scholarly journals Social Justice in the English Secondary Music Classroom

Author(s):  
Chris Philpott ◽  
Jason Kubilius

Taking as its context the development of music education within English secondary schools (students aged 11–18) over the last 50 years, and supported by “vignettes” from a practicing music teacher in a secondary school on the outskirts of London, this chapter seeks to address some key questions around social justice and music education, including: What is meant by social justice in the music classroom? What are the indicators for a socially just classroom? The chapter goes on to explore significant moments in the history of classroom music in England and how, in spite of best efforts, the promotion of social justice has been “confounded” by subtle cultural forces. The chapter concludes by speculating on the implications of this analysis for the music classroom in the twenty-first century and by reflecting on whether the classroom can ever provide the appropriate “space” for a socially just approach to music education.

Author(s):  
Martin Fautley ◽  
Richard Colwell

The issue of assessment in music education in the secondary school is one of concern in a range of contexts, including teaching, learning, accountability, policy, and politics. In order to investigate assessment in the secondary school, there is a need to understand what assessment is; what the terminologies involved mean; what the implications of assessment are for learners, teachers, program organizers, administrators, legislators, and other interested stakeholders; and what constitutes secondary school music. This article considers the following issues in student assessment: the context of assessment, the uses and purposes of assessment, legitimizing assessment, and assessment and music pedagogy.


Author(s):  
Renée Crawford

<span>This article explores the current availability and use of information communication and technology (ICT) for music education purposes, and music technology resources and facilities, in Victorian government secondary schools. Survey data is presented providing a snapshot of the status of computer and technology resources in government secondary schools in several Metropolitan Regions. Discussion is focused on a case study into one particular secondary school and the perceptions of one music teacher and her students regarding class music and ICT. While preferential treatment for resources, particularly access to ICT, was accorded to some disciplines, arts subjects such as music were frequently excluded. Results indicated that reforming music education to reflect contemporary music practice will not only engage student interest, but also assist in raising the status of music in the school curriculum by demonstrating its relevancy. An effective use of ICT and music technology can assist in emulating real life or authentic learning contexts to achieve this pedagogical change. However, a major challenge illustrated in this case study was the paucity of resources, a concern shared by many music educators. Nevertheless, the music teacher in this case study used the minimal resources at her disposal effectively, providing an exemplar of adapting to ICT resource limitations.</span>


Author(s):  
Smaragda Chrysostomu

Our world today is dominated by ICT, and “digital literacy” skills are considered vital for educating the citizen of the future. In music and music education the use of technology has had a profound impact, offering freedom and opening new paths for creativity and musical explorations. But teachers are still reluctant and in most cases unprepared to bring into the classroom skills and technology applications that students are familiar with outside school that could revolutionize music teaching and learning. Greece, in much the same way as countries around the world, in the middle of a crippling economic crisis, is debating the extent and the quality of ICT integration in education. A number of initiatives and projects utilizing technology are available for primary and secondary music education, but in the end, as is evident from this snapshot, it depends on the music teacher to take advantage of technology’s transformative powers.


2018 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Martin

School choice has become an increasingly available option for families in the United States. Given the current political climate, music educators must better understand the various dimensions of the school choice movement and how it may affect the music classroom. Following a brief history of school choice, this article offers a look at the movement’s influence on the music teacher workforce, music curricula, and funding for music education. Recommendations surrounding the equity of school music opportunities are explored.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 52-63
Author(s):  
В. А. Добровольська

