Rethinking Middle Level General Music: Five Democratic Principles to Enhance Student Engagement, Stephanie Cronenberg

The present moment in education in the United States, with its focus on standardized learning and testing, challenges educators who desire to cultivate democratic learning communities (Elliott, 2016; Michelli & Jacobowitz, 2016; Wall & Wall, 2016). While the idea of integrating democratic principles into music education is not new (see Allsup, 2016; DeLorenzo, 2016; Woodford, 2005), specific democratic principles may help to reshape middle level general music. Randall Allsup (2016) argues that “music teachers in public schools are endowed with an obligation to alter – to (re)form, to (re)musik – the quality and character of their music forms to ensure that student life and learning is enlarged, deepened, and enriched” (p. 23). In what follows, I put forward five democratic principles that, if employed, could help remusik middle level general music, increase student engagement, and potentially create a positive musical space for all students and teachers involved.

If you teach general music to fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth grade students, it is likely that you have wondered something like, “what on earth went wrong during that lesson?” Hopefully, you have also had the opportunity to think, “that was great, how can I do the same thing next class?” I purposefully use the phrase “middle level” here because this term is inclusive of all students and teachers, fifth through eighth grade, regardless of school context. Students at this age—variously referred to as middle schoolers, young adolescents, or middle level learners— face a time of significant change, cognitively, physically, emotionally, and socially, as they mature into full adolescence. As a result, they can be unpredictable to their teachers, parents, and even to themselves.

Educators and researchers who examine middle level education from all academic disciplines share a common goal of improving education for young adolescents. Their focus puts young adolescent developmental needs at the center of all educational decision-making (see NSMA, 2010). So, what would a general music classroom in this vein look or sound like? How might democratic principles influence classroom experiences and provide new energy to classroom curricula?

I define middle level general music as developmentally appropriate musical learning for all young adolescents, music learning that inspires students to continue learning formally or informally in music. Importantly, developmentally appropriate musical learning is key to fostering student engagement both within and beyond the classroom. The ability to cultivate young adolescent engagement rests upon a foundation of five democratic principles drawn from middle level education or music education. They are:

1. Educating the Whole Student 2. Making Connections 3. Integrating Students’ Perspectives 4. Including All Musical Forms 5. Teaching All Students

When combined together, these five democratic principles can guide general music teaching-and-learning. Briefly, I describe each democratic principle and provide a tip for teacher development or classroom application.

Developmentally appropriate music learning begins with the inescapable realities of puberty. For middle level students, the onset of puberty and its subsequent developmental evolution impacts every area of their lives. Young adolescents’ cognitive abilities are deeply intertwined with their physical development, their social and emotional needs, and their evolving identity development. Michael Nakkula and Eric Toshalis (2006) argue that as adolescents develop, they are constructing their understanding of themselves and the world around them through daily experiences and the positive and negative lessons they learn when they try something new. Accordingly, our job is to serve as co-constructors of young adolescents’ identities by providing support, guidance, and correction as they explore their emerging physical, cognitive, social, and emotional potentials and construct their emerging individual identity. Therefore, it is critical that middle level general music educate the whole student, not just his/her cognitive abilities.

Tip #1: Develop or enhance an understanding of young adolescent development beyond stereotypes associated with puberty and middle schoolers. These developmental needs are well-outlined in several music education resources, for example: Growing Musicians: Teaching Music in Middle School & Beyond by Bridget Sweet (2016) or Engaging Musical Practices: A Sourcebook for Middle School General Music edited by Suzanne L. Burton (2012). Another great resource is the third edition of What Every Middle School Teacher Should Know by Dave F. Brown and Trudy Knowles (2014).

Young adolescents vacillate between concrete and abstract thought; it is critical that middle level general music helps students make connections. Middle level students’ growing facility with abstract thought (Mee & Haverback, 2016; Roney, 2005; Stevenson, 2002), along with their identity development, primes students to question what they experience in their lives. Although students are developing abstract thought, they are not always able to make connections between musical learning and other subjects, current events, or the community without help. Music teachers can make musical learning more democratic by explicitly exploring connections for those who have not yet developed abstract thought or who have not fully developed the ability to apply abstract thought across contexts.

