Humans,

Not Heroes
Teachers Implementation of Culturally
Sensitive and Sustaining Pedagogy
in Music Classrooms
Melissa Salguero David Moellenkamp Joyce Click

Chuck Cushinery Beth Hankins

 Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: 3 Ideologies and 3 Classroom Practices
Conceptions of Self and Others
Teacher... sees teaching as an art.
...believes that all students can succeed.
...sees himself as part of the community.
...connects and validates students local,
national, racial, cultural and global
identities.
Academic (Musical) Success
Musical achievement is the focus of
the classroom.
Students are engaged, excited, and
self-motivated.
Teachers create engaging and
challenging lessons and do not follow
one particular methodology.
Conceptions of Social Relationships
Teacher...believes relationships
with students are fluid and
equitable.
...connects with all students and
encourages connectedness
between students.
...encourages a community of
learners.
Cultural Competence
Teacher...deeply knows
students.
...effectively interacts in multiple
cultural settings.
...values multiple paths to
musical excellence and defines
excellence in multiple ways.
Conceptions of Knowledge
Teacher... believes knowledge is
recycled, recreated, and shared by
teachers and students.
views knowledge critically
...is passionate about knowledge.
...scaffolds instruction.
Sociopolitical Consciousness
Teachers know that what goes
on in the classroom is
BIGGER than the classroom
and is a part of engrained
social arrangements.
Teachers brings in multiple
perspectives when examining
a topic.
One problem: Underrepresentation of minoritized
students in U.S. music classrooms, especially in the
higher grades (Elpus and Abril, 2011; Gurgel, 2015).
Another problem: 89.6 % of U.S. music teachers are white
(Gardner 2010)
Participant Identification and Data Collection Theoretical Framework
Survey and video to identify participants Ladson-Billings
Observations of classroom teaching (non
participant) 6 prongs of
Interviews with teacher Culturally
Additional documentation: concerts, Relevant
paper programs, music, recruitment trips
Pedagogy
Conceptions of Knowledge
Lifelong learning
Doctorate with no intention of teaching
collegiately
Reflective teaching and growth mindset
Discovering and implementing new pedagogical
ideas
Curiosity
Learns and shares the why?
Incorporating student interests into pedagogy
Its important to know
what you dont know.

Chuck Cushinery
Clark High School, Las Vegas, Nevada
Conceptions of Relationships
Commitment to forming connections between
student learning and life outside of the classroom
Retreats
Open door policy
Creating environments
Values students input and experiences
Supportive and collaborative structure
Facilitating a community of learners
 Remember that they are
people first and that music
is second.

Beth Hankins
Lakewood High School, Lakewood, OH
Conceptions of Self and Others

Receptive to students
Student input
Humility
Admitting Mistakes
Asking for student feedback
I think just giving attention to the
students and focus putting your focus on
them so that they know youre always
watchful for them and that you have their
best interests in mind.

Joyce Click
North Central HS, Indianapolis, IN
Musical Excellence
Encouraging Student Leadership
Student Serving Multiple Roles in the
Classroom
Section Leaders
Dance Captains
Mentors
Provides a model for students
Elicits individual musical strengths
 Often people just chase a trophy, but I
think it really wastes- it diminishes all the
work youve put in.

David Moellenkamp
Los Alamitos High School, Los Alamitos, CA
Sociopolitical Consciousness

Connections between local, national and

global contexts
Providing the why from multiple
perspectives
Connecting with local music ensembles
Connecting with national and global
political events
Connecting with local events
Teaching is like watching
the garden grow as I
water.

Melissa Salguero
P.S. 48, Bronx, NY
 InterCultural Competence

Hammer, M. (2012)
References
Elpus, Kenneth and Carlos R. Abril. "High School Music Ensemble Students in the United States: A Demographic Profile." Journal of
Research in Music Education 59, no. 2 (2011):128-145.

Gardner, Robert D. Should I Stay or Should I Go? Factors that Influence the Retention, Turnover, and Attrition of K-12 Music Teachers in
the United States Arts Education Policy Review, 111: 112-121, 2010.

Gurgel, Ruth E. Taught by the Students: Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and Music Education. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016.

Mitchell Hammer. The Intercultural Development Inventory: A New Frontier in Assessment and Development of Intercultural
Competence. In Vandeburg, Paige, and Lou, Eds, Student Learning Abroad (Chapter 5, pp. 115-136.) Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing,
2012.

Ladson-Billings, Gloria. The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Children. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers,
1994.

Ladson-Billings, Gloria. "Toward a Theory of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy." American Educational Research Journal 32 no. 3 (1995b):
465491.

Barbara J. Shade, Cynthia Kelly, and Mary Oberg, Creating Culturally Responsive Classrooms(Washington, DC: American Psychological
Association, 1997). This book, a valuable resource for music teachers and music teacher educators, provides guidelines on ways for
teachers and teachers-to-be to reflect cultural preferences, values, and ways of behaving in the classroom.

Rosa Hernndez Sheets, "Urban Classroom Conflict: Student-Teacher Perception: Ethnic Integrity, Solidarity, and Resistance, The
Urban Review 28, no. 2 (1996):16583.