Sandra L. Stauffer

Narrative Inquiry in Music Education: Toward ResonantWork

Narrative inquiry is evolving in music education and in the social sciences. In some respects, scholars engaged in narrative in music education have grown, collectively, beyond the turns described in the first chapter and have metamorphosed into a community of narrative inquirers. Narrative has been used in music education dissertations and other studies. Two international conferences addressing Narrative Inquiry in Music Education have been held. Narrative pieces have been published in the professions research journals and in this book. Narrative studies are in progress as we write and read these words. Music education researchers who use narrative have found resonance with colleagues in other disciplines, as well as spaces and places where narrative can flourish (Pinnegar&Daynes, 2007).

Resonant Work: Toward an Ethic of Narrative Research

Narrative inquirers, as do all engaged in research, assume a particular ontological and epistemological stance that underpins their work. Narrative inquirers in education frequently ground their work in an ontology of experience. While experience figures prominently in the history of philosophy and to a lesser extent in educational research, the view of experience that is foundational to narrative inquiry in a preponderance of extant educational research derives from the pragmatic philosophy of John Dewey. One of the central premises drawn from Dewey is that “experience is the fundamental ontological category from which all inquiry—narrative or otherwise—proceeds” (Clandinin and Rosiek 2007, p. 39). For narrative inquirers, experience is regarded as both the essence of being and the source of knowing. In other words, how and what we understand ourselves, and the world, to be are embedded and embodied in experience.

Placing Curriculum in Music

One of the purposes of The MayDay Group is to engage music educators and others in examination, critique, and reconceptualization of music education practices, including matters of curriculum. Generally, the word “curriculum” implies a course of study or the elements of a subject or domain. Study of curriculum may include analyses of the ways in which programs of study are constructed, examinations of goals, and interrogations of why and how curricular decisions are made. The MayDay Group, in its statement of action ideals, moves the conversation about curriculum toward consideration of social contexts, examination of institutional priorities, and critique of standards documents, among other concerns. The signatories of the original MayDay Group “action ideals” advise that curriculum “must be guided by a sound philosophical process,” which “should precede considerations of teaching and research techniques, methods, materials and assessment” (MayDay Group 1997, pp. xxxi–xxxvii, this volume).

Peer Mentoring in a University Music Methods Class.

The purpose of this study was to investigate undergraduates’ perceptions of peer mentoring and the impact of peer mentoring in a music teacher preparation course. The following questions were included: What knowledge and abilities do students bring to the peer mentoring process? How do students perceive their roles as teachers and learners in the peer mentoring experiences? How do the students benefit, if at all, from peer mentoring experiences? Students participated in four planned peer mentoring experiences; an unanticipated, informal mode of peer mentoring emerged during large-group teaching experiences. Analysis revealed that student perceptions of and comfort levels with peer mentoring varied as their roles as teacher or learner changed. Findings suggest that students use prior music and teaching knowledge when engaged in peer mentoring and their enactment of teaching roles varied depending on the structure of peer mentoring episodes. Benefits to students included increased awareness of themselves as teachers and enhanced comfort with providing and receiving critique.

Another Perspective Re-Placing Music Education

The core music education narrative is a powerful story firmly established in the public imagination as well as in the profession. Core narratives develop over time and create a sense of epistemological certainty that is resistant to change. In other words, the power and persistence of a core narrative can become problematic through limiting the kinds of stories that are told and heard. What would it mean to re-frame the core narrative of music teaching and learning and re-place music education into more vibrant, open, collaborative both/and spaces that include more than the place of school?

The Risks of Stress

The Study Students at risk are those whose chances for success are limited by the social or economic conditions or personal circumstances of their lives. During the last decade, media attention has brought the stories of at-risk students to the attention of the public, and the term “at risk” has become part of education jargon. In an article in the Spring-Summer 1990 issue of Update , Martha Mead Giles examines music education and music therapy research that has implications for teachers who work with at-risk students.