Homeschool and University Lab Choir Partnership: A Case Study

Practical teaching experiences are commonly accepted as effective ways to build skills and dispositions of preservice music teachers. Although university professors design fieldwork experiences to provide benefits to both university students and those they teach, researchers have reported various challenges making them difficult to organize and sustain. University partnerships with homeschool families could serve as a community of musical practice in which both the university students and homeschool students (HSs) receive educational benefits. This article shares findings from a case study of a university–homeschool partnership in which choral practicum students co-directed a lab choir of 12- to 18-year olds for a semester. Findings from interview data from HSs, their parents, and preservice music teachers are organized according to the communities of practice dimensions: domain, community, and practice. The discussion features suggestions for future researchers and music teacher educators seeking to organize university partnerships with the homeschool community.