“We will fight Goliath”: Negotiation of space for musical agency in children’s music education

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna-Karin Kuuse
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Social Outcomes ◽  
Educational Practices ◽  
String Orchestra ◽  
Children's Music ◽  
Audio Recordings ◽  
El Sistema

Following a music philosophy debate deriving from the 1990s, this article puts the extra-musical and social outcomes of situated music educational practices at the fore. The Swedish replica of the choir and orchestra school El Sistema, a programme globally asserting social change and social impact, appeared useful for elaborating such outcomes in practice. Following this, the present study aims to empirically elaborate musical agency as an analytical concept to understand children’s experiences, while at the same time discussing musical agency in relation to a social discursive view on practice. A Swedish El Sistema children’s string orchestra was followed for three months and the material for analysis consists of audio recordings and observation notes from lessons, performances and family events, as well as documents surrounding the activities. Constructions of discipline, empowerment and space are revealed as affecting opportunities for musical agency. The study thus elaborates on discursive constraints and opportunities for agency negotiation while discussing social outcomes with and within music education.

The Arts and Social Change

2021 ◽  
pp. 18-63
Author(s):  
Alexandra Kertz-Welzel
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Important Research ◽  
Human Flourishing ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Political Purpose ◽  
The Social ◽  
El Sistema ◽  
Music Education Policy

This chapter analyzes the relation of the arts, and particularly music education, to social change. The first section discusses what social change is, presenting important research and ideas. It situates the notion of social change within the framework of utopia and connects it with human flourishing as its ultimate goal. The second section is concerned with the social impact of the arts, discussing important notions such as their relation to cultivation and to moral intentions, and their political purpose. The third section is explicitly focused on music education’s relation to social change, presenting general considerations and examples such as El Sistema or developments in international music education policy.

scholarly journals Making music, making language

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-65
Author(s):  
Ofelia Garcia ◽  
Angélica Ortega
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Education Programme ◽  
Crack Open ◽  
Music Making ◽  
El Sistema

This article reframes how the making of music by minoritized bilingual Latinxchildren is interrelated to their languaging and their literacies’ performances.Taking a translanguaging approach, musicking/languaging/performing literacies are described here as holistic critical meaning-making processes. Focusing on the process by which students make meaning of texts, and not simply on the output or product of such meaning-making, this article shows how a music education programme based on El Sistema and designed for social change transforms minoritized children’s critical sense of their positions and subjectivities as producers of language and literacies. Through music education, long considered only an enrichment activity from which language minoritized students are often excluded, bilingual Latinx children are able to crack open a vision for themselves and others as competent, dignified, and valid meaning-makers—as performers of complex acts of language and literacies.

El Sistema fundamentals in practice: An examination of one public elementary school partnership in the US

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 357-368
Author(s):  
Jamie Simpson Steele
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Public School ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Teaching Artists ◽  
Music Program ◽  
El Sistema ◽  
School Partnership

El Sistema is a Venezuelan program of social change that has inspired a worldwide movement in music education. El Sistema inspires social transformation and musical excellence to occur simultaneously and symbiotically. This study examines: What does El Sistema look like within the context of a public school partnership in the United States? How do the characteristics of this context influence the realization of El Sistema principles? This qualitative case study examines one fledgling music program just two years into its partnership with a public school. The study utilizes ethnographic observations and focus group interviews with the young program participants, their parents, schoolteachers, and music teaching artists. I discuss these multiple perspectives according to the fundamentals of El Sistema: a) social change; b) community; c) access; and d) frequency. Findings indicate El Sistema values are capable of impact, but not without struggle, when allied with a public school partnership.

scholarly journals Classical Music as an Instrument to Foster Leadership Skills for Social Change: The Case of Venezuela’s El Sistema

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Aponte Moreno ◽  
Lance Lattig
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Leadership Development ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
Leadership Skills ◽  
Social Change Model ◽  
Youth Orchestras ◽  
El Sistema ◽  
Free Network ◽  
To Receive

<em>El Sistema</em>, the Venezuelan system of youth orchestras, is a program aimed at teaching and performing classical music through the development of a free network of symphony orchestras and choruses nationwide. Since its creation in 1975 by its founder José Antonio Abreu, <em>El Sistema</em> has given thousands of Venezuelan children, who often come from unprivileged socioeconomic backgrounds, the opportunity to receive free classical music education while promoting their personal, intellectual, spiritual, social, and professional development. The purpose of this article is to analyze <em>El Sistema</em>’s potential to foster leadership skills for social change. After providing an overview of the program, we will apply Astin & Astin’s social change model of leadership development to shed light on <em>El Sistema</em>’s capacity to foster leadership skills for social change among its young musicians.

