Synopses & Reviews
This text provides a forum for the presentation and discussion of narrative inquiry approaches to research in music education, and contextualizes this work within the larger conversations of music education research and practice. In an innovative dialogic approach the text is divided into 3 parts, each presenting a different perspective on the uses and purposes of narrative in and for music education. Section I explores the origins of narrative research across a range of fields of inquiry and presents a conception of narrative inquiry as "resonant work". Section II provides 7 examples of narrative inquiry research, each of which is accompanied by a reflective commentary. The commentaries provide an interpretive perspective of the narrative accounts, suggest further questions that arise from the inquiry, and provide insight into the potential uses of the narrative account for the theory and practice of music education. Section III brings together the perspectives of two eminent theorists and practitioners.
Review
Psychology of Music 2009, 37: 504 Book review by David Baker, Institute of Education, Reading University M.S. BARRETT and S.L. STAUFFER (eds), Narrative Inquiry in Music Education: Troubling Certainty. New York: Springer, 2009. ISBN 9781402098611 (hbk) The editors (Margaret Barrett and Sandra Stauffer) offer Narrative Inquiry in Music Education: Troubling Certainty as an exploration of a 'turn' or newfound direction in music education research. This new pathway, they suggest, can exist alongside other methodologies such as the psychometric tradition that focuses on objective measurement. As a researcher involved with life histories and postmodernism, I am heartened by their position and book. It is a standpoint that values the many different approaches to music education research. The diversity in social science research has always been something very appealing to me. Too often, perhaps, we are simply offered an impasse between advocates of contrasting paradigms. Sadly, this is my experience of some university departments (but not all). By aiming to 'cultivate ground for narrative inquiry to seed and flourish alongside other methodological approaches' (p. 1) and 'to "trouble" certainty' (in the most peaceful manner) (p. 2), Barrett and Stauffer have produced an extremely valuable text. The book is not a straightforward read, however; it covers complicated theoretical and philosophical matters. Primarily, its audience will be postgraduate students, social researchers and staff members within universities. I am a tutor for a course attended by music teachers, some of whom continue to undertake Master of Arts degrees under my supervision. I sense that colleagues will enjoy this volume greatly, yet some students will glean more than others, particularly in respect of the epistemological dimensions. It is a worthwhile and constructive book, nonetheless, that draws upon the perspectives of a wealth of very dependable world authorities. Chapters are by captivating writers such as Graham Welch (Institute of Education, London), Jean Clandinin (University of Alberta) and Peter Dunbar-Hall (Sydney Conservatorium of Music). Narrative Inquiry is divided into three parts. Part I explores the origins of narrative research, making reference to fields of anthropology, psychology, historical studies and sociology. Barrett and Stauffer illustrate well how narrative research is respectful to those involved, beneficent to society, rigorous and resonant for its audiences. From my experience specifically with biographical research (2005a, 2005b, 2006), narratives can be highly resonant and powerfully catalytic also. Developing a narrative account can empower a s
Synopsis
Margaret S. Barrett and Sandra L. Stauffer We live in a "congenial moment for stories" (Pinnegar & Daynes, 2007, p. 30), a time in which narrative has taken up a place in the "landscape" of inquiry in the social sciences. This renewed interest in storying and stories as both process and product (as eld text and research text) of inquiry may be attributed to various methodological and conceptual "turns," including the linguistic and cultural, that have taken place in the humanities and social sciences over the past decades. The purpose of this book is to explore the "narrative turn" in music education, to - amine the uses of narrative inquiry for music education, and to cultivate ground for narrative inquiry to seed and ourish alongside other methodological approaches in music education. In a discipline whose early research strength was founded on an alignment with thesocialsciences, particularlythepsychometrictradition, oneofthekeychallenges for those embarking on narrative inquiry in music education is to ensure that its use is more than that of a "musical ornament," an elaboration on the established themes of psychometric inquiry, those of measurement and certainty. We suggest that narrative inquiry is more than a "turn" (as noun), "a melodic embellishment that is played around a given note" (Encarta World English Dictionary, 2007, n. p. ); it is more than elaborationon a position, the adding of extra notes to make a melody more beautiful or interesting.
Synopsis
I.- Narrative Inquiry: From Story to Method.- Narrative Inquiry in Music Education: Toward ResonantWork.- II.- Prelude: Framing and Re-framing the Narrative Possibilities for Music Education.- Storying the Musical Lifeworld: Illumination Through Narrative Case Study.- Challenges in Storying a Musical Lifeworld - A Commentary.- The Importance of Being Henry.- The Interview as Narrative - A Commentary.- Filtered Through the Lenses of Self: Experiences of Two Preservice Music Teachers.- Layering Analytic Lenses: Considerations for Assessing the Narrative Text in Music Education - A Commentary.- Learning from the Learners: A Cooperating Teacher's Story.- Nora's Story and the Mirror of Music Teacher Excellence - A Commentary.- "Everybody Should Be Heard; Everybody Has Got a Story to Tell, or a Song to Sing".- Giving Voice to the Voiceless: Empowerment Through Music - A Commentary.- "G".- Narrative Inquiry as Reflection on Pedagogy - A Commentary.- Stories from the Front.- Narrative Inquiry and Indelible Impressions - A Commentary.- III.- Troubling Certainty: Narrative Possibilities for Music Education.- Charting Narrative Territory.- Postlude.
Synopsis
This unique and innovative text provides a forum for the presentation and discussion of narrative inquiry approaches to research in music education. Each example is accompanied by a critical commentary that situates the work in the field.