Culturally responsive musical theatre production for high school students with diverse identities
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This dissertation comprises three projects that were designed to investigate the integration of Geneva Gay's culturally responsive teaching (CRT) approach into high school musical theatre production. First, I completed a review of the literature to examine the challenges associated with multiculturalism in school musical productions and to explore the potential applications and implications of CRT in theatre and choral education that can be applied to musical theatre production. For the second investigation, I undertook a qualitative study to investigate the lived experiences of music and theatre teachers before, during, and after casting high school students with diverse identities in musicals. Themes emerged from interviews with music teachers (n = 5) and theatre teachers (n = 2) including (a) students' identities and (b) students' skills. The findings indicated that participants utilized the "identities conscious casting" approach when making casting decisions. It also uncovered that this emphasis on inclusivity and diversity in the casting process was linked to both prior-to-casting and post-casting processes. The third investigation is a survey study through which I explored how music teachers integrate the CRT approach into their high school musical productions. Analysis of the responses (N = 119) revealed that participants prioritized and integrated cultural awareness, which related to Gay's CRT principle, within the various stages of their musical theatre productions, encompassing musical selection, materials preparation, and rehearsal processes, despite encountering some challenges. Results from these three projects indicated that participants integrated Gay's (2002) five key elements to implement CRT into their musical productions, fostering diversity, and inclusivity, as well as enhancing the overall presentation of the musical.
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Ph. D.