Walking a mile in their shoes: Developing pre-service music teachers’ empathy for ELL students

Abstract

In recent decades, music educators have become increasingly aware of the English Language Learner (ELL) population due to mainstreaming and inclusion policies. Meanwhile, the need for adequately preparing pre-service music teachers has become a focal point for music teacher preparation programs in the United States. In this article, I will 1) discuss the importance of developing pre-service music teachers’ empathy for ELL students; 2) offer suggestions for developing empathic pre-service music teachers; and 3) describe how a classroom cultural immersion experience can help pre-service music teachers to develop their empathy as well as increase their awareness of effective teaching strategies for ELL students. Through a short-term classroom cultural immersion experience, pre-service music teachers in the U.S. learned what it was like to be an ELL; as a result of their experience, they became more culturally and linguistically responsive. They deepened their level of empathy for ELLs, and expanded their knowledge base of techniques for effective music teaching.