Kodály Method

ZOLTÁN KODÁLY’S SOLFEGGIO WORKS AND THE PUBLIC
SPHERE OF POST- STALINIST HUNGARY

Together with the appearance of a new piece entitled 50 Nursery- rhymes (Kis emberek dalai), the revised editions of two earlier solfeggio works by Kodály, namely his 333 Elementary Excercises in Sight- Singing (333 olvasógyakorlat) and his 15 Two- part Excercises (15 kétszólamú énekgyakorlat) were published in 1962, in Hungary. Owing to the predictable significance of their publicity, Kodály’s newly written
fore- and afterwords were thoroughly examined by the state socialist educational administration, notably, by the Ministry of Culture. Based on archival sources, this paper reconstructs the internal discussions on Kodály’s texts, and the prepublication revision of the afterword of 333 Elementary Excercises. It is documented here that the post- Stalinist party state accepted proper public debate on educational matters, while a restricted plurality epitomized the public sphere generally.
Kodály utilized both his informal political network and his publicity to
enforce his educational agenda. In doing so, he did not find himself in conflict with the representatives of the political power only. Different, competing ideas were present in the music educational scene.

E l trabajo se propone mostrar el valor pedagógico del método Kodály para la enseñanza de la música, por su contribución en la generación temprana de capacidades y valores con sentido social en niños y niñas, de acuerdo con su desarrollo bio-psico-social y su contexto cultural. El principio que considera la necesidad de recurrir a formas 'naturales' de aprender constituiría una fuente de motivación y para facilitar la asimilación del lenguaje musical ligado a vivencias propias. RESUMEN Uno de los métodos de enseñanza musical es el método Kodály que es un método basa-do en el canto que utiliza la música folklórica y tradicional como punto de partida para que el educando aprenda a leer y escribir en su propio lenguaje musical a través de los componentes y herramientas desarrolladas por Kodály.

The philosophies of Kodály and Orff methods are two of the most popular approaches to teaching elementary music. Zoltan Kodály was a Hungarian composer, philosopher, linguist, and educator and after his death his followers created the Kodály method. Carl Orff was a German composer best known for his concepts in children’s music education. This paper will compare Kodály and Orff methods in retrospect to their philosophies, tools, and strategies in the elementary music classroom. The goal is to offer information for educators to consider when choosing a method to use in their classroom as well as how to incorporate both methods at once.

The purpose of this study was to delineate the contents of the music concepts and skills charts for grades kindergarten through six of the Richardson Independent School District in Texas into six 6-week instruction periods for the school year based upon a logical and effective sequence.  The Richardson ISD music concepts and skills charts organize musical learning into eight categories: Rhythm and Meter, Melody, Vocal Development, Instrument Skills, Movement and Singing Games, Listening and Timbre, Expressive Elements, and Form.  In order to delineate the contents of the yearly charts, the study posed eight research questions, each of which sought to determine a sequence for introducing concepts and skills in one of the eight categories.  To develop an appropriate sequence for introducing concepts and skills in each category, a review of literature examined existing research and related pedagogical literature authored by experts in the field of elementary music education.  The sequence found in the district’s adopted textbook series, Spotlight on Music published by Macmillan/McGraw Hill, served as a guide for delineation of the Richardson ISD concepts and skills.  The textbook series divided lesson objectives into six units for every grade level, each of which was correlated to one of the six 6-week grading periods that comprise a school year in Richardson ISD.  Each lesson objective from the textbook was assigned to one or more of the eight Richardson ISD concepts and skills categories and assigned to a particular 6-week grading period based upon both the findings in the review of literature and upon the comparison and correlation with the sequence in the textbook series.  In grades K-2, the sequence outlined in the textbook series more directly influenced the sequence of concepts and skills of the Richardson ISD curriculum.  Beginning with third grade, but particularly with sixth grade, the textbook sequence and the contents of the Richardson ISD music concepts and skills charts became more divergent.  The results of the study should assist elementary music teachers in Richardson ISD in better organizing and implementing the district’s curriculum. The study concludes with abbreviated and succinct curriculum charts divided into six 6-week periods for each grade level with the results outlined in the study.

Music teachers, therapists, scientists and musicians have acknowledged music education as being a core subject for the development of the whole self for many years. The Kodály, Dalcroze, Suzuki, and Orff Methods of musical learning have shaped the way children are taught in schools, community centres, and the home. But, are they still used in music education today?

