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LISTENING FOR SOUNDS OF STRIVING: MAXINE GREENE AND STORIES OF MUSIC TEACHER BECOMINGS Mya Katherine Magnusson Scarlato Submitted in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education in Teachers College, Columbia University 2021 © 2021 Mya Katherine Magnusson Scarlato All Rights Reserved Abstract Listening for Sounds of Striving: Maxine Greene and Stories of Music Teacher Becomings Mya Katherine Magnusson Scarlato This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of three music teachers who are invited to view themselves and their practices as “becoming” in the context of Maxine Greene’s philosophy of education. In communion with my own becoming as teacher and researcher, I explore the aspects of my participants’ musical and teaching identities over the course of their careers and in relation to their unique teaching contexts. Throughout this project, I explored qualities of resonance, striving, a sense of artistic “re-capturing,” wide-awakeness, social imagination, and courage. I came to understand that stories play an important role in shaping our perceptions of reality and awareness of the lived lives of the “other” as we strive together toward a more just society through artistic encounters in education. Table of Contents I. FREQUENCIES OF WHICH I WAS UNAWARE ................................................................ 1 Related Literature .................................................................................................................... 3 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................................ 5 On “Doing Philosophy” ....................................................................................................... 6 On “Becoming” .................................................................................................................... 9 On Music(ing) and Teaching ............................................................................................. 14 Study Overview: Purpose, Plan, Methodology ..................................................................... 19 Research Questions ............................................................................................................ 21 II. BECOMING ......................................................................................................................... 22 Becoming a Musician ............................................................................................................ 22 False Consciousness .............................................................................................................. 26 Becoming a Teacher .............................................................................................................. 32 III LISTENING FOR SOUNDS OF STRIVING ..................................................................... 51 Part 1: What Is Phenomenology? .......................................................................................... 51 Epistemological Considerations......................................................................................... 51 Consciousnesses Are Unique ......................................................................................... 52 Consciousnesses Are Of Reality .................................................................................... 54 Consciousnesses Actively Reach Toward Meaning....................................................... 54 Thinking Phenomenologically ........................................................................................... 57 Toward “Sensitive Openness” and “Bearing Witness” ..................................................... 60 Reflective Lifeworld Research: A Bridling of Phenomenological Traditions ................... 64 Part Two: Doing Phenomenology: Listening for Sounds of Striving ................................... 66 Participants and Setting...................................................................................................... 68 Marc ............................................................................................................................... 68 Greg ................................................................................................................................ 70 Charlie ............................................................................................................................ 73 i Data Collection .................................................................................................................. 76 Interviews ....................................................................................................................... 78 Field Observations.......................................................................................................... 79 Research Journal ............................................................................................................ 80 Timeline and Frequency .................................................................................................... 81 Analysis.............................................................................................................................. 82 Interlude: ENSTORIED “FINDINGS” ..................................................................................... 85 Malleable Concepts of Self .................................................................................................... 86 Centrality of the Teacher in Teaching ................................................................................... 89 The Complexities of Teaching .............................................................................................. 90 IV. BECOMING MARC........................................................................................................... 93 The Tape Recorder ................................................................................................................ 93 Becoming a Musician: Learning in Communion .................................................................. 99 The Double-Booked Lesson ............................................................................................ 103 Emerging Ensemble 4 ...................................................................................................... 108 Choosing “Teacher” ............................................................................................................ 114 The Ivory Tower .................................................................................................................. 119 Comfort with “Shifting” ...................................................................................................... 126 Neither and Both .............................................................................................................. 129 V. BECOMING CHARLIE .................................................................................................... 131 Becoming a Teacher ............................................................................................................ 131 Pine Ridge as a Teaching Context ....................................................................................... 134 In Search of Culture Bearers ............................................................................................ 145 Mother Song..................................................................................................................... 148 Pushing Back Against Censorship ....................................................................................... 154 Epilogue: Teaching Sustainability ....................................................................................... 164 VI. BECOMING GREG ......................................................................................................... 172 ii The Call to Teach ................................................................................................................ 172 Busking in the Classroom .................................................................................................... 175 Seeing School “Large” ........................................................................................................ 181 Structuring Curriculum in Response to Students ............................................................. 183 Greg’s “Rigor vs. Engagement Conundrum” ...................................................................... 186 VII. BECOMING STORIES ................................................................................................... 204 Dangers of Storytelling ........................................................................................................ 210 Why Tell Stories (Why Risk the Danger?) .......................................................................... 215 Re-imagining Reality: Stories that Move us into Action ................................................. 220 Becoming Stories ................................................................................................................. 222 VIII. STORIES OF COURAGE ............................................................................................. 225 Shared Values .................................................................................................................. 226 Fascinations.....................................................................................................................