Papers by Karen Lee
Reflective Practice, 2009
This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or s... more This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
The following autoethnographic duet by faculty advisor and professor creates a dramatic and evoca... more The following autoethnographic duet by faculty advisor and professor creates a dramatic and evocative account of the personal and cultural experience about a disabled student teacher. They blend storytelling and music which fuses a theoretical analysis about storytelling and life. Although sociocultural issues draw deep reflection about the emotional turmoil, cultural influences of language and social interaction provide details that critique social structures. As musician becoming teacher is a passionate yet complex endeavor, the faculty advisor shares first-hand a poetic but painful story about a disabled teacher being inducted into the teaching profession. By making explicit the personal-cultural connection, they use the life-changing epiphany to critique cultural issues about teaching and disability. As the faculty advisor approaches the professor for advice, his musicianship shifts her forward, backward, and sideways through feelings that evoke, invoke, and provoke a curriculum that does not transfer knowledge from educational method classes. Instead, it embeds musical language as a metaphorical conduit to interrogate the pros, cons and both sides of the complicated issue of disability that influences the completion of his teaching practicum for his undergraduate bachelor of education degree. An epiphany from music and story reveals the irony of living in a culture of both uniformity and diversity. They explore the constructs of ideology, abnormality, marginalization, and secrecy. Thus, by blending story and music, the authors resolve a transformative autoethnographic aspect about the personal and cultural influences that provoke new deeper ways of thinking about curriculum.
Teacher Education Quarterly 29(4), Sep 2002
This arts-based educational research inquiry forms a portion of the dialogic relationship between... more This arts-based educational research inquiry forms a portion of the dialogic relationship between a female doctoral student and her male graduate supervisor. The dialogue surrounds the doctoral dissertation entitled, "Musicians Becoming Music Educators: An Intersection of Identities." The narrative dissertation explores literary study, arts-based research, and feminist based literature. Karen Lee investigates the nature of musicians' lives during practicum, university, and school based contexts, as well as the nature of institutional education, societal issues influencing musicianship, the conflicts of love, issues of loss, the paradoxes of musicians becoming music teachers, the power of writing as a form of inquiry, and the experiences of a woman writer-musician-music educator-music teacher educator.
Her dissertation is composed of a collection of short stories about her experiences with musicians during their teacher education program. After experimenting with different modes of narration, it became clear that writing short stories allowed musicians to voice an account of their understanding and experiences of personal, emotional identity changes. Some of Karen V. Lee's dissertation chapters have been published in the highly regarded journal, Qualitative Inquiry.
This narrative begins as a discussion in research traditions and ends in a discourse concerning the nature of truth. Our discussion takes the form of a musical fugue, and as such, is reliant on musical terms. A fugue is a contrapuntal composition. Not all fugues have preludes, but like those found in music, ours serves to introduce motifs that are explored throughout the composition. In the exposition, the subject (i.e., a short melody or phrase) is introduced in imitative fashion. Subjects can vary in length and should be long enough to impart a notion of being an actual line (i.e., musical idea). After the initial statement of the subject, another voice called the answer enters in a related musical key.
Through the introduction of a variety of music ideas, not necessarily directly related to the subject, episodes provide smooth transitions (between keys) to the next subject statement. In a stretto section, the subject ideas are closely overlapped and pulled tightly together (i.e., rather than being spread out in succession). Retrograde is a device where the subject is written backwards. The final statement is the final portion of the fugue, where there are at least one or two statements of the subject.
Throughout the musical discourse, we investigate narrative inquiry and the way it influences our thoughts and feelings. We both challenge, probe, and (de)construct the words of each other and play with words that create something of a Baroque fugue of intertwining melodic material. At the final cadence, we cross voices (i.e., staves, in a metaphoric sense) to sustain and progress our relationship. In the wake of feminist and postmodernist critiques of traditional qualitative writing practices, notions of boundaries blur and jumble.
We were free to tell and retell and not "get it right," but rather "get it" contoured and nuanced. Our dialogue sought coherence, verisimilitude, and interest.
