Preparing to Teach Preparing to Teach Multicultural Music in the Multicultural Music in the

Choral ClassroomChoral Classroom

Cat Bennett

M-E528

Planning to Teach Multicultural Music in the Choral Classroom

• Developing a Multicultural Choral Education Rationale

• Celebrating diversity • Current challenges in teaching multicultural

choral music• Considerations for planning to teach with

music from different cultures

Planning to Teach Multicultural Music in the Choral Classroom

• The value in utilizing culture-bearers• A specific approach for building

multicultural choral lessons consisting of a series of steps

• Korean Folk song unit example

Rationale

• Explain your personal reasoning for using diverse music from around the world in choir

• Answer the question: Why should I teach multicultural music in the choral classroom?

Celebrating Diversity

• We want to celebrate the music in our own western choral tradition, but that should not be the only tradition we celebrate

• Be careful to avoid promoting elitist or prejudiced thinking among students through music

• Students easily create stereotypes in music and may come to believe that one type of music is better than others or that one culture is better than others

• We become capable of things never thought imaginable by learning from others who are different.

Challenges

• Lack of choral world music resources• Many in-service music teachers receive little

or no experience with multicultural music education practices in college

• Teaching music from our own western music tradition can challenging enough in itself

Beyond the Notes on the Page

• Teaching world music without discussion on culture and context will hold little meaning to students

• Is enjoyment enough of a reason to teach such musics?

• It is of great importance that foreign music be taught with discussions on background, ensuring that students are not making assumptions or forming prejudices while learning

• In what is considered a sociocultural teaching method, allow time to discuss what is different or unusual.

Authenticity

• Just what does it mean to be authentic in the choral classroom?

• If a song cannot be taught authentically, should it be taught at all?

• A sincere attempt to be accurate and respectful of a culture is always important

• Choosing not to teach a music for fear of not delivering it with perfect authenticity would be a mistake.

Culture-bearers

• It is advisable to continuously seek new information, find new resources and most importantly, build new relationships with those who have expertise in other styles of music

• Can provide music repertoire and support in language pronunciation and translation

• Can make learning experiences more genuine by including discussions on history and culture

Culture-bearers and Pedagogical Traditions

• Culture-bearers can provide students with a more authentic learning experience

• If music is not written in standard notation, how do we teach it? Or do we not teach it at all?

• We should not limit our selections to diverse works from the mainstream publishers

Literature and Resources • Most pre-service choral methods textbooks provide

limited examples or no examples at all on how to teach music of other cultures.

• While some choral world music repertoire is available from publishers such as Earthsongs, selection is still quite limited.

• While it is common for multicultural publications to include a pronunciation chart and English translation, many may include no such information, and few discuss any detail on the cultural background and history of the piece.

• It is often the choral director’s responsibility to research all necessary information

Literature and Resources

Some wonderful journal articles and textbooks have been written on teaching multicultural music, and since no known studies or books exist specifically on the topic of teaching world music in the choral setting, choral directors must look to these resources for guidance

Literature and Resources

Multicultural Perspectives in Music Education, William Anderson & Patricia Shehan Campbell (1989)

Teaching Music Globally, Patricia Shehan Campbell (2007)

Facing The Music, Huib Schippers (2010

Developing an Approach

• Select a song or part of the world that you want to build choral lessons or a unit from

• Feel confident that there are available resources for teaching this song adequately

• Consider whether or not this music can hold value or meaning for students.

• Discover the musical cultures of their classrooms and communities

• Be certain that adequate time can be given to this piece and style of music

Developing an Approach• Select more than one song from that country for

instruction purposes• Students must actively participate in this learning

process in order for the teaching of this music to make any impression

• Complete a score analysis with specific and in-depth focus should be on language and performance practice

• Look to the national standards to decide on the objectives that students will achieve and acknowledge what additional research you will need to conduct in order to prepare lessons with such objectives in mind

Final Questions to Consider 1) Will you try to honor the pedagogical tradition of this

culture by transmitting the music in an authentic way? Consider and justify why or why not

2) Will you ensure that students develop informed opinions about this music without confirming or building stereotypes or prejudice towards a music or culture?

3) Will students be active, as opposed to passive, throughout the learning process?

4) Do you have ways to clearly assess the standards you have selected to ensure cultural and musical learning has been achieved?

Korean Folk Song Unit Example