Repertoire, Praxis, and Repertoires of Practice Among Early Childhood Charter School Music Teachers in New York City

• In Event: Teachers' Approaches and Assessments of Culturally Responsive and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies

Abstract

This paper discusses the ways that 10 early childhood charter school music teachers in NYC conceptualized their curricula and repertoire choices—the compositions, skills, and activities that prevailed in their music classrooms. Beyond mere song selections, repertoire is conceived broadly here, encompassing: 1) musical content and genre; 2) musical goals embedded in teachers’ practices; and 3) student/community repertoires of practice acknowledged or ignored by educators. Interview testimonies were triangulated with observations and revealed African American and Latinx forms that, while present, were often integrated additively, and treated reductively in comparison to Western music and music literacy conventions. Encounters with conventional music literacy and a relatively set and small “multicultural” canon were understood as integral, if conflicting, components of the curriculum.

Author

• Andrew Aprile, Queens College - CUNY