teaching string lessons and orchestra classes for grades 3 to 8. He is also a co-conductor of Rockland Youth Orchestra (New York) and conductor of the InterSchool Orchestras of New York's Morningside Orchestra. Actively immersed in connecting theory to practice in music education, string pedagogy, and teacher preparation, Matthew recently earned his doctorate from Teachers College, Columbia University, where his dissertation research explored the complex relationships between student interests and identities, teacher training and philosophy, and repertoire selection practices in public school orchestras.

In this article, we query how action is contextualized and used in music education, centering the discussion around problems of calling for change without taking action, what Paulo Freire terms “narration sickness.” Narration sickness manifests in social media, conferences, and professional development sessions—where words convey ideas as grand narratives, devoid of context, causing a division between those who present ideas from those who enact them in practice. We describe how music educators may become unintentional slacktivists, “woke” to the need for action, attempting to improve the field with limited (if any) action at all. We invite music educators to counter “wokeness” with what Maxine Greene calls being “wide awake,” offering examples of educators who demonstrate change. We seek to expand the definition of action, drawing upon what Freire and Marx term as praxis, seeking actionable approaches in teaching, researching, and learning across age levels, settings, and contexts.

When music educators discuss repertoire, they often discuss what pieces to perform and when in the year to perform them. In this article, I ask, “ Who should choose the music for ensemble study, and how should it be chosen?” I share a rationale for why music educators might include students in ensemble repertoire selection and several ways they might open the repertoire so their students can contribute to the process. Based on my interest in how teacher–student dialogue can occur in this process, I draw from conversations I had with six orchestra teachers and twenty-seven of their students. The approaches presented here come from my interviews with these six teachers, from others with whom I have since collaborated, and from my own experience as an educator. Music educators may find these approaches useful for discussion, study, and implementation of more inclusive practice.

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