We believe that voices can re/sound beside one another and tell stories both individually and together. One criterion we explore is whether the text inspired something beyond itself--that is, more research, social action, and a change between "us." Through interwoven voices, we compose a music invention with underlying themes, fugal statements, episodes, and rich counterpoint. Writing and rewriting strengthened our individual voices, as we became more present, more honest, and more engaged. We do not think of ourselves as 'authoritative voices' but recognize that we can assemble a variety of voices and perspectives into a 'multi-voiced' composition, presenting contrasting points of views through our eyes, ears, and mouths. Though the tradition of the directly persuasive, single-voiced 'realistic' narrative still prevails, we encourage the multi-voiced text as a way of drawing attention to the process of exploring the meaning of experience, of collecting different aspects and interpretations of events, and examining the relationships between them. In the end, we want our composition to be an open invitation for other voices to be heard, for others to draw on their empathetic, affective, and aesthetic modes of understanding, and for others to improvise and compose their stories in the themes and counterpoint of our story.
Carol Mullen, editor of this special ABER issue of TEQ, writes:
"Peter Gouzouasis and Karen Lee offer a compelling, provocative narrative with their MUSICAL MENTORSHIP BOWER, "Do You Hear What I Hear? Musicians Composing the Truth." This narrative essay addresses a serious gap in arts-based research and teacher education involving the role and status of music. The authors engage in a mentoring dialogue about the broader philosophical issues involved in teacher education today. They are accurate in asserting that much of what has been written in arts-based research is rooted in visual art traditions, and they wish to extend the possibilities for music education.
Toward this end, the collaborators offer new ideas and language for developing music fluency and literacy in the lives of children and arts-based educators. Readers are also given the opportunity to learn how musical concepts can be used in the context of dialogic, mentoring relationships. Concerns about "truth" are the most salient thread in the montage of stories shared. With more music scholarship that is simultaneously artistically crafted research, these artists claim that this discourse could have an impact on teacher education and the field of arts-based education itself. The dialogue that is nurtured enables a new understanding about how musicians' voices need to be heard so that alternative modes of research and teaching can be extended. With this awareness, our developing arts community can be enriched."
This autoethnographic duet is an artful inquiry about the tragedy of a beginning music teacher. A... more This autoethnographic duet is an artful inquiry about the tragedy of a beginning music teacher. A painful story about a music teacher and sexual allegations from an adolescent female, our composition blends music and story to transform understandings through creative engagement and push the boundaries to evoke visceral and emotional responses regarding suicide. Sociocultural issues draw deep reflection about wider political issues that arise for teachers who display difficulties with moral issues and misguided choices. The epiphany-epiphony (Gouzouasis, 2013) through story and music reveals the cultural irony of ideology and secrecy in professional misconduct. Unfortunately, in this circumstance, the outcome was catastrophic.
Reflective Practice, Apr 2009
The dialogue in this inquiry reflects how mentorship can be transformative for a graduate supervi... more The dialogue in this inquiry reflects how mentorship can be transformative for a graduate supervisor and doctoral student. It inscribes into the curriculum the evolution of their personal relationship. Dialogue, as an epistemological process, explores ethical and theoretical dimensions of mentorship, which serves as a framework for self-knowledge and critical inquiry. The dynamics of trust and empathy embodied in mentorship can shape social relationships. In the end, the dialogic deepens their relationship while providing a framework for reflecting about the phenomenon of mentorship.
The autoethnography in this article explores the author's struggle with racism. The emotional lan... more The autoethnography in this article explores the author's struggle with racism. The emotional landscape causes her to blur the boundaries between the individual and collective human experience. She reflects on memories of discrimination and reveals the irony of how she lives in both a culture of diversity and a culture of prejudice. Reflecting challenges the author to realize that racism still exists despite societal efforts at advancing the notion of tolerance and multiculturalism. She explores constructs of ideology and hegemony, power and powerlessness, domination and resistance, representation and misrepresentation, normality and abnormality. By blending autobiography and ethnography, the author resolves a deeper understanding about the personal and cultural influences shaping racism.
