Smaller steps into longer journeys : experiencing African music and expressing culture

This paper outlines an exploratory research project that draws on survey data from both primary and secondary school music teachers in Victoria. The research stems from a study that I undertook in 2002-2003 with final year Deakin University undergraduate students. That project investigated the potential of African music to enhance the generic musical experiences, learning, motivation, interest, confidence and competence of non-specialist primary teacher education students. The research project being reported in this paper is an extension of the previous study to focus on practising music teachers at both primary and secondary school levels. The research addresses the significance and contribution of African music and culture as a cross-cultural experience for music teachers, their students and the wider community. It further considers my role as an African music practitioner in terms of transformation and acculturation. This paper outlines the progress of, and provides preliminary data about, the emergence of an innovative area of teaching and learning based on African music in Victorian schools. It also explores the notion of why cross-cultural and multi-cultural engagement matters in the contemporary context of educational change.

Missionaries, music and method - dissemination of tonic sol-fa in Asia-Pacific countries during the nineteenth century

The Tonic Sol-fa method of teaching choral singing and its system of music notation was developed in England by John Curwen and propagated throughout the British Isles as a means of both enhancing Christian worship and achieving social reform. Tonic Sol-fa may be identified as an entirely foreign musical practice introduced to indigenous people in many British colonies and in other overseas countries during the nineteenth century as an instrument of Christian evangelism as well as of European cultural imposition. Nevertheless, indigenous communities were introduced to other aspects of European musical culture including a choral repertoire consisting of four-part hymnody and masterworks by Handel, Bach, Mozart, etc which sometimes resulted in the emergence of a school of indigenous composers writing in Tonic Sol-fa notation and using the tonal harmonic style. The result has been that in several countries-such as South Africa and Fiji for example-Tonic Sol-fa has been so fully assimilated into the ethnic culture that it has been "indigenized" and may now be said to represent a significant exogenous aspect of the musical culture in these countries.

Tonic Sol-fa was most commonly introduced to countries in the Asia-Pacific Region -as in Africa - by Christian missionaries who sought to exploit the attraction of hymns, particularly when sung in four-part harmony, as a means of evangelizing indigenous people who frequently regarded this aspect of missionary activity as a form of "magic". In particular, the Tonic Sol-fa method and notation gained a significant foothold in what were referred to as the South Sea Islands--especially in Fiji where today, the Fijian Hymn Book (1985 edition) is notated exclusively in Tonic Sol-fa. The vast majority of the Fijians are literate in Tonic Sol-fa notation and congregational singing in four parts is the norm in Fijian churches.

This paper will draw on data from nineteenth century journal sources, particularly The Tonic Sol-fa Reporter (1853-1888) and The Musical Herald (1889-1920), and will document the introduction and dissemination of Tonic Sol-fa in several Asia-Pacific countries where, unlike Australia and New Zealand, the indigenous population has maintained its own cultural and demographic predominance. Countries to be considered will include India, China (including Hong Kong), and Pacific Island nations. There will also be a consideration of the contemporary usage and applications of Tonic Sol-fa in the region, with specific reference to Fiji. It will be argued that countries where Tonic Sol-fa notation has become the norm should resist any external pressure to transfer to the standard staff notation merely for the sake of conformity. In the case of Fiji, almost universal music literacy has been achieved through Tonic Sol-fa and this should be recognized as an enviable social and cultural asset.

From empire to filmi: a fusion of western and Indian cultural practices in Australian music education

During the 19th and 20th centuries, Indian culture was represented in Australia as part of celebrations of the British Empire. Children were presented with stereotypic representations of Indian culture, which provide a snapshot of contemporary perceptions. Such representations were rarely authentic. By removing music from one culture and presenting it in the symbolic gestures of another we strip away much of its meaning. Encouragingly, contemporary popular culture can incorporate a fusion of western and Indian cultural practices, such as filmi (Hindi: `film song' or `Indian film music'). This article describes early imperialist understandings of Indian culture in Australian school music to contextualize recent attempts to engage with more authentic intercultural understandings. To assist teachers in the presentation of `other' musics, guidelines for the inclusion of authentic materials are offered. By selecting music that is already a fusion of cultures and musical styles, it becomes easier for western music educators to engage with the other.

