Part 2: Community Music Therapy and El Sistema: A Multiple Case Design Study Reflecting Music's Empowerment in Marginalized Communities

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 30
Author(s):  
Virginia Eulacio Cierniak
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Music Therapy ◽  
Community Music ◽  
Marginalized Communities ◽  
Education Practice ◽  
Music Program ◽  
El Sistema ◽  
Multiple Case

Music is an accessible tool that has been used to foster change within people and societies, even in those 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 a 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. Part I of this article defines CoMT and examines the purpose and goals of CoMT and El Sistema comparatively, and the ways in which their programs may address the empowerment needs of individuals and communities facing socioeconomic marginalization. Part II reviews the findings of a study that leads toward a suggestion of how these two approaches may be able to work synergistically to achieve their shared goals. Findings reveal many parallels and divergences between El Sistema and CoMT which may be useful in advancing change. This article defines 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, in an effort to further advance the understanding and possibilities music’s influence may have on society. 

Part 1: Community Music Therapy and El Sistema: Addressing the Empowerment Needs of Individuals and Communities Facing Socioeconomic Marginalization

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Virginia Eulacio Cierniak
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Music Therapy ◽  
Community Music ◽  
Program Structure ◽  
Education Practice ◽  
Music Program ◽  
El Sistema

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.

Researching the musical lifecourse in music therapy, community music and music education: Unique roles, convergences and blurring of philosophies and practices

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie Peters ◽  
Deborah Seabrook ◽  
Lee Higgins
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Music Therapy ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Community Music ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Musical Engagement ◽  
Different Populations ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
Health And Well Being

This article presents a diversity of approaches and a heterogeneity of research methods used, where the aim is to contribute to understandings of how musical engagement across the lifecourse may foster health and well being. Multiple perspectives and methodological approaches located in the disciplines of music therapy, community music and music education will be described, including identifying affordances and constraints associated with documenting lifelong and lifewide musical pathways. The research presented examines how lifelong musical engagement in different contexts might contribute to health and well being for different populations. The authors describe and situate their disciplines, present different methodological approaches that might contribute to lifecourse research in music and provide examples of particular projects.

Musical Creativity and Well-Being

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond MacDonald ◽  
Graeme Wilson ◽  
Felicity Baker
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Music Therapy ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Spinal Injury ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Community Music ◽  
General Music ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Musical Engagement

Participating in musical activities involves an immersive spectrum of psychological and social engagement. Connections between musical participation and health have been discussed for centuries, and relationships between the processes of music making and well-being outcomes have garnered considerable research interest. This chapter reviews studies investigating such associations to identify how creative aspects of musical engagement in particular can be understood to enhance health. The chapter begins by offering some suggestions about why these processes may have beneficial effects. Three key contexts for beneficial musical engagement (music education, music therapy, and community music) are examined: an organization (Limelight) that delivers music activities for individuals from disadvantaged groups; group improvisation music therapy sessions for individuals with cancer; and songwriting sessions for individuals following spinal injury. The relative contributions of creative process and creative product are considered, and psychological concepts such as identity, flow, agency, and scaffolding are suggested as important. The discussion extrapolates wider implications of this work to include general music making beyond clinical, educational, and community contexts.

Community Music and Social Justice: Reclaiming Love

2012 ◽  
pp. 154-167
Author(s):  
Marissa Silverman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Urban Environment ◽  
Final Section ◽  
The United States ◽  
Community Music

This article integrates philosophical reflections on community music (CM) with analyses of two neglected concepts and practices in music education and CM: love-as-action and social justice. It explains the ways CM may adopt, adapt, and benefit from the practices of community facilitators working in various circumstances. It discuss some prerequisites for, and dimensions of, these concepts in the context of Western societies generally and the United States particularly. The final section connects the concept of love-as-social-justice to a practical example in New York City's urban environment.

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
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Critical Pedagogy ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Culturally Responsive ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Music Teaching ◽  
Education Practice ◽  
Public Middle School ◽  
Responsive Instruction

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.

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.

Preservice teachers’ experiences teaching an adult community music ensemble

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 601-615 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Baughman ◽  
Christopher M. Baumgartner
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Community Music ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Instructional Behaviors ◽  
New Horizons ◽  
Music Program ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Music Education Majors

The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences of four preservice music teachers as leaders of adult chamber ensembles. Through examination of these teachers’ reflections, we sought to answer the following questions: (a) What impact does leading an adult chamber ensemble have on preservice teachers’ perceptions of their instructional behaviors? (b) Which specific instructional behaviors do preservice teachers focus upon when teaching adult learners? (c) How might preservice teachers project their experience teaching adult learners in a community music program to future experiences teaching in formal school settings? Four undergraduate music education majors at a large Midwestern university school of music in the USA participated in this study. Each participant served as a staff member for the university-sponsored New Horizons Band, teaching a weekly, 30-minute small ensemble rehearsal for eight consecutive weeks. Participant responses were examined four ways: (a) responses to a pre-questionnaire, (b) video diary entries, (c) interview transcript, and (d) responses to a post-questionnaire. Preservice teachers’ credited their experiences leading New Horizons chamber groups for their perceived development and mastery of specific instructional behaviors. Implications for music education include the need to engage preservice teachers’ in authentic teaching experiences, promoting transfer to future instructional settings.

Community Music Portraits of Struggle, Identity, and Togetherness

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
André de Quadros
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Personal Transformation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Community Music ◽  
General Music ◽  
Narrative Style ◽  
Community Bonding ◽  
Identity Struggle

This chapter explores identity, struggle, and inclusion in three contrasting settings: in American prisons and in community music projects in two vastly different locations and situations in Mexico and Palestine. The chapter relates this exploration to the Empowering Song approach developed in the United States in Boston, Massachusetts. This approach, born in the oppressive context of American prisons, and possessed of general music education approaches, has developed into a model for community music where social justice, enquiry, personal transformation, and community bonding are sought. In all three settings described in this chapter, identity, struggle, and inclusion are key elements through which the author interrogates and examines the artistic, pedagogical, and communal processes through a narrative style.

scholarly journals Showing the way, or getting in the way? Discussing power, influence and intervention in contemporary musical-social practices

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Ansdell ◽  
Brit Ågot Brøske ◽  
Pauline Black ◽  
Sara Lee
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Music Therapy ◽  
Current Practice ◽  
Social Practices ◽  
Power Relationships ◽  
Community Music ◽  
International Projects ◽  
Professional Perspectives ◽  
Participatory Music ◽  
The Way

This article presents a broad discussion of power and influence within contemporary participatory music practices in relation to practices of intervention. The discussion is presented through the respective experience and professional perspectives of music therapy, music education and community music – each illustrated by current practice examples and their accompanying dilemmas; and covering both local and international projects. In a shared closing discussion, the four authors review the key question: whether professional influence and power in participatory music practices ‘shows the way’ or ‘gets in the way’. They conclude that intervention takes place on a continuum, in different ways, and to different degrees and levels. What is vital is to retain practical and ethical reflexivity on the dimensions of intervention as a practice that can offer both creative opportunities, but which can also be part of subtly oppressive power relationships.

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