Gender and Sexuality SRIG Accepted Proposals
Dr. Bonnie Schaffhauser Jacobi Dr. Nicholas McBride Judas Emmanuel Rosas-Ruelas Dr. Jason M. Silveira
2018 NAfME Music Research and Teacher Education National Conference
March 22 – 24, 2018 in Atlanta, GA.
Gender and Sexuality SRIG
Dr. Colleen Pinar, Chair
Dr. Patrick K. Freer, Chair-Elect
Accepted Proposals (In alphabetical order by author)
Singing within Social Traditions of Rope-Jumping, Top-Spinning, and Hoop Rolling at Mount Holyoke College 1900-1928: Before Women Could Major in Music
Dr. Bonnie Schaffhauser Jacobi
On Stage, Off and In between: Negotiating gay identity and teacher identity in the choral classroom.
Dr. Nicholas McBride
Transvocality and Transgender Identity Formation in the Context of Choral Education
Judas Emmanuel Rosas-Ruelas
Perspectives of a Transgender Music Education Student
Dr. Jason M. Silveira
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Bonnie Schaffhauser Jacobi is associate professor of Music Education at Colorado State University. For twenty-one years, she has been a music education specialist teaching students of all ages throughout Fla., Mass., N.J., and Texas. She has directed thirteen children's choirs that have performed at professional venues such as the Houston Ballet, the Houston Symphony, and Miami City Ballet. In 2008, she founded the Meadows Community Youth Chorus in Dallas for elementary-aged children without music in their schools.
Dr. Jacobi holds music degrees from the University of Houston (D.M.A. in Music Education), the University of Texas at Austin (M.M. in Piano Performance), and Mount Holyoke College (B.A. in Music). She holds Kodály Certification through training programs at Indiana University and McNeese State University, as well as a Dalcroze Certificate from the American Eurhythmics Society. Dr. Jacobi has also trained at Carnegie-Mellon University's International Dalcroze
Institute, The Juilliard School's Abramson-Dalcroze Institute, the Dalcroze School of the Rockies, and the TCU/Van Cliburn Piano Institute in Fort Worth, Texas. Prior to her arrival at Colorado State, Dr. Jacobi taught at Southern Methodist University and the University of Houston. She has published articles in Music Educators Journal, American Music Teacher, Southwestern Musician, Texas Music Teacher, the Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, General Music Today, and the Kodály Envoy, and presents actively as a clinician and lecture-recitalist. Dr. Jacobi currently serves on the Editorial Board for Music Educators Journal.
At CSU, Dr. Jacobi is the area coordinator for Music Education and teaches undergraduate and graduate coursework in Music Education. She also directs the Colorado Kodály Institute, and serves as a faculty advisor for CSU's Collegiate CNAfME Chapter.
Singing within Social Traditions of Rope-Jumping, Top-Spinning, and Hoop Rolling at Mount Holyoke College 1900-1928: Before Women Could Major in Music
Dr. Bonnie Schaffhauser Jacobi
Abstract
Between 1900-1928, female students at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts celebrated the arrival of spring with traditions that included rope-jumping, top-spinning, and hoop rolling. It was not the administration or faculty but the students who planted music at the center of these “social” class traditions beginning in 1900. Founded in 1837 as a Female Seminary and converted to a College in 1888, Mount Holyoke provides an important lens into the history of music education for women. Using non-circulating, primary sources examined at the Mount Holyoke College Archives, this paper will present original, historical research and specifically: 1) detail the music-making and meaning within these three traditions, 2) explore paradoxical aspects of the students’ self-perception in music and academia, and 3) discuss the parallel development of social music traditions and formal music study during this time period at the college.
During Commencement week in May, students at Mount Holyoke College held “Play Days.” The name “Play Days” is telling. On one hand it signifies a celebration of the end of a year’s academic work and an ability to go outdoors in spring; on the other, it conjures a “girlishness” (i.e. youthful play) embedded in the students’ self-perception at the time. They were not yet referred to as women, but rather girls and ladies, and the purpose of their higher education was not yet decidedly a career, although a limited number of avocations were pursued by some.
