Intercultural Music Education Research Articles

Cultural Intelligence, Intercultural Efficacy and Age as Predictors of Students’ Musical Preferences – the Role of Intercultural Music Education

Cultural Intelligence, Intercultural Efficacy and Age as Predictors of Students’ Musical Preferences – the Role of Intercultural Music Education

Novel opportunities for intercultural music education: Integrating singing and a language-aware approach in Learn-Finnish-by-Singing choirs

The topic of language awareness in intercultural music education has received surprisingly little attention in discussions on meaningful and responsive musical practices, despite language being an ubiquitous issue that every music educator encounters when entering a multilingual learning environment. This study explores a language-aware perspective that is embedded in a dynamic and dialogical choir practice drawing on the direct social needs of adult choir participants with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The analysis sets the practitioner experiences, planning, and implementation of the choir practice against the theorisation of activity systems and the concepts of boundary object and boundary crossing, in particular. The theoretical exploration considers how a dual meaning choir practice (a) integrates musical and linguistic activity, (b) crosses boundaries between the disciplines of music and language education, and (c) justifies change in music educational thinking. The study suggests that a dual meaning choir practice provides meaningful musical activity for adult immigrants, expanding the understanding of musical practice and the profession of music educator by blurring the dichotomous thinking of music and music education as being either instrumentalized or existing only for purely musical purposes. The study further advocates that a hybrid musical practice can widen professional understanding with novel insights, out-of-the-box perspectives, and new opportunities.

Developing an understanding of intercultural music education in a Nordic setting

The purpose of this article is to achieve greater clarification of the meaning of the word ‘intercultural’ when used in Nordic music education research, by means of a literature review. The findings suggest that ‘intercultural’ is used in different ways, sometimes without definition. A central theme that emerges is developing student teachers’ intercultural competence through disturbance. There is little research into pupils’ intercultural competence, or intercultural music education at primary level. The findings are merged with international scholarship to envisage how different understandings of ‘intercultural’ might affect music in schools. We suggest placing intercultural music education along a continuum from intercultural approaches to music education to intercultural education through inclusive music pedagogy.

Editorial

The current issue of Nordic Research in Music Education presents six research articles that in various ways call into question beliefs and established truths within music education, such as perceptions of teacher qualifications for music activities in preschool and primary school, and who institutions select and educate to become music teachers. Furthermore, the articles address how notions of diversity, intercultural music education and genre categorizations influence the construction of content in music education, and what happens when these categories travel between music cultures and their reconstruction as content in the classroom.

Music in the school life of newly arrived migrant children: potential paths to participation and belonging

ABSTRACT This article addresses migrant children’s entries into new education systems from the vantage point of musical participation. Through an ethnographic study of one Norwegian primary school, it investigates what scope for musical participation is available to newly arrived migrant children in a dedicated introductory class, and how their engagement with music contributes to a sense of belonging. Four themes emerged: (1) Self-presentation and creativity; (2) New roles; (3) Memories of family and home; and (4) Belonging. The experiences in this study highlight that intercultural music education is about far more than content. The importance of relational competences developed through group musical activity and social interplay was continually to the fore, as well as the need for teacher reflexivity over the lack of neutrality of (musical) knowledge and skills in the classroom. Musical participation in schools then requires the fostering of intercultural competence among teachers, pupils and the entire school culture.

Visions for intercultural music teacher education in complex societies

This article presents a synthesis of findings from a large-scale research project, the Global Visions Through Mobilizing Networks—Co-developing Intercultural Music Teacher Education in Finland, Israel and Nepal ( https://sites.uniarts.fi/web/globalvisions/home ), and conveys its theoretical and practical explorations and insights. By envisioning 21st-century music teacher education from the perspective of interculturality and through transnational collaboration, Global Visions has engaged with international societal changes and struggles related to the rising tides of xenophobia, populism, and social disharmony, by focusing on what happens at the boundaries, in dialogue, and in conflict when difference is encountered, experienced, and reflected upon. While the dominant culturalist view presents music as neutral and diversity as tied mainly to ethnicity, Global Visions has recognized, analyzed, exemplified, and increased understanding of the complex politics of diversity. Resulting in envisioned music teacher education programs as innovative game changers, the project has enhanced professional reflexivity through considering the responsibility and moral aspects of music teacher education. Six main focus areas of the project are presented with recommendations for future research and practice in music teacher education: (a) research education and research as intervention; (b) reflexivity and professional learning in intercultural encounters; (c) the capacity to aspire in music teacher education; (d) the development of intersectional praxis; (e) intercultural music education as a political engagement; and (f) transcultural professional development and international professionalization.

D. バルトの異文化間音楽教育 意味志向の文化概念を基盤とすることの意義

D. バルトの異文化間音楽教育 意味志向の文化概念を基盤とすることの意義

Mental boundaries in teachers’ reflections on interculturalism in music lessons

The German-speaking discourse on intercultural music education has gained increasing prominence since the 1970s and in particular more recently as a result of asylum and ref - ugee policies. While existing empirical studies focus primarily on the migration education perspective (see Wurm 2006, Schmidt 2015, Honnens 2017), often with respect to the role of Turkish youth, the perspectives of teachers on intercultural music instruction have received only limited attention. With the aim of contributing towards understanding teachers’ views, eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with music teachers in Germany concerning the association between interculturality and music teaching. Interview data was analyzed using a Grounded Theory approach (see Strauss & Corbin 1990), methodologically extended by situation analysis according to Clarke (see Clarke 2005). In the data analysis, the core category ‘Grenzen im Geist’ (mental boundaries) emerged from the coding process. Subse- quently, these mental boundaries, as well as intended strategies for overcoming and reducing them, were derived from teachers’ reflections on intercultural music teaching. In this paper, theoretical connections will be made between the following aspects: the migration-related discourse of intercultural music education, power-critical perspectives on boundaries, and selected excerpts of my qualitatively collected data material.

