaniel Clark Smith (1877-1934), an African-American musician, music educator and composer who lived during the early part of America's music education's history. Smith became one of the first international bandmasters to organize bands, orchestras, and glee clubs in schools and industries in the United States. Smith was raised and attended school on a military post. He later received a B.S.M.A. from the Chicago Musical College and a Masters in Composition from the Sherwood School of Music. He taught music at five educational institutions: Tuskegee Institute, Western University, Lincoln, Wendell Phillips and Sumner High Schools. Some of his students became prominent musicians. They were Lionel Hampton, Nat "King" Cole, Milton Hinton, Bennie Moten and Charlie Parker. Smith also worked with industries. He conducted the newsboys band for the Chicago Defender Newspaper and he became the music supervisor for the porters of the Pullman Railroad Company. Smith was stated to have introduced the saxophone to African-Americans and he was considered as one of the first composers to notate spirituals. Smith published over fifty works in America. One of his compositions received a copyright from England. His Negro Folk Suite, published by the …

The purpose of this study was to investigate the interpersonal influences which Bohumil Makovsky, Director of Bands and Chairman of the Music Department at Oklahoma A&M College from 1915 to 1943, had on his students and peers, as confirmed through the perceptions of selected individuals, and to determine what personal characteristics and means he drew upon to induce changes in his students and peers.

In music education, aesthetic education and praxial music education serve as two major, guiding philosophical frameworks, yet supporters of each often conflict with one another. Furthermore, both are slightly problematic with respect to the specific context of the public school. Each framework is primarily music-based, however, music education has existed in the wider context of general education since the 1830s. Given the recent core-status designation for music education, as part of all fine arts, in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, a framework from general education that supported music education could offer benefits for the domain. However, the wider context of general education is messy as well. Two groups occupy most of the space there, and remain locked in a fundamental disagreement over the purpose of a formal education. The progressive educators, historically framed by Dewey and Thorndike, contend that education functions as societal improvement. In contrast, the essentialists contend that education functions as cultural transmission. Therefore, a more specific need for music education involves selecting a framework from general education that resolves this conflict. The writings of William Chandler Bagley indicate that he balanced both considerations of a formal education while also advancing his notion of …

Latinx students are underrepresented among high school music students in the United States, nationally. However, localized demographics in some parts of the country reveal secondary music programs that are comprised nearly entirely of Latinx students. Still, the experiences of such a large and racially marginalized population as Latinx students remain under-researched in the field of music education. To explore how Latinx racial identity may inform the experiences of Latinx music students and their music teachers, I conducted a post-qualitative study of students and teachers in music classes at large secondary schools in which the Latinx population is 95 percent or more. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with music students and their teachers. To guide my thinking on the role of race in the lives of the participants, I incorporated Omi and Winant's (2015) theory of racial formation throughout the data analysis. Overall findings indicated that race informs much of the experiences of the participants in varying, sometimes subtle ways. Through racism, racial resistance, the formation of racial identity, and the incorporation of both colorblind ideology and race consciousness, the participants provided nuance as to how we may regard the role and significance of race in music education. Implications …

Current practices in music education parallel the expansion of globalization and cross-cultural contact. However, the multicultural music education movement—referred to by some as "world music education"—has been primarily about the diversity of musical experiences and less about the circumstances and processes of the music itself. As a result, Western music educators often neglect inseparable learning pathways and unintentionally distort the meaning and value of diverse musics from around the world. While there is considerable research examining the teaching and learning of diverse music cultures, significant portions of that literature only represent the observed accounts of cultural outsiders. In this study, I examined the lived experiences of world music culture bearers who teach in Western university institutions in the Southwest region of the United States. I used narrative inquiry to learn more about their pedagogical experiences and documented their storied accounts of interactions with university students. I based the theoretical framework in this study on Clandinin and Connelly's narrative inquiry three-dimensional space model and Schippers' twelve continuum transmission framework. My primary findings revealed that teaching in a cross-cultural setting involves several musical and contextual choices. Moreover, the perceived authenticity of the research participants' transmission processes was often a byproduct of their …

School orchestra programs are overwhelmingly concentrated in suburban districts, which are becoming increasingly racially and economically diverse. Diversifying suburbs lie at the crossroads of race, racism, and whiteness and findings drawn from these settings can have implications for racial dynamics in all educational contexts. The purpose of this instrumental case study was to explore how racially underrepresented students perceive race within an urban characteristic high school orchestra program through the lens of critical race theory. I developed a composite counter-story to examine the racialized experience of school orchestra told from the perspective of students of color with a particular interest on competition. Participants were six students and two teachers affiliated with the same high school orchestra program in Texas. Emergent thematic findings examined students' sense of racial belonging, mechanisms upholding the racial status quo, and fulfilling aspects of students' orchestra participation. Though the lens of critical race theory, I discuss how everyday whiteness, property of whiteness, and meritocracy function to maintain white hegemony in school orchestra.

