Multicultural Music Education Many Cultures Many Challenges Many Possibilities

“The student population in America’s schools is becoming more culturally and ethnically diverse, yet the teaching pool is increasingly becoming more white, middle- class, female, and less reflective of the school student population.” (Legette, 2003)

“If music is to remain a viable curricular option in public education, music educators must adapt both curricula and methods to meet the cultural backgrounds and needs of a changing national student population. Music educators must meet students where they are musically.” -Bob L. Johnson (2004) /Drummers.jpg

How do we prepare future teachers to help them develop cultural responsiveness, and understand alternative perspectives? From:/

Training prospective teachers Increased use of autobiography- self-reflection on how personal experiences have shaped ones beliefs. Restructure field experiences to provide an opportunity to engage in long-term and meaningful interaction with another culture. Mentors from other cultural groups can model successful teaching and help identify teaching traits that are not culturally responsive. »Stephen Benham, 2003

What is multicultural education? Traditionally, multicultural approaches have focused on race and ethnicity, but we can take a wider scope which includes diversity in terms of gender, social class, religion, language, geography and age. Kids playing makeshift drums, Liberdad Salvador), Bahia, Brazil. Photo from: claire.html claire.html

Challenges of Performing Culturally Diverse Music The traditional style of the music may be outside of the teacher’s realm of experience. Arrangements of non Western music are generally written using the European notation system. Cultural aesthetics get “lost in translation.” The five-line staff does not allow for the complexities of microtonal music found in Indian, Turkish and Middle Eastern music. Vocal techniques differ in different cultures. Traditional western choral tone quality and intonation may be inappropriate for certain genres.

Striving for Authentic Performance Audio and video recordings can provide models of native performance styles. One need not rely solely on written music notation. Invite “culture bearers” to share their expertise with teacher and students. Ethnomusicology- Explore the cultural context of the music, and determine the appropriateness of learning and performing a given piece.

Avoid “Musical Tourism” It’s better to go for depth than breadth- students need to understand a music tradition in terms of its cultural and historical context.

If the music is traditionally transmitted aurally, have your students learn it that way. Honor the culture by deferring to the experts, natives from that culture. Have students emulate the traditional visual aspects of the performance carefully, including facial expression and movement.

“Teaching culturally” requires one to examine one’s own assumptions and beliefs about one’s own culture as well as the culture(s) of the students. The teacher needs to be able to adapt, change and grow. From