Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
in the Middle School Choir
Michelle L. Herring
University of North Texas
Denton, Texas
After the panel, we had the opportunity to have dinner
with the panelists at the Century City Marriott. Since Ms.
Gruwell works at a Marriott on the weekends, the hotel let us
have a big dinner there. When we got to the hotel, we were
able to walk up to the panelists and shake their hands. During
dinner, Renee came to speak with us at my table. She
showed us the tattoo on her arm from Auschwitz. The tattoo
looked like little numbers from a barcode. She told us how
some of the needles they used were infected and that some
people got skin diseases. She told us how one person sucked
out the ink from her skin because the doctors who gave her the
tattoo quietly told her to. If she had not sucked the ink out, she
would have been sent to the gas chamber the next day,
because her number was called.
Everything from today related to something we have
read or watched in class. It’s amazing how Ms. Gruwell went
out of her way to contact all these people to come to speak to
us. By meeting these people, it made the books we’ve been
reading more meaningful. It also made me realize that
anything is possible! (1999, p. 43)
Overview
What is culture? Ethnicity? Race?
Teacher/Student Demographics
Culturally relevant/responsive
pedagogy (CRP)
Practical applications
Background
What is culture?
 Pre-1950s: behavior and customs (Banks, 2001;
Bennett, 1999; Campbell, 1996)
 Current definition
 Knowledge
 Belief systems
 Symbols and meaning
 Languages and dialects
 Non-verbal communications
 Identification
Macroculture
Microculture
How is culture transmitted?
Parents
Schools
Religious organizations
Other institutions or social groups
Race
Can include observable physical traits (Yetman,
1999)
Social construction not a scientific truism
(Campbell, 1996)
Ethnicity
A socially distinguished group
Can be a race, religion, or national origin
Set apart from the majority of society
Four types of ethnic groups (Banks, 2001)
 Cultural
 Economic
 Political
 Holistic
Who are we teaching?
Students by Ethnicity and Gender:
African American
Hispanic
White
Asian/Pacific Islander
Amer. Indian/AK Native
Two or More Races
Total Minority Students
612,465
762,854
1,131,901
70,766
9,888
80,282
1,536,255
22.9%
28.5%
42.4%
2.6%
.03%
3.0%
57.5%
Economically Disadvantaged
Limited English Proficient (LEP)
Male
Female
1,535,670
234,451
1,371,153
1,297,003
57.5%
8.7%
51.3%
48.6%
Source: National Center for Educational Statistics
Who is teaching?
Teachers by Ethnicity and Gender:
African American
Hispanic
White
Amer. Indian/ AK Native
Asian
Pacific Islander
Two or More Races
Total Minority
22,616
22,593
122,738
499
1,806
133
1,483
49,130
13.1%
13.1%
71.4%
0.2%
1.0%
0.07%
0.08%
28.5%
Males
Females
35,093
134,283
20.7%
79.2%
Source: Florida Department of Education
School Monoculture
School Culture
Middle Class
Eurocentric
Female Dominated
Hidden Curriculum
CULTURE SHOCK!
Passive reaction
Aggressive reaction
Frustrated!!!
Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
Culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) supports
curriculum that is sensitive to and non-judgmental
toward the cultural backgrounds of students
(Brown & Cooper, 2011).
Enhancing students’ success by acquiring
knowledge of their cultural backgrounds and
translating this knowledge into instructional
practice (Irvine, 2010) .
A culturally relevant pedagogue is one that
“teaches to and through the strengths of ethnically
diverse students” (Gay, 2000) .
Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
Academic Success
Cultural Competence
Sociopolitical Awareness
An Example…
Objective: Students will create an
ostinato composition using improvised
instruments or body percussion based
on a photo to perform in a community
concert.
http://nyportraits.blogspot.com/2010/07/singing-for-supper-in-washington-square.html
Who are these people?
What are they doing?
Where are they?
Why are they performing?
How do they perform?
Who is their audience?
http://nyportraits.blogspot.com/2010/07/singing-for-supper-in-washington-square.html
What is the musical role of each performer?
What is each performer using as an instrument?
What type of music do you think the performers were
performing? Why?
http://nyportraits.blogspot.com/2010/07/singing-for-supper-in-washington-square.html
“It was brightly, painfully sunny and hot on Sunday. These wonderful singers
donned sunglasses so they could
sing in relative comfort.
Street singers often animate their acts with hand gestures, shout-outs and
poses. It's not enough just to stand
there and sing. Singers need to cajole their audience to give up their hardearned cash.
Most sane New Yorkers were inside or out of town, because of the intense
heat. There was barely a breeze. I was
silly enough to go shoe shopping and wound up walking around in circles,
delirious and sweating. Oh, what we
ladies do in the name of fashion!”
http://nyportraits.blogspot.com/2010/07/singing-for-supper-in-washington-square.html
Assignment (Cultural Competence,
Academic Success)
Form a group of five students
Ask each group member to take on the role of one
of the performers. Create an ostinato for that
person using body percussion or an improvised
instrument.
Arrange the group’s ostinati into a 2-minute
composition with a beginning, middle and end.
Layering ostinato, a verse/chorus structure, or
using a form similar to ABA can be ways to design
compositions.
Perform compositions for class.
http://nyportraits.blogspot.com/2010/07/singing-for-supper-in-washington-square.html
Community Extension (Cultural
Competence, Academic Success)
Perform compositions as a community recital
Project or provide copies of the urban street
singers photo to the audience.
Nominate one person from each group to
discuss interpretations of the photo.
Perform each group’s interpretation of the
assignment.
Conclusions
 World is becoming more diverse, globalized
 As Music Educators we have an opportunity to
reach many different cultures
 I encourage you to:
 Learn a new instrument
 Listen to a new genre
 Discover a new culture
 Learn from your students, they are the best
teachers.
Thank you!
Michelle Herring
University of North Texas
mlherring13@gmail.com