Patrick K. Freer

Two Decades of Research on Possible Selves and the "Missing Males" Problem in Choral Music

Music education researchers have a lengthy history of examining reasons why individuals seek participation in musical activities. Within that history, however, the concept of ‘possible selves’ (Markus & Nurius, 1986) has received little attention until recently. In the broadest terms, possible selves are a person’s impressions of what they might become, what they would like to become, and what they fear becoming. This view of self-concept moves beyond a simple collection of self-attributed traits to encompass the idea that individuals actively manage their choices and actions in order to promote desirable selves and inhibit less-desirable selves. The focus of this article is a systematic review of research and related literature concerning possible selves with specific attention to potential implications for the participation and persistence of adolescent boys in choral music education. Deux décennies de recherche sur la conception du soi possible et le problème lié à l’ ‘absence des garçons’ dans les chorales Au courant de l’histoire, les recherches en éducation musicales ont examiné les raisons qui conduisent un individu à participer à des activités musicales. Or, le concept du ‘soi possible’ (Markus & Nurius, 1986) a suscité peu d’intérêt jusqu’à tout récemment. Au sens large, la notion du soi possible réfère aux impressions qu’une personne peut avoir en regard de se qu’il pourrait devenir, de se qu’il aimerait devenir et de se qu’il craint devenir. Cette perspective du concept de soi va au-delà d’un simple groupement de traits assortis qui entourent l’idée qu’un individu effectue des choix et des actions en vue de promouvoir un soi désirable et inhiber le soi moins désirable. L’objectif de cet article est de recenser les études systématiques ainsi que la revue littéraire connexe qui concernent le concept du soi possible. Une attention particulière est accordée aux implications potentielles que pourraient avoir la participation et la détermination des garçons adolescents s’impliquant dans une chorale. Das Fehlen männlicher Stimmen in der Chorausbildung Musikpädagogische Forschung hat eine lange Tradition hinsichtlich der Untersuchung von Gründen, warum Menschen an musikalischen Aktivitäten teilnehmen. Im Rahmen dieser Forschungstradition hat das Konzept der ‘possible selves’ (Markus & Nurius, 1986) bisher jedoch wenig Aufmerksamkeit erfahren. Im weitesten Sinne handelt es sich dabei um die Erwartungen eines Menschen darüber, wie er werden könnte, wie er werden möchte und wie er zu werden fürchtet. Diese Sicht des Selbstkonzepts geht über eine bloße Zusammenstellung eigener Wesenszüge hinaus und schließt die Vorstellung ein, dass Personen aktiv ihre Handlungsmöglichkeiten beeinflussen, um das erstrebte Selbstgefühl zu fördern und ein weniger erwünschtes zu unterdrücken. Der Artikel möchte einen systematischen Überblick über diesen Forschungszweig geben mit besonderer Berücksichtigung möglicher Folgen für die nachhaltige Teilnahme junger Männer an der Chor-Erziehung. Dos décadas de investigación sobre posibles yos y el problema de los “hombres perdidos” en música coral Los investigadores en educación musical tienen una larga trayectoria sobre por qué las personas buscan participar en actividades musicales. Sin embargo, a lo largo de ese trayecto, hasta hace poco ha recibido poca atención el concepto de “posibles yos” (Markus y Nurius, 1986). En un sentido amplio, los posibles yos son las impresiones de la persona sobre en qué podría convertirse, en qué le gustaría y en qué le asusta convertirse. Esta aproximación del autoconcepto va más allá de la mera enumeración de características auto-atribuibles para incluir la idea de que las personas gestionan activamente sus opciones y acciones a fin de promover sus yos deseables e inhibir los menos deseables. El presente artículo es una revisión sistemática de la investigación y de la literatura relacionada con respecto a los posibles yos, con especial atención a las implicaciones potenciales para la participación y perseverancia de los chicos adolescentes en educación musical coral.

‘I’ll sing with my buddies’ — Fostering the possible selves of male choral singers

