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EXPLORING INFORMAL MUSIC PEDAGOGY IN A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY OF ELEMENTARY MUSIC TEACHERS By Julie Dawn Kastner A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Music Education 2012 ABSTRACT EXPLORING INFORMAL MUSIC PEDAGOGY IN A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY OF ELEMENTARY MUSIC TEACHERS By Julie Dawn Kastner With the intent of understanding the music teacher’s experience in informal music pedagogy, the purpose of this study was to explore the processes, perceptions, and practices of music teachers as they participated in a professional development community (PDC) to discuss and implement informal music learning practices. This study also investigated the nature of the teachers’ participation within the PDC. While many studies have explored the characteristics and processes of students engaged in informal music learning, little research has focused specifically on the experience of music teachers who may have little or no experience with informal music learning practices. There is a need for research that explores how music teachers respond to exploring and implementing informal music pedagogy with their students and the role that a professional development community with other music teachers can play in this process. This study was an instrumental case study using ethnographic techniques. In this study, the case was a professional development group (PDC) of four elementary general and choral music teachers who read research articles about, discussed, and implemented informal music learning. Data forms included video-recordings of PDC meetings, audio-recordings of semi- structured individual interviews, observations of music classes, comments from a private Facebook group, and collected artifacts. Data were coded and analyzed for emerging themes and trustworthiness was ensured through member checks, peer review, and data triangulation. Themes emerged in four main areas: (1) “Applications and Perspectives,” (2) “Pedagogical Practices Supporting Informal Music Learning,” (3) “New Windows into Students’ Musicianship,” and (4) “The Professional Development Community.” The participants developed a variety of applications of informal music learning activities that they implemented in their classrooms, and they began to value the engagement, motivation, and independent musicianship that they saw blossoming in students, although they were concerned about the activities’ logistics and the perceptions of others. They employed several pedagogical strategies in implementing informal music learning activities; these strategies fell along a continuum ranging from having more teacher control to more student freedom. The teachers recognized the change in their practice and appreciated how their classrooms were becoming more democratic. As they stepped back to observe students’ “messy” processes, they valued the new windows they gained into students’ musicianship, including the development of unexpected student performers and leaders. Finally, in the PDC, the teachers developed a collaborative community, felt validated and encouraged by reading research articles, and enjoyed having autonomy in their professional development experience. Based on the results, I recommended that informal music learning may serve as an approach for music teachers to support independent musicianship and develop a more democratic classroom, but they need support and validation when implementing these concepts. Music teacher education should continue to introduce informal music learning to undergraduates and find ways to help practicing music teachers explore these ideas, and PDCs may serve as a way for music teachers to have autonomy in their professional development, leading to more effective and long-lasting teaching change. Ideas for future research are also discussed. Copyright by JULIE DAWN KASTNER 2012 Dedicated to Derek for his unconditional and unwavering support. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My journey in completing this dissertation is due in large part to the support and guidance from my committee members, mentors, and friends. First, I extend my sincerest thanks to my committee members: Dr. Cynthia Taggart, my amazing advisor, for supporting and challenging me, while being a constant source of kindness and empathy; Dr. Mitchell Robinson, for his long chats about qualitative research and navigating the start of my higher music education career; Dr. Michael Largey, for helping me develop my skills in ethnography and passion for ethnomusicology; and Dr. John Kratus, for his progressive ideas about music education. Thank you to the teachers in my study: Cara, Diana, Kendra, and Tyler. I am forever indebted to you for the time and energy you invested into our professional development community. I feel blessed to have gotten to work with such smart, innovative, and dedicated music teachers. I will always remember the times we spent laughing and learning together in our meetings, and I know that you have