Prest, A. (2013c). The importance of context, reflection, interaction, and consequence in rural music education practice. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 28(14), 1-14.
In this paper, I argue that aesthetic music education philosophy, which undergirds many current m... more In this paper, I argue that aesthetic music education philosophy, which undergirds many current music teacher education programs, textbooks, practices, and networks, fosters assumptions that are not applicable to rural settings. I outline and critique the main principles of this philosophy and demonstrate the ways in which music teachers’ habits and assumptions, informed by aesthetic music education philosophy, might change due to doubts and reflection incurred by experiencing the structural and dynamic realities unique to rural music education practice. My viewpoint is derived from my personal experiences, conversations, and observations as a music educator in rural British Columbia over a sixteen-year period. I explore the themes common to Aristotle’s conception of praxis, pragmatist philosophy, and praxial music education philosophy that might better inform British Columbian rural music teachers’ practice and inquiry, and teacher education programs. I specify the ways in which rural music educators, by adopting a praxialist orientation, might consciously interact, deliberate, and make imposed structural and attitudinal boundaries more porous and less potent (Doll, 2006), thereby setting the stage for the ongoing transformation of their educational practice to better suit their rural context. Finally, I suggest that music teacher education curricula adopt a praxial music education orientation that will assist music teacher candidates to comprehend the notion of “enabling constraints,” the importance of developing relationships and networks, and the vital role of community in rural education.
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Papers by Anita Prest
local Indigenous knowledge, pedagogy, and worldviews be embedded in
all K-12 curricula, but most BC music teachers have been unable to fulfill
this directive because they are unfamiliar with Indigenous cultural practices. We designed this multiple case study, informed by Indigenous
Protocols and worldviews, to address this gap of knowledge and understanding, so educators might learn how to enact the new curriculum ‘in a good way’ (i.e. in a way that aligns with Indigenous peoples’ ways of knowing). We used document analysis and surveys to identify music educators and Indigenous community members who together had already been successful in embedding local Indigenous knowledge in music classes. We interviewed 51 music teachers, culture bearers, cultural workers, and students to learn how they had done this, and whether they found that such embedding had contributed to fostering cross-cultural understanding and respect. Participants reported that singing and drumming, taught orally in tandem with related stories, were the most prevalent forms of cultural practice, and that establishing relationships and following local Protocols led to greater cross-cultural understanding and respect.
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.
undertook a school-community music education partnership, that partnership positively influenced community identity, agency, and vitality and brought greater recognition and support to its school music program. My purposes in this study were to investigate how three such partnerships have contributed to the social, cultural, and economic sustainability of their
communities and to learn how they may have served to shift community members’ conceptions of the value of music and music education.
For this multiple case study of Powell River, Nelson, and Qualicum Beach, British Columbia, I examined school and municipal historical records and conducted interviews with individual community members and school staff to determine the circumstances that made possible their partnerships. I spoke with focus groups comprising partnership committee members to learn how the dynamic and structural properties of the partnership networks have impacted the ways in which social capital functions in them. Finally, I conducted 6-8 semistructured interviews at each site with key community members to elicit their conceptions of changes over time regarding 1) identity, agency, and vitality, and 2) attitudes toward and scope of musical engagement inside and outside of their schools.
I found that partnerships that promoted local attributes, high levels of community engagement, and a physical commons fostered social capital and provided more opportunities for community members to address local social justice issues (e.g., equitable access to music education, cultural inclusion), drawing upon shared values as bases for resolving those issues. I also found that reciprocity gives rise to social capital only when, in addition to a
simple exchange, it entails a sincere recognition of efforts (e.g., moving beyond traditional rational actor or habitual conceptions). The bridging social capital emerging from these partnerships contributed significantly to vitality in these three communities, also favourably shifting community conceptions of the value of music education.