The stories of three high school boys about their experiences in school-based choral music provide the framework for a discussion of the role music educators can play in retaining male singers. The ‘possible selves’ construct (Markus & Nurius, 1986) is explored alongside research-based implications about specific steps toward developing boys’ identities as choral musicians. Possible selves are future conceptions of the self that are either positive (hoped-for) or negative (feared). The changing of the adolescent male voice occurs at approximately the same time as major social, academic, and other physical changes. It is thought that these issues coincide in a manner that discourages boys from participation in choral music (Freer, 2007). Drawing upon a successful non-musical model, the author proposes a variant of the ‘Possible Selves Program’ (Hock, Deshler, & Schumaker, 2006) for use in music settings. ‘Je chanterai avec mes copains’: Faire grandir le soi possible de chanteurs males chorales Les histoires de trois lycéens sur leurs expériences dans la musique chorale scholastique établissent l’armature d’une discussion sur le rôle des enseignants de musique pour retenir les jeunes chanteurs. Le paradigme du “soi possible” (Markus & Nurius, 1986) est exploré en parallèle avec des recherches sur les étapes spécifiques du développement des identités des garçons en tant que musiciens de chorale. Les sois possibles sont, au fond, des conceptions du soi de l’avenir qui sont soit positives (ce qu’on souhaiterait) soit négatives (ce qu’on craindrait). La mue vocale d’un adolescent se produit au moment où il expérimente de grands changements physiques, sociaux, et académiques. On pense que ces problèmes, quand ils coïncident, découragent les garçons de participer à la chorale (Freer, 2007). Utilisant une modélisation non-musicale réussie, l’écrivain propose une variation sur le “Programme de sois possibles” (Hock, Deshler, & Schumaker, 2006) pour un espace musical. “Ich will mit meinen Kollegen singen”: Fördern des “Possible Selves” bei männlichen Chorsängern. Die Geschichte von drei Hochschuljungen über ihre Erfahrungen mit Chormusik im Schulunterricht bildet den Rahmen für eine Diskussion über die Rolle die Musikerzieher im Beibehalten von männlichen Sängern spielen. Das “Possible Selves” Konstrukt (Markus & Nurius,1986) wurde erforscht parallel zu den Untersuchungen, basierend auf den Auswirkungen bestimmter Schritte die zur Entwicklung der Identität der Knaben als Chormusiker entwickelt wurden.“Possible Selves” sind zukünftige Konzepte des Selbst, welche entweder positiv (erhoffen) oder negativ (befürchten) sein können. Die sich verändernde, jugendliche männliche Stimme benötigt ungefähr dieselbe Zeitspanne, wie die wichtigen sozialen, akademischen oder andere körperliche Veränderungen .Man nimmt an, diese Themen würden in einer Form zusammen treffen, so dass die Jungens entmutigt werden in der Chormusik mitzuwirken (Freer, 2007). Sich auf ein erfolgreiches, nicht musikalisches Model stützend, schlägt der Autor eine Variante des “Possible Selves” Programmes (Hock, Deshler, & Schumaker, 2006) für den Gebrauch im musikalischen Bereich vor. “Cantaré con mis compañeros”: Promover el yo posible de los cantantes de coro varones Las historias de tres estudiantes de secundaria sobre sus experiencias de canto coral escolares proporcionan el marco para un análisis del rol que los educadores musicales pueden jugar en retener a los cantantes varones. Se explora la construcción del “yo posible” (Markus & Nurius, 1986) junto con las implicaciones basadas en la investigación sobre posibles pasos encaminados a desarrollar las identidades de los chicos como músicos corales. El yo posible es una concepción sobre el yo futuro que puede ser tanto positiva (deseada) o negativa (temida). La muda de voz de los adolescentes varones ocurre aproximadamente al mismo tiempo que otros importantes cambios sociales, escolares y físicos. Se piensa que estas cuestiones coinciden de tal manera que desaniman a los chicos a participar en la música coral (Freer, 2007). Inspirándose en un modelo no-musical exitoso, el autor propone una variante del “Programa para un yo posible” (Hock, Deshler, & Schumaker, 2006) para ser usado en contextos musicales.

Between Research and Practice: How Choral Music Loses Boys in the "Middle"

to join or stay in my choral ~~ groups?&dquo; Just as I was embarking on my teaching career, the Choral Journal published a series of articles in which Leonard Van Camp explored issues facing choral music education in the United States, including a list of reasons for the continued decline in the number of boys who elected to sing in high school choral ensembles. He commented, &dquo;I am convinced that we are, in fact, in the middle of a serious crisis.&dquo;2 Before

Boys’ descriptions of their experiences in choral music

This article centers on the accounts of six boys of their experiences in school choral music. The narrative excerpts are drawn from the stories of boys enrolled at a private school in the southeastern USA. The study sampled three categories of boys: those who have sung continuously, those who sang but later withdrew from choral music, and those who did not sing at all. Analysis of the boys’ broad narratives revealed allusions to components of optimal ‘flow’ experiences identified by Csikszentmihalyi and others. Such ‘flow’ experiences are characterized by high levels of both perceived challenge and perceived skill, a clarity of goals, deep personal involvement and concentration, self-directedness, self-awareness, the receiving of immediate feedback and a lack of awareness concerning time constraints. The report concludes with implications for choral music educators who seek to design pedagogy and rehearsal techniques that enable the emergence of these optimal experiences.