The purpose of this study was to examine the presence of Schön's concept of reflective conversation as a defining component in the applied studio music lesson. The research problems were (1) to determine the presence of complete and incomplete reflective conversations; (2) to determine the verbally exhibited knowledge base within complete conversations in relationship to conversation length; and (3) to establish an instructional profile of stable behaviors based on reflective conversation as a distinguishing characteristic among selected teachers. Videotapes of twenty-six applied studio music lessons of thirteen university teachers were analyzed according to problem solving, on-the-spot experimentation, and evaluation. An observation form was developed and was a reliable tool to collect information concerning number and type of reflective conversations, conversation length, and the teachers' verbally demonstrated knowledge base. Knowledge base was obtained by using the procedural model of Flanagan's critical incident technique. Reflective conversations existed and were a distinguishing characteristic of the teachers. With the exception of two teachers, a stable use of both number and length of reflective conversations, and knowledge base areas, was found. A discernible difference in the teachers' knowledge base within conversation length existed, and thus established instructional profiles for the teachers. Complete reflective conversations ranged …

The purpose of this study was to measure music performance program enrollments and course availability for educationally disadvantaged and non-educationally disadvantaged groups (grades 9-12) in Texas, and to further examine relationships which could help music educators understand the role which music performance programs play in the lives of educationally disadvantaged students. Data analyzed were collected by Texas' Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS). Educationally disadvantaged groups under consideration included economically disadvantaged, at risk (as defined by Texas Education Agency guidelines), limited English proficient, as well as Black and Hispanic students. Separate analyses were conducted for band, choir, and orchestra. Subjects included 907,327 students from 1,048 school districts.

The purpose of this study was to understand the process of music teacher large-scale conference professional development (PD) implementation (i.e., the integration of conference-derived learnings into classroom practice). The context of this investigation was two national music conferences, the Midwest Clinic and the National Association for Music Education National In-Service Conference, and one state music conference, the Texas Music Educators Association Clinic/Convention. Using purposive maximum variation sampling, active music teachers (n = 32) who each attended one of these conferences were recruited. Data collection occurred in a series of three participant interview phases, staggered according to which conference participants attended and when each conference was held. Twenty-eight participants were interviewed twice, and four participants were interviewed once, yielding a total of 60 interview transcripts, which were then openly, axially, and selectively coded in accordance to grounded theory method. The principal finding, the cycle of music teacher large scale conference professional development implementation (C-MTPDI), revealed an implementation process in three phases. First, the consideration phase (before/during conference) entailed needs assessment, direct engagement, change articulation, and, for some participants, deterrent factors/contingencies. Second, the realization phase (immediate post-conference) included translation, integration, and recalibration. Third, and finally, the decision phase (3-5 weeks post-conference) included …

Students' perspectives in jazz education have gone largely ignored. A modified analytic inductive design allowed me to look broadly at the students' jazz band experience while specifically investigating their views about playing individualized parts, improvising, and interpreting and articulating swing rhythms. A focus group procedure was altered (Krueger, 1995) and incorporated into my teaching of 19 students. Two 30 minute sessions per week over a 12 week period were video- and audiotaped. Audiotaped exit interviews provided data in a non-social environment. All data were transcribed and coded in order to identify major themes and trends. Conclusions were verified through member checks, several types of triangulation and other qualitative analysis techniques. Trustworthiness was determined through an audit. Cognitively and physically, students had to accommodate musical techniques as these differed from those used in concert band. Some students were confused by the new seating arrangement and the playing of individualized parts. While some students could perform distinctly different swing and straight interpretations of the same song without external cues, others could only perform this task with external cues. Some changes in articulation were well within the students' capabilities while other techniques were more difficult to accommodate. Several students felt 'uptight' while they …

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors contributing to the longevity of four early-career (5 to 10 years of experience) K–5 elementary general music teachers in Title I schools situated in four regions of the United States. The central research question was: How did early-career elementary general music teachers in Title I schools describe the opportunities and challenges that contributed to their decisions to continue teaching? Using Deci and Ryan's theory of self-determination as a theoretical framework, I analyzed how the four teachers reflected on the degree to which they each possessed autonomy, competence, and relatedness through recounting their perspectives, stories, and experiences. Although the participants shared many commonalities, they also experienced challenges and opportunities unique to their teaching environments. Results were mixed regarding their levels of autonomy and relatedness, but all four teachers possessed a high level of competence, which was likely a contributing factor to their longevity and potential to continue teaching. Nurture and care for children also emerged as a prominent theme from the results, which required the application of a separate theoretical framework. Noddings's theory of the ethic of care served as a lens for examining the myriad ways each participant demonstrated love, care, …