I gave this presentation at the National Take A Stand Festival and Conference in July 2018 on culturally responsive pedagogy in classical music. The central message is that our approach to diversifying classical music has not been one of true integration, in which the aesthetic values of diverse communities form a unified whole. Culturally responsive pedagogy offers a potential solution to this issue but requires further research and study by music educators.

1. Aesthetics, Assimilation vs.
Integration, and Culturally
Responsive Pedagogy

2. A Thesis Regarding the Aesthetics of Classical Music:
• The aesthetics of the production, consumption,
and pedagogy of classical music do not resonate
with many members of communities of color. . .
•. . . because we approach the diversification of
classical music as a project of assimilation, and
not integration
•Culturally responsive pedagogy provides a
method to integrate classical music through an
equitable approach rather than merely
assimilating students of color

3. Key Terms & Concepts
•Assimilation versus Integration
•Aesthetics
•Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

4. Definition of Terms: Assimilation vs Integration
•Assimilation:
• To absorb into the cultural tradition of a group; to make
similar
•Integration:
• To form, coordinate, or blend into a functioning or unified
whole;
• To end the segregation of and bring into equal membership
in society

5. Aesthetics are. . .
• Technically, a branch of philosophy
• Generally concerned with judgments of “beauty” –
• “A set of ideas or opinions about beauty or art” (Merriam-Webster)
• A set of principles concerned with the nature and appreciation of beauty”
(OED)
• “A view to establishing the meaning and validity of critical judgments
concerning works of art, and the principles underlying such judgments” –
dictionary.com

6. Definition of Terms
•Culturally Responsive Pedagogy:
• Came out of anthropology research developed in the 1980s and 1990s in
Native American and Hawaiian populations
• Defined by Cathie Jordan (1985), From Ethnographic Information to
Educational Program:
• “Educational practices must match with the [student’s] culture in ways
which ensure the generation of academically important behaviors. It
does not mean that all school practices need be completely congruent
with natal cultural practices. . .the point of cultural compatibility is that
the natal culture is used as a guide in the selection of educational
program elements so that academically desired behaviors are produced
and undesired behaviors are avoided.”

7. Aesthetics of Classical Music
• In the qualitative judgments of playing, standard values include:
• Judgment of intonation – corresponding to not only the Western scale but
a particular, modern conception of it (just vs equal temperament; A = 440
or higher)
• Consistent bowing & phrasing vs improvised bowing & phrasing
• Implicit understanding of “square” rhythmic motives (vs swing)
• Beat/motor flexibility, primacy of harmonic/melodic movement (vs groove)
• “Clean” playing
• Improvisation vs planned performance; emphasis on memorization, not
just of a tune but of every aspect of performance

8. Aesthetics of Performance and Pedagogy
• Aside from judgments of musical quality: many additional
expectations of the performer and pedagogical style
conform to a White, American/Eurocentric, normative
(and heteronormative) standard, including. . .
• The expected mode of engagement with the performer is alien for
audience member from cultures in which a more robust interaction is
customary between performers and audiences
• The type of dress that audience members are expected to wear conforms
to White, American/Eurocentric, upper-class normative standards
• Standard one-on-one method of instruction – similar to “master craftsman
– journeyman” model from Middle Ages. Emphasis on individual work. Not
resonant with community-oriented cultures

9. Aesthetics of Performance and Pedagogy
• The architecture, décor, and type of amenities offered in the concert hall
conform to White, American/Eurocentric, upper-class normative
standards
• The pricing of tickets and amenities has the effect of excluding lower-
and middle-income audiences
• The vocabulary typically employed in music criticism and program notes
is in regular use only among the highly educated (if that) and does not
match the vocabulary/vernacular accepted among many communities of
color
• When symphony halls host events intended to cater to communities of
color or lower/middle-income audiences, members of those communities
are not always made to feel welcome

10. Integrative/Culturally Responsive Pedagogy – Cultural
Deficit & Deprivation vs. Cultural Differences
• Cultural Deficit/Deprivation Theory: Popular way in the mid-20th
century to explain academic underperformance by minority group
members by ascribing it to limited cultural capital in the home
• Cultural Difference Theory:
“Disparities between the school culture and the home and
community cultures of low-income students and students of color
are an important factor in academic achievement.”
• Culturally Responsive Teaching:
“A pedagogy that empowers students intellectually, socially,
emotionally, and politically by using cultural referents to impart
knowledge, skills, and attitudes.”

