“I Didn’t Know I Could do That!” Student and Teacher Perceptions of an Independent Choral Music Learning Project

Through the use of an intrinsic case study, I investigated student and teacher perceptions of a collaborative and student-directed music learning approach in a high school choral classroom. Students ( N = 29) in a beginning high school choir were asked to choose and learn a piece of repertoire without substantive input or help from the choral teacher. Results indicated that students completed this project successfully and achieved a well-received public performance of the piece. Students reported a strong sense of accomplishment as well as increased collaboration skills and opportunities to apply their music knowledge. Although students and teacher acknowledged some social conflicts and relatively high levels of social loafing and off-task behavior during this project, these challenges did not seem to reduce the overall perception of success.

The Search for Meaning

This chapter explores research findings that the brain more easily remembers information it deems useful, relevant, or meaningful. In addition, the brain will pay particular attention to information containing emotional content. The neural mechanisms underlying emotion, motivation, and learning intertwine. The author shares various exercises to take advantage of this aspect of brain function, encouraging singers to find meaning and relevance to their own lives in the texts and music they perform. While perhaps difficult to achieve in an algebra class, the choral classroom provides an ideal environment to encourage an emotional connection to learning by encouraging singers to develop backstories and a deep personal understanding of the texts they sing. Humor is included in the range of emotions that will help encode memories and can be another useful tool in rehearsal.

Finding the Trans Voice: A Review of the Literature on Accommodating Transgender Singers

Conversations surrounding transgender students are beginning to appear in the nation’s schools. In recent years, experts in the fields of music education and vocal pedagogy have shared their experiences and research on transgender issues in the choral classroom and private lessons. Studies focused on transgender issues in choral music education have yielded inconsistent results. While some have shown music educators to be supportive and accommodating, others have shown a gap in educator knowledge of transgender issues. Vocal pedagogues have had the unique opportunity to work closely with transgender singers one-on-one. Their work is highly transferable to a choral classroom setting. This review of literature synthesizes the work of choral conductors and private voice instructors with the narratives of transgender singers to provide implications for educators and a direction for future research.

The Effect of a Peer Mentorship Program on Perceptions of Success in Choral Ensembles: Pairing Students With and Without Disabilities

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of a peer mentorship program on students’ perceptions of comfort, skills obtained, and feelings of success while working with a peer with dissimilar abilities. The participants ( N = 14), enrolled in choral ensemble classes, were divided into two groups: the peer mentors ( n = 7), who were typically developing students, and the peer mentees ( n = 7), who were students with disabilities who had an individualized education program. The researchers created a pretest–posttest survey, and all questions were measured using a 5-point Likert-type scale. Peer mentee self-perceptions of success in the choral classroom revealed slight negative changes from the beginning to the end of the program. However, while some did not want to continue in the program for music skill acquisition, they all indicated a desire to remain in their peer pair for social reasons.