ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Gesture as a Tool of Communication in the Teaching of Singing
Author: Nafsi, Julia
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teaching Styles,Singing,Teaching Methods,Nonverbal Communication,Music Education,Interpersonal Communication,Video Technology,Observation,Concept Formation,Classification

This article investigates the use of gesture as a pedagogic tool in the one-to-one singing lesson. A brief overview of the main approaches of vocal pedagogy exhibits the longstanding dispute between advocates of a purely factual teaching style and defenders of a more imaginative one and shows that imagery and metaphors have long played a role in the teaching of singing. Arguing that gestures are a vital part of human communication and have the capacity to visualize, illustrate and simplify complex matters the author suggests that they might also be used as pedagogic tools in the singing studio. A video recorded observation of a number of Conservatorium level singing lessons, given by five different teachers, was carried out in order to clarify if gestures were used in the communication of singing related concepts, if these concepts could be identified and if the gestures could be categorized according to their pedagogic intent? An analysis of the obtained video footage found that gestures were a vital tool for communicating singing related concepts and that the observed gestures could be categorized according to the concepts they communicated into "Physiological", "Sensation-related" and "Musical Gestures". (Contains 5 notes.)
Trauma-Related Dissociation as a Factor Affecting Musicians' Memory for Music: Some Possible Solutions
Author: Swart, Inette
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Qualitative Research,Intervention,Eye Movements,Musicians,Short Term Memory,Human Body,Therapy,Trauma,Music,Symptoms (Individual Disorders),Cognitive Processes,Physical Activities,Role,Hypnosis

An investigation of the influence of trauma on musicians revealed concentration and memory problems as two of the most common symptoms hampering the performance of affected individuals. In many instances where the causes of these problems were related to trauma sequelae, these could clearly be linked to dissociative symptoms. The following sequence of topics is discussed: the nature of memory function in the musician; optimal performance and focus; trauma and dissociation and the resultant ways in which it interferes with memory. The effects of trauma on the unconscious mind, nature of associations, working memory, as well as similarity of states of optimal concentration and pathological dissociation are discussed to enhance understanding of how trauma sequelae can, theoretically, negatively affect musicians' memory. Observations of teachers as gleaned from an extensive qualitative research survey, including that of students as well as teachers' self-reports, are discussed, and narratives of three musicians participating as case studies explicated and compared to the literature. In the search for effective solutions, promising intervention strategies are identified. These include Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprogramming, Eye Movement Integration, hypnosis, body therapies, and the role of movement. Some suggestions for further research are made. (Contains 5 notes and 1 figure.)
Dalcroze Eurhythmics: Interaction in Australia in the 1920s
Author: Pope, Joan
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Music Education,Physical Education,Teaching Methods,Movement Education,Educational History,Music Teachers,Foreign Countries

Although musical, rhythmical and aural training aspects are at the heart of the Dalcroze approach it was physical educators rather than music educators in Australia who showed more interest. Lillian Mills and Ella Gormley, inaugural supervisors of physical training in WA and NSW respectively, contributed to the awareness of its benefits. Curiously, no similar initiatives have been found linking Dalcroze Eurhythmics and music supervisors in State Education Departments, although several musicians spoke highly of it. Lindley Evans, following a demonstration he observed at Frensham School in 1920, thought that for young people contemplating musical study it would be invaluable. Professor J. J. Findlay, of Manchester University, asserted that if the child learned &quot;to embody music and thus unite in one subject of the curriculum all that is needed at this stage for physical training, voice and ear training, musical notation and the delight of song,&quot; a universal reform in the curriculum of young children would be achieved. In the &quot;Australian Musical News&quot; of 1923, Thorold Waters feared that &quot;as in Australia music still has to beg to be fully admitted into education it will not be easy for it [the Jaques-Dalcroze system] to find a way past the barriers of official stupidity.&quot; What might Waters have commented eighty-five years further later?
Musical Futures in Victoria
Author: Jeanneret, Neryl
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Music Education,Informal Education,Music,Musicians,Foreign Countries,Music Teachers,Teaching Methods,Futures (of Society),Program Descriptions,Case Studies,Interviews,Program Implementation

