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Transformation of habitus and social trajectories: a retrospective study of a popular music program

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Content TRANSFORMATION OF HABITUS AND SOCIAL TRAJECTORIES: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY OF A POPULAR MUSIC PROGRAM Scott Davis Burstein A dissertation Submitted in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts University of Southern California December 2016 Advisory Committee: Dr. Beatriz Ilari, Chair Dr. Peter Webster Dr. Susan Helfter ii Dedication To the inner music-maker in all of us, and those that inspire us to let them out. “How shall one prevent the loss of the best of tradition while at the same time embracing change?” - Jorgensen, 2002, p. 38 “We don’t need no education” - Pink Floyd, Another Brick in the Wall Part II iii Acknowledgements I would like to take a moment to thank all the people that made this insurmountable project…mountable? Music has clearly been the focus of everything I hold dear in my life, and that spark couldn’t have started without the support of my amazing parents, Nancy and Leigh, who let me pursue the path in my own way. No matter how much trouble I was in as an adolescent, they would ground me from everything EXCEPT my music, recognizing it as a positive outlet for my teenage angst. The music teachers that have influenced me on this path to completion of my degree are numerous, but a few necessitate mention. Special thanks goes to Lane Wesley, my first guitar teacher, who did things perfectly, inspiring me, pushing me, and keeping me honest. Ken Kamp, my high school band director believed in me when most others saw me as a long-haired punk, and pushed me to do more and be better. I still to this day reflect on everything I learned about being a music teacher by thinking of the lessons he taught me. Tom Pease, my high school choir teacher helped broaden my horizons and helped me find my voice. I owe everything to my great family for supporting me musically throughout the years. My brother has been my favorite musician to play music with since he first stole my equipment when I went off to college (ok…borrowed), and there is nothing like shredding through some Cacophony with him. My sister has kept me grounded and given me support throughout, be it a quit retreat to work in or help on a music-related technical project. I can’t say enough about my mom’s support through the past thirty years, listening patiently to my crazy plans before helping to iv talk some sense and logic into them, always being there to catch me when I fall, and believing in my ability to finally finish a degree. Her and my father have always shown the way with their beliefs that education is the best way to improve society, and I only wish my father was still around to read this document, although I imagine that would be one editor too many. The support of my friends and colleagues cannot be overstated. First of all, thank you to Robin Moore for first putting the notion in my mind that all music was worthy of study. Playing in his Mariachi and Salsa bands in college changed my perspective more than he will ever realize. Secondly, David Wish has constantly made me reflect on music education and learning in general. I could not be inspired by someone more than the man who created the vehicle for bringing music education to half a million students. I would also like to thank my colleagues at Little Kids Rock, Ryan Zellner, Miranda Altman, Bryan Powell, and all the others that put up with me and helped pick up the slack while I pounded this monstrosity out. Two of my special musician friends need to be mentioned in terms of their impact on my musical growth. The first is Junar Ortega, someone who is always ready to jam, can play anything, anywhere, anytime, and preferably polytonally at the tritone. I wish we could just play music together all the time. Finally, not enough can be said about Adam Burstein, who pushed me to be better throughout my life, first in Marching Band and Jazz Band, or just jamming at my house, during parties and get- togethers, or just chatting about all music related things. His impact is immeasurable, and the loss of him unfathomable. v None of this work would have been possible without the amazing faculty and of the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music. Thanks to Dr. Woodward and Dr. Head for convincing me that this was a formidable and reasonable journey to take. I would like to thank Dr. Helfter’s guidance and MUED 500 class for showing me that while the study of music education was difficult, it is extremely worthwhile. Dr. Webster has to be thanked for lighting a fire that pushed me along when I felt hopelessly stuck, and for setting the guide for moving forward. And not enough can ever be said for Dr. Beatriz Ilari. Her encouragement and support, long hours reading my paper over and over and over, quick turnaround time to fit into my crazy travel schedule, and advocacy made this not only doable, but has given me a document I am proud of. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the students of this study. The 12 years I taught were unbelievably special to me, and every student I ever had influenced my trajectory somehow, but the kids of the Rock Band class were some of the finest I have ever worked with. Coming to class every day was a joy and a treasure, and to be honest, I still can’t believe I got paid to have that much fun. Thank you for your availability, honesty, and encouragement. I hope you take as much pleasure in reading this as I did in interviewing you all and catching up (although not in writing it, cause that was brutal.) Finally, I need to thank my mom again, because she deserves it. The amount of hours we sat editing this was rough but a great experience, and seeing your interest and getting to share what has made me tick over my professional life has been the best part of this journey. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication……………………………………………………………………………………………………….ii Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………………. iii Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………………….. vi List of Tables and Figures……………………………………………………………………………… xi Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………………………… xii Chapter One: Introduction……………………………………………………………………………...1 Prologue………………………………………………………………………………………………. .1 Need for Study………………………………………………………………………………………..3 Purpose of the Study…………………………………………………………………………..… .7 Definitions of Terms…………………………………………………………………………….... 7 Research Questions……………………………………………………………………………….10 Background………………………………………………………………………………………… .10 Bourdieu and the Theory of Practice…………………………………………... 11 The Changing Role of Cultural Capital………………………………………… 12 Popular Music and Cultural Capital in Education………………………… 15 Where We Are Now with Popular Music Education………………………17 Methodology………………………………………………………………………………………... 21 Context of the Study and Participants…………………………………………. 23 Motivations and Positioning………………………………………………………. 25 Chapter Organization…………………………………………………………………………… 28 vii Chapter Two: Literature Review………………………………………………………………….. 29 Pierre Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice……………………………………………………. 29 Applications of Cultural Capital in Research……………………………….. 33 Applications of Cultural Capital to Popular Music……………………….. 36 Popular Music Education Studies………………………………………………………….. 38 Potential Benefits of Popular Music Education……………………………. 40 The Pedagogy of Popular Music………………………………………………….. 47 Popular Music Instruction at the Collegiate Level………………………… 55 Teacher Training Programs in Popular Music……………………………… 57 Summary of the Chapter………………………………………………………………………... 59 Chapter Three: Methodology………………………………………………………………………… 61 Overview……………………………………………………………………………………………… 61 Research Design – Single Case Study……………………………………………………… 62 Research Setting…………………………………………………………………………………… 63 Rock Band: Spring 2007……………………………………………………………… 64 Participants……………………………………………………………………………………………68 Ethical Considerations………………………………………………………………… 70 Pilot Study…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 70 Methods: Interviews……………………………………………………………………………… 72 Data Collection……………………………………………………………………………………… 73 Data Analysis………………………………………………………………………………………… 76 viii Researcher Role, Triangulation, and Trustworthiness of Data…………………. 78 Summary of the Chapter………………………….………………………………………………79 Chapter Four: Findings……………………………………………………………………….. 81 Purpose of the Study and Research Questions………………………………. 81 Participants and Their Stories……………………………………………………… 82 Alejandro………………………………………………………………………….. 84 Ariel…………………………………………………………………………………. 90 Karl………………………………………………………………………………….. 94 Felix…………………………………………………………………………………. 98 Juan…………………………………………………………………………….….. 102 Angel, Saul, and Enrique………………………………………………….. 108 Laura……………………………………………………………………………… 117 Jack………………………………………………………………………………… 120 Melanie and Robert…………………………………………………………. 125 Rich………………………………………………………………………………... 132 Summary of Interview Data……………………………………………………….. 135 Chapter Five: Discussion of Themes and Subthemes………………………… 137 Acquisition of Capital………………………………………………………………… 138 Social Capital………………………………………………………………….. 139 Meeting Other Musicians……………………………………… 140 Building Confidence……………………………………………... 142 ix Finding a Safe Space…………………………………………….. 142 Finding Identity……………………………………………………. 143 Cultural Capital……………………………………………………………….. 144 Recognizing the Importance of One’s Own Culture… 144 Learning a New Culture………………………………………… 146 Performance………………………………………………………… 147 Musical Capital……………………………………………………………….. 149 Openness to New Music Styles…………………………….... 149 Learning Multiple Instruments and Subjects…….……. 150 Self-Perception In and Through Music……………….….. 151 Pedagogical Capital………………………………………………………… 152 Informal Learning………………………………………………… 152 Discipline…………………………………………………………….. 155 Other Pedagogical Skills……………………………………….. 156 Durability and Transposability…………………………………………………... 157 Durability………………………………………………………………………. 157 Transposability………………………………………………………………. 161 Change in Social Trajectory………………………………………………………... 164 Structure and Discipline………………………………………………….. 164 Creativity and Guidance………………………………………………….. 166 Summary of the Chapter……………………………………………………………. 171 x Chapter Six: Summary and Conclusions……………………………………………. 172 Reflection on Research Questions………………………………………............ 172 Question 1………………………………………………………………………. 172 Question 2………………………………………………………………………. 174 Question 3………………………………………………………………………. 176 Limitations of the Study……………………………………………………………... 177 Conclusions and Implications………………………………………………….…..178 Implications for Music Education…………………………………….. 178 Formal vs. Informal Learning………………………………... 179 Inherent and Delineated Meanings………………………... 180 Student Relationship to Repertoire……………………….. 181 Implications for Practice……………...………………………………….. 182 Implications for Research……………………...………………………… 186 Epilogue……………………………………………………………………………………. 187 References…………………………………………………………………………………………… 190 Appendices………………………………………………………………………………………….. 203 A: Participant Consent Form to Participate in Research……………… 203 B: Participant Interview Protocols…………………………………………….. 206 C: Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval Form…………………… 207 xi List of Tables and Figures Table 1: Summary of Interview Questions ………………………………………………..75 Table 2: Descriptive Information of Participants…………………………………….. 83 Figure 1: Overview of Research Questions……………………………………………. 137 Figure 2: Acquisition of Capital………………….…………………………………………. 139 Figure 3: Durability……………………………………………………………………………... 158 Figure 4: Manifestations of Transposability…..……………………………………… 161 xii xiii Abstract Transformation of habitus and social trajectories: A retrospective study of a popular music program The purpose of this bounded case study is to examine former secondary students’ perceptions on how transformation of habitus through a popular music class influenced their social trajectories. While there are many studies supporting popular culture’s importance for increasing capital in social fields, and findings that education is a valuable asset for equity and access of knowledge, little is currently known about how this knowledge: (1) transforms habitus through cultural, social, pedagogical, and musical capital, (2) is durable across extended periods of time and transposable to other areas, and (3) is perceived as changes that impact their lives. This study, conducted through one-on-one semi-structured interviews with 13 participants at an urban high school, examined the recollections of students enrolled in a Rock Band class and studied their growth in professional and social circles through the lens of Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice (1984). The participants all reported a perceived change in their social trajectories based on their experiences, noting significant knowledge and connections that shaped their present lives. Social, cultural, musical, and pedagogical capital each played a role in the transformation of their habitus; the transformation was found to be both durable over time and transposable to other contexts. The participants noted that they forged new friendships, learned about other cultures and music, explored their own creativity, and saw the world as full of more varied possibilities than before the popular music class. Findings suggest that popular music education xiv can be an important tool for creating safe spaces to explore one’s identity, acquire new knowledge, learn structure and discipline, and increase confidence. 1 Chapter One: Introduction Prologue “Sweet Child O’ Mine” changed my life. I was in 7 th grade, at the tender adolescent age where identity was everything, yet I hadn’t really figured out who I was. Until then, my musical tastes had been shaped by my peers, with us all listening to whatever was the cool song on the radio, without giving it much thought. But with Guns ‘N Roses, everything changed. I remember the feeling of watching their music video and something just spoke to me from the beginning, watching Slash walk up with his long curls and top hat, plug in his Les Paul, and play the first eight now iconic notes of the introduction. At that moment, I knew what I wanted to be, a musician, and my personality and life’s trajectory changed. At that point in 1988, Guns ‘N Roses wasn’t exactly what one would call ‘popular music’; in fact, becoming a fan changed me in ways that took me out of the popular social circles. I started growing out my hair, wearing black rock band tee shirts, and hanging out with other kids that listened to heavy metal. This of course led to me listening to music that was “less and less popular”: Metallica, Slayer, Ozzy Osbourne, etc. My association with this music defined me in the social hierarchy of middle school as well, making me one of the “bad kids”, where a lot of my old elementary school friends were scared of my new gang’s look and attitudes. Popular music has been defined as a genre encompassing “any music that has broad and pervasive appeal to the general listening public at any given time, and is influenced by current artistic, cultural, and technological trends” (Rodriguez, 2012, pp. 879-80), but the heavy metal I listened to in 1988 clearly did not fit this 2 definition. While some bands like Guns ‘N Roses did well with album sales, many of the bands I listened to (e.g. Death Angel, Suicidal Tendencies, etc.) were not commercial juggernauts, and did not appear on Billboard charts, hardly having broad and pervasive appeal. Yet, these bands were clearly not classical, jazz, or world music either. One thing I knew for sure, listening to their music definitely did not make me “popular” or fit in with the general listening public. Listening to heavy metal drove me to my life’s passion, playing the guitar, and luckily I was afforded the opportunity to achieve that goal due to my socio- economic circumstances. I had taken piano classes as a child, and hated every minute of the tedious lessons and practice on pieces that were trite and unfamiliar. Luckily for me, I grew up in an upper-middle class suburb with parents who had the means and saw value in my new hobby; I got a guitar and a private teacher soon after my newfound desire to play manifested. When the new semester came around in school, I decided to take the band class, eagerly looking for a way to take my new skills and apply them with my peers. However, I was shocked to find out that the band class didn’t have guitars; instead it was filled with brass and woodwinds — shattering my understanding of what a band was. I decided against taking music classes altogether, continuing the study of music I enjoyed outside of school with similar like-minded peers. For those of us who wanted to emulate our rock band idols, school music classes were out of the question, but my personal circumstances meant I still had access to grow as a musician -- something that many other kids lacked due to their socio-economic conditions and parental bias against their musical choices. 3 Fast forward to 2016: things have changed. Many of the heavy metal acts from my youth that kept me in the fringe social circles are now mainstream. Songs by Ozzy Osbourne are played by Marching Bands and used in car commercials, Metallica plays the National Anthem at baseball games, and I even took my mom to see Guns ‘N Roses play a sold out reunion concert tour. What was once clearly not popular has resurged as popular music years after its initial entrance to society. Similarly, opportunities for adolescents who currently look to play the music that helps form their identity have increased, yet the chance to play that music in schools is often based on the confines of teacher’s knowledgeable and preference. Need for Study Popular music, while gaining traction as an accepted form of musical instruction in public school classrooms in North America, remains a controversial subject in many educational and academic circles (Mantie, 2013). Professional organizations such as the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the International Society for Music Education (ISME), and the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) have increasingly advocated for a multicultural curriculum that includes popular music styles, and many reports have continued to call for more varied instructional content (Campbell et. al., 2014; Choate, 1968; National Coalition for Core Arts Standards, 2014; Wang & Humphreys, 2009). However, there has been little progress in the inclusion of popular music programs in American schools. For example, in the Oxford Handbook of Music Education chapter 4 on popular music ensembles, Rodriguez cites only 728 schools out of several thousands in the United States offered guitar programs in 2008 (Rodriguez, 2012). There is also a lack of codified popular music pedagogy in the United States, with the majority of popular music articles focusing on the need for its inclusion into schools (Mantie, 2013). Conversely, in many Australian, British, and Scandinavian countries, popular music is firmly established, with research focused on its application in educational environments (Mantie, 2013). Even the title “popular music” defies conventional definition, with questions of what ‘popular’ refers to in terms of genre, instrumentation, and pedagogy. Rodriguez’s (2012) definition of popular music is solely based on genre, and uninfluenced by instrumentation choices and pedagogy (Cutietta, 2004; Green 2001, 2008). When popular music as a construct is discussed, a variety of questions arise. For example, can it refer to an instrumental ensemble such as guitar, bass, and drums as well as the entire electronic music field that relies simply on technology? How does the definition of popular music change when a string quartet covers a song by Radiohead or an orchestra performs the music of Pink Floyd? I would argue that the popular music genre itself is as diverse as classical or jazz, yet more malleable. For instance, the music of Taylor Swift and Metallica both clearly inhabit a space of ‘popular’, with millions of albums and songs sold yet sounding extremely different. Can the same be said for lesser-known alternative Indie rock groups or the progressive djent metal scene that are hardly popular trends with high grossing album sales? How about world music, which is often grouped into popular music (or vice-versa)? The music itself is clearly different than more traditional forms, yet 5 also extremely varied in and of its own characterization. The study of popular music pedagogy is similarly ambiguous. It is interesting to note that just adding popular music into the school curriculum may in fact be problematic in and of itself. Green (2006) argues that when “popular music is introduced into the classroom, its very presence often means that it ceases to be considered as ‘pop’ by the pupils” (p. 105). Many studies describe the disconnect between the stated educational objectives of popular music inclusion and what is actually being taught in the public school and university systems. Teachers are inadequately prepared for teaching outside the traditional Western “art” music tradition, and virtually no time is being spent teaching popular music in university music programs (McClellan, 2002; Moore, 1993; Wang & Humphreys, 2009). The difficulty in accepting popular music programs in countries with strong Concert Band, Choral, and Orchestra programs like the United States has highlighted the challenge in reforming music education, particularly since popular music is outside the norm and traditional forms are rationalized and defended as above the best interest of the students (Blommaert, 2005; Mantie, 2013; Tagg, 1998). Much has been written about the intersection of the status quo of arts education and the inclusion of popular music in the classroom, primarily through the lens of Bourdieu’s (1984) writings on cultural capital. Culture is distributed according to social status, giving advantages to those of privileged families in terms of education. Culture is determined by habitus, or the socialized norms or tendencies that guide behavior and thinking and is mainly determined by early 6 childhood experiences and education itself. Ones habitus determines his/her place in social hierarchies (Wright & Finney, 2011). The 21 st century has lead to a cultural inversion whereby cultural stratifications have broken down, with more cultural capital placed on economic realities, hypercommodification of popular arts for the masses. Worth is dictated by consumption that is readily accessible to the populace through various media (Wright & Finney, 2011). Therefore, arts and music curricula centered around Western “art” traditions arguably hold much less importance for social status in current classroom settings. In fact, traditional music ensembles such as Marching Band, Concert Band, and Orchestra may work against the best interest of students, and instead support the dominant class, making popular music subservient to ideals from the Western “art” canon (Dunbar-Hall, 2005; Small, 1987; Wright, 2011). The habitus of the individual can be transformed; it is transposable, and considered an important defining characteristic for positioning within social fields (Wright, 2015). By changing the characteristics of the field, the social trajectory of one’s habitus and capital also changes, leading to differences based on social, cultural, musical, and pedagogical means (Reay, 1995; Wright, 2015). While there is a growing body of research examining how inclusion of culturally relevant music impacts students while they are enrolled in a program (Clements, 2010; Green, 2001; Seifried, 2006; Snead, 2010; Tobias, 2010; Wright 2015), no data was found at the time of writing regarding the lasting effects and impressions of culturally relevant music programs on students over time. In response, this research study seeks to examine how the addition of a popular music class transforms habitus and 7 influences the social trajectory of students, as evidenced by durability and transposability to other contexts (Wright, 2015). To this end, a retrospective study is proposed to gain insight into the perceived value of how popular music impacts students over time. Purpose of the Study The purpose of this bounded case study is to examine former secondary students’ perceptions on how transformation of habitus through a popular music class influenced their social trajectories. Definitions of Terms The following definitions of terms are adopted in the current dissertation: Capital- Strategies used to maintain and improve one’s position in their societal field, which according to Bourdieu (1984) can be based on culture, economic, social, and symbolic objects. Wright (2015) identifies musical and pedagogical capital as other forms that will be looked at in this study. Cultural capital- A term utilized by Bourdieu (1984) to describe ways of social mobility that could be attained other than financial gain, such as knowledge, art, customs, and style. Cultural inversion- A process where cultural status quo has been upended, with those most invested in previous capital based on high art and culture have diminished relevance compared to those holding current economic and popular cultural capital (Wright & Finney, 2011). 8 Cultural omnivore – A person whose taste in culture ranges from highbrow art of classical, opera, and ballet, to middlebrow forms such as big band, musicals, and easy listening, to lowbrow, including mainstream commercial music of the twentieth century (Peterson & Kern, 1996). Delineated meaning - Extra-musical concepts such as social, cultural, and other associations that people associate with music (Green, 2006). Durability- The length of time for which a change in habitus stands (Wright, 2015) Field- The social space where participants’ actions play out, each with its own underlying implicit rules, where actors in the social space are in competition for the same object (Söderman, Burnard, & Hofvander-Trulsson, 2015). Habitus- Tendencies or habits formed in early childhood conditioning and education that are based on ones understanding of rules in their social circles (Bourdieu, 1984; Wright, 2012). Inherent meaning – Associations with music based on musical elements such as sound, notes, and organization of the music itself (Green, 2006). Musical alienation – When one has negative emotions towards both delineated and inherent meanings of a piece of music, being unable to relate to the music stylistically or socially (Green, 2006). Musical ambiguity - When a person has a negative reaction towards either delineated or inherent meaning, but not both. One type of meaning may override the other, leading to alienation or celebration (Green, 2006). 9 Musical capital- “Skills, knowledge and understanding relating to music but also, importantly, to self-perceptions of musicality and musical potential” (Wright, 2015, p. 95). Musical celebration - When one has positive emotions towards both delineated and inherent meanings of a piece of music, able to relate to the music stylistically and socially (Green, 2006). Pedagogical capital- As discussed in Wright (2015), skills that relate to learning and teaching that affect social mobility. Popular music- This study refers to popular music as a genre as well as instrumentation. The music itself is diverse in nature yet situational to the listener, based on “broad and pervasive appeal to the general listening public at any given time, and is influenced by current artistic, cultural, and technological trends” (Rodriguez, 2012, pp. 879-80). The instrumentation typically includes of some or all of the following instruments: guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, vocals, and technology, but can also include others. Popular music education- Adds the dimension of pedagogy to instrumentation and genre. Typically includes informal methods of learning aurally, being student- centered and directed, and inclusion of improvising and composing (Green, 2001). Social Capital- Networks from the participant to others through shared connections (Wright, 2015). Social trajectory- The direction of one’s place in social circles, which is influenced by intersection of one’s habitus and capital in social fields (Reay, 1995). 10 Transposability- The ability for one’s change of habitus to appear and be applied in other contexts (Wright, 2015). Research Questions 1. How did former secondary students perceive the transformation of habitus that occurred during their participation in a school-based popular music program, particularly in reference to: a. Social capital b. Cultural capital c. Musical capital d. Pedagogical capital 2. In what ways (if any) do former students from a school-based popular music program perceive this transformation of habitus as being durable and transposable to other fields? 3. In what ways (if any) did the transformation of habitus influence the social trajectory of former students from a school-based popular music program after graduation and in the subsequent years? Background In the following section, the work of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (1977, 1984, 1990) will be described, including his ideas concerning the changing role of cultural capital in society and its impact on change of habitus. A discussion on popular music and cultural capital as they relate to music education follows. 11 Bourdieu and the theory of practice. Pierre Bourdieu’s (1930-2002) work defining the importance of how social interaction and stratification, which are built around concepts such as habitus and capital, have been used and debated in the field of sociology since its inception in 1974. Bourdieu was a sociologist, anthropologist, and philosopher who was primarily concerned with the ways through which power and social order interacted and were maintained (Reay, 1995). According to Bourdieu (1984), one’s place in society is determined by the interactions between learned social behaviors acquired through childhood experiences and education, where participants interact based on predetermined and implicit social rules in a given social field or setting. Culture is thus distributed according to social status, or individuals’ use of social behaviors within accepted social norms. According to Bourdieu (1977), those who possess the most cultural capital in a particular field, due to economic and educational reasons, have higher standing in social hierarchies; i.e., with those individuals from privileged families having an advantage over their unprivileged peers (Wright & Finney, 2011). Therefore, the combination of one’s habitus, which is modified by various types of capital—cultural, economic, social, or symbolic, —determines one’s place in the field (i.e. the setting in which people and their social positions are located) (Bourdieu, 1977). To illuminate the distinctions between these important constructs, I will use a similar example to Bourdieu’s, who used the analogy of a football field (Bourdieu, 1984). Let’s examine this through the lens of a different sort of sport: cricket, which 12 has been described as the second most popular sport in the world (Mughal, 2015). To play cricket, the field would be known as a pitch, or the stadium where all the action takes place, and even the conditions of the pitch itself affect the game. In order to play cricket, one would need to know the inherent rules of the game, or doxa. Players in the game would have more or less success based on their habitus, influenced by their understanding (cultural capital) of the rules, their ability to interact with their teammates (social capital), or even the quality of their equipment (economic capital). Even in the game itself, the capital of different players determines their positions in the field. Although the degree to which Bourdieu (1984) saw habitus as fixed is debatable (Aries & Seider, 2005; King, 2000), there are many who would argue that transformations continually emerge through new experiences (McNamara Horvat & Earl Davis, 2011). Harris and Wise (2012), for example, noted that habitus may be transformed through education, with the acquisition of cultural capital playing a major role in one’s acceptance into new social fields. Similarly, McNamara Horvat and Earl Davis (2011) found that students improved their social trajectory through the acquisition of new educational capital and habits such as building self-esteem, gaining the ability to accomplish things of value, and contributing to the welfare of others (McNamara Horvat & Earl Davis, 2011). These studies support the importance of education in transforming habitus, with cultural capital representing a large part of this transformation (Bourdieu, 1984). The changing role of cultural capital. A clear implication of education as impacting transformation of habitus is that the cultural capital acquired through 13 schooling plays a large and determinant role in one’s positioning in a social field. Lamont and Lareau (1988) defined cultural capital as “widely shared, high status cultural signals (i.e., attitudes, preferences, formal knowledge, behaviors, goods, and credentials) used for social and cultural exclusion” (p.156). These cultural signals can be learned through education, and can change one’s position in the social field, which occurs through shared cultural knowledge. Bourdieu (1984) describes the importance of a common culture by noting that “taste is what brings together things and people that go together” (p.241). The combination of cultural elite education and privilege that has been afforded to the upper class leads to the enjoyment of and taste for the so-called “high art”, including Western art music performances at the theater or opera houses (Wright & Finney, 2011). Bourdieu looked mainly at the role of cultural capital with elite “highbrow” culture, and largely ignored the role of popular culture (Garcia- Alvarez et al., 2007), but his theories have been applied to the understanding of cultural inversion, or the lessened value of highbrow culture in modern society (Wright & Finney, 2011). Many authors have underscored the important role that popular culture plays in the field, or social space (Barnett & Allan, 2000; Fisk, 1987; Press, 1994; Swindler, 2001). Peterson and Kern (1996) found that this is particularly true with Americans, as the upper-class tends to be composed of cultural omnivores, who find value in a variety of cultures rather than consuming a single type of culture, or, more specifically, high culture. Press (1994) also noted that Americans gain status and make valuable contacts through popular culture. Furthermore, in the 21 st century 14 there has been a cultural inversion, whereby cultural stratifications have been broken down in the sense that what used to be seen as “low-brow” entertainment has gained a much increased value in social fields (Wright & Finney, 2011). An example can be seen in hip-hop culture, which was once seen as a sign of urban blight and violence, is now considered to yield a high amount of cultural capital as seen through celebrities and athletes (Wright & Finney, 2011). Culture is determined by both economic realities and the hypercommodification of popular arts for the masses, where worth is dictated by consumption, now readily accessible to the populace through various media (Wright & Finney, 2011). This change can be seen in Barnett and Allen’s study (2000) on how film was viewed by adults based on social class. Participants were surveyed about the films they had watched recently and how they had viewed them, finding that cultural choices were partially dependent on access. The majority of decisions made between upper-middle and lower-middle classes having to do with the way the films were viewed, with the upper-middle class had economic means to go to the movies and purchase video-cassettes while the lower-middle class more often watched what was available on television (Barnett & Allen, 2000). In today’s society where access to the Internet is widespread, virtually any form of cultural media can be downloaded or streamed— from entire libraries of art and literature to the newest popular songs and movies. This accessibility and prevalence has helped to increase the weight or popular music in social fields, with increased value attributed to individuals with knowledge of popular culture. As noted by Harris and Wise (2012), cultural capital 15 is an important determinant of one’s positioning in a field, and different fields necessitate different types of capital to rise in the social hierarchy. In the previous sports analogy, the field of play was pitch and the game was cricket. While cricket is said to be one of the most played sports in the world (Mughal, 2015), one’s place in the social field of cricket will have little value in the United States, where it is virtually unknown. If a cricket star athlete were placed within the game of baseball, they would definitely need to undergo a change of habitus through the different forms of capital (i.e., social, economic, and cultural). While both games have similar rules and share some athletic habits like hitting a ball and fielding, there also are many differences that would cause the player to have far less value on the field. If the field were changed even further, to basketball or ice hockey, virtually all previously developed habitus would be deemed useless and a complete change of capital, acquired through education, would be necessary (e.g., dribbling a ball, skating on ice). Popular Music and Cultural Capital in Education. As noted, educational programs can alter one’s positioning within social hierarchies. McNamara Horvat and Earl Davis (2011) noted that in reflecting about their worldviews, student positioning in the field changed in their future professional careers through enrollment in an education program focused on specific job skills and mental- toughness training. By acquiring new capital through education, students’ social standings, economic positions and opportunities improved. As a consequence, the habitus was altered. The researchers concluded that, “if we are to create lasting change in students and if schools are to be sites of transformation, more holistic 16 approaches that both meet students’ needs and address their fundamental beliefs are required.” (p. 167). This would point to Bourdieu’s note (1990) that entry into the field is not automatic, but occurs over time “through a slow process of cooption and initiation” (Bourdieu, 1990, p. 68), as time spent in the vocational program gradually educated McNamara Horvat and Earl Davis’ (2011) participants for entry into their professional fields. Thus, achieving capital through education is one important way to unlock social codes, and this is not restricted to “high-brow” art. Popular cultural capital also requires a set of cultural competencies (Fiske, 1987). Therefore, if acquiring popular culture is indeed important for those wishing to fit into important areas of social status, we must examine how the growing importance of popular culture has been utilized in education. This is particularly true when one considers the emergence of musical omnivores (Peterson & Kern, 1996) amongst the elite. A consequence of this cultural change is that art and music curricula centered around a western “art” tradition arguably hold much less importance for social status in today’s society than in Bourdieu’s time. Still, equity and access to musical education based on traditional models (Heuser, 2014) remain, with upper middle class Caucasian students having a better chance of relating to the older traditions (Wright, 2011). Even if inadvertently, students continue to support the interests of the dominant class even against their own best interests, with many students from low SES having little access to music education (Elpus & Abril, 2011), making it more difficult for those students to participate in a democratic process of the arts (Kindall-Smith, McCoy, & Mills, 2011). Returning once again to our sport-analogy of 17 cricket athletes, the players in the field need to appropriate popular cultural capital to succeed in the social field of their choice. Yet when they strive to acquire the appropriate popular cultural capital, they can only find it in interactions with others who have the means to educate them in traditional methods. (In keeping with the sports analogy, they are trying to learn about how to play basketball by those that are most knowledgeable and trained in cricket!) For this reason, many students become frustrated with traditional music education programs. As a consequence, “the main decision most students make concerning school music is to drop it as soon as they can” (Laurence, 2011, p. 249). Where we are now with popular music education? Thus it appears that although popular music may fulfill a strong societal need for equal access and opportunity for all students, the educational system itself is hampering change. One major difficulty is the incongruity between the desires of those creating the curriculum to preserve the status quo of Western art music and the societal shift towards production and acceptance of contemporary culture in its many forms (Wright & Finney, 2011.) This is at the core of the problem, and it trickles down through the teaching profession. For example, Wang and Humphrey’s (2009) survey of time spent per musical genre in undergraduate music classes indicated that popular music has received less than one percent of the curricular time, with its only inclusion due to Marching Band. They further noted that “the conservatory model, on which many (if not most) American music schools are based, appears to fall far short of fulfilling the needs of pre-service music teachers in regard to types of musical styles covered” 18 (p. 29). The cultural capital that many students want to utilize is popular music, but many teachers are wholly unequipped to teach genre, given that their own experiences are entrenched in the western “art” music paradigm (Green, 2008; Price, 2006; Purves, 2002). Teachers’ lack of preparation can be broken down into many smaller issues, including a lack of familiarity with popular music forms, lack of acceptance of popular music as “art” that is worthy of study, and the use of traditional concepts such as formal learning, standard notation, and inappropriate instrumentation to approach popular music. The end result is that many teachers use popular music as a gateway into classical music, often disregarding the cultural capital of their students, including their cultural choices, which are crucial to their identities. This can be seen as a form of cultural imperialism as it makes popular music subservient to ideals from the western “art” canon, espoused through university classes that place heightened importance on traditional ensembles and formal learning and then reiterated through discussing world and popular music through a learned vocabulary and structure of classical theory (Dunbar-Hall 2005; Small, 1987). These problems are reflected in the scholarly literature in the United States, with American scholars often focusing on defending the use of popular music in education (Davis, 2005; Herbert & Campbell, 2000; Wang & Humphreys, 2009), whereas scholars from other parts of the world tend to focus on how to improve quality of instruction (Green, 2001; Mantie, 2013). One of the possible reasons for this distinction in the scholarly literature is framed by Heuser, (2014) who notes that American school culture views large 19 ensembles as the end goal of music education, ignoring popular idioms and curricular innovation. This also represents an orthopraxy where popular music is considered to be outside the norm, with traditional forms being rationalized and defended above informed ethical actions (Blommaert, 2005; Mantie, 2013). Limited opportunities to study popular music can be seen as mirrored in the public school classroom, where most students are given opportunities in popular music only on traditional band and orchestral instruments, therefore limiting both practice and repertoire to music composed or arranged specifically for traditional instruments, regardless of appropriateness (Cutietta, 2004). In addition, while the content of music lessons may be changed to incorporate popular music styles, the pedagogical model is firmly rooted in traditional formal methods, bringing about the question of how to match curricular content with the appropriate tools for instruction (Green, 2001, 2008; Wright & Finney, 2011). Equity and access are key features in music education in general, as noted by the new Every Student Succeeds Act (2015), which enumerates music as part of every child’s education, no matter their circumstance. Using student driven musical choices may help bring in the majority of students today that listen to music yet have no interest in traditional music programs. On that note, Tobias (2010) emphasized that classes in popular music offer an opportunity for students to be involved in a music program not based around large ensemble performance, thereby giving a musical voice to students who may not traditionally see themselves as performers. Popular music is predisposed towards improvisation and composition in ways that more traditional forms often struggle with, thereby 20 addressing many of the more neglected National Standards for Music Education (Ponick, 2000). Popular music can also draw students into a program, many of which are in constant danger of being cut due to budget constraints by helping to increase enrollment in shrinking programs and through the relative cost of outfitting a class of popular instruments versus that of a full band or orchestra (Fesmire, 2006). For these reasons, popular music can be a vehicle to address the disconnect between what students listen to out of school and their in school music experiences (Lamont, Hargreaves, Marshall, & Tarrant, 2003; McClellan, 2002; Moore, 1993). The literature reviewed thus far seems to support the value in transformation of habitus as a means to improve one’s social trajectory. Moreover, the research suggests that popular culture can be a strong tool for increasing capital in the social field and that popular music education would be an important asset for equity and access of knowledge. Several studies that examine the transformation of habitus point to educational reform as being a key contribution to new capital. Harris and Wise (2012), Barnett and Allen (2000), and McNamara Horvat and Earl Davis (2011) all note the importance of cultural capital in order to gain acceptance in those social fields, but none of these studies discuss popular music’s role in the transformation of habitus. Wright (2015) expanded on the definition of types of capital in her study dealing with students introduced to popular music education in public schools in Western Ontario. She noted that pedagogical capital, or, skills, knowledge and understanding related to learning and teaching, and musical capital (i.e., capital related to music but also self-perceptions of musicality and musical 21 potential), lead to increased self-confidence and trajectories that would “enable different conditions of living for students within music education” (Wright, 2015, pp.96-97). While she also noted that these two forms of capital appeared to stand the tests of durability and transposability over time and contexts, this study only measured students through the course of the class itself. I would argue that in order to discuss transformation of habitus and social trajectory, participants must be observed years after the acquisition of capital has occurred to discover their perceptions’ on how these changes were durable, transposable, and impacted their lives. This study contributes to the literature on the transformation of habitus in music education by revisiting the recollections of students nine years following the conclusion of their formal schooling in music. Specifically, this study examined the perceptions of former students in terms of changes in habitus over time and the impact on their social trajectories. Methodology The purpose of this bounded case study was to examine the perceptions of young adults on how transformation of habitus through a popular music class in secondary school influenced their social trajectories. This study uses the interpretive framework of social constructivism, which helps one examine the subjective meanings of experiences and how they form relationships with others through cultural norms, including the impact of social interactions (Creswell, 2013; Egbert & Sanden, 2014). Specifically, the study draws from Bourdieu’s work on 22 habitus, capital, and field. It is also informed by Wright’s (2015) examination of popular music education’s application to social trajectory and capital, and research on transformation of habitus by McNamara Horvat and Earl Davis (2011). The goal of the research is to rely on the participants’ view of the popular music class and its perceived impact on their current lives by asking broad and general questions so the participants can construct their own meanings. To understand how transformation of habitus influences personal social trajectories through experiences with popular music in secondary schools, it is important to study how education influences not only cultural capital, but also musical and pedagogical capital, as well as to examine whether changes are transposable and durable. For the present study, I proposed a qualitative research method using an intrinsic case study, with a bounded setting of one classroom with multiple participants inside the larger case (Creswell, 2013; Yin, 2016). The intrinsic interest of this case study, and this particular popular music class, was due to its unusual or unique situation in overall music programs in the mid-2000s (Creswell, 2013). A qualitative, retrospective design was utilized to study students’ perceptions of how their transformation of habitus influenced social trajectory through their experiences in popular music education. To fully view the transformation of habitus, participants were interviewed eight years after the class itself occurred to not only gauge any perceptions of change in capital during schooling, but to also understand if and how these changes may have impacted their development years later. 