Each of the traditions involved an athletic feat, referred to as a class “privilege,” to be demonstrated by a particular class: rope-jumping (Seniors), top-spinning (Juniors), and hoop-rolling (Sophomores). Festivities would take place on consecutive dates, beginning with exchanges of “class songs” between sister classes: Seniors/Sophomores, and Juniors/Freshmen. Composed by students, the class songs were written to tunes that they knew (examples include “Roman Soldiers” and “Dixieland.”) Subsequently the class would sing a song composed about their feat, i.e. a rope-jumping song, as they marched in an “attractive costume” or cap and gown in a double line led by class leaders to the Williston steps. The steps held significant meaning and were symbolic of academic accomplishment. Members of the class would perform the designated feat which had been practiced formally prior to the “exhibition.” The festivities closed with all of the classes of students singing known songs together.
Music’s role during Play Days was paradoxical. Paired with procession and ceremony, it heralded a comical, clumsy feat while establishing dignity of rank and feelings of sisterhood. The traditions of Play Days showed the students they “could” write songs, that people would listen intently to their songs, and that music could serve a formal purpose beyond “amusement.” Together with alumnae who helped fund a Music building in 1908, the students became proponents for concentrated music study and a music major was formed at Mount Holyoke in 1935.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Nicholas McBride maintains an active career as a music teacher educator, researcher and conductor. He is Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education at The College of New Jersey, where he teaches various courses in music education, supervises senior-level student teachers, and conducts the TCNJ College Choir; an ensemble he has prepared for collaborative performances with the Philharmonia Orchestra of New York and The Philadelphia Orchestra.
Formerly, he served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Education at Westminster Choir College where, at the age of 25, he became the youngest full-time faculty member in the history of the college. Dr. McBride has presented internationally on choral conducting and general music teaching techniques, and has conducted choirs and various music ensembles in Austria, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Slovenia and Switzerland. In addition, he has presented at the regional and national conferences of the National
Association for Music Education (NAfME), the NCCO Conference (National Collegiate Choral Organization), the NJ-ACDA (New Jersey American Choral Director’s Association) conference, and has served on the NJ-ACDA State Executive Board. McBride is a contributing author to the texts Teaching Music through Performance in Middle School Choir and Planning Instruction in Music, both by GIA Chicago, and has published scholarly articles in the Music Educators Journal and the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education. His research agenda focuses on teacher education, music teacher identity, LGBTQ issues in music education, and gender in the choral music classroom.
McBride is in frequent demand as a guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator for elementary, middle and high school choirs. Recent engagements include the 2017 New Jersey All-State Elementary Choir, the 2016 All-North Jersey Junior High Treble Chorus, and clinician for the 2014 New Jersey Region 1 High School Choral Festival.
Dr. McBride is proud to have spent nearly a decade as a middle and high school choral director and general music teacher in the (NJ) Public Schools, where his choirs performed regularly on the stages of Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and with the Philadelphia Pops Orchestra at the Kimmel Center. He earned a doctorate in Music and Music Education from Columbia University – Teachers College, his dual Masters with honors in both Choral Conducting and Music Education from Northwestern University, and a Bachelors in Music Education magna cum laude from Westminster Choir College.
On Stage, Off and In between: Negotiating gay identity and teacher identity in the choral classroom.
Dr. Nicholas McBride
Abstract
A growing number of studies in music education have examined how LGBTQ teachers navigate personal and professional identity within public school spaces (McBride, 2016b; Palkki, 2015a; Paparo & Sweet, 2014; Talbot & Hendricks, 2012) This process often requires LGBTQ teachers to perform the discourses of “good teaching” in order to meet the morally vigilant expectations of schools as often demanded by an audience of colleagues, parents and students (Blount, 2000, 2005; McWilliams,1999). Within choral music education, gay male music teachers often feel obligated to perform traditional masculinity for the purpose of maintaining balanced numbers of male participants in their choirs, and to thwart notions of singing as a feminized subject (Demorest, 2000; Harrison, 2008; McBride, 2016a; Palkki, 2015b). Such conditions and expectations produce a challenging environment for gay male teachers to navigate when attempting to successfully meet the obligations of their job, while also endeavoring to simply live and teach as themselves when in the role of music teacher.
The performative aspect of teaching is well documented in educational research (Chong & Low, 2009; Conkling, 2003). Likewise, gender theorists have posited that the performative acts of gender bear similarity to “acts within theatrical contexts” (Butler, 1988/2003). The complexities, uncertainties and performative nature of LGBTQ teacher’s identity negotiation process in schools is perhaps not adequately represented by the binary limitations of an ‘in’ or ‘out’ posture. Rather, such a process occurs in open and exposed spaces that often exist far outside of the closet, and in view of one’s students and colleagues. Thus, despite the popular use of the closet as the conventional metaphor for LGBTQ identity egression, this study utilized a stage as a conceptual frame to structurally present the many forces at play as LGBTQ teachers construct identity in the music classroom, and as a means of acknowledging the nuances and uncertainties of these performances as they occur on stage, off and in between.