A lack of musical education and experience amongst singers in adult amateur choirs can impact negatively on the efficiency of choral rehearsals. This has repercussions in terms of both the repertoire which the singers are able to perform and the standard of performance itself, as very often, the bulk of rehearsal time must be devoted to learning notes, instead of focusing on the finer details of music making.
The aim of this work was to investigate the benefits of adapting the teaching methodologies associated with the Kodály Concept of Music Education for singers in an adult amateur choir, in order to assess whether these rehearsal techniques could help to improve skills such as musical literacy, aural perception, intonation and rhythmic accuracy. Through a series of assessments – comprising self-evaluations, qualitative assessments in the form of questionnaires and objective sight- reading and dictation assessments – completed before and after a term of rehearsals, it was concluded that rehearsal techniques based on the Kodály Concept of Music Education are beneficial for adult amateur choirs in terms of improving the singers’ standard of music competency. Consequently, these rehearsal techniques can improve the standard of performance achieved by adult amateur choirs in addition to allowing them to perform more challenging repertoire, whilst also proving to be a viable way in which to provide community musical education for adults.

O Paulo Freire αποτελεί µία από τις σηµαντικότερες µορφές στο χώρο της Κριτικής Παιδαγωγικής. Πέρα από τη συνεισφορά του στον κλάδο, ο Freire ανέπτυξε µία δική του µέθοδο εγγραµµατισµού την οποία εφάρµοσε για την εκπαίδευση ενηλίκων στους εξαθλιωµένους αγροτικούς πληθυσµούς που συναντούσε στην πατρίδα του, τη Βραζιλία. Από την άλλη πλευρά, ο Ζoltán Kodály, το µουσικοπαιδαγωγικό έργο του οποίου δεν φαίνεται να έχει συνδεθεί µε κάποιον τρόπο-µέχρι στιγµής τουλάχιστον-µε το ρεύµα της Κριτικής Παιδαγωγικής, ανέπτυξε ένα σύστηµα διδασκαλίας µουσικού γραµµατισµού, το οποίο εφαρµόστηκε στα σχολεία της Ουγγαρίας και σήµερα είναι ευρέως γνωστό ως «Μέθοδος Kodály». Το παρόν άρθρο επιχειρεί να επισηµάνει τα κοινά σηµεία, σε ιδεολογικό όσο και µεθοδολογικό επίπεδο, του έργου των δύο αυτών µεγάλων παιδαγωγών «ανιχνεύοντας» στοιχεία Κριτικής Παιδαγωγικής στη Μέθοδο Kodály.

One of the most important figures in the field of Critical Pedagogy is that of Paulo Freire. In addition to his contribution to the field, Freire developed his own method of literacy training for the adults in the degraded rural populations he met in his homeland, Brazil. On the other hand, Ζoltán Kodály, whose music-pedagogical work does not appear to have been connected in  any  way  –so  far  at  least–  with  the  trend  of  Critical  Pedagogy,  has  developed  a  system  of teaching  music  literacy,  which  was  applied  in  the  schools  of  Hungary  and  today  is  widely known as the "Kodály Method". The present paper attempts to highlight common points, both at  ideological  and  methodological  level,  in  the  work  of  these  two  important  educators “detecting” elements of Critical Pedagogy in Kodály Method.

Cold War cultural diplomacy projects represented a dynamic mixture of the geopolitical and transnational processes that shaped postwar history. The worldwide dissemination of the Hungarian music education system known as the “Kodály method” provides an instructive example of how these different agendas interacted within the larger framework of twentieth-century global integration. The chapter examines the transnational collaborations of Hungarian and American music educators that led to the construction of the “Kodály method” as an internationally marketable and adaptable model for teaching music in the 1960s and 1970s. It traces how pedagogues from the two countries, like Erzsébet Szőnyi and Denise Bacon, forged professional ties through participation at conferences and summer courses – and explores the process through which the Hungarian model was adopted in the U.S. in the form of institutional arrangements like the Kodály Musical Training Institute, established in 1969 in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Furthermore, the chapter analyses how the Hungarian communist authorities gradually incorporated the “Kodály method” into their domestic and foreign policy framework. Although it initially emerged as a product of transnational exchanges which cut across the Iron Curtain, by the mid-1970s the method eventually became an official Hungarian cultural diplomacy project, representative of a small state’s effort to gain international recognition and legitimacy. However, this process of appropriation compelled the Hungarian authorities to accept and accommodate a truly global phenomenon – and to recognize the ideas and practices of a transnational network of pedagogues and researchers as culturally valuable and politically salient.

