Intercultural Impact on Music Learning

Abstract

Robert Engle is director of music at Kapiolani Community College, 4303 Diamond Head Road, Honolulu, Hawaii 96816. He is currently pursuing doctoral studies at the University of Washington.The American classroom is changing. An estimated 30%' of American students belonged to an ethnic minority in 1990, and by the year 2000, more than 50 major American cities will have majority populations comprised of ethnic minorities (Banks, 1987). Students in the future will differ in many respects from those of the past. The new multicultural classrooms of America present many challenges. The willingness and ability of teachers to deal with the unfamiliar will have much to do with their survival in this new society.These changes add to the complexity of the teacher's task. In the rush to intercept social problems, teachers should not assume an identical learning process for every student, regardless of cultural history. Are the learning patterns of all students the same? If not, how are these patterns different from each other, and what are the implications of these differences? Viewpoints in the LiteratureResearchers have shown some interest in cross-cultural learning. Most of the studies in this category, however, compare student achievement from country to country, or learning patterns of students in one cultural orientation to those in another. Although the available studies do not address the problems of learning within the same multicultural classroom, they do provide important information for understanding perceptual differences and thus are worthy of consideration.No difference anywhere. Taylor (1969/1970) provides a unique and very interesting viewpoint. As Dasher (1972) points out, Taylor contends that all human beings share common neurophysiological constants that predispose them to use certain musical procedures despite cultural differences. Taylor suggests that biologically based, culturally transcendent factors influence a universal demand for completeness and change. In short, he argues that human beings' common biological heritage (input) contributes to a common expression of artistry (output). What he fails to discuss is the intermediate stage: process.Taylor ( 1969/ 1970) does raise some interesting points. It is true that music exists in all known societies and that it is performed everywhere that it exists. While Taylor does not deny that culture influences social behavior, he insists that social scientists have overestimated its influence to the exclusion of naturalist considerations. His argument weakens somewhat as he attempts to relate his principles to the many diverse world cultures. At some point, there seem to be too many exceptions to his rules. In some cases, his applications even display cultural naYvet6. His dissertation, nonetheless, offers a perspective not often considered by those who study music.Deciding to study cultural differences. To learn how people do things differently, it is necessary to study how others do what they do. This is the job of the sociologist, the anthropologist, and...