Title Unknown
Dervish
Hargadon's Bar in Sligo, Ireland
Violin, Harp, Guitar, Bodhran, Accordian, Banjo, Harmonica
This week we are discussing authenticity in world music. I chose this piece as a representation of authenticity as continuum as mentioned in Koops 2010 article in The Music Educators Journal. She states that, "As soon as music is removed from the context in which it was created, absolute authenticity is no longer possible; teachers must evaluate how far on the continuum a musician can go without negating potential educational benefits of teaching the music in the classroom or distorting the music in a disrespectful way." (Koops, 2010, p. 24) This piece takes place in a local Irish pub. The group performing is surrounded by patrons and are playing simply for the joy of playing. The performance of this song represents authenticity in it's purest form.
I found it very interesting that Koops states, "This strategy of authenticity as a means for musical expression can be used by teachers in justifying time spent investigating the context of a piece or in encouraging students to persevere in learning the text of a piece rather than simplifying or translating it." (Koops, 2010, p. 24) In our discussions the past few weeks we have each mentioned not having the time to teach truly authentic world music due to all the other items we are expected to do. If we use this strategy, and present it to our administration and county as a teaching strategy necessary to teach in an authentic way, perhaps we could convince them that the extra time is necessary. In schools that are multi-diverse, the need to show examples of authentic cultural music is even more necessary.
I grew up knowing that I have Irish roots, but I was never exposed to truly authentic Irish music such as this. The only songs I knew were Danny Boy and When Irish eyes are smiling. In order to teach beyond stereotypes, we must be given the time to expose our students to real examples of multi-cultural music.
Reference
Koops, L. H. (2010). "Can't we just change the words?" The role of authenticity in culturally informed music education. Music Educators Journal, 97(1), 23-28. doi:10.1177/0027432110376892.
Staci,
ReplyDeleteYour thoughts of authenticity as continuum are very interesting. Ideally, I would love to expose my students to music authenticity by continuum but I know that it is incredible challenging to take a group of students to an authentic place/setting in order to experience this. Do you feel the Internet is an adequate tool to help our students understand this kind of authenticity? Do you have any ideas of how we can expose our students to this type of authentic music even though it may be logistically challenging?
I think you have to be very careful when using the internet so as not to teach them something that “might” be authentic. Always research before sharing something as an authentic representation of anything. Other ways to expose children would be to get in with your local performance venues and see when groups are coming to perform. We had a group from Zimbabwe come perform last week and the lady in charge gave my school 50 free tickets for my students to come see the show for free. It was so amazing seeing their faces!
DeleteHi Staci,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your thoughts on authenticity. I agree with you that time is a constant consideration in teaching, particularly instructional time. Do you consider instructional time to be the primary concern? Or, do you find it more challenging to find time to adequately research world musics and plan authentic learning experiences? Or, perhaps both are equally challenging. In any case, what are some steps you would like to see administrators take to assist?
Both are equally challenging in my situation. I only see my students once every tennschool days, so roughly twice a month. I also do not have a planning time in my schedule, so all my lesson plans and research must be done outside of school time. Since I work a second job, am raising two boys and am trying to get my masters, extra time is very hard to find. I would like for administrators to walk in our shoes for a week and see the struggles we face on a day to day basis. I think if they saw what it was like to try and teach all the standards, testing, etc. along with trying to expose our students to all the world has to offer in music, and the importance of raising a whole child, they may start to find more value in what we do. Once we are valued they would be more willing to fight for us to help accomplish our goals.
ReplyDeleteHi Staci,
ReplyDeleteI was really intrigued with your thoughts on using more classroom time for a more in depth study of culture. These deeper learning experiences are important, and I also find it difficult to create those types of learning opportunities consistently when I feel the pressure to prepare for the concert. If an administration is unwilling to extend classroom time, might a cross-curricular unit with a social studies/humanities class be an option? Students could dig deeper into the culture in that class and reinforce their gained knowledge through experiences in the music classroom. Just a thought! Great post.