23 Context of the study and participants. The case study concerned 13 young adults, who took part in a popular music class in an urban high school in Los Angeles eight years ago, who were recruited through social networking. The class itself was a bounded system (Stake, 2005), in which students participated in the class “Rock Band”, with the entire contents of the class focused on all three aspects of popular music as defined by the author: instrumentation, genre, and pedagogy. The now young adults (former students) who took part in this study were further bounded through the duration of the class and a specified event, in this case a large performance that operated as a class project. The Rock Band class had basic parameters established by the teacher, with students forming groups and performing new music based on differing factors every five weeks. Students would choose the material informally, learn it aurally or through acquired iconic notation, rehearse and critique all members of the class, and then perform it in the community. To perform on the final concert— a benefit performance at a major Los Angeles music venue— students had to audition on one of two pre-selected pieces, with the participants chosen by the teacher and their peers. Once student selection was completed, the participants continued to choose repertoire for the concert as well as utilize other informal methods for preparing for the concert (Green, 2001). To compare and code themes based on transformation of habitus through capital, as well as durability and transposability (Bourdieu, 1984; Wright, 2015), participants from the class were each perceived as embedded cases within the larger bounded case (Stake, 2005). 24 Two years prior to the current study’s data collection, a pilot study was conducted by the author to investigate perceptions of the impact of student musical experiences from their period in a popular music ensemble. Eight students of the 13 from the current study were interviewed with open-ended questions about their recollections of the class. Responses from the pilot study have been utilized to clarify the types of social changes the students perceived, and these responses helped guide the development of both the conceptual and theoretical framework, refinement of research and interview questions, and development of codes for data collection (Creswell, 2013). Study participants were recruited through purposeful and snowball sampling, which are intended to inform an understanding of the research problem and central phenomenon, that is, how participation in a school-based popular music programs transforms habitus over time (Creswell, 2013). This case is taken from a 40-student classroom during the spring of 2007 at an urban Title 1 school in Los Angeles, where the author served as instructor. A majority of the students were male, while the ethnic diversity of the class reflected that of the school itself with roughly 67% Latino, 12% Caucasian, 10% African-American, and 8% Asian. Students from the pilot study were the first to be sought out, and snowball sampling was subsequently used to identify and expand the pilot to include additional students from the popular music class (Creswell, 2013). This was a sample of convenience, with the study bound by time, funding, and general lack of information of popular music programs from that time period in the United States. A retrospective study was selected here as it allowed for the 25 examination of durability and social trajectory (Creswell, 2013). The author had access to records from the class and information on how to reach the original eight pilot study participants from the class, and was able to interview five additional students in the class to broaden the number of participants, which totaled 13. The sample maintained the same proportion of gender and ethnic diversity as in the class itself. Given that this study’s author and researcher was also the teacher of the class, there was potential for general bias towards the inclusion of the initial students in the study. However, as much as possible, bias is controlled by focusing on the students’ own experiences, dispositions, and perceptions (Creswell, 2013) concerning their time in the class and interactions with others in the social field of the school. Furthermore, as the teacher of record, my rapport with the students enabled closer, more personal, and honest reflections, made apparent in the open way they discussed candid experiences such as drug and alcohol use, as well as abrasive colloquial language. Motivations and positioning. Qualitative studies recognize that the researcher goes into the study with the potential for a subjective mind-frame and need to combat bias through triangulation and recognizing potential conflicting bias (Creswell, 2013). My own desire to examine how popular music classes potentially transformed habitus and social trajectories unquestionably manifested from my own experiences with music education. As a student in a public middle school, I wanted to learn to play guitar in popular music styles, but the option didn’t exist at the local schools. Rather than opting for traditional music classes, I had the opportunity to take private lessons, 26 given my upper-middle class background and upbringing, having parents that saw the need for positive hobbies and growth. As my skill and interest in popular music increased, I became interested in other ways to expand my musical horizons. I eventually joined a variety of traditional classes at high school, including Choir, Marching Band, Jazz Band, and the school musical, expanding my guitar playing to cover voice, string bass, tuba, flute, and conducting. In this way, I viewed my time as a young student of popular music as a springboard to understand all types of music, leading to an academic degree study of classical music theory. Over the course of 12 years of teaching public high school music, my views and philosophy about music education constantly evolved, and I noticed that while there were few students at my school that gravitated towards traditional music study, the majority were interested in studying the music that they experienced in their own lives. This lead to my interest in studying Music Education at the doctoral level, with an emphasis on popular music’s role on education and society. The review of the literature reported in Chapter two was an important aid in shaping my thoughts for this study. This literature, combined with the results of my pilot study (see chapter three) pointed towards the focus of my research questions and the phenomena for study. A year after the Rock Band class, I left the profession of teaching after 10 years at the same school, and many of the students in question continued on studying with my replacement. While there are comments comparing the two instructors that are included, they are first of all included as examples of pedagogical capital and transformation of habitus, and in each case, the ‘opinions’ 27 are negated by factual recollections. For instance, one student noted his displeasure with the replacement teacher, noting how the formal style turned him off, which was demonstrated by his discontinuation of the class, and ultimately dropping out of school altogether. At the time of writing this dissertation, I am currently the Director of Training for the nonprofit organization Little Kids Rock. The goal of the organization is to “transform lives by restoring, expanding, and innovating music education” (http://www.littlekidsrock.org). Specifically, the organization solicits donations in order to offer workshops, curriculum, and pedagogy for current public high school teachers, as well as pre-service music teachers through high education institutions. The pedagogy is specifically based on ‘student-centered music’, typically popular music of a variety of genres. In my position, I oversee program effectiveness and evaluation, and while I primarily work with expanding popular music education to students, new curriculum and our pedagogy itself is shaped by research directly from published studies, as well as feedback directly reported from our teachers and students. Therefore, the research, including this study, helps inform the direction of the organization. Moreover, I anticipate the results of this study about transformation of habitus and social trajectory will contribute to creating a path for more effective use of resources for our current and future teachers and students. 28 Chapter Organization Chapter one introduced the background, need, and purpose of the study, followed by a brief overview of research design and theoretical basis (Bourdieu, 1984; McNamara Horvat & Earl Davis, 2011; Wright, 2015). Chapter two offers a comprehensive literature review that expands upon the theoretical frameworks of the study and the impacts these theories have in popular music education. It expands upon the concepts of: (1) Bourdieu’s use of habitus, capital, and field, (2) the application of cultural capital in research, (3) the application of cultural capital to popular music (4) overview of the popular music education research, (5) benefits of popular music education, and (6) the pedagogy of popular music. Chapter three discusses the research design and methodology, including the concept of intrinsic case study, details of the pilot study, use of semi-structured interviews, sample process, and data generation. Chapter four provides analysis of individual participants of the case told through narrative form. Chapter five examines the findings of the participant interviews when viewed together through coded analysis and related to the theoretical framework and research questions. Chapter six summarizes the study and recommends implications for music teacher education, research, and pedagogy. 29 Chapter Two: Literature Review Chapter two provides a review of the literature related to central themes of this study, loosely grouped into two larger sections, each with pertinent subsections. The first section examines Bourdieu’s work with sociology (1977, 1984, 1990), investigating his writings and how they have been applied to cultural capital. The second section reviews recent studies on popular music education in order to explore its importance in terms of habitus and capital. This includes an examination of the benefits of popular music, different pedagogical issues with its instruction, and how it is being taught in the classroom and university. Pierre Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice Pierre Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice, which defines the importance of how social interaction and stratification are built around concepts such as habitus and capital, has been debated and applied to the field of sociology since its inception in 1972. Bourdieu examined the intersection of education and culture to study how membership into different social circles was determined through practice (Bourdieu, 1977; Grenfell, 2010). In his Outline of a Theory of Practice, he introduces the main concepts of Practice: habitus, field, and capital (1977). This “practice” refers to human actions, situated through training and convention, and these actions, in combination of those of other actions lead to oriented outcomes. Habitus thereby are tendencies or inclinations, those that are organized practices, and contribute to the formation and continuation of existing social order, consciously or subconsciously (Bourdieu, 1977). 30 In 1979, Bourdieu applied work on practice to French culture in the publication Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste (Bourdieu, 1984), examining the interplay of cultural capital and its determinant of how society places importance on this culture. Particularly in French society at the time, culture was a potentially liberating feature for personal growth, while in British academic work alternative culture was seen rising as a challenge to the dominant hegemony of high-brow culture (Grenfell, 2010). According to Bourdieu, one’s place in society is determined by interactions between learned social behaviors acquired through experiences in childhood and education in a given social field or setting where participants interact based on predetermined implicit rules (Bourdieu, 1984). Culture is thus distributed according to social status or individuals’ use of these social behaviors in the given accepted norms of society, with the most cultural capital in a particular field determining one’s place in social hierarchies; those of privileged families having an advantage due to economic and educational access (Wright & Finney, 2011). Importantly, capital was not linked specifically to culture. However, cultural capital was “intended to account for otherwise inexplicable differences in academic performance with children of unequal cultural patrimonies”, with other types of capital such as social or symbolic being accounted for residual differences based on other resources (Bourdieu, 2005, p. 2). Therefore, the combination of one’s habitus, which is modified by the various types of capital— cultural, economic, social, or symbolic—determines one’s place in the field (Bourdieu, 1977). 31 To understand education and culture’s intersection relating to social standing, it is important to first look at the concepts of habitus, field, and capital separately. Habitus describes a person’s traits that are acquired through time and actions with others (Reay, 2010). These dispositions are learned through family history as well as experience and socialization in childhood, and are permeable and responsive to new experiences. The field is defined as a “place” where practices occur and intersect, alongside relations between individuals in competition for standing (Bourdieu, 1990). Habitus largely determines one’s place in the field, and different habitus will have differing determinants in different fields. Finally, capital is knowledge, wealth, and connections that can be acquired to maintain and improve one’s position in their societal field, being loosely defined into four separate types (Bourdieu, 1984). Cultural capital was first defined as a way to obtain social mobility other than financial, based on knowledge of culture icons such as physical appearance, style, and art (Bourdieu, 1977). Social capital was described as networks that the participant has through shared connections, and one’s ability to navigate and make new connections (Wright, 2015). Bourdieu also discusses economic capital, based on wealth, and symbolic capital, or capital based off honor or prestige (Bourdieu, 1984). 1 In his work, Bourdieu proposed that those with the most cultural capital are most likely to determine taste in society and to have more means to acquire capital, therefore setting the field (Bourdieu, 1984). This creates a cycle where the elites have access to determining societal worth. As a result, those with less access to 1 Economic and symbolic capital were not used in the current study since they were not seen as capital that was gained through the class. 32 highbrow culture are often restricted from rising in the field. Bourdieu argued that this leads to a form of ‘symbolic violence’, where those of lower standing in the field accept the elite view of culture and thereby place their own aesthetic as inferior to those at the top of the field (Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992). Bourdieu’s more recent work emphasized that social change can arise in areas where there is a tension between habitus and field, whereby those who are poor and dispossessed seek upward mobility through transformation of their own habitus and place in the field (Bourdieu, 1999; McNay, 2001). Although the degree to which Bourdieu saw habitus as fixed is debatable (Aries & Seider, 2005; King, 2000), there are many who would argue that transformations continually emerge through new experiences (McNamara Horvat & Earl Davis, 2011). The concept of cultural inversion is one of the main reasons for the change of capital in social fields. The 21 st century has led to a cultural inversion whereby cultural stratifications have been broken down, with more cultural capital placed on economic realities, hypercommodification of popular arts for the masses, and worth being dictated by consumption that is readily accessible to the populace through various media (Wright and Finney, 2011). Previously valued elite cultural traditions hold less importance for social status in the field, and may in fact work against the best interest of those in dispossessed positions, instead supporting the dominant class (Dunbar-Hall, 2005; Roberts, 1991; Small, 1987; Wright, 2011). This research in sociology has important implications to the field of education, with researchers examining the purpose and types of capital espoused in general. According to Wright (2015), the habitus of the individual is capable of 33 transformation; it is transposable, considered an important defining characteristic for positioning within social fields. Continuing to educate traditional capital that may not have value in social fields can stifle one’s worth in the field. Culturally relevant educational choices, therefore, can impact students over time in school. The next section examines studies on how the theory of practice has been used in the literature in general, as well as specifically in music (Clements, 2010; Green, 2001; Seifried, 2002; Snead, 2010; Tobias, 2010; Wright 2015). Applications of cultural capital in research. While Bourdieu looked largely at the role of cultural capital within elite high-brow culture, he largely ignored the role of popular culture (García-Álvarez et al., 2007). García-Álvarez, Katz-Gerro, and López-Sintas wished to examine concepts of culture and society based on Peterson and Kern’s (1996) ideas about omnivorousness, specifically on how highbrow consumers had moved from cultural snobs to purveyors of high, middle, and lowbrow musical preferences. García-Álvarez, Katz-Gerro, and López- Sintas obtained data from thousands of respondents in 1982-2002, looking at musical preferences, although not in terms of musical education but rather as cultural capital from a sociological perspective. They found that while Americans’ musical preferences tended to be more omnivorous, defined as the enjoying both ‘highbrow’ genres like classical music and opera as well as ‘lowbrow’ genres such as popular music, these distinctions were not limited by one’s place in society, and that one’s variety of taste in music was independent of capital. More specifically, omnivorousness was not limited to those typically associated with highbrow 34 culture, but in fact the variety of one’s tastes were of an independent dimension from their place in society. Accounting for this omnivorousness is partially related to access of new capital, which in turn affects habitus and standing in the societal field. A study of differences of film viewing practices in lower and upper-middle class Americans highlighted the relationship between status and popular culture (Barnett & Allen, 2000). In this study, 364 individuals were identified according to different dimensions of social class and asked to respond to survey questions about which movies they had seen and how they had seen them. Data was derived based on classification of movies into categories such as art films, blockbusters, and others, grouped by researchers into commercial appeal versus those focused on more strictly artistic merit. Findings indicated that access was an important factor in choice, as the upper-middle class participants had economic means to go to the movies and purchase videocassettes while the lower-middle class reported more often watching what was available on television. Therefore, acquisition of cultural capital was dependent on economic aspects of access (Barnett & Allen, 2000). Harris and Wise (2012) noted that habitus may be transformed through the educational process, with the acquisition of cultural capital playing a major role in one’s acceptance into new social fields. They used questionnaires to gather data from 375 medical students in the US from 1992 through 1997, with the intent to acquire a representative sample of white and minority students. The focus of inquiry was to investigate whether there was a link between participation in extracurricular activities for undergraduates and their sense of belonging in the 35 medical school environment. The authors examined the participants feelings of inclusion and exclusion as related to their change of field following entrance into medical school and its effect on habitus. Findings suggested that participation in extracurricular activities for undergraduates resulted in increased student cultural capital contributed to their sense of belonging in the medical school environment (Harris & Wise, 2012). This suggests that through participation in cultural activities, cultural omnivores are able to interact with diverse groups of people, which, in turn, contributes positively to not only their sense of belonging, but future relationships in their professional field. Similarly, McNamara Horvat and Earl Davis (2011) examined the role that habitus played in dispositions of students in an educational and vocational program that worked primarily with high school dropouts. The program YouthBuild specializes in reaching dropouts whose gifts and talents may not have fit into traditional high school education, providing actual job-site experience, counseling, and assistance to help them rebuild their lives (McNamara Horvat & Earl Davis, 2011). In-depth interviews were conducted with 57 graduates of YouthBuild in order to generate a diverse sample of the program nationwide. Specifically, the concept of habitus was used as a tool to understand how the structure of schooling shaped individual social trajectories. The students noticed positive changes in their social trajectories through the acquisition of new educational capital and habits such as building self-esteem, gaining the ability to accomplish things of value, and contributing to the welfare of others (McNamara Horvat & Earl Davis, 2011). Specifically, “findings show that by intentionally altering the habitus of students, the 36 program both improves enrollees’ social and economic position and provides graduates with diverse vocational opportunities” (McNamara Horvat & Earl Davis, 2011, p. 165). Applications of cultural capital to popular music. Popular music’s importance as cultural capital, while not specifically examined by Bourdieu (1984), has been linked to his theory of practice in the last twenty-five years, particularly as it fits well with discourses of cultural inversion (Wright & Finney, 2011). While the combination of the dominant class’ education and privilege that was afforded to the upper class has led to their enjoyment of Western art music through classical performances at the theater or opera houses, the 21 st century has seen a cultural inversion as cultural stratifications have been broken down. What used to be seen as “low-brow” entertainment has gained much weight in social fields (Wright & Finney, 2011). Attendance at classical performances and other traditionally highbrow culture no longer signifies the cultural capital necessary to rise in social hierarchies, yet schooling in the music curriculum is still dominated by Western art music which no longer holds importance for the students in these fields. Based on theories of postmodernization, Wright and Finney discussed the concepts of hyperrationalization and hypercommodification of culture, their impact on cultural capital and what they mean in terms of the field (Crook, Pakulski, and Waters, 1992; Wright & Finney, 2011). Hyperrationalization is evidenced in society as cultural products no longer conforming to rationale purpose of value other than market consumption. For example, in the past, teachers were seen as purveyors of cultural capital, due to their ability to impart learned knowledge, however, those at the top 37 of the cultural hierarchy now are athletes and popular music stars through wealth and fame (Wright & Finney, 2011). Hypercommodification takes hyperrationalization to the next level where cultural products actually represent membership into social groups. As a consequence of this cultural inversion, or what was previously thought of as lowbrow art holding requisite cultural capital for advancement in social fields, art and music curricula centered around the Western “art” tradition holds less importance for social status in today’s society (Wright & Finney, 2011). A significant application of Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice in popular music can be seen in Wright’s study of students at a primary school in Canada (Bourdieu, 1984; Wright, 2015). The author identified Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, as well as its transformation through capital and its ability to shape social trajectory through qualitative observations of students using informal learning practices (Bourdieu, 1984; Green, 2001). In particular, she noted that “such dispositions or tendencies are durable — that is, they last over time — and are transposable, capable of becoming active in a variety of social situations” (Wright, 2015, p. 81). The study took place at a primary and a secondary school in Canada that used informal learning with 74 students, including practices of learning music chosen by the students, working in groups, and utilizing creative skills such as composition and improvisation (Green, 2008). The project included two phases, using a dual comparative case study design, with data collection of the first phase consisting of recorded observations and field notes, while the second phase utilized interviews of students and faculty. Students noted feelings of legitimacy and 38 authenticity, which were also found outside the classroom, thus affecting other spheres of their lives. They also reported an increased confidence in other subjects and social relationships. Wright found her data to not only center around cultural and social capital, but also on pedagogical capital, or ownership over learning and teaching, as well as musical capital, or self-perceptions of musicality and potential (2015). The author felt that changes in habitus had occurred with the newly acquired capital and “such changes of habitus appeared to stand tests of durability and transposability as students maintained them over time and were able to operationalize them in other contexts” (Wright, 2015, p. 94). Popular Music Education Studies The previous section discussed how Bourdieu’s (1984) theories have been combined with popular culture to improve one’s place in social fields, and what follows is a look at how our current education system conveys popular music as capital for transformation of habitus. In a literature review, Isbell (2007) examined literature on the role of popular music in the public school music curriculum, setting groundwork for examining not only the ‘why’ perspective, but also the ‘how’. The work begins with a short background of the endorsement of popular music starting with the Tanglewood symposium (Choate, 1968), following with a summation of researcher and practitioner perspectives, many of which pointed towards the importance and benefits of popular music study. Next, the work describes how pedagogical strategies in popular music have been examined in research, including specific 39 examples of how to include popular music as a stand-alone class or as augmentation to existing classes. Isbell concluded that while there was still resistance to popular music, the latter was becoming more widely accepted. The combined studies further suggested that popular music can lead to program growth and retention, teach important musical concepts, and that teacher preparation programs need to be updated and expanded to reach a more diverse student population through popular music. He concluded that more study is needed to investigate the scope of current offerings, improve curricula and close the gap between in and out of school music. In the most current and comprehensive study of popular music pedagogy, Mantie (2013) found that there were large differences in how popular music was discussed in academic literature from the United States and in other countries. Mantie identified 81 articles based on popular music education over the past twenty years, identified by keywords related to its study. After examining the content of the articles, the author discovered that there was a tendency for American-based authors to focus on legitimacy and quality of repertoire, consistently arguing for acceptance into the canon. Non-American-based authors however tended to talk of pedagogical issues, and primarily ways to incorporate popular music into the classroom with quality of learning. Mantie further noted that the rationalization of embedding popular music in American classrooms continues to be challenged, necessitating an examination into the benefits of popular music education. Moreover, critical to the inclusion of popular music is not only the subject itself but its pedagogical implications, including ways to equip educators with the means and knowledge on how to include popular music in the curriculum. Mantie noted that 40 these concerns led to the use of popular music being accompanied by fears over the erosion of quality teaching and quality music. For this reason, a deep examination into the benefits of popular music education, as well as different pedagogical strategies for inclusion in schools is offered next. Potential benefits of popular music education. To first examine the potential benefits of popular music instruction, it is important to look at detractions. Herbert and Campbell (2000) tackled the challenges and benefits of rock and popular music early on, arguing against many early perceptions and stereotypes. They critically examined a study by Fowler (1970) of North American teachers that made three arguments against the inclusion of rock music in the classroom, and then added on their own three observations, systematically countering each assertion. The first proposed challenge was that rock music was aesthetically inferior, but the authors point out that this opinion can be attributed to an elitist attitude, a naiveté about rock musicianship, and the fact that rock music itself has layers of its own aesthetic music complexity (Herbert & Campbell, 2000). According to Herbert and Campbell (2000), the second assertion of rock music being damaging to youth is based on specious claims with zero scientific research, and in fact study of the context of rock music can lead to critical thinking about societal issues. Fowler’s (1970) third contention is that school time cannot be spent on the vernacular, yet Herbert and Campbell counter this claim by noting that casual listening out of school can become enhanced and examined at a deeper level in school. This contention is examined in popular music theory (Walser, 1993), musicology (McClary, 2002), and 41 music education (Snead 2010; Tobias, 2010), all showing importance of popular music study as deep, thoughtful, and complex as other genres. A critique to Fowler’s three contentions is that they deal more specifically with inherent problems with music education as a whole, or, how teacher education and curriculum are under- developed in the United States in regards to popular music. Herbert and Campbell (2000) expand Fowler’s (1970) central observations, noting three additional issues that suggest the difficulty popular music has had in its acceptance into the American curriculum. They note that traditional music education for teachers has not provided training in rock music, that it is seen as rebellious and anti-educational and therefore problematic for appropriation by teachers, and that there is a lack of appropriate instructional curriculum (Herbert & Campbell, 2000). The authors conclude by noting the important benefits of popular music education, primarily that its pervasive and undeniable influence on young people may be one of “the most powerful discourses available to students as a means by which to construct personal identity and interpret social experience” (Herbert & Campbell, 2000, p. 20). They also note that the benefits of popular music education go beyond social and personal, and that it can engage the formation of a large array of musical skills, concepts, and musical phenomenon as a whole. In many cases, researchers found that students who were struggling with their education often succeeded due to the inclusion of popular music in their curriculum. In his dissertation, Snead (2010) wrote of a bifurcation between the style of music that is taught in school and what adolescents listen to in their free time. His goal was to examine the interactions between student’s musical lives and 42 school music-learning culture by pursing an ethnographic study that included observation, document collection, interview, and student driven music mixes. Furthermore, he included perspectives of secondary music teacher’s views on their students and school’s musical culture. The combination of teachers negotiating between their own musical values and backgrounds and those of their students led to the school’s music culture, but the adolescents defined their musical lives by the informal musical experiences they had outside of the school. Snead found that although there were limited interactions between personal and school music, in classrooms where teachers who welcomed pedagogical decisions that spoke to and validated students own musical choices, there was a higher level of engagement and satisfaction, thereby increasing student enjoyment and learning of other musical experiences (2010). In a study of 14 students from a high school guitar class in a suburban public school, Seifried (2006) contended that popular guitar programs are an important way to facilitate school success for students who struggle in other academic settings. Students participated in two rounds of in-depth interviews about their attitudes towards school and the music program, and their grade point averages were collected. Study findings indicated that the guitar class embraced students who were typically outside of school norms socially and academically, giving them a place to act out their oppositional personas, or those that didn’t conform to the larger culture of the school. Seifried also noted that many students in guitar class had difficulty in other classes, but perceived the guitar class as an accepting space, where their differences were embraced (Seifried, 2006). 43 Tobias (2010) studied the musical engagement and learning of secondary students in an alternative music technology class that focused on creation, performance, recording, and production. Using a bounded case study, data were collected from individuals and groups through interview, observations, and reflections. The researcher observed the role of the students in the class and how they participated and interacted throughout the course of a semester. Findings indicated that a large amount of music programs in schools solely offered classes in large performance ensemble settings where students were graded on performance, which left them unprepared for potential jobs in the modern music industry. Students who wished to be involved in music but not as performers had no way to be a part of the school music experience (Tobias, 2010). In his own words, “the majority of participants would not have been part of the music program were it not for that course” (p.547). Tobias also emphasized that to prepare students for the modern world of music careers, particularly in technology and production, it was important to broaden notions of what music literacy and skills are necessary. Other broad concepts and problems associated with popular music study were examined in Bowman’s (2004) essay. The author weaves through a spiral of reasoning from the most general to the increasingly direct, starting with a discussion of what popular means, moving to popular music, including education, and finally examining popular music education and the teaching profession. Bowman concludes that if educators don’t take popular music seriously, they are turning their backs on the majority of music that our students find meaningful and potentially misunderstand music’s role in human endeavor (Bowman, 2004). 44 Bowman (2004) makes specific mention of the importance of the inclusion of popular music study in giving a forum for students that are traditionally excluded from music in school. This means that the instructor can no longer be seen as the purveyor of factual insights, and students themselves become involved in the process and reframe the concept of the usefulness of music study itself. However, almost in rebuttal to this tenant, Bowman later notes that our role as educators is to help students to become more aware and more discriminating toward music that seeks their complicity in its popularity, helping increase the popularity of lesser-known musics that arguably warrant broader recognition, and helping make informed choice and musical agency conspicuous outcomes of musical instruction (p. 45). The idea of using popular music as a way to reach students and appeal to their own knowledge seems at odds with this notion of simultaneously acting as the gate-keepers and decision makers. Still, Bowman completes his essay by recognizing the importance of using of popular music study to engage students with the music they find meaningful, and to do this we must allow it to change educators. “Many students we currently fail to reach, and many of those we do reach, know a great deal more about music than we recognize. (…) Indeed, they know a great deal of the field of music better than we do - powerful evidence of our neglect” (Bowman, 2004, p. 45). Therefore, students are experts in the field of popular music, and this can be seen in the way they connect their own personas to that of their musical choices and identity. 45 In a survey of 2,465 students between the ages of 13 and 14, North, Hargreaves, and O’Neill (2000) investigated the importance of music to adolescents in England. The survey was designed to discover the degree of involvement of adolescents in music as well as their feelings about listening to and performing popular and classical music. Adolescents disclosed different perceived benefits for their involvement in classical and popular music, with a clear preference for popular music. While the two styles were seen as offering many of the same benefits, the respondents’ expectations were negative towards classical music, suggesting “that the only perceived benefits of being involved with classical rather than pop music were that involvement with the former would be more likely to please teachers and parents” (p. 267). While not expressed in terms of Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice (1977) in the study, this points towards the importance of popular music as cultural capital in the fields that students navigate during adolescence. Particularly, the findings from the study (North, Hargreaves, and O’Neill, 2000) indicate that students felt classical music presented a negative impression towards their peers, and therefore a solution to increasing life-long music making is for teachers to focus on listening and performing the popular music that occurs outside the school. Allsup (2003) studied the differences between outcomes of students when given the democratic choice to pursue their own musical choices. He observed nine participants at a rural high school, all students with intermediate-advanced skills on a musical instrument, as they collaborated on creating music of any genre they desired. The participants were split into two groups, with one choosing to compose using popular music making traditions, while the second group focused on 46 composing a classical and a jazz piece. Each group’s method of composition was strikingly different, with the classical composition mainly being an academic exercise that the participants worked on individually and attempted to piece together afterwards. On the other hand, the rock group explored music making as a group and fed off each other’s ideas. The author noted that while classical music was viewed as unproductive for the democratic group composition and community- making, popular music and jazz was seen as fun, self-directed, and personally meaningful, helping to put together a sense of community. Similarly, the appeal of this process was also demonstrated by reactions of an audience to the pieces themselves during a performance, with the classical composition receiving tepid applause while the jazz and rock piece were greeted with great success. In summary, the benefits of instruction in popular music can relate to the subject directly as well as to the holistic growth of a student’s identity and standing with their peers. Popular music pedagogy can teach skills, creativity, and concepts that are typically excluded in traditional music study and that can help them prepare for careers in the modern music industry. Students’ out of school musical lives can be validated and seen as foundational and worthy of study, which, in turn, may help them construct their identities and build knowledge to improve their social standing through acquisition of cultural capital. Finally, as seen in this section popular music classes have also a tendency to draw students into school music programs that are otherwise absent and provide safe spaces for them to explore their own musical choices. 47 The pedagogy of popular music. While there is a lack of codified popular music pedagogy, there have been many studies and programs that recommend alternative approaches from traditional formal teaching (Mantie, 2013). The popular music class can vary in terms of instrumentation and size, as a variety of current case studies attest (Clements, 2010). To defend the choice of examining former students from my Rock Band class over the traditional teacher-driven guitar class, it is important to examine different pedagogies with a focus on informal learning ideas by Green (2001, 2008), which were later modified and redefined by others (Abramo, 2010; Allsup, 2008; Clements, 2008). Based on the literature outlined earlier, it is clear that while the study of popular music has many potential benefits musically as well in constructing one’s identity and place in society, the varied pedagogies of popular music instruction influence students’ experience and participation. Green (2010) discusses how music is presented to students in terms of inherent and delineated meanings, noting that music is an important cultural commodity for social growth and acceptance, and how individual musical choices affect one’s positioning different social groups. Inherent and delineated meaning are two opposing yet ever-present ways that people experience music, with inherent meaning referring to the musical elements such as sound, notes, and organization of the music itself and delineated meaning explaining the extra-musical concepts such as social, cultural, and other associations (Green, 2006). Both aspects are present in the listener, and a combined positive experience with a piece based on its non-musical aspects (i.e., delineated meaning) and familiarity with its musical style (i.e., inherent meaning) may lead to musical 48 ‘celebration’ (Green, 2006). However, musical ‘alienation’ occurs when one has negative emotions towards both types of meanings, where one cannot relate to the music stylistically or socially. When a person has a negative reaction towards one type of meaning or the other, but not both, ‘ambiguity’ occurs, and the response to one type of meaning may override the other, causing either the delineated or inherent meanings to shift and change one’s view of the music to either alienation or celebration (Green, 2006). This occurs often in students’ classroom musical experiences, by either studying music that had no delineated meaning, such as music that they had not experienced outside the classroom, and due to this unfamiliarity in style not having the basis for understanding or building up inherent meaning. However, Green argues that merely bringing in music that students may enjoy socially and examining their inherent meaning may in fact alienate students from it. “As soon as any music is brought into a new context or reception, its delineations are apt to change. Indeed, when popular music is introduced into the classroom, its very presence often means that it ceases to be considered as ‘pop music’ by the pupils” (Green, 2006, p. 105). Therefore, it is important to address the way popular music is incorporated into study in the classroom, since the way popular music is approached in formal educational settings can change their delineated meanings, producing ambiguity or even alienation. Bringing in students’ own musical choices is a central tenet of Green’s seminal work on informal learning (2001), which has dominated the study of popular music pedagogy since its inception. The notion of informal learning was 49 developed through Green’s study of how popular musicians learn, later applied to classrooms in the UK from 2002 to 2006 with over 1,500 students, “in order to recognize, foster and reward a range of musical skills and knowledge that have not previously been emphasized in music education” (Green, 2008, p. 1). Informal learning has been identified by five characteristics: Informal learners choose the music they study, familiar and enjoyable contextually; music is learned aurally through authentic recordings; learners are self-taught and enhanced in group instruction through discussion, watching, and listening; skills and knowledge are gained through musical preference as opposed to organized progression; and there is a focus on not only listening and performance, but also improvising and composing (Green, 2001). While her work on informal learning was not meant as advocacy or exclusive to popular music, it has informed most case studies on popular music to date. The complex interplay of what is thought of formal versus informal is, in fact, two poles on a continuum, with various aspects of each present in the learning process (Folkestad, 2006). Folkestad examined many of the uses of the terms formal and informal in music scholarship, defining formal learning as where the activity is sequenced beforehand and the informal learning as one that is organic and steered by the interaction of the participants. He notes that there are four primary ways that the terms are used to focus on different aspects of learning, namely, the situation, learning style, ownership, and intentionality. The situation of the learning is determined on the place, in and out of an educational setting. The learning style can be thought of as by written study or by ear. Ownership defines 50 who makes the decisions of the activity, either the teacher or the participants. Finally, intentionality describes if the goal is towards learning to play (i.e. skill acquisition) or actually playing (creation and performance). In and of itself, teaching is always a formal procedure, but the teacher can plan to execute an informal lesson, and value judgments as to the “good” and “bad” of formal and informal learning are questionable (Folkestad, 2006). Good teaching therefore is situational and goal driven, and complete reliance on either pole in the continuum can negate prescribed benefits of the other end. Examining the philosophy of music education and its value in public school education is beyond the scope of this study, but if we agree that there are a myriad of important benefits to engaging students, then as educators, we must decide that the 20% of high school students currently participating in formal music study is clearly not ideal (Clements, 2008). All students are engaged in music, yet 80% participate outside of the day, in their own bands, or merely engaged as consumers; to draw them into formal education, there is a need to acknowledge personal preference over hierarchy of genres (Clements, 2008). This includes moving towards inclusive pedagogies and preferences of the student over the teacher. Clements advocates in favor of many of Green’s (2001) particular segments of informal learning such as student preference and knowledge, but strikes out on her own including the instructor as a facilitator in the learning process, rather than teacher or observer, one that takes advantage of “understanding of their student’s needs, desires, knowledge, and skills, and the musics and cultures that surround the school building within the community” (p. 7). 