Arguably more quintessentially ‘Hungarian’ than the compositions of his esteemed colleague Béla Bartók, the orchestral works of Zoltán Kodály are in and of themselves a study in the Hungarian folk music idiom. This notion was one supported by Bartók who stated that Kodály’s music was “the most perfect embodiment of the Hungarian spirit.” (Paxman 2014, p.522) This paper examines four works of Kodály’s orchestral canon, namely Háry János Suite (1927), Marosszék Dances (1927 for piano, 1930 for orchestra), Dances of Galánta (1933) and the Peacock Variations (1939). These selections represent the most commonly performed orchestral compositions of Kodály.

This study will consider the direct ethnomusicological influences in each of the chosen compositions and aims to identify the musical and compositional elements which give weight to the notion of ‘Hungarian-ness’ in the orchestral compositions of Kodály. While the four works I have chosen are likely familiar to conductors, orchestral musicians and music educators, somewhat surprisingly there has been very little research of an academic nature into the orchestral writing of Kodály. (Ong, 2011, p.1) As such, this paper serves as a welcome addition to the scholarly literature on Kodály’s orchestral compositions.

Una delle prime esperienze vissute dall'essere umano, prima ancora della nascita, è la percezione della pulsazione del battito cardiaco materno durante la gestazione: si tratta di un'esperienza ritmica, che si inserisce nell'ambito più vasto della percezione musicale prenatale e neonatale. La connessione tra suono e movimento è istintiva e avviene già nei primissimi mesi di vita. L'ascolto nei bambini, specialmente in quelli più piccoli, è sempre un 'ascolto corporeo', che non coinvolge solo l'organo uditivo ma il loro intero essere. La decodifica dell'evento sonoro avviene cioè attraverso diversi canali, tra cui il movimento corporeo è preminente, ma coinvolge anche l'aspetto emozionale e affettivo.
I movimenti corporei sincronizzati con la pulsazione o la struttura ritmica di un brano consentono ai bambini di sviluppare abilità che non sono soltanto di carattere musicale. Da un lato, infatti, l'educazione musicale riguarda la musica in se stessa e, nelle scuole dell'infanzia e primaria, ha (o dovrebbe avere) l'obiettivo di promuovere l'alfabetizzazione musicale, ovvero la padronanza degli elementi basilari della musica. Dall'altro essa è in grado di concorrere in maniera sostanziale alla formazione globale del bambino e allo sviluppo della sua personalità, e può costituire un potente mezzo di supporto ad altre discipline e alla formazione di competenze e abilità fondamentali per l'essere umano. Gli esercizi-gioco centrati sul ritmo, in particolare, possono essere proposti già a partire dal Nido e contribuiscono a sviluppare nel bambino la motricità grossa e fine, la propriocezione, la lateralità, il coordinamento motorio, senza dimenticare la gestione corporea dello spazio e quella mentale della successione temporale. Allo stesso tempo essi favoriscono la socializzazione, l'attenzione, la concentrazione e la memoria.
Dal punto di vista musicale, le attività didattiche centrate su suono e movimento, specialmente se proposte il più precocemente possibile, consentono l'acquisizione del 'senso ritmico', una delle abilità fondamentali per chi fa musica. Avere il senso del ritmo significa saper 'andare a tempo', cioè sincronizzare i gesti e i movimenti corporei al fine di produrre i suoni nel momento opportuno, con la voce, con il corpo o con gli strumenti musicali, ed essere in grado di ascoltare, comprendere, memorizzare e riprodurre ritmi via via sempre più articolati.
Musica e movimento sono quindi esperienze che si collocano alle fondamenta della vita dell’essere umano e che sono profondamente interconnesse. Il presente articolo approfondisce questa correlazione analizzando l’approccio al ritmo dei maggiori didatti del XX secolo (Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, Carl Orff, Zoltán  Kodály, Edgar Willems, Maurice Martenot, Laura Bassi) per poi esaminare il rapporto tra ritmo e movimento nella didattica odierna. Il capitolo è arricchito da esempi concreti di attività didattiche centrate sul ritmo e sul movimento per le scuole dell’infanzia e primaria.

