1. An Examination of Four Instructional Methods of Teaching African American Music in Public Elementary Schools
Anne PendletonFacilitator, Nancy RosenbergCFAMU 765April 20, 2011

2. Introduction Purpose, Questions
The purpose of this study is to examine four differing instructional methods of teaching African American music in Elementary schools, to define the instructional methods, compare and contrast these methods, and explore the effectiveness and benefits of these methods for students.
Questions:
What do teachers need to know about African American music?
In what ways do children currently benefit from differing instructional methods of African American music education?

What types of instructional methods do music educators use in order to effectively implement African American music?

What resources and technology do music educators utilize when teaching African American music?
To what extent do music educators use African American music to implement national standards?

3. What do teachers need to know about Black music? Rosita Sands
Black music represents a widespread variety of cultures, genres, and musical approaches, including its African roots.
No single style of black music
Black music represents a body of musical styles, genres, attitudes, approaches, and processes of making music that are related to each other because of the common heritage. (Rosita Sands, 228).
Black music is involvedin a musical evolution
Example: Ragtime, characterized by syncopated rhythms
Awareness of the history of black music and existing research (230)
Effective method of teaching musical concepts andfunctions
Genres and styles that evolved from these musical functions should also be taught
4. Instructional Strategies
Listening and visual activities
Exposure to music of different cultures
Development of musical preference. (Jan McRary)
Historical context (Sands, 231)
Musical concepts
i.e. rhythm, melody, form, vocal timbre, improvisation
Performance sing, dance, instruments
Maintain authenticity of rhythms, melodies, and text
5. Benefits of African American music education for elementary students
Personal identification with ethnicity
Musical preference (McRary)
Experience musical concepts related to African American music.
6. Resources and technology
Materials are becoming more readily available as research develops (Sands, 235).
Development of textbook series has slowly included black music (Janice James)
Audio-visual media (ethno musicological), materials specifically designed for the classroom appropriate for elementary level
Audio-visual materials focus on blues, gospel, spirituals, zydeco, jazz, African rhythms and instruments, soul music, ragtime, calypso, reggae (Sands, 235).
Technology resources: surveys, musical preferences, online networking, websites focused on African American music, appropriate for elementary grades, catalogs and companies (World Music Press, Multicultural Media)
7. African American music education and national standards
Development of national standards for arts education was written by 4 arts educational organizations, including MENC.
Strongly supports multicultural music education in the K-12 curriculum.
Subject matter from diverse historical periods, styles, forms, and cultures should be used to develop basic knowledge and skills in the various arts disciplines (National Standards for Arts Education).
8. Multicultural music
African American music spans a huge range of genres and musical styles relevant to multicultural music.
Exposure to different cultures fosters musical preferences
Study performed by McRary revealed that African American children gave higher ratings to blues music than European American children.
Does musical tolerance exist across cultures? Do teachers have the responsibility of teaching musical tolerance?
9. Methodology Procedures
Qualitative methods examining the effectiveness of 4 instructional strategies
Participants: One music educator, 4 different classes of 4th and 5th graders
Site: Public elementary school located in Maryland
Data Collection: observations based on teacher/student behavior and activities, interviews with teacher/students, documents and resources
Analysis: observations, interviews, assessments and student feedback
10. Bibliography
Curry, Beulah A. Bonner. An Evaluation of African and Afro-American Music in Selected Elementary Music Textbook Series and Recommendations for Supplemental Song Materials.PhD diss.,University of Houston, 1982.
James, Janice. The Music of Afro-Americans in Elementary Music Series Books: An Investigation of Changing Textbook Content, 1864 to 1970. PhD diss., University of Southern Mississippi, 1976.
McRary, Jan. Ethnic Majority/Minority Status: Children's Interactions and Affective Responses to Music. Journal of Research in Music Education 48, no. 3 (Fall, 2000).
Nelson, Ella Joy.Black American Folk Song: An Analytical Study with Implications for Music Education.PhD diss., Stanford University, 1981.
Sands, Rosita. A Survey of Unpublished Materials Focusing on the Pedagogy of Afro-American Music in General Music Education. Black Music Research Journal 8, no. 2 (Autumn, 1988), http://www.jstor.org/pss/779355.(accessed April 8, 2011).

Sands, Rosita. What Prospective Teachers Need to Know About Black Music. Black Music Research Journal 16, no. 2 (Autumn, 1996), http://www.jstor.org/pss/779329.(accessed April 8, 2011).