SSHRC Insight Grant success for adam patrick bell
Music Education faculty member adam bell has learned he was successful as a co-applicant on an application for a SSHRC Insight Grant. The team's project, titled "Educational Beliefs on Sustaining Musical Cultures," is headed up by Dr. Roger Mantie at the University of Toronto.
The project involves interviewing music teachers in the Greater Toronto Area, both those working in schools and teachers in the community, to increase our understanding of how music teaching practices affect cultural continuity in Canada. The team hopes to learn more about how teachers decide which culture's musical practices to include in their lessons and how to include those practices. Along with three other investigators from the University of Toronto. Dr. bell and Western students funded through the project will assist with creating the interview protocol, conducting the interviews, analyzing the data, and engaging in knowledge mobilization activities.
Dr. bell hopes the team's research will provide a clearer sense of which musics are included in Canadian education, and which are excluded. "Having this data," he explained, "will allow us to have an evidenced based approach to addressing issues related to equity, diversity, and inclusion in music teaching and learning practices."
A Western doctoral student in Music Education John Touchette has already begun work on the project as a Research Assistant. He brings to the project his experience as an elementary school music teacher. Mr. Touchette will be recruiting teachers for interviews and preparing for the interview process. "This experience will help me get one step closer to my goals of becoming a university professor, understand the process to conduct my own studies, and to share new knowledge by publishing works and presenting at conferences," Mr. Touchette said.