Musical Futures is a music learning program that was established in the United Kingdom in 2003. It aims to make secondary classroom music more relevant to young people through engaging them in the informal learning practices of real world musicians, recognising that the way in which popular musicians learn is quite different from the pedagogy of the traditional music classroom. This article reports on research that investigated the impact of the Musical Futures approach on music teachers and students in ten pilot government schools in Victoria, Australia (including a primary school). The research replicated aspects of the Hallam, Creech and McQueen (2010) UK research and data was collected through a survey of the teachers and two case study schools where the teachers and students were interviewed. After only two terms of implementation, the impact of the program on both the teachers and the students has been quite profound. (Contains 13 tables.)
Recognizing and Utilizing Queer Pedagogy: A Call for Teacher Education to Reconsider the Knowledge Base on Sexual Orientation for Teacher Education Programs
Author: Zacko-Smith, Jeffrey D.
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Social Justice,Teacher Education,Teacher Effectiveness,Teacher Education Programs,Student Attitudes,Negative Attitudes,Sexual Orientation,Cultural Pluralism,Homosexuality,Teaching Methods,Stereotypes

In order to teach effectively in hyper-diverse contexts, if effective teaching is considered to be the creation of knowledge, the transmission of ideas, and the "growing" of human beings intellectually, morally and socially, educators at all levels, but particularly those who are new to the field, must be well-versed in multiculturalism and diversity. They must also be unafraid to immerse themselves in the world as it concurrently unfolds and evolves around them. Educators must also accept their role as mentors who help to define reality for those they are educating, and they must commit to redefining that reality as dictated by demands for social justice and equity. To ignore these continually emerging requirements means that educators will quickly become outdated and ineffective at best, and damaging and socially unjust at worst, neither of which are acceptable outcomes for those who are truly committed to the profession. This article aims to supplement and update Knowledge Base 12: Gender and Sexual Orientation, bringing it in line with what can only be described as a continually evolving understanding of gender, gender-identity, and sexual orientation. During the past 20 years the issue of sexual orientation has been widely discussed and studied; rights for gays and lesbians have increased and attitudes have become quite a bit more progressive and accepting. In addition, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning (LGBTQ) population, and their accompanying issues, have become more prominent and "mainstream," thanks to a level of "legitimacy" lent to them through the popular media and the internet. However, despite these generally positive developments, many young people still feel some hesitation when participating in discussions that revolve around homosexuality and/or sexual orientation. And, while the association between sexual orientation and school has progressed toward being one of tolerance and/or acceptance, it is still evident that educational contexts significantly contribute to the perpetuation of stereotypes and negative attitudes towards LGBTQ students. Educators are responsible, at least in part, for helping to counter these socially unjust understandings, helping to define and redefine students' attitudes regarding sexuality, gender, and sexual orientation. Incorporating Queer Theory into the knowledge base on sexual orientation for teacher education programs is one more step towards achieving schools that celebrate differences rather than using them as tools of oppression and violence, recognizing that nature provides people with all the diversity that is required for them to thrive if they accept each other unconditionally and with grace. (Contains 7 notes.)
Representations of Native Americans in Elementary School Social Studies: A Critical Look at Instructional Language
Author: Mason, Michele R.
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Language Usage,United States History,Metalinguistics,American Indians,Language of Instruction,Social Environment,Grade 4,Grade 5,Teacher Educators,Social Studies,Elementary School Students,National Standards,Power Structure,Primary Sources

This article draws attention to the language used by fourth and fifth grade teachers during social studies instruction and discusses the implications of how this language frames non-dominant groups, as in this case. Via the discussion of segments of instructional conversations, the authors point to the pervasive use of language that perpetuates stereotypes and biased representations of Native American history. To frame the analysis, they discuss three different perspectives. First, they summarize the literature on "Otherness," particularly, how the "Other" is constructed: (1) through language; (2) in Western history; and (3) in classroom discourse. Second, they share information about the Critical Language Awareness movement rooted in the United Kingdom. This body of work is concerned with the relationship between language and social context, particularly educators' awareness of how ideology and power structures inherent in language play out during daily school routines. In addition, the authors highlight the National Social Studies Standards' focus on helping students construct a pluralist perspective based on diversity. They argue that by carefully examining the talk that transpires in classroom discussions, they can have a window into how knowledge, identity, social positioning, and value systems are constructed by teachers and students. The article ends with a list of specific suggestions for educators and teacher educators regarding language awareness, primary sources, and the importance of using balanced and comprehensive historical perspectives. (Contains 3 tables.)
Decolonizing Teaching: A Cross-Curricular and Collaborative Model for Teaching about Race in the University
Author: St. Clair, Darlene
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Ethnic Studies,Multicultural Education,Course Content,Cultural Pluralism,Models,Race,Higher Education