This study was designed to understand the effects of experiential learning style test on elementary music and movement education experiences of students. Despite the general music education in Turkey elementary music and movement, education was used. The students were expected to gain experience, by the way, perceiving the rhythm of the words, singing, dancing, and playing free and regular games. The rhythm studies similar to the prosody written according to the rules of classical Ottoman poetry were developed with the participants. And also the students interpreted the test results according to these experiences. At the end of the study, the rhythm studies similar to the prosody written according to the rules of classical Ottoman poetry were developed with the participants. While the rhythm of the syllables and words were studied by the applications and also the letters were provided with the correct accent and intonation during the syllables. The experi-ential learning style test was used to understand how the students affected their elementary music and movement education experiences. And also the students interpreted the test results according to these experiences.

Recent scholarship on the Cold War has demonstrated that the prolonged geopolitical struggle between the American and Soviet superpowers had a significant cultural dimension in which art and science were deployed as potential weapons in the underlying ideological contest between the opposing sides. Far from being marginal, transnationally oriented projects of cultural diplomacy constituted important frames through which the Cold War was interpreted and experienced at the time. However, following the conventional antagonistic logic of the global standoff, scholarship so far has emphasized the competition of worldviews and focused less on the relationships, exchanges, and collaborations that emerged from Cold War interactions. Moreover, little attention has been given to the historical actors who were involved in the design, facilitation, and implementation of cultural and scientific relations between countries in the different "camps." Scholarship needs to examine more closely their agency in trans-systemic interactions and their structural position within professional networks which cut across the Iron Curtain. In my presentation, I will shortly analyze the activities of three trans-Atlantic cultural mediators who used their political, social, and often financial capital to establish and maintain multiple connections between the U.S. and communist Hungary. As such, I will look at the transnational activity of American poet Paul Engle (1908-1991), long-time director of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and the founder of the International Writing Program (IWP). Furthermore, I will examine the role in building scholarly and institutional bridges of professor Denis (Dénes) Sinor (1916-2011), a world-renown Hungarian-American linguist at Indiana University. I will explore how Hungarian historian György Ránki (1930-1988) worked towards building such scientific connections-first from Budapest, then as Chair of Hungarian Studies at IU in Bloomington, IN. Finally, I will show how composer and musical pedagogue Erzsébet Szőnyi carried out global cultural diplomacy through her promotion of the Kodály method. The investigation of their mediating activities reveals that the narrative of geopolitical struggle, starting with the 1960s, needs to be nuanced in order to incorporate non-competitive forms of interaction. If the story of Cold War relations between the U.S. and Eastern Europe was so far seen as that of polarity and conflict I aim to show that is was also about transnational interaction and cooperation.

Araştırma Milli Eğitime Bağlı Ortaokullarda Görev Yapan Müzik Öğretmenlerinin özel öğretim yöntemlerini derslerde kullanabilmeleriyle ilgili görüşlerini saptamak amacıyla yapılmıştır. Araştırmada yöntem olarak “durum çalışması” deseni kullanılmıştır. Veriler içim açık uçlu beş maddelik bir görüşme formu hazırlanmıştır. 24- 40 yaş aralığında bulunan 20 katılımcıyla yüz yüze görüşme yapılmış ve kendi derslerinde özel öğretim yöntemleri kullanmalarıyla ilgili beş maddelik formdaki sorular yöneltilmiştir. Veriler frekans analizi ve içerik çözümleme tekniği kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Çalışmada elde edilen veriler doğrultusunda öğretmenlerin en çok tercih ettikleri yöntemin Orff yöntemi olduğu ve bu yöntemleri en çok kullandıkları kazanımın Ritim-Tartım öğretimi olduğu, en sık karşılaştıkları problemlerin arasında Ders Süresinin Yetersiz Olması ve Öğrenci Velilerinin Müzik Dersine Olan Önyargıları gibi sonuçlara ulaşılmıştır.

