scholarly journals Challenging exclusionary paradigms in the traditional musical canon: Implications for music education practice

2011 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 374-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marsha Kindall-Smith ◽  
Constance L. McKoy ◽  
Susan W. Mills

The authors propose that best practices in music education require a conceptual understanding of music teaching and learning based on a perspective of social justice and equitable access for all students. Examinations of the relationship between the tenets of culturally-responsive teaching and three dimensions of music teaching and learning (musical content, instruction, and context) are presented: (1) historically, through the identification of neglected African American contributions to Appalachian music; and (2) pedagogically, through the chronicling of social justice content and culturally-responsive instruction as taught in an urban university and public middle school. The implications of issues of power and social justice for music education are further contextualized within the lens of critical pedagogy to uncover possibilities for a 21st century canon of music teacher preparation that will maximize the potential to transform music education practice.

Author(s):  
William M. Dabback ◽  
David S. Smith

Evidence suggests that music participation and learning provides meaningful engagement for elders as well as biological, social, and psychosocial benefits. This article examines important threads in aging, music research, and music education practice with regards to the older adult populations. It presents guiding principles of music teaching and learning for older adults, and examples of programs and models from around the world.


Author(s):  
Marissa Silverman

This chapter asks an important, yet seemingly illusive, question: In what ways does the internet provide (or not) activist—or, for present purposes “artivist”—opportunities and engagements for musicing, music sharing, and music teaching and learning? According to Asante (2008), an “artivist (artist + activist) uses her artistic talents to fight and struggle against injustice and oppression—by any medium necessary. The artivist merges commitment to freedom and justice with the pen, the lens, the brush, the voice, the body, and the imagination. The artivist knows that to make an observation is to have an obligation” (p. 6). Given this view, can (and should) social media be a means to achieve artivism through online musicing and music sharing, and, therefore, music teaching and learning? Taking a feminist perspective, this chapter interrogates the nature of cyber musical artivism as a potential means to a necessary end: positive transformation. In what ways can social media be a conduit (or hindrance) for cyber musical artivism? What might musicing and music sharing gain (or lose) from engaging with online artivist practices? In addition to a philosophical investigation, this chapter will examine select case studies of online artivist music making and music sharing communities with the above concerns in mind, specifically as they relate to music education.


This chapter describes cases of music teaching and learning from Pre-K-12 schools. As a trait of book, instead of focusing on how-to instruction and technical aspects of music teaching, the author puts a special emphasis on music learning in a social context. Both music and music education consist of social interaction among learners, teachers, and community members. This process is especially unique to music because we always learn from each other and perceive music in a shared sense. The author wishes you also learn from these cases and implement the idea of your practice for students to learn from each other.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Virginia Eulacio Cierniak

Music is an accessible tool for positive change within people and societies, even in places facing socioeconomic marginalization due to poverty, discrimination, and lack of access to resources. Social capital has to do with the resources and networks available within society, which may help confront issues faced by individuals and communities. Community Music Therapy (CoMT) and the music education movement known as El Sistema both utilize music—understood as social capital—to address social justice. The purpose of this study was to comparatively examine the ways in which CoMT and El Sistema programs may address the empowerment needs of individuals and communities facing socioeconomic marginalization and suggest how these two approaches may be able to work synergistically to achieve their shared goals. Its findings reveal many parallels and divergence between El Sistema and CoMT in terms of the role of the music, program structure, social justice goals, outcomes, music education practice, areas of intersection, existing scholarly research, and criticisms each has received.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 497-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Verne Hélène Lorway

This article draws upon the experiences of the author as a music educator creating inclusive music programmes over the past 24 years. She describes how informal learning gleaned from the approaches of popular musicians, combined with musicking as a means of building powerful relationships and critical pedagogy to infuse student voices into the teaching and learning process is a potent recipe for building an inclusive music class. Such a method needs to be guided by music educators throughout the learning process. Examining inclusive music education leads to further questions regarding what constitutes musicality and non-musicality in western society. When persons of all ages are involved in musicking in school and community contexts, music educators need to be involved in the challenges surrounding notions of musicality and non-musicality to steer processes that can create spaces for learning and growth.


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.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-30
Author(s):  
Rachel Garland ◽  
Mary Lou Batty

We argue that while the discipline of nursing aligns with the ideals of social justice and anti-racism, it has been challenging for nurse educators to translate these ideals into practice. In this discussion paper, we explore these challenges. Of note, there is little guidance for nurse educators to support student knowledge development in addressing the complex issues surrounding anti-racist and anti-discriminatory practice. Accordingly, we utilized Peggy Chinn’s Peace and Power framework as a guide to develop an anti-racist practice that is underpinned by critical pedagogy. Our aim is to provide teaching and learning strategies for nurse educators to address racism, discrimination, and oppression in undergraduate nursing learning environments. Implications of this article include guidance for nurse educators who are committed to anti-racist pedagogical practice.  


Author(s):  
Nasim Niknafs

Without access to official state-sanctioned, public music education, Iranian youth, specifically rock and alternative musicians, follow a self-organized and anarchistic path of music making. Expertly negotiating between the act of music making and the unpredictable situations they face daily, they have become creative in finding new ways to propagate their music and learn the rules of their profession. Meanings attached to assessment in these circumstances become redefined and overshadow the quality of music being created. Assessment becomes a local activism that countervails the top-down, summative model. This chapter provides some characteristics of assessment in music teaching and learning in urban Iran that follow Nilsson and Folkestad’s (2005) ecocultural perspective, consisting of four elements: (a) Gibson’s (1979) concept of affordances, (b) orality, (c) theories of play, and (d) theories of chance. Consequently, assessment in urban Iranian music education can be categorized as follows: (1) do-it-yourself (DIY) and do-it-with-others (DIWO), (2) interactive and decentralized, (3) local anarchism, and (4) lifestyle. This chapter concludes that the field of music education should take a “slightly outside perspective” (Lundström, 2012, p. 652) and proactive approach toward assessment, rather than the reactionary approach to music teaching and learning in which assessment becomes an end goal rather than an approach embodied within learning.


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