51 The intersection between the musical skills and educational knowledge of the teacher with the student preferences is an important path for music education. In a critique of informal learning, Clements (2008) recommended observing this intersection with case studies for exploration, which she later did in her Alternative Approaches in Music Education (Clements, 2010). The studies from this publication show many different ways that popular music practices have been incorporated into a variety of ensembles and methodologies, although they are not limited to informal learning practices. The Lakewood Project is one example, where a mix of traditional orchestral instruments and learning with popular instruments such as guitar, bass, and drums helped students utilize approximation by blending genres and styles (Constantine, 2010). This secondary school ensemble consists of a formally educated string section, one in which all participants are required to take private instruction, and a rhythm section that learns mostly informally, developing their parts by ear and creative improvisation. While this program represents a vibrant way to incorporate all musicians and a variety of genres, a downside is that it takes the popular musician out of his or her informal setting, through its traditional formal class format, while also setting a dichotomy of higher expectations for the formal students. While the class also gives opportunity through audition to some of the schools non-traditional instruments such as electric guitar, bass, and drum-set, this leaves out many of the opportunities for those marginalized students noted in Snead (2010) and Seifried (2006), instead only taking the top tier popular musicians. 52 On the other hand, Cohen and Roundabush (2011) also utilized popular music instruction through the creation of a space for students who are not interested in ‘traditional programs’ by forming Music Tech, Adaptive Music, and Rock Band 101 classes in order to find a place for all students of differing backgrounds and levels to participate. This inclusive middle school program gives many different opportunities for students to play music, yet the struggle between the poles of formal and informal learning are highlighted by examining the Rock Band 101 and the Garage Band Club. In the former case, the class is relatively formal for one using popular music. There was a focus on literature of blues and African American artists that was not necessarily driven by student choices, pieces were learned through traditional notation, and there was no mention of improvisation or composition. The informal Garage Band Club is offered afterschool and not for credit, with students largely in charge of all aspects of the direction of their music and the teacher supporting through providing tablature and performance opportunities. This would seem to highlight the disparity between the formal in school music class and the informal out of school class, with the formal having more validity in the school day. Finally, Gardner (2010) looks at a high school in which the teacher runs the class but the students run the rock and roll repertoire and bands, mixing formal and informal methods which gives students more choice in the direction of their repertoire. This class balances the structure of formal classes with a teacher that leads the organization of the rehearsal time and works with one band at a time, and the informal ways the students learn their music in groups and alone. The 53 instructor of the class notes that the use of familiar music and a more relaxed class atmosphere keeps students “engaged in the learning process partly because the music is more relevant to their everyday lives” (Gardner, 2010, p. 85). By examining many different approaches to popular music education and informal learning, it is clear that ‘how’ popular music is studied is as important as ‘why’. For instance, bringing popular music into the classroom for analysis of its context in society or musical style is unlikely to engage students without the aspect of learning it themselves as popular musicians do (Green, 2006). It is also important to note that the current study examines the role of music education in public schools in the United States, and due to many of the differences between school systems and policies between US schools and other countries, the review of popular music pedagogy in this section will mainly be limited to ways it has been incorporated in the US. Studies of classrooms in other countries often highlight programs with the ability to break into smaller groups of student bands of five people, scattered throughout the classroom or in practice rooms, which is difficult to achieve in US schools with their large student numbers and policies that require all students to be in the classroom (Green, 2008; Wright, 2015). Public schools in the United States are often focused on large ensemble instruction in a formal manner, and while the primary musical ensembles in schools focus on these traditional large ensembles, popular music instruction in those curriculums is challenging to say the least (Cutietta, 2004). While many ensembles consider the addition of popular repertoire to traditional ensembles, Cutietta argued that this merely lacks musical integrity thereby diminishing the place of popular 54 music in the repertoire and instead calling for addition of smaller ensembles with popular instruments into the schools (Cutietta and Brennan, 1991; Cutietta, 2004). Many of the current studies in American popular music classes focus on large guitar ensembles or smaller group instruction, largely focusing on how popular music is taught in these cases, in public schools and in teacher education programs at universities (Abramo, 2010; Allsup, 2008; Clements, 2008; Powell, 2011; Seifried, 2002; Snead, 2010; Tobias, 2010). A survey on the musical identities of pre-service music education students in the US and England was undertaken with 159 students in 18 universities in order to look at the differences between the educational systems of the two countries (Randles & Smith, 2012). Based on Isbell’s (2008) findings, questions centered on student perceptions of composition, creativity, the importance of creative musical pursuits, and whether the students planned to teach composition and improvisation in the future. While both English and US teachers had an open mind towards creativity in the curriculum, it was clear that the US teachers had more reservations about their own preparation to teach this subject. These findings indicated that the difference in preparation is likely due to the lack of immersion in a creative focus in the United States, versus the largely general music focus that is predominant in England (Randles & Smith, 2012). A case study of pedagogy in a guitar class tackled the issues of how popular music can use informal learning and student-centered repertoire (Abramo, 2010). The instructor of the guitar class recognized that popular music instruction was a way to increase dwindling program participation and appeal to students outside of 55 the traditional ensembles. In this action research study, Abramo (2010) designed a non-traditional class for his guitar students, recognizing the need for a change of pedagogy, noting that “using strategies commonly found in traditional ensembles to teach guitar would not diversify instruction” (p. 17). Through the incorporation of informal elements from Green (2001, 2004, 2008), students were encouraged to customize their educational experiences through music that interested them and was within their abilities. Abramo (2010) found that while the class was initially set up to encourage new students to join in, it ended up helping students reflect on their own music in a critical way and apply their knowledge in their everyday lives. This use of student-centered repertoire showed that while the administration, parents, and teachers saw it as “bait to switch” to “real stuff”, popular music study can stand on its own merit as rigorous and intellectually stimulating, as well as bringing their out of school musical experience into the classroom (Abramo, 2010). Choice of repertoire was important in their delineated experiences, and while some teachers, administration, and parents are concerned with the often time questionable appropriateness of lyrical and topical content, “it may be “appropriate” to include seemingly “inappropriate” materials for students to understand how to make sense of popular culture” (p. 25). Popular music instruction at the collegiate level. Many studies (Allsup, 2003; Davis & Blair, 2011; Powell, 2011) have investigated how to incorporate popular music instruction at the collegiate level, most with a focus on expanding some of the informal learning strategies proposed earlier by Green (2001, 2008). Allsup (2008) negotiated some of the problems with informal learning and training 56 future teachers how to adapt to popular music instruction. To this end, while observing nine garage bands at his college that rehearsed weekly, he saw as dynamic mutual learning communities, where they explored all types of music while critically examining their roles as performers, creators, and community members (Allsup, 2008). This took the traditional higher education focus on mechanical skills and instead examined student needs based on their pre-existing skills and knowledge, utilizng a holistic approach towards education, that included problem solving, creativity, and negotiation of social spaces. Davis and Blair (2011) incorporated informal learning into their music education classes in order to have students examine their own experiences with unfamiliar practices. The goal of the study was to “enable a shift in the students’ valuing of popular music as viable music for their curricula and to provide opportunities to use informal music processes through collaborative musical experiences” (p. 129). While not completely informal due to the instructor selecting the repertoire due to time constraints, the students learned through aural listening, selecting instruments, collaborating, and eventually performing the piece. Students experienced a sense of disequilibrium, struggling with the process and being frustrated by their lack of proficiency and roles, unusual for them as already trained musicians. The authors noted that choice of repertoire is an important facet of instruction, and the inclusion in a degree program gives the students a process by which they can engage in something unfamiliar, challenging them to think in new ways and have rich dialogue about learning and relevancy (Davis & Blair, 2011). 57 Powell (2011) used a qualitative multiple case study to examine the experiences and perspectives of participants in two popular music ensembles in collegiate settings in the US. After observing and interviewing participants, he found that there were many challenges, including lack of support from others, need to codify informal learning practices in college, and expectations of others at the university. Powell argued that popular music should be an integral part of the music education curriculum, fully integrated with other elements to be seen as central rather than fringe, and that its usage should go beyond learning about music, but through performance and creation. Teacher training programs in popular music. Two of the largest current organizations for the instruction of popular music are Musical Futures in the UK and Australia, based on Green’s work in informal learning, and Little Kids Rock, the US non-profit (www.musicalfutures.org; www.littlekidsrock.org). Little Kids Rock has trained over 3500 teachers in the United States through workshops on popular music pedagogy, and while the instruction has elements of informal learning, there are a variety of differences from the work done in Musical Futures. While Musical Futures mainly incorporates the practices of teacher as observer and guide to students exploration, as well as elements of aural learning (D’Amore, 2011), Little Kids Rock’s workshops focus on music acquisition itself, broken down into the following attributes: learning musical skills through large group instruction that uses many non-traditional notation systems, focusing on instant success of student- centered musics, approximation, and scaffolding of content (Wish et. al., 2015). 58 Little Kids Rock refers to popular music education as “Modern Band”, which while similar to Rodriguez’s (2012) definition in terms of genre with commercial appeal, adds the dimension of instrumentation. Therefore it refers to student- centered music, which can include many diverse genres, as well as common instrumentation of these groups: guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, vocals, and technology (http://modernband.org). This may account for the diversity of popular music itself, as a style such as country music, which is popular in Nashville with school age students may not be popular in Los Angeles, whereas Rock en Español might be preferred. Similarly, in a single class itself, most students may gravitate towards traditional pop music like Beyonce, while a small minority may listen to the extreme metal band Necrophagist, which by many definitions would clearly not be included as popular. While Modern Band itself may not necessitate informal music- making, Little Kids Rock utilizes the pedagogy of “Music as a Second Language”, a core value that discusses teaching improvisation and composition by getting students in a comfort zone, achieved through a student centered approach in terms of repertoire and instruction, approximation, and scaffolding, an pedagogy heavily based on Krashen’s Language Acquisition Theory (Little Kids Rock, 2016; Krashen, 1982). Based on my own observations of over 100 programs in the past five years, it is clear that many teachers trained in Little Kids Rock pedagogy still revert to their own learned musical practices from their formal music educational experience, and while they participate in ‘popular music’, it often includes teacher selected pieces with a focus on recitation instead of exploration and creativity, and can often be 59 taught in a formal manner. Therefore many programs have created a hybrid approach to popular music instruction, due partially to extremely large class size (e.g., 35-60 students in a classroom), as instructors try to navigate their educational comfort zone with informal learning styles that become complex and chaotic with larger groups. Summary of the chapter This chapter examined multiple studies and theories examining the place of popular music on the habitus and social trajectories. Departing from the sociological theories of Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice, the literature on cultural capital was reviewed examining the interplay of cultural capital and its impact one’s standing in the social field. Studies were examined regarding the application of habitus and capital in research how acquisition of capital affected transformation of habitus. Finally, this section concluded with a review of popular music’s importance as cultural capital, revealing that cultural inversion was an important factor for transformation, leading to increased confidence and ability to fit into new social circles. The second section focused on a review of popular music education studies, first discussing the benefits of popular music and then the importance of examining pedagogy in teaching popular music. Popular music instruction was found to have a myriad of potential benefits for students, including addressing musical concepts typically not found in other types of music instruction, helping to construct identity and feel accepted, preparing them for careers in the current musical climate, and 60 improving their social standing. However, studies suggested that the lack of codified popular music pedagogy can lead to difficulty of bringing popular music into the classroom without alienating students. Concepts of informal music and formal education were explored in public schools as well as in popular music education at the collegiate level. In combination, these studies point towards the importance of a thorough examination of pedagogy when including popular music study in the curriculum, in order to pull students into the music classroom through their own student-centered music choices and democratize their learning. This creates a safe space for them to be receptive to acquiring new cultural, social, musical, and pedagogical capital. In summary, the literature review revealed that popular music education can be an important tool to increasing one’s capital and standing in social circles, potentially transforming habitus and improving social trajectory. These aspects of transformation of habitus, social trajectory, and popular music education were explored in the current study, whose methodology will be examined in the following chapter. 61 Chapter Three: Methodology Overview To investigate former secondary students’ perceptions on how transformation of habitus through a popular music class influenced their social trajectories, a single intrinsic case study using a bounded setting of one classroom with multiple participants was employed (Creswell, 2013; Yin, 2016). Upon review of the literature, observation of transformation of habitus and social trajectories is best examined years after the class itself, in this case the popular music class, to determine how these changes may have impacted students’ development years later. Popular music classes are increasingly being offered in public schools as part of approved district catalogues and standards. Given the relative recent implementation of this new curriculum, finding participants from established classes to examine retrospectively is important, yet challenging. A site was determined based on the researcher’s access and knowledge of the site and students, and thirteen participants were chosen based on their diversity of personalities, ethnicities, gender, socio-economic status, and availability. The participants took part in semi-structured interviews lasting 30-60 minutes, discussing their perceptions of their experiences in secondary school and in the intervening time, focusing on how they felt their lives were impacted by their classes. In this chapter, I describe the research design of this study and discuss my role as researcher as well as teacher of the class. I examine the original pilot study 62 and how the focus of the research crystallized through those interviews, including participant selection, data collection, and plan for analysis. Research Design - Single Case Study Using qualitative methods is important to understand how to present a close- up look at a group of participants, or single bounded case with multiple subjects, shaped by a single phenomenon (Phillips, 2008). With the goal of looking specifically about what can be learned from a single unique class, a case study design is most appropriate (Stake, 2005). A single case study, bounded by time and place, is an appropriate methodology for examining a real-life setting through in- depth data collection (Creswell, 2013.) In particular, a case study is appropriate to have a clear and deep understanding of identifiable cases with specific boundaries (Creswell, 2013). In depth interviews offered data that were subsequently interpreted using inductive reasoning. In this case, the interpretive framework of social constructivism was used to examine the subjective meanings of earlier experiences of former students in a popular music class, including the overall impact of social interactions and how relationships were formed with others through cultural norms (Creswell, 2013; Egbert & Sanden, 2014). For the current study, I utilized an intrinsic case study, with a bounded setting of one classroom with multiple participants inside the larger case (Creswell, 2013; Yin, 2016). An intrinsic case study can help gain insight into a single case through deep focus (Stake, 2005). Popular music education classes have grown and gained acceptance in the United States, yet no studies were found to trace students 63 years after the classes have been completed, therefore a close examination of participants in one of these classes is of intrinsic interest due to its unique situation (Creswell, 2013). Research Setting To examine student’s perceptions and reflections of a popular music class retrospectively, it was important to locate a school with an established popular music program for a number of years. The research site was selected for the study due to a combination of familiarity, popularity of the class, access to participants, and necessity, since there were very few popular music education programs in the 2000s. Naples High School 2 is an urban public school in Los Angeles California, a Title I school where the majority of students receive federal funding “to ensure that all children, particularly low-achieving children in the highest poverty schools, have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education” (Public Law 101-110, Section 1001, 2002). The school’s student population in 2007 was roughly 67% Latino, 14% Caucasian, 10% African American, and 9% Asian American (Office of Data and Accountability, 2007). Between 1998 and 2008, there were a variety of arts classes offered as electives at the school, including Marching Band, Concert Band, Guitar Ensemble, String Orchestra, Beginning Instruments, Choir, Music Theory, Jazz Ensemble, Mariachi Ensemble, and Keyboard. All classes met five times a week for 54 minutes a class session, except for the 7 th period classes 2 Name has been changed to protect the identity of the school and its members. 64 (i.e., Marching Band and Rock Band), which ran three days a week for 90 minutes. This senior high school serviced grades 9-12, with student aged between 14-18. Although the school boasted a foreign-language magnet that accepted students from all over Los Angeles County, the large majority of the school’s population came from the local school boundaries. Importantly, most of the students enrolled in the magnet program differed greatly from the local student population, as they tended to be more academically inclined and helped to make up the majority of the Advanced Placement and Honors classes at the school. The Rock Band class was chosen for this study due to its unique nature: a music class taught informally and with no previous known antecedent, with a focus on student-centered learning. This class varied greatly from the other classes, including the guitar class, which was also student-centered but taught mainly through a formal approach, with musical examples and assignments put forth by the instructor. Students in the Rock Band, in turn, were given much more autonomy to drive the direction of the class, including musical choices, rehearsal techniques, critiquing performances, and putting on concerts. The instructor acted as a facilitator to student groups and would coach them through the production of songs, but mainly helped students make their own choices. Rock Band: Spring 2007. The genesis of the Rock Band class came from a series of events and opportunities that were unique at that time and location. In the early 2000s, guitar classes alone were rare in the classroom, particularly in the large urban district in Southern California where this study took place, and popular music classes were unheard of. The school itself was unique. It was located in a 65 community known for its colorful niches— from beautiful beaches and highly sought-after houses for the affluent to low-income public housing projects troubled with gangs and crime— and for having students who came from all over the city to attend the prestigious magnet program or escape their local areas filled with urban blight. The school itself reflected these contrasts, having the only open campus in the district, unencumbered with large gates and creating a pastoral front lawn, where students of all stripes lounged on the school grounds playing the guitar. Guitars had been part of the culture at this school for years, and directly led to the creation of the Rock Band class. In 1998, I had decided to leave a PhD program in Music Theory and, at the urging of my old music teacher, was convinced to apply for a full time music teaching position while I figured out my next step. This was a time when, due to the lack of qualified teachers, the district hired many teachers on emergency credentials, giving them five years to get certification while they were employed. I was hired as the instrumental music teacher at this school without having ever taken a music education class, and therefore took many experimental approaches to the pedagogy. Noting the flagging interest in the music department, including a Marching Band of less than 20 students, I increased the number of Guitar Ensemble classes from one to three, focusing not only on note reading and classical literature, but also popular music and techniques. From 2000 through 2007, the school ran a “Battle of the Bands” concert where students could perform music for their peers, and which quickly became one of the most anticipated and attended events of the year, with the school administration noting that it drew in the kids who did not typically join school activities— those that 66 wouldn’t show up to football games or school dances, join school clubs or participate in “anything extracurricular.” Since the beginning of my time at the school, the spring 7 th period class had been either Jazz Band or Mariachi Ensemble, but both classes focused on smaller ensembles of roughly 15-20 students, therefore not meeting the needs of the larger music student population. In the spring of 2007, the Rock Band class was formed instead, replacing the typical second semester 7 th period. Seizing on the popularity with students that typically struggled academically, the administration of the school supported the change, viewing it as an opportunity to bring those kids into the fold and hopefully help them succeed. The class was listed as ‘Jazz Ensemble’ because there was no class catalog class title for anything resembling a more popular ensemble. Recruitment for the class was strictly done by word of mouth, with many students who had never taken a single music class at school signing up for the class, and later reporting in the interviews that they even found the progressive guitar class “too structured.” When the class started in Spring 2007, there were 34 students from a variety of backgrounds. They were mostly male (29 males and five females), and ethnically diverse, reflecting the school population at the time, which had a large percentage of Latinos and few students from other ethnicities such as Asian, Middle-Eastern, Black, and White. The musical skills of students also varied greatly, with some having played an instrument for years and participated in after school bands with friends to others who had never played with others or studied an instrument in depth. 67 The class in itself had a simple structure that was very unique when compared to the typical high school class. It taught very informally with the instructor acting more as a “musical facilitator” than a teacher. Every five weeks, students had to form ensembles of roughly four to five people. During these five weeks, the students would use many informal techniques to learn, choosing their band and a song for performance, obtaining the music either through conventional means (i.e. sheet music, tabs) or using aural skills, rehearsing, performing for others in the class and giving feedback, and then performing a large show at lunch on the quad for their peers (Green, 2008). After each five-week period, the students switched groups, playing with completely different people, and while the genre for each class segment was chosen by the instructor— ranging from classic rock to alternative to blues— each student band would choose their repertoire. There was a heightened focus not only on performance but also on other important aspects of musical literacy for popular musicians including tone and sound, setting up and taking down all of the gear, and stage presence. Each five-week unit was graded based on the group’s performance at the outdoor gigs, which in turn would draw hundreds of students from around the campus to watch, cheer, and sing-a-long. The great majority of students in the class received high marks, with only seven students not receiving A’s. Additionally, the students in the class had the opportunity, in May of 2007, to perform on a charity concert at a famous Los Angeles venue, opening for some of their favorite rock and heavy metal groups to raise funds for Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit foundation that donated instruments, pedagogy, and resources to teachers 68 in public schools (www.litttlekidsrock.org). Interested students needed to prepare and audition on Pantera’s “Cowboys from Hell”, and 10 were chosen to perform a four-song set. 3 Many of these students continued to take Rock Band the following year, as well as other classes in the music department, with some continuing on with other music teachers after the Spring 2008, when I left the school. Participants Thirteen students, who had taken the Rock Band class in the 2006-07 school year, currently aged 24-27, took part in the study. The students were bounded through the class itself, which had basic parameters established by the teacher, with students forming groups and performing new music based on differing factors every five weeks. As noted, students would choose the material informally, learn it aurally or through acquired iconic notation, rehearse and critique all members of the class, and then perform it in the community. Students from the original pilot study were chosen based on their performance on an audition-only benefit concert, and the participants in the concert were selected by the teacher and their peers. Upon completion of the pilot study, more students were added to balance further data to reflect the ethnic and gender make-up of the class itself. Study participants were recruited through purposeful and snowball sampling, intended to inform an understanding of the research problem and central 3 The initial pilot study from which this dissertation was formed included eight of those performers, who were interviewed in the spring of 2014 about their musical experiences. 69 phenomenon of how popular music affects habitus over time (Creswell, 2013). Snowball sampling occurred as the initial participants recommended other students in the class to participate during expansion of the sample size. As stated by Creswell (2013), purposeful sampling is an important type of sampling for a variety of reasons. In this case, the participants in the class all had experienced the phenomenon being studied, that of a retrospective from students in a popular music class. More specifically, this reflects a criterion sampling where selection is based on gaining perspective on a particular time in the social life of a group and the contexts that lead to their forms of behavior (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2007). Creswell (2013) further notes that the researcher selects the individuals and sites based on purposefully informing the research problem and central phenomenon. While Creswell recommends no more than five individual participants, I have chosen to expand upon my pilot project of eight to 13 participants. The five new participants recruited for the study outside the original pilot were also chosen through purposeful and snowball sampling. Whereas for the initial group, inclusion criteria were based solely on their participation in the benefit concert, the additional students were chosen based on gender, ethnicity, and academic classes, to get a wide variety of student type while still echoing the breakdown of the larger class itself. Following a meticulous examination of traits (e.g. gender, ethnicity, test-scores) from the class roll book, I identified students from the class that fit these criteria and used previous participants and social media (i.e., Facebook) to locate and invite them. 70 Ethical considerations. The proposal for this study was submitted to USC’s Institutional Review Board to ensure that the participant’s rights were protected. All methodological procedures, including data collection, consent forms, and details of the study were included as part of the approval process, including summaries of interview protocols and risks and benefits to participants. IRB Approval (Appendix C) for the pilot study was granted on May 7 th , 2013 and for the current study on May 3 rd , 2016. Consent forms (Appendix A) were signed from each participant in accordance with USC’s Institutional Review Board. Data were anonymous and confidential. All names were withheld to preserve the identities of all study participants, with pseudonyms employed in their place. Pilot Study In 2012, I completed an exploratory study that examined the perceptions of high-achieving students in a popular music program a few years after secondary school. The focus of the research was to observe how these students’ experiences in the class impacted their lives, but primarily in terms of music itself 4 . In particular, I was interested in two main issues: (1) whether students’ experiences in the class led them to take on more music classes; and (2), and whether their music making experiences had continued past graduation, and if so, in what ways. Due to the difficultly in locating programs that involved popular music in the 2000s, I decided to interview students who had participated in the Blacktooth Bash Benefit Concert in the spring of 2007, when my school was chosen to perform out of all other local 4 Presented at International Society for Music Education conference, summer, 2014. 71 programs due to its reputation for being high-achieving and professional. Students in the class were selected through an internal audition to play in the concert, that is, with the instructor and the students themselves selecting the top ten performers. The pilot study was very similar to the current study, as it was also a retrospective bounded case study, but with only eight participants. A semi- structured interview protocol was the instrument used to gather data, and interview questions are presented below in Table 1, compared to current interview questions. While the research questions yielded much information about their musical habits during and after secondary school, I found that all interviewed students wished to discuss the impact that the performance had on their lives outside of music in more depth, which relates to cultural, social, and/or pedagogical capital. Upon completion of data collection for the pilot study, the emerging data was analyzed through an interpretive lens and in light of Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice (1977) and in association with studies of popular music and popular music education. Responses from the pilot study were used to refine my research questions to focus on non-musical elements of habitus and trajectory, to develop the theoretical framework, and to test the instrumentation design for the main study (Creswell, 2013). The research questions of the pilot study were focused on the musical experiences of these students after the class, such as how many still played music or took further music courses, it was clear that students saw the class’ importance for social growth. This lead to the current study’s focus on habitus, capital, and social trajectory (Bourdieu, 1984). I also determined that I would gain more variation by including students from the class that did not see themselves as particularly high- 72 achieving, hoping to use diverse cases to check whether findings from the pilot study would still hold, or whether there would be a need to reach a new point of data saturation (Creswell, 2013). For the current study, the previous eight participants were re-interviewed and five new participants were added. Methods: Interviews The primary data source of this study was semi-structured interviews with the participants on their perceptions of the impact the popular music class on their social trajectories and their transformation of habitus during the class itself and in the intervening years. Bresler and Stake (2006, p. 294) write that in qualitative research, “the principal ‘instrument’ is the researcher, a constant arbiter of what is important, of the need for further data, for probing, and for small or large redesign of the study.” The semi-structured approach to interviews afforded the researcher flexibility to tailor the questions in the course of the interview (Creswell, 2013). This was important because it helped to bring out the voice of each participant, and also granted the researcher latitude to follow up on any emergent or recurring issues that were deemed important during the interview (Bresler & Stake, 2006). Narratives are an important tool to negotiate the ‘co-constructed experience’ of the researcher and participants’ experiences (Clandinin, 2006, p. 47). Given my role as teacher of the Rock Band class, I am aware that my role in the research was multifaceted, not only as inquirer but also as facilitator of instruction. This gave me unique insight into the relationships of the students, materials, and class, and 73 through distancing myself from the program over time, opportunity for reflection (Ilari, 2010). Semi-structured interviews were conducted following Creswell’s (2013, pp. 163-166) steps on data collection: (1) deciding the research questions to answered by the interviewees; (2) identifying interviewees; (3) using adequate recording procedures for subsequent analysis; (4) making sure that the interview protocol consisted of open ended questions; and (5) utilizing appropriate interview procedures. As expected, during the course of the interviews, questions were modified as themes emerged and became progressively focused (Strauss, 1987). These interview questions (Appendix B) were used to gain insight into student perceptions. Due to the nature of retrospective study, observations and artifacts from the class itself were extremely limited to the instructor’s roll book, YouTube videos of performances, and photographs. Data Collection Data collection for this study was based on in-depth interviews, which were designed following the conclusion of the pilot study. Ten separate interviews were conducted with 13 participants, with one interview conducted with two participants and another one with three. Group interviews were done as a matter of convenience and participant preference, since the participants are still very close and wanted to discuss their experiences as it related to their close-knit friendships. In both cases, the participants’ stories and perceptions helped to elicit new and deeper remembrances and data. The interviews were scheduled at the participant’s 74 convenience over a three-week period, typically after work mid-week or on mornings on the weekend. Seven interviews were held in person at local coffee shops, and in both cases the group interviews were in the participant’s homes. The tenth interview was conducted over the phone since the participant lived out of state. As noted, a semi-structured interview protocol (Appendix B) was designed in order to create some unity to all interviews. The first question focused on the musical experiences that participants had prior to the Rock Band class, and was designed to help the participants open up and feel at ease with the interview process (Creswell, 2013). The second and third questions helped set the stage for the participants to explore how they viewed their habitus and capital before enrolling in the class and their reasons for taking it. Questions four and seven focused on student experiences in the class and what capital they might have gained (if any), while questions five through seven probed into the durability of the change of habitus and social trajectory to their current lives. Table 1 shows the differences between the focus of interview questions from the pilot and current study. 75 Table 1: Interview Questions Pilot Study Interview Questions Main Study Interview Questions 1. Why did you sign up for Rock Band? 1. When did you first learn to play a musical instrument? 2. How did you get to perform on the concert? 2. Why did you sign up for Rock Band 3. What was your general high school (HS) experience like? 3. What do you remember about HS in general? 4. What do you remember about the show itself? 4. Particular experiences you remember standing out? 5. After the concert, did you feel any impact on the rest of your time in HS? 5. How did the class impact your life since graduation? 6. What do you do now and how do you feel like the experience of Rock Band impacted it? 6. What do you currently do and what skills and knowledge from HS affect it? 7. Do you still play music? 7. What were the most important things you learned from Rock Band specifically? All in-person interviews were recorded through use of the voice memos app on the researcher’s iPhone, then archived into iTunes on a laptop hard drive as well as saved on researcher’s iCloud, which synchronizes data through all of their iOS devices. Folders were created for each participant and recordings were stored in them for subsequent transcription and analysis. Next, recorded interviews were transcribed through the transcription service www.Rev.com, a professional paid service that transcribes interview data into written text, including non-verbal sounds from participants such as hesitations, laughter and other sounds that aid in the contextualization and interpretation of data. After the service provided transcripts, the researcher listened to each recording a few times, for clarity and correction, particularly when musical terms that were unfamiliar were used. All 76 audio files and transcriptions were then sorted into folders on the researchers laptop and backed up to the Cloud to ensure that data was safe. Data Analysis Data obtained from 13 participants were analyzed following Creswell’s (2013) Data Analysis Spiral. This process begins with the basic organization of collected data, and through a process of repeated examinations of the transcripts, the research sifts through the data until a full account can be made, moving from the micro to macro levels of detail. The entire process moved from basic coding of transcripts based on the research questions, followed by parsing the data and classifying emerging themes, interpreting the data, and then representing the findings in narrative form (Creswell, 2013). The first step in data analysis involved grouping relevant information from each interview into four categories: basic background information, types of capital, durability and transposability of habitus, and change in social trajectory. This process of “winnowing” the data, or discarding non-relevant dialog and organizing the rest helped to develop subthemes from each research question (Creswell, 2013; Wolcott, 1994). Each interview transcript was read through multiple times, with pertinent quotes from the interview highlighted and moved onto a single computer file for each interview, grouped first only with the larger codes based on research questions. At the conclusion of the parsing of individual data, emergent themes were noted on a separate pad of paper, leading to the creation of a large chart of themes 77 and subthemes. Notes made at margins of the paper and student quotes and comments helped to refine each sub-theme, which I noted not only in terms of specific contents, but also in relationship to their appearance within and across participants. For example, the question about types of capital was initially broken down into social, cultural, musical, and pedagogical capital, but each of these subthemes also contained specific emergent codes. There were repeated examples of four types of data where students discussed social capital, primarily through finding a safe space, building confidence, finding their identity, or meeting other musicians. Each instance of the mention of “building confidence” was noted in general, with six participants discussing it, and specific comments were also notated for narrative depiction and context. Finally, the data were represented in the description phase by taking the themes, subthemes, and codes and organizing them into sections (Creswell 2013). The first section was based on a narrative for the program itself and each student’s individual impressions of it. This was followed by categorical aggregation, where issue-relevant meanings were stated, theme-by-theme, based on patterns (Creswell, 2013). Overall, data were reported through vignettes, quotes, figures, and discussion. 