A student-centered approach to middle school chorus

Students who enroll in middle school chorus have a wide range of previous knowledge about music. Popular music reflects the students’ interests and passions, but it does not fit into traditional pedagogies or prescribed curricula. For music educators, teaching chorus may be about teaching vocal and ensemble skills, but from an adolescent perspective it is primarily a “means of meeting new people and making new friends” (Campbell et al. 2007, p. 221). Regardless of context, music as a medium through which adolescents construct, negotiate, and modify aspects of their personal and social lives. Most research studies on popular music learning in schools have taken place in in general music classrooms and place emphasis on music learning with instruments. I explored informal learning and popular music learning in the choral classroom. In this article, I will share research-based choral strategies that emerged from an action research study I conducted in a middle school.