A community of singing: motivation, identity, andcommunitasin a Mennonite School choir programme

Abstract

This qualitative study sought to identify and define aspects of the educational and community culture that underlie a Mennonite School music programme, facilitate students’ motivation to continue participation, and contribute to individual and group identity. Four interrelated institutions provided context for student music participation: community of church and family, the school and its culture, the music director and the choir ensembles. Pedagogical practices reflected conscious efforts to increase students’ perceptions of competence, provide autonomy in learning interactions, and promote relatedness. The programme reflected the centrality of communal singing in Mennonite culture and exists within a school context that emphasises interconnectedness in community that seemingly runs counter to an ethos of individuality in the United States. Through rituals embedded in Mennonite culture and communal singing, the choir programme reflects communitas, or a spirit of mutual belonging and unity.

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