Well DAW! That’s Why I Don’t Sound Like the Recording: Teacher Perspectives on Music Production in Elementary Schools

The study was aimed to adapt, implement, and reflect on a music production curriculum in public elementary schools while developing an open-access resource for teachers. Two music industry professionals informed the content of the study; four elementary school teachers, including myself, implemented the curriculum; and 28 students from primary, junior, and intermediate grades applied the concepts in various projects. Using participatory action research (PAR) as a methodological framework, I explored the following research question: How can music industry professionals, music teachers, and students collaborate, share ideas and their experiences, to inform a curricular design for public elementary school music education that has music production as its core? I theorized that music production should be introduced earlier than traditionally discussed, at the elementary rather than secondary level. The study followed three phases; (1) music industry professionals informed content development: (2) teachers planned and implemented a flipped classroom approach; and, (3) student feedback and experiences guided the creation of open access video resources. Findings support the early integration of music production in elementary education, emphasizing, but not limited to, vocal mixing, beat making, and recording with digital audio workstations (DAWs).