Using Goffman’s (1959) theories of “dramaturgy” as a framework for discussing how individuals present themselves in different regions of a metaphorical stage, I employed similar notions of performativity to explore how four self-identified gay male middle and high school choral directors contend with the conditions of public schools. The findings of this study suggest: 1. That choral music served as a type of veiled emotional identity in place of music teacher’s gay identity; a ways of being gay in a space that does not allow for them to perform their gayness. 2. Like their students, gay teachers need open and accepting – not necessarily “safe” – spaces in which to discuss intersections of their sexual and teacher identities. 3. And, that choral music education may play a significant role in disrupting gender conformity and reshaping perceptions of gayness, queerness and otherness in school spaces and when (and if) permitted to “come out.”
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Judas Emmanuel Rosas-Ruelas is a student at the University of Utah studying music education.
In the spring of 2017, Rosas-Ruelas began taking testosterone as part of his transition process, despite not knowing exactly what would happen to his voice and musical career. As a future educator, Rosas-Ruelas was also scared about what being openly trans could mean for his safety and ability to work as a teacher
In order to begin to cope with all these fears and unknowns, Rosas-Ruelas elected to begin chronicling his journey as a developing musician, educator and trans person through autoethnographic research as an undergraduate researcher for the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.
Research, qualitative or otherwise, into the lives and experiences of trans music educators barely exists in the literature. Rosas-Ruelas research has been a huge part in his own self discovery and development as a teacher with their own identity and philosophy, and this research could potentially open doors for him in graduate school and beyond.
Ruelas is also active with the Utah Cultural Alliance to petition the Utah School Board to bring back the middle school arts, health, and physical education credit requirements.
Transvocality and Transgender Identity Formation in the Context of Choral Education
Judas Emmanuel Rosas-Ruelas
Abstract
Classical vocal music, both in and around choral contexts, is traditionally a binary and gendered art form. Despite the historical and musical significance of castrati, pants roles, and other relatively transgressive gender practices, the modern choral and vocal tradition remains cisnormative in many of its practices in secondary environments and beyond, creating unique challenges for trans-identified students, musicians, and educators in these spaces (Bartolome, 2016; Palkki, 2016; Publius, 2015). Everything from uniforms to voice parts to the literature sung in choral ensembles often propagates traditional ideas regarding gender roles and identities.
Research suggests that music classrooms and educators at large seem to be fairly welcoming to transgender students, or at least fairly unconcerned with the gender identities of students within music and elsewhere in education (Silveira & Goff, 2016). In spite of this, myriad challenges remain for the students themselves (Nichols, 2013; Palkki, 2016). Work by Bartolome also suggests that similar themes of marginalization occur in the lives of trans-identified choral music educators (2016).
However, very little documentation and narrative work has been conducted within education research to tell the stories of transgender educators and pre-educators, and the authors of these few works tend to be cisgender researchers approaching these narrative inquiries and ethnographies as outsiders to trans identity (Bartolome, 2016). It is rare to find transgender people themselves working openly in research regarding issues such as transvocality in classical voice, but such self-actualized work is being encouraged and recommended by leading minds in this field (Constansis, 2008, 2013; Palkki, 2016).
As such, this study in progress, focused on the experiences of a trans-identified choral music pre-educator, fills a glaring gap in the literature regarding trans identity in a choral education setting. The design for this study incorporates tenets of narrative inquiry and case study, critically analyzing various qualitative data (vocal recordings, recorded interviews, etc.) through an autoethnographic research lens (Palkki, 2016; Patton, 2001). Emerging themes gathered from preliminary data analysis include: the challenges of training a newly pubescent voice at the university level, hypervisibility in the classroom due to a trans identity, ingrained microaggressive behaviors in choral rehearsal settings, and the effects of gender nonconformity and transition on developing teacher identity. These themes and others that emerge will be reorganized and categorized for further analysis and thematic extraction.
