Description
The 2021 UK census revealed an above-national-average increase in cultural diversity within the city of Manchester over the last 10 years. Meanwhile, critics have argued for a necessary decolonisation within the English educational system, which is particularly pertinent for music where culture, ethnicity and language are inextricably entwined with musical expression, understanding and development. However, supporting music teachers to embrace diverse musical cultures within their practice is challenging, particularly where their own understandings, approaches and values are rooted in the cultures of their own upbringing. Whilst intercultural teacher development research exists in other countries, there is paucity of research within the English educational context and the unique musical diversities within multicultural cities like Manchester.This research project is rooted in an established teacher education partnership between the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) and Olympias Music Foundation (OMF) which aimed to address a shared aspiration to better understand the complex challenges of enabling music teachers to work within diverse local communities. Specifically, the OMF deliberately diversified their teaching staff by appointing three music teachers from non-western musical cultures (Iran, India and Senegal), and engaged the researcher (R. Gardiner) to lead a teacher education programme aiming to support these three individuals through taught sessions and teacher observations, This research project follows an action research cycle rooted in that programme, where data was generated through those taught sessions and observations (for example, reflective journals, observation notes, and discussions/interviews with participants) in order to inform future teaching. Initial findings point to the necessity for creating open musical spaces within non-fixed educational paradigms, which can enable teachers and teacher educators to meaningfully seek out commonalities or ‘common ground’. Specifically, open musical interactions via improvisation helped to enable keener cultural expression, communication and pedagogical sensitivity.
| Period | Apr 2025 |
|---|---|
| Event title | Research in Music Education (RiME) International Conference, Apr 2025 |
| Event type | Concert / Live Performance |