Global music making a difference: themes of exploration, action and justice

Research Studies in Music Education

Low‐Choy

2020

Tertiary music institutions, like universities generally, are increasingly recognising the value and importance of a curriculum that fosters social awareness and social engagement in students. This article reports on a mixed-methods research project that investigated the nature and extent of social awareness and engagement among undergraduate students at one Australian tertiary music institution. Through a survey methodology, the research sought to understand students’ interest in, and awareness of, pressing contemporary social issues, as well as their prior, current and perceived potential future engagement in those issues. A clear understanding by educators, researchers and tertiary music institutions of the nature and degree of undergraduate students’ social awareness and engagement is an important and arguably necessary foundation for expanding and improving socially engaged teaching and learning initiatives.

Section: Implications For Educators and Institutionsmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social awareness and engagement in undergraduate music students: Generating a foundation for curriculum decisions

Research Studies in Music Education

Low‐Choy

2020

“…A fastgrowing body of literature, now known as the 'scholarship of engagement', explores how universities are striving to address important social issues and contribute to public good, including by cultivating students as 'citizen scholars' (Arvanitakis & Hornsby 2016;Dragne, 2007). Specifically within the arts, a plethora of research over the last decade or so has variously defined, justified, critiqued, and propounded the value of a socially engaged tertiary education curriculum (including Allsup & Shieh, 2012;Baxter, 2007;Benedict et al 2015;Camlin, 2018;Elliot, Silverman & Bowman, 2016;Frierson-Campbell, 2007;Gould, Countryman, Morton & Rose, 2009). Such research explores various education-relevant concepts directly linked to social engagement, including social justice (Bates, 2012;DeLorenzo, 2012;Vaugeois, 2007), global citizenship (Brockington & Wiedenhoeft, 2009;Grant, 2018), and artistic citizenship, including musical citizenship (Elliot, 2012;Elliot, Silverman & Bowman, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What does it mean for a musician to be socially engaged? How undergraduate music students perceive their possible social roles as musicians

Music Education Research

2019

What does it mean for a musician to be socially engaged? How undergraduate music students perceive their possible social roles as musicians Catherine Grant A raft of recent music education research has advocated fostering social awareness and engagement among tertiary music students. The evidence is compelling: a socially engaged tertiary education prepares students to play meaningful roles in their societies, while also better meeting the aspirations and needs of music institutions, universities and society at large. As tertiary music institutions respond by exploring ways to increase the social orientation of their curricula, it is important that the student voice be present in research and scholarship. How do students themselves conceive of the notion of a 'socially engaged' musician? What social roles, if any, do they see for themselves as musicians? Exploring this question, this article draws on qualitative survey and focus group data from a smallscale research project at one Australian tertiary music institution. Findings show that students envisage their social roles as musicians in a gamut of ways, from believing it is 'wrong' for musicians to engage with contemporary social issues, to holding a sense of moral responsibility to act as agents of social change. An understanding of the diverse ways in which students envisage their social roles and potential as musicians provides a necessary foundation for expanding relevant, effective, and targeted teaching and learning initiatives that develop social consciousness in students.

“…The musical practices that music students engage with during their education, and the musical (and non-musical) identities they develop during this time, have substantial bearing on their later lives and livelihoods as musicians and citizens (Elliott et al, 2016). A growing body of literature underscores the potential lifelong personal, professional and societal benefits of a socially and culturally engaged tertiary music education (Baxter, 2007; Elliott, 2012; Vaugeois, 2009). In this regard, some scholars point to the particular value of intercultural music learning, which among other things can assist students to rethink and expand their beliefs about what it means to be a musician and to make music (Bartleet & Carfoot, 2016; Grant, 2018; Harrop-Allin, 2016).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Global mobility in music higher education: Reflections on how intercultural music-making can enhance students’ musical practices and identities

Bartleet

International Journal of Music Education

Mani

et al. 2020

Music higher education institutions are increasingly recognising the educational value of intercultural learning experiences. Delivering such learning experiences in a way that provides music students with a rich cultural and musical learning experience, rather than a superficial one, can be a challenging task, particularly in the case of short-term ‘mobility’ or ‘study-abroad’ programmes. This article explores ways to address this challenge by reflecting on student learnings from a suite of international study experiences, or ‘global mobility programmes’, at one Australian tertiary music institution, run in collaboration with community partners, universities and nongovernmental organisations in the Asia Pacific. Focusing on how intercultural music-making in the context can enhance students’ musical practices and identities, we first outline the sociocultural contexts of our music global mobility programmes in Cambodia, China and India, and explore the different modes of music-making these experiences afforded. We then draw on Coessens’ ‘web of artistic practice’ to explore site-specific examples of the ways in which global mobility programmes can enhance students’ musical practices and identities. These findings hold particular relevance for music educators and higher education institutions in justifying, designing and carrying out such intercultural experiences to maximise student learning and success.