Tobias, E. S. (2013). Toward Convergence Adapting Music Education to Contemporary Society and Participatory Culture. Music Educators Journal, 99 (4), 29-36.
March, 3rd 2019
When I first started reading this article I was instantly intrigued by the content. Previously in our music education class we had a guest speaker, I do not recall his name. The main point is that he brought up the fact that what we teach as ‘music class’ is not, the be all end all, everything you need to know about music. He explained this but also pointed out that there is just not enough time and resources to expose the students to the vast differences in music of all kinds.
Connecting that to the article, it wants to discuss how people engage with music outside their music programs. How should music educators address music in contemporary society? This question is explored through the article
First, the article looks at a term I was previously not familiar with, Participatory Culture. This article characterizes Participatory Culture as;
“relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing creations with others, some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices, members who believe that their contributions matter, and members who feel some degree of social connection with one another (at the least they care what other people think about what they have created).” (pg 30)
It surprised me that an academic article such as this would include all the examples that they did of ways in which people engage with music in participatory culture. These examples include; Covering, Arranging, Parodying, Remixing and many others. It surprised me because I always thought of this style of music learning to be completely unconnected to music in classrooms. The author suggests that these methods should be integrated into our classrooms and ensembles, an idea I intend to observe again in the future through my own teaching. Observation of how people interact with music and media will help address participatory culture in music programs and ensembles.
This article gives insight into the ways in which teachers can use methods to engage their students with forms of cultural and modern material. Then a barricade forms in the way, copyright and fair use laws. As far as I can tell, from some online scavenging, this is an american journal. The text explains that the laws behind copyright and fair use are complicated and misunderstood often times by teachers. I am not sure if the same is in Canada, I assume it is at least a similar situation, but this seems unfair to educators. Educators should be allowed to freely and simply use material for educational purposes without complication.
It is extremely frustrating that these laws are confusing for teachers. I am all for not illegally using material against and artists wishes but for education there should be an exception. It makes me think that even if a teacher is operating with full legality in their teaching using outside materials, they may avoid the situation all together. I imagine a teacher not using these materials for fear of prosecution because the laws are not clear and can be misunderstood.
If I had a chance to speak with the author I would ask what motivated them or pushed them to research this area? What prompted their curiosity? Overall, the article has some interesting ideas and points that add to my overall understanding of music education.
Written by Jessalyn Shein
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