Teaching about race in college settings began in the 1960s and 1970s when Ethnic Studies and other race-specific programs emerged as a response to the absence of histories and perspectives of people of color in academia. However, there have been challenges to this inclusion of discussions of race in the curriculum. For example, the teaching about diversity and multiculturalism that occurred in the late 1980s were apolitical and ahistorical conceptions of multiculturalism. The authors suggest that an accommodationist teaching of multiculturalism benefits "corporatized academies" in a way that evades discussions of inequalities created by, for example, capitalism. They also argue that there exists a danger of a ghettoization or compartmentalization of race in college curricula. In addition, the existence of Ethnic Studies may be perceived as permission for other disciplines to avoid the discussions of race. Furthermore, colleges and universities are co-opting this course content and transforming it into "diversity" and "multiculturalism" that dodges the challenging issues including White privilege, institutional racism, social position and oppression. This model of multiculturalism also puts forward the common stance of colorblindness as a response to racism that the authors continue to struggle against. This article discusses a cross-curricular and collaborative model for teaching race at St. Cloud State University that resists the compartmentalization and co-optation of classes that teach about race. (Contains 2 figures and 1 note.)
Crossing Cultures: Considering Ethnotheory in Teacher Thinking and Practices
Author: Eberly, Jody L.
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Focus Groups,Faculty Development,Professional Personnel,Models,Parent Teacher Cooperation,Cultural Pluralism,Family School Relationship,Cultural Differences,Surveys,Beliefs,Cultural Influences,Intercultural Communication,Child Rearing

Society is becoming more and more culturally diverse. Schools are no exception. This poses a unique set of challenges for establishing meaningful home-school relations. Given the fact that the home and the school may represent two different cultures, families and schools may not share the same vision with regard to how children should be educated and who is primarily responsible for their education. Open and honest communication between teachers and parents can help establish common understandings and expectations about facilitating learning and development of children. Establishing effective communication is even more critical when parents and schools come from different cultures. The ultimate goal of the authors' multiphase research project was to impact teachers' knowledge and dispositions in a manner that would lead to more culturally responsive teacher-parent interactions. This was envisioned in terms of developing a professional development program for teachers and professional staff. The development of this program evolved over three phases of research. In the first phase of the study, through the means of a survey, the authors explored the teachers' knowledge and beliefs about how culture influences learning and their current practices of interacting with parents. To further probe the teachers' thinking and practices, focus groups were conducted during the second phase. These focus groups generated comprehensive information that provided a strong foundation for designing a professional development program for teachers and professional staff to enable them to work effectively with parents from cultures different from their own during the third phase. This article critically evaluates the effectiveness of all three phases of the authors' research in terms of its methodology and findings. Research indicates that dispositions can be challenging to change, but some success has been found through coursework activities, clinical experiences, modeling by professors and mentors, discussion forums, and the use of teaching cases. In this article, the authors describe each phase of the research in terms of its objectives, methods, and findings. The article concludes with the authors' discussion of the effectiveness of their professional development in terms of examining and extending teachers' understanding, attitudes, and dispositions towards working with families in ways that are culturally responsive.
Children's Struggles with the Writing Process: Exploring Storytelling, Visual Arts, and Keyboarding to Promote Narrative Story Writing
Author: Dunn, Michael W.
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Story Grammar,Visual Arts,Spelling,Sentence Structure,Writing Processes,Writing Instruction,Story Telling,Psychomotor Skills,Memory,Elementary School Students,Art Products,Computer Software,Writing (Composition),Writing Workshops,Teaching Methods

Composing text is an essential skill for students. Assignments, tests, and emailing are a few examples of the many tasks which require students to generate thoughts and put them into prose. For many students, choosing a topic, creating an outline, generating an initial draft, and making edits to produce a final copy is a fluid process which poses minimal difficulty. For students who struggle with composing text, the writing process can be an arduous challenge which often results in frustration and a final copy which is lower in quality than standards dictate. To produce a publishable story that fits the expectations of logical sequence of events that move forward through the conventions of rising action to crisis and climax and final resolution, students need to demonstrate command of writing practices such as idea generation, grammar, paragraphing, and story structure. Students who struggle with writing often experience difficulty with how to plan a story. Although the teacher may have provided one or even a few examples, this is probably insufficient for students who have had little or no past success in the writing process. Not knowing how to create a story plan impedes the writing process because the required characters, locations, descriptions, and sequence of events need to be presented cohesively so as to demonstrate the idea of story structure and to hold the reader's interest. Beginning writers may have ideas to include in a story plan yet struggle with the demanding task of the visual-motor integration process of manuscript printing or handwriting and, therefore, have little mental energy to retain or develop their story ideas. The brain's memory and motor functions must work in tandem to help the student define the words to be written in a logical order, with correct spelling, and to convey the intended meaning and ideas. Even with a good idea and plan, a student's lack of knowledge about proper sentence structure and syntax can hinder the creation of fluid and elaborate text. The result is a strenuous editing task where the student's interest can wane and leave the potentially strong composition in a stage of illegibility. The student may be able to note ideas but not in a way that conveys the story to the reader. This article describes a study that explores how elementary-age students, after reviewing a published story example, employed the use of art and writing-assistance software in planning and composing their own narrative text. (Contains 3 tables.)
Reconstructing Multicultural Education through Personal Story: Transcending the Essentialist/Relativist Dichotomy
Author: Lake, Robert
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Race,Multicultural Education,Social Sciences,Individual Differences,Cultural Pluralism,Statistical Data,Cultural Influences,Personal Narratives,Norms