78 Researcher Role, Triangulation and Trustworthiness of Data Qualitative research is of an interpretive nature, which puts the researcher at the center of the research enterprise (Creswell, 2013). My role as researcher in this study is heavily based on my own participation in and experiences with music education, and how I believe it has shaped my own social trajectory. It is important to note that while I was the teacher of record for the Rock Band class, I am also a seasoned music educator who had taught high school music for nearly a decade, versed in classical, jazz, and popular music. These experiences and knowledge craft my own view of music education and interpretation of the data, as well as my own belief in the potential of popular music to transform lives. To combat researcher partiality, the semi-structured interview questions were established to elicit factual representations rather than vague feelings of potential bias. For example, when students would make claims such as “I felt the class really empowered me to find my identity”, follow up questions would probe the reply until students could explain direct correlations such as “performing on stage in front of others helped me overcome my initial shyness and now I love speaking for large groups”. Consistent with qualitative research methodology (Creswell, 2013), accuracy of study findings and accounting for researcher bias was also handled through triangulation of the data. To further ensure that data would be as untarnished as possible by bias, data were triangulated in two separate manners (Creswell, 2013). First off, two professors of education specializing in qualitative studies listened and read through parts of student interviews and read through the researcher’s 79 narratives, then conversed with the interviewer about their impressions of the data. Secondly, two teachers who were familiar with the student participants and Rock Band class read the narrative analysis to compare and validate their own perceptions of the class and students with my own. Next, I considered how the insights provided by these four readers impacted my interpretation of data, making adjustments where necessary, such as student and researcher interpretation of events. It is still important to note that I take full responsibility for my interpretation of the data and my own role within the research. Summary of the Chapter This chapter outlined the methodology designed for this research study. I began with a brief overview of the study itself, followed by a description the research design, including the rationale for choosing a retrospective qualitative intrinsic case study. This design was utilized to examine former secondary students’ perceptions on how transformation of habitus and through a popular music class influenced their social trajectories. A rationale for the research setting and participant choice was provided next, followed by a discussion of my role as a researcher and accounting for potential bias. This was followed by a description of the data collection method of semi- structured interviews used to probe individuals about their perceptions of events to collect a deeper understanding of the phenomenon (Egbert & Sanden, 2014). Data collection procedures were described, including the interview protocol and the transcription process. Finally, data analysis procedures based on Creswell’s Data 80 Analysis Spiral (2013) led to identifying and developing codes based on the research questions, followed by a narrative depiction and categorical aggregation, and triangulation of data. 81 Chapter Four: Findings This chapter provides a detailed examination of the data collected in the bounded case. A narrative description of information from the interviews with the 13 participants, obtained in 10 separate meetings, as well as the initial eight interviews of the pilot study are discussed. Before exploring the findings of the interviews, I will restate the purpose of the study and the research questions. Purpose of the Study and Research Questions The purpose of the bounded study is to examine former secondary students’ perceptions on how transformation of habitus through a popular music class influenced their social trajectories. The following three questions guided the study to identify themes and subthemes: 1. How did former secondary students perceive the transformation of habitus that occurred during their participation in a school-based popular music program, particularly in reference to: a. Social capital b. Cultural capital c. Musical capital d. Pedagogical capital 2. In what ways (if any) do former students from a school-based popular music program perceive this transformation of habitus as being durable and transposable to other fields? 82 3. In what ways (if any) did the transformation of habitus influence the social trajectory of former students from a school-based popular music program after graduation and in the subsequent years? Participants and Their Stories Upon interviewing students in 2014 for the pilot study, it was clear that the impact of the class went beyond the music learning and making that took place in the classroom, and that further inquiry would be needed to examine how pedagogical, cultural, and social development were constructed through the class itself and applied to their lives. For the present study, the original eight participants were re-interviewed, and five other students were added to the sampling, with guiding questions modified to elicit responses about the student’s self-perceptions of the Rock Band class. The following table (Table 2) provides a summary of descriptive information from the participants. 83 Table 2: Descriptive Information of Participants Participant 5 Ethnicity Local vs. Bussed Magnet vs. Regular 6 Previous Musical Experience 7 Interview Solo or Group Part of Pilot Study Alejandro Latino Bussed Magnet Flute Solo Yes Ariel Latina Local Magnet Recorder & Violin Solo Yes Karl Half Latino, Half White Local Regular Upright Bass & Percussion Solo Yes Felix Latino Bussed Magnet Tuba & Guitar Solo Yes Juan Latino Bussed Magnet Guitar Solo Yes Angel Latino Local Regular Drums Group 1 Yes Saul Latino Local Regular Guitar Group 1 Yes Enrique Latino Local Regular Choir Group 1 Yes Laura Black Local Regular Flute Solo No Jack Latino Bussed Magnet Guitar & Percussion Solo No Melanie Half Asian, Half White Local Magnet Violin & Drums Group 2 No Robert Middle- Eastern Local Magnet Trombone & Snare Drum Group 2 No Rich Latino Local Magnet Orff/Recorder, Cello, & Guitar Solo No 5 Order of names listed in the table are consistent with the order in which interviews were conducted. 6 Students participation as either magnet students or those in the regular school was found to be significant in the analysis of the data and is thus included here. 7 Musical experience before participant entered the Rock Band class. 84 In this section, I present the trajectories of 13 former students using a narrative approach, which allowed me to remain true to their voices, particularly as I present direct transcriptions of their words as evidence. As discussed in chapter three, pseudonyms were used to protect the identities of all study participants. All quotations are directly from the current study, and not the pilot. Alejandro. Alejandro was one of the “unusual” students that one would expect to find in a “renegade” Rock Band class. He was a student with a strong academic upbringing, who excelled in traditional classes yet found music to be an important creative and social outlet. A Latino student from West Los Angeles, Alejandro lived outside the school’s typical boundaries yet attended the school where his mother was an aide. His parents were very supportive yet controlling and strict, making sure that he made the most of his intelligence, constantly pushing him to do well. Alejandro was not a rebel, and worked hard to make them proud, often going through all the motions of a good student while struggling to find his purpose and place in school. In the pilot interview, Alejandro noted the following: I was a good student, always the type of person who did whatever my parents said, but it wasn’t really what I wanted to do. I was so used to just doing the right thing, you know, take hard classes, get A’s, do extracurricular activities. High School is a point where you are trying to find yourself, and you have a lot of options but not a lot of experience trying to navigate and make those decisions. That’s going to be rough even if you are a straight A student in AP classes. Even if I wasn’t like fucking up and smoking pot in the 85 bathrooms and getting suspended, like that doesn’t mean I didn’t need some help. Alejandro’s formal music education had a very traditional start, taking the flute in elementary school at the behest of his parents who thought it would be a good outlet for him to expand his extracurricular activities. However, he did not stick with the music class, since it was just like any other class, where there was no choice in instruction, just the goal of getting good grades. It wasn’t until he was in 9 th grade that he joined the guitar class and finally found his passion, being a rock guy. I mean in all the movies, you know, kids in high school have like a thing about them [trait such as athlete or musician], right? I didn’t have a thing. I mean I was like, this sounds cool. This is better than video games like I’ll do it. I was really interested in being a rock guy. I liked a lot of music at that time that was rock and roll. I was like, maybe I could be one of those people. It’s not that hard. It was hard actually. Alejandro joined the Rock Band class in his sophomore year, recognizing it as an opportunity to do what he loved while being free to make his own choices. He instantly noted the difference between Rock Band and most traditional high school music classes, which, in his mind, had a very rigid teaching structure. The class gave him the freedom to choose the music, how to play it, who to play it with, and then go out and perform it, regardless of whether people would find it appropriate. He described it as “the most defining moment of my high school career. It gave me perspective, everything in my life until that point had revolved 100% on school.” 86 For the first time, he was able to explore things that he was interested in, a change that his parents noted since he wasn’t “just going through the motions, but now [I] actually had a reason to go to school.” He added: I always wanted to be in a rock band, always wanted to learn these instruments and it [the class] gave me the opportunity to do so in a safe environment. There were so many times where I was confused, and lost, and angry, and frustrated, and I actually had a way I could do something about it. I got to finally learn something I enjoyed. As is the case with some academic “all-star” students, Alejandro had a lot of problems socially in school, feeling like he didn’t know how to talk to girls or interact with people in meaningful ways. He saw his academic side as a detriment to his social standing, and antithetical to how he perceived himself. Rock Band gave him a way to find himself. Music helped me kind of experience something different than that. I definitely wanted a different identity. I didn’t like being that person. I didn’t like being, you know, just someone who gets decent grades and everyone figures he’s going to go to the university. That is, Rock Band helped him interact with other students, learning about other music styles and people, connecting to students he probably would never have met. Alejandro also saw the class as a challenge, feeling like he knew less than many of the other students, and necessitating a lot of practice on his end, but finally for a goal that he wanted to achieve. 87 I was exposed to a lot of different things there. I mean, uh, I got invited to play in some like grindcore bands and stuff. And like, you can’t really capture that experience in a recording, (laughs) but if you look at me, if you can put a picture of me on there and you’re like this guy got invited to a grindcore band? And like they were like drinking and shit and his mom dropped him off at his shitty practice studio in Culver City. Like it was a different world for sure. And I appreciated it. Like that’s what I wanted. Its like I wanted to enter a different world. The skills required for the class were very different from what he was used to, with much emphasis on teamwork and creativity. Alejandro discussed how hard it was to do things without being told, especially with the strange mix of people he was now joining up with. His first band in particular had a hardcore vegan, a very religious drummer, and a metalhead, and their challenge was to work together on a song that wouldn’t offend anybody but still sound angry. This meant that Alejandro had to learn new skills to survive in this field, including how to “act different and talk different, and problem solve in new ways.” He notes that to do this was “100% trial and error” and that he “learned from being in the middle of it.” Since graduation, Alejandro went to a top college and pursued a degree in Biology, graduating in the midst of a recession with very slim job prospects. His experience in Rock Band shaped some of the ways he looked at his education. In particular, Alejandro worked at two jobs, one as a volunteer and the other as a side job to make some extra money. Alejandro volunteered to get teaching experience in a Biology classroom, and he looked back on this very fondly as he discussed his 88 unique approach to the class, where he would have students use the informal learning techniques learned in Rock Band to complete projects while giving them a real sense of ownership and achievement. Similarly, he took a different approach to the paid job, teaching piano lessons to kids at a music school. Instead of using a method book, he would ask the kids what songs they were interested in learning, and then teach them by rote, noting how much they enjoyed learning, and later showing off for each other the pop songs they learned. Upon graduation, Alejandro took on a series of jobs that he decided weren’t good fits for him: first as a behavioral therapist and then in insurance. I’m kind of exploring and trying to decide what’s worth doing and that’s been a difficult process because I always had a very narrow trajectory. Like I knew what I was going to be when I was 21 when I was 10. I knew I would be in the university studying something. It wasn’t going to be English, it wasn’t going to be music, it was going to be something like, you know, STEM prestigious blah blah bullshit. And you know this is the first time I’m like, well, I mean I can do anything. Part of Alejandro’s interest is in finding something creative, where he can explore the side of him invested in making things new and different, currently with freelance writing. I do find that I’m going back to my roots like and I love being creative. And that’s what I realized that I was missing the most out of an office job and that I enjoyed the most in teaching. Is that I got to be creative. Like when I was teaching biology, I would make the lessons as creative as possible and I 89 thought I was doing it for the students, but I think I was doing it for myself too. Alejandro finds that this creative side stemmed from the Rock Band class, which was possibly the first opportunity he had to really explore it in spite of his rigid upbringing. The improvisational feel of the class really spoke to him, as it was basically like “go, here’s the space, here’s a drum kit, here’s the amps.” It made him feel like what he was doing was creative and worth something. He also noted that the ability to see results from his studies was a great motivator. So much so that he would spend hours practicing to get better in a room and slowly improving until it was ready to play with others and perform for an audience, which is something that he wasn’t finding in his day to day job in offices. However, he does note that the more logical and rigid side of him helps with his music as well, particularly now, as he is getting back into it. He has started to work the drums, which along with flute, guitar, bass, and piano makes his musical abilities very diverse. He is also playing in another group now after years off with a student from the Rock Band class. As for his academic side, he notes, “I have so many moments when I’m at the drum set and I’m trying to logic it out. It doesn’t work like that. Like I want to make it a math problem and it’s not a math problem.” He follows up this observation by noting that while most of his STEM background taught him logic, and that came easy, music has taught him perseverance. I felt confident that if I sat there I could figure it out [math and science], or I could memorize it. I didn’t feel that way in music. Music was scary for me. 90 I’d sit there and I’d be like, I don’t know how long it’s going to take me to figure this out. I don’t know if I ever will. But I did it anyway. And it was scary and it was nerve wracking and it was completely out of my comfort zone. I mean I’m the definition of impatient. But my parents have a list of things that I gave up because I didn’t pick it up fast enough. It was really that simple. And music was maybe one of the few things that stuck around, despite that I didn’t pick it up fast. The combination of desire to learn and be creative with material he enjoys clearly is the right combination for him to work on his discipline and perseverance, particularly once he sees the hard work paying off and enjoys the result. Ariel. Ariel was a local Latina student who did well in school and was very involved in a variety of extracurricular activities in the arts, having the vivacious personality to go with it. She took music initially in elementary school, choosing the recorder and violin as her first forays, but they didn’t keep her attention long. She felt like she was basically just mimicking others around, and quickly shifted her attention to dance. Once in high school, she was involved in everything from Drill Team, Drama, Choir, Marching Band, and as she puts it,“anything I could get my hands on. I graduated with about 30 extra credits I didn’t need and loved every minute and note of it.” School was a great place for her, and she felt fortunate to be in a school that offered such a wide variety of different classes, staying afterschool each semester just to take more. This was contrary to most of her academic classes where she was motivated to finish her work but not really go beyond. The Rock Band class was 91 special though, and she signed up because “it felt like it could have been made for me.” While the demands for her to participate and perform were high, she really excelled. At that point in my life, like in high school I thought I was just (?), music was my thing, like I was gonna be a musician, I was going to be front woman to a band and that was it, you know, like a rock band. The rock band lifestyle had everything that Ariel was looking for, and like her musical idols, she wanted to spend time travelling, exploring, and partying. Out of the initial group of students that performed at the benefit concert, she was the only female, who opened the show in perhaps the most demanding way: singing lead vocals on a very heavy song initially performed by a growling man, “Cowboys from Hell” by Pantera. This was particularly important to make her own and perform “above and beyond”, with a huge crowd of testosterone filled metal worshippers in the audience that could easily have an adverse reaction to a female singer on one of the genres sacred cows. The show itself was a watershed moment for her. It was the most nerve-wracking night of my life. I remember telling myself, if you can get through this and kill it on that stage, you can get through anything. That experience helped me become the confident woman I am today. Musically, the class connected with her in a way the other music classes she experienced had not. She notes that while she took snare drum, sang, and even tried saxophone, “I just don’t have the dedication…to practice every day until you get it 92 right, and I still don’t have that.” The flexibility of the Rock Band class spoke to her on a different level, since it was more about finding people to play with, learning your cues and lyrics and then it was all expression. The class taught her a variety of important social aspects, starting with the importance of having a good network of friends, something she carried on within her future career. The ability to get along with others in a work setting and to recognize when to let go of those that aren’t pulling their weight are amplified in a group music making session, as is the importance of just having fun in order to get out of their comfort zone. Everybody wanted to play metal, and we were forced to do other things like, um, I’m not sure if we did folk, but I’m sure we did something else. It forced you to get out of your comfort zone. The musical skills helped Ariel grow as a musician and build confidence, funneling raw emotions into beautiful pieces, but whatever she felt like she lacked musically, she made up for with stage presence. This is easily visible in the concert footage from the benefit, with her thrashing around stage, growling at the audience and whipping her hair around, not displaying any of the supposed lack of self- confidence she claims to have. After high school she enrolled in college as a music major, but the music classes there did not speak to her. The traditional ear training and theory classes were doable with the help of a lot of friends, but it took the passion out of what was for her a creative and performance field. Instead, she went into more of the topics that she sang about in her music, sustainability, community engagement, and public 93 policy. This focus on activism and its connection to the Rock Band class wasn’t lost on her, where she noted that a variety of after school programs are very important for kids. Ariel volunteers now to teach gardening, and credits it as a way of teaching compassion and making empathetic and emotional beings. Ariel also notes that these programs show kids that there is someone there that cares and who is there to listen to them. Ariel was also able to pursue many of her rock star ambitions, travelling after graduation from college for a year, operating as a tour guide in other countries. She notes that one of the most important things she learned from the Rock Band class was to pay attention to detail and appreciation for the small things in life. By practicing hard to be perfect and overcoming her self-confidence issues, she has become more comfortable advocating and doing public speaking. She uses these skills now to sell people her different programs she works with in tourism and sustainability, and that confidence was learned onstage. In reality, this speaks to the sense of a larger sense of community, one that she found in high school through her network of musicians. She still tries to seek those out, moving from her high school pals that were metalheads or fellow musicians, to now joining cycling groups and other safe spaces to converge her ideas. The largest musical impact she noted was that the class made her truly fall in love with different styles of music, especially jazz. She commented, “Like now I’m really interested in singing jazz and being, I found my voice, like, my range is low, 94 but I found that now”. In order to do that, she has reached back out to one of the other participants from the class, Rich, in order to work on some music together. Karl. Karl is very startlingly different from the rest of the students in the class, although he has toned down his wild look a bit, at least in public. Coming from an Italian and Mexican heritage, he grew up in the nearby valley until middle school, but moved to the school’s area in West Los Angeles before high school, where he no longer had a social network. This move, combined with his exclusive taste for psychobilly, an aggressive punk version of already rowdy rockabilly, and a huge colorful Mohawk, meant Karl stood out from the crowd and was pretty isolated, saying, “It was pretty strange, I went from having tons of friends in middle school to not knowing anyone in high school, and I basically hung out by myself.” Moreover, his family was homeless throughout middle school due to a business decision that went sour, and he struggled in a variety of ways to fit in. Karl also had a very unique relationship with music, although it wouldn’t seem like it at the outset. After struggling with guitar, he begged his parents to get him an upright bass after seeing a live psychobilly show with an upright player. So while he played a traditional orchestra or jazz instrument, the style of playing it wasn’t bowed or plucked as much as slapping and popping it in a driving and aggressive style. In middle school he played percussion in a traditional band class, but didn’t have interest in bringing his out of school musical style on bass into the classroom, thereby staying completely self-taught on the instrument. Even with his interest in music, he was still struggling to fit in. 95 I was always the, uh, the odd one out. I had, uh, crazy hair. I still do to this day. I had a weird instrument nobody really played, you know. I carried it around like a guitar. Other than his elective classes, Karl was not very strong in his academic work, barely doing the minimum to get by in core classes while putting forth as much time and effort as possible in the automotive class and in Rock Band. Whereas the automotive class appealed to his desire to use his hands and would also fall in line with his father’s occupation, the Rock Band class appealed to his musical side and desire to do something that sounded fun in the confines of his normal school day. He noted that “in high school, you know, you’re itching for credits, you know what I mean. And, and you know everything else just sounds boring.” For Karl, Rock Band changed everything: It was more than a music class, it was a life class. It was the experiences, different things you’d see and do, it made us who we were. If I didn’t take that class, I wouldn’t have taken any music classes at all. The Rock Band class finally gave Karl a place where he felt socially accepted, and where he was able to learn from others as well, whilst getting out of his very confined musical tastes. “It opened my eyes to, you know, different genres”, he noted, remembering how he had to learn all different styles of music. And while he learned a lot of new rock and metal songs, the other students also learned a lot about the music he loved. You know, it wasn’t a one genre class, it was you have to play this style of rock this week, and, you know, it always changed so it forces you to open 96 your mind and to me now, I’m more open minded to music. You know I listen to metal and I listen to psychobilly, rockabilly, jazz, blues. But the class also surprised him socially, creating a safe space to be who he wanted to be, and he got along well with his peers. Many of the students in the class enjoyed his outgoing personality and the flair he brought to the classroom. You don’t judge people. I was the only guy in the class with a different haircut, most were metalheads, and we didn’t like each other’s music, but we were all there to do the same thing. We weren’t knocking on each other for the way they dressed, at the end of the day, we learned about each other. You can branch out, play whatever, didn’t matter who you were. Karl’s unique personality and skill set made him an asset to the class in many ways. People were drawn in to not only his personality, but the large bass he carried around, often coming over to ask him questions about it and to try it out for themselves. This also gave him an edge when it came to auditioning for the benefit concert, what he considered the seminal event in his young life. The concert gave him a taste for playing big venues, something he continues to do today with his local band. Since that show, he has toured extensively, opening for some of his favorite artists such as the Nekromantix in different venues around the United States as well as the UK and other places in Europe. Playing at the benefit concert also helped him get his dad’s full support for pursuing his musical side, since they were able to bond over Alice in Chains, one of his dad’s favorite bands and one that he played with at the show. As Karl remembers, “he acts like, oh well, maybe this kid is actually doing something, you know what I mean?” 97 After the Rock Band class, Karl dropped out of high school and managed to get a job working at the airport, eventually using his automotive skills to become a mechanic, a job that pays well and gives him the flexibility that is needed to play music and tour. In both jobs, his personality and connections have been huge; his ability to laugh and make others laugh with him helps get him through. Unlike most bands in Los Angeles, Karl doesn’t pay to play at venues; his band gets paid and makes decent money doing it, applying many of the more social and managerial skills he learned from the Rock Band class. He acts as the manager of his band, booking shows, using his ability to talk to people and sell his product to venues. These skills were developed in the class where he found that just because he didn’t hang out with the other kids, it didn’t mean they couldn’t work together. He noted that “you’ve still got to work with those people, you know what I mean, and it forces you to work with them because at the end of the day you have to make a song by the end of that week. By Friday you’ve got to play that song.” It also helped him learn to take constructive criticism and rehearse efficiently, skills that he carries on to his current outfit. All in all, he credits music for making a huge impact on his life, particularly his experience in Rock Band. Everybody wants to grow up and be a rock star, you know, and that was a gateway to do it, you just put that show in front of us, uh, and everyone stepped up their game, you know what I mean? Everybody wants to be in that band. Music, you know, speaks to everybody. Everybody likes music, you know what I mean? So you go there and it doesn’t feel like a class, you 98 know, and it’s, its not the strictest class, but at the end of the day, everyone’s there for the music. Felix. The Felix that I have interviewed over the last few years is very different from the quiet Latino student that attended the Rock Band class in 2007. He grew up in South Central LA and was bussed into the magnet school every day, having to wake up early and be on the bus by around 6 AM. He came from a very low socio-economic status, with older siblings still living at home, which meant that while his mother was supportive of his music inclinations, he also needed to help out at home financially, working all summer before high school at the family fruit stand. He remembers thinking “that would be my life for a long time, getting up at 5 AM and prepare the food and go sell it and go home.” When he first arrived at the school in West Los Angeles, he saw another part of the city he didn’t even know existed. As for early musical experiences, as a “larger” male, he was pushed to play the tuba in middle school, which wasn’t something that really excited him, although he took it for the extra unit. He stuck with it for a while since his friends were also in the class and wanted him to stay. Once he moved to the new school, he realized that he didn’t want to pursue something he wasn’t enjoying. Meanwhile, he got a guitar and started playing rock music on his own after coming to the realization that “I wanna play something cool. I’m gonna learn the guitar”. The difference between the instruments was immediate, and he found it easy to develop skills on something that he enjoyed and could play music he liked. 99 Felix signed up for the Rock Band class in 10 th grade after getting talked into by friends who had already taken the guitar class. He saw the class as an opportunity to do something he liked. The only extracurricular activities that I did participate in high school were music related, so I think that made my high school experience. If it wasn’t, like music related, I wasn’t involved in it. Maybe, I don’t know, I had a lot of insecurities so I felt excluded, but I think sometimes, honestly, I felt like I was excluding myself. And then I like playing the guitar so I wanted to see what it felt like to play in front of people, um. Clearly, the class became a way for Felix to start opening up and meet knew people while doing something he enjoyed. The instructor of the class remembers Felix as being extremely shy and withdrawn, and he was also quite nervous about performing, but also very talented at the guitar. Felix saw the class as being a chief motivator for him in finding freedom to do what he wanted and helping him find his own personality. It was like in comparison to a class where, you know, they give you a syllabus and they tell you that you have to do A through Z and if you don’t do it, you’re gonna get points taken off. So you, then like, from that point you start stressing out, like about the grade you’re gonna get. This was more like, you know, let’s work cooperatively and let’s work. And if you, like, if, you’re there, it’s because you wanna be there. So you had freedom. The opportunities to play live music helped Felix “come out of his shell” and find his voice. He particularly looked forward to the lunchtime shows, with the 100 opportunity to learn cool songs he loved and get out there and play them for all of his peers. He found that he “could express myself, try new things without anybody being critical and everybody being open to what you had to play or say.” When the opportunity to play music at the benefit concert came around, he worked hard to make the cut, having to focus more on his nerves and stage presence than the music itself. However, he reflected how the show was a catalyst towards “getting a personality”, and the experience of playing on stage in front of 2000 people made it so that he is “hardly ever shy or nervous anymore.” After the Rock Band instructor left the school, Felix continued on with other music classes, and returned to playing the tuba. He joined the Marching Band, but felt it lacked some of the reasons as to why he enjoyed Rock Band, like having a very fixed structure and no creative process. In his words, “the new teacher wanted things her way, with little flexibility. There was too much leading, and not enough teaching.” This left Felix in a bit of a quandary, since he felt that his musical experience was the main guidance he had gotten in school, and without it he was struggling to identify steps past graduation. I felt like I didn’t have a lot of guidance. Um. But taking, taking your music class, being involved in rock band and, you know, taking your music theory class, I felt so…When I, when I applied to universities coming out of high school, there was, there was only one major I applied on there and it was under music, and it was because I felt like that was the only thing that I could identify with because that was the only guidance I had. And like, you were one of the only professors in high school that, you know, showed an interest 101 in me, so I felt that I wanted to do something where, you know, I felt important. After high school, Felix took some classes in college but quickly realized that being a music major might not be for him either, and he continued to work at the local airport while figuring out his next path. After taking more of his general education classes, he managed to get into a prestigious Los Angeles university, majoring in civil engineering, a degree that helps him explore his creative side. Felix remembers how important the creative process was to him in the Rock Band class, having the ability to learn to explore on their own. He notes that architecture is similar to making a song or learning how to play one, and that creative process, although not implicitly discussed in the Rock Band class, is something that he feels is very important in not only the arts, but also in the sciences. Felix also relates his new found confidence to his time performing in Rock Band, noting that “I don’t think I was ever again, like, nervous about doing public speaking. After playing in front of like 500 or something people or more.” He felt like as long as he prepared properly, he could be comfortable doing anything. Being surrounded by people on a similar mission created a type of camaraderie that encouraged growth, one he relates to now in his studies, and his skill in music also helps with this. He described how while in an architecture class at his current university, he worked on an instillation project with classmates that had music at its core, since his fellow group members were also musical. They built together faux- wind chimes to create a different chords based on how they interacted, and once the 102 project was up, it was so well liked that it was kept up weeks longer than the rest of the others. Felix still makes time to play guitar, finding it very therapeutic, and he notes that perhaps he kept at it this long because of that enjoyment, verses his tuba career. “I think it has to please me first. I have to like it first before anybody else starts liking it. Cause if I don’t like it…I won’t wanna keep doing it.” He sees guitar as an escape, and finds his ability to play it has helped him to relate to people, including his fellow classmates, with whom he hopes to start jamming with. Juan. Juan was Felix’s musical friend, whom Felix convinced to sign up for the Rock Band class. Like Felix, he was a Latino student who took the bus into school from out of the local area, and he first got a guitar in seventh grade to learn through self-study. Juan was a very bright musician who happened to go to a middle school where the science teacher did an after school guitar club with a few other students. Most of the students were older and Juan saw that as an opportunity to not only learn, but to also compete with the older students. Unlike the other students in the study, he had started to learn popular music informally in his middle school guitar club, working on and performing current guitar driven songs on the radio. Juan remembered his first experience in music in high school as joining the AP Music Theory class, since by that time he already had the ability to play but wanted to have some formal understanding of music, apart from learning to play songs by ear and use tabs. He was interested in the structure of music. When the Rock Band class started, he grabbed Felix and signed up, hoping to be in a situation 103 where he could keep playing while also meeting other musicians. He remembers that he “had never been in a situation where I could, uh, play in a band with other students that I didn’t know.” In his own words: It was a fun opportunity. I decided to go for it. I played drums, which I hadn’t done before. I had become really good friends with Felix, and it was really cool being around all the other kids as well, those that I didn’t know that well even though we went to the same school. And we all had music in common. Like-minded kids. The Rock Band class gave him the opportunity to do what he wanted to do at that point, which was to perform. He had avoided music lessons in the past, preferring to teach himself, but recognized that he wasn’t getting feedback from an instructor, and it was that training that he needed. The informal approach of the Rock Band class gave him someone to coach and train him, rather than teach, and it wasn’t only the instructor. Juan found that his fellow band mates would support each other, pushing their limits, testing each other to see what they could do. We were given the freedom to, to interact with the other students and to see what their levels were and to try to, you know, approach that and, and work with that. Uh, yeah, and so, it felt like we were being coached, were being trained, getting feedback, we were allowed to try what we wanted to do. The freedom of the class helped him expand his musical horizons in a way that he enjoyed and an opportunity to really apply his musical knowledge. For him, it wasn’t about winging it, but approaching it with a working knowledge and getting the music to come together as a group. 104 The irony of the Jazz Ensemble class title was also not lost on Juan. He noted that he would never have taken the jazz class, and knew that the students would benefit much more from the Rock Band class than Jazz Ensemble. He also appreciated the effort of the instructor sticking up for what the students wanted. It was one of the many instances when he noted the importance of having support from a teacher. One of his favorite memories was choosing an extremely controversial song with his band, one that his band continually rehearsed until they had to stop and think whether they would have permission to perform it at the school. “I think we were a little concerned because the song we were doing, uh, has like what, like 10 or 11 FUs in there or something.” When they approached the instructor, he gave them the choice to either “play it as is and suffer the consequences”, or perform a song about censorship inauthentically by censoring themselves. They opted for the original version. The students performed the song and during the section in question, the teacher distracted the assistant principal through conversation, making it one of the more epic performances in the history of the class. This showed Juan and the others that they should stick up for their beliefs and that hopefully someone will support them. The class also gave Juan the opportunity to play multiple instruments, that is, to apply his current musical knowledge in new ways. He constantly spent most of his time on drums. The combination of multiple instruments and music theory helped opened him up creatively, making it so he did not have to think too hard when learning new music. It was also the first time he played bass, the instrument 105 he spends the most time with currently, although he wants to become a full time drummer. While the Rock Band and Music Theory classes were the most fun times he had in school, Juan struggled after the instructor left the school. He originally planned on graduating a year early, but decided to stick around and packed his loose schedule with music classes like Marching Band with Felix, as well as Piano and Choir. He had grown used to the informal approach to the Rock Band class, and the new teacher’s rigid approach quickly pushed him away from formal music study at the school. He opines that “it became like a job you don’t like, you know, it always it [school] always sort of felt like to me, but there were some instances where something was interesting or challenging and I really wanted to do it.” He stopped going to school for most of his last semester and didn’t actually get his diploma until three years later, after finally completing the last class in adult school. 11 th grade, I got into the music a lot heavier, in 12 th grade, started to care less and less. The music program kind of went to shit after you were gone. Um, and I still like attended those classes, you know. I still tried to learn as much as I could with that. Uh, it gave me a lot of time to sit and think about everything that, that I had learned up until then and how it applies, and trying to understand how it will apply from there on. I would say it was definitely the instructional style as well as the other stuff because I, the intention that I had was pretty much the same, you know. It was like, oh, I think this is, will, will help me learn music and maybe one day I’ll be a musician, blah blah blah. Uh, same deal when I was going into Choir, Piano. 106 Juan probably experienced the same sort of natural wariness that many students feel towards a new teacher after a previous one leaves, but the change from a fairly loose informal and non-formal learning environment that puts the onus on the student to drive their instruction to a structured formal teacher-driven approach didn’t sit well with the experienced senior. He admits that he took Marching Band kind of as a joke class to just get out and hit the drums, and this caused a rift with the new teacher, to the point that, “she kind of really disliked me, I think. I could sense that, which made me feel kind of strange. I felt as though she kind of came down to our level.” The lack of autonomy he had, the more he rebelled, taking frustrations out on his teachers and realizing that he didn’t really improve musically after taking the further music classes. This juxtaposition of educational elements wasn’t lost on Juan. Recently, while sitting in on a school meeting for his niece, he noted “one of the teachers brought up how the curriculum has sort of changed from going testing and trying to evaluate your students’ scores to focusing more on critical thinking and like problem-solving.” In his mind, this resembled the differences between classes taught with more informal practices versus the stricter guided practice, repetition, and recitation of the classes in his senior year. Overall, the Rock Band class also helped push Juan socially, feeling like he had grown up a quiet kid, who started to come out of his comfort zone while playing music. That musical creative connection helps him now connect with other musicians. The concerts also helped him feel more confident as a musician, enough 107 so that he stopped trying to compare his skill level with others and instead started to compete with himself, looking to see how he could do more and improve. Juan is extremely involved in music to this day, and loves connecting with others creatively. He also helps other musicians by using his theory and performance skills to help guide the sound of a group. He moved to New York City for four years and worked at a bass amp manufacturer while taking classes in recording and sound. He is currently back in Los Angeles, working multiple nights a week at different venues running sound, and using any off time he has to see music and play with others. To this day I still, I still do that, try to, like meet random people and try to see how it, how it can, uh, work between, you know, one person and the next person. And I found myself more recently playing music with people that I don’t know all that well, which is still great because though, like, you know, through, uh, the skill and the musicianship, there’s a pretty deep connection with just about anybody. He doesn’t ever see himself working out of the field of music, and the sum of his experiences has made him well rounded not only as a player but also with the technical aspects, which is a huge advantage in the competitive music field. He sees this as a valuable set of skills, since “you can find a professional musician who doesn’t really know the theory all that much, you know, and like some students who know the theory like the back of their hands and lack chemistry or something”. In his discourse, it seems that the merger of the musical skills and the social aspects of the class helped him find a solid niche. 