Madison Gilleland

Dr. van der Vat-Chromy

MUED 376

10 December 2023

Choral Cultures

As music educators, choral cultures are such a large phenomenon within what we do. We

have the ability to grow, shape, and create the culture within our classroom. From the handouts

provided in the Canvas file, I have learned what it means to consciously create positive, healthy,

and fruitful choral cultures.

As explained in the “Creating Concious Choral Cultures” powerpoint, “the culture creates

a community that influences the lives of all it touches.” There was a plentiful amount of helpful

information about how to mindfully create culture and what that means for students. One of my

favorite takeaways was the importance of choosing repertoire. Repertoire is a driving force in

accomplishing flow, a sense of safety and identity in the classroom, and much more. I’ve learned

that it’s important to choose diverse repertoire and the importance of giving students a voice in

selections. Another one of my big takeaways from this powerpoint was the section on the co-

curricularization of the academic and the social domains. When these two domains are

intersected, flow and particiapatory conciousness are able to happen and thrive within a music

classroom. The quote by Maya Angelou at the end of this handout, “when you know better, you

do better” is such a beautiful and important message. Creating a conscious choral culture takes

dedication and constant self-reflection to ensure the best experience for our students.

The handouts “Choral Cultrues Abstract” and “JMU Choral Cultures” dive deeper into

the four research categories in the classroom. These are safety, identity, transmission, and
enculturation. I appreciated learning more about what these specific behaviors look like for each

of those categories. I especially liked learning about the behaviors of transmission and felt these

handouts gave great ideas for how to encourage students to foster knowledge and grow as

musicians. This includes things like using reflective practices, new member buddies and

partners, bonding activities, and more.

Overall, everything we do as educators has an effect on the lives of the students we teach.

Fostering a choral culture that allows for students to experience flow is something that we can

achieve through best practices and highly effective teacher, conductor, and rehearsal behviors.

One of my goals as a music educator is to provide a sense of community and belonging within

my classroom and I will be able to achieve that through a conscious choral culture. These

handouts and resources have provided me with the tools and knowledge to do so.