Like so many other concepts in education, multiculturalism is a term that has lost its potency because of miseducative examples that serve to maintain Whiteness as the cultural norm. At first it offered great promise, but now as a "social science" quite often one is just exchanging one type of essentialism for another. The "packet" approach that lumps all the people under one racial, ethnic, or religious heading, as a way to learn about other cultures, is an example of this. The demographics of the United States are rapidly changing. If the fallacy of Whiteness as the "normal" background is to be kept in place, it will require an even greater propagation of historical and cultural "White lies" than what already exists in the present. Challenging the myth of a racial norm of any kind must be a vital and ongoing part of the field of education and one of the best ways to approach this is through personal stories. Every human is unique. Each one is the product of their own biological and cultural journey, with a unique schemata and capacity for personal and public ways of knowing, being, and self-expression. Both essentialism and extreme relativism miss the mark insofar as offering an adequate representation of personal signature and voice. When applied to identity, essentialism refers to "the notion that individual groups have an immutable and discoverable "essence"--a basic, unvariable, and presocial nature." The most obvious examples are categories of race, class, and gender. The concept of ethnicity breaks things down further, but still comes short of a full account of individual difference and personal story. Extreme relativism, on the other hand, treats biological differences as a socially constructed myth, and personal identity as a completely fluid concept. The inner landscape of each human is as varied as his or her outward physical features, and is the result of both genetic and cultural influences. It is through the power of personal story that people are able to move out of the essentialist/relativist dichotomy, out of abstraction and into the domain where each individual path of experience is incomparable and immeasurable in one aspect, but also universal in terms of sharing human life. It is one's personal story that provides the dynamic of teaching and learning. Students are more likely to notice ways of knowing for which one is passionate, that generate motivation to move beyond every barrier, into personal and public spaces of being. The author contends that true multicultural education is so much more than a social science. It is a release from inarticulate stasis through metaphoric connections expressed in personal story.
Beyond the Textbook: Building Relationships between Teachers and Diversely-Structured Families
Author: Norris, Katherine E. L.
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Preservice Teacher Education,Teacher Education Programs,Textbooks,Perspective Taking,Public Education,Family School Relationship,Cultural Pluralism,Teaching Methods,Family Structure,Discussion

It has been no secret that today's schools are faced with many challenges. U.S. schools are struggling with low test scores, high drop-out rates, and unequal quality public education. These schools are also struggling to meet the needs of an ever changing population of students. The changing demographics in schools present challenges to teachers and administrators. In addition to working to improve grades, schools are faced with the challenge of building relationships with families to ensure that the needs of all students are met. Schools that strive to create better learning environments for children strive to empower "all" parents--not just ones from traditional families. In order to build successful schools it becomes crucial for schools to build partnerships with diverse families. Teacher education programs have the unique challenge of training students interested in becoming teachers (pre-service teachers) to build partnerships with "all" families including those from diverse structures. Many who teach pre-service teachers struggle with ways to go beyond the textbook with the goal of providing quality, memorable learning experiences for their students. This article describes a project that examines the effectiveness of moving beyond the textbook and bringing families and pre-service students face-to-face in an effort to begin to build a much needed understanding and to allow for perspective taking. Results proved that the panel discussion format is a powerful tool that can be used to teach pre-service teachers to appreciate and respect diverse family structures. More than a lecture or reading a book, the panel discussion allowed students to actually meet the families and hear their true life stories. This hands-on strategy allowed students to hear and understand the perspectives of others and to appreciate the differences.