Invited presentation for the Arizona State University Music Therapy Student Organization. In this session, I explored different models of disability in order to complexify attendees' conception of disability.
Rathgeber, J. (2016, March). Decentering disability: Considering disability from different lenses. Presentation for the Music Therapy Student Organization (MTSO) of Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.
Invited presentation for the Arizona State University Music Therapy Student Organization. In this session, I explored different models of disability in order to complexify attendees' conception of disability.
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NAfME Research Conference 2016
Rathgeber, J. (2016, March). Visions of disability: Analysis of photographic representation of disability in the Music Educators Journal, 1914-2015. Music Research and Teacher Education National Conference, Atlanta, GA.
ABSTRACT: Music education research and publications related to disability regularly approach the subject from a medicalized perspective, seeing disability only as individual pathology of particular persons who fall outside of the norm due to differences in physical or cognitive functioning (Dobbs, 2012). Such a perspective takes disability as an ontological fact. Yet, scholars in the field of disability studies draw on the social model of disability (Oliver, 1983) to forward a different perspective, viewing disability as a social construct which manifests as social oppression exerted upon those deemed to have functional differences. Central to this perspective are the ways in which disability is constructed, named, and expressed through social practices. Professional journals represent disciplinary discourses that constitute and regulate social practices within a field (Foucault, 1995). Mantie (2013) suggests that professional publications “serve to construct the truth about matters of disciplinary concern” (p. 336). As such, professional publications are prime locations for analysis into understand how disability is constructed and catalyzed in music education through and practice. Discourse analysis commonly takes as its focus verbal and written text, yet, Christmann (2008) implicates photography as an element of discourse regularly disregarded though potentially powerful for analysis of power and social practice. Solomon-Godeau (1991) asserts that each rather than being an objective document of nature, a photograph is framed by “textual, epistemological, and ideological systems that inscribe and contain it” (p. 171), thus questioning any claim for the representation objective truth of photographs. Noth (2011) implicates the symbolic and indexical qualities of photographs and urges for the use of critical visual analysis as a means of reading photographic data. The purpose of this study was to examine the way disability has been constructed in the Music Educators Journal in its 101-year history (2014-2015) through photographic representation. The researcher employed critical visual analysis (Margolis & Pauwless, 2011) and content analysis (Yarbough, 1984) methods in order to inspect the ways that persons with disabilities are represented within the specific disciplinary discourse of the Music Educators Journal (MEJ). The researcher examined 641 issues of the MEJ to find photographs of persons with disabilities. Photographs (N = 177) were analyzed using Garland-Thomson’s (2002) “visual rhetorics of disability” taxonomy of “the wondrous,” “the sentimental,” “the exotic,” and “the realistic.” Shifts in the quantities of photographs in each category over time and in relation to disability-related policy suggest the changing nature of how music education constructs disability through photographic representations. Also, findings implicate the need for critical and sensitive consideration of how persons with disabilities are represented in music education literature. National Association for Music Education Research Conference 2016, Atlanta, GA.
Rathgeber, J. (2016, March). Visions of disability: Analysis of photographic representation of disability in the Music Educators Journal, 1914-2015. Music Research and Teacher Education National Conference, Atlanta, GA.
