Voice Matters: Building Resonance In Education Using Stories About Identity And Belonging
Abstract
How do we maintain our own authentic voice while still being a productive member of a group? How do we not lose our voice and our meaning to the collective? This thesis is a series of stories that examines one student's experience with the intersection of music, education, technology, and personal life. It is a document of resonance, identifying interdisciplinary events and ideas that amplify each other, helping the student to extract and apply meaning in times of hope and challenge, peace and chaos, and serenity and sorrow, using the Scholarly Personal Narrative (SPN) approach.
The chapters shape the explorations. The first chapter of this thesis expresses the importance of Listening to our own voice. Chapter 2 explores Dissonance, the tension that challenges us to examine what we believe to be true in our own voice. The third chapter examines Empowerment, looking to the head, heart and gut, carried on our breath, to find success by using our own authentic voice. Chapter 4 looks at Liberation, and the steps we take to reclaim our voice when it is being suppressed. Chapter 5 shares the healing power of music, examining its relationship to Memory. The last chapter attempts to pull all of these ideas together by exploring the relationship between personal Identity and Belonging.