This document summarizes the evolution of music education in US schools over the 20th century as the country became more multiculturally diverse. It describes how music education shifted from focusing on a single American culture to incorporating ethnic studies. Major events like civil rights movements and conferences in the 1960s pushed for more culturally inclusive curricula. However, the document notes that as of 1994, multicultural music education still lacked clear definitions and assessments of different approaches. Overall progress was made but gaps remained in properly representing various cultures in US classrooms.
2. Purpose
This presentation summarizes the
evolution of music education in the
United States as the multicultural
demographics shifted over the last
century
3. Multiculturalism
The definition of Multiculturalism:
The doctrine that several different
cultures (rather than one national
culture) can coexist peacefully and
equitably in a single country.
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn. Web. 6 July 2012.
4. Challenges faced in American
schools toward Multiculturalism
Curricular attempts to feature too many cultures too
quickly
Students are disillusioned by what they see as a hodge-
podge of facts and values.
There is no focal point nor identifiable purpose.
The educational system seems unable to define for itself
the meaning of an American heritage.
There is no balance between subject-specific knowledge
and skills and the multicultural perspectives.
Music teachers and their programs are just beginning to
meet some of the mandates placed upon them in the
name of multiculturalism.
5. Influential events over the
century
1901-1910 Immigrants from southern and eastern Europe joined a
society of Anglo-Saxons, Germans, Irish and some western
African heritages.
An initial trend to assimilate children of immigrants into one
common American culture was shifted gradually to ethnic
studies.
1907 The Music Supervisors National Conference was organized,
focusing more on fine arts rather than “folk”music.
1929 A committee on International Relations was formed.
1930 Textbook companies began to publish “songs from many
lands”
1939 Musical cultures of South and Central America began to be
fostered through MENC.
6. Influential events over the
century, continued…
1940 The quest for inter-American unity through
music was seen as an important thrust of music
education.
1948 Internationalism emerged on many fronts with
the founding of the United Nations.
An International Music council was established by the
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO)
1953 International Society for Music Education (ISME)
was founded.
7. The turning point
At mid-century, the rapid changes in transportation,
telecommunications, and world organizations resulted in the rise
of internationalism.
Music teachers occasionally featured stories, songs and dances
from outside of United States.
Civil and minority rights triggered social upheaval and became
one of the principal influences for change in American schools.
The Tanglewood Symposium was created in 1967 to discuss the
values and functions of music and the arts in American society
which resulted in the statement “Music of all periods, styles,
forms, and cultures belong[s] in the curriculum” (Choate, 1968).
By the early 1980s, a turn toward multiculturism began to be
reflected more widely in the professional work of music
educators.
8. Progress through the 1990s
New immigrants from Latin American and Asia
influenced the society, economy, and education in the
U.S.
A movement toward national cohesion was on the rise.
Teachers had to modify their teaching methods for
students from diverse groups.
Development of various paradigms, including “ethnic
additive,” “self-concept development,” “cultural
pluralism,” and “assimilationism”.
Music educators were influenced by federal and state
mandates in multicultural and bicultural education.
9. Missing the Mark
As of 1994, nowhere in the MENC literature is
multicultural and music education explicitly
defined.
World music education is concerned with cross-
cultural comparisons that span many musical styles,
rather than with concentrating more intensively as
in multiethnic or multicultural.
Expansion of musical curricular content was most
widely discussed, however, there were very few
publications within MENC for the use of specific
selections to represent the musical culture.
10. Unresolved issues:
1. The musical competence of teachers who teach
unfamiliar styles.
2. Their cultural competence in delivering music to
students who are culturally distant from them.
11. Assessment
Despite the profusion of literature on multicultural
music education, there was little evidence that
specific approaches do what they intended to do.
As there were virtually no assessment or research
studies on multicultural music education, it was
suggested that MENC initiate such studies
nationally.
12. Conclusion
Considerable progress has been made through
out the century, there are still many gaps to be
filled. In a country as culturally diversified as
America, a significant effort is needed to put
forward multiculturalism in music education
13. Reference
Campbell, Patricia Shehan. 1994. “Musica
Exotica,Multiculturalism, and School Music.”
The Quarterly Journal of Music Teaching and
Learning 5 (2): 65-75.
Notes de l'éditeur
Listening to Ravel’s Bolero helps a child develop a sense of patterns, an important concept in the development of math skills.
