In this study, I critically examined the experiences of four music teachers who learned about critical race theory (CRT) in a professional learning community (PLC) in an effort to enhance teachers’ understandings of race and racism in music education. The participants engaged in readings, online reflections, discussions, and interactive lectures based on the five central CRT tenets: counternarratives, ordinariness, Whiteness as property, intersectionality, and interest convergence. The following research questions guided the study:1. How do the music teachers’ perceptions of CRT evolve within the professional learning community experience? 2. How might an understanding of CRT influence music teachers’ practices/pedagogical choices? 3. How might participation in the PLC transform their approach toward race and racism? What, if any, transformations took place? These questions highlight teacher growth and reflection––a tool necessary for liberation (Lorde, 2007). Additionally, understanding race and racism in music education provides an opportunity to address racism through philosophical shifts and pedagogical changes. For this study, I employed an instrumental embedded case study (Yin, 2009) with multiple units of analysis in order to capture a deeper understanding of the participants’ experience. I used transformative learning theory (Mezirow, 1991) as an analytical lens to examine and explore if and/or how the participants experienced transformation throughout the PLC. I centered my analysis on the disorienting dilemmas (situations that challenge participants’ world views) the participants experienced during the PLC. The findings from this study suggest that learning about CRT in the context of a PLC can create an opportunity for participants to experience a foundational shift in understanding race and racism, both as music educators and in their individual lives. As participants expanded their understanding of racism, they critiqued common practices in music education such as the dominance of Western European classical music. Through deep, critical reflection, they questioned if they or their practices were racist. During this experience, the participants identified how their understanding of racism expanded in a way that recognizes racist structures in addition to individual racist acts. This expansion can shift perspectives and change actions inside the classroom to center and create music teaching practices that challenge structural racism.
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