1. EDUCATION 205 Lecture Component PROJECT FIRST SLIDE
__ GROUP MEMBER(S): Alex Meronek and Ben Burish
__ Slide 1: LEVEL(S) & SUBJECT(S): What kinds of teaching interest us?
__ Slide 1: PROJECT QUESTION: What will we ask about?
__ Slide 2: PROJECT DATA PLAN: What will you research?
Do you have permission**?
Do you cite at least 3 links to online sources?
__ Slide 3: PROJECT DATA REVIEW: What* are we finding?
__ Slide 3: PROJECT FINDINGS: How* is it related to pluralism?
__ Slide 4: PROJECT CONCLUSIONS: What* does it mean for our teaching or pupil services?
__ Slide 5: 1 PORTFOLIO ITEM
Artifact: Action photo of us
Captions: Our names
AND dates
AND descriptions
__ * Additional text must be attached in notes fields (minimum total of 500 words)
__ ** Permissions required for public use of recognizable names or likenesses,
and for surveys
__ Project report & portfolio item including this first slide, all in PPT format and submitted
by the deadline to the EDUC 205 drop box in Desire2Learn web site at

2. VIEW OF HISTORY AND CULTURE THROUGH MUSIC EDUCATION
By Alex Meronek and Ben Burish
Alex Meronek and Ben Burish are both Instrumental Music Education Majors. We are both in our second semester Sophomore year. As future educators we are interested in teaching Band at the High School Level. Mr. Burish would like to teach High School Wind Band while Mr. Meronek would like to teach High School Jazz Band. Our presentation is about the History and Culture aspect of Music Standards in Wisconsin and nationwide. The focus of our research is to understand how Wisconsin uses History and Culture in the classroom while comparing our state standards nationally. Our question is; are the Wisconsin teaching standards obtainable, do students enjoy the History and Culture aspect of Music class and how do local teachers utilize this standard?

3. Project Goal Find out how standards are utilized
Do the students enjoy History and Culture?
How does WI compare nationally
This project focuses on interviews with two local Elementary music teachers and how they use the History and Culture aspect of music standards in the classroom. Also, it is necessary for pluralistic reasons to find out if the students enjoy learning about History and Culture when it pertains to music. Proceeding our interviews we were curious as to what other states have for music standards. In comparing Wisconsin Standards to other state music standards we can see how specific Wisconsin standards are in the History and Culture genre.

4. WISCONSIN STANDARD History and Culture Subcategories arranged by grade
Interview questions discussed
The Wisconsin Model Academic Standard for Music is published by the Department of Public Instruction. It contains 9 standards including our focus standard of History and Culture. This standard’s Rationale is “Accepting the growing diversity of our culture and understanding one another can often be accomplished through music. Music reflects significant historical events and cultural relationships. By relating music to personal history and culture as well as the history and culture of others, students will understand and connect history events of the world, as well as music’s functions within various cultures.” (Page 18) This subject is broken up into three sections obtainable by grade 4, 8 and 12. Each of these sections are divided into General, Choral, and Instrumental music classes. The questions we asked our interview participants included three main questions.
How do you (teacher) utilize the Wisconsin Music Standard for History and Culture?
How do the students respond to this subject?
Do you (teacher) feel the Wisconsin Music Standards are sufficient for the History and Culture aspect?

5. Interview with Kelly Wohlbier
Band Teacher
Drum Class Instructor
Washington Elementary – Stevens Point, WI
Ms. Wohlbier is the instrumental 5th and 6th grade band teacher at Washington Elementary school. Along with band, she also instructs an extra-curricular drum class.
1. How do you (teacher) utilize the Wisconsin Music Standard for History and Culture?
“In my drumming club I teach several traditional African tunes and rhythms as well as teaching by rote (by ear) because that is the traditional way of teaching in Africa. There are also several ethnic tunes contained in the children’s music book like several
national anthems. These usually include some information about the country of origin.”
How do the students respond to the culture aspect?
“They love it. They like learning about the world. Unfortunately I just can’t get too detailed with information otherwise the student’s attention spans start to go astray.”
Do you feel the standards are sufficient for History and Culture aspect?
“I would choose to teach history and culture regardless of the standards. I deal with it in anyway, especially in drum class because of the instruments and rhythms. Unfortunately I find its hard for the kids to understand history and culture sometimes. I usually try and make it fun by playing small games in other languages.”

6. Interview with Karen Dunn
General Music Teacher
Teaches K-6
Roosevelt Elementary – Plover, WI
Ms. Dunn is the general music teacher for grades K-6 at Roosevelt Elementary school. She is in charge of teaching basic rhythm, singing, and music appreciation.
How do you (teacher) utilize the Wisconsin Music Standard for History and Culture?
“I try to study music of many different cultures with the kids. I also try and find a link to geography to start building a knowledge base in the children.”
2. How do the students respond to the culture aspect?
“Very positively. They all love it.”
Do you feel the standards are sufficient for History and Culture aspect?
“I feel that the standards represent History and Culture well but its always up to the teacher to take it to the next step. The words on the page don’t do the work for the teacher. It is the educator’s job to make it interesting for the students so that they have an opportunity to enjoy it.”

7. Standard Comparison States Compared to Wisconsin:
Louisiana, New York and Texas.
Hierarchy of standards (Most to Least)
Wisconsin
New York
Louisiana
Texas
In our final goal of the project we looked at three different state standards that we chose at various locations around the United States. We wanted to see how the Wisconsin Music Teaching standards compared to Louisiana, Texas, and New York. The system that we used to set up a state standard hierarchy was how detailed one state’s History and Culture standard was to the others. Wisconsin has the most detailed standards of the others because it has a teaching manual pertaining just to music. The other states have manuals that cover all of the arts and were not music specific. Texas was last on our list because it only had a few sentences about History and Culture in the music education field.

8. How it Relates to Pluralism
Impossible to teach music without culture
Focus on how culture is taught
How we will approach culture
We have discovered through our interviews that it is nearly impossible to teach music without also teaching students culture. Be it teaching the origins of a piece or teaching what was happening in the world at a certain time that influenced the music. Many of our professors have often said music is a reflection of its culture. As future educators we will utilize the musical knowledge of culture we have gained and deliver this to our students. This subject relates to pluralism by the knowledge that the teacher has of different cultures and giving that information to our students. This is then combined with hands on experience of culturally related songs and instruments.

9. Portfolio Item
Here is an image of Ben and Alex playing two African instruments. They are named “Djembe” and “Gyil” respectively. These are two instruments that originate from West Africa, specifically Ghana. The Djembe is a goblet shaped drum made out of Mahogany and Goat Skin. The Gyil is the ancestor to the modern Xylophone. It has fourteen bars made of wood and has gourds for resonators.
As future educators we feel it is necessary to be familiar with instruments such as these. The culture they represent has impacted Western music rhythms and instruments. We will be utilizing our awareness of culture in the classroom so that our students may gather a better understanding of the world and music around them.

10. Works Cited
Education Planet, "Lesson Planet" <
Interviews with Karen Dunn and Kelly Wohlbier performed in April, 2009
Mills, Richard. Learning Standards for the Arts. Albany: NY State Education Department, April 1996.
Nikolay, Pauli et al. Wisconsin's Model Academic Standards for Music. Milwaukee: WI Department of Public Instruction, June 1997.
Texas State Board for Educator Certification, Music Standards