Undergraduate Music Education Majors’ Conceptualizations of Race, Racism, and Antiracism

• In Event: Investigations of Undergraduate Music Teacher Education

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to investigate how undergraduate music education majors conceptualize race, racism, and antiracism broadly and concerning their future teaching practice. My theoretical framework foregrounded three concepts: (a) racism as endemic to the U.S., (b) ethnicity paradigms of race, and (c) colorblindness. Based on my analysis of interview data, results indicate that white participants largely understood racism through the ethnicity paradigm, whereas the one participant of color described racism as oppression based on physical appearance. Regarding antiracism in their future classrooms, all participants discussed diversifying repertoire and representation. Overall, the participants felt unprepared to engage with antiracism in their teaching, desiring more concrete examples in their music education coursework.

Author

• Jess Mullen, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign