Designing music education curriculum in a multicultural environment: Vocal training in China

Abstract

The study aims to evaluate the potential of vocal teachers to overcome the challenge of designing and implementing curriculum in a multicultural classroom through a study of their intercultural competence. The study investigates whether vocal teachers have the knowledge, skills, and awareness of intercultural differences to perform effective teaching and curriculum development in a multicultural environment. The research rests on the practice of music education at Chinese universities and colleges with an art direction or a music and vocal department. The sample consisted of 88 participants working as vocal teachers of a permanent classroom in educational institutions with a multinational composition of students. The participants included 38 females (42.4%) and 51 males (57.3%). The study employed and adapted a survey assessing the intercultural competence of the sample participants. In responses to the thesis that it is important to consider different cultures when studying vocals, 98.9% of respondents expressed absolute agreement. At the same time, 86.4% of vocal educators agreed that they understood how their cultural experience influenced decision-making in shaping curriculum and teaching. Researchers can apply the findings to compare the assessment of factors affecting multicultural music education in educational institutions around the world.