The lack of transgender stories and representation in choral pedagogy, rehearsal settings, and other related areas of research may be due to difficulty in accurately gauging the size of the transgender population in the United States, and in music education by extension. There are also real safety concerns regarding the dangers of being ‘visibly trans,’ which may contribute to this phenomenon (Meier & Labuski, 2013; Rands, 2009). These fears are often multiplied within classroom settings where transgender identity may be considered uncharted or uncomfortable territory for students, colleagues, and parents alike. This work challenges this discomfort by presenting a rich, detailed narrative which sheds light on the marginalization experienced by an often silent and vastly underrepresented minority in choral music education.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Jason M. Silveira received his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Music Education from Ithaca College, and his PhD in Music Education from Florida State University. Currently, Dr. Silveira teaches a variety of music education classes at the University of Oregon, and is also the conductor of the University of Oregon Symphonic Band. His research interests include music perception and cognition, psychology of music, teacher effectiveness, psychophysiological responses to music, and social justice. He has presented research at several national and international venues, including the International Society for Music Education Conference, European Association for Music in Schools, National Association for Music Education Conference, the Society for Music Perception and Cognition Conference, International Symposium on Assessment in Music Education, Oregon Music Education Association Conference, New York State School Music Association Conference, Texas Music Educators Association
Conference, the American Music Therapy Association Conference, and the Desert Skies Symposium on Research in Music Education. Dr. Silveira has been published in Journal of Research in Music Education, International Journal of Music Education, Psychology of Music, Journal of Music Teacher Education, Contributions to Music Education, Music Educators Journal, Research Perspectives in Music Education, and the Oregon Music Educator
Dr. Silveira has also served as guest lecturer/clinician/conductor throughout Oregon, New York, and New England. Prior to his appointment at the University of Oregon, Dr. Silveira was an assistant professor at Ithaca College where he taught music education classes and also conducted the Ithaca College Concert Band. Dr. Silveira was also a public school music teacher in the state of Rhode Island, and twice received citations from the governor for promoting excellence in music education. While teaching in Rhode Island, his groups frequently performed at state, regional, and national festivals.
Dr. Silveira is a member of the National Association of Music Education (NAfME), the International Society for Music Education (ISME), the College Music Society (CMS), the Society for Music Perception and Cognition (SMPC), the Society for Research in Music Education (SRME), SEMPRE: The Society for Education, Music, and Psychology.
Perspectives of a Transgender Music Education Student
Dr. Jason M. Silveira
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to present a narrative account of one gender-variant music student – Joseph – and his experiences as a music education major at a small private college. The question guiding this student was: In what ways can one transgender music education student’s lived experiences and identity development inform discourse in the music education community? I used Bilodeau’s (2005) lifespan model of transgender identity as the theoretical framework for this study. Bilodeau’s model is a non-pathologizing model that consists of six developmental processes: (1) Exiting a traditionally gendered identity; (2) Developing a personal transgender identity; (3) Developing a transgender social identity; (4) Becoming a transgender offspring; (5) Developing a transgender intimacy; and (6) Entering a transgender community. A semi-structured interview protocol was used, with approximately 14 weekly meetings with the student. Topics of discussion for these interviews included: challenges Joseph faced coming out first as a lesbian and then transitioning from female to male, harassment and bullying, support from LGBT allies, identity development, his changing relationship with his family, and recommendations for music teacher educators on how to provide support structures for transgender students. I used member checking by having Joseph review each of the transcripts to ensure faithful representation of the data (Bloor, 1978; Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Additionally, I recorded field notes during our conversations as a means to interpret his responses, discover recurring themes, and spur additional questions (Taylor, Bogdan, & DeVault, 2016). Throughout the study, Joseph kept a journal to reflect on our conversations, and document his daily interactions that were germane to the study. There were also a number of occasions where he shared meaningful and impactful “artifacts” from his life. Examples of artifacts included correspondences with family and friends, books and articles, and course assignments. Data were coded based on recurring patterns that emerged from the interviews and participant-generated artifacts (Saldaña, 2016). An emergent conceptual framework revealed the following six findings:
Implications for music teacher preparation programs, professional development opportunities, information on how to serve as an advocate/ally, and future directions for research are discussed.
2018 NAfME Music Research and Teacher Education National Conference
March 22 – 24, 2018 in Atlanta, GA.