Hearing the Voices of Adolescent Boys in Choral Music: A Self-Story

The techniques of narrative inquiry may provide a framework for investigations of how the social, academic, and musical needs of adolescents can inform the process of teaching choral music in the middle grades. While a burgeoning body of narrative literature illustrates the musical experiences of individuals during instruction, missing from this dialogue are the voices of “marginalized singers”- those who want to participate in choral music but who feel excluded because of perceived ability or other attributions. When teaching strategies do not reflect the changing needs of young adolescent boys, the result can be an experience of frustration and disempowerment; this was the personal experience of the author. The author draws upon his self-story to suggest that listening to the stories of young adolescent boys about their singing experiences may provide a more complete understanding of how success and persistence can be planned for within the choral environment of middle schools.

Developing Musical and Educational Identities in University Music Students

The musical and educational identities of music students are often at odds with one another, and yet teaching plays a role in the working lives of almost all musicians. Similar conflicts arise when music education majors view themselves as either musicians or educators, but not as both. This article reports results from parallel studies in two urban universities, one in Australia and the other in the USA. Seventy-two participants contributed drawings and textual responses on three surveys administered across a semester. Surveys were designed to record emerging perceptions of musician and teacher identities. Results indicated that the musical identity presents first, and that it provides a framework for making relevant the pedagogical techniques and theoretical models encountered in education courses and initial fieldwork. The combination of textual and non-textual data provided insights that would not otherwise have been evident, including the suggestion that emerging music teachers construct their identities consistent with the ‘possible selves’ model of development.

Teacher instructional language and student experience in middle school choral rehearsals

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between teacher language use and student quality of experience during choral rehearsals. Particularly at the middle school level, few data exist about the ways in which instructional discourse during rehearsals affects student experience. Existing research suggests the use of instructional scaffolding as effective in enhancing student learning and experience, but this had not been previously investigated during music rehearsals. The language of two teachers during 20 rehearsals was recorded and examined for evidence of instructional scaffolding and sequential units of instruction; student self-reports of affect, challenge and skill were correlated with the teachers’ language. Students reported higher levels of challenge and skill (often referred to as ‘flow experience’) during rehearsals with greater use of scaffolding language. Analysis suggests that a strong positive relationship exists between teachers’ use scaffolding language, complete sequential units of instruction, and quality of student experience during middle school choral rehearsals.

Focus on Scaffolding Language and Sequential Units during Choral Instruction.

The purpose of the study reported in this article was to investigate the instructional discourse of two middle school choral music teachers videotaped during a total of 24 classroom visits. The findings indicate that teacher attention to complete sequential units of instruction (teacher presentation, student interaction, teacher feedback) may encourage the employment of scaffolding language (language that supports student learning). A focus on scaffolding language corresponded to a decrease in the completion of sequential units of instruction. Choral teachers seeking to foster a constructivist-oriented rehearsal environment may find it advantageous to focus attention on the completion of sequential units of instruction. Similarly, teachers of collegiate methods classes may wish to draw students’ attention to complete sequential units as a precursor to exploring the application of constructivist theory to ensemble rehearsal technique.

An Instructional Approach for Improving the Writing of Literature Reviews

The authors engaged in a team-teaching approach to foster improvements in the writing and evaluation of scholarly literature reviews by their graduate students in music education. A focal point of the semester-long project was the analysis and public critique of each authors dissertation literature review by the other author, using a variant of a rubric for evaluating literature reviews by Boote and Beile. Students further refined the rubric by evaluating literature reviews in current music education journals and then used the rubric to guide their own writing. Student reflections and responses were gathered through questionnaires and interviews, with indications that the process had a twofold effect: (a) improved skills in conceptualizing, writing, and analyzing literature reviews and (b) increased collegiality as students perceived their instructors as peer scholars.

Perspectives of European Boys about Their Voice Change and School Choral Singing: Developing the Possible Selves of Adolescent Male Singers.

This article reports analysis of interviews with 85 boys from England, Greece, Ireland and Spain about the voice change, school singing and choral music instruction. Consistent, former and self-described non-singers were included. Data suggest consistency with much of the existing narrative literature about the experience of voice change. Unique topics included a sense of identity loss during voice change. Issues related to gender and sexuality-based bullying were explored. Boys offered numerous recommendations for teachers, including that teachers focus on vocal technique specific to male changing voices. Boys’ comments suggested a pattern of identity development consistent with the Possible Selves construct. This suggests that teachers can support adolescent male singers by addressing specific issues at specific points in a boys process of voice change and identity development.