108 Angel, Saul, and Enrique. Angel, Saul, and Enrique have been inseparable for as long as I remember them, playing music together in a band throughout high school and still hanging out all the time to this day. Angel and Saul are fraternal twin brothers, growing up near Enrique in the rough and colorful section of the area around the school—an area that has now been extremely gentrified. All three of these Latino boys had a strong love for music early on and by the time they entered high school were the epitome of what one would call a metalhead, with the mostly black wardrobe, long hair, and jean jackets adorned with patches of their favorite bands like Slayer, Exodus, and Morbid Angel. Not surprisingly, this love of music didn’t translate over to their public school education. Enrique noted, “I had a guitar and didn’t play until your guitar class. We all had that recorder thing in elementary school, that we all lost.” Enrique also sang in the choir in 6 th grade and enjoyed it, until he hit puberty and that was the end of that. Angel got a guitar in middle school, but when Saul took to it quickly, their father went out and got Angel a drum set, which they both learned on their own playing together. Their time spent working on their favorite music encouraged Enrique to start playing. These three were not what most people would identify with as academic all- stars. Enrique noted, “I was a shitty student. Like I don’t like school.” Angel remembers passing his classes but with music being, by far, the most memorable thing he did in school. While these students may have struggled in school, they were the top of the class in Rock Band and Guitar, with many of the other students interviewed here asking about them and noting how they looked up to Angel, Saul, and Enrique as having musical skills to aspire to. All three students note that had it 109 not been for Rock Band class, they would never have taken any music classes, yet the class opened up their high school lives in ways that were unimaginable. In High School and Middle School, we weren’t the most popular kids on the block, and we loved music. We couldn’t play football, we can’t do a lot of things, but for some reason, this attracts us, and it’s magnetic. We can’t let it go, and when we were in high school, we were addicted to it. And finally something positive was coming out of it. We weren’t unpopular, we were getting positive feedback from people, we felt like supermen. It was OK to be misfits. People reject you for what you look like, and all a sudden you aren’t. All of a sudden people who you didn’t know would compliment you and seemed to think you were cool after a gig. (Saul) All three knew that they had the look of troubled youth, but they didn’t let that isolate them. They talked to kids from all over the social networks of the school, and their Rock Band performances clearly helped them branch out. Enrique noted that “everyone knew us as the kids who were playing music which was weird because, uh, because people didn’t look at us like we were fucking fuck ups or anything.” Angel added that “nobody puts anybody down for doing what they’re doing and that acceptance is even more of a, you know, it brings you back up. So that you can do what you feel passion for.” Clearly, playing the lunchtime gigs and the benefit concert really meant a lot to these students, since it gave them large venues with good crowds to play for, something they didn’t necessarily have on their own. Enrique noted how lucky they were, saying, “That’s something that’s going to be left in Naples High School history. 110 Like, yeah, during our time, we used to have shows during lunchtime, what did you do?” Stevie added: Our high school experience was particularly unique, you know, just because you know we got the opportunity that like one percent of any high school student gets, you know? Fortunately for us we were at the right place in the right time, the right decade, everything worked out just perfectly for us to have been in, you know, this musically and, you know, we met tons of great people and as far as educationally it was okay. I mean I don’t remember anything in particular but I just remember having a great time and, um, you know all in all it is just truly a unique experience. The class gave them the opportunity to expand their social circles and learn new musical skills, since it gave them something they wouldn’t have sought out on their own: musicians they didn’t know to play with. Enrique stated that, “It was a good opportunity to, like, kind of have everyone jam and like switch around and stuff like that.” They loved the chance to get out and not only perform for the school at the lunch time shows, but to get out of their circle of musical friends. Saul remembers that, “At that point, like we were all in this little metal social group, and, like, through the grapevine, like, think we’re all alike. You know, we just relate to metal music.” And the class pulled them in through the incentive to play live shows and work on their chops while then expanding their musical and social spheres. Enrique: By that point all three of us were already playing shows and stuff. Yeah. 111 Angel: But then, it was also cool to, you know, to jam with other people and do, you know? Saul: It was like a musical orgy in there. You could just flip swap with anybody. Or even, even, yeah just like, seriously like you know? Angel: Yeah. Cause being in a high school band was kind of weird, because you jam with somebody else and they get all mad, like, “Why you jamming with them?” Saul: Like a relationship. Angel: It’s like a girlfriend, like a relationship, like, where they get mad. You’re like “what? I just want to jam.” But they feel like you have, like you have cheated… Saul: Like you were out late last night. Angel: On them. So you gave us the key to just, you know? Do whatever.” Enrique: You specifically told us, “All right, I don’t want more than two of you guys in one group. You guys got to break it up.” And this dude, Angel, was like, the first one “See ya.” (laughing) The musical choices they made expanded their own love of different styles of music as well, covering songs by classic rock, alternative, and blues artists instead of their normal metal fare. They saw the pull towards metal as catalyst to introducing them to other styles. Saul noted, “you fish them in with the Slayer and then you start throwing some Vivaldi in there and then you’re like let’s see if we can put this together.” Saul went on to note that he started seeing a connection between the tough riffs in the music he brought into the class and some of the great masterworks 112 by Bach that he went on to try and learn. Enrique noted that he would never have gotten into classical music if not for the class. And while they grew fond of classical music, it was the pedagogical approach that was important. Saul offered, “It’s like when you have a sharp and all those flats and everything it just, you kind of give up sometimes” noting that it was more like breaking down a code which took forever instead of using tablature to get more instant success. The informal approach was especially important for Angel, a drummer who had never seen a note in his life, but eventually started to learn how to read charts and notes as it became apparent that it would help him with his bands. The social aspect of the class was important to these three and fellow metalheads like them, since it was a safe space to be who they were and their love of heavy music was rewarded and seen as currency. It also gave them a venue to be successful and to help them learn other important life skills such as discipline. The three opined on how preparing for the benefit concert and partaking in the class in general made them learn the value of conduct and practice: Saul: There was a lot of discipline in this class in general, you had to have that discipline or you weren’t going to end up being in that class. Enrique: If you didn’t show up, you weren’t part of it. Saul: It was constant jamming out, back to back, making the music perfect. Enrique: But it was really fun too, I didn’t mind staying afterschool, cause it was fun. Saul: At the same time, it was like if we keep putting in our time we are going to play somewhere cool, and sure enough we did. It was like we have to play 113 A, B, and C, and so it was like organizing, learning how to practice. Capturing it and slapping it all together. Angel: If you didn’t behave, you weren’t allowed in the class. Saul: (laughs) Ya, it was like there was no smoking weed…anymore…we couldn’t roll joints behind the room. Angel: After all the practicing it paid off. It was clear that the practice and discipline were very important for the trio, as was the newfound celebrity and acceptance they found after performing and getting to show the rest of the schools their unique talents. But there were other important imprints of the course on their lives, such as finding a way to express their everyday troubles and having someone who would nurture it while pushing them to learn skills and find success that would help them in school and after. Saul vividly recalls the importance of a nurturing yet firm approach, stating, “your (the instructor) physical aspect is a calm and chill person, but I remember I took advantage of that, I cheated off another student, and you disciplined us quickly. Shit got real, and it really brought the discipline to the plate.” Angel added, “you would check out a guitar, boom, homie is playing the guitar, you know, on the field right now like it gives the opportunity for everybody. You offered the trust to anybody.” That was perceived as an important feature, because it gave them an opportunity to take what they were doing at home and bring it to their education as well, Angel noting that, “We’d just play music and make noise. We’d come home, do our homework and jam out. Our parents were strict and wouldn’t let us hang out after school at Taco Bell, but we liked to come home and play music” to which Enrique 114 added, “But your class was fun, and it was the coolest class I took in High School.” It was very beneficial for them to have the experience of pursing a passion of theirs and getting guidance rather than having it held against them. The researcher vividly remembers that the biggest compliment he ever received from an administrator, announced at a faculty meeting, was that he had found a way to reach the toughest kids at the school and help give them a reason to come to school. The class left a permanent imprint on our souls. Music is a vehicle to becoming a better person in general. All of us have some sort of trauma, and we use this music to get over it, get it out of our system. And this was a productive way to get it out, to not become a criminal, a murderer, or psychotic. It’s a way of venting. (Saul) As for now, the trio has moved on in separate ways, but manages to still get together all the time and hang out. Enrique shares an apartment with his girlfriend, whom he met while in the music classes at Naples High School, and does a variety of jobs to support some of his artistic endeavors. He is currently working on a multimedia art production with a friend and hopes to someday make it his main focus. Saul is the family man of the group, having had twins a few years back. He works at a surgery center, hoping to become a technician with a bit more schooling. He still plays guitar daily, writing and recording songs on his phone, hoping that eventually he will play more, whilst recognizing the need to have a solid job to pay the bills. Angel works in construction, having learned skills from his old woodshop days in high school, where he did projects that turned into cash. He has worked in the same industry for a while, and it has paid off, giving him the opportunity to 115 travel and recently moved to Hawaii for a job for a year with his company. All three see the positive experiences in their music and other elective classes as leading the way to their current successes, through discipline, acceptance, and desire to perform well. Saul: When you were put up on stage and stuff like that you’re performing in front of people and this shyness, it doesn’t exist for us because like, you know, like…A lot of people have a problem just talking anymore, you know? We just don’t have that trouble because we experienced such an exposure early on in our lives that we were able to just like it’s going to be okay. Angel: I remember I’d be very nervous at the beginning. Like oh, okay then once it was done I was like oh, okay and then naturally it feels better because you just, you know, its just better, you know? But I remember the first couple of times I was oh my God, this, this is scary. I don’t want to do it but it just got better, you know? Your stage fright goes away and then you feel more comfortable. There has a been a high level of durability of a variety of skills in Saul’s mind from the whole Rock Band experience, one that helped him become who he is now. Like some people don’t see it as beneficial or whatever. I think that is horseshit. I think that, you know, if you look at it like you’re offering structure and it’s like you don’t take it in right then and there...But later on when you get older it’s like you translate that to your everyday task, you know? Or even a different job it’s like all those things are just like they’re very beneficial to you or anybody and it’s like if you take a math class like 116 okay, we get it. There is steps there but not like this. This is something that you can totally apply later on in life. (Saul) It wasn’t just the music class that brought this out in them, but the type of instruction being offered: informal, bringing in ways for them to learn and share what they wanted while still growing. Enrique remembers taking a strings class when he was in guitar and how it was one of his most negative moments in school. I couldn’t play what I was supposed to play and I remember her class being really kind of by the book, by the number, you know? And, uh, I wasn’t really into it and, uh, I couldn’t get this part and she said, in front of the whole class, she said to me “if you can’t pleasure an instrument you’ll never pleasure a woman.” It made me feel kind of like shit. I was like wow, what the hell? I went into your class and you were more about, oh, what do you want to play? You know, hey if you don’t, if you want to play something else, you know? That’s cool too, you know, but learn your chords, work on your chords and here’s some fucking Slayer tablature. Learn that too. (Enrique) Saul confirmed this notion, noting how he felt supported in what he liked, becoming more interested in learning music from the instructor as well, which eventually led to the desire to learn jazz, classical, hip-hop, and basically be open to anything else. Enrique noted the difference; how in one class he was being forced to learn music he didn’t enjoy, yet later when his taste in rock was encouraged, he felt the need to branch out to Bach and Beethoven. He summed up the difference between approaches relatively eloquently: 117 The school curriculum tries to fit every kid in the same square peg and not every kid fits a square peg and what your class provided was a different shape. So all those misfit kids that didn’t fit in the classical music peg or the piano or anything like that are like oh crap, hey, I fit in here and, uh, so it was like an alternative class for all alternative kids that didn’t have a place to kind of really get into music. Laura. Laura was the first of the Rock Band students interviewed that didn’t take part in the pilot study or the benefit concert, and was also the only phone interview conducted, since she is currently living in Las Vegas, after moving there in 2010 due to the cost of living being much more reasonable than southern California. Back in her high school days, she lived in the local area, but unlike the majority of the other students, she was one of the only two Black students enrolled in Rock Band. Laura took a variety of music classes starting in middle school, first on the clarinet, but quickly moving to flute when she couldn’t get the embouchure. Even then she leaned more heavily on her ear and her seat mates than by reading the music. She felt like she had a natural talent for music, which led to her taking it less seriously than her peers that had to really work hard to succeed. She remembers deciding on taking Rock Band as a way to be involved with a different group of friends. It seemed like a really cool idea. I remember you talking about it in our Marching Band classes and in our music theory classes. Um, it gave me something to do, it involved a lot of my friends and stuff. Like, a lot of the longhairs and everything took that class also, and it was an opportunity for 118 me to hang out with my friends that didn’t involve hooliganism and underage drinking. Laura was a bit of a “class clown” in her other music classes, and amiable with lots of students, but much of this hid her own issues with self-confidence, particularly with performing. She saw Rock Band as an opportunity to take her talent and build confidence while taking chances musically in a safe environment. “It was trying to get me to open up and come out of my shell and take those chances with my own voice, not only musically, but metaphorically.” In general, as a student, Laura was a relatively typical teen, going through the motions while being bitter about a system she felt staunched creativity and originality in favor of strict curriculum and rules. She commented about most of her education, “I have to do this, I don’t like it.” This is why music was a strong draw for her, where she felt she could express herself and not be judged for it. The classes that I remember with the most detail would’ve been my music classes, because I felt like I could be more of myself and express more of my own personality through the music and I wasn’t worried about torment or ridicule based on my physical appearance, because that’s not what it was about. It was about what you could do, not what you looked like. And it wasn’t about, you know, conventional forms of academia. It was actually about creativity and expression. And that was something that I cherished greatly. Laura recognized many benefits from the class, clearly the ability to feel safe and be creative, but beyond that, about how to work on her teamwork and 119 synchronicity. She noted that music class “was one of the few times where I was not completely miserable” and she could let her goofy side out and it was a “platform for me to do it where it was cool and fun, and everyone else was able to show that, too.” It also helped her socially, moving from being one flute of many or a member of a choir to being a sought after lead singer. I was shocked at how many people wanted me to be their front man. I think when we first started it was like three or four different groups that wanted me. It…it showed me that the person that I see and that I think I am isn’t the person that everyone else sees, and that sometimes other people can see things inside of you that you don’t believe were there. And that was not only with you as my educator and um a musical professional, but also with my peers….Sometimes I still get surprised when someone thinks, like, super highly of me because I don’t think I’ve done anything to warrant it, but you don’t have to. It showed me everyone has potential, you just have to know where to look for it. Since high school, Laura continually works to make ends meet in retail but longs to be a part of something musical. It has been an uphill battle, since “not only was I lazy academically, I graduated around the great recession, and we all know how that worked out for pretty much most millennials.” She has found that the confidence she worked on in Rock Band has become a big part of her success in work and hopefully that financial security will let her start to pursue it. She has also learned how to use her unique personality in her rigid job. 120 They supposedly want you to be genuine while still following the rules of retail etiquette and company policy, so I find ways to infuse my personality that’s work-appropriate and bring that to the table in order to make sales and make it an enjoyable time, not only for my customers but for myself because I also train people. And I can use training as well as my customer service as a medium for creativity. She sees herself as being successful at work thanks not only to her personality, but also because of the teamwork skills she learned in Rock Band. She notes that she is good at recognizing potential in people she works with and can use this to help communicate and synchronize with her co-workers to get jobs done more efficiently. However, she still struggles with participating musically in the same way, finding herself a bit too shy to connect with new bands. She notes, “I had serious, serious, serious confidence issues, it’s not as bad anymore. I still struggle with it every once in a while.” Instead she notes her musical habits have shifted in independent ways, like singing along to store Muzak while changing the beats and harmonizing or creating mash-ups. She also notes that, “In high school I’d get mixed up and I’d get off key and everything, but I can stay on-key and on-time.” Hopefully in the future she will get a chance and the continued confidence to put those skills into work in a fun musical environment. Jack. Jack was one of the Latino students who made the early morning bus ride in to West Los Angeles from South Central, an important time for him to start his own musical discoveries, using the long early rides as prime listening time. His older brother provided the impetus, playing in a rock band with friends, and 121 although Jack played percussion in his middle school ensembles, it never reached him the way his brother’s music did. He started learning guitar on his own after the guitarist in his brother’s band lent it to him. In his freshman year he didn’t take music classes, but was still really into it, remembering that he “was that one kid that would sit there with like a Metallica shirt in 9 th grade and wear like a Cannibal Corpse shirt and everybody would be like ‘what is this?’”. His first music class in high school, the guitar class, opened his mind to a whole new world. In 10 th grade, uh, started learning about classical guitar, uh, learned about Prog Rock, um, neo-classical came out of nowhere. And, um, it just blew my mind. There was just so much that existed out there that I just had no idea of. And so my, my bus rides became from listening to all this like, you know, grunge and metal going into listening to like Agustin Barrios Mangore, listening to, uh, like…Yngwie Malmsteen, Tony MacAlpine, um, just all this stuff. And, and I wanted to learn it. That first year he noticed he was learning and using new skills, incorporating a lot of practice habits and techniques borrowed from classical guitar, but his fluency in both worlds made it tough when trying to play music with his peers who wanted the sheet music and felt uncomfortable with improvisation. When Rock Band class started, he noted, “I saw you setup that class and I just said ‘I have to be a part of this immediately’”. He loved the opportunity to play with other musicians from a variety of backgrounds, working on different styles, and having someone coach them through material. It also meant that they could change the music to approximate difficult parts that otherwise were unplayable at their current levels, 122 rather than recite things perfectly, creating a great stepping stone to putting songs they loved together. It was great because I don’t think I’ve ever heard of such a thing being done and it just, it was overwhelming. And it was very fun. And, um, during lunchtime we would all perform and, um, and everybody would watch. And it was cool because everybody was like playing songs that had just came out like Queens of the Stone Age, and, uh, some of the classics as well. A lot of like, uh, classic rock. I think some guys, we even did a Slayer song, “Altar of Sacrifice”. That was, that was fun. Although Jack did not audition or play for the benefit concert, he took part in another special musical moment due to his newfound dedication to his music studies: a special solo in the Marching Band field show. After the first semester of Rock Band, Jack decided to join the drum line of the Marching Band, playing cymbals, but the director of the band knew his guitar experience, and decided to put it to use during the highlight of the show, an arrangement of Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train”. Jack remembered how they “were getting through the middle of the song and the solo came up and I would jump off of the cymbals, run over, grab the guitar, and just like shred away a solo. And I don’t think that’s ever been done. And I was just, that was cool.” It was a memorable solo in a memorable field show, one that was finally appreciated by the crowd and the football team that was usually used to ignoring the halftime show, but the traditional judges at music festivals didn’t quite approve it. “Yeah, they didn’t like it. (laughs) But we thought it was cool”, Jack stated. As the 123 Marching Band director, I distinctly remember the members of the football team coming up to me during the game and specifically requesting that song, the first time in my 10-year tenure at the school that this occurred. The experience stuck with Jack, who acknowledged his fear of the often “strict militaristic” nature of Marching Band. Thus, the thought of incorporating the rock element from the other spectrum really stuck with him. Performance was important to Jack, as he had his own death metal band, Cranial Mutilation, at the time in South Central Los Angeles. Unlike the stereotype of the death metal kid who is reckless and underachieving, Jack was juggling AP classes and his music, and the Rock band class taught him a lot of real world musical skills, for not only performance, but the craft itself, such as setting up equipment, getting a good sound, and working with others in a band. The real appeal to me like as to why I did it was just fun. And, eh, you learned a lot, and you learned how to cooperate, you learned how to setup drums. And how to mic, and, and it was in a safe environment where if you happen to, you know, mess up or, you know, you were too fast or too slow, you had time and you had somebody to help you out with it to really like give you some professional insight on it. And if you were to try and learn all this stuff on your own? It just, it would take years to really pickup on all of this, and it was a great experience for me because it was, it was an easy way to transition from what I was learning in rock band into my own band. What started as a fun way for Jack to practice his passion gradually became an important part of him. While the guitar became the thing he worked on most, he 124 noticed some skills from guitar transferring over to the rest of his life. “I started diving a little bit more into, uh, the technicalities of everything. And actually that kinda grew my passion for computers a bit”. Jack currently works at the Apple store using his technical knowledge, spending the last several years focused on computer repair, a skill he sees stemming directly from his time learning the intricacies of sound and musical gadgets. He also learned how to use a lot of computer programs like Guitar Pro to write out tablature to stay technologically with it. Jack still practices the guitar daily, although most of it is just remembering and enjoying working on material he learned in high school in Rock Band and guitar class, be it metal or classical. He has had the same girlfriend since then, a flute player from Marching Band that he met in the music department, yet they do not play music together at all. She has definitely adopted the musical habits of many of her ex-Marching Band peers in programs around the US, the inability to improvise or play without sheet music. She still has her flute. It’s in the closet, but I ask her, “Hey would you ever want to like jam out? Or like, just play?” And she’s like, “No I can’t”. I’m like, “well, why not?” She’s like, “well, I have to sit there” and this is what she’ll say, “I have to sit there and have a piece of, a piece of paper. Sheet music in front of me. And I have to read it, and I’ll play that but nothing else.” And it’s the same with her friend Linda, who was also in Marching Band. She says, “I’m sorry we can’t play. We can’t do anything because we, we have to have something written out.” (laughs) And I was just like, “All right no worries.” So one of the things I kinda like feel that I kinda differentiated from some of the 125 other, some of my peers is that I just fiddle (laughs) with the guitar just, just not even jamming out just seeing what sounds can be created. For Jack, his time spent in the Rock Band class was the apex of that creativity as well as the curiosity to see how things work and the discipline to work hard at it, all things he takes with him to his current job. But he still finds time to do his one passion: shred on the guitar. Melanie and Robert. Considering that Melanie and Robert had been romantically entwined since high school, they were an amazing study in contrasts. On the one hand, you had introverted and unsure Melanie, who grew up in the local area, born of one White and one Japanese parents. On the other you had care-free and gregarious Robert, a first generation American from Egyptian ancestry. Somehow their personalities clicked in high school, each clearly attracted to the strengths in the other that they probably wish they had more of in themselves. Melanie had a background in musical theater, calling herself a “theater kid” who had been active doing plays until high school. She had taken mandatory fourth grade violin, and one could tell that her formal nature constantly conflicted with her creative side, particularly when she complained that she had not learned to read music and instead just learned to play by ear. She became interested in drums and started lessons on them in middle school, but did not find it stimulating or fun. In her own words, “I was just doing it for years, and not practicing and not giving a shit.” High school was a totally different experience for Melanie than what she had been used to in her more affluent middle school, where she thrived in theater. She 126 liked the concept of the open campus at Naples High School and didn’t like her home school, so she used the magnet program to take the quick jaunt across town. “I just thought Naples is a better fit, like, personality-wise, and it ended up being so hard to just like, make friends, so I think that’s why I was, like, really interested in trying all these different classes.” One of her first setbacks though was with the drama department, something she had always loved. I tried to join the drama group, and I looked, and I was like, oh I do not want to be a part of this. I went in at lunch and it was the theater club or whatever and they were just messing around…And I was like, okay, are we going to do anything, like, theater related? She took yearbook, eventually becoming the editor, but didn’t see that as a positive experience even though it seemed like she thrived. “I was, like, the loser in yearbook”, she said, and, “Yearbook’s not like a great thing. It was just, like, systematic, so it was like okay, edit, got it.” This was a typical dour emotion that permeated our discussion, with Robert constantly sticking up for her (and her decisions), but with a persistent sense of dread with Melanie adding “High school’s like a bunch of failures while trying to, like, get ready for college. And then college sucked too (laughs) so I don’t know.” After all her musical background and setbacks, the Rock Band class was another experiment to try and find whether she would fit in. “What are those type of people like, and what can I do with that?” The Rock Band class was the first time she got to play with other people. “It was totally out of my comfort zone, and I had no idea what I was doing, or what was going on.” Melanie’s musical background and 127 personality gave her a different perspective than many of the other students in the class. I’m just wanted to test it out. And, I’m kind of a shy person, so um, drums is like an outlet for me, but I was also very timid about it, so I didn’t really, like, hit my comfort zone there, because I was trying to keep up with everyone else in the class, because I’d never done it before…Never done anything with other people music-wise. So to me, it was this whole mind-expanding like, “Oh, now I have to figure out what they’re doing,” and, so…and that was new to me, versus like someone telling me where to stand on stage and sing. Like, music is totally different. On the other hand, the Rock Band class was right up Robert’s alley. He had been interested in playing music from a young age, but really didn’t start to learn it formally until middle school, when he took trombone and snare drum in the band and learned how to read sheet music. He didn’t continue on with either in school until the Rock Band class came around, with the different approach appealing to him. He mentioned wanting “ to do it just out of the curiosity, of, yeah, what type of form it would take, because I wasn’t sure about what the form of the class really was.” Robert recounted how they started walking to his house after school and jamming with a lot of the other kids, Melanie included. To Robert, high school was a time to be social and make connections, and music was his favorite way to do that. He realized that he was not a strong student, unlike Melanie, even if he was interested he just did okay, but the flexibility of the Rock Band really appealed to him. 128 That was the thing with Rock Band, you had to choose to be in that class, you had to choose it, that’s the…That’s already just, you know, going to constitute what kind of, like, people are taking the class, and what kind of feel. What kind of like, things people want to bring to the class, its different because you want to be there. The variety of musical exposure in the class loomed large for Melanie, and gave her a lot of new things to not only listen to but also to try out. She distinctly remembers playing drums for a group on a Pink Floyd classic and being blown away by metalhead shredder Saul’s ability to play a slow melodic slide guitar part. Melanie reminisced, “I’d never heard metal music, and all these, you know, kids in the class were just like metal, and all these things, having down my throat. I was like I don’t know any of these, I have to take notes!” Melanie was clearly striving to fit in musically with the others, recognizing the shift in position in the class hierarchy, for once not being able to ‘study’ to be at the top while guys that were traditionally failing were able to display their talents. She felt like a fish out of water and struggled, but luckily was in a safe environment with lots of encouragement. I just remember being stressed out and like, "I don't know anything." And, so I had to learn the song, I'd never heard this song before, and they'd like been listening to it for their whole lives. Like, oh my God, this is so hard. It was terrible, because I was like, “Uh, am I doing all right?” And they just kept like going, “You're doing great, you're great, you're doing great,” because we had to choose our groups, right? 129 Melanie also felt that a lot of the technical aspects from the class went over her head, like using pedals and effects, some of the theory, but unlike the other students, wasn’t able to reflect on what she learned rather than assuming every little concept had to be drilled in. In her own words, “I feel personal loss that I didn’t pick up these things that I wish I had, that I wish there’d been something leading up to the Rock Band class.” Even her formal musical education to that point kept her more in the dark. “I came in kind of thinking I knew how to read drum music, and then it was not…we didn’t have sheet music for ‘Breathe’, so, like, okay.” While she may have struggled wrapping her head around some of the informal aspects of learning, she felt very supported by the others in the class. “There was that welcomeness for sure, and I was really grateful that everyone was so positive towards me.” She saw that it helped her with her shy personality, saying that it helped her “round out the corners a little bit, just in terms of what I thought I could do.” Robert really looked forward to not only making music with his friends like he was used to do, but also to the opportunity to perform at lunch in front of others. He noted that kids would run out to the yard to check them out since it was the best thing going on at lunches, and the school loved to hear great songs they loved performed live. This was another great contrast with Melanie who merely stated that “it was stressful.” For Robert, it was also a time to learn more about not only other people but also himself, something that was difficult in the complex structure of high school culture. “There was so much pressure in bringing everyone together, [it was] so easy to just get caught in other people’s worlds”, he stated. The class 130 gave him a lot of memories about learning something about himself instead of someone else. After high school, Melanie went off to college in Boston, but struggled with the same problems she had in high school, trying to start over with a new social group where she didn’t know anyone. She came home after a few years and currently works as a stage manager for a local theater, where she consistently is trying to find more ways to bring music into her life. She noted that growing up she always had dramas interspersed with musicals, but her current job focuses solely on dramas. Whenever she would hear a familiar song or musical, she noticed improvements on her mood felt like a completely different person. “Music is very important to me, and I didn’t realize it until it was cut out of my life. Maybe I should be involved in music more, and that would help my life.” She still regrets not taking more music in high school, but realized that Rock Band was really the only thing she was interested in, and after the class left, she had no viable options. Marching Band was like too much movement for me. Like, no, I'm not going to do that. I do not like football games or anything like that, so I won't be there. And, uh, I don't know. Music theory was way too hard for me, because I couldn't even read music, so I knew I wasn't going to succeed in that. As expected, Robert has embodied the other end of the spectrum for music classes post-Rock Band. He took music theory, which really opened up his mind not only to music, but was also a way of examining things pedagogically that really appealed to him. He discovered that he was mostly just interested in learning, dropping out of college while still taking a lot of classes. “I’ve always felt like I 131 should just keep taking classes of different things, and…but I never really pursued any one, uh, school of though with education at all.” During his senior year in high school, once the instructor had left the school, Robert, like other students in the class, signed up for the Marching Band with the new director, clearly with the social bonds from the Rock Band class being the impetus for the trend. Like the others, the strict pedagogical approach was not as appealing to his creative side. While he currently works as a waiter, he spends a lot of time engaged in different creative projects. So, I've just been working and, um, I've done a lot of different things. I've played actually a lot of different shows too, because I'm kind of, uh, I'm really affiliated with a couple (of) different music, um, endeavors. There was, uh, a rap group. I started with, um, a couple different other kids. Some from Naples High called High Records LA, and um, that was really fun, we played a lot of different shows. And, also started a music collective called Paper Covers Rock with [another student from Rock Band]. And, um, a couple of other people, and we've done annual shows, like we do annual Thanksgiving shows and we do different summer showcases. We played at the Naples art festival and all the local shows. Clearly the ability to plot his own path has really spoken to Robert, as he spends a lot of his time tinkering with new projects. He mentioned that he has done a lot of different types of work in the past few years such as working retail or waiting tables in a nice restaurant, and likes spending his time trying different things and constantly learning, including lately spending time with mechanics, 132 trying to take things apart and put them together like he did in music theory. But what impacted him the most? For sure, music theory. Like, I was, um, I heard a song on a show the other day, and this morning I found the piano sheet music to it, and I was trying to learn it on, uh, on the keyboard. So, music theory always comes into play. Especially like, just even learning the different, all the different triads and certain intervals and remembering the variations of different chords, I definitely ... It all goes back to that class. The music theory course, specifically. The Rock Band that led to the theory class is what inspired his love of performing, with his consistent desire to set up shows around towns. Not surprisingly, Melanie wishes that she had been able to spend more time getting comfortable with performing, noting, “It sucks because that’s the most stressful part of it for me, which is supposed to be the most enjoyable. Or the reason you do it. So I feel like something’s not clicking for me.” Rich. Out of all the students I interviewed for this project, Rich was the only one who majored in music in college, and still works in the field. This tall and lanky Latino kid from the local area started studying music in elementary school through the typical classes on Orff mallet instruments and recorder. In middle school Rich started studying the cello and really got into it, but did not continue with it in the high school strings class. During the summer between middle school and high school he started playing guitar. He remembers, “I saw a friend play the guitar, an electric guitar and I thought, alright this is awesome.” Rich started studying guitar 133 with a private teacher, learning how to read music, but also learning some of his favorite songs like Green Day and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The first music class he took in high school was a summer guitar class, but when you heard about the Rock Band class, he thought, “you know what I want to try this and I want to rock out in front of people.” It was like a free idea, it wasn’t like… It didn’t seem like it was school, you know? It was an afterschool thing and it just seems like we are all going to share ideas and live like musicians do. It was really free… I wasn’t used to that. Just people were bringing song ideas and sharing like riffs and stuff like that. And you know, I mean you were there to guide us and stuff and kind of filter ideas, I guess, but yeah that’s pretty much what it was. It was fun. In general, Rich didn’t have the best time in high school. He was always under a lot of pressure to attend college and take AP classes; whereas he was a good student he always felt like he could do better. He also struggled with the social pressures of getting along with others, which was tough since he was a somewhat withdrawn and quiet teenager. He tried to find a lot of different outlets for offsetting his heavy Academic course load, but after trying the track team, decided he just didn’t really like it. “I didn’t like it”, he remembered, “You know I’m just going to stick to guitar, it’s what I really like to do”. Like some of the other academically strong students in the class, he had a relatively negative impression of his own performance in the class. He remembered watching other groups perform, really enjoying them and feeling they could handle playing popular songs extremely well, yet his bands never lived up to that. But the 134 class did help him feel very connected socially, staying in touch with many people from the class throughout and after school. Rich is yet another student who vividly remembers how he was pushed to work harder due, particularly, to one of the other students in the class. I think just really seeing people play the songs; that was big. Because I remember like, the older guys were just really, really good, like Saul. They were just really good and seeing them, like kill it. That was really cool. I think it had me, I don’t know, inspired to get better. When Rich first went to college, he decided to major in a different field of music, something that he thought would be a bit more practical. He remembered, “I think third quarter of my freshman year, I was just thinking like you know what I want to do music because I really actually love it. So my second year I declared as a music major.” Rich had the opportunity to do a variety of different types of music in school, although surprisingly there was no guitar teacher for him to work with. However, he took several classes in world music, contemporary classical, and jazz. He attributes this exponential interest in different genres of music as starting with his rock guitar lessons, noting that it just opened his eyes to everything. In his junior year, a master student with a classical guitar background showed up at that university and gave him private lessons, which culminated with a senior recital of classical music. At this stage in his life, Rich works for a local classical guitar dealer, doing web design and content. He also plays classical guitar gigs, and focuses on playing a wide range of styles of music in his personal life. He practices all the time. 135 I think I’ve actually gained more skills from just playing music and being in like academia. Because, when I was in high school and college I like studied hard and I wanted to do other things. Mostly just because I wanted a backup. So that’s why I think I did okay, but yeah it was more like studying because I wanted a safe backup and stuff. Him, I don’t know if I learned any great skills from that. I think, in music, just to prepare really well for things and like pace myself. Like, play what I really like and really, really practice it. Just about time to it. So, instead of playing pieces that teachers think I should play, just play what I really like to play. Clearly, his ability to choose material that he liked to play in Rock Band helped with his own musical journey, but it also helped him gain social skills important for making connections in the music field. “It was more of like a connection where we are all on the same page kind of thing. I mean even in college I mostly related to musicians.” This led to an increased confidence in school overall, and showed him that he could mix his passion with his work. Summary of Interview Data This chapter provided a detailed narrative of the data collected from the participants through their interview transcripts. After analyzing the data of the participants individually, themes emerged based on the research questions. These themes and subthemes were found through coding as described in chapter three. In Chapter five I organize these themes based on the responses of the study participants, and relate them to the theoretical framework and related research in 136 order to shed some light on the role of popular music in the transformation of participants’ habitus and social trajectory. 