Memes as cultural transmission units or imitation units were first described by the British biologist Richard Dawkins. Being the equivalent of genes, they are able to undergo replication processes, spread “from brain to brain” and evolve. These catchy, attractive and easy to remember structures are also found in music. Based on the assumption that memetics is not a popular science among musicians, both practitioners and teachers, the analysis undertaken in this text is an attempt to reflect memetic practice in the methods of the musical education developed by Zoltan Kodály, Carl Orff, Émile Jaques-Dalcroze and Edwin Gordon. It is also an offer for educators who are looking for new inspiration to work with children, either in music or general education.

Teaching in the music classroom requires careful planning and sequenced activities to progressively help instructional teaching achieve the designated objectives. This action research began the journey of searching of Chinese Children folk song, sorting out the best materials for teaching purposes, carried out the planned teaching and evaluated through reflective journal and literature. The model of teaching sequence is based on Malaysian Chinese children folk song collected within the known repertoire among the Chinese community. The teaching sequence was also modelled based on suggested teaching sequence (Kodály based) and shaped by referencing to numerous well-established teaching sequence in Hungary, United States of America and Australia. Multiple cyclical action research has been carried out in classroom teaching to identify the best use teaching sequence at the beginning of teaching primary year one pupils in Chinese primary school. Five different classes of Level One pupil from a Chinese primary school have been involved in this study. Reflective Journal and Diaries in this research serve the core for data collection and analysis purpose. The conducted action research reveals the pattern of sequencing melodic, rhythmic and phrasing which works best for teaching in the classroom. A set of sorted Chinese children folk songs in suggested sequence (child-centred based) the output from this action research.

This study was designed to understand the effects of experiential learning style test on elementary music and movement education experiences of students. Despite the general music education in Turkey elementary music and movement, education was used. The students were expected to gain experience, by the way, perceiving the rhythm of the words, singing, dancing, and playing free and regular games. The rhythm studies similar to the prosody written according to the rules of classical Ottoman poetry were developed with the participants. And also the students interpreted the test results according to these experiences. At the end of the study, the rhythm studies similar to the prosody written according to the rules of classical Ottoman poetry were developed with the participants. While the rhythm of the syllables and words were studied by the applications and also the letters were provided with the correct accent and intonation during the syllables. The experiential learning style test w...

When Zoltán Kodály set out to improve music education in Hungary, his aim was deeply rooted in the socio-political context of Eastern Europe in the first half of the 20th century. However, through his work in Hungary, Kodály laid the groundwork for a now widely adopted and adapted international 'method' for music education. Though Kodály's vision was originally concerned with principles rather than procedure, it is now associated with a very specific set of teaching methods, tools, and curriculum internationally. Notably, between 10 and 19% of Australian music teachers surveyed in the 2005 National Report into School Music Education identified themselves as associating with the Kodály method (Pascoe et al., 2005, p.67). However, recent criticism has argued that the "subsequent ritualisation, systematisation, and codification" (Benedict, 2009, p.215) of approaches such as Kodály has led to these methods being employed in a sometimes prescriptive, unthinking, and over-zealous manner in contemporary classrooms (Regelski, 2014). Considering this, there is a paucity of research that documents how teachers understand and enact the Kodály approach today, particularly in the secondary context.

“The Preconditions for a Single Jewish Folk Culture Have Developed...” /

Zoltán Kodály’s visit in Israel

In August 1963, four years before his death, Zoltán Kodály, the world-renowned Hungarian composer and folklorist visited Israel for an important international music conference. In addition to the rare cultural diplomatic significance of the event, it was also important because it proved that in the decades of existing socialism, official diplomacy often did not serve a real rapprochement between the countries of the West and the East, but some eminent intellectuals were more efficient in doing so. The diplomatic report published here proves this assumption. During his visit in Israel, Kodály was welcomed with great interest, and was also warmly received by politicians, municipal leaders and (of course) his former stu- dents who lived in the country. Kodály noticed that the cultural concept based on folk music tradition which he himself professed was accepted and represented in Israel as well. In this respect, it can also be argued that Israel was a model country for Kodály’s cultural concept at this time: based on folk traditions and imbued with the spirit of the people.

