Research in Music Education Conference
Abstract:
Critical border crossing: Soundscape compositions and reflection as critical pedagogies
As class divisions deepen, racial tensions heighten, and school demographics in North America continue to shift (NCES, 2018), questions of how to engage with multiple ways of knowing continue to be pressing, as does the need for connections between schools and the students they serve. In recent years, scholars have questioned and explored how music education might be reconceptualized in a way that promotes critical, socially impactful educational environments (e.g. Benedict et al., 2015), as well as how educators operationalize these ideas in music classroom settings (e.g. Barnett, 2010; Lewis, 2016). This presentation will explore the ways in which interactions between students, educators, and researcher impacted opportunities for critical engagement through the implementation of a learning project.
A pilot study of a learning project that combined soundscape compositions and dialogue was first conducted to explore the possible impact of this project on possibilities for critical reflection. I then engaged in a larger study that employed design-based research (McKenney & Reeves, 2012) and a cross case analysis (Miles, Huberman, & Saldaña, 2014) to consider how soundscape compositions and critical reflection might be combined to explore how positionalities can potentially be called into question.
In this study, the soundscape composition and critical reflection elements were considered as both independent and interrelated critical engagements. Soundscape compositions were developed using open-ended question prompts that encouraged students to mix and manipulate recorded sounds that represented their own critical exploration of their community. Throughout the project, critical reflection through classroom dialogue and journaling asked students to enter contact zones “where existing patterns of thought, relationship, and identity are called into question and juxtaposed with alternative ways of knowing and being,” providing opportunities for recognition and exploration of positionalities (Hayes & Cuban, 1996, p. 6). Students were then asked to articulate the ways in which these engagements may have helped them cross borders by challenging stereotypes and reflecting on the ongoing transformation of their positionalities. This presentation will explore student, educator, and researcher processes of reflection and interaction during the project, as well as trace possible links, gaps, and challenges between learning practice and in-the-world experience.
Critical border crossing: Soundscape compositions and reflection as critical pedagogies
As class divisions deepen, racial tensions heighten, and school demographics in North America continue to shift (NCES, 2018), questions of how to engage with multiple ways of knowing continue to be pressing, as does the need for connections between schools and the students they serve. In recent years, scholars have questioned and explored how music education might be reconceptualized in a way that promotes critical, socially impactful educational environments (e.g. Benedict et al., 2015), as well as how educators operationalize these ideas in music classroom settings (e.g. Barnett, 2010; Lewis, 2016). This presentation will explore the ways in which interactions between students, educators, and researcher impacted opportunities for critical engagement through the implementation of a learning project.
A pilot study of a learning project that combined soundscape compositions and dialogue was first conducted to explore the possible impact of this project on possibilities for critical reflection. I then engaged in a larger study that employed design-based research (McKenney & Reeves, 2012) and a cross case analysis (Miles, Huberman, & Saldaña, 2014) to consider how soundscape compositions and critical reflection might be combined to explore how positionalities can potentially be called into question.
In this study, the soundscape composition and critical reflection elements were considered as both independent and interrelated critical engagements. Soundscape compositions were developed using open-ended question prompts that encouraged students to mix and manipulate recorded sounds that represented their own critical exploration of their community. Throughout the project, critical reflection through classroom dialogue and journaling asked students to enter contact zones “where existing patterns of thought, relationship, and identity are called into question and juxtaposed with alternative ways of knowing and being,” providing opportunities for recognition and exploration of positionalities (Hayes & Cuban, 1996, p. 6). Students were then asked to articulate the ways in which these engagements may have helped them cross borders by challenging stereotypes and reflecting on the ongoing transformation of their positionalities. This presentation will explore student, educator, and researcher processes of reflection and interaction during the project, as well as trace possible links, gaps, and challenges between learning practice and in-the-world experience.