Music education research and publications related to disability regularly approach the subject from a medicalized perspective, seeing disability only as individual pathology of particular persons who fall outside of the norm due to differences in physical or cognitive functioning (Dobbs, 2012). Such a perspective takes disability as an ontological fact. Yet, scholars in the field of disability studies draw on the social model of disability (Oliver, 1983) to forward a different perspective, viewing disability as a social construct which manifests as social oppression exerted upon those deemed to have functional differences. Central to this perspective are the ways in which disability is constructed, named, and expressed through social practices. Professional journals represent disciplinary discourses that constitute and regulate social practices within a field (Foucault, 1995). Mantie (2013) suggests that professional publications “serve to construct the truth about matters of disciplinary concern” (p. 336). As such, professional publications are prime locations for analysis into understand how disability is constructed and catalyzed in music education through and practice. Discourse analysis commonly takes as its focus verbal and written text, yet, Christmann (2008) implicates photography as an element of discourse regularly disregarded though potentially powerful for analysis of power and social practice. Solomon-Godeau (1991) asserts that each rather than being an objective document of nature, a photograph is framed by “textual, epistemological, and ideological systems that inscribe and contain it” (p. 171), thus questioning any claim for the representation objective truth of photographs. Noth (2011) implicates the symbolic and indexical qualities of photographs and urges for the use of critical visual analysis as a means of reading photographic data. The purpose of this study was to examine the way disability has been constructed in the Music Educators Journal in its 101-year history (2014-2015) through photographic representation. The researcher employed critical visual analysis (Margolis & Pauwless, 2011) and content analysis (Yarbough, 1984) methods in order to inspect the ways that persons with disabilities are represented within the specific disciplinary discourse of the Music Educators Journal (MEJ). The researcher examined 641 issues of the MEJ to find photographs of persons with disabilities. Photographs (N = 177) were analyzed using Garland-Thomson’s (2002) “visual rhetorics of disability” taxonomy of “the wondrous,” “the sentimental,” “the exotic,” and “the realistic.” Shifts in the quantities of photographs in each category over time and in relation to disability-related policy suggest the changing nature of how music education constructs disability through photographic representations. Also, findings implicate the need for critical and sensitive consideration of how persons with disabilities are represented in music education literature. Society for Music Teacher Education, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NCRathgeber, J. (2015, October). We’ve got to rock: The musical world of the Smooth Criminals. Poster presented at the Society for Music Teacher Education Symposium, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC. This case study sought to explore the practices of a music therapy rock band, the Smooth Criminals. The band was comprised of young adults with development disabilities and adult assistants. The group operated within a “community music therapy” (Ruud, 2004; Stige, Andsell, Elefant, & Pavlicevi, 2010) clinical setting. Research questions included: (Q1) What are the musical practices of the young adult members of the band and how do the adult members facilitate these practices, (Q2) What are the affordances of the band’s practices for young adult members, and (Q3) What are the constraints of the band’s practices for young adult members? Data generation occurred over 13 months and included: video recordings of rehearsals, video recordings of two performances, informal and semi-structured interviews with participants and family members, field notes, reflective journaling, and selective transcription of video-recorded data. Related to each research question, findings include: (Q1) Young adult members selected the music they learned/performed, chose or rejected adult-created approaches, and were empowered to self-adapt situations to fit their abilities and needs. Adult members offered young adult members scaffolded and accommodative approaches for learning/performing music. (Q2) Participation in the band may afford young adult members chances to engage in musical community, to develop a sense of mutual care, to construct their own identities, and to develop their abilities to communicate verbally and musically. (Q3) Findings suggest that the practices of the band may have constrained the young adult members due to: limited focus on musical skills/technique acquisition, limited interactions with peers without similar diagnoses, limited genres to explore due to instrument availability and adult instrumental proficiency, and adult members’ assumptions about the abilities and tastes of young adult members. The findings may inform music educators who seek to develop ways to facilitate music making and learning among individuals with diverse abilities. IMPACT 2015 at New York UniversityClick here for the companion website/interactive handout for this presentation.
