FEATURE
Music Scholar
McNair Scholar finds expanding definition of culture in music classrooms helps improve learning
STORY BY MICHELE COFFILL
Maria Benítez-Sabino carried her cello into the rehearsal room on the first day of her first ensemble class at Grand Valley. To start the class, the professor asked members of the cello and other orchestra sections to introduce themselves to each other. The next step: One person from each section introduced those musicians to the class.
“He said it was because the people who know each other make the best music,” said Benítez-Sabino, a junior studying music education and a McNair Scholar.
The quote about the process necessary to make the best music has stuck with Benítez-Sabino and it’s been the focus of her TRIO McNair Scholar research.
The McNair Scholars program is one of 12 federally funded TRIO programs at Grand Valley and the only one focused on increasing the number of first-generation, limited-income or underrepresented students who want to pursue doctoral degrees.
It’s an intensive, 15-month program in which undergraduates, with guidance from faculty mentors, produce manuscripts and research at a graduate level. McNair Scholars travel to give presentations at conferences, visit graduate schools and learn how to fine-tune essays needed for applications, as well as attend financial aid and standardized test prep workshops. Students receive stipends of up to $4,000, allowing them to concentrate on their research projects during the summer months.
Learning to conduct research and give a presentation within a cohort of 20 other McNair Scholars was challenging and rewarding, Benítez-Sabino said.
“We spent a significant amount of time together to perfect these presentations,“ she said. “There were tears, frustration, joy, and finally, acceptance. We gave each other the grace needed as we found our place in academia and we could begin to feel a sense of belonging.“
For Benítez-Sabino, the program offered an outlet for her natural curiosity and a disciplined approach to becoming a researcher. Or, in her case, a path to becoming a music teacher who is — pardon the pun — in tune with her students and their experiences.
“The people who know each other make the best music.”
Maria Benítez-Sabino, junior majoring in music education
‘Pushed me to believe in myself’
Benítez-Sabino spent last summer reading a host of professional journals and articles to develop a literature review about culturally responsive teaching in music education over the past decade.
At its simplest, culturally responsive teaching means developing an encouraging learning community by designing curriculums and lessons that consider students’ learning styles, lived experiences and backgrounds.
Within the articles and journals she read, Benítez-Sabino said she discovered a narrow definition of culture.
“It left several perspectives of culture out of the equation,“ she said. “Culture was defined as ethnicity and race, but we know it’s more than that. It’s languages, norms, beliefs and geographic locations.“
Using a narrow definition of culture leaves out some students, Benítez-Sabino said. Her faculty mentor, Beth Gibbs, agreed. Gibbs is an associate professor of music education and was a McNair Scholars mentor for the first time.
“It’s having an awareness of who your students are and using that to inform your choice of learning goals or your song and repertoire selection so it’s appropriate for them,“ said Gibbs, adding aspects of culturally responsive teaching are included in the National Core Arts Standards. “Culturally responsive teachers need to learn about their students to make connections.“
Benítez-Sabino took Gibbs’ Introduction to Music Education class during her second year at Grand Valley; Gibbs is also her faculty advisor. As a mentor, Benítez-Sabino said Gibbs was very encouraging, especially during the stressful times when deadlines loomed.
“Professor Gibbs would tell me that I did not believe in myself. And there were times I doubted I was doing enough,“ she said. “She reminded me that this is my first time doing this type of research and she pushed me to believe in myself.“
B. Donta Truss, vice president of Enrollment Development and Educational Outreach, said the McNair Scholar student-faculty relationship is one of the most important benefits for scholars.
“Our scholars are paired with excellent faculty mentors who are also researchers,“ Truss said. “These faculty members can guide, mentor and walk alongside students who, for some, are doing this level of research for the first time.“
A cellist since the fifth grade, Benítez-Sabino learned to play the trombone while at Holland High School so she could march in the Tulip Time parade with the color guard, wearing wooden shoes and lots of socks.
Burgeoning researcher
During the summer, Gibbs and Benítez-Sabino met weekly and developed a template that streamlined Benítez-Sabino’s notes and analysis of the readings. For her manuscript and presentation, Benítez-Sabino created charts and a matrix to track how journal authors described culturally responsive teaching. Gibbs recognized that her mentee struggled a bit during this process.
“Maria did not necessarily know how much time she needed for reading and it took longer to get through some of the readings to interpret the material,“ Gibbs said. “So, the timeline surprised her, but never once did she want to give up.“
Benítez-Sabino said she wanted her research to challenge practitioners to widen their definition of culture when practicing culturally responsive teaching in the music classroom. She cited a case study of a music academy for students with autism spectrum disorder. Academy instructors worked closely with parents to learn how to better connect to their children and the parents became a support group for each other.
“This led to greater development in the social and music skills of the students,“ she said.
Benítez-Sabino has given her presentation five times, including at conferences in Missouri, Virginia and Georgia. When possible, she opens by playing the cello and often closes her presentation with a preview of what her classroom will be like.
“I hope to be a listener. Culturally responsive teaching begins with listening and I’m eager to get into the classroom and implement this myself,“ Benítez-Sabino said.
McNair Scholars
The federal TRIO program’s goal is to increase the number of underrepresented and/or first-generation and limited-income students in Ph.D. programs.
• 15-month program
• Stipends of up to $4,000 to concentrate on research
• 12-week intensive summer research period
• Access to funding to travel to conferences, graduate school visits
• Faculty mentors receive a $2,000 stipend
Learn more about the program named for Ronald McNair, one of the astronauts who died in the Challenger space shuttle explosion, at gvsu.edu/mcnair.
