Towards a More Inclusive Music Education: Experiences of LGBTQQIAA Students in Music Teacher Education Programs Across Pennsylvania

During the past decade, the field of music education has seen an increase in the amount of scholarship surrounding LGBTQ studies in music teaching and learning. For example, the University of Illinois hosted three symposia for the field of music education dedicated to LGBTQ studies (2010, 2012, 2016), and proceedings from these symposia were published in three separate issues of the of the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education (2011, 2014, 2016). Other notable scholarship has been published in Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education (Gould 2005); the Music Educators Journal (Bergonzi, 2009; Carter, 2011; McBride, 2016); the Journal of Research in Music Education (Carter, 2013; Nicholas, 2013); and UPDATE: Applications of Research in Music Education (Garrett, 2012). (excerpt

The Necessity of Spiritual Preparation in Short-Term Missions as it Correlates to Ministry Effectiveness

There is a lack of resources available providing spiritual preparation training specifically for teams preparing for a STM with M4 Institute. The purpose of this action research project is two-fold. First, to develop a spiritual preparation resource for STM work in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. Second, to determine if providing spiritual preparation training for a team preparing for said STM work will improve the ministry effectiveness of the trip. An eight-week, five-phase intervention guide was created to implement with the focus group. This consisted of two in-person, on-site team trainings, three pre-trip Zoom team meetings, mid-trip communications with participants to gauge the effectiveness of the trip, and post-trip Zoom individual interviews. The triangulation method for gathering data was followed. Side one consisted of two questionnaires; side two consisted of a discussion question guide; and side three consisted of a set of interview questions. Three modes of observation were used: researcher field notes; insider observation through team responses during training, questionnaires, and post-trip interviews; and outsider observations from two credible witnesses. Results and conclusions to determine the effectiveness of the trip and for further research were drawn from the study. All interviews and conversations with the participants, both individually and corporately, were confidential; the names of the participants are withheld by mutual agreement. All participant names used in the action research project are pseudonyms. Real names are not used to protect the identity and confidentiality of the participants