Rachel Pennington

MUED 376

November 18, 2019

Summary: Choral Cultures

Two of the main topics focused on in this document that frame the whole presentation are

“The culture we create in choral classrooms” and “the culture we become”. A through line that

represents both statements is “creating the culture that in turn creates us”. Every day that we

teach, we create a culture in our classrooms that emulate the culture of the school and the culture

of the community, which influences the lives of everyone. A culture is grown, shaped, and

created, which can lead to the feeling of family and belonging in a choir. All these things are

sought to create a choral culture of safety, identity, transmission and enculturation.

The concept of creating “Flow” is another major topic of importance on this document.

Flow is described as “a theory of optimal experience- the state in which people are so involved in

an activity that nothing else seems to matter, the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will

do it at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). This is optimal in a

choral setting, because it gives the opportunity for the choir to feel this as a whole, and to “let go

of self to be with others” (Hudak, 1999). This can create the feeling for the choir that they are

apart of something bigger than themselves. The components of flow include: anxiety, arousal,

flow, control, relaxation, apathy, and worry; including high and low levels of challenge and skill.
The elements of safety, identity, transmission, and enculturation are important in the creation of

flow.

Elements of safety include: mindful, micro/ macro interactions, eye contact, non-verbal

communication: face and body language, tone of voice: including subtext and undertone,

judgement vs. discernment, and favoritism (van der Vat-Chromy, 2012). All of these play an

important role in making sure the student feels welcome, wanted, and safe in the ensemble.

Elements of identity include: teaching for transfer, reflective assessment process, non-judgement

(“I see you”) vs. discernment, and feedback (van der Vat-Chromy, 2012). These also contribute

to making sure the students feel safe in their identity in the choir. Music can play a role in the

identity for many students.

Elements of transmission include: history, heritage, rituals, celebrations, thankfulness,

help, leadership, and friendship (van der Vat-Chromy, 2012). All of these elements play an

important role in carrying out the importance of transmission in the ensemble. Elements of

enculturation include: friendship, help, reflective practice, belonging, celebrating musical and

personal successes, expertly designed and fabulously delivered lesson plans, and flow,

(“cultivate flow and the culture will grow”) (van der Vat-Chromy, 2012). Similarly, to the other

categories, enculturation contributes greatly to the feeling of importance and belonging felt in the

ensemble.
 I personally found these sections based on these four categories to be the most helpful,

because it showed me the type of culture and teaching I want to emulate in my choirs. These are

important categories for music educators to take not of, because it gives each student a sense of

belonging in their classroom and in music, which is what we should all strive to achieve. As a

future music teacher, my main goal is to make sure each student feels that they have a place in

my ensemble, and that no one feels alone, including the sense of safety, identity, transmission,

and enculturation.