Sharing and speaking about African music : professional development with Swaziland primary school teachers

The teaching and learning of Indigenous African music is characterised as a holistic integrated experience where music, dance and theatre are inseparable, seen as an integral part of culture. The transmission of this experience is absorbed through participation in cultural activities from childhood in the community. In African societies, both traditional and contemporary, musical arts education and the understanding of culture are fundamental to life, community and society. It is through musical arts, that Africans embrace spiritual, emotional, material and intellectual aspects and knowledge of both the individual and the community. This paper reports on an in-service program (August 2006) offered at the Centre for Indigenous African Instrumental Music and Dance Practices (CIIMDA), Pretoria, South Africa. For the purpose of this paper, the one week professional development course undertaken by generalist primary school teachers from Swaziland is highlighted and proves worthy for these teachers to implement what they learnt in the classroom. As a position paper, I contend that the understanding and participation in indigenous cultural musical arts practices, enlightens learners about their cultural heritage and further enriches their understanding of African music and dance that can be adopted, adapted and applied to primary schools in Swaziland. This paper summaries some key findings of interview data from ten participants in relation to the intensive program. By offering such in-service professional development programs, teachers are able to reach their wider communities where they will continue to share and speak about African music, dance and culture.

Why teach music in schools?

One of the most pressing problems for contemporary school education is an overcrowded curriculum. The so-called 'National Curriculum' developed as a result of the Australian Education Council's Hobart meeting in 1989 and the subsequent publication of a series of 'Statements' and 'Profiles' by the Curriculum Corporation in 1994 consolidated the school curriculum into eight Key Learning Areas (Curriculum Corporation 1994a, 1994b). Since that time most states have moved away from school-based curriculum development and have embraced the National Curriculum but with adaptations to suit their own needs. In the case of Victoria there have been two iterations of the National Curriculum in the form of Curriculum and Standards Frameworks. In the original version, Music was one of the five arts strands specified for years P to 6 and one of the six strands for years 7 to 12 (Board of Studies 1995). With the CSF2, Music is now one of three possible arts form included under Performing Arts which, with Visual Arts, form the two strands specified for years P to 4 (Board of Studies 2000). Music is then included in its own right as one of six Arts strands for years 5 to 12. However, effectively the CSF2 represents a significant loss of ground for Music at the lower and middle primary school levels in Victoria.

Exploring creative music making as a vehicle for integrated teaching and learning

The arts have evolved with each society as a means of consolidating cultural and social identity and connecting past with future generations (Russell-Bowie, 2006, p3). Situating the arts within a broader interdisciplinary curriculum, we believe, allows students to discover and explore social issues and their relevance to students' contemporary lives. We argue that creative music making through composition promotes a deeper and more personally relevant teaching and learning experience for teacher education students, particularly when situated within an interdisciplinary framework.

The challenge for us as teacher educators' is to prepare pre-service teachers for both disciplinary and interdisciplinary learning as is required by the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS). At Deakin University, in the Bachelor of Teaching (Primary/Secondary) Degree, the postgraduate unit called Humanities, Societies and Environments; Language and Music Education adopts an interdisciplinary pedagogy that encourages students to learn from each other, share content knowledge and make links between and across VELS domains.

In this paper we reflect on the possibilities exploring of creative music making to enhance the teaching and learning of social education, with particular reference to issues of environmental change. Specifically, we reflect on non-music specialist students' experiences in Semester 1, 2008 using Jeannie Baker's book Window (1991) as a platform to deliberate about the impact of urbanisation on the environment. Through dramatisation and a sonic environment students were able to both further conceptualise issues of social change and their understandings of the power of integrating music across other VELS domains.

Many layers of meaning : multicultural music education in Victoria, Australia

This paper explores music education viewed through lenses of cultural identity and the formation of personal identity in contemporary, multicultural Victoria, Australia. The people of this state come from more than 280 countries, speak more than 240 languages and follow more than 120 faiths. Our population diversity is constantly changing which challenges music educators to respond to classroom demographics and as tertiary educators we prepare our pre-service students to become culturally responsive teachers. As music educators, we occupy and are situated in multiple identities that shape the ways in which we experience and understand music and its transmission. As Australian tertiary music educators, we explore pre-service teacher cultural identity, attitudes and values about the inclusion of multicultural music in the classroom where cultural dialogue provides a platform for the construction of meaning. While marginalization and diversity occurs within multifaceted forms, we question: What music do we present in contemporary Victorian schools? Why do we make these choices? How do we present this music? This consideration, contextualized within the curricular framework, addresses issues of access, equity and community engagement. The making of meaning in shared cultural experiences contributes to the formation of identity which is a fluid and multilayered construct.

