High School Contemporary a Cappella: a Descriptive
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HIGH SCHOOL CONTEMPORARY A CAPPELLA: A DESCRIPTIVE PHENOMENOLOGY Thomas B. Burlin Sr. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS December 2015 APRROVED: Sean Powell, Committee Chair Don Taylor, Committee member Donna Emmanuel, Committee member and major professor Debbie Rohwer, Chair of the Division of Music Education Benjamin Brand, Director of Graduate Studies James C. Scott, Dean of the College of Music Costas Tsatsoulis, Dean of the Toulouse Graduate School Burlin Sr., Thomas B. High School Contemporary A Cappella: A Descriptive Phenomenology. Doctor of Philosophy (Music Education), December 2015, 219 pp., references, 223 titles. This study examines the phenomenon of contemporary a cappella music making found in high school settings as curricular and extra-curricular offerings. Past music and music education literature has focused exclusively on contemporary a cappella at the collegiate level. Through application of a descriptive phenomenological method and incorporation an educational- sociological lens, this study advances an understanding of the educational benefit and social value of membership in contemporary a cappella at the high school level. Six recent members from three regions of the United States provided data through individual open-form interviews in which questions were derived from the participants’ own speech. I incorporated phenomenological reductions and processes to negate researcher bias during data collection, analysis, and the formation of a general structure and constituent meanings of membership in high school contemporary a cappella. Participants utilized traditional music skills, individual talents, conceptions of popular culture and music, and in-group socialization to facilitate music making and reify membership. Expressing the value of group membership, individuals acted to benefit the group by cultivating social bonds, developing and fostering personal/shared connections to songs, identifying and purposing individual talents and skills, and gaining an understanding of each members’ unique contribution to membership. Discussion includes implications for music education and suggestions for future research. Copyright 2015 By Thomas B. Burlin Sr. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To my committee members, I am sincerely grateful for the enormous effort you put into ensuring my success throughout this process. Your advice and expertise were invaluable sources of encouragement over the past 4 years. Dr. Donna Emmanuel, you were the first to see value in my writing ten years ago. You taught me to refine and purpose my philosophy and that tradition is not a master. Dr. Don Taylor, you are my paragon for conscientious teaching, scholarship, and servant leadership. Your work makes the world a better place and makes your students better persons. Dr. Sean Powell, this undertaking might have been too ambitious if not for your invaluable contribution. Thank you for hearing my cry and lowering a rope. To my dear friends Christina Svec, Ben Price, and Brian Peebles; thank you for your contributions to this study and my well-being. My hope is that we are always each others’ sounding boards. Thank you Dr. Nate Kruse for starting me on this project, nurturing my sociological perspective, and encouraging me to go out into the world and see what I find. Thank you to Deke Sharon, Amy Malkoff, Dr. Joshua Duchan, Ben Bram, Robert Dietz, Jonathan Minkoff, Courtney Jensen, and the many high school directors and students I cannot name, for letting me into your worlds. Thank you to my parents Jack and Monica Burlin and Barbara Hornbuckle for doing so much for Tommy, Lily, and Grace while I researched and wrote. I could never have done this without you. I dedicate this work to my wife Cindy Burlin and the God who, in His mercy, brought me to her. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEGEMENTS………………………………………………………………………..iii Chapters 1. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 CAC Defined ...........................................................................................................2 Historical Context ....................................................................................................3 Personal Rationale ...................................................................................................6 Background for the Study ........................................................................................9 Need for the Study .................................................................................................11 Purpose...................................................................................................................12 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................................................14 CAC Research........................................................................................................19 Popular Music in American Music Education Research .......................................22 Foundations of Popular Music Exclusion..................................................24 Instructional Quality and Popular Music Education..................................38 Research in Popular Music Making...........................................................51 Classroom Experiments in Popular Music Making ...................................54 Conclusions............................................................................................................60 3. METHOD.........................................................................................................................64 Research Design.....................................................................................................64 Qualitative Paradigm .............................................................................................66 Phenomenological Methodology ...........................................................................68 Constructing Meaning................................................................................69 iv Real and Irreal Objects...............................................................................71 The Descriptive Phenomenological Method..............................................71 Limitations .................................................................................................75 Bracketing and Bridling.............................................................................81 Bridled Assumptions..................................................................................83 Expectations...............................................................................................84 Creating the Boundaries of the Study ....................................................................88 Participants.................................................................................................90 Data collection .......................................................................................................93 Individual Interviews .................................................................................93 Rapport.......................................................................................................93 Open-Ended Questions ..............................................................................94 Procedure ...................................................................................................95 Testing the Research Instrument................................................................97 Analysis..................................................................................................................98 Data Constitution .......................................................................................99 Individual Phenomenological Descriptions .............................................100 Idiographic Structuration .........................................................................102 General Structuration...............................................................................107 4. RESULTS ........................................................................................................................113 The Essence of High School Contemporary a Cappella......................................115 Participant Backgrounds ......................................................................................116 Constituent Meanings of the Essence of High School CAC Membership ..........119 v Cultivation............................................................................................................121 Workshopping..........................................................................................124 Group Maintenance..................................................................................130 Experiencing Culture ...........................................................................................146 Popular Culture ........................................................................................146 ACA Culture ............................................................................................150 Summary..............................................................................................................155 5. DISCUSSION..................................................................................................................156 Articulation of the General Structure...................................................................157