137 Chapter Five: Discussion of Themes and Subthemes The purpose of this study was to examine former secondary students’ perceptions on how transformation of habitus through a popular music class influenced their trajectories regarding: 1) perceptions of change in their social, cultural, musical, and pedagogical capital; 2) perceptions of transformation as durable and transposable to other fields; and 3) influence on social trajectory after graduation and in subsequent years. Through guiding questions based upon key themes of acquisition of capital, durability and transposability, and change of social trajectory, subthemes emerged based on examination of data from student interviews. An overview of the research questions follows (Figure 1): Figure 1: Overview of Research Questions Theory of Practice Acquisition of Capital Social Cultural Musical Pedagogical Durability/ Transposability Durability Transposability Social Trajectory 138 Overall, the data suggests that all 13 study participants perceived a change in their social trajectories based on their experiences in the Rock Band class. Data was analyzed and as themes emerged, they were related to the research questions. Acquisition of Capital The acquisition of capital plays a large part in determining one’s place in the field, important for social mobility and improving one’s position (Bourdieu, 1984). All thirteen students involved in this study reported fond memories of their time in the Rock Band class, and noted significant knowledge and connections that they perceived the class as an enjoyable and important experience. In particular, all of the four themes of capital examined—social, cultural, musical, and pedagogical— consistently emerged in the data and are summarized below (Wright, 2015). Figure 2 summarizes the subthemes found in regard to research question one. 139 Figure 2: Acquisition of Capital Social capital. Social capital includes shared connections with others that helps improve place in social fields (Wright, 2015). Green (2010) noted that music is an important cultural commodity for social growth and acceptance, and one’s musical choices affect their place in social groups. The increase of social capital was seen in Wright’s (2015) study, where she noted that increased confidence and social relations became apparent in the students involved in the informal music class. In this study, one of the most important factors indicated by students for joining the class was the opportunity to meet and play with other musicians, like Alejandro, Angel, and Juan did. Therefore, it does not come as a surprise that many students viewed this experience as a way to gain social capital, to establish a large network of Acquisition of Capital Social Meeting Other Musicians Building Con}idence Finding a Safe Space Finding Identity Cultural Recognizing the Importance of One's Own Culture Learning a New Culture Performance Musical Openness to New Music Styles Learning Multiple Instruments and Subjects Self-Perception In and Through Music Pedagogical Informal Learning Discipline Other Aspects 140 friends. However, not only did the students make social connections, but they also learned more about themselves and the way they interact with people, with some such as Felix and Alejandro discovering new ways to shape their own personalities. The class itself had a variety of personalities, from the withdrawn and introverted Felix to the gregarious and loud class “clowns” like Saul, Angel, and Enrique; with some thriving in rigorous academic settings such as Melanie and Jack and others who were barely passing classes like Karl. Within the category of social capital, there were four subthemes that were common in the discourses of many of the students: (1) Meeting other musicians; (2) Building confidence; (3) Finding a Safe Space; (4) Finding Identity. Each subtheme is discussed ahead, along with examples and excerpts taken from the interviews. Meeting other musicians. Every student interviewed discussed the importance of meeting other musicians as a primary reason to not only join the class, but also one of its largest outcomes. Along the same lines, many studies noted the importance of popular music classes as a way to give a forum for students who are traditionally excluded from music instruction (Bowman, 2004; Seifried, 2006; Snead 2010; Tobias, 2010). For these students, reasons included finding other people to enjoy playing music with, as well as finding new people outside of their typical circle. In particular, Saul, Angel, and Enrique discussed how they were trapped in a circle with all of their fellow metalhead friends, and how the Rock Band class gave them an opportunity to expand and hang out with other people. Moreover, the class gave them a place to play with other musicians so their current bands would not be mad at them for stepping outside of the group. 141 Jack found that meeting other musicians went beyond just finding social connection, but also was able to connect musically with other peers who had the same level of experience and knowledge as him. Juan and Felix noted that it was a way for them to push themselves socially beyond their typically shy comfort zones, and for others such as Melanie and Rich it was not only a place to try new things, but to meet a completely new social circle. Karl felt that he was able to go from being the weird loner to part of the music scene. This is consistent with Harris and Wise’s (2012) study of students in medical school, where those who had participated in extracurricular activities felt a sense of belonging in their new environment, forging connections that served them in their future relationships. For Laura and Alejandro, meeting other musicians went a step further. Laura had been in the habit of being a social butterfly, but in this class she could hang out with people in situations that precluded typical teenage troubles associated with some music styles. She remembered how “it (the Rock Band class) gave me something to do, it involved a lot of my friends and stuff. Like, a lot of the longhairs and everything took that class also, and it was an opportunity for me to hang out with my friends that didn't involve hooliganism and underage drinking.” Similarly, Alejandro saw it as a place where he could explore the side of him that was often closed off to him, in a different way. His parents felt that he was a good enough teen to spend time making music with people that they might often have worried about, such as rehearsing in studios with bands outside of school that were not apt to make the same choices that he did with reckless behavior. Through his participation in Rock Band, Alejandro met and worked with these students, still playing music with 142 some of them today. This highlights Seifried’s (2006) study, where he found that students in guitar class found a place that accepted them and embraced their differences, giving them ways to connect socially with students although they were outside traditional social norms. Building confidence. Six interviewees also discussed the importance of building confidence in themselves and the way they interacted with others. Some of these students struggled in general with making friends, either being introverted or just quiet, but through working on music they all enjoyed in a supportive environment, they found that they were able to come out of their shell with others. This validation of their own musical choices led to a higher level of engagement and satisfaction, as seen in Snead (2010). Jack and Juan, for example, noted that their ability to take and give criticism help them grow and find better ways to interact with others. Laura and Ariel, two already outgoing female vocalists, were able to get the confirmation of success that they needed when others sought them out for bands or went on stage having an entire audience cheering back. Some other nagging doubts and thoughts of failure were pushed back as these students reevaluated how they viewed themselves. These findings are in synchrony with Wright (2015), who noted that informal learning with students lead to increased confidence and affected social relations. Finding a safe space. The concept of safe space was, perhaps, one of the most important ones that emerged, particularly for the timid musicians in the class. Other scholars like Allsup (2003) and Wright (2015) have discussed the importance of finding a safe space in relationship to the development of social capital and 143 exploration of their own musical choices. This was manifested in the interviews in a variety of ways— culturally, musically, or socially. However, it is clear that the social implications were related to students’ ability to open up around their peers. The informal nature of the class likely helped to validate student personal styles, giving them a way to feel accepted. The students themselves were able to decide how they wanted the group to feel, recognizing that they were all going to perform and learn with each other at some point, as well as have opportunities for safe discussion and critique of musical concepts and performance. Robert discussed how this was different from the typical social clicks at school, and while he was able to try and fit in outside of the classroom by focusing on others, the safe space found in the music class enabled him to focus on learning and reflecting about himself. The space was further enhanced through rehearsal, with students supporting and helping each other through positive reinforcement to work towards a shared enterprise (Wenger, 2000), in this case, a musical performance. Finding identity. Allsup (2003) found popular music to be a powerful tool to help students construct their identities and build knowledge to improve their social standing. While many students noticed changes in their social behavior in the classroom, two students in particular mentioned how they found their identities within it. Alejandro had grown up knowing that he was supposed to get good grades and take difficult classes in order to succeed in life, but felt like he had no identity of his own other than what she was supposed to be doing. The Rock Band class finally gave him a purpose for attending school and figuring out socially who he was. He felt supported in a class where his unique personality could come out 144 and his choices were validated. Until he enrolled in the Rock Band class, Felix felt like he had no idea what direction he was heading in, constantly being the quietest member of the class. For him, the class was the catalyst that sparked an attitudinal change, helping him discover his passion for creativity and art, and recognizing that he had value. He specifically remembers the performance at the benefit concert as being a large springboard for him to cultivate his newfound outgoing personality. This echoes the assertion that popular music education may be a powerful means for students to construct their own identity and enhance their social experiences (Herbert & Campbell, 2000). Cultural capital. Cultural capital, or knowledge, art, customs, and style that are used to obtain social mobility, was a recurring theme that emerged in every student’s account of the class (Bourdieu, 1977). For many students, the class offered opportunities to share and find value in their own cultural capital, while, for others, it represented an opportunity to learn about the culture of their classmates and consequently relate to them. The opportunity to perform in front of peers was a large draw towards enrolling in the class, and had unimagined consequences on their standing in the social field of their fellow high school students afterwards. Three subthemes that emerged here were: (1) Recognizing the importance of one’s own culture, (2) Learning a New Culture, and (3) Performance. Recognizing the importance of one’s own culture. The significance of culture in the field is prevalent in high school as much as, if not more than other aspects of life (North, Hargreaves, & O’Neill, 2000). The amount of knowledge of current cultural trends such as music and the ability to demonstrate one’s 145 knowledge can lead to a dramatic shift in one’s stature (Wright & Finney, 2011). Abramo (2010) found that a guitar class helped students to think about their own music critically and use it in their everyday lives. Clements (2008) further noted that there is a need to acknowledge personal preference over hierarchy of genres. In this study, seven of the 13 students specifically mentioned how important it was to have their own musical choices reinforced and supported, which aligns with Allsup’s (2003) finding that students’ out of school musical lives can be validated and seen as foundational and worthy of study. This was particularly evident with Karl, who’s unusual taste in psychobilly had ostracized him from others, even from those in similar fringe musical groups. However, in the Rock Band class, his unique musical taste acted as currency around the others, with many looking to learn more about it. This ties directly into Bourdieu’s assertion that cultural capital can impact one’s place in the social field and create a pathway in which to navigate social hierarchies (Bourdieu, 1984; Wright & Finney, 2011). Felix found that his taste classic rock and heavy metal, while perhaps unique in the typical school circles, was the norm in the Rock Band class. It enabled him to get along with others through the common denominator of music. Laura saw her depth and variety of musical knowledge as being an important factor in fitting in with other students and as a desired performer in multiple bands. Angel, Saul, and Enrique were used to being “the odd ones out” in most of their classes, with their penchant for thrash metal setting them apart other than in their tight knit social circle. However, the Rock Band class surrounded them with other musical misfits from different stripes, and their knowledge of heavy metal and 146 their skill at performing it gave them a boost in the class, where they were viewed as leaders of the pack. It also removed a social boundary that set them apart from their peers in most of their other classes, instead finding perceived similarities with their classmates in Rock Band. Learning a new culture. While having their own culture valued was an important step towards acceptance in the class, it contributed to learning new cultural capital in the form of other students’ taste in music and style (Wright & Finney, 2011). These changes through new cultural capital can produce transformations of habitus and help with upward mobility in social fields (Bourdieu, 1999; McNamara Horvat & Earl Davis, 2011). The acquisition of new cultural capital presents a hypercommodification where cultural products represent membership into social groups (Wright & Finney, 2011). Melanie noted that she came into class not listening to much of the music that the other students did, and the class opened up new worlds to her in terms of music to listen to and methods of performing it. While Ariel may have been versed in the classic and indie rock scene, she was able acquire the skills to pick up some of the songs and style of heavy metal, appropriating it for her lead singer performance at the benefit concert. Many of the other students felt like one of the most important benefits of the class was the ability to share music with one another, as they had to come together with new people constantly and agree on songs to work on and perform. This newfound knowledge was an important way to relate to students inside and outside of the class. 147 Performance. North, Hargreaves, and O’Neill (2000) noted that adolescents felt that involvement with popular music benefited them in the eyes of their peers, which was clearly demonstrated in the current study through the participant’s view of how their own place in the social hierarchy changed through popular music performances. One of the most important ways that students felt a seismic change in their high school lives was through the experience of the performing live for their peers at lunchtime. Most students reported that they joined the class because they could not only embrace their musical choices, but could also share them with others. That is, the class would provide them with the vehicle and the means to do engage with music that was meaningful to them. Although many students were already playing in bands outside of school, being in Rock Band represented a chance for them to show what they could do in both a familiar space—although for Melanie it was new and uncomfortable— and beyond the familiar and rather small social circle. Therefore, many students that had previously been disengaged, disinterested, and social outcasts were able to rise in the school’s social hierarchy through demonstrations of their newfound cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1999). Out of all the students, only Melanie reported that the live gigs made her nervous and stressed, preferring the small jam sessions that she would continue to have with members of the class after school let out. For most of the others, however, participation in Rock Band catapulted their notoriety and popularity with students in the school. This was also noted in Allsup’s (2003) study of student’s performances of rock music, with the authentic cheering of the audience appealing to the students in a way classical performances had not previously provided. 148 The combination of cultural and social capital helped students acquire new networks of friends and popularity, creating a social change and upward mobility (Bourdieu, 1999). Angel, Enrique, and Saul in particular felt that performance through the class opened up doors to untold amounts of new fans, noting that unlike their normal gigs, huge crowds would show up to watch them, and thought these performances were epic highlights of their high school lives. After years of feeling like social outcasts that many looked down upon, these three young men had a level of infamy that made it so they could freely move through different social circles, staving off earlier senses of isolation. Saul summed up this new feeling best. Finally something positive was coming out of it [their love of music]. We weren’t unpopular, we were getting positive feedback from people, we felt like supermen. It was OK to be misfits. People reject you for what you look like, and all a sudden you aren’t. All a sudden people who you didn’t know would compliment you and seemed to think you were cool after a gig. Jack remembered similar popularity of his newfound capital built on performance. After his first year of Rock Band, Jack joined the Marching Band as a cymbal player, but got an opportunity during the half-time show to shine using the skills he learned in the class. During the third song, he dropped his cymbals, grabbed a guitar hidden behind a large amplifier in the middle of the field, and due to a wireless set-up was able to run around the field while taking a guitar solo, dancing with others while showing his shredding skills. This was a great opportunity for him to demonstrate his knowledge while entertaining packed football stadiums. 149 Musical capital. Musical capital refers to musical skills, techniques, and one’s perception of music and their relationship to it (Wright, 2015). Most of the students reported that they found the most important musical aspect of the class learning new styles and how to incorporate them into their own playing. Similarly, a majority of the students used these new skills to play other instruments of to continue to grow through music theory or technology. Perhaps most importantly, five students specifically discussed how they were able to grow musically through a better understanding of their relationship to music, music pedagogy, and how it related to different aspects of their lives. Three subthemes that emerged in this context were: (1) Openness to new music styles, (2) Learning multiple instruments and subjects, and (3) Self-perception in and through music. Openness to new music styles. Abramo (2010) found that popular music study stood on its own merit as rigorous and intellectually stimulating. Davis and Blair (2011) discussed disequilibrium with new popular music styles, noting that choice of repertoire is an important part of instruction, which can lead to engaging in the unfamiliar and challenging them to think about music in new ways. For most of the students enrolled in the class, the ability to play music was based on very strict styles and methods. Some only felt comfortable playing rock or heavy metal, while for others these styles were foreign. Similarly, many more traditional students felt confined to sheet music and could not figure out songs by ear, while others excelled with improvisation and approximating songs but would struggle with details. As in Abramo’s (2010) study, students could customize their educational experience by balancing what they were interested in and was within 150 their abilities, and could collaborate with others to learn new musical culture. Jack serves as a good example of a student who had spent all his time mastering a few different styles, but through the addition of guitar class and Rock Band, he found a newfound joy in classical guitar styles, incorporating new practice techniques. “All different genres of jazz, of neo-classical [shredders] like Yngwie Malmsteen, Tony MacAlpine” became part of his practice sessions. Similarly, Rich started to branch out more and more, making it so that he was a versatile guitarist able to focus on classical and jazz as a music major in college. Learning multiple instruments and subjects. Many popular music researchers note the importance of popular music standing on its own rigor and musical elements (Bowman, 2004; Cutietta, 2004; Herbert & Campbell, 2000; Tobias, 2010). Popular music can engage the formation of a large array of musical skills, concepts, and musical phenomenon as a whole (Herbert & Campbell, 2000). These skills and concepts can prepare students for a variety of careers in technology, production, and broaden the concept of music literacy (Tobias, 2004). A large majority of the students used the class as an opportunity to learn and perform on new instruments, as well as saw it as a springboard for gaining knowledge of music technology, mechanics and acoustics, and music theory. The consummate drummer Angel and upright bassist Karl both performed at the benefit concert as lead singers, for the first time having to act as front men instead of hiding behind their instruments. Since the beginning of Rock Band class, both Alejandro and Juan began as guitarists before switching to bass and drums, which they now consider their main instrument. 151 However, this extended beyond the instruments themselves, as students like Robert, Felix, and Juan found themselves motivated to take the music theory class to quench their thirst for understanding the rudiments of music. Jack specifically remembers how the time spent working with sound production on amplifiers and pedals, as well as using the class computer to look up and write his own tablature and record led him to a lot of real world musical skills that he continues to utilize. Melanie’s previous musical study derived from playing alone and learning from music method books, so the informal way the class was run gave her new opportunities to explore her creative style. The concept of jamming with others was foreign to her, and until she took the class she had never seen music as a group activity. One of the largest benefits of the class was learning to fit in with others musically. Self-perception in and through music. Popular music can be one of “the most powerful discourses available to students as a means by which to construct personal identity and interpret social experience” (Herbert & Campbell, 2000, p. 20). One of the most important facets of the class for some of the students lay in the understanding of how music fit into their lives and how to better experience it. For example, Ariel, discovered music as a way to channel her emotions and appreciate the smaller things in life. As a lead singer in the class, she was often tasked with being the most emotive one on stage and making sure that her presence was on par with the music behind her. It helped her open up and have confidence. Laura and Juan felt the class enhanced their skills as musicians and contributed to connecting better with others in the class and afterwards. The combination of confidence in 152 themselves and their ability to talk to and work with others were important skills for continued future performance. For Felix, it went beyond just becoming a better musician. His entire identity became music. He remembered, “I felt like that was the only thing that I could identify with because that was the only guidance I had.” Pedagogical capital. Pedagogical capital refers to skills that relate to learning and teaching that in turn affect social mobility (Wright, 2015). While there are a variety of different types of pedagogical capital associated with popular music education, many focus on the dichotomy of formal and informal learning (Folkestad, 2006; Green, 2001, 2008) in order to capitalize on the delineated meaning of music with students (Green, 2010). The Rock Band class focused on bringing in the delineated meanings of each student, by letting them choose from a wide array of repertoires and learning styles, with the teacher acting primarily as a facilitator. This was evident in student responses, as the most common comment about learning from the interviews mentioned skills associated with informal learning. Discipline was a very important skill that many students took very seriously in the Rock Band class, particularly in regards to practice habits. Three subthemes that emerged were: (1) Informal learning, (2) Discipline, and (3) Other pedagogical skills of note. Informal learning. For the purpose of this subtheme, I will summarize findings related to different skills of informal learning, including student-driven instruction, student centered repertoire, creative aspects of improvisation, composition, and approximation, and learning through exploration (Green, 2001, 2008). From the outset, most of the students noted that they liked the flexibility of 153 the class, with its ‘informal’ feel. This meant a student-centered approach to instruction, where the groups worked mostly independently, being able to coach each other and discover which method of learning worked best for themselves (Green, 2008). Laura discussed this as using “teamwork and synchronicity” with her peers to get a result that wasn’t prescribed as much as derived through their collective work. As Felix noted, the instructor played a different role by “teaching over leading” or as many other students noted, having the instructor act as a facilitator rather than a teacher. This was one of the most important factors for enjoyment in the class, and multiple students reported that while they took other music classes at the school, the formal nature turned them off and in many cases leading to them performing poorly and not feeling like they took musical knowledge away from the classes. This finding highlighted the importance of matching the pedagogical approach to the student, thereby taking into account the delineated meaning these students had in their out of school participation with popular music (Green, 2010). However, the instructor acted as a facilitator who took into account the needs, knowledge, skills, and music of the students, incorporating some formal teaching in ways that still left room for student choice and engagement (Clements, 2008; Folkestad, 2006). The class negotiated in between the spaces where formal instruction to learn technical skills was important yet informal methods of learning songs and creating with others were also employed (Folkestad, 2006). Alejandro felt that this approach was unique to his way of learning, a way that had been ingrained for a very long time in his strictly rigid formal education. 154 He had to learn to “problem solve in new ways”, often through “trial and error.” He noted, “I did it and I learned from being in the middle of it.” His felt that learning from doing really made the information fun to obtain and easy to retain. Juan also felt the coaching and feedback was important not only from the instructor, but also his peers, knowing they were supporting each other and would “have each other’s back”. Karl agreed, noting that at the end of the day they had to all work together to make sure they were ready to play, and that involved working on their constructive criticism. The student-centered aspect of the Rock Band class was very important to the students since it placed their own cultural capital at the centerpiece of their education. Students often noted that they wanted to work hard because they found value in it; value that was more tangible due to their interests and that eventually led them to wanting to learn more about music that they otherwise wouldn’t have been attracted to, such as jazz, classical, and other styles that did not carry the same amount of capital with their peers. Rich in particular noted that even to this day, “instead of playing pieces that teachers think I should play, just play what I really like to play.” Finally, the students also valued creativity as an important facet to the class, with a less rigid and logical approach leading to the ability to improvise, compose, and explore the music they wanted to learn. This is consistent with earlier works by Green (2001, 2008) and Wright (2015), linking the flexibility and creation to a sense of pride and ownership over the music and process of learning. The flexibility of the class was enticing to Ariel, offering her the freedom to guide her instruction. For 155 Felix, it helped to bring out the creative process in his studies, noting that not having one simple answer gave him the opportunity to find things out for himself and as a group. After years following a more structured and linear way at thinking through problems, Melanie struggled with this approach at first, trying to figure out every aspect of instruction through a series of guided lessons, and she felt behind the rest of the students for the first time in her life. Still, she appreciated the new way to learn and was able to fit in and perform with her bands easier once she became accustomed to the new pedagogical elements that were missing from her prior experiences. Discipline. For many of the students in the class, the informal nature of instruction was tempered with the importance of discipline in their own musical study. Students were not able to merely show up and just play through the music, but instead had to make sure they came to rehearsal ready in order to not let down their bandmates. Folkestad (2006) notes that all instruction is on a spectrum of formal to informal, and that negotiating the amount of actual formal teaching is an important role for balancing skills and performance. The concept of the class facilitator is still important in informal learning, as they need to recognize how to help students achieve their goals, especially in a group setting that could be seen as chaotic (Clements, 2008; Green 2008). Students wanted to achieve cohesive performances, which meant not only practicing and memorizing music, but also working on stage presence and learning how to behave in the class setting. For students like Saul, Jack, and Juan that were working on particularly difficult parts and solos, this meant learning how to set a practice schedule and stick with it rather 156 than just sitting around and jamming. For singers like Ariel and Laura, it became important to not only master and memorize vocal lines and lyrics, but techniques of stage performance for getting the audience into the show. For Saul, Enrique, and Angel, the class also meant that they had to work directly in the confines of acceptable behavior, learning that flexibility and a relaxed atmosphere only went so far. Saul recollected that if the line between acceptable behavior and breaking class rules got crossed, “You disciplined us quickly. Shit got real, and it really brought the discipline to the plate.” This was an important clarification to know, understanding that discipline to rules was situational, as in any classroom. It was like Juan’s recollection of performing a controversial song, where his group had to balance appropriateness based on what they understood of consequence. Therefore, discipline in the music class also translated to discipline of convention. Other pedagogical skills. A few of the students mentioned other pedagogical skills that became part of their growth. For Ariel, empathy and emotion transcended the musical elements of the class. By learning to work with her fellow students in a safe environment, she saw this as an outgrowth to learning in general, something she continues to ascribe to other aspects of her life. On the other side of the coin, Karl developed some practical skills that were later useful for business, including managing rehearsals, setting up gigs, and selling products to the public, all business skills he felt he learned in Rock Band. Finally, Juan noted the importance of critical thinking and problem solving, specifically remembering how these skills were at the forefront of the way he learned to work, and something he didn’t think 157 about until years later. He remembered how in most classes, particularly other music classes, the focus was more on getting correct answers, versus the Rock Band where he could work the musical problems out himself. Durability and Transposability. The second area examined, the transformation of habitus through capital, which is seen as durable and transposable to other fields, emerged as a consistent theme among the cases and was reflected in the students’ perceptions of their own social trajectories. Durability. Wright (2015) identifies durability of capital as the length of time for which a change in habitus stands. In the case of this study, participant responses were examined and grouped based on what types of capital they perceived as still a part of their lives. 158 Figure 3: Durability Out of the four subthemes of capital, most students mentioned the durability of their musical capital. Eleven students specifically mentioned how they continued to have music in their lives, either through performance, jamming with friends, or just playing on their own. Mantie and Tucker (2008) note that while they believe that music should be taught with the goal of lifelong participation, many students do not view their music learning as related to real world experiences, partly due to the lack of opportunity for casual play of traditional band and orchestral instruments in community groups upon graduation. However, participants in the Rock Band continued to find ways and outlets to continue to make music beyond the school. Karl practices once a week with his current band, in efficient rehearsals that he believes to be linked to his time in Rock Band class. While four of the students Durability Musical Capital Playing music Music forming Identity Social Capital Con}idence Relating to others Increased Network Pedagogical Capital Learning and teaching others Cultural Capital Experiences through the class 159 started their post-college careers as music majors, Juan and Rich continued on through college and beyond, focusing on the variety of styles and techniques they mastered in Rock Band. Felix still sees his personality as intricately linked to music, practicing on his own and hoping to start playing with current classmates. He also tends to add musical ideas to his architecture projects, which has thus far proven popular at the university. Melanie has noted that the when music is absent in her life, it changes her entire mood, and hopes that more inclusion of it will improve her disposition and health. For both of these students, there is a semblance of being self-aware of the power music holds over their state of being. In regard to social capital, many students reported learning different social skills like confidence and teamwork skills continued on past the classroom into their current positions. Both Ariel and Felix look to their time on stage as contributing to their boosted confidence and current ability to stand in front of large groups and present. For Ariel, it goes even a step further, noting that she learned how important having a sense of community was, something she continues to utilize throughout college and now in her work life. Juan, Rich, and Laura all discussed how the class helped them relate to other musicians and people they come in contact with. For the first two, they continue to use communicative skills to relate to other musicians that they currently play music with. For Laura, it has helped her at her current position, relating to co-workers in a way that the formerly shy teen couldn’t have done at a younger age. 160 Still, for other students these social ties are more specific, being directly linked to people whom they met in the class. Robert currently works on some of his music and art projects with people he met in the Rock Band class, and Alejandro, Jack, and Juan all get together still with members of the class outside this study to play music. Karl has met up with a variety of people from the class at his own gigs, using his social network to expand his fan base. As for the brothers Angel and Saul, they still get together with Enrique to jam on occasion, as well as with other friends from the class. Many of the pedagogical lessons that the students found to permeate their current lives are better examined below under the guise of transposability to other areas. For the most part, students mentioned how the creative solutions and informal pedagogy can be found in the way they continue to learn and teach others to this day. Those who currently work in and with music have found that the flexibility of approach and importance of using constructive criticism in a group setting helps to make their rehearsals run smoothly. Karl specifically thinks about how the class has helped him figure out how to make his band profitable due to the experience he got running rehearsals, setting up shows, and marketing the band itself. As for cultural capital, the most specific instances of it that emerged in the interviews seemed to revolve around notions of musical capital and knowledge of new styles of music that were previously unknown to students. However, quite a few of the students discussed at length how they still discuss their experiences as high school performers in Rock Band as something that they can use in current 161 conversations as currency of their own cultural experience, it has indeed become a part of their personality. This ties into the findings of Harris and Wise (2012), who suggested that new cultural capital contributes positively to not only their sense of belonging, but future relationships in their professional field. Transposability. Transposability refers to utilizing new capital and the transformation of habitus in new areas and contexts (Wright, 2015). Wright noted this with students in her study as they felt increased confidence reflect on other areas of the students’ lives, in turn helping them feel independent and responsible. For most of the students interviewed for this study, there were clear indications of how the capital they were acquiring in Rock Band manifested into other areas of their lives, either during their schooling or after. Figure 4: Manifestations of Transposability Transposability Informal instruction in new contexts Connect in other social circles Discipline and structure at work New artistic endeavors 162 One of the clearest examples of transposability is Alejandro, who was able to apply different types of capital in different ways throughout his time after high school. When he was in college, he found himself drawn to the pedagogical aspects of informal instruction. He began teaching biology classes at the local middle school, and would structure the student’s projects in informal ways. He opined, “I don’t believe we can have students learn anything if we are telling them what to learn and how to learn it. Not just about worksheets and books, but about answering big questions and thinking about the big picture.” This was mirrored in the way he would give them large projects and break them into groups to discover answers for themselves using trial and error. He also taught group piano, using informal techniques and the cultural capital of his students by letting them choose the music they wanted to learn, showing it to them by rote, and letting them create. As for Ariel, she found that the combination of social and pedagogical capital helped her to connect to other social circles and teach other subjects, most recently volunteering to work on gardening with other students in an after school program. The self-confidence she gained in Rock Band helped her push through to make important connections, and the pedagogy of emotion and empathy displayed in the class informs the way she interacts with those she teaches now. This is similar to Felix, who considers himself a well-rounded confident person now, and applies musical concepts he learned in Rock Band to his current major of architecture, especially the critical thinking, problem solving, and creative approach to learning. For both Karl and Saul, the more rigid aspects of business came from the discipline and structure of the class. While the actual form of learning was more 163 flexible, the approach to finishing tasks and breaking down parts of the whole became reflected in their other projects. Karl found that the combination of his social connections and his business skills helps him not only in his band, but also his day job, where it has helped him get ahead even though he is still without a high school diploma. Saul related to the structure that Rock Band provided in all of his everyday tasks, be it working as a surgical technician as well as while raising his twins with his wife. The cultural capital that Enrique and Robert learned about in Rock Band motivated them to continue doing new projects with music, art, and multi-media. Enrique uses a lot of his knowledge, skills, and connections to apply it to his art background, creating multi-media projects that he hopes he can eventually turn into his main job. Robert works in the same vein, creating an art collective that sets up gigs for different events in the art-heavy local area. Robert also has also been able to appropriate the music theory lessons that came from his love of playing music to other technical aspects of his life, like his current interest in taking apart and understanding mechanical things. This attention to detail also forms the basis of Jack’s work since graduation, taking the technical skills he learned dealing with recording and sound production in Rock Band class and applying them to work in computer technology. Change in Social Trajectory The acquisition of capital can transform habitus, thereby influencing and improving one’s social trajectory (McNamara Horvat & Earl Davis, 2011; Wright, 164 2015). McNamara Horvat and Earl Davis (2011) noted that students noticed improvement in their social trajectory through new educational capital and habits years after completion of the class, while Wright found “the possibility for students to occupy musical and pedagogical trajectories that, at the very least, enable different conditions of living for students within music education” (Wright, 2015, pp. 97-98). The ways in which the transformation of habitus has impacted the social trajectory of students emerged in the discourses of those who perceived a change in their social trajectories based on their experiences from the Rock Band class. For many of them, it was the newfound love of exploring their creative sides, and applying that to their future professions. For others, it was about the way their social relationships had changed, and thereby their ability to interact with others. Many of these differences seem divided along the lines of what type of students they were in school, with many of the less academically successful students finding discipline and practice as keys to their success in their full-time jobs. The two subthemes that emerged are summarized below: structure and discipline, and creativity and guidance. Structure and discipline. Based on their own interpretation of their grades and work ethic in most of their high school classes, Karl, Enrique, Saul, Angel, and Robert considered themselves to be weak students. It does not come as a surprise that these students all discussed the importance of learning discipline, structure, and more tangible elements of capital when looking at their social trajectories. This supports the findings of Seifried (2006) who noted improvement in his students’ 165 grades and sense of belonging in school through their participation in guitar class. Angel quickly found his niche in construction, a job he started after high school and one that was regular and full time, enabling him to support himself and continue to keep music making as a hobby. He attributed much of this to the time spent in Rock Band and Woodshop class, where he saw the value of identifying elements of a project and working on it until completion. He also realized that what both Rock Band and Woodshop had in common was a perceived common value, whereas in math and sciences, he could not see the connection between what he was learning and his out of school life. He saw this as an unfortunate impediment stating, “now that I work construction it really kills me to do all the math because I don’t know it.” Similarly, Saul saw the structure and discipline he learned as being key to not only getting his job now, but in pursing further education to advance in his field. You’re offering all this structure, you know, this kind of like an outline, you know? And a lot of the times like you, you just do it, right? But later on when you get older it’s like you translate that to your everyday task, you know? Or even a different job it’s like all those things are just like they’re very beneficial to you or anybody and it’s like if you take a math class like okay, we get it. There is steps there but not like this. This is something that you can totally apply later on in life. For Robert and Enrique, they saw their day jobs as a means to and ends of building up their creative business pursuits. For Enrique, it was due to his first positive experiences in Rock Band, particularly due to the public recognition of his peers. He noted, “You go up on stage. Your peers see you doing stuff and they go 166 hey that’s cool and then you go oh crap, damn that feels good and so that, I kind of feel like we, we all have that same longing for that, we want to go perform, we want people to say that what we’re doing like is cool.” He sees his multimedia art production stuff as an outgrowth of that experience, hoping “like in the next like five to ten years I’d like that to go somewhere and be like my main focus.” Robert discovered he loves learning, and particularly learning about a variety of things. While he works using his gregarious nature as a waiter, he hopes to get his music collective off the ground to eventually take over more of his work. Karl, who dropped out of school after Rock Band, managed to land an entry level job as a mechanic at the airport, a difficult job to land and move up in. He mentioned that, “the only way you can get into it is if you know someone who got you into it and you learn from working in, working there from peer experience.” The job pays well and gives him the flexibility to rehearse and tour with his psychobilly band, his main motivating factor in life. All of the skills from Rock Band came into play for him to be successful, from learning to be social and let his personality out, make connections, rehearse and lead, work collaboratively, manage the business and tour schedules, and building up their reputation. His band has now opened for many of his childhood idols like Nekromantix, including touring all over America and a variety of countries in Europe. Karl credits his time transforming his habits in Rock Band as the reason he has been successful, declaring, “Everybody wants to grow up and be a rock star, you know, and that was the gateway to do it.” Creativity and guidance. Some students were involved in honors and advanced placement classes, and typically did well, yet often felt like their general 167 classes did not have flexibility and creative elements, and lacked guidance. Of all of these students, surprisingly only Rich, Ariel, and Alejandro have completed a college degree. Of these, Rich was inspired by his musical