Gender and Sexuality SRIG
Dr. Colleen Pinar, Chair
Dr. Patrick K. Freer, Chair-Elect
Accepted Proposals (In alphabetical order by author)
Singing within Social Traditions of Rope-Jumping, Top-Spinning, and Hoop Rolling at Mount Holyoke College 1900-1928: Before Women Could Major in Music
Dr. Bonnie Schaffhauser Jacobi
On Stage, Off and In between: Negotiating gay identity and teacher identity in the choral classroom.
Dr. Nicholas McBride
Transvocality and Transgender Identity Formation in the Context of Choral Education
Judas Emmanuel Rosas-Ruelas
Perspectives of a Transgender Music Education Student
Dr. Jason M. Silveira
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Bonnie Schaffhauser Jacobi is associate professor of Music Education at Colorado State University. For twenty-one years, she has been a music education specialist teaching students of all ages throughout Fla., Mass., N.J., and Texas. She has directed thirteen children's choirs that have performed at professional venues such as the Houston Ballet, the Houston Symphony, and Miami City Ballet. In 2008, she founded the Meadows Community Youth Chorus in Dallas for elementary-aged children without music in their schools.
Dr. Jacobi holds music degrees from the University of Houston (D.M.A. in Music Education), the University of Texas at Austin (M.M. in Piano Performance), and Mount Holyoke College (B.A. in Music). She holds Kodály Certification through training programs at Indiana University and McNeese State University, as well as a Dalcroze Certificate from the American Eurhythmics Society. Dr. Jacobi has also trained at Carnegie-Mellon University's International Dalcroze
Institute, The Juilliard School's Abramson-Dalcroze Institute, the Dalcroze School of the Rockies, and the TCU/Van Cliburn Piano Institute in Fort Worth, Texas. Prior to her arrival at Colorado State, Dr. Jacobi taught at Southern Methodist University and the University of Houston. She has published articles in Music Educators Journal, American Music Teacher, Southwestern Musician, Texas Music Teacher, the Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, General Music Today, and the Kodály Envoy, and presents actively as a clinician and lecture-recitalist. Dr. Jacobi currently serves on the Editorial Board for Music Educators Journal.
At CSU, Dr. Jacobi is the area coordinator for Music Education and teaches undergraduate and graduate coursework in Music Education. She also directs the Colorado Kodály Institute, and serves as a faculty advisor for CSU's Collegiate CNAfME Chapter.
Singing within Social Traditions of Rope-Jumping, Top-Spinning, and Hoop Rolling at Mount Holyoke College 1900-1928: Before Women Could Major in Music
Dr. Bonnie Schaffhauser Jacobi
Abstract
Between 1900-1928, female students at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts celebrated the arrival of spring with traditions that included rope-jumping, top-spinning, and hoop rolling. It was not the administration or faculty but the students who planted music at the center of these “social” class traditions beginning in 1900. Founded in 1837 as a Female Seminary and converted to a College in 1888, Mount Holyoke provides an important lens into the history of music education for women. Using non-circulating, primary sources examined at the Mount Holyoke College Archives, this paper will present original, historical research and specifically: 1) detail the music-making and meaning within these three traditions, 2) explore paradoxical aspects of the students’ self-perception in music and academia, and 3) discuss the parallel development of social music traditions and formal music study during this time period at the college.
During Commencement week in May, students at Mount Holyoke College held “Play Days.” The name “Play Days” is telling. On one hand it signifies a celebration of the end of a year’s academic work and an ability to go outdoors in spring; on the other, it conjures a “girlishness” (i.e. youthful play) embedded in the students’ self-perception at the time. They were not yet referred to as women, but rather girls and ladies, and the purpose of their higher education was not yet decidedly a career, although a limited number of avocations were pursued by some.
Each of the traditions involved an athletic feat, referred to as a class “privilege,” to be demonstrated by a particular class: rope-jumping (Seniors), top-spinning (Juniors), and hoop-rolling (Sophomores). Festivities would take place on consecutive dates, beginning with exchanges of “class songs” between sister classes: Seniors/Sophomores, and Juniors/Freshmen. Composed by students, the class songs were written to tunes that they knew (examples include “Roman Soldiers” and “Dixieland.”) Subsequently the class would sing a song composed about their feat, i.e. a rope-jumping song, as they marched in an “attractive costume” or cap and gown in a double line led by class leaders to the Williston steps. The steps held significant meaning and were symbolic of academic accomplishment. Members of the class would perform the designated feat which had been practiced formally prior to the “exhibition.” The festivities closed with all of the classes of students singing known songs together.
