"I'm Really NOT a Singer": Examining the Meaning of the Word Singer and Non-Singer and the Relationship Their Meaning Holds in Providing a Musical Education to Schools

LOUISE PASCALE has worked for thirty years as a musician and educator integrating the arts in education. She is currently core faculty for Lesley University's Creative Arts in Learning M.Ed. program, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This program serves teachers in Massachusetts as well as sixteen states across the United States and gives teachers the opportunity to learn ways to integrate the arts into their curriculum. Louise received her B.A. (Music) degree from the University of California and a M.Ed. degree from Lesley University. In addition to a career as an elementary school teacher and music specialist, she spent two years in the Peace Corps in Kabul, Afghanistan, working alongside Afghan poets and musician, creating the first children's music book. Louise's passion is collecting traditional folk songs and singing games from around the world. She shares this material with teachers as a tool for enhancing learning and strengthening the school community. Louise is currently a doctoral candidate at Lesley University. The focus of her study is to analyze and deconstruct the assumptions embedded in the current philosophy and pedagogy of music education, suggesting a need for a shift in the paradigm, thus opening new possibilities for perceiving, defining, and delivering music, particularly singing, in public education settings.