Abstract
In an increasingly diverse world, music educators are challenged to connect and create successful learning environments for all their students, regardless of their background, identity, or social status. Music, at its core, is a cultural art, and as such, is an ideal medium for fostering Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT), a collection of ideas and dispositions that promote academic success through practices like including diverse and student-reflective materials, empowering students to share their own ideas, be leaders, and challenge the status quo, and by fostering a safe and equitable environment for all students (Bond, 2017; Fitzpatrick, 2012; Gay, 2018; Ladson-Billings,1992; Lohmeyer, 2020; Paris, 2012 ).
The pedagogy of Carl Orff and Gunild Keetman, Orff Schulwerk, is a widely used, successful, student-centered approach to music education. It lends itself quite naturally to CRT, as it focuses on the growth and process of students and educators, makes success possible for students at all ability levels, and is designed to allow educators to use culturally relevant repertoire and language (Frazee & Kreuter,1987; Lohmeyer, 2020; Orff 1963; Steen, 1992). This 3rd Grade Music curriculum project focuses on using Orff Schulwerk in tandem with Culturally Responsive Teaching in a school community that is majority White and of high socioeconomic status.