Making string education culturally responsive: The musical lives of African American children

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the violin experiences of African American students at an Elementary School in northern Florida to consider the potential for culturally-responsive string education. The hermeneutical approach was used to answer the research questions: (1) What are the personal musical worlds of these African American children? and (2) How do these children perceive the violin program at school? These helped to answer the study’s overall research question: how do the individual perceptions of the violin program and the sociocultural musical backgrounds of these students relate? The data revealed that the participants had shared perceptions of music; in particular, that music tells stories and has a distinctive beat. Their perceptions of music were learned and experienced in their cultural environments and social spaces. The data also made it evident that their musical lives and perceptions of playing violin affect each other. For instance, the children discussed playing violin at church, and tried to hear violin music in their favorite songs at home. They also expressed a desire to generate beat on their violins and play familiar songs. They were willing to link their experiences in the school violin classroom with their lives beyond.