Becoming a Culturally Responsible Music Teacher: A Grounded Theory

Abstract Culturally responsible music teaching refers to practices of meaningfully connecting with students, engaging them in their own constructions of knowledge and art, and opening their minds to diverse potentials. This study concerns the ways that music teachers develop such pedagogical pillars across their lives and careers. I selected a constructivist grounded theory methodology to examine music teacher development as a complex, detailed process. Data came primarily from interviews with 31 progressive music teachers, with discussions around the processes and perceived influences on their development. Analysis consisted of coding, memoing, theoretical sampling, categorizing, theory building, and using a constant comparison approach. The resulting framework of becoming culturally responsible features five main developmental processes, each often described by participants as occurring simultaneously: (a) Inheriting and Maturing in Aspects of One's Origins, (b) Coming Into Caring for Students, (c) Coming to Appreciate What Connects to and Engages Students, (d) Unlocking Plural Practices, and (e) Rousing More Open Musical Dimensions. The five main influences of development are: (a) Role Models Who Inspire, (b) Students’ Resonance in Learning, (c) The Self, (d) Time/Experience, and (e) Supports (e.g., funding, resources). Finally, I provide implications for the paths that music teachers can follow—and that music teacher educators can better pave—toward becoming more “culturally responsible” pedagogues.