Classroom Applications of Doctoral Research

Language and intentions of arts education policy

Music education today cannot be fully understood without also understanding the systemic racism embedded in the language and intentions public education policy in the United States. Language from federal policy, along with intentions, is absorbed by public and private policies at the state and local level by governments, schools, and other groups seeking to qualify for federal funds.

By learning about how public policy makers use language to attempt to shape outcomes, I gain insight into the mechanisms of policy making at a variety of additional levels, including the levels of university and departmental administrations. Policy shapes a multitude of facets of education, from how much time I spend with students to how much material I cover, from what students can enter my classrooms to how I assess them. Understanding how those policies are created and how they intend to shape classroom practices allows me to work creatively within them (or, when necessary, advocate against them) in ways that best benefit my students.

Practices of non-profits in public school music education settings

Despite their honorable intentions, we cannot ignore the historical place of nonprofits, along with other privately funded groups, in supporting white supremacist efforts affecting public education. To create better practices, we must work to understand how nonprofits and other education groups that receive private funds can shift their articulations with public schools and reform their relationships with communities to counter hegemonizing forces and support pedagogies that are in the best interests of the students.

Investigating the relationships between public schools, which theoretically serve all students, and private/non-profit institutions, which are selective about whom they serve, gives me a better understanding of my role as an educator in universities and the role of universities in broader societal education structures. With this awareness, I am able, for example, to be more intentional about how I engage and mentor students by being able to recognize the structures that have shaped their access to education if they choose to share their socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds with me. I make these seemingly invisible inequities in education access visible and thus address them more effectively, for example, by scaffolding assignments and clearly explaining how they are designed to prepare students for more advanced work within the discipline. These practices work towards making exclusionary education spaces more accessible regardless of prior education experiences.

Black music education traditions in public schools

Black education groups have been sharing solutions to our faulty education systems for generations. By learning from these traditions and following leaders of Black education practices, educators can better serve students in Black communities by uplifting Black culture and valuing student experiences and forms of knowledge.

As a white instructor, I look towards Black traditions to supplement the modes of instruction that I have learned being educated in dominant institutions. Expanding my knowledge of the diverse ways of teaching and learning music by drawing on the knowledge of Black educators and lifting the voices of this field, which is dominated in particular by Black women, helps me to create a more inclusive learning environment for all of my students. Ultimately, this works towards making university student bodies not simply diverse; more meaningfully, this works towards welcoming students of color by rooting their academic experiences partially in their cultures and backgrounds.