“Mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors”: A case study of teaching and learning for affective outcomes in comprehensive musicianship through performance for band

Lofy, David

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/108070 Copy

Description

Title

“Mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors”: A case study of teaching and learning for affective outcomes in comprehensive musicianship through performance for band

Author(s)

Lofy, David

Issue Date

2020-05-15

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Nichols, Jeananne

Committee Member(s)

• Barrett, Janet Revell
• Peterson, Elizabeth

Department of Study

Music

Discipline

Music Education

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.Mus.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• comprehensive musicianship
• band
• affective
• socialization
• anti-racism
• race talk

Abstract

The purpose of this case study was to investigate one band teacher’s approach to affective teaching and his students’ experiences with affective learning. This study was guided by the following questions: How does one band teacher plan, facilitate, and assess affective musical experiences? What meaning do students assign to affective musical experiences? How do students’ affective musical experiences transfer to performance and personal understandings? What value do students and teachers perceive in affective development through music? Due to the selected repertoire being deeply connected to topics like White supremacy, racial terror, and racism, and the classroom context being majority White, two additional sub-research questions were added during the study. How does one music teacher plan, facilitate, and assess anti-racist affective experiences in a majority White classroom context? What meaning do students assign to anti-racist affective musical experiences? These sub-questions are explored through the lens of Bishop’s (1990) theorizing on the role of children’s literature as portals of understanding the self and others in a racialized society and Hess’s (2017) notions of euphemisms, terminal naivety, and Whiteness in the music classroom. Participants included one band director and three students in grades 10-12 at one high school in a suburban location in the Midwest. Data collected over four months included individual interviews, classroom observations, and field notes. Analysis revealed the following core themes: diversified affective experiences, inexplicit race and equity talk, and, following a metaphor offered by Bishop (1990) the repertoire as a mirror, window, and sliding glass door. The teacher in this study intentionally facilitated multiple affective experiences for his students, each of which was planned, flexible in nature, invoked student-centered and democratic learning, and allowed space for varied perspectives and conclusions. The three students associated affective experiences with deeper understanding of their music, which resulted in heightened performance and personal experiences. Varying levels of musical and personal learning transfer occurred, and each participant ascribed positive value to affective development through music. Race and its impact on the affective experiences of both the teacher and students emerged as a primary consideration over the course of the study. Anti-racism and mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors are used as lenses through which to view anti-racist experiences in the classroom. The mirror reflected back images of Whiteness, White privilege, or cultural knowledge. Windows provided perspective into experiences with which students were unfamiliar. Sliding glass doors provided participants with opportunities to more directly engage with cultural artifacts. Consideration is also given to the ways in which affective teaching and learning serve to socialize students.

Graduation Semester

2020-05

Type of Resource

Thesis

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/108070

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2020 David Lofy

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