11. Integrative/Culturally Responsive Pedagogy –
Core Principles
•Drs. Tyrone Howard and Clarence Terry note
five key principles of a culturally responsive
pedagogy:
1. The eradication of deficit-based ideologies of culturally
diverse students
2. Disrupting the idea that Eurocentric or middle class
forms of discourse, knowledge, language, culture, and
historical interpretation are normative
3. A critical consciousness and sociopolitical awareness
that reflects an ongoing commitment to challenging
injustice and disrupting inequities and oppression of
any groups of people

12. Integrated/Culturally Responsive Pedagogy –
Core Principles
4. Recognition of the complexity of culture, in which
educators allow students to use their personal culture. .
.to enhance their quest for educational excellence
5. An authentic and culturally informed notion of care for
students, wherein their academic, social, emotional,
psychological, and cultural well-being are promoted
*Critical Note*:
These culturally responsive elements must not simply be “add-
ons/additive”, adding to what’s there, but should be
transformative. Or, whatever is “additive” must be respected as
being of equal status – or even centralized

13. Culturally Responsive Pedagogy –
Community vs Individual Orientation
• Emphasize communal orientation:
• Research into the academic performance of African-American students in
4th and 5th grade indicates significant improvement for those in a
communal learning context (Boykin et al., 2004)
• Training in large and small groups
• Parents and caregivers as essential partners; must generate buy-in and
maintain constant communication and contact
• Keep culturally relevant performers and composers front and
center rather than adjacent
• Centralize musicological narratives that are currently “alternative”
or “adjacent”

14. Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Example –
Handel and the Royal African Company
• G. F. Handel was born in 1685 in Halle, Germany; settled in London
in 1712, later becoming a naturalized British citizen
• Was one of the principal investors in the Royal African Company
and also invested in the South Sea Company, Britain’s two main
slave trading companies during the 18th century

15. Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Example –
Handel and the Royal African Company
• Recently-discovered logs show Handel’s signature for transfer and
sale of company stock
• Around the time of the composition of Water Music, on his
encouragement, the board of the Royal Academy of Music invested
with RAC
• Handel used the capital and interest accumulated from these
investments to cover the losses of his opera and oratorio seasons,
implying that he was able to fund his operas in London – the basis
of most of his fame – by profiting from the slave trade
• Question for consideration: Just as many opera companies in Israel do
not perform Wagner – is it not legitimate for members of the Black
community to object to performing operas by Handel?

16. What Might Integration Look Like…
•In the concert hall and on stage?
•https://youtu.be/NEs8yqhavtI?t=20
•Gustavo Dudamel conducting the Simon Bolivar Youth
Orchestra in Caracas in a performance of Bernstein’s
“Mambo”

17. Integrated/Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: El
Sistema
Part of El Sistema’s success should be attributed to its cultural
responsiveness to the culture in which it was first created and
implemented.
• Because elements of El Sistema will certainly resonate with
students from other backgrounds, it is a useful framework from
which to build.
• Additionally, no single pedagogy that is culturally responsive to the
needs of one community of color could possibly be equally
responsive to the needs of other distinct communities of color; this
is the nature and definition of cultural distinctiveness.

18. Culturally Responsive Pedagogy –
Stereotype Threat
• Coined by Dr. Claude Steele and Dr. Josh Aaronson in 1995
• Refers to underperformance caused by anxiety attributed to threat
of confirming a negative stereotype about one’s group
• Has been tested & verified in multiple domains, including African-
American performance on verbal tasks; female performance on
math tasks; and white male performance in basketball

19. Culturally Responsive Pedagogy – Stereotype
Threat

20. Culturally Responsive Pedagogy – Stereotype
Threat
• How might stereotype threat affect teachers and students?
• Students who do not fit the stereotypical profile of a classical musician
may underperform on musical tasks
• Being exposed to role models in a relevant domain (classical music) who
are of the same minority group has been shown to improve performance
and eliminate stereotype threat

21. Culturally Responsive Pedagogy – Implicit Bias
• We use this term to describe when we have attitudes towards
people or associate stereotypes with them without our conscious
knowledge.
• Most obvious example is the (unconscious association) of African-
Americans and other people of color with criminal behavior, even
among those who believe themselves to be unbiased
• Less obvious examples feed into stereotype threat; do we
unconsciously communicate to students a lesser/different
expectation of accomplishment based on our implicit associations
with their identity?

22. Culturally Responsive Pedagogy – Implicit Bias
• How might implicit bias affect teachers and students?
• Assumptions that certain students have limited general ability or a ceiling
on their achievement (and assumption that certain students have more
potential)
• Assumptions that certain students should naturally be good at certain
musical tasks
• Assumptions about student conduct and discipline

23. Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: ANIM

24. Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: ANIM

25. Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
for Your Students
• A critical element is to centralize the cultural narrative of your
students, both historically and aesthetically.
• Use popular examples in Aural Skills & Theory classes
• Teach hip-hop etudes for rhythm
• Introduction of groove music; ability to play steadily in time as opposed to
rhythmic cells
• Introduction of tools related to improvisation

26. Culturally Responsive Pedagogy - Repertoire
• Centralize works by composers whose heritage and aesthetic
reflects students’ values and communities
• Daniel Bernard Roumain (hip hop aesthetic)
• William Grant Still, William Levi Dawson,
Florence Price, Nathaniel Dett
(spiritual/folk aesthetic)

27. Culturally Responsive Pedagogy - Repertoire
• Coleridge Taylor-Perkinson, David Baker, Patrice Rushen (jazz/blues
aesthetic)

28. Culturally Responsive Pedagogy - Performers
• Familiarize students with performers whose heritage and aesthetic
reflects students’ backgrounds and communities
• Black Violin –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYerKidQGcc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2V1jwERH2o
The Harlem Quartet
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b782KW-V5z4

29. Thank You!