Music’s role during Play Days was paradoxical. Paired with procession and ceremony, it heralded a comical, clumsy feat while establishing dignity of rank and feelings of sisterhood. The traditions of Play Days showed the students they “could” write songs, that people would listen intently to their songs, and that music could serve a formal purpose beyond “amusement.” Together with alumnae who helped fund a Music building in 1908, the students became proponents for concentrated music study and a music major was formed at Mount Holyoke in 1935.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Nicholas McBride maintains an active career as a music teacher educator, researcher and conductor. He is Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education at The College of New Jersey, where he teaches various courses in music education, supervises senior-level student teachers, and conducts the TCNJ College Choir; an ensemble he has prepared for collaborative performances with the Philharmonia Orchestra of New York and The Philadelphia Orchestra.
Formerly, he served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Education at Westminster Choir College where, at the age of 25, he became the youngest full-time faculty member in the history of the college. Dr. McBride has presented internationally on choral conducting and general music teaching techniques, and has conducted choirs and various music ensembles in Austria, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Slovenia and Switzerland. In addition, he has presented at the regional and national conferences of the National
Association for Music Education (NAfME), the NCCO Conference (National Collegiate Choral Organization), the NJ-ACDA (New Jersey American Choral Director’s Association) conference, and has served on the NJ-ACDA State Executive Board. McBride is a contributing author to the texts Teaching Music through Performance in Middle School Choir and Planning Instruction in Music, both by GIA Chicago, and has published scholarly articles in the Music Educators Journal and the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education. His research agenda focuses on teacher education, music teacher identity, LGBTQ issues in music education, and gender in the choral music classroom.
McBride is in frequent demand as a guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator for elementary, middle and high school choirs. Recent engagements include the 2017 New Jersey All-State Elementary Choir, the 2016 All-North Jersey Junior High Treble Chorus, and clinician for the 2014 New Jersey Region 1 High School Choral Festival.
Dr. McBride is proud to have spent nearly a decade as a middle and high school choral director and general music teacher in the (NJ) Public Schools, where his choirs performed regularly on the stages of Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and with the Philadelphia Pops Orchestra at the Kimmel Center. He earned a doctorate in Music and Music Education from Columbia University – Teachers College, his dual Masters with honors in both Choral Conducting and Music Education from Northwestern University, and a Bachelors in Music Education magna cum laude from Westminster Choir College.
On Stage, Off and In between: Negotiating gay identity and teacher identity in the choral classroom.
Dr. Nicholas McBride
Abstract
A growing number of studies in music education have examined how LGBTQ teachers navigate personal and professional identity within public school spaces (McBride, 2016b; Palkki, 2015a; Paparo & Sweet, 2014; Talbot & Hendricks, 2012) This process often requires LGBTQ teachers to perform the discourses of “good teaching” in order to meet the morally vigilant expectations of schools as often demanded by an audience of colleagues, parents and students (Blount, 2000, 2005; McWilliams,1999). Within choral music education, gay male music teachers often feel obligated to perform traditional masculinity for the purpose of maintaining balanced numbers of male participants in their choirs, and to thwart notions of singing as a feminized subject (Demorest, 2000; Harrison, 2008; McBride, 2016a; Palkki, 2015b). Such conditions and expectations produce a challenging environment for gay male teachers to navigate when attempting to successfully meet the obligations of their job, while also endeavoring to simply live and teach as themselves when in the role of music teacher.
The performative aspect of teaching is well documented in educational research (Chong & Low, 2009; Conkling, 2003). Likewise, gender theorists have posited that the performative acts of gender bear similarity to “acts within theatrical contexts” (Butler, 1988/2003). The complexities, uncertainties and performative nature of LGBTQ teacher’s identity negotiation process in schools is perhaps not adequately represented by the binary limitations of an ‘in’ or ‘out’ posture. Rather, such a process occurs in open and exposed spaces that often exist far outside of the closet, and in view of one’s students and colleagues. Thus, despite the popular use of the closet as the conventional metaphor for LGBTQ identity egression, this study utilized a stage as a conceptual frame to structurally present the many forces at play as LGBTQ teachers construct identity in the music classroom, and as a means of acknowledging the nuances and uncertainties of these performances as they occur on stage, off and in between.
