Where is their artistry? Artistic disposition and culturally responsive education in the twenty-first century secondary music classroom
Date
2018
Authors
Hedrick, Katrina, author
Johnson, Erik, advisor
Grapes, K. Dawn, committee member
Sebald, Ann, committee member
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Abstract
Artistic disposition, as an amalgam of our individual and shared experiences, has a profound impact on how we engage and identify with music in a complex and pluralistic musical culture (Eger, 2005; Jorgensen, 1997 & 2003; Lind & McKoy, 2016; Reimer, 2003 & 2009; Small, 1998). The American public music educator, as a member of a pluralistic musical culture, is responsible for providing an accessible music education for all students. As such, the educator must provide an education that reflects each student's identity within a multitude of cultural intersections (Allsup, 2016; Allsup & Benedict, 2008; Jorgensen, 1997, 1998, & 2003; Kratus, 2007; Lind & McKoy, 2016; Reimer, 2003 & 2009; Small, 1998). The growth of individuals' artistic disposition is directly related to the ability to aesthetically engage in pursuit of expressing their lived experience (Jorgensen, 1997 & 2003; Reimer, 2003 & 2009; Runco, 2011 & 2014). Furthermore, the opportunity for each student to engage with a comprehensive music education in order to cultivate individual artistic dispositions is an educational necessity that has been articulated and reified by contemporary philosophers in the music education community (Allsup, 2016; Allsup & Shieh, 2012; Danielsson et al., 2016; Jorgensen, 1997 & 2003; Kratus, 2007; Lind & McKoy, 2016; Reimer, 2003 & 2009; Small, 1998). Many issues inherent to a postcolonial society working towards social justice—a society wrought with mass shootings, suicides, drug abuse, divisive politics, and an overburdened criminal justice system— complexify the cultivation of a gritty, artistic disposition, especially one that enables students to explore the artistic possibilities reflective of lived experience. Emphasis of an artistic mindset in secondary music education settings can facilitate the realization of an individual's identity and cultural belonging by providing a means of expression through musical expression. However, while contemporary music education philosophers implore practitioners to nurture every individual's artistic disposition (e.g. Allsup, 2016; Jorgensen, 2003; Reimer, 2003 & 2009; Small, 1998) and policy (e.g. NAfME, 2014), addressing these issues is limited by curricular design, teaching processes, and learning experiences of the student and the music educator. This philosophical inquiry questions which curricular designs, teaching processes, and learning experiences in secondary music education comprehensively lead to students' development of their own artistic dispositions. Further, this inquiry also seeks to examine the associations between artistic disposition and culturally responsive practices in order to address the challenges that music educators currently face in preparing graduates for successful engagement in a diverse array of contemporary American musical cultures. The purpose of this examination is to consider the use of artistic disposition as a means to increase music educators' efficacy in curricular scope, professional training, and pedagogical processes in order to provide students with the comprehensive music education. Three normative vignettes (Lecompte, 1999) are used to articulate a philosophical framework related to a Universalist orientation (Reimer, 2009). Each vignette highlights inclusive possibilities present in scholarship on artistic disposition and culturally responsive pedagogy for students to develop interpretive and expressive tools for their lived experiences.
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Subject
artistic disposition
21st century
higher education
public education
culturally responsive teaching
music education