Music Education and Narratives of Social Cohesion: From National Melting Pot to Global Community Page: 39
This paper is part of the collection entitled: International Symposium on the Sociology of Music Education (ISSME) and was provided to UNT Digital Library by the UNT College of Music.
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Music Education and Narratives of Social Cohesion
community is one to which we aspire as educators. The norms of classroom life in mass
education systems, however, are based on a nineteenth-century industrial model founded on
homogeneity of content, of pedagogy, of outcome, regardless of the demographic and socio-
economic makeup of students and school communities. So the task of living out the values of
heterogeneity is immense since we have inherited a system based on a radically different
educational vision. In a sense we are privileged to be transmitting a subject that models
diverse voices and functions, from local musical accents to cross cultural fusions. Presenting
diverse musics is but one part of the task; creating an environment that models the values of
diversity is the more fundamental mission, one that involves moral and ethical considerations.
As Geneva Gay (2003) puts it: 'Multicultural education, like other kinds of teaching, is a
moral enterprise that requires deep personal engagement, commitment, advocacy, and agency
from those who participate fully and genuinely in the enterprise' (p. 6).
The qualitative nature of the classroom learning environment becomes crucially
important if we put ethical considerations at the core-social justice, human rights,
inclusiveness. I believe that students are ready to engage with music in such an environment
of democratic ideals and ethical standards, where their social consciousness is activated and
they seek ways to connect the empowering nature of music with the plight of the other,
whether that is immigrant, those who live in fear of living out their true selves in public
spaces, or those whose indigenous values are not acknowledged as worthy in the mainstream.
In the end, we have no choice but to follow our social consciousness and seek to keep the
doors to democracy and social justice open. As American poet Walt Whitman reminds us in
'Song of the Broad-Axe,' from Leaves of Grass (1900):Marie McCarthy
39
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McCarthy, Marie. Music Education and Narratives of Social Cohesion: From National Melting Pot to Global Community, paper, July 2009; Dublin, Ireland. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1390643/m1/17/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT College of Music.