ABSTRACT

Music experiences focusing on artistic thinking processes of making and relating, perceiving and responding, and connecting and understanding open dialogical spaces for students to critically engage their own expressive works and the expressive works of others. Such thinking is active, a process of attending to sensory qualities and relations, cognizant of the multi-sensory engagement necessary within all acts of making music. us, the processes of artistic thinking actively shape the act of responding. e negotiating room in-between allows for thinking and feeling through wondering, questioning, analyzing, and reconsidering, manifesting the responsive creation or invention of musical meaning. Participation in such music experiences heightens students’ awareness of the composing process and students’ capacity to articulate these personal connections. Students learn to use and to develop musical language in meaningful ways. Making and relating, perceiving and responding, and connecting and understanding experiences provide mediums for developing greater self-condence and capacity in music alongside greater self-knowledge in relation to others. Growth is fostered across all students through opportunities for exposure to musical works shaped by dierent understandings, cultural inuences, and interactions with peers and teachers. e development of language skills in ELL students is enabled through the deliberate creation of room for students to concretely play, voice, and navigate understandings through music. Additionally, the provision of interesting musical stimuli engages students in the sharing of ideas, and manifests opportunities for students to draw upon their language skills to express their thinking and cultural knowledge (Johnson, 2002). In this way, music can inform and enhance teaching about issues of diversity (Kuster, 2006) by inspiring learners through musical experiences that encourage the artistic thinking integral to creativity (Cantor, 2006).