I began my teaching career teaching in low-income rural and high-income suburban schools in which the vast majority of students and teachers were white. I then taught for many years—including 2 years as a fine arts administrator—for urban schools that had majority white, female, middle-class teachers and predominantly non-white students living in poverty. My expectations for students were the same in all environments, but I found that I had to change my perspective most significantly in urban schools. Principles of solid teaching are constant in all schools, but poverty and cultural differences in the urban schools require emphasis in some key areas. Two critical areas to consider are engagement and relationships.

Engagement

Scholars have described ideal learning experiences as relevant, purposeful, social, and offering high degrees of stimulation (Mixon, 2011). I have found these experiences to be suitable for all students, but discovered that my urban classes were often quite clear with both verbal reaction as well as misbehavior when I did not plan engaging lessons. In classroom observations as an arts administrator, I learned that, even when engaging lessons were planned, pacing was the most common pitfall leading to management issues.

When considering pacing with instruction, one of the most important rules is to "teach more; talk less" (Moore, Batey, and Royse 2002, p. 31). As I observed other teachers, I noticed that even those who described themselves as visual learners tended to talk too much. Being as visual as possible via pre-written directions, charts and graphs, and pictures are essential parts of lesson planning. When planning, I continually ask myself if there are visual representations for content, concepts, or skills. I also consider ways that students can experience these through movement or other tactile-kinesthetic means. If words are necessary, I consider ways that students can learn by talking to one another in pairs or small groups.

In addition to engagement, finding visual and tactile-kinesthetic strategies is a way to differentiate instruction. My classes had at least 25% English language learners and a significant number of students receiving special education services, students diagnosed with ADHD, autism, visual and auditory impairments, and a host of other concerns. Presenting an idea using multisensory strategies (e.g., auditory, visual, and tactile-kinesthetic processing modes) will reach more students than through talking (auditory mode) alone; students will also pay attention and remember longer. Some specific multisensory strategies for engagement and classroom management were suggested in this Education Week article.

Of the three processing modes mentioned above, tactile-kinesthetic through movement is critical for all children, but is even more pressing for students in under-achieving schools where so much emphasis is placed on mandatory tests. My urban schools did not have recess, and an unfortunate number of teachers used "drill-and-kill" strategies that required students to sit passively for most of the day. Even in music classes and ensembles, there is usually too little movement. I have read that teachers should restrict passive learning to one minute for every year of chronological age. So, kindergarteners should only have five minutes of passivity before actively learning through movement of some kind (this could include active discussions in pair or small groups). I've found that there is a limit to passive listening at about ten minutes regardless of age, even for adults.

Fortunately, movement is central to learning music. Gordon (1997) posits that rhythm is physically sensated and movement is central to music learning theory approaches. In addition to music learning theory methods and strategies, I am continually trying to find ways to incorporate Dalcroze approaches in my teaching and have found them to help increase engagement as well as foster music skills like maintaining a steady pulse and audiating rhythms. A challenge is to find movement activities where classroom space is limited, but it can be done. Regular movement is central to my teaching approach as it helps students stay engaged as well as a way to learn and demonstrate their understanding.

Another area to consider is music chosen for study. Much has been written about multicultural learning and relevancy. And while it is true that students will enjoy just about any music style if guided skillfully, they are inherently interested and find meaning in music that is familiar. This familiar music is a way of students to journey to unfamiliar content, concepts, and skills. Here is an example of a choir performing a song in a familiar style but using Indian solkattu (a system of rhythmic counting that is also used in performance).



Familiar music—including folk traditions as well as many forms of pop music—is a means to build community amongst parents as well as students. My urban ensembles would earn the highest ratings at evaluation festivals on required music with largely western European styles. But nothing brought our concert audiences to their feet faster than the gospel choir or an arrangement of "Guantanamera" performed by the band. It is heartening that there is a proliferation of multicultural music available for choir, band, and orchestra.

It is important for teachers and students to realize that "traditional" ensembles do not necessarily mean the so-called balanced instrumentation or numbers of performers required for participation in almost all school festivals. These festivals are revered by many in the music education profession, and unfortunately, only better supported and funded school groups may participate or "win". However, there are equally valuable performance opportunities that should be considered that do not require the large groups or rigid instrumentation. Here is an example of Doreen Ketchens, a well-known, New Orleans-based singer and clarinetist (who has formal training), and her highly accomplished "band" consisting of vocalist/clarinet, sousaphone, drums. This is traditional jazz, a music genre created in the U.S. and melded from multiple world musics. No tuxedos or expensive venue are necessary, and these performers look like the majority of my students.



Ensembles and performing groups outside choirs, bands, and orchestras are often relevant and engaging and do not require great cost to start or maintain. For example, my Afro- Latin Percussion Orchestra used authentic hand drums and other percussion instruments and performed songs with vocals (e.g., "Guantanamera" and "Oye Como Va"). We sometimes had to modify lyrics to make them school appropriate. We added bass and piano, and also performed numbers with the "traditional" band by modifying existing arrangements. Unfortunately, some of the "gospel" choirs I've heard from urban schools really only perform current popular church music. This music certainly has merit, but there is a large repertoire of traditional gospel music that requires 4-parts singing and technically challenging genre-specific techniques. There are also inauthentic "African" or "Latin" drum ensembles in schools that focus only on hip-hop rhythms or other popular styles. However, these "alternative" vocal and instrumental ensembles can help meet any national or local music standards and it is important that music teachers learn enough about the styles themselves so that students learn authentic playing techniques, improvisation, and performance traditions.

