Privileging Culture through Incorporating Folk Music in the General Elementary Classroom: Implications for Teacher Education

In this paper, I argue for the integration of folk music from children’s home cultures in the general elementary classroom as a means to privilege culture. I argue that this approach to general elementary education should be incorporated into teacher training programs. While many teacher education programs presently overlook the integration of folk music from various cultures, this approach has the potential to become a valuable component of teacher education. I investigate ways in which teachers can create multiple pathways for learning by privileging the home cultures of children. This can be accomplished through the integration of music instruction that embraces the children’s musical “mother tongue” in elementary social studies and language arts curricula. I then explore the implications of training preservice elementary teachers in approaches to privileging culture through music instructio