Outcomes of a pilot music education initiative to enhance social justice engagement among university students

ABSTRACT

Civic engagement and social justice have received heightened attention in music education in the decade since Jorgensen posed the question ‘Why should music educators not be interested in justice?’ To this end, a social-justice focused initiative was piloted with choral ensembles at two public universities in the Midwestern US using human trafficking as the focal issue. A pre-experimental design was used in two paired studies to address research questions: (1) What is the impact of participation in the initiative on students’ knowledge, engagement, actions, and attitudes? (2) What are students’ recommendations for initiative refinement? Results indicated statistically significant increases across all eight outcomes for student participants in both studies. Recommendations highlighted students’ desire for consistent knowledge-building throughout the year and instructor-provided informational resources. Overall, pilot findings suggest this is a promising approach for music educators desiring to incorporate social justice engagement initiatives within already content heavy music courses.

KEYWORDS:

• Choral
• music education
• social justice
• civic engagement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributors

Elizabeth Fisher is a lecturer at the University of Alabama Birmingham and at Samford University where she conducts the Vocal Jazz ensemble, and teaches courses in music education, piano, and music theory. Dr. Fisher’s scholarship focuses on restoring manuscripts of music composed for the for the women of the Ospedali as well as choral music’s engagement with social justice issues. Prior to her time in Alabama, Fisher was associate director of choral activities at University of Minnesota Duluth. Fisher holds degrees from Millikin University, Westminster Choir College, and Michigan State University.

Colleen Fisher is Associate Professor of social work and MSW Program Director at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Fisher’s research focuses on health disparities, both domestic and in the Global South, examining the individual, cultural, and structural factors that promote or hinder health and wellbeing among marginalised populations. Her teaching scholarship focuses on innovative pedagogy and emerging practices to engage students and enhance learning both in and out of the classroom, including learning abroad, service-learning, and education on evidence-based practice.