Hidden Meanings in Elementary Instrumental Music Method Books: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis

Author

Mara Hope Thompson, Kutztown University of PennsylvaniaFollow

Date of Award

Spring 3-7-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ed.D. Transformational Teaching and Learning

Department

Secondary Education

First Advisor

Dr. Mark Wolfmeyer

Second Advisor

Dr. Amy Pfeiler-Wunder

Third Advisor

Dr. Renee Lapp Norris

Abstract

Textbooks serve as the primary resource utilized to deliver curriculum in a variety of subject areas and educational contexts. However, much previous research has found that texts often convey concealed meanings in the form of hidden and null curricula. This Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) explored the musical discourses and cultural contexts of musical examples in two elementary instrumental music textbook series to investigate whose values, cultures, perspectives, and knowledge are conveyed by the texts and whose are excluded or misrepresented. Framed by the social theory of Postcolonialism, the research revealed binary ideologies of exoticism embedded in many aspects of the texts, and the investigation also exposed instances of misrepresentation of hybrid musical excerpts which were inaccurately defined. In the form of a hidden curriculum, the texts privilege musical knowledge of social groups representing Eurocentric, White perspectives while tokenizing, excluding, portraying inaccurate knowledge of, or presenting cultural caricatures of certain marginalized groups. The texts further diminish the values and contributions of minoritized musical perspectives, revealing a null curriculum that imparts a sense of “otherness.”

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Thompson, Mara Hope, "Hidden Meanings in Elementary Instrumental Music Method Books: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis" (2024). Education Doctorate Dissertations. 37.
https://research.library.kutztown.edu/edddissertations/37