School of Music faculty members have received a grant to study the implementation of Dr. Gholdy Muhammad’s historically responsive literacy.
The New York State School Music Association awarded a $700 Action Research grant to PRODiG Fellow Dr. Travis Gratteau-Zinnel and Fredonia graduate student Nikki Millmann, a candidate for a M.M. in Music Education, from Ithaca, NY, to evaluate historically responsive literacy in a fourth and fifth grade band classroom throughout the 2024-2025 academic year.
Historically responsive literacy is built on five pursuits:
• Identity – who we are as musicians and the identities we hold;
• Skills – what is the musical content that we are learning;
• Intellect – how are we connecting and applying skills learned;
• Criticality – a student-based sociopolitical awareness that moves past passive teacher-led instruction;
• Joy – celebrating both weakness and strengths within oneself and others in the ensemble and community.
The research builds partnerships through dedicated instructional coaching, lesson planning and implementation.
Dr. Muhammad, who studies Black historical excellence within educational communities with goals of reframing curriculum and instruction, is an associate professor of Literacy, Language and Culture at the University of Illinois Chicago.