What ways of being musical are valued by the students with whom we work, the communities in which we work, and the larger society we inhabit? How might these values manifest in music learning spaces? What roles might technology and media play in empowering music learners and facilitators to engaged in culturally valued musicking. How might technology, media, and progressive education practices empower music learners and facilitators to co-construct new forms of musicking? In this participant-led session, we will discuss these and more. We will consider multiple and varied possible pathways ahead for music learning in contemporary music learning spaces by asking “what if.” With a focus on re-envisioning and reframing music education, we will explore possibilities and develop plans to turn our ideas into praxis. Come to share your ideas; come to explore new horizons of music education; and come to collaboratively plan ways ahead for music ed. Rathgeber, J. (2015, July). #whatifmusiced: Considering possibilities, crafting praxis. Two-Hour interactive session presented at the Interactive Multimedia Performing Arts Collaborative Technology (IMPACT) Conference, New York University, New York, NY. Association for Popular Music Education, University of Miami, Miami, FLThis case study explores the means and meanings of participation in a music therapy rock band for young adult members. The band, the Smooth Criminals, was comprised of five young adult members diagnosed with developmental disabilities and four adult assistants, including three music therapists/interns and myself as a volunteer. Data collection included: video recordings of weekly rehearsals and three concert; field notes; interviews with young adult members, their family members, and the other adult assistants; and a researcher journal. Through data analysis using organizational and axial coding, three major themes emerged: (1) young adult members use the band as a space to play with and construct personal identity, (2) participation in the band afford the young adult members and their family members a space for community and mutual care, and (3) adult assistants as acting as embellishers and providing a safety net. Findings suggest the experiences hold mostly social and identity-based meanings for young adults and that actions of the young adults are facilitated by self-adaptations and help from adult assistants. The discussion explores possible implications of this study for music education and music education research practices. Rathgeber, J. (2015, June). Let’s rock, together: The Smooth Criminals, disability, and inclusion. Paper presented at the Association for Popular Music Education Conference, University of Miami, Miami, FL. Mountain Lake Colloquium for Teachers of General Music Methods, Pembroke, VATwo graduate students and two undergraduates discuss their experiences facilitating a middle school songwriting project. We address tradition and change in the realms of reflection and practice in teacher preparation. Bickmore, I., Rathgeber, J., Cano, T., & Sanchez, N. (2015, May). Reflecting in action: Preservice teacher and graduate student reflections on a middle school songwriting project. Paper presented at the Mountain Lake Colloquium from Teachers of General Music Method, Pembroke, VA. Mountain Lake Colloquium for Teachers of General Music Methods, Pembroke, VA
What assumptions have teacher educators made about music, technology, and the current generation of pre-service teachers? How do pre-service teachers think about the uses of technology in their pedagogical practices?
Rathgeber, J., & Stauffer, S. (2015, May). Just when we thought they were digital natives: Apping up!. Paper presented at the Mountain Lake Colloquium from Teachers of General Music Method, Pembroke, VA. Mountain Lake Colloquium for Teachers of General Music Methods, Pembroke, VAThis interactive session features collaborative currere to reconceptualize, analyze, and synthesize accounts of transformative work. We describe themes of design, experience, and iteration in relation to traditional and innovative practices. Tobias, E., Bickmore, I., Bledsoe, R., & Rathgeber, J. (2015, May). Design & iteration for transformation. Plenary session presented at the Mountain Lake Colloquium from Teachers of General Music Method, Pembroke, VA. IMPACT 2014 at New York University.Click here for the companion website/interactive handout. Tools like Scratch and Makey-Makey afford us new ways to think about and create music. With these tools, we can construct new controllers and interfaces that allow us to play with our own sounds on our own terms. We can craft motion controllers that let us interact with sound through gesture. We can design touch interfaces that power interactive art installations. The possible outcomes of our interaction with these tools are diverse and imaginative. Yet, these creative products are but artifacts of intense, complex, and often meaningful creative processes. This session explores curricular applications of using Scratch and Makey-Makey to create interactive sound installations with a focus on the process of creating the works. We will explore a pedagogical framework for crafting such works that embraces pilot-testing, iterative design, and collaborative problem solving. Through hands-on engagement with these tools, we will uncover how such a framework can empower students to engage in dialogue with one-another, the potential users of their of their works, and even the works themselves. Rathgeber, J. (2014, August). Dialogue with a controller: Projects, pilot-testing, and pedagogy. Two-Hour interactive session presented at the First Interactive Multimedia Performing Arts Collaborative Technology (IMPACT) Conference, New York, NY. |
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