Music teachers can excite and engage middle level students in any form of musical learning if they help students see the connections to their own lives. These connections are the purpose of the “connecting” strand of the National Core Arts Standards. Doing so does not sacrifice or water-down musical learning, but rather enhances it. Taking five minutes to help students see the relevance of what they are learning can make the music classroom come alive. The music educator who helps students connect musical content to their own lives and to what they are learning in other subjects will find that students become more interested and engaged in musical learning, further inspiring them to persist musically.

Tip #2: Connect with your colleagues in other subjects to find out what your students learn at various times of the year. For example, perhaps the science curriculum includes a unit on acoustics and sound production. You might choose to develop a parallel music unit in which students explore sound production through the creation of invented instruments or explore acoustics using classroom instruments in various physical spaces.

As young adolescents mature, they begin to develop a sense of their place in the world. It is through this important identity development that young adolescents desire autonomy, independence, and the opportunity to articulate their own perspectives (Mee & Haverback, 2016; Nakkula & Toshalis, 2006). Consequently, most middle level students seek teachers who listen to their ideas and views on almost any topic including the curriculum.

Thus, music teachers might develop curriculum and pedagogy based on student interests and needs. This does

not mean that a teacher allows students to choose every aspect of learning. However, it does mean that a music teacher should be attuned to his/her students and how students’ interests and needs change over time, both within one school year and with each new group of students. Accordingly, a democratic curriculum “includes not only what adults think is important [such as discipline specific knowledge], but also the questions and concerns that young people have about themselves and their world” (Beane & Apple, 2007, p. 17). When young adolescents are given opportunities to direct, co-construct, or choose learning activities, the outcome is typically a classroom of students highly engaged in a learning process they helped develop.

Tip #3: Ask students to share their own questions about music or a particular musical topic. Then, work with students to develop these questions into a unit of study that seeks to answer these questions. Additionally, have students suggest ways they might demonstrate their knowledge and understanding on a particular topic and then allow them to choose from among the suggestions for the summative assessment they will complete.

Musical skills, genres, and topics covered in middle level general music should be inclusive and wide-ranging. Carlos Abril (2016) argues that “if the musical experiences in school music are singular and rigid, they fall outside of the concept of general music” because a defining characteristic of general music is the comprehensive nature of the musical content (p. 15). A middle level general music curriculum should provide students with an opportunity to engage with multiple musical forms. Of course, not all musical forms can be included in a single quarter, semester, or year of study. Teachers must make judicious choices.

There is a (mis)perception expressed by some music teachers that general music is focused on singing. While singing is one component of comprehensive musical content, students should also perform on body percussion and instruments (whether existing or created from found objects), respond to music through listening and evaluation of recorded and live performances, create music through play, improvisation, and composition, and connect their musical learning to other areas of their lives (Barrett, 2016). The National Standards support this notion of comprehensive musical content in general music (MENC, 1994; SEADAE, 2014). Whether a general music course explores American rock, Caribbean drumming, Cantonese opera, and/or Western classical music are decisions best left to teachers who know their students best. Regardless of the genre(s) selected, the musical content should allow students to experience the performing, responding, creating, and connecting components of music education that form a solid foundation for any future musical development, whether this future music learning occurs within or beyond the school walls.

Tip #4: Find out what students already know or what genres they prefer through a quick survey at the beginning of the quarter, semester, or year. Ask students about their musical experiences at home, place of worship, community center, etc. Then, select from familiar and unfamiliar musical forms to deepen their musical experiences and provide them with opportunities to meet the standards.

One of the most fundamental democratic principles of general music is that it is designed as music learning for all. Perhaps you have heard the often-used phrase from Karl Gerhkens “Music for Every Child, Every Child for Music” (Munkittrick, 2013). If musical learning is for every student, then middle level general music should also include all students. In fact, the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act specifically states that music is an important part of a well-rounded education for all K-12 students (GovTrack.us, 2015). If all students are entitled to a wellrounded education, then general music learning should be available as an option for all students.

Adherence to this democratic principle challenges music educators because it means teaching those students with no expressed desire to enroll in music alongside those with longstanding interest in music. Often, students enrolled in general music are not given a choice, but rather required to enroll. While music teachers often have no control over their schedule or course enrollments, all music teachers can decide how students are included in their classroom community. The creation of an inclusive classroom community is critical to cultivating student engagement in musical learning.