The point of this study is to cover the issue of history of women’s secondary education in Katerynoslavprovince in the 2nd half of the XIX – early XX centuries. Patriarchal judgments and views on the women’srole have been characteristic of the society of the Russian Empire for centuries. It has been found out thatthe democratic reforms of the 60-70s of the XIX century marked the beginning of the changes towardswomanhood. The historical premises for the formation of the women’s education system are covered. Itis established that the creation of women’s educational institutions of all classes in terms of legislativeframework begins in the 1950’s. Women’s educational institutions were subordinate to different institutionsand had different organizational and educational backgrounds. Thus, the Ministry of Public Education hadthe most rights and opportunities in the sphere of education. In addition to state schools, there were privateand public schools. It is established that the new system of educational sector management is claimed asstate-public. The main types of general secondary schools in Katerynoslav province in the II half of theXIX – early XX centuries were gymnasiums, progymnasiums, parochial secondary school for girls. Thefeatures of the financial situation of the gymnasiums on the example of certain educational institutions arerevealed. Thus, a large number of women’s gymnasiums and progymnasiums and their popularity withthe population were directly related to the rapid economic development of the region and the vigorousactivity of local self-government bodies. The content of education of those secondary schools is defined.The popularity of gymnasiums with the population comes from their class-inclusive nature. The range ofwomen’s gymnasiums in the early XX century is distinguished on grounds of division into classes andreligion. Education for daughters of clergymen was of a limited nature compared to the gymnasiums. As aresult, women’s religious secondary education evolved less dynamically. It is established that the religiousaffairs authority opened professional secondary educational institutions – parochial secondary school forgirls – primarily for the daughters of clergymen. There was only one such school in Katerynoslav province– in the principal town of the province. The content of the education of parochial secondary school forgirls is described. The proportion of disciplines of the humanities and mathematical and natural sciences iscompared. The article states that the end of the XIX - early XX centuries was marked by the decline in thesystem of parochial secondary school for girls, and defines the content of the reforms of the religious affairsauthority. The sources of funding of Katerynoslav parochial secondary school for girls and gymnasiums arecompared. The role of parochial secondary school for girls in the problem of providing public school withteachers is figured out.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-99
Author(s):  
J. Si Millican ◽  
Sommer Helweh Forrester

There is a decades-long history of music education researchers examining characteristics and skills associated with effective teaching and assessing how preservice music teachers develop those competencies. Building on studies of pedagogical content knowledge and the professional opinions of experienced music educators, researchers are now attempting to identity a body of core music teaching practices. We asked experienced in-service music teachers ( N = 898) to think about the skills beginning music teachers must possess to investigate how respondents rated and ranked selected core music teaching practices in terms of their relative importance. Developing appropriate relationships with students, modeling music concepts, and sequencing instruction were the top core teaching practices identified by the group. Results provide insights into knowing, naming, and framing a set of core teaching practices and offer a common technical vocabulary that music teacher educators might use as they design curricula and activities to develop these foundational skills.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 22-37
Author(s):  
Samuel Escalante

Music teacher educators often work to prepare preservice music teachers to be socially conscious and adopt dispositions toward teaching in socially just ways. Preservice teachers’ beliefs, attitudes, and dispositions toward social justice issues may not be sufficiently challenged, however, unless coursework is appropriately conceived. I designed a three-part workshop to introduce and explore the concepts of access, intersectionality, and privilege, and then conducted a basic qualitative study to examine undergraduate music education students’ understandings of and attitudes toward sensitive social justice issues, as well as their experiences with the workshop. I found that exploring sociological concepts related to social justice through interactive activities and allowing students safe methods for expressing themselves, such as journaling, may facilitate the adoption of positive dispositions among preservice teachers toward toward social justice issues.


Author(s):  
Lucy Green ◽  
Flavia Narita

This chapter considers social justice in relation to the incorporation of a set of informal learning practices within the secondary school music classroom and teacher education. It interprets Nancy Fraser’s view of social justice as “parity of participation” in order to suggest that the dialogical approach of informal music learning practices can potentially promote such participatory parity. It then examines Paulo Freire’s concept of critical pedagogy, which emphasizes the need for teachers and students to participate together in the learning process so as to enhance critical consciousness. Through an application of Green’s theory of musical meaning, the authors suggest that critical consciousness in music can be aided through a deeper understanding of music’s sonic materials and their inter-relations. Informal learning in the music classroom may promote both parity of participation and critical consciousness, with the potential to lead to a liberating musical experience.


Author(s):  
Chris Philpott ◽  
Ruth Wright

This article, which addresses the interfaces between learning, teaching, and curriculum in classroom music teaching, presents a theoretical framework drawn from the work of the British sociologist Basil Bernstein that allows for the analysis of different curriculum and pedagogic models in music education. To elaborate on this, a number of different curriculum models are presented and analyzed. Finally, the article shares some thoughts concerning future music curricula, based on Bernstein's principles of democratic rights in education, which focus on the possibility of promoting social justice in the music classroom.


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