Using Goffman’s (1959) theories of “dramaturgy” as a framework for discussing how individuals present themselves in different regions of a metaphorical stage, I employed similar notions of performativity to explore how four self-identified gay male middle and high school choral directors contend with the conditions of public schools. The findings of this study suggest: 1. That choral music served as a type of veiled emotional identity in place of music teacher’s gay identity; a ways of being gay in a space that does not allow for them to perform their gayness. 2. Like their students, gay teachers need open and accepting – not necessarily “safe” – spaces in which to discuss intersections of their sexual and teacher identities. 3. And, that choral music education may play a significant role in disrupting gender conformity and reshaping perceptions of gayness, queerness and otherness in school spaces and when (and if) permitted to “come out.”
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Judas Emmanuel Rosas-Ruelas is a student at the University of Utah studying music education.
In the spring of 2017, Rosas-Ruelas began taking testosterone as part of his transition process, despite not knowing exactly what would happen to his voice and musical career. As a future educator, Rosas-Ruelas was also scared about what being openly trans could mean for his safety and ability to work as a teacher
In order to begin to cope with all these fears and unknowns, Rosas-Ruelas elected to begin chronicling his journey as a developing musician, educator and trans person through autoethnographic research as an undergraduate researcher for the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.
Research, qualitative or otherwise, into the lives and experiences of trans music educators barely exists in the literature. Rosas-Ruelas research has been a huge part in his own self discovery and development as a teacher with their own identity and philosophy, and this research could potentially open doors for him in graduate school and beyond.
Ruelas is also active with the Utah Cultural Alliance to petition the Utah School Board to bring back the middle school arts, health, and physical education credit requirements.
Transvocality and Transgender Identity Formation in the Context of Choral Education
Judas Emmanuel Rosas-Ruelas
Abstract
Classical vocal music, both in and around choral contexts, is traditionally a binary and gendered art form. Despite the historical and musical significance of castrati, pants roles, and other relatively transgressive gender practices, the modern choral and vocal tradition remains cisnormative in many of its practices in secondary environments and beyond, creating unique challenges for trans-identified students, musicians, and educators in these spaces (Bartolome, 2016; Palkki, 2016; Publius, 2015). Everything from uniforms to voice parts to the literature sung in choral ensembles often propagates traditional ideas regarding gender roles and identities.
Research suggests that music classrooms and educators at large seem to be fairly welcoming to transgender students, or at least fairly unconcerned with the gender identities of students within music and elsewhere in education (Silveira & Goff, 2016). In spite of this, myriad challenges remain for the students themselves (Nichols, 2013; Palkki, 2016). Work by Bartolome also suggests that similar themes of marginalization occur in the lives of trans-identified choral music educators (2016).
However, very little documentation and narrative work has been conducted within education research to tell the stories of transgender educators and pre-educators, and the authors of these few works tend to be cisgender researchers approaching these narrative inquiries and ethnographies as outsiders to trans identity (Bartolome, 2016). It is rare to find transgender people themselves working openly in research regarding issues such as transvocality in classical voice, but such self-actualized work is being encouraged and recommended by leading minds in this field (Constansis, 2008, 2013; Palkki, 2016).
As such, this study in progress, focused on the experiences of a trans-identified choral music pre-educator, fills a glaring gap in the literature regarding trans identity in a choral education setting. The design for this study incorporates tenets of narrative inquiry and case study, critically analyzing various qualitative data (vocal recordings, recorded interviews, etc.) through an autoethnographic research lens (Palkki, 2016; Patton, 2001). Emerging themes gathered from preliminary data analysis include: the challenges of training a newly pubescent voice at the university level, hypervisibility in the classroom due to a trans identity, ingrained microaggressive behaviors in choral rehearsal settings, and the effects of gender nonconformity and transition on developing teacher identity. These themes and others that emerge will be reorganized and categorized for further analysis and thematic extraction.
The lack of transgender stories and representation in choral pedagogy, rehearsal settings, and other related areas of research may be due to difficulty in accurately gauging the size of the transgender population in the United States, and in music education by extension. There are also real safety concerns regarding the dangers of being ‘visibly trans,’ which may contribute to this phenomenon (Meier & Labuski, 2013; Rands, 2009). These fears are often multiplied within classroom settings where transgender identity may be considered uncharted or uncomfortable territory for students, colleagues, and parents alike. This work challenges this discomfort by presenting a rich, detailed narrative which sheds light on the marginalization experienced by an often silent and vastly underrepresented minority in choral music education.