Festivals and music : negotiating culture, identity and place

It is noted in the introduction to this book that ' Festivals are believed to recreate and emphasize relationships that are normally submerged; of being built in structures whilst following unstructured codes, of creating a separate world with its own rules, personnel and expectations; of encompassing contradictory ideas and practices while involving formal and informal institutions: So what is this 'separate world'? What relationships, normally unseen or unnoticed, are made apparent within the space of the festival? While the origins of festivals lie in the close relationship of the quotidian and ritual aspects of traditional communities, how do contemporary festivals relate to the diversity of multicultural societies? Conversely, how are they inflected by the forces of globalization, by the festivalization of culture that in recent years has become a widespread tactic for the promotion of cities and regions? While many traditional festivals still exist, increasing urbanization, improved communications and diversified migration have meant that many contemporary festivals are of recent origin, the products of what Giddens refers to as the post-traditional state of present societies (Giddens 1994). This description highlights the self-conscious nature of dealing with culture in a world of competing and overlapping world views. While cultural identity and authenticity are still used to infer the existence of qualities intrinsic to communities, ethnicities or nations, the fragmentation and interconnectedness of contemporary societies have long made assertions of essence untenable. Meanings have become dependent on performativity and context. Cultural identity, while traditionally applied to those sharing a particular geographic, linguistic, ethnic or religious background, has become extended to other senses of belonging, to communities based on sexuality, physicality or simply shared experience and taste. The notion that festivals might create separate worlds suggests that part of the reason for their recent proliferation in recent times is that they provide the ideal medium for both performance and participation in this diffuse and shifting environment.

So much more than just the music : Australian pre-service music teacher education students’ attitudes to artists-in-schools

Contemporary Australia is a country of ongoing migration and increasing cultural diversity which is reflected in its arts practices. This article considers the views held by Australian pre-service music education student teachers and their tertiary music educators about their perceptions concerning artists-in-schools programs in school music. This discussion reports on data collected for a study undertaken in Melbourne, Victoria, Intercultural Understandings of Pre-Service Music Education Students (2005–2009). Fifty-three interviews were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The findings provide insight into teachers’ recognition of the need for artists-in-schools programs. In particular the ways in which teachers can link theory to practice, fill in omissions in their own knowledge, skills and understandings, and heighten student understandings of multicultural musics. The promotion and provision of multicultural music education is essential at all levels of education. This can be achieved by the inclusion of diverse culture bearers, artists-in-schools, and community engagement to work with both teachers and their students.

Community music making in Australia : creating, improvising and performing at the 2012 Lake Bolac Eel Festival

Lake Bolac is a freshwater lake, resulting from one of the volcanic eruptions in the Western district of regional Victoria (Australia). There is an annual migration of eels to it and they have been a local indigenous food source for very many years. Since 2004 there has been a festival to celebrate this event culminating at the Lake Bolac Eel Festival (LBEF). Since 2012, the festival included creative art works and a music workshop by academics from Deakin University (Melbourne, Australia) as a regional partnership with Lake Bolac. The opportunity to exhibit, workshop and perform works as academics and practitioners brought the community together where both contemporary and traditional arts can be preserved, protected and promoted. My paper forms part of a larger creative research project called Flows and Catchments at Deakin University which started in 2011. My study situates itself in creative music making and soundscape within the larger project.

Celebrity and power : fame in contemporary culture

Through a new introduction for this edition, Marshall investigates the viewing public's desire to associate with celebrity and addresses the explosion of instant access to celebrity culture, bringing famous people and their admireres closer than ever before.  He explores the concept of the new public intimacy: a product of social media in which celebrities from lady Gaga to Barack Obama are expected to continuously campaing for audiences in new ways. The new introduction also details the development of celebrity studies and the need for research into the construction of persona in contemporary culture as the dimension of publicizing the self has expanded through online culture.

A interface música e linguística como instrumental metodológico para o estudo da prosódia do português arcaico

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Use of music and play in pediatric nursing care in the hospital context

Objective. To identify and analyze scientific publications on the use of music and play in pediatric nursing care in the hospital context. Method. In this bibliographic study, papers were sought that were published in Portuguese or English between 2004 and 2009 and included the descriptors: hospitalized child, childhood, child recreation, nursing team, nursing, pediatric nursing, alternatives therapies, music, music therapy, play and playthings, play therapy, playing. For the review, the bibliographic databases used were MEDLINE, ScIELO and LILACS. Results. Seventeen publications were obtained, among which: 59% adopted a quantitative method; mainly nursing developed the activities (88%); per type of article, reviews on the theme and assessments of clinical changes associated with the use of music and play were frequent (59% and 18%, respectively); and the utility of this kind of therapies in nursing care is acknowledged (94%). Conclusion. Play and music are useful therapies that can be used in nursing care for pediatric patients.