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image of Reimagining pop vocal pedagogy through the lens of disability

Abstract

Singing is an embodied, creative human endeavour, a means of getting in touch with and communicating ideas, inner feelings and emotions. The purpose of this study was to discover participatory, kinaesthetic and personalized learning strategies in the context of popular vocal pedagogy (PVP) for students with disabilities. When I started working with Spencer, a young composer with chronic pain caused by complex regional pain syndrome, he did not feel supported by his professors. He perceived they were not supporting his musical and career goals nor were they open to making necessary accommodations for his disability. Together, using a critical participatory action research methodology, Spencer and I confronted masterful, centuries-old patriarchal practices that often foster violence and repression on singer’s minds and bodies hoping to discover new learning and teaching strategies for disabled students in the PVP studio. Our goal was to make Spencer’s overall experience as a singer and performer in a conservatory-style music programme more student-centred and empowering. Findings from the study suggest ways that teachers in higher education might incorporate flexible teaching contexts (live and remote), engage the use of technology as a teaching tool and develop pedagogical strategies that involve the learner in reflection and self-evaluation (rather than imposing uniform, standardized approaches) in order to create more accommodating classrooms for their vocal students with disabilities.

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/content/journals/10.1386/jpme_00153_1
2025-01-30
2025-04-21
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