Some music education scholars have suggested that large ensemble-based school music instruction is outdated and irrelevant to contemporary society (Kratus, 2007; Williams, 2011), teacher-centric and autocratic (O’Toole, 2005), and complicit in creating teacher-dependent students (Allsup & Benedict, 2008). Recently, Weidner explored musical independence in large instrumental ensembles (2015, 2020), and proposed that student-centered teaching practices may contribute to developing musical independence in band. Although many scholars have examined the concept of musical independence (MI) (Regelski, 1969; Shieh & Allsup, 2016; Stamer, 2002), most have done so from a theoretical viewpoint. There is current empirical work exploring MI in band (Weidner, 2015, 2020), but more research is needed to explore the phenomenon in choirs. New empirical research can help broaden the conceptual understanding of MI, explore how teachers foster MI in choirs, and help uncover what students believe about their opportunities to develop it. In this study, I examined what teachers and learners do in secondary choral settings to develop musical independence. Additionally, I sought to uncover potential structural constraints and affordances which may hinder or support teaching and learning musical independence in choir. The research questions were: 1) What are the skills, dispositions, and agentive characteristics of musically independent students? 2) What instructional decisions do teachers make that facilitate or inhibit musical independence? 3) What are the contextual factors that inhibit or facilitate musical independence in students? To answer these questions, I designed a multiple case study (Yin, 2018) utilizing critical realism (Bhaskar, 2015) as a theoretical and analytical framework. Critical realists seek to explain how a phenomenon happened by considering both potential causal mechanisms and the context within which they may occur (Vincent & O’Mahoney, 2018). Using this lens, I consider the actions of teachers and students as well as potential structural influences upon their actions. I collected data from three research sites. Data sources included (1) field notes of classroom observations, (2) teacher journals, (3) student journals, (4) teacher interviews, and (5) student interviews. I analyzed data through the critical realist process of retroduction (Wynn & Williams, 2012) by first making inferences as to probable causal mechanisms for musical independence. Then, I compared proposed causal mechanisms to data found in multiple streams of evidence (e.g., interviews, field notes, and journal entries), moving from open to axial coding (Strauss & Corbin, 2014). I first looked within each case (Creswell & Poth, 2018) using pattern-matching logic (Yin, 2018) to compare empirical data to patterns I predicted through retroduction. Then I engaged in cross-case analysis to determine if patterns persisted over multiple cases. My cross-case analysis suggested that teachers and students may have different perceptions of MI. Some teachers believed helping students develop skills was most important to MI, whereas many students felt that MI was better defined by an ability to communicate emotional intent and form social connections through music. Participants also considered the role of outside structural influences upon MI such as community expectations, professional pressures, and state festival results. Based on the findings from each case and the cross-case analysis, I offered implications for music teacher education and practicing high school choir teachers, including rethinking the role of notational literacy in choral music, balancing large-group and small group learning experiences, and the importance of creative music making in choral ensembles.
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