Chapters from books by Karen Lee
The authentic dissertation: Alternative ways of knowing research and representation. Don Four Arrows Jacobs (Ed.), 149-155. London: RoutledgeFalmer., 2008
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Papers by Karen Lee
Her dissertation is composed of a collection of short stories about her experiences with musicians during their teacher education program. After experimenting with different modes of narration, it became clear that writing short stories allowed musicians to voice an account of their understanding and experiences of personal, emotional identity changes. Some of Karen V. Lee's dissertation chapters have been published in the highly regarded journal, Qualitative Inquiry.
This narrative begins as a discussion in research traditions and ends in a discourse concerning the nature of truth. Our discussion takes the form of a musical fugue, and as such, is reliant on musical terms. A fugue is a contrapuntal composition. Not all fugues have preludes, but like those found in music, ours serves to introduce motifs that are explored throughout the composition. In the exposition, the subject (i.e., a short melody or phrase) is introduced in imitative fashion. Subjects can vary in length and should be long enough to impart a notion of being an actual line (i.e., musical idea). After the initial statement of the subject, another voice called the answer enters in a related musical key.
Through the introduction of a variety of music ideas, not necessarily directly related to the subject, episodes provide smooth transitions (between keys) to the next subject statement. In a stretto section, the subject ideas are closely overlapped and pulled tightly together (i.e., rather than being spread out in succession). Retrograde is a device where the subject is written backwards. The final statement is the final portion of the fugue, where there are at least one or two statements of the subject.
Throughout the musical discourse, we investigate narrative inquiry and the way it influences our thoughts and feelings. We both challenge, probe, and (de)construct the words of each other and play with words that create something of a Baroque fugue of intertwining melodic material. At the final cadence, we cross voices (i.e., staves, in a metaphoric sense) to sustain and progress our relationship. In the wake of feminist and postmodernist critiques of traditional qualitative writing practices, notions of boundaries blur and jumble.
We were free to tell and retell and not "get it right," but rather "get it" contoured and nuanced. Our dialogue sought coherence, verisimilitude, and interest.
We believe that voices can re/sound beside one another and tell stories both individually and together. One criterion we explore is whether the text inspired something beyond itself--that is, more research, social action, and a change between "us." Through interwoven voices, we compose a music invention with underlying themes, fugal statements, episodes, and rich counterpoint. Writing and rewriting strengthened our individual voices, as we became more present, more honest, and more engaged. We do not think of ourselves as 'authoritative voices' but recognize that we can assemble a variety of voices and perspectives into a 'multi-voiced' composition, presenting contrasting points of views through our eyes, ears, and mouths. Though the tradition of the directly persuasive, single-voiced 'realistic' narrative still prevails, we encourage the multi-voiced text as a way of drawing attention to the process of exploring the meaning of experience, of collecting different aspects and interpretations of events, and examining the relationships between them. In the end, we want our composition to be an open invitation for other voices to be heard, for others to draw on their empathetic, affective, and aesthetic modes of understanding, and for others to improvise and compose their stories in the themes and counterpoint of our story.
Carol Mullen, editor of this special ABER issue of TEQ, writes:
"Peter Gouzouasis and Karen Lee offer a compelling, provocative narrative with their MUSICAL MENTORSHIP BOWER, "Do You Hear What I Hear? Musicians Composing the Truth." This narrative essay addresses a serious gap in arts-based research and teacher education involving the role and status of music. The authors engage in a mentoring dialogue about the broader philosophical issues involved in teacher education today. They are accurate in asserting that much of what has been written in arts-based research is rooted in visual art traditions, and they wish to extend the possibilities for music education.
Toward this end, the collaborators offer new ideas and language for developing music fluency and literacy in the lives of children and arts-based educators. Readers are also given the opportunity to learn how musical concepts can be used in the context of dialogic, mentoring relationships. Concerns about "truth" are the most salient thread in the montage of stories shared. With more music scholarship that is simultaneously artistically crafted research, these artists claim that this discourse could have an impact on teacher education and the field of arts-based education itself. The dialogue that is nurtured enables a new understanding about how musicians' voices need to be heard so that alternative modes of research and teaching can be extended. With this awareness, our developing arts community can be enriched."
