Awesome respect or respectful awe? On conventional practices in music teaching and learning

Abstract

In this article, scholarly writings on conventions and traditions in music education are explored. The purpose is to shed a critical light on current practices in music teaching and learning and it is pointed out, that remarkably little has been written in terms of critique or questioning of the status quo in Icelandic music education. The focus of the article is mostly on music teaching and learning at higher levels of music studies where students are taking private lessons with a master tutor on a musical instrument, including the voice. Severe side effects that can impact professional musicians for life have been known to result from conventional teaching practices at higher levels of music education. This writing is rooted in a desire to search for a positive and healthy learning environment where music students and teachers can grow concurrently as human beings and as artists. The harmful effects of negative or toxic learning environments in music schools can eventually lead to serious consequences for individuals and professional careers.

The article begins with a summary of the traditional private-studio and master-apprentice approaches in music education, outlining how these models developed and became the standard in serious or elite music learning in the Western tradition of music education. Then, a discussion follows on the power structures at play in these learning situations and what the consequences can be for individuals and communities. Furthermore, attention is directed towards conventional learning cultures in higher music education and which strategies could be taken towards more democratic and humane approaches to music teaching and learning at the upper levels of music study. The focus of the discussion is directed towards the choices teachers can make and how the learning environment can support the healthy development of individuals within music education institutions. In this context, the ideas of character education within educational reform are explored.

Critical theories in music education have investigated conventions and traditions in music teaching and learning and pointed out how power structures in the conventional masterapprentice model can be detrimental to the education and formation of musicians. An overview is provided of several scholarly writings on the philosophy of music education from this perspective. Most of the scholars cited have in common that they build on Critical Theories in their approach to music education with strong references to Dewey and Freire in their view on educational reform.

It is imperative that music teachers and music education institutions ask critical questions regarding their role in the education of their students, such as whether it is their role to uphold conventions and traditions handed down for centuries, or whether their duty is to search for new ways to instruct individuals who are allowed to influence their own learning processes. In order to foster progress in music education at any level it is necessary to build education systems that will train individuals to develop and take an active role in their own learning processes. A large number of professional musicians suffer from challenging working conditions that affect their mental and physical health. Professional musicians are known to treat side effects of their careers such as performance anxiety and depression with prescription drugs to a much higher extent than in the normal population. There is more than one possible cause of this problem but many scholars point towards the culture and traditions surrounding the educational systems where musicians are schooled. These traditions are discussed as well as what actions can be taken to change conventional practices in music schools.

It is stated that private lessons or the master-apprentice model seems to be the dominant model in Icelandic music schools and even more prominent in the early stages of music studies in Iceland than in many other countries. However, more research is needed on teaching practices in Icelandic music schools. Public or scholarly discussion of methods, conventions and practices in Icelandic music schools has been minimal to this date. Debates in the field of music education at international level in the past decades have seemingly gone more or less unnoticed in the Icelandic music education community. As this article provides a review of some of the scholarly critiques within music education at international level, the authors hope that it will encourage a lively debate and an increased awareness of issues in music education within Iceland and in a wider context of reform in music training and instruction.