Tip #5: Develop a classroom community in which all students feel comfortable and supported to take risks and try new things. Differentiation is key in a heterogenous classroom. Consider how you might group students dur-

ing an activity so that strong students can help those who need support. Perhaps rethink a beloved assignment in order to provide differentiation to challenge or support those who need it.

Building a middle level general music curriculum with the developmental needs of young adolescents at the center begins with the five democratic principles discussed above. Relatedly, ask yourself: What are you doing well? Where are places that you might make small or large changes that could significantly impact your students’ engagement? Make at least one thoughtful change in the next school year. As student engagement increases, I hope that you find yourself looking forward to your middle level general music classes and to the invigorating potential of guiding students along their individual musical journeys.

Abril, C. R. (2016). Untangling general music education: Concept, aims, and practice. In C. R. Abril & B. M. Gault (Eds.), Teaching general music: Approaches, issues, and viewpoints (pp. 5–22). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Allsup, R. E. (2016). Remixing the classroom: Toward an open philosophy of music education. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Barrett, J. R. (2016). Adopting an interdisciplinary approach to general music. In C. R. Abril & B. M. Gault (Eds.), Teaching general music: Approaches, issues, and viewpoints (pp. 168–182). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Beane, J. A., & Apple, M. W. (2007). The case for democratic schools. In M. W. Apple & J. A. Beane (Eds.), Democratic schools: Lessons in powerful education (2nd ed., pp. 1–29). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Brown, D. F., & Knowles, T. (2014). What every middle school teacher should know (3rd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Burton, S. L. (Ed.) (2012). Engaging musical practices: A sourcebook for middle school general music. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education.

DeLorenzo, L. C. (2016). Introduction. In L. S. DeLorenzo (Ed.), Giving voice to democracy in music education: Diversity and social justice (pp. 1–9). New York, NY: Routledge.

Elliott, D. J. (2016). Artistic citizenship, personhood, and music education. In L. C. DeLorenzo (Ed.), Giving voice to democracy in music education: Diversity and social justice (pp. 13–35). New York, NY: Routledge.

GovTrack.us. (2015). S. 1177 — 114th Congress: Every Student Succeeds Act. Retrieved from https://www.govtrack. us/congress/bills/114/s1177

Mee, M., & Haverback, H. R. (2016). Young adolescent development. In S. B. Mertens, M. M. Caskey, & N. Flowers (Eds.), The encyclopedia of middle grades education (2nd ed., pp. 437–440). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

MENC. (1994). National standards for arts education: What every young American should know and be able to do in the arts. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education.

Michelli, N. M., & Jacobowitz, T. (2016). Why do we educate in a democracy?: Implications for music education. In L. C. DeLorenzo (Ed.), Giving voice to democracy in music education: Diversity and social justice (pp. 36–50). New York, NY: Routledge.

Munkittrick, D. (2013). Music for living: The thought and philosophy of Karl. W. Gehrkens. Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, 35(1), 21–34.

Nakkula, M. J., & Toshalis, E. (2006). Understanding youth: Adolescent development for educators. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

National Middle School Association (NMSA). (2010). This we believe: Keys to educating young adolescents. Westerville, OH: Author.

Roney, K. (2005). Young adolescent development. In V. A. Anfara, Jr., G. Andrews, & S. B. Mertens (Eds.) The encyclopedia of middle grades education (pp. 397–401). Westerville, OH: National Middle School Association.

State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education (SEADAE). (2014). National Core Arts Standards. Dover, DE: Author.

Stevenson, C. (2002). Teaching ten to fourteen year olds (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Sweet, B. (2016). Growing musicians: Teaching music in middle school & beyond. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Wall, M. P., & Wall, J. K. (2016). Artistic citizenship, personhood, and music education. In L. S. DeLorenzo (Ed.), Giving voice to democracy in music education: Diversity and social justice (pp. 123–137). New York, NY: Routledge.

Woodford, P. G. (2005). Democracy and music education: Liberalism, ethics, and the politics of practice. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.