RESOUNDING SCIENCE: A SONIC ETHNOGRAPHY OF AN URBAN FIFTH GRADE CLASSROOM
(2018)
author(s): Walter Gershon
published in: Journal of Sonic Studies
This sonic ethnography represents two years in an ongoing study in which urban elementary and middle grades students wrote songs about the science content they learned. Originally designed to examine whether processes of songwriting might help bridge race and gender gaps in science education for city kids, over time, this project has become what participating teachers and I refer to as “listening to the sounds of science,” a change that underscores the variety of sounds, ideas and ideals, and ways of knowing and being of the daily life of classrooms. Specifically, this piece focuses on two years in an urban fifth grade classroom. Here, the text supports the sounded portion of the piece, providing contextual information about process and participants. As such, this piece provides an opportunity to listen to how often marginalized students make sense, understandings, and experiences that are at once epistemological, ontological, and sensorial.
