Equity via relations of equality: Bridging the classroom-society divide

Abstract

Although music educators have asserted the importance of naming systemic inequities, the mechanisms through which practices within music classrooms, such as community formation, may directly challenge the systemic inequities beyond them remain undertheorized. The purpose of this philosophical inquiry is to investigate the nature of equity and to consider which music education practices might best support more equitable societal relations. Explaining the problems of paternalistically imposing one’s vision of equity on others, I offer that by functioning in “relations of equality,” members of society might collaboratively name and challenge contemporary inequities. In considering how music educators might best foster the skills and dispositions needed for lifelong relations of equality, I posit the possibilities of communicative cultural capital, which involves community members interacting effectively across cultural differences, and academic skills cultural capital. When music educators assume that students will develop academic skills through music making, rather than emphasize how to develop such skills, they may end up benefiting students who learn those dispositions in privileged home environments. I also consider how identifying as part of a musical community can motivate individuals to challenge inequities throughout their lives. Equity is not a stable end but a relational value.