Cross-cultural understanding: The role of rural school–community music education partnerships

Abstract

<jats:p> The inclusion of local Indigenous knowledge, pedagogy, and worldview in music education is increasingly relevant to music educators globally. This article contributes to the extensive body of knowledge already written on the subject by focusing on the contribution of such inclusion to localized societal change. My doctoral study examined the growth and contributions of bridging social capital to rural community vitality in British Columbia (BC), Canada via three school–community music education partnerships. I found that the members of one of those partnerships, the International Choral Kathaumixw Festival in Powell River, BC, engaged in ongoing cultural dialogue with local Tla’amin First Nation members over a 30-year period in order to foster meaningful inclusion of local cultural practices in that festival. This cultural dialogue ultimately contributed to more harmonious social, cultural, political, and economic relationships between settler and Tla’amin First Nation populations. The mandate of the festival, the ongoing music making activities that featured Tla’amin themes and cultural participation, the large contingent of local community volunteers and performers, and the physical commons created by music making all contributed to a shift in relations between the community of Powell River and the Tla’amin First Nation. I offer that the bridging social capital fostered by this partnership may provide insight and direction for music educators globally who wish to promote Indigenous cultural practices in their schools. A bridging social capital or relational approach based on long-term reciprocity with local Indigenous culture bearers may help music educators work towards more culturally appropriate/responsive curriculum and pedagogy in their practice. </jats:p>

Instrumental Music Education in Rural North Carolina: A Descriptive Study

“…Certainly students in rural areas were capable of meeting and should be held to high standards, but those standards needed to be attainable and relevant to them (Bates, 2011a(Bates, , 2016. Prest (2013) agrees:…”

A Pilot Project Exploring Rural Classroom Music Teachers’ Perceptions and Practices via an Online Professional Development Course

“…Brook (2013) used case-study methodology to examine rural music students' sense of place. Burkett (2011) studied a community orchestra's PD support for rural teachers; Prest (2020) found similar benefits in a collaboration between an international choral music festival, the Tla'amin First Nation, and a rural district. VanDeusen (2016) examined the positive community influence of small-town music programs.…”

Enacting curriculum ‘in a good way:’ Indigenous knowledge, pedagogy, and worldviews in British Columbia music education classes

“…the United States, Australia, and New Zealand) have specifically supported the embedding of Indigenous cultural practices in music classes using pedagogies associated with those practices (Boyea, 1999;Burton & Dunbar-Hall, 2002;Costigan & Neuenfeldt, 2002;Dunbar-Hall, 2009;Fraser, 2009;Mackinlay, 2008). 9 While Indigenous education scholars in Canada have called for the embedding of Indigenous knowledge, values, and visions in schools (Battiste, 2013;Faircloth, 2009;Hare, 2011;Ledoux, 2006), few researchers have examined culturally informed education in music in Canadian settings (Archibald, 2011;Kennedy, 2009;Piercey, 2012;Prest, 2020;Russell, 2006;Wasiak, 2009). No researchers have previously examined what K-12 music educators and Indigenous knowledge holders working in partnership in BC have done to embed local Indigenous knowledge, pedagogy, and cultural practices into their music classes, schools, and communities, or explored the effectiveness of their efforts for fostering students' cross-cultural understanding and respect.…”