Currently, there is widespread incongruity between the way vocal teaching is approached by studio voice teachers, by classroom teachers and by choral conductors with conflicting opinions, philosophies and goals between the three types of teachers of singing. Consequently, children receive mixed messages about vocal technique that may be confusing and misleading. One of the reasons for this is the lack of dialogue between voice teachers and voice science. This paper locates these issues in teacher training and advocates that modern vocal pedagogy has much to offer classroom music teachers and that classroom teachers have much to offer the field of voice science. The aim is to contribute to discussions about a more comprehensive approach to modern vocal pedagogy.

In music learning, the term ‘notation’ is used to refer to the means of communication, which consists of grand staff and numbered notations. However, the method that is widely used by music teachers in music ensemble classes is the Kodály Method. This study was aimed at investigating students’ ability to perform Kodály hand sign technique, which was conducted in Dance Education Study Program, Lampung University. It adopted a descriptive-qualitative approach. The data were taken from a lecture sub-topic of “melody”, which was then compared to the sub-topic of “rhythmic”. The results showed that students understood and received the Kodály technique material more quickly. In conclusion, the students found it much easier to perform the Kodály hand sign technique than the grand staff notation in ensembles because the technique emphasized on hand rote which was then applied to a pianika or recorder.

Keywords: Kodály method, music language, ensembles

Methodological decisions made by researchers are often a reflection of their identity, beliefs, educational background, and personal history. This author's doctoral thesis will employ a multiple case study narrative inquiry to explore how the Kodály concept manifests in the professional lives of Australian secondary music educators, describing how these teachers have adopted/adapted the historically Hungarian method for their setting and how their involvement with the approach has impacted their beliefs, values, and identity. This paper outlines this methodological approach by positioning it within the context of the author's own personal story as a researcher, musician, and teacher. Following a short autobiographical narrative, the use and benefits of multiple case study narrative inquiry in exploring the stories of Australian Kodály-inspired teachers is discussed. Finally, the intended strategies for data collection are explained (such as interview, document analysis, and observation) and potential re-storying approaches are discussed (drawing on arts-inspired methods). Narrative research in education acknowledges and explores the many subjective influences on the practice of teachers; as such it would be hypocritical for the author to not acknowledge the impact of personal stimuli on her research method. In particular, the influence of an upbringing in a small, rural Australian town surrounded by teachers sharing stories of their practice has driven the author to see the epistemological and ontological value of narrative in pedagogical reflection. Similarly, the author's own music education and early teaching experiences are shown to have impacted her beliefs about the purpose of music education and the power of observation in pedagogical development. By situating her methodological choices as a reflection of biographical narrative and standpoint, the author hopes to give increased transparency to her doctoral research process whilst also highlighting the inherently interwoven and personal nature of life as a teacher, musician, and early career researcher.

Published in: AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY FOR MUSIC EDUCATION XXI NATIONAL CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS Melbourne, 13-15 July 2017

Through quantitative data collection in the form of a student survey, this case study identified the significant presence of Flow (a measurable state of engagement explored by psychologist Csikszentmihalyi) amongst a Year 8-9 cohort at a Victorian secondary school during their Kodály-based musicianship classes. To explore what was contributing to these levels of student Flow, qualitative data collection was undertaken in the form of class observation and a focus group. Thematic analysis of the focus group discussion, measured against a pre-existing engagement conditions checklist for arts education research, showed that there were four key contributors to the students' experiences of Flow. The students' descriptions of their Flow states and survey responses linked this engagement with positive affective experiences. These student reflections were supported by class observations, of which narrative description is provided in the findings. Whilst providing evidence of the engaging nature of some Kodály-specific practices for some students, this case study (whilst small-scale and highly context-specific) also describes many features of best practice music teaching, highlighting the importance of ongoing professional development for music educators.

For this paper, I will present my initial analysis of the first case study: Lynette, who has been teaching for over 20 years in Queensland, Australia, and has been closely associated with the Kodály community for the majority of that time. Interview data and lesson recordings from Lynette’s classroom have been used in order to construct a narrative description of her experiences with, understandings and enactments of the Kodály approach. The work of Bourdieu is being trialled as a theoretical lens in order to deepen this narrative description and analysis. By telling the story of Lynette’s relationship with the Kodály approach and its impact on her habitus, I explore the personal nature of a teacher’s enactment of the approach, highlighting the interwoven nature of teachers’ experiences with Kodály-based professional learning, their biography and beliefs, and their classroom practices.