On Embedding Indigenous Musics in Schools: Examining the Applicability of Possible Models to One School District’s Approach

Recent curriculum policy changes in British Columbia (BC) require that educators in all subject areas—including music—embed local Indigenous knowledge, pedagogies, and worldviews in their classes. Yet facilitating such decolonizing cross-cultural music education activities requires knowledge that mu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Update: Applications of Research in Music Education
Main Authors: Prest, Anita, Goble, J. Scott, Vazquez-Cordoba, Hector
Other Authors: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publications 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/87551233221085739
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/87551233221085739
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/87551233221085739
Description
Summary:Recent curriculum policy changes in British Columbia (BC) require that educators in all subject areas—including music—embed local Indigenous knowledge, pedagogies, and worldviews in their classes. Yet facilitating such decolonizing cross-cultural music education activities requires knowledge that music educators may not currently possess. We use four models created by an Indigenous Arts scholar to examine the interface of Indigenous and Western art musics in performing arts settings: (a) integration, (b) nation-to-nation music trading and reciprocal presentation, (c) a combination of the first two models, and (d) non-integrative encounters that are in relationship but have irreconcilable elements. We consider the applicability of these models in music education settings, using them to analyze our findings from a study in which we explored the ways teachers have embedded local First Nations songs and drumming in classes in a single metropolitan school district in BC.