Assessing Music in Early Childhood

2019 ◽  
pp. 444-476
Author(s):  
Maria Runfola
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Children's Music ◽  
National Network ◽  
Music Assessment ◽  
Early Childhood Music ◽  
Utilitarian Value

In this chapter, pros and cons of assessing young children’s music skills and content knowledge are explored. An integrative literature review is included as well as a thematic review lending support to core themes. Several reasons were identified as to the importance of promoting student assessment as children participate in early childhood music. Use of music assessments in the classroom and for research should consider practices consistent with musical age as well as chronological age. Increased recognition of the importance of music in total development of the child supports need for effective early childhood assessment systems especially by the music education research community as they continue to gather evidence regarding the utilitarian value of music in early childhood. Researchers need to be aware of environmental factors that may impact early music learning and cognizant of current best practices in music education for early childhood. Researcher-developed criterion measures often are not investigated for quality characteristics, and thus rigorous guidelines for such criterion measures are needed. It appears there are no definitive policy or ethics statements regarding early childhood music assessment but both should be considered vital priorities for the profession. Most likely only those scholars with profound interest in assessment and teachers with deep understanding of the role of assessment in teaching and learning will volunteer to respond. Everything developed in such a national network will be useful, providing we start with clearly defined, intended outcomes and then develop assessments to document student attainment of those musical outcomes.

The charmed dyad: Multimodal music lessons for pupils with severe or multiple disabilities

2021 ◽  
pp. 1321103X2097480
Author(s):  
Melissa Bremmer ◽  
Carolien Hermans ◽  
Vincent Lamers
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Multiple Disabilities ◽  
Children's Music ◽  
Four Dimensions ◽  
Music Lessons ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Teaching Music

This multiple-case-studies research explored a multimodal approach to teaching music to pupils (from 4 to 18 years old) with severe or multiple disabilities. By combining music with, for example, tactile stimulation, movement, or visuals, meaning-making processes in music of these pupils was stimulated, helping them to understand the internal structures and expressive qualities of music. Three music teachers and a social worker participated in this study. Individual and collective video reflections and microanalysis were applied to gather data about their multimodal teaching practice. The data were analyzed through Schmid’s framework (2015) of “multimodal dimensions of children’s music experiences,” developed for general music education. This framework consists of four dimensions: narrativity, sociality, materiality, and embodiment. Based on the findings, Schmid’s framework could be revised for special education, thus providing music teachers with a tool for designing multimodal music lessons for pupils with severe or multiple disabilities.

Note on the Social Impact of Assertiveness in Occupational Contexts

1985 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 819-822 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Regis McNamara ◽  
Ronald J. Delamater
Keyword(s):  
Social Impact ◽  
Social Outcomes ◽  
Measurement Systems ◽  
Job Seeking ◽  
Work Related ◽  
The Social ◽  
Seeking Behavior ◽  
Assertive Behavior ◽  
Variable Impact

The extent to which the literature shows assertiveness produces favorable social outcomes in several occupational contexts was examined. Assertive job-seeking behavior may have a variable impact depending on such factors as the riskiness of the behavior, the size of the company, and the nature of the pool of applicants. Managers view assertive behavior, displayed in work-related interactions, more favorably than self-effacing behavior. Assertive customers more readily stand up for their rights and have more positive perceptions of business than nonassertive consumers. Less reliance on analogue studies and improved measurement systems for assessing social reactivity to assertiveness were recommended.

ELEMENTARY MUSIC IN THE SOVIET UNION: PREREQUISITES FOR IMPLEMENTATION IN THE TRAINING AND EDUCATIONAL SPACE

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 13-19
Author(s):  
V. F. Kochekov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Music Teacher ◽  
Elementary Music ◽  
Children's Music ◽  
Movement Education ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Carl Orff ◽  
Music Theorist

The purpose of the work is to study historical aspects of the development in the USSR of Elementary Music Education, created by a German teacher, musician and composer Carl Orff. The article substantiates the value of this pedagogical system and the prospects for its use in the training and educational process. The initial stage of the introduction of Elementary Music Method in the Soviet Union and the organization of the Carl Orff Pedagogical Society are considered. As a result of applying theoretical scientific research methods, the main factors that influence the process of introducing a new direction in music education are established. The significance of the unified system of music and movement education created by Carl Orff is defined. The system developed by Russian and Soviet enlightener, music theorist, teacher, performer and public figure Boleslav Leopoldovich Yavorsky correlates with German teacher's system. The author analyzes the reasons for which the system developed by B. L. Yavorsky is not widespread in our country. The significance of the activities of the musicologist, historian and publicist Oksana Timofeevna Leontyeva, an active promoter of the Elementary Music System and the first researcher of Orff-composer and Orff-children's music teacher, is determined. The article stresses the first contacts between Soviet musicians and their German colleagues during the visit to the Carl Orff Institute in Salzburg. Emphasis is placed on the importance of publishing literature describing the content, methods and principles of Elementary Music for Soviet teachers interested in new areas of music education and upbringing. Educational institutions are indicated, in which attempts are made to use C. Orff's methods in classrooms. The author reveals the optimization of processes of introducing domestic musicians to the methods of music and movement education, caused by the arrival in the USSR of foreign experts in the field of musical pedagogics. The role of Lev Vyacheslavovich Vinogradov, one of the first followers of new directions in music education, is priceless, as is the importance of his pedagogical activity and his contribution to the popularization and implementation of the method combining music and movement education.

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