McKenzie Sterner

10/27/15

MEJ Critical Review

Dr. Abrahams

The Pluralistic Classroom

Summary of Article

Ruth Gurgels Building Strong Teacher-Student Relationships in Pluralistic

Classrooms is an article written for the June 2015 edition of the Music Educators Journal. In

this article Gurgel analyzes a typical pluralistic classroom where a teacher may not have a

cultural capital that relates to their students. The author discusses how the milieu of the

classroom often depends on the teachers actions. The strategies that she outlines to fight discord

in this classroom include: allowing students to achieve musical success continually, taking

responsibility to attend to positive relationships with students, examining personal socially

constructed truths and challenging oppressive truths a teacher might have, using humility and

caution, and encouraging equality. Gurgels approach to creating positive student-teacher

relationships in a pluralistic classroom is collaborative and student-based.

Theoretical Framework: Community of Practice

Communities of Practice is a framework that emphasizes an apprentice-like peer-to-peer

environment that fosters learning. In this environment a group of people share passion for a

subject and move together toward practicing it. They practice this through shared resources.

Wenger writes that these resources include experience, stories, tools, and strategies to address

recurring problems (2). There are three structural components to this framework. The first is the
domain. This is a group of people that share a competence in a skill that is unique. The second is

community; members of this group actively learn more about this interest. By doing so they

build relationships with our people in the domain. The third element is practice. This is the actual

pursual and knowledge based interaction that a member of this community encounters. In

education, the community of practice was developed through an apprenticeship model. The act

of learning about one specific topic or subject becomes the practice. The educators goal is to

build the community and give students agency in specific field (Wenger 1-5).

Critique

Family and community are often words that are used to describe connections young

adults have with a group of people. What do these words truly mean? Although community

may seem like a vague term, it can be harnessed by formal and informal learning. Ruth Gurgels

article Building Strong Teacher-Student Relationships in Pluralistic Classrooms discussed

ways in which a teacher might break sociocultural boundaries and create positive relationships

with students. The methods that Gurgle described also promote a community of practice.

Continual achievement in the classroom brings students into the domain. The teachers demeanor

develops community, and their cultural competency helps to evolve the practice of the

classroom. However, equality is not necessarily an ideal that is encompassed by this framework.

In this way, Gurgels strategies support the framework to a large extent.

The domain of music learning is rather straightforward. It includes people that have

agency or skill in what is being taught in the particular classroom. However, agency is removed

from the students when they are not continually achieving. When competence is valued and
upheld as a standard in the classroom, the students rise to the challenge and find a sense of

accomplishment which develops domain. Gurgel called this teacher the warm demander (2).

This means that even as the educator caters toward the cultural capital of the students (learning

styles, musical material etc.) they must still challenge the student musically. Thus, creating a

continuous learning environment. This environment gives the students agency and upholds the

validity of the domain.

An educators demeanor has a large effect on the milieu of the classroom and the

community of practice. Two of the strategies that Gurgel discussed help to develop the

community aspect of the framework. The first is the personal responsibility of the teacher. Often,

educators in an unfamiliar pluralistic setting will place blame for disrespect and disengagement

on the students. This is not conducive to building positive relationships. The teacher must take

responsibility for any behavioral issues and differentiated their instruction. Often educators will

not take this prerogative, and they create a banking model that deposits their own socially

constructed truths onto the students. These beliefs may include what material should be taught,

how students should conduct themselves, and how the students should learn. A cycle of

disrespect, lowered standards, and disengaging is then created. However, when the teacher takes

responsibility, they move forward toward connecting with students. Gurgel also wrote about

using humility and caution. Knowing that an educators personal experience will never allow

them to completely understand the students is a key element to building community. It allows for

the teacher to encourage their students to be open and honest. The relationships that build from

this sentiment contribute to the community. This allows students to learn more about the subject

by connecting with the teacher and other classmates. The milieu created through an educator's
personal responsibility and humility and caution support Gurgels ideas. This strategies also

develop positive relationships and promote the community of this framework.

Practice is the final component of this framework. It is the goal that most educators seek:

to increase agency in their students. Practice is the activity of participating in, discussing,

performing, and being immersed in the curriculum being taught. Gurgels strategy of cultural

competency supports this practice. The author suggests that in order to be culturally competent a

teacher, one must evaluate any pre-existing culturally constructed truths. Any preconceived

notions about how a classroom should be run should be reconstructed for the specific class.

Practice can be enhanced when the cultural capital of the students is respected and integrated into

the classroom. The conduct and curriculum can be adjusted to positively represent the practices

of the students personal history and promote positive practice.

The communities of practice framework has limitations in the applications of Gurgels

strategies. The ideal of equality is emphasized by the MEJ article. However, true equality can

never be reached in a community. A true community has members that take leadership positions

and may have more expertise in the particular field. This creates a small imbalance of power, but

it also drives people to learn and achieve at higher levels. For example, in Ryan Jons study of a

musical theater production the leads held rehearsal and taught ensemble members dance steps

and singing parts (19). This is not an equal relationship of power. However, this community of

practice was successful and productive, although there was some jealousy that developed

between cast members. In Gurgels work she emphasizes the expertise of every individual in the

classroom. This is not a part of the community of practice framework.

Gurgels strategies are not perfect. However, they outline helpful strategies for teachers

that may be struggling to connect with students. The community of practice framework is
promoted by many of the strategies in this article. The continual achievement, teachers

demeanor, and cultural competency are all strategies that could be used to develop the

community of practice. However, promotion of equality is not a key component of the

community of practice. The implications of these lens are focused on relationship building that

promotes learning. The environment that they strive for in similar in its safety and productivity.

Gurgels work and the community of practice framework are extremely similar and support

many of the same ideals.

Reference List

John, R. (2014). Part of it all: The high school musical as a community of practice. Visions of
Research in Music Education, 24. Retrieved from http://www.rider.edu/~vrme

Wenger, Etienne. "Communities of Practice a Brief Introduction." UO Libraries.

University of Oregon, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.