Searching Somewhere Over the Rainbow for a Home in Choral Music Education

By Kiernan M. Steiner
Source: If Colors Could Be Heard , pp 72-82
Publication Date: November 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/9781835951675_10
Language: English
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After a decade of studying choral music education, I realized dedicating myself and my work to primarily teaching and promoting the pedagogy of Western European choral music would never help me find a home within myself. Although I had the opportunity to experience musical practices from other cultures, such as African American spirituals and gospel music, it was usually considered to be incidental within the context of my schooling. Similar to the journey of Dorothy Gale in the 1939 musical film version of L. Frank Baum's book The Wizard of Oz, I found myself walking down my own yellow brick road of higher education, which only took me farther away from the answers that were always inside of me.

Keywords: choral music ; curriculum ; decolonization ; Filipino American ; healing ; identity ; music education ; pedagogy ; singing ; transracial adoptee

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References

Dombo, E. A., & Sabatino, C. A. (2019). Creating trauma-informed schools: A guide for school social workers and educators. Oxford Academic. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190873806.003.0002
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Littlefield, H. M. (1964). The Wizard of Oz: Parable on populism. American Quarterly, 16(1), 47–58. https://www.jstor.org/stable/271082682
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Steiner, K. (2021). Decolonizing kiki: A preliminary study of discourse in collegiate choral programs [DMA dissertation, Arizona State University].
[Google Scholar]
Steiner, K. M. (2023, July 2). The power in a lullaby: Ancestral wisdom of singing and the vagus nerve. Decolonizing Kiki. https://decolonizingkiki.substack.com/p/the-power-in-a-lullaby
Steiner, K. M. (2023). Dr. Kiki's key to singing. Decolonizing Kiki. https://decolonizingkiki.substack.com/p/dr-kikis-keys-to-singing
Strobel, L. M. (2015). Coming full circle: The process of decolonization among post-1965 Filipino Americans. The Center for Babaylan Studies.
[Google Scholar]

References

Dombo, E. A., & Sabatino, C. A. (2019). Creating trauma-informed schools: A guide for school social workers and educators. Oxford Academic. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190873806.003.0002
[Google Scholar]
Littlefield, H. M. (1964). The Wizard of Oz: Parable on populism. American Quarterly, 16(1), 47–58. https://www.jstor.org/stable/271082682
[Google Scholar]
Steiner, K. (2021). Decolonizing kiki: A preliminary study of discourse in collegiate choral programs [DMA dissertation, Arizona State University].
[Google Scholar]
Steiner, K. M. (2023, July 2). The power in a lullaby: Ancestral wisdom of singing and the vagus nerve. Decolonizing Kiki. https://decolonizingkiki.substack.com/p/the-power-in-a-lullaby
Steiner, K. M. (2023). Dr. Kiki's key to singing. Decolonizing Kiki. https://decolonizingkiki.substack.com/p/dr-kikis-keys-to-singing
Strobel, L. M. (2015). Coming full circle: The process of decolonization among post-1965 Filipino Americans. The Center for Babaylan Studies.
[Google Scholar]

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