The purpose of this literature review was to broadly investigate ways music educators have implemented culturally sustaining pedagogy. Using systematic searches in educational databases, I analyzed 16 studies published between 2018 and 2024 that met the inclusion criteria of implementing culturally sustaining pedagogy in music education settings. The literature is organized by the three core tenets of culturally sustaining pedagogy: funds of knowledge, decolonization, and critical reflexivity. Findings reveal that meaningful implementation of culturally sustaining pedagogy requires a fundamental transformation of music education, moving beyond diverse repertoire selection to encompass students’ cultural knowledge, decolonial practices, and educators’ critical self-reflection.
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AdamsA. (2022). Empowering silenced voices: Implementing critical pedagogy to move toward decolonizing music education [MA Thesis, West Chester University]. https://digitalcmmns.wcupa.edu/all_theses/254
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Adu-GilmoreL. (2023). Accessing marginalized musics through adaptable, culturally sustaining music technology modules. Journal of Popular Music Education, 7(3), 317–334. https://doi.org/10.1386/jpme_00130_1
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AlimH. S.ParisD. (2014). What are we seeking to sustain through culturally sustaining pedagogy? A loving critique forward. Harvard Educational Review, 84(1), 85–100. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.84.1.982l873k2ht16m77
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AlimH. S.ParisD. (2017). What is culturally sustaining pedagogy and why does it matter? In ParisD.AlimH. S. (Eds.), Culturally sustaining pedagogies: Teaching and learning for justice in a changing world (pp. 1–21). Teachers College Press.
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BondV. L. (2017). Culturally responsive education in music education: A literature review. Contributions to Music Education, 42, 153–180. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26367441
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BylicaK. (2023). “You can only choose from the things you know”: Engaging with students’ dark and politicized funds of knowledge in the music classroom. Education and Urban Society, 55(5), 617–640. https://doi.org/10.1177/00131245221087995
DomínguezM. (2017). “Se hace puentes al andar”: Decolonial teacher education as a needed bridge to culturally sustaining and revitalizing pedagogies. In ParisD.AlimH. S. (Eds.), Culturally sustaining pedagogies: Teaching and learning for justice in a changing world (pp. 225–245). Teachers College Press.
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GayG. (2018). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. Teachers College Press.
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GellersteinB. A. (2021). Daring to see: White Supremacy and gatekeeping in music education (Publication no. 28412614) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Massachusetts]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
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GonzálezN.MollL. C.AmantiC. (Eds.). (2005). Funds of knowledge: Theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms. Routledge.
14.
Good-PerkinsE. (2018). In search of culturally sustaining music pedagogy: Adolescent music students’ perceptions of singing and music teaching (Publication No. 10816933) [Doctoral Dissertation, Colombia University, Teachers College]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
Good-PerkinsE. (2022). Culturally sustaining pedagogies in music education: Expanding culturally responsive teaching to sustain diverse musical cultures and identities. Routledge.
17.
GutiérrezK. D.JohnsonP. (2017). Understanding identity sampling and cultural repertoires: Advancing a historicizing and syncretic system of teaching and learning in justice pedagogies. In ParisD.AlimH. S. (Eds.), Culturally sustaining pedagogies: Teaching and learning for justice in a changing world (pp. 247–260). Teachers College Press.
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HessJ. (2015). Decolonizing music education: Moving beyond tokenism. International Journal of Music Education, 33(3), 336–347. https://doi.org/10.1177/0255761415581283
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HessJ. (2018). Challenging the empire in empir(e)ical research: The question of speaking in music education. Music Education Research, 20(5), 573–590. https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2018.1433152
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HessJ. (2021a). Cultural competence or the mapping of racialized space: Cartographies of music education. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 227, 7–28. https://doi.org/10.5406/BULCOURESMUSEDU.227.0007
21.
HessJ. (2021b). Music education and the colonial project: Stumbling toward anti–colonial music education. In WrightR.JohansenG.KannelopoulosP. A.SchmidtP. (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook to Sociology of Music Education (1st ed., pp. 23–39). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429504631–1–5
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KallioA. A. (2020). Decolonizing music education research and the (im)possibility of methodological responsibility. Research Studies in Music Education, 42(2), 177–191. https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103X19845690
24.
KwanL. Y.-Y. (2018). Institutional and value support for cultural pluralism is stronger in innovative societies with demanding climate. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 49(2), 323–335. https://doi–org.ezproxy.bu.edu/10.1177/0022022117746773
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LeeT. S.McCartyT. L. (2017). Upholding Indigenous education sovereignty through critical culturally sustaining/revitalizing pedagogy. In ParisD.AlimH. S. (Eds.), Culturally sustaining pedagogies: Teaching and learning for justice in a changing world (pp. 61–82). Teachers College Press.
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LindV. R.McKoyC. L. (2016). Culturally responsive teaching in music education: From understanding to application. Routledge.
LozadaV.Ríos-JiménezE.Hansen-ThomasH.RichinsL. G.SouthS. (2022). Una noche de música: Sustaining our students’ culture. Journal of General Music Education, 35(2), 13–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/10483713211032311
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MurthyL. M. (2024). “Teachers should have knowledge of different types of music”: A case study of culturally sustaining pedagogy in three high school choral programs (Publication No. 31484365) [Doctoral Dissertation, Colombia University, Boston University]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.
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National Center for Education Statistics. (2024). Racial/Ethnic Enrollment in Public Schools. Condition of Education. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cge
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ParisD. (2012). Culturally sustaining pedagogy: A needed change in stance, terminology, and practice. Educational Researcher, 41(3), 93–97. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X12441244
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PriceJ. (2020). Your music or mine, miss? Culturally responsive paths to inclusive music education (Publication no. 29234134) [Doctoral dissertation, The University of Huddersfield]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
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YooH. (2023). The concept of cultural humility as it relates to instructional practices in the general music classroom. Journal of General Music Education, 36(2), 5–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/27527646221106749
