Anti-Racist Music Pedagogy Survey

* 1. Purpose of the Study: I understand that the purpose of the study is to survey private music instructors on their strategies for dealing with racist pedagogical materials in the music curricula. Participants will be asked to respond to a questionnaire in English about their understanding of anti-racist pedagogy and practice in music lessons. Questions will focus on age range and geographic location of the teacher, access to teacher resources, priorities within lessons, use of terms related to anti-racist pedagogy, and opportunities for enhanced teachers support. The final project will take the form of a website which will contain pedagogical resources and tools for anti-racist pedagogy. The virtual site will include an analysis of the survey responses and a resource kit with exercises and alternate repertoire that will make this site a resource for private music teachers.

Participation & Risk: My participation will consist essentially of responding to survey questionnaires. I understand that this study will entail that I volunteer information about my professional practice as a music instructor. I understand that I may feel frustrated with the impact of unjust structures on my practice. I understand that I may take a break in filling out the survey, may choose not to answer a question, or may not complete the survey. My participation will benefit the music community of which I am a part of and will benefit the students engaged in community-based research.

Benefits: My participation will benefit the music community of which I am a part of.

I also recognize that the students conducting this research will be gaining valuable experience in engaging in community-based research and will make new discoveries on strategies for building music studios which promote an anti-racist and justice focused mindset.

Confidentiality and Anonymity: I have received assurance from the researchers that the information I will share in the survey will remain strictly confidential and that my responses will be anonymous. The contents will be used only for this course (MUS6370).

Anonymity will be protected in the following manner: no names will be collected, when information is cited, the students will ensure that identity is not revealed in the public virtual exhibit

Conservation of data: The data collected will be in electronic form. They will be questionnaires and will be kept in a secure manner on the student’s cloud storage system, which is protected by the University of Ottawa. A copy will also be retained on an external hard drive of Professor Watson, which is stored in a locked cabinet in her office on campus. She will conserve the data for one year following the submission of final grades for this course.

Voluntary Participation: I am under no obligation to participate and if I choose to participate, I may withdraw from the study at any time and/or refuse to answer any questions. If I choose to withdraw, all data gathered until the time of withdrawal will be destroyed by Professor Watson.

Acceptance: I agree to participate in the above research study conducted by Olivia Adams and Anneli Loepp Thiessen of the School of Music in the Faculty of Arts, which research is under the supervision of Professor Jada Watson. I understand that by accepting to participate I am in no way waiving my right to withdraw from the study.    

If I have any questions about the study, I may contact the student and/or Professor Jada Watson at jwatso4@uOttawa.ca.  

If I have any ethical concerns regarding my participation in this study, I may contact the Protocol Officer for Ethics in Research, University of Ottawa, 550 Cumberland Street, Room 154, (613) 562-5387 or ethics@uottawa.ca.