Democratic Pedagogies: Perspectives from Ethnomusicology and World Music Educational Contexts in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Ethnomusicologists and music pedagogues often suggest that music education should acknowledge universal musicality, while questioning dominant elitist concepts in musical learning in the West. They believe that a universalist attitude toward all musics and peoples (Blacking 1987:126), and thus a culture of tolerance (Oehrle 1996), can be at the heart of music education. Such a view points toward an inclusive and democratic stance, necessitating a music education that leads beyond curriculum and compliance and toward the autonomous, thinking student (McGettrick 2005:5–7). Music education should not just be about imparting knowledge, but also about instilling compassion and care for self and others. It should involve discarding prejudice while recognizing cultural difference, and thus personal and social transformation (Blacking 1987:131). This is the concern of my paper, which suggests that ethnomusicology plays a pivotal role in democratic societies, as ethnomusicologists—in their role as educators—can pursue democratic ends as political beings and moral agents in discourses about musical, political, educational, and other values. At this point, a brief excursion shall help in establishing the context for my discussions.