Postlude

Shapes of water—A multidisciplinary composing project visioning an eco-socially oriented approach to music education

“…In Finland, research into environmentally conscious art education has been carried out for some time, for example, in the field of visual arts education (e.g., Foster, 2017; Huhmarniemi et al, 2021; Suominen, 2016), dance education (Foster, 2016; Foster & Turkki, 2021), drama pedagogy (Lehtonen et al, 2020), and music education (Kankkunen, 2012; see also ecomusicology: Torvinen & Välimäki, 2019; and internationally: Downing, 2013). Globally, there is a growing field of eco-literacy research in music education (Jorritsma, 2022; Shevock, 2015a, 2015b, 2018, 2020; Shevock & Bates, 2019), which aims to give concrete tools to provide socially and environmentally conscious music education. A contribution to sustainable and ecology-focused development in music education is examined in Varkøy and Rinholm’s (2020) and Guo et al’s (2020) works.…”

“…Eco-socially conscious music educators can include the values and practices in their teaching. This could mean choosing appropriate repertoire to play, reusing, recycling, and appreciating old instruments, or using the sonic environment and sustainable development themes in composition and improvisation (see also Shevock, 2018; Titon, 2020). Shevock (2018) calls music educators to reflect upon “whether their classroom affirms unsustainable consumer society or challenges it” (p. 42).…”

“…Prest and colleagues’ (2021) study showed that learning and singing songs; teaching drumming, dances, and the stories associated with them; making drums; and learning the language were the most prevalent ways in which local Indigenous knowledge was embedded into music classes in rural schools in British Columbia. Indeed, through old local traditions in music making, one can develop ecological consciousness by “creating music rooted in soil” (Shevock, 2018, p. 10). An understanding of temporality, of one’s own position in a chain of generations, of eco-social reality (Keto & Foster, 2021), and of the web of the more-than-human world (Abram, 1996) can help music educators realize their responsibility in enabling a sustainable and desirable future for students as well.…”

How Can Music Help Us to Address the Climate Crisis?

“…Like the other arts, however, music has been used to impart urgent and important messages about the environment (Inwood et al, 2017), sometimes explicitly within formal education settings (Shevock, 2018). The creation of new works has been encouraged in some cases by organisations such as Artists and Climate Change (Bilodeau, 2013) and Climate Music (ClimateMusic, 2019), who provide fora for artists to work together and share their ideas about climate-related projects.…”