Funding is an issue in most urban schools, but some ensembles require very little money to get started. We performed many "junkyard" ensemble pieces with 5-gallon buckets, plastic garbage cans, and accessory instruments—mostly acquired from the building custodians at no cost. This style of music originated with street performers in Boston, New York City, and Washington D.C., and was made popular by the group "Stomp". Several exemplary videos are available on the internet. There are also an increasing number of pieces published for "junkyard" groups from very beginning to advanced levels. I selected music that reinforced reading music notation, drum rudiments, and proper "concert" style playing techniques. Some students joined the traditional band, but some of the most gifted students in the school opted to stay in the "alternative" ensembles.



Relationships

James Comer stated that, "no significant learning can take place without a significant relationship." In order to foster relationships with students with different economic and cultural backgrounds, teachers must realize that cultural and economic differences affect teaching and learning. For the urban schools in which I taught, state data indicated that approximately 90% of students were "economically disadvantaged." Payne (2001), Jensen (2009) and many others have written about ways to teach children who are living in poverty, but as Lareau (2011) points out, poverty is not always pathology and many characteristics found in impoverished and working-poor families are actually attributes. As in many other urban schools, the majority of my students were African-American, Hispanic/Latino, or multiracial with no more than a 12% White population. I found that the more I learned about poverty and culture differences, the better my relationships with students.

Much has been written about ways to improve relationships with students and these have relevance in all environments. For example, getting to know kids outside class and striving to understand ethnic customs or trends in popular culture help build rapport. In fact, it was the bridge building outside class that built the most rapport with disenfranchised students, most of whom were not successful students. My students had different backgrounds and perceptions about teachers—often negative—and this time building rapport was necessary and critical to the success of my ensembles and classes.

I found some of the expectations of some of my colleagues to be incongruent with student backgrounds. For instance, I never insisted that students make eye contact when speaking to me, as this may be a sign of disrespect or aggression. I also understood that some students would laugh when particularly anxious. I made sure not to denigrate vernacular when speaking in informal settings and in the casual voice (e.g., slang terms or so-called improper English) and did not see it as a pathology that had to be corrected in these environments. Of course, there are rules in the often white-dominated worlds of school and work, and I was very careful about modeling and encouraging the use of the formal voice in ensemble rehearsals and music classes without conveying to students that their speaking or mannerisms were inferior. I think my students and I came to realize there were times and places for certain behaviors and ways of speaking—often called code switching—and my respect for these differences helped my relationship with students.

What is true for student relationships is also true for parent relationships. I found some of the parent expectations of colleagues to be incongruent with the realities of living in poverty. Single-parent families are often viewed as a deficit, but divorce is quite common in all economic classes. Further, families living in poverty often have very strong relationships within extended families. The expectation that all parents attend evening events was unrealistic given the working schedules that required varied hours and multiple jobs. Families do not love their children any less in urban schools, but the way relationships with families are garnered may be different. This Education Week article describes some strategies to build family relationships.

I would build rapport with families at school events and via phone call. But I found the most effective way to garner support from seemingly uninvolved families was by visiting their homes. Families were often not apathetic at all; for example, some felt fearful of school because of language barriers but were much more willing to communicate in familiar surroundings. Home visits are a contentious issue with many teachers, and I recommend that teachers never feel that they should do anything unsafe. They should also check with administrators about school policies about home visits. Teachers can go in pairs or groups and should never visit unannounced. I would often give short lessons to students during these home visits, which families found fascinating as well as a great source of pride when seeing their child's success.

Parents often have a negative view of schools, especially those who were not successful as students themselves. Families of color or in poverty may have valid animosity towards the white- dominated school structure, and many families do not understand the power structure of schools and how to get the help they feel their children need. However, regardless of this general distrust and hostility, I found that families would learn to trust and become quite fond of individual teachers that reached out to them in comfortable and meaningful ways. I felt that parents were allies in maintaining excellent behavior in classes as well as experts to consult with about student needs. Of course, there were families that were apathetic in spite of my efforts, but the advantages to sustained efforts to maintain meaningful two-way communication and rapport with families was critical to my students' success in music classes.

Conclusion

My background and training did not adequately prepare me to teach in urban schools. I felt confident that I could build and maintain programs in middle-class, predominantly white, suburban schools such as the ones I attended. When I landed in urban schools, even in one of the nation's very poorest neighborhoods, my expectations to reach high standards did not change. But in order to achieve success, I had to realize my privileged background and reflect on my teaching approaches, particularly when considering engagement and relationships with students and families. I am grateful that I became an urban teacher and continually strive to adjust and improve my teaching; the personal and professional rewards from the achievements of my deserving students are worth it. References