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Dr. Jason M. Silveira received his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Music Education from Ithaca College, and his PhD in Music Education from Florida State University. Currently, Dr. Silveira teaches a variety of music education classes at the University of Oregon, and is also the conductor of the University of Oregon Symphonic Band. His research interests include music perception and cognition, psychology of music, teacher effectiveness, psychophysiological responses to music, and social justice. He has presented research at several national and international venues, including the International Society for Music Education Conference, European Association for Music in Schools, National Association for Music Education Conference, the Society for Music Perception and Cognition Conference, International Symposium on Assessment in Music Education, Oregon Music Education Association Conference, New York State School Music Association Conference, Texas Music Educators Association
Conference, the American Music Therapy Association Conference, and the Desert Skies Symposium on Research in Music Education. Dr. Silveira has been published in Journal of Research in Music Education, International Journal of Music Education, Psychology of Music, Journal of Music Teacher Education, Contributions to Music Education, Music Educators Journal, Research Perspectives in Music Education, and the Oregon Music Educator
Dr. Silveira has also served as guest lecturer/clinician/conductor throughout Oregon, New York, and New England. Prior to his appointment at the University of Oregon, Dr. Silveira was an assistant professor at Ithaca College where he taught music education classes and also conducted the Ithaca College Concert Band. Dr. Silveira was also a public school music teacher in the state of Rhode Island, and twice received citations from the governor for promoting excellence in music education. While teaching in Rhode Island, his groups frequently performed at state, regional, and national festivals.
Dr. Silveira is a member of the National Association of Music Education (NAfME), the International Society for Music Education (ISME), the College Music Society (CMS), the Society for Music Perception and Cognition (SMPC), the Society for Research in Music Education (SRME), SEMPRE: The Society for Education, Music, and Psychology.
Perspectives of a Transgender Music Education Student
Dr. Jason M. Silveira
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to present a narrative account of one gender-variant music student – Joseph – and his experiences as a music education major at a small private college. The question guiding this student was: In what ways can one transgender music education student’s lived experiences and identity development inform discourse in the music education community? I used Bilodeau’s (2005) lifespan model of transgender identity as the theoretical framework for this study. Bilodeau’s model is a non-pathologizing model that consists of six developmental processes: (1) Exiting a traditionally gendered identity; (2) Developing a personal transgender identity; (3) Developing a transgender social identity; (4) Becoming a transgender offspring; (5) Developing a transgender intimacy; and (6) Entering a transgender community. A semi-structured interview protocol was used, with approximately 14 weekly meetings with the student. Topics of discussion for these interviews included: challenges Joseph faced coming out first as a lesbian and then transitioning from female to male, harassment and bullying, support from LGBT allies, identity development, his changing relationship with his family, and recommendations for music teacher educators on how to provide support structures for transgender students. I used member checking by having Joseph review each of the transcripts to ensure faithful representation of the data (Bloor, 1978; Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Additionally, I recorded field notes during our conversations as a means to interpret his responses, discover recurring themes, and spur additional questions (Taylor, Bogdan, & DeVault, 2016). Throughout the study, Joseph kept a journal to reflect on our conversations, and document his daily interactions that were germane to the study. There were also a number of occasions where he shared meaningful and impactful “artifacts” from his life. Examples of artifacts included correspondences with family and friends, books and articles, and course assignments. Data were coded based on recurring patterns that emerged from the interviews and participant-generated artifacts (Saldaña, 2016). An emergent conceptual framework revealed the following six findings:
- After “coming out” as transgender, Joseph’s relationship with his family evolved over time from their initial resistance to their muted acceptance.
- Joseph gradually exited a homosexual identity and developed a transgender identity. Exiting a homosexual identity initially caused feelings of guilt, followed by affirmation of his new transgender identity.
- Feelings of internalized transphobia gave way to acceptance of self and combating externalized transphobia.
- Joseph’s membership in the transgender community encouraged him to seek out resources both within and outside of the School of Music, and identify music-specific challenges and proposed solutions.
- Development of Joseph’s transgender identity led to taking an active role in educating his peers/professors (including me) at the college, and taking part in social action.
- Joseph’s shared experiences reminded me of existing inequality, illuminated my own personal and professional blind spots, and allowed me to challenge the status quo.
Implications for music teacher preparation programs, professional development opportunities, information on how to serve as an advocate/ally, and future directions for research are discussed.