experiences to switch majors his second year to music, foregoing the more sure thing majors for a place where he felt he could let that creativity shine and devoted time to his practice habits. He noted that with his other non-musical academic classes, “it was more like studying because I wanted a safe back-up and stuff. But I don’t know if I learned any great skills from that.” Instead he thrived in school once he surrounded himself with other musicians and practiced material he enjoyed in a pedagogical way he was used to. Those social connections and performance opportunities led him to his current job, working at a classical guitar shop, and it continues to help him make worthwhile musical connections in Los Angeles, yielding a lot of paying performances. In this instance, the combination of social and musical capital transformed his habitus and enabled him to find continued work in the musical field (Bourdieu 1984, 1990). For Jack, his interest in learning all aspects of music—from reading sheet music and tablature, to learning informally with his ear and creatively through improvisation and composition, plus the technical skills he mastered through his own discovery of exploring the technical side of music—pointed towards a career path in computer technology. Jack started college but found that working on Sunday nights while in school constantly meant that he was unprepared for the subsequent week, and then the allure of consistent money trumped his education. However, using his interest in learning how things worked, he kept moving up through the 168 ranks in his tech support job, finally landing a coveted job at Apple that he thoroughly enjoys, and which leaves him plenty of time for his consistent practice of different styles of music. After many years of trying to find his way, Felix finally found what he hopes to be his calling in architecture, enrolled with a scholarship at one of the top universities in the country. For years he felt like the only guidance he had was from the Rock Band class, where he first found his sense of community, identity, and was able to express his own cultural capital. The music major did not seem to sit well with him, not knowing how formal education and a degree would speak to what he eventually wanted to do, so he worked for years while taking his basic requirements and finally settling on a major that combined his love of creativity with the academic scientific side of his education. He still manages to infuse the pedagogical lessons and music skills he learned from Rock Band into his projects for class, and sees it all as closely related. In contrast to his longtime friend, Juan’s love of informal learning and the flexibility it afforded him in music pushed him away from his studies. As a student who had done well and thought about graduating early, he decided to stick around school for the full four years in order to continue pursuing his love of music and to acquire as much musical capital as possible. However, in his senior year when the instructor left the school, he was suddenly surrounded with a variety of classes in music in which the rigid instructional style clashed with his love of exploration and creativity. According to Juan, the change of pedagogy was dramatic enough that he felt it led to dropping out of school, only finally finishing a year later in night school 169 before once again pursing his own path to musical enlightenment. He moved to New York City, and continued to grow through playing with others, working for a music company, and eventually studying sound engineering, a job he currently does back in Los Angeles. He continues to run sound at performances most nights a week, performing or enjoying live music himself in his nights off. When Ariel first joined the Rock Band class, it was to pursue the party lifestyle of a rock star, something she managed to achieve in college and after. She first started trying to pursue more music, be the rigid structure of formal music study turned her off, and she eventually completed her degree in recreation and tourism and then ‘toured’ herself, living in France for a year while travelling around, setting up travel for others and being a tour guide. She saw this as an outgrowth of her growing confidence from Rock Band, as did her knowledge of the importance of community that she was able to cultivate to her advantage. She has moved back to Los Angeles and works as a tour guide while running internships for students on everything from tourism, the environment, or sustainable and outdoor education. She notes, “It’s like my whole life now, is completely sustainability, community engagement, public policies, you know, less cars more bikes, more public walking.” Both Ariel and Alejandro have seemed to have run into the current typical millennial struggle of being college educated yet having trouble finding employment in the recessed market (Payment, 2008), whereas they were both optimistic and loving college during the pilot study, they now are contending with life after college and finding a good job. This was also echoed by Laura and Melanie, as these students complained of difficulties finding their place, with Laura noting that “not only was I 170 lazy academically, I graduated around the great recession, and we all know how that worked out for pretty much most millennials.” However, for Alejandro, this struggle seems to be by choice, and one that he has decidedly taken for himself. Throughout college he prided himself on the pedagogical and social skills he learned in Rock Band, using them in his STEM major of Biology, and looked forward to working in education. Upon graduation, he decided to take time off before spending more years in school, feeling that he should get some real world experience before going back to school for a teaching credential or a master’s degree. He first worked as a behavioral therapist for autistic students, but found that it paid poorly and was extremely stressful. He then quit and worked insurance at an office job, which not only bored him to tears but was a constant strain on his mental wellbeing. “I basically gave people bad news and or really boring news. No one ever listened and I hated it.” Instead, he has been exploring his creative side again, working with freelance writing, playing music, and a newfound hobby of stand-up comedy, steering away from his original expected rigid trajectory of working in the STEM field. Clearly, one of the more interesting changes in trajectory from these students’ perceptions is the possibility of new paths. Reay (1995) posits that the transformation of habitus leads to the possibility of changing one’s social trajectory in ways that are different than the initial ones. Many study participants noted that growing up they felt like they had a very clear idea of the way their lives would work out, basically get good grades, go to college, major in a STEM field, and then get a good job. After taking Rock Band, forging new friendships, learning about other 171 culture and music, and exploring their own creativity, the students tended to look at the world as being full of more varied possibilities. Summary of the chapter This chapter described narratives based on ten interviews with thirteen former Rock Band students. The findings indicate that all students were influenced to some degree by the popular music class. Students noted how the class impacted the way they interacted with others, thought about education, and opened their minds to new types of culture. They discussed how this capital influenced their own views of themselves and their habits, and that those changes were lasting and seeped into other aspects of their lives. Finally, they noted how those changes have impacted the trajectory they now find themselves on in life. 172 Chapter Six: Summary and Conclusions This study examined the interplay of the sociological theories of Bourdieu (1977, 1984, 1990) and popular music education in students’ experiences in high school and in their lives after. Specifically, this study addressed how the acquisition of capital through informal learning and student-centered music (Green, 2001, 2008) transformed participant’s habitus and impacted their social trajectories later on in their lives. This chapter summarizes the findings of the study, beginning with reflections on each of the research questions. Next I examine themes emerging from the study related specifically to music education including the impact of informal learning, importance of student choice of repertoire, the exploration of identity, and role of delineated meaning in student experiences. Limitations of the study are addressed, followed by implications for future research and practice. The chapter concludes with closing thoughts about the findings and implications of the study. Reflection on Research Questions Three guiding questions provided a basis of inquiry for this case study. Research Question 1: How did former secondary students perceive the transformation of habitus that occurred during their participation in a school- based popular music program, particularly in reference to Social, Cultural, Musical, and Pedagogical capital? 173 The students in the Rock Band class all reflected upon the positive engagement that transformed their habitus through their capital. Clearly, some students perceived the transformation of habitus to be somewhat impactful while others felt that it completely changed the way they identified with themselves and others. Some interviewed students noted that the Rock Band class helped them meet and play music with new people, with whom they would otherwise have not engaged. The class offered a safe space to explore identities and network, and in turn helped students build confidence in creating new relationships and believing that they could accomplish difficult musical, social, and work-related tasks. The social connections that emerged in the class also helped students build their cultural capital. Most students were initially drawn to the class through the chance to practice playing music they loved, and while they built new skills with others in their groups, the negotiation of roles and musical knowledge in bands afforded them new avenues for exploration. After spending a considerable amount of time together working and perfecting their pieces, students performed for the school, with the latter catapulting their popularity amongst peers outside the classroom. For many of the students, Rock Band was as an opportunity to play new instruments that they had always wanted to explore, and as they learned more about new styles of music, their thirst for musical knowledge increased. Different aspects involved in the musical enterprise were manifested as students went through the class, such as setting up equipment and working with sound, learning the business end of being in a band, working on production and recording, and 174 diving into music theory. For many students, these new musical skills and knowledge became a way to grow and explore class their identity. All of the students responded to the unusual informal nature of the class, and while for most there was a positive reaction, a few struggled with the disequilibrium caused when taken out of their “normal learning” style of formal instruction leading to ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ answers. Many students, particularly those that struggled in traditional learning environments, appreciated the ability to not only work collectively and democratically, but to serve the roles of class leaders, whom others looked up to. This change of roles was most evident between the high academic achievers and the students with low grades in their core academic classes, where the former saw their peers’ accomplishments as measures for achievement and goals to strive for. Still, many students who struggled academically felt that they learned about discipline and structure from the class, mainly due to their desires to push their own musical boundaries and limits as well as the collaborative nature of the rock bands, which forced them to work together and not let each other down. Research Question 2: In what ways do former students from a school- based popular music program perceive this transformation of habitus as being durable and transposable to other fields? Students discussed a variety of ways that the capital gained in the music program was manifested in other areas during school and continued to be present in their lives. Many interviewed students continued to be actively engaged in music, either playing in bands, jamming in their free time with friends from the class or 175 elsewhere, or simply by pulling out their instruments and practicing at home. A small number of students continued to perceive music as the most important aspect of their lives, arguing that the class gave them the skills to continue to pursue it. There was a strong sense of community with the class, which gave some students the confidence to get out of their shells and become more social, forging connections through their interactions with band members that continued to help them in their current jobs and lives. The communication and negotiation skills acquired through working on music as a group has persevered in current musical, artistic, educational, and business projects. Some of the past social networks have remained intact, with students still hanging out and jamming together, working on new projects, or even dating people whom they met in and through the class a few years later. There were many instances where knowledge, experiences, and relationships the participants gained in class transposed to other areas of their lives. The pedagogy of informal instruction was applied to the work of some students in the intervening years, through group projects and teaching that was based on letting their own students brainstorm and select ways to work on solutions to problems. Discipline was another emergent theme that was described as helpful to students who had struggled with societal structure of behavioral norms, currently helping them in other aspects of their lives. Students also learned to focus on tasks at hand in order to fulfill them to completion. Many students applied the structure afforded by informal music pedagogy to current jobs in technology and sound production. 176 Research Question 3: In what ways did the transformation of habitus influence the social trajectory of former students from a school-based popular music program after graduation and in the subsequent years? For some of the students, the transformation of habitus through the discipline, confidence, and structure they gained in Rock Band led them to their current positions in life. Had it not been for the class itself, they felt that they couldn’t have gotten their jobs and remained with them. They learned that finding something they really enjoyed provided the impetus to stick with it, even though the work demanded continued practice and follow through. They noted that this experience translated to other areas of their lives; they were able to see how focused instruction benefited them in the long run, and seek future education to further their vocational pursuits. For many of the other students, the Rock Band class transformed their habitus to make them more creative as people and has transformed their trajectories. A few students had planned on pursuing careers in the science field, but found that they missed the ability to think and work creatively. In some of their early coursework and careers, they felt like they weren’t being true to their own desire to pursue music and other creative fields. Others managed to take their new identities and embed them into their jobs in technology and science, bringing creative aspects in. At the least, all of the students reported positive associations with the class, and while they may not have seen larger connections to specific aspects of their 177 growth, the connections and knowledge gained was memorable and a time they still looked at as the highlight of their time in adolescence. Limitations of the Study This study addressed student perceptions eight years after they took a popular music class at an urban high school in Los Angeles. The participants in this study were limited to my personal classroom, due to the convenience of reaching study participants as well as the unique situation of the class in that time period. In recent years, popular music classes have increased exponentially, with over 200 schools in Los Angeles alone offering popular music classes, many of which are through Modern Band. However, many of these programs are relatively new, and not appropriate yet for the collection of retrospective data. Future research into these programs is needed, as programs become more numerous and retrospective data is not common in studies in music education. While the retrospective study may be hampered through the potential of memories over time to impact experience (Sedgwick, 2014), it is an important way to examine long-term perceptions of cases. The study was also limited by my own experiences in popular music and how it related to the class. The class itself looked at a specific pedagogy towards popular music education with a teacher who had established a large program and had a lot of experience with popular music. However, few music teachers receive popular music education classes in their pre-service training, and examining how a teacher with little background in popular music taught the participants would potentially yield very different results. 178 The focus of the study was on theory of practice as it applied to habitus and social trajectory (Bourdieu, 1984). However, there are many other potential areas for exploration that were outside the scope of this research, such as student identity and specifics of learning styles. Also, due to the retrospective nature of the study, data collection was limited to interviews and human recollections. Other methods such as observations, recording of the class, further exploratory interviews, and group discussions may have strengthened the findings of this study. As with all qualitative research, results cannot be generalized, but rather the findings are unique to this subset and can be explored in other contexts and with different participants. Furthermore, findings point towards future research that could use quantitative methods to gauge student experiences during and after participation in popular music classes. Conclusions and Implications Implications for music education. While the main goal of this study was to explore the ideas of habitus, capital, and social trajectories as they related to a popular music class (Bourdieu, 1984; Wright, 2015), many themes related to music education were prevalent and bear noting in order to discuss the impact that pedagogy and choice had on participants. These findings relate to the following issues: (1) the balancing of pedagogical decisions based on formal vs. informal learning, (2) negotiating students connection to inherent and delineated meanings, and (3) and student relationship to repertoire. 179 Formal vs. informal learning. Informal learning is an important topic in music education, often specifically seen as a tool for learning popular music. But while Green (2001) used it to show how popular musicians learned outside the classroom, she never meant it to be completely limited to popular music or the only ‘correct’ way to bring popular music in (Allsup, 2008; Clements, 2008; Green, 2001). As Folkestad (2006) noted, teaching is always a formal procedure, but concepts of situation, learning style, ownership, and intentionality can be balanced with informal elements, which is an important skill for teachers to negotiate (Clements, 2008). During the 10 years that I taught at Naples High School, I never had heard of informal learning or thought about my own pedagogy in general. I taught classes as I had experienced them previously (Bowman, 2004; Herbert & Campbell, 2000), which meant that when I taught Marching Band, Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, and even Guitar Ensemble, the class focused on repertoire and skill production as its outcome, with the ensemble following the directives of the instructor. The Rock Band class was the first instance I had to give students autonomy to make their own decisions and choices in the same way that I had done as an amateur rock band musician throughout secondary school. The class incorporated many informal elements such as working in groups, figuring out some songs aurally, student- established sections and timelines for learning, helping students with technical difficulties they might face, providing feedback and guidance, and often giving them tablature to learn songs. As the class progressed throughout the semester and students became more comfortable with the informal elements of the class, I was 180 able to let them work more independently each day, which translated into students gradually setting their own guidelines and boundaries. Students in the class clearly felt that the difference between “teaching” and “facilitating” was one of the most impactful parts of the class. It was very clear that they appreciated the ability to have a say in their own work, and this increased both their engagement in the class and their self-confidence as musicians. This point was highlighted in Alejandro’s description of the informal techniques he started to apply when he started teaching biology and music classes during college, realizing that it was one of the best ways to keep his classes interested and invested. Inherent and delineated meanings. One aspect of popular music instruction that has been discussed at length is the need to find ways to frame the instruction in order to meet the needs of the students (Cutietta, 2004; Clements, 2008; Green, 2006). Green (2006) noted that merely introducing popular music into the classroom can ruin the students associated meanings with it. Several interviewed students mentioned that what drew them to the class was the possibility of making music that they loved, and what kept them there was the ability to learn in a way that was familiar to them. Many students had already played in bands before Rock Band, but the class was a venue to do what they enjoyed doing out of school and bring that into their school experience. In this way, the delineated meaning, or extra-musical connotations, students experienced with music outside of school was preserved (Green, 2006). Many scholars have noted the difference between students in school and out of school musical experiences, and 181 negotiating the divide brought students to the Rock Band class en masse (Clements, 2008; Snead 2010; Tobias, 2010). Student relationship to repertoire. By bringing their out of school musical lives into the class, students were introduced to new types of musical experiences and styles. For example, Melanie learned a lot about classic rock and heavier music, which opened her eyes to a variety of musical possibilities. On the other hand, Jack and Saul grew beyond their dependence on heavy metal, still playing jazz and classical guitar to this day. Karl’s unique musical taste in psychobilly introduced all the other students to its quirky style, and helped validate his standing with the others. In this way, students felt like they grew as musicians by learning from each other and being in a safe place to broaden their horizons. There have been concerns about popular music being used as a “bait and switch” tactic to bring students into the music program before using it as a springboard towards traditional study (Allsup, 2003; Cutietta, 1991). This study shows that popular music instruction can naturally flow towards interest in a variety of musical styles. As students developed musical skills and became comfortable and knowledgeable about the music that they already connected with and enjoyed, they became motivated to learn more. For some, this meant taking classes on Music Theory or joining the Guitar Ensemble to play classical guitar and learn to read music. For others it meant learning new instruments that would allow them to join other ensembles such as Marching Band, Concert Band, or Choir. So while the main goal of the class was not necessarily to steer students into new broader areas of music study, this was more often the case. Green (2006) describes 182 this concept as musical celebration, when the listener connects both delineated and inherent meanings, thus turning ambiguity or alienation towards new musical experience into a positive one. So while students joined the class and learned because of their desire to explore their own music, they were able to grow as musicians by connecting the way they learned music out of school and apply it to new musical experiences. They began to associate school music study to something less formal and attached positive delineated meaning to school music in general, which led to developing stylistic familiarity with new music, giving them positive inherent meaning. Overall this meant that they valued new styles and thirsted for more musical knowledge. By utilizing a combination of formal and informal elements to more closely approximate the delineated meanings of students outside engagement with music, participants approached music genre and study in a way to increase their knowledge of skills, styles, repertoire and learning in general. Implications for practice. A review of the literature on popular music education notes the lack of a codified pedagogy in popular music (Mantie, 2013). The current study suggests methods in mixing formal and informal blended techniques for rock band that may be applicable to other areas of study as well (Folkestad, 2006). Based on my experience and the student’s perceptions of the Rock Band, the ability to act as a facilitator was one of the most important ways to connect their outside musical lives to in school education, and a balance of structure while not being too prescriptive was an important balancing factor. Although most students enjoyed the informal nature of the groups, there were still some students 183 who had difficulty adapting to informal learning, thus highlighting the need for matching pedagogy with student needs, addressing a variety of learning styles, and for teachers to be flexible in the ways they engage with students. As noted in earlier studies, the Rock Band class drew students into the classroom that otherwise would not have been enrolled in music classes (Seifried, 2008; Snead, 2010). Popular music can clearly be a powerful tool for not only speaking to students’ culture, but can address the majority of music students that drop music upon entering secondary school (Clements, 2008). Popular music must be seen as valuable to study not only for the benefit of students musical literacy in a changing world, but as a way to foster growth of identity and personality, and validate the student’s musical choices and opinions. This leads to opportunities in music for students that otherwise would have no desire to participate in more traditional classes and ensembles (Herbert & Campbell, 2000). However, one of the biggest challenges of contemporary music education lies in the inclusion of diverse repertoires and practices, including popular music in teacher training programs. Wang and Humphreys (2009) found that less than 1% of pre-service music education classes addressed popular music, and within those that did, popular music was usually inserted into Marching Band classes, or taught from the perspective of social and cultural contexts—as cultural studies classes—with few opportunities for music making (Davis & Blair, 2011). As many have articulated, teachers teach as they were taught (Bowman, 2004; Herbert & Campbell, 2000); therefore if new teachers do not experience popular music during their preservice years, there are very few ways to learn the important pedagogical 184 differences and develop comfort in this unfamiliar style. There needs to be a concerted effort in higher education to develop not only the theoretical knowledge of popular pedagogy, but to also practice it. Bowman (2004) noted that the experts on popular music are the students themselves, and therefore teachers need to allow students to bring their own music into the classroom rather than try and control for what accounts for good taste. When music educators purport to make decisions as gate-keepers to popular music taste, they are in fact reinstituting a hierarchy of the decision makers to what constitutes cultural capital. In fact, this merely takes the onus off of teachers to get out of their comfort zones of the familiar and put their own musical skills and knowledge to use to better serve students. If students are presented with unfamiliar or disliked ‘popular’ music, and told to learn it, it can increase their negative associations with the music and formal learning. Instead, teachers can take the student’s own musical suggestions and craft meaningful lessons, complete with metrics that meet both state and national standards whilst reinforcing the students place as experts in the field of their own musical identities. Still, merely employing pre-service music education classes in the university isn’t enough to give future teachers a way to delve into popular music. Student teaching opportunities in popular music must be available and be treated as important to teacher growth and development as the other “more traditional” classes. This can be challenging, since there are currently fewer popular music classes in public schools for student teachers to observe and work with. This creates a further problem for sufficient instruction, since many of the informal 185 learning practices that are developed in university programs (Allsup, 2003; Davis & Blair, 2009; Randles & Smith, 2013) can’t appropriately address ensemble size and classroom management due to their smaller sizes, making practical application very different than most large ensemble classes teachers will encounter in public school programs. As popular music classes have become more frequent in public schools, pre-service music education programs need to connect with those teachers to connect study and practice. A final and important conclusion is that while there is a clear need to incorporate popular music into the schools, I believe that the findings of this study pointed to the necessity of supplementing, not supplanting traditional music education courses. At the outset of this study, I noted my own growth as a musician as my tastes shifted from popular music to a cultural omnivore (Peterson & Kern, 1996). This was mirrored in many of the participants, such as Rich’s desire to pursue classical and jazz guitar at university, or Saul and Jack’s continued interest in dusting off old Bach and Paganini pieces for practice. In this way, their study of popular music was not used merely as a “bait and switch” to other repertoire (Cutietta 1991), but as they grew more interested in music, their desire to learn a variety of skills and genres grew. In order to be a viable candidate for a changing teaching profession, the future music educator has to have as much skill teaching phrasing in a piece by Holst as they do in the nuance of distortion and palm muting in Metallica. Being a well-rounded music educator necessitates being musical literate in a variety of genres, instruments, and pedagogies. 186 Implications for research. While popular music studies have increased, there are still many opportunities to examine the scope, depth, pedagogies, and impact of classes in education. The current study points to possibilities for future research in popular music. I would like the opportunity to examine how the students view their habitus and trajectory in another eight years, testing the durability and transposability of habitus. A comparison of the students in the Rock Band class with students in the more formal guitar class or even classical music ensembles could potentially address differences of types of capital gained and ways students viewed their music instruction’s impact on their social trajectories. With the growing variety of popular music programs around the country, there is potential to take multiple cases and employ similar research, noting differences between urban, suburban, and rural communities. Similarly, gender and ethnic specific studies related to capital could yield interesting differences of responses. Quantitative research could be used to determine the number of schools that run popular music programs and preservice teaching programs that incorporate popular methods into their coursework, as well as look at data comparing different popular music pedagogies in varied school populations. With the introduction of popular music into school curricula and national standards, a new definition of musical literacy is needed to determine how best to create metrics for quality, success, and engagement in the classroom. To this end, music teachers’ attitudes and perceptions about popular music instruction would be useful to see how their own backgrounds intersect with their ideas about what constitutes literacy and quality in programs. In my own work with training popular 187 music to current music teachers, I have noted that many are enthusiastic to work on student-centered music, approximation, scaffolding, and other techniques typically not found in traditional settings, yet revert to more formal instruction throughout time. It is important to study how popular music education is being implemented in the classroom in to identify ways to improve our own ability to help provide teachers with lasting impactful education. In the end, it is important to recognize that embedding students’ musical interests into the classroom means really listening to their choices. In the United States educational system, students are able to choose their own classes beginning in the 6 th grade, and this is where the large decline in opt-in music classes begins. For this reason, it is important to query students in 5 th grade about their attitudes towards musical instruments, styles, and classes that they would like to take. Following up these choices and determining if more offerings in music they identify with increases participation and engagement would be crucial for really discovering the impact of popular music education. Epilogue The study of music goes beyond notes and rhythms. Music is one of the most important ways we express and connect to our own emotions and form identities from a young age, and those connections persist and change as we age. In our adolescence, music is one of easiest forms of expression, and helps to shape who we are. All of these factors exist with or without music education, and in current 188 society we have access to virtually any music at any time. So what is the larger function of music education, and why is popular music education so important? Throughout this study, I reflected on my own views and experiences as an adolescent studying music and compared it to the participants of my study, using narratives. I remember how playing electric guitar shaped my experiences afterward, my decision to learn more about how music worked, play more instruments, surround myself with musicians, pursue music as a career path, and eventually become a music educator. From a personal standpoint, I love many types of music, and particularly have found that classical music speaks to me on a level that I can rarely obtain from other genres. The ability to listen, enjoy, and analyze great masterpieces of the western art canon has always appealed to me on a solitary level, and is my favorite way to interact musically. However, I recognize that this is merely one way to experience music, and it is one I would have never reached were it not for popular music. Popular music was the draw for me to pursue music at a high level, and playing the first phrase of Guns ‘N Roses “Sweet Child O’ Mine on guitar directly led to examining the polyphony from the “Kyrie” of Ockeghem’s Requiem. For the participants of my study, music was an important part of their lives as well, and the lure of popular music helped them explore their own tastes and connections to music and the world around them. I believe that while we may teach music education, we are in fact teaching people how to improve their own lives, and music is just a tool. All great education leads to the same thing, improving one’s lot in life, sense of worth, and contribution 189 to the enjoyment of self and others. In the present study, while focused on popular music, the goal was to see how participants from my own class had changed their lives, if they found that their lives were enriched through their own education. I am a firm believer that popular music has the power to draw students into education itself, to help them grow as people, identify their own place in society, and connect with others, but that its ability to start the process of education is most important. 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Söderman (Ed.), Bourdieu and the Sociology of Music Education, 79-97. Surrey, England: Ashgate. 202 Wright, R. & Finney, J. (2011). Culture, society and music education. In R. Wright (Ed.), Sociology and Music Education, 223-242. Surrey, England: Ashgate. Yin, R. K. (2016). Qualitative Research from Start to Finish (Second Edition). New York: The Guilford Press. 203 Appendix A: Participant Consent Form to Participate in Research University of Southern California Thornton School of Music Los Angeles, CA 90089 INFORMED CONSENT FOR NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH Transformation of Habitus and Social Trajectories: A Retrospective Study in a Popular Music Program You are invited to participate in a research study conducted by Scott Burstein, graduate student in Music Education, and Dr. Beatriz Ilari, Assistant Professor of Music Education at the University of Southern California, because you are were involved in the Rock Band Class from 2006-07. Your participation is voluntary, and eligibility criteria is based on participation in the Rock Band Course. You should read the information below, and ask questions about anything you do not understand, before deciding whether to participate. Please take as much time as you need to read the consent form. You may also decide to discuss participation with your family or friends. If you decide to participate, you will be asked to sign this form. You will be given a copy of this form. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY The purpose of the study is to examine former secondary students’ perceptions on how transformation of habitus through a popular music course influenced their social trajectories. STUDY PROCEDURES If you volunteer to participate in this study, you will be asked a number of questions regarding your time in the rock band course as well as the intervening time. Any of the informal interviews would take place at a time and location of your convenience. Your responses will be audio-recorded, but you still may participate in this research study if you do not wish to be recorded. All responses will be kept completely anonymous. The interview should take forty-five to sixty minutes. POTENTIAL RISKS AND DISCOMFORTS There are no anticipated risks or discomforts. POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO PARTICIPANTS AND/OR TO SOCIETY There are no anticipated direct benefits to you as a participant, however the research may benefit society by helping understand how music education experience and training can be modified and improved. 204 PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION You will not be paid for participating in this research study. CONFIDENTIALITY Any identifiable information obtained in connection with this study will remain confidential and will be disclosed only with your permission or as required by law. The members of the research team and the University of Southern California’s Human Subjects Protection Program (HSPP) may access the data. The HSPP reviews and monitors research studies to protect the rights and welfare of research subjects. The data will be stored on a laptop computer and transcribed by the researcher. Only the participants, researcher, and faculty advisor will have access to the data, and personal identities will be shielded by using aliases. Any identifiable information obtained in connection with this study will remain confidential and will be disclosed only with your written permission, except if necessary to protect your rights or welfare (for example, if you are injured and need emergency care). A Certificate of Confidentiality has been obtained from the Federal Government for this study to help ensure your privacy. This certificate means that the researchers cannot be forced to tell people who are not connected with the study, including courts, about your participation. The Certificate of Confidentiality will not be used to prevent disclosure to local authorities of child abuse and neglect, or harm to self or others When the results of the research are published or discussed in conferences, no identifiable information will be used. PARTICIPATION AND WITHDRAWAL Your participation is voluntary. Your refusal to participate will involve no penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. You may withdraw your consent at any time and discontinue participation without penalty. You are not waiving any legal claims, rights or remedies because of your participation in this research study. INVESTIGATOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION If you have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to contact: Scott Burstein, Principal Investigator Dr. Beatriz Ilari 310-773-8530 213-821-5513 sburstei@usc.edu ilari@usc.edu RIGHTS OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANT – IRB CONTACT INFORMATION 205 If you have questions, concerns, or complaints about your rights as a research participant you may contact the IRB directly at the information provided below. If you have questions about the research and are unable to contact the research team, or if you want to talk to someone independent of the research team, please contact the University Park Institutional Review Board (UPIRB), 3720 South Flower Street #301, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0702, (213) 821-5272 or upirb@usc.edu SIGNATURE OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANT I have read the information provided above. I have been given a chance to ask questions. My questions have been answered to my satisfaction, and I agree to participate in this study. I have been given a copy of this form. □ I agree to be audio-recorded □ I do not want to be audio-recorded Name of Participant Signature of Participant Date SIGNATURE OF INVESTIGATOR I have explained the research to the participant and answered all of his/her questions. I believe that he/she understands the information described in this document and freely consents to participate. Name of Person Obtaining Consent Signature of Person Obtaining Consent Date 206 Appendix B: Participant Interview Protocols Time of interview: Date: Place: Interviewer: Scott Burstein Interviewee: Questions: 1. When did you first learn to play a musical instrument? a. Did you take lessons? Private teacher? A class in or out of school? 2. Why did you sign up for Rock Band class in the first place? 3. What do you remember about how you felt about high school in general? 4. Are there any particular experiences you remember as standing out in terms of their impact on your time in school? If so, what was one, and how do you think it impacted you? 5. Thinking back to the Rock Band class itself, how do you feel it may have impacted your life since graduation? 6. What do you currently do? What skills and knowledge from your high school experience do you see as affecting your current status? 7. What are some of the most important things you learned from participating in the rock band class specifically? Do you still feel they have bearing on your life now? 207 Appendix C: Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval Form 9/30/16, 8:19 PM University of Southern California Mail - Study Approval Notice Sent Page 1 of 2 https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/?ui=2&ik=591f5d8ad0&view=pt&search=inbox&th=15477580a353fce0&siml=15477580a353fce0 Scott Burstein <sburstei@usc.edu> Study Approval Notice Sent 1 message istar@istar.usc.edu <istar@istar.usc.edu> Tue, May 3, 2016 at 8:58 AM Reply-To: istar@istar.usc.edu To: sburstei@usc.edu, ilari@usc.edu University of Southern California University Park Institutional Review Board 3720 South Flower Street Credit Union Building (CUB) #301 Los Angeles, CA 90089-0702 Phone: 213-821-5272 Fax: 213-821-5276 upirb@usc.edu Date: May 03, 2016, 08:57am Action Taken: Approve Principal Investigator: Scott Burstein THORNTON SCHOOL OF MUSIC Faculty Advisor: Beatriz Ilari THORNTON SCHOOL OF MUSIC Co- Investigator(s): Project Title: Transformation of Habitus and Social Trajectories Study ID: UP-16-00285 Funding Types: No Funding The University Park Institutional Review Board (UPIRB) designee determined that your project meets the requirements outlined in 45 CFR 46.101(b) category (2) and qualifies for exemption from IRB review. This study was approved on 05/03/2016 and is not subject to further IRB review. Minor revisions were made to the application (sections 5b, 9.1, 24.1.1, 26.2 & 26.5), interview protocol, and consent 208 9/30/16, 8:19 PM University of Southern California Mail - Study Approval Notice Sent Page 2 of 2 https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/?ui=2&ik=591f5d8ad0&view=pt&search=inbox&th=15477580a353fce0&siml=15477580a353fce0 document by the by the IRB Administrator (IRBA). The IRBA revised documents have been uploaded into the relevant iStar sections. If revisions are made to the application, and changes are required to the documents, please create an amendment, at which time the IRBA revised documents will become available to the study personnel. All current changes must be accepted using the track changes feature in Microsoft Word and the changes saved. The study personnel can then revise the documents, including the date in the footer. The PI/study staff revised documents must then be uploaded into iStar using the "upload revisions" function; thereby replacing the obsolete documents. Please do not remove the obsolete version from the application. The following materials were reviewed and approved: Certified Information Sheet, dated 05-03-2016 To access IRB-approved documents, click on the “Approved Documents” link in the study workspace. These are also available under the “Documents” tab. Please check with all participating sites to make sure you have their permission to conduct research prior to beginning your study. Attachments: Social-behavioral health-related interventions or health-outcome studies must register with clinicaltrials.gov or other International Community of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) approved registries in order to be published in an ICJME journal. The ICMJE will not accept studies for publication unless the studies are registered prior to enrollment, despite the fact that these studies are not applicable “clinical trials” as defined by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). For support with registration, go to www.clinicaltrials.gov or contact Jean Chan ( jeanbcha@usc.edu, 323-442-2825). Approved Documents: view This is an auto-generated email. Please do not respond directly to this message using the "reply" address. A response sent in this manner cannot be answered. If you have further questions, please contact iStar Support at (323) 276-2238 or istar@usc.edu. The contents of this email are confidential and intended for the specified recipients only. If you have received this email in error, please notify istar@usc.edu and delete this message.