made and will continue to make a lasting impact in the lives of your students. I offer love and thanks to my family–my mother, Karen, my father- and mother-in-law, Dean and Ann, my great-aunt Elizabeth, my brothers and sisters-in-law, and my sweet niece and nephew–for encouraging me and reassuring me with every step. Also, I thank my father, Bill, for making music informally when I was little. Even though he is no longer with us, I am thankful for the woman he helped shape me to be. Special thanks to my husband, Derek, for his never- vi ending love and for walking side-by-side with me throughout this journey. I could not have done any of this without him. Thank you to my friends Bridget Sweet and Tami Draves for always having a ready ear to listen and a friendly voice to provide feedback, encouragement, and a dose of reality. Thank you to Heather Shouldice, Robin Giebelhausen, Karen Salvador, Gina Yi, and Mark and Ann Harvey for your constant friendship and support. I am so thankful to have such wonderful friends in my life. Finally, I owe my thanks and praise to my Lord, Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory. To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and great joy–to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 1: 24-25) vii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES x INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 4 Characteristics of Informal Music Learning 5 Informal Learning in Children’s Musicking 22 Rationale for Informal Music Practices in Education 35 Need for the Study 45 Purpose and Problems 50 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF RELATED RESEARCH 52 Teacher Characteristics within Informal Music Learning 53 Professional Development and Teacher Education 62 Summary of Related Research 76 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 78 Design 78 Participant Selection 79 Procedures 80 Data Collection 83 Data Analysis and Trustworthiness 85 Limitations 87 Researcher Lens 88 CHAPTER 4: PARTICIPANTS 91 Tyler Watkins 91 Kendra Gibbons 94 Cara Cartwright 95 Diana Gardner 99 Summary CHAPTER 5: “TAKING THE TRAINING WHEELS OFF”: APPLICATIONS AND 100 PERSPECTIVES OF INFORMAL MUSIC LEARNING Experimentation 104 Finding Value 121 Concerns and Challenges 147 Summary 171 viii CHAPTER 6: PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICES SUPPORTING INFORMAL 173 LEARNING Continuum of Control for Informal Learning in the Classroom 174 Continuum of Teacher Scaffolding 188 “Stepping In”: Impediments to Informal Learning 202 Recognizing the “Role Shifts” 204 Summary 215 CHAPTER 7: NEW WINDOWS INTO STUDENTS’ MUSICIANSHIP 218 “Messy” Processes 219 Finding the Unexpected 232 “Exceeded my Expectations” 239 Summary 245 CHAPTER 8: THE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY 247 A Collaborative Community 248 Reading and Relating to Research 273 Getting Fed Professionally 285 Summary 295 CHAPTER 9: LOOKING BACK, LOOKING FORWARD 297 Project Summary 298 Conclusions 307 Implications 316 Suggestions for Future Research 324 APPENDICES 328 Appendix A: Research Participant Information and Consent Form 329 Appendix B: Readings in PDC Meetings 330 Appendix C: Questions for Semi-Structured Individual Interviews 331 BIBLIOGRAPHY 332 ix LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Green’s (2008) Popular Music Pedagogical Stages for Informal Learning 13 Table 2. Types of Informal Music Learning “Experiments” Implemented by Teachers 107 x INTRODUCTION Kendra: There’s so many things that you can tell them and tell them and tell them, but until they actually do it themselves, they don’t even realize what–you know I mean? They don’t even realize what they’re doing or how to do it. Even just to realize, like, “Oh, I can take the melody of ‘Dynamite,’ and I can play it on the xylophone.” And then they hear other groups doing it, and then they can try it. You know, I probably could’ve told ‘em that they could do that, but they wouldn’t actually do it unless they were experimenting on their own. Diana: Maybe, too, the confidence that they could sing that song. That it wasn’t just the artist. That they could perform it, too. And that it didn’t happen (snaps fingers) so fast. They had to actually, many of them, go home and practice it to learn all the words. Kendra: I think giving them permission to mess with it, and [that] it’s okay. Like, (puts hands to chest) I need that permission still, as well. And once they’re confident, they’ll [be] like the girl who went home and started playing it at home. Cara: My kids were really proud of themselves. The process was cool to see. It was cool to see them working things out in a way, kind of like how they talked about in the article, like, “That sounds cool,” or “Let’s add that.” That process was really fun to watch, but I think that what they came up with, they had ownership of it in a way that they wouldn’t have had if I would’ve been like, “Play the drum part like this.” So that ownership piece, I think, was huge for my kids, and the permission to experiment and to take ownership of it.