Productive Dissonance: A Musical-analytical Exploration of Teacher Educator Perceptions in a Multicultural Education Program

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore, using a musical metaphor, the consonance, counterpoint, dissonance, and resonance of a large-scale multicultural teacher education program. In particular, it examines the different instructional approaches of seven graduate students and two faculty who currently teach an undergraduate multicultural education course at a large mid-western university. By combining a theoretical framework (Bennett, 2010) with a musical-analytical approach, the study explores how the interplay of individual voices contributes to a “productive dissonance” that has the potential to transform the overall program.