Date of Award

5-2025

Degree Type

Honors College Thesis

Academic Program

Music Education BMEd

Department

Music

First Advisor

Ian Cicco, Ph.D.

Advisor Department

Music

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore how preservice music teachers (i.e., students who are preparing to become music teachers) viewed diversifying music curricula, specifically regarding music from the Philippines, an archipelagic nation in Southeast Asia. Additionally, this research explored preservice music teachers’ cultural identities and how those identities influenced their beliefs and opinions about teaching. “Culture” was defined by Merriam-Webster (n.d.) as “the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group.” Although there is a diverse population of students throughout schools in the United States, limited research has been conducted about incorporating Filipino music (i.e., music by composers of Filipino ancestry) into multicultural music education (i.e., a multicultural approach to music teaching and learning) curricula. Because of this lack of research, this study aimed to provide preservice teachers with an idea regarding how to incorporate multicultural music education into their classrooms and how to include Filipino music within curricula.

At The University of Southern Mississippi (USM), the Principal Investigator (PI) distributed an anonymous questionnaire disseminated by Qualtrics to the preservice music students enrolled in a music education methods course. Participants answered questions about their knowledge of the Philippines, its music and culture, and their beliefs about cultural diversity within the sphere of education. Then, they had the opportunity to answer open-ended questions to further describe their cultural backgrounds and teaching experiences. At the end of the questionnaire, participants were invited to contact the PI to arrange an interview to further discuss these topics.

Respondents generally noted that they cared about their students’ diverse backgrounds and wanted to incorporate multicultural music education into their classroom curricula. However, responses from open-ended questions and interviews indicated that most respondents had little to no knowledge about the Philippines, and they were not fully aware of how to include cultural diversity into their future classrooms. For preservice and in-service teachers, this study suggested the importance of connecting with students and their families to better understand their respective cultural backgrounds. Additionally, this study, together with existing literature, aimed to spark dialogue about the inclusion of Filipino music in multicultural music education, particularly among preservice and in-service music educators. As such, it added to discussions about multicultural music education by specifically bringing Filipino music into the conversation.

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