Music without Borders:

This article presents some of the results of a re­search project which the author conducted between 2015 and 2018. The influences of the music lessons which were offered within the framework of this research project is the main subject of this article. It shows how children with and without migrant backgrounds can improve their bi- and multi-musical identities in their transcultural spaces through these music lessons. Providing an insight into possibilities of intercultural music education in Viennese primary schools is the central aim of this paper.

“We learnt lots in a short time”: Cultural exchange across three universities through songs from different lands

Establishing strong connections between universities within initial teacher education (ITE) programs not only takes time, but it also presents opportunities and challenges. Tertiary music educators are called to prepare ITE students/pre-service teachers to be culturally responsive. This article forms part of our wider study “See, Listen and Share: Exploring Intercultural Music Education in a Transnational Experience Across Three Universities (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, Australia; Deakin University, Australia; and Universitat Jaume I of Castelló, Spain). For this article, we draw on student web survey data, anecdotal feedback, and our reflections. We employ Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis as a tool to thematically group our surveys into three broad overarching themes to inform our findings and discussions. We argue that music education is an effective vehicle for exploring culture and diversity through song. Our findings show that our ITE students built positive attitudes about using songs in their generalist primary and early childhood classrooms. They also recognized the importance of collaborative sharing using face-to-face and Skype. This project proved a worthy experience for all concerned, it formed a rich part of our professional learning. We encourage others to consider the approach as one way to promote multicultural music and cultural diversity within ITE programs and across other educational settings.

¿Componer y educar interculturalmente es posible? Experiencias desde el sistema educativo español

Resumen La educación de la sociedad española actual pasa por una necesaria revisión de la metodología didáctica para que el sistema educativo pueda responder a las necesidades del alumnado del siglo XXI. La pluriculturalidad de éste ha llevado a que el profesorado realice un replanteamiento de sus actos educativos, puesto que pertenece a una generación que no ha vivido en primera persona con las causas y efectos de una situación pluricultural, más allá del hecho obvio de que nuestro territorio nacional se formó sobre las bases de las migraciones de distintos pueblos llegados de distintas partes del mundo. Es decir, que precisan una formación en las distintas opciones educativas comprendidas en los contextos pluriculturales, tales como la Educación Multicultural y la Educación Intercultural, que les capacite para enfrentarse al proceso de enseñanza/aprendizaje recurriendo a las líneas educativas características de la multiculturalidad o de la interculturalidad, según preferencias. Ahora bien, la legislación vigente establece que es la interculturalidad la situación que debe perseguirse en el aula; y, para ello, la clase de Música de Educación Primaria se puede convertir en ese punto educativo intercultural por excelencia, debido a que el proceso interpretativo, improvisado o controlado mediante actividades de composición, posibilita la práctica de la comunicación entre culturas. En estas páginas, se ofrecen unas indicaciones para trabajar la composición en este nivel educativo y una revisión de los diferentes motivos que justifican el uso de la composición musical como herramienta educativa intercultural musical por excelencia.

Creating Multicultural Music Opportunities in Teacher Education: Sharing Diversity through Songs

Abstract: This paper contributes to the knowledge base for preparing pre-service teachers (PSTs) for contemporary multicultural classrooms. To do so, we refer to our ongoing project See, Listen and Share: Exploring intercultural music education in a transnational across three Higher Education sites (Australia and Spain). Drawing on our narrative, and PSTs' questionnaire data, using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to analyze and code the PST data, we report on our initial experience and findings across the three sites and cultural contexts. Generalisations to other institutions cannot be made. We discuss what was taught and how it was taught in our three settings, highlighting some key highs in relation to enjoyment, and learning from culture bearers and some lows in relation to language and accompaniment. We contend that music education in teacher education courses may serve as an effective vehicle to explore cultural expressions, enabling positive attitudes towards cultural diversity.

Glazbena ljestvica, sukonstrukt interkulturalnog glazbenog odgoja i obrazovanja: s posebnim obzirom na istarsku ljestvicu

U radu se glazbena ljestvica, s posebnim obzirom na istarsku ljestvicu, postavlja u Disoteovu strategiju interkulturalnog glazbenog odgoja i obrazovanja na primatu tradicijske glazbe. Tradicijska glazba jedan je od nositelja identiteta pojedinca i društva. Interkulturalni glazbeni odgoj i obrazovanje, odnosno tradicijsku glazbu, Maurizio Disoteo promatra kroz identitet i glazbeni kontekst "pamćenja", "susreta" i "promjena". Istarsku ljestvicu autorica rada postavlja kao paradigmu hrvatske zavičajne i tradicijske glazbe u kontekstualnoj koncepciji interkulturalnog odgoja i obrazovanja.

Re-appraising ideas of musicality in intercultural contexts of music education

This article examines ideas of musicality as they may apply to local, national and intercultural contexts of music education. Conceptions of multicultural music education are explored in the light of alternative approaches to musicality adapted from ethnomusicological perspectives. It is argued that while recently published music curricula in many countries appear to offer a more pluralistic view of music and music education than previously, these may fall short of providing an intercultural model for teachers and schools. Critically, an intercultural music education will draw on a variety of performing and learning practices, in addition to a range of beliefs and values that are pertinent to the musical systems in question. Ideas of bimusicalityand intermusicalitycan be adapted not only to our understanding of individual learners and performers, but also to the professional preparation of teachers, to the design of music curricula and to the development of musical infrastructures in contemporary societies.

Designing the intercultural music education of the future – the development of a world music centre in Portugal

Designing the intercultural music education of the future – the development of a world music centre in Portugal