Thinking about Jazz Education in Canada: A Comparative Case Study of Collegiate Educators regarding Pedagogy, Administration, and the Future of Jazz Education

Abstract

This qualitative study captured the stories of four full-time professors and administrators of jazz, and explored how their views related to their practice. The four cases are Paul Read at the University of Toronto, Trish Colter at Humber College, Gordon Foote at McGill University, and Andrew Homzy at Concordia University. Two semi-structured interviews were conducted prior to observing each participant during a week of teaching. A third semi-structured interview followed and this set of questions was unique to each case. Three additional jazz educators in academia completed the first two interviews and this data served as a source of triangulation. Together the educators represented the seven Canadian schools that granted undergraduate degrees in jazz studies in 2005. Data consisted of interview and observation transcriptions, field notes, journals, memos, survey instruments, and pedagogical documents. Categories and themes emerged through a two-tier emergent coding scheme. The cases shared several categories: philosophy and practice of jazz education, the evolution of jazz studies, views on administration, and challenges to jazz education. In addition, each case described the struggles and success of a jazz program through the eyes of a founding faculty member. Several trends are suggested in the cross-case analysis that are important for the future of Canada’s jazz education. They include the rapid growth of jazz education, which is at odds with the nation’s diminishing artistic community, and an increasingly business-like approach to higher education. Possible solutions are volunteered. A pilot study informed this research. Credibility was strengthened by member checks, transferability was enhanced through rich description and multiple cases, dependability was increased by triangulation and an audit trail, and confirmability was enhanced by the use of an independent coder.