Chapters from books by Karen Lee
Her dissertation is composed of a collection of short stories about her experiences with musicians during their teacher education program. After experimenting with different modes of narration, it became clear that writing short stories allowed musicians to voice an account of their understanding and experiences of personal, emotional identity changes. Some of Karen V. Lee's dissertation chapters have been published in the highly regarded journal, Qualitative Inquiry.
This narrative begins as a discussion in research traditions and ends in a discourse concerning the nature of truth. Our discussion takes the form of a musical fugue, and as such, is reliant on musical terms. A fugue is a contrapuntal composition. Not all fugues have preludes, but like those found in music, ours serves to introduce motifs that are explored throughout the composition. In the exposition, the subject (i.e., a short melody or phrase) is introduced in imitative fashion. Subjects can vary in length and should be long enough to impart a notion of being an actual line (i.e., musical idea). After the initial statement of the subject, another voice called the answer enters in a related musical key.
Through the introduction of a variety of music ideas, not necessarily directly related to the subject, episodes provide smooth transitions (between keys) to the next subject statement. In a stretto section, the subject ideas are closely overlapped and pulled tightly together (i.e., rather than being spread out in succession). Retrograde is a device where the subject is written backwards. The final statement is the final portion of the fugue, where there are at least one or two statements of the subject.
Throughout the musical discourse, we investigate narrative inquiry and the way it influences our thoughts and feelings. We both challenge, probe, and (de)construct the words of each other and play with words that create something of a Baroque fugue of intertwining melodic material. At the final cadence, we cross voices (i.e., staves, in a metaphoric sense) to sustain and progress our relationship. In the wake of feminist and postmodernist critiques of traditional qualitative writing practices, notions of boundaries blur and jumble.
We were free to tell and retell and not "get it right," but rather "get it" contoured and nuanced. Our dialogue sought coherence, verisimilitude, and interest.
We believe that voices can re/sound beside one another and tell stories both individually and together. One criterion we explore is whether the text inspired something beyond itself--that is, more research, social action, and a change between "us." Through interwoven voices, we compose a music invention with underlying themes, fugal statements, episodes, and rich counterpoint. Writing and rewriting strengthened our individual voices, as we became more present, more honest, and more engaged. We do not think of ourselves as 'authoritative voices' but recognize that we can assemble a variety of voices and perspectives into a 'multi-voiced' composition, presenting contrasting points of views through our eyes, ears, and mouths. Though the tradition of the directly persuasive, single-voiced 'realistic' narrative still prevails, we encourage the multi-voiced text as a way of drawing attention to the process of exploring the meaning of experience, of collecting different aspects and interpretations of events, and examining the relationships between them. In the end, we want our composition to be an open invitation for other voices to be heard, for others to draw on their empathetic, affective, and aesthetic modes of understanding, and for others to improvise and compose their stories in the themes and counterpoint of our story.
Carol Mullen, editor of this special ABER issue of TEQ, writes:
"Peter Gouzouasis and Karen Lee offer a compelling, provocative narrative with their MUSICAL MENTORSHIP BOWER, "Do You Hear What I Hear? Musicians Composing the Truth." This narrative essay addresses a serious gap in arts-based research and teacher education involving the role and status of music. The authors engage in a mentoring dialogue about the broader philosophical issues involved in teacher education today. They are accurate in asserting that much of what has been written in arts-based research is rooted in visual art traditions, and they wish to extend the possibilities for music education.
Toward this end, the collaborators offer new ideas and language for developing music fluency and literacy in the lives of children and arts-based educators. Readers are also given the opportunity to learn how musical concepts can be used in the context of dialogic, mentoring relationships. Concerns about "truth" are the most salient thread in the montage of stories shared. With more music scholarship that is simultaneously artistically crafted research, these artists claim that this discourse could have an impact on teacher education and the field of arts-based education itself. The dialogue that is nurtured enables a new understanding about how musicians' voices need to be heard so that alternative modes of research and teaching can be extended. With this awareness, our developing arts community can be enriched."