Abstract

Fa’aSamoa, the cultural framework shaping Samoan values, relationships, and daily life, deeply informs educational experiences in American Samoa. Music, as both cultural expression and communal practice, offers a powerful lens through which student engagement can be understood. This exploratory study employed multimodal interpretative phenomenological analysis (MMIPA), guided by the Fa’afaletui framework, to examine how Samoan and Pacific Islander students responded in embodied ways to traditional Samoan, culturally adapted Western, and other Western (folk, classical, pop) music in classroom settings. Drawing on focus group interviews and systematic observations, the study centered students’ movement, vocal expression, rhythmic participation, and peer interaction as meaningful forms of embodied response. Thirty-seven students participated in the instructional sessions, with seven focal students completing at least four of six lessons and engaging in focus groups. Across genres, students responded physically, emotionally, and relationally; however, traditional Samoan music elicited the most cohesive and collectively aligned participation. Culturally adapted Western repertoire generated engagement through structured interaction, while other Western genres prompted activity-based involvement. These findings suggest that cultural familiarity may shape the cohesion and immediacy of embodied musical participation and offer a foundation for future research on culturally grounded music within educational contexts.

Degree

MS

College and Department

David O. McKay School of Education; Counseling Psychology and Special Education

Rights

https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2026-04-20

Document Type

Thesis

Keywords

multimodal interpretative phenomenological analysis, Samoan music, Fa'aSamoa, student engagement, culturally responsive teaching

Language

english

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