No abstract

A conceptual model designed specifically for the investigation of issues surrounding race, ethnicity and culture in relation to music learning will best serve our profession as we attempt to understand how these issues may impact music learning among diverse populations. This paper proposes such a model, depicted as a concept map, featuring five primary categories: teacher, student, content, instruction, and context. Focusing research according to this model will serve to categorize current knowledge, clarify factors and constructs involving music learning, and formulate predictions of specific learning outcomes, thereby facilitating the development of hypotheses and theories that support a research agenda devoted to examining the barriers to and support for music learning as influenced by race, culture and ethnicity.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of race/ethnicity and school community setting for early field experience practica and student teaching on music student teachers' self-reported cross-cultural competence. Participants (N = 337) from 36 colleges and universities across the United States completed a survey designed to examine the extent of cross-cultural competence as specified by three constructs: (a) factors fostering readiness to teach in culturally diverse educational environments, (b) factors constraining readiness to teach in culturally diverse educational environments, and (c) educational experiences during teacher preparation relative to multicultural education and multicultural music education. The "Foster," "Constrain," and "Teacher Preparation" dimension subscales served as the dependent variables. Results indicated no significant main effect of school community setting on participants' cross-cultural competence; however, a significant main effect of race/ethnicity (p < .05) was observed for the Constrain subscale of the survey.

The authors propose that best practices in music education require a conceptual understanding of music teaching and learning based on a perspective of social justice and equitable access for all students. Examinations of the relationship between the tenets of culturally-responsive teaching and three dimensions of music teaching and learning (musical content, instruction, and context) are presented: (1) historically, through the identification of neglected African American contributions to Appalachian music; and (2) pedagogically, through the chronicling of social justice content and culturally-responsive instruction as taught in an urban university and public middle school. The implications of issues of power and social justice for music education are further contextualized within the lens of critical pedagogy to uncover possibilities for a 21st century canon of music teacher preparation that will maximize the potential to transform music education practice. ARTICLE The content, historical development and pedagogy comprising present-day music education and music teacher preparation in the United States of America (USA) continues to reflect a predominantly Western European cultural perspective. Consequently, contributions from other cultural traditions often are only peripherally represented in the knowledge base of music education (Green, 2001; Kwami, 2001; Small, 1999; Spruce, 2001). The resulting cultural hegemony inadvertently promotes stereotypes by skimming the surface of global music making and ignoring the ethnic particularities of diverse groups (Johnson, 2004). Researchers in music and music education have demonstrated conclusively that a wide variety of cultural and ethnic groups have contributed to American musical culture; however many of these cultural 'voices' fail to be represented in the choices music educators make regarding curriculum content. For example, research on the history of Appalachian music included repertoire influenced by African American culture, but did not acknowledge African American membership in Appalachian culture (Hay, 2005; Mills, 2007; Suttles & Hopkins, 2002). Similarly, current research in music teacher education often overlooks urban students, primarily students of color, as important voices influencing American musical culture by not addressing the challenge of preparing music teachers to understand diversity (Benedict,

Culturally responsive teaching values students' identities, backgrounds, and cultural references as key tools for building meaningful learning environments. It has been adopted by many educators globally, but has not been incorporated consistently by music educators. Few researchers in music education have investigated the impact of culturally responsive teaching and misconceptions exist about what it means to teach music in a culturally responsive manner. The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of an in-service program on cooperating teachers' perceptions of culturally responsive teaching. At the conclusion of the workshop, participants rated familiarity and importance of culturally responsive teaching higher than they did prior to the workshop. Sixteen of the 18 participants indicated that the workshop had changed their understanding of culturally responsive teaching.