Songwriting as a Culture of Belonging
Presentation
Overview
Overview
Description
Creating a Culture of Belonging (CoB) means creating psychologically safe relationships with members of a group, which is ideally achieved in an environment where everyone approaches communication with honesty and openness. Using a culture of belonging framework (Kennedy & Jain-Link, 2021), this session challenges popular music educators to consider how songwriting supports a CoB in popular music education. The session will build upon the notion that songwriting helps to establish a CoB using the following four pillars: (1) all students are seen for their unique contributions; (2) student musicians and teachers are connected to their individual success in relationship to the goals of the ensemble; (3) students feel a sense of support from one another; and finally (4) all members of the ensemble feel a sense of pride and ownership. Extending upon these pillars, attendees will be challenged to reflect on their own teaching practices in ways that assist in developing their ensemble coaching skills.