Abstract (if available)

Abstract The purpose of this bounded case study is to examine former secondary students’ perceptions on how transformation of habitus through a popular music class influenced their social trajectories. While there are many studies supporting popular culture’s importance for increasing capital in social fields, and findings that education is a valuable asset for equity and access of knowledge, little is currently known about how this knowledge: (1) transforms habitus through cultural, social, pedagogical, and musical capital, (2) is durable across extended periods of time and transposable to other areas, and (3) is perceived as changes that impact their lives. This study, conducted through one-on-one semi-structured interviews with 13 participants at an urban high school, examined the recollections of students enrolled in a Rock Band class and studied their growth in professional and social circles through the lens of Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice (1984). ❧ The participants all reported a perceived change in their social trajectories based on their experiences, noting significant knowledge and connections that shaped their present lives. Social, cultural, musical, and pedagogical capital each played a role in the transformation of their habitus

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Asset Metadata

Creator Burstein, Scott Davis (author)

Core Title Transformation of habitus and social trajectories: a retrospective study of a popular music program

School Thornton School of Music

Degree Doctor of Musical Arts

Degree Program Music Education

Publication Date 11/15/2016

Defense Date 10/17/2016

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Bourdieu,habitus,informal learning,modern band,Music Education,OAI-PMH Harvest,Popular music,retrospective,rock band,social trajectory

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Ilari, Beatriz (committee chair), Helfter, Susan (committee member), Webster, Peter (committee member)

Creator Email sburstei@usc.edu,sddogg@mac.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-320915

Unique identifier UC11214574

Identifier etd-BursteinSc-4925.pdf (filename),usctheses-c40-320915 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-BursteinSc-4925.pdf

Dmrecord 320915

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Burstein, Scott Davis

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA