Music and multicultural education: An Anglo‐Australian perspective

Abstract

Abstract This article begins with an examination of the five major questions which have occupied British writers in this field: (1) Why should non‐Western music be included in programmes of musical education? (2) Why has the inclusion of ethnic music in music education emerged as an important issue? (3) How can teachers incorporate ethnic music into their programmes? (4) What problems might educators encounter in this process? and (5) How could these difficulties be surmounted? The discussion then turns to a comparison of the British and Australian periodical literature. Four important observations are made here. Firstly, that the Australian literature seems to have had a longer history; secondly, that it is mainly of a theoretical nature, although teaching resources are beginning to emerge at present; thirdly, that the racial background of each country has been influential in the emphases of the respective literature and fourthly, that geographical location has played an important part as well. The artic...