Going Out Not Knowing: Impact of a Multicultural Experience on Choral Students
Teachers often wonder what impact they and their ideas have on their students. We wonder how our “message” is interpreted and what kind of indelible impression we are leaving. We wonder if something we say or do, some experience we orchestrate, will stay with our students after they leave our classroom. Gallagher says that “teachers have the unique opportunity to support students’ academic and social development” and that “teachers play an important role in the trajectory of students” (Gallagher, 2013). But how do we KNOW our effect on our students? After all, making an impact on our students is why we teach; it can’t be for the long hours or little money, right?
Possibly, the best way to affect our students is by providing experiences. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so maybe an experience is worth ten thousand? Talking about moving beyond our comfort zones, making a difference, standing up for what is right, are just words until students are given the opportunity to put feet to those words. When the experience presents itself, when the right mix of opportunity, motivation, and passion combine, sparks fly, bridges are spanned, walls fall, and stereotypes crumble. This happened on November 17, 2016, when two diverse groups met with a common goal and open hearts. Like Sarah and Abraham, they went out, not knowing.
This is a story of urban meets suburban, black meets white, and the impact each has on the other. “A pluralistic society requires and encourages an appreciation of differences and a sensitivity to those elements that make us who we are. We must create a society that is sensitive, vibrant, able to meet the challenges facing us …” (Hollingworth, Burnett, & Winstead, 1994, p. 19). This is the story of how music is the great equalizer and unifier.
Music can allow us to express feelings and connect to the feelings of others. This aesthetic component of music provides an emotionally rich environment where those who
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listen to, perform, or compose music can relate to and communicate with other people. While these ways of interacting with music can be done in isolation, it is when people come together with shared goals and musical intentions that a foundation for personal connections can be laid. (Laird, 2015, p. 59)
This is the story of two choir directors who remain idealistic (some say naïve), who think that what they do matters, that they can initiate positive change, and improve the future. This is the story of going out, not knowing.
The story begins with a chance meeting of two high school choir directors at the hospitality table during ACDA Summer Conference 2016. Sponsored by the Alabama chapter of the American Choral Directors Association, Summer Conference has become a catalytic event for music educators across the state of Alabama. Every year, I come away from this conference invigorated, inspired, and excited about the upcoming school year. This year, among other things, I came away with a theme for my choir program and a new friend and colleague, Tracey Hooper of Jackson-Olin High School in Birmingham, Alabama. Our theme for this school year is summed up, and by the way, printed on our choir tee shirts, in this quote by John Denver, American musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, activist, actor, and humanitarian, who sadly died in a plane crash in 1997, “Music does bring people together. It allows us to experience the same emotions. People everywhere are the same in heart and spirit. No matter what language we speak, what color we are, the form of our politics or the expression of our love and our faith, music proves we are the same” (
Goodreads.com).
The story continues with a simple phone call to my new friend, Tracey. With anxious excitement, I reintroduced myself and told her of my theme for my choir program and
February/March 2017
“I got to meet new people and really understand the meaning of unity. The color of your skin or where you live doesn’t matter because
we are all the same through music.”
by Kay Dick
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