research
My Musical Journey of Discovery
Began at the Great Wall
Sheila J. Feay-Shaw, WMEA State Chair, Research
I received a letter in late spring invit- ing me to become a member of a music education delegation to China through the People to People Ambassadors Pro- gram led by Lynn Brinkmeyer, past
president of MENC. Some of you may have received a similar letter. Since China is one of the musical worlds that I study, this became the opportunity of a lifetime for me to see, hear and experience the music in its homeland. I began to think about the musical experiences in which I had taken part, and how they might compare to what I would experience in the land of the Great Wall and the Ter- racotta Warriors. Would I see and hear any of the luogu ensembles, which I had learned to play?
The delegation was focused on an ex- change of ideas with music education pro- fessionals in China, both at the university level and in school-based programs. What challenges do the Chinese face in train- ing music teachers and in implementing programs in schools? In what ways do they assess musical learning in children at various levels? How would my experi- ences as a music teacher and professor look the same or different from those of the teachers we would visit in Beijing and Shanghai?
In the wee hours of the morning, on De- cember 12, we boarded a plane from Los Angeles for Hong Kong, and then another to Beijing. Our first hotel was just blocks from the “Bird’s Nest,” the site of the Olympic opening ceremony for the 2008 Summer Games. While walking around the stadium and the “Water Cube” had nothing to do with music, it had everything to do with building a sense of understand- ing where the Chinese people were, and
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Looking across the Great Wall as it stretches for miles
along the high mountainside outside of Beijing.
where they were hoping to go. Throughout our days in Beijing, we would put this experience alongside that of standing in Tiananmen Square, remembering all that had taken place there, and walking through the history of the Forbidden City while hearing the story of the Last Emperor. The blending of the old and traditional with the new and modern became an important piece of our discovery puzzle.
When we arrived at China Conservatory of Music, many members of the delegation were prepared to hear about the teaching of traditional Chinese instruments and the preparation that pre-service teachers undergo. Instead, we were treated to a per- formance of a violin concerto with piano in a recital hall that looked very much like the ones on university campuses in the United States. The music was beautiful, and the performance outstanding, but was this what we had traveled so far to hear and see? The conversation with faculty and graduate students centered on issues of methodologies for teaching very young children, the issues of National Standards and how to implement them across the country, and how to assess the musical learning of children. Many questions which the Chinese students and teachers were asking us were the same questions
that are being asked by our state and na- tional organizations. We were a half-world away from home wrestling with the same questions of teaching practice.
We were given the opportunity to visit two schools in Beijing: a middle school which is associated with the China Con- servatory, and a public high school which has one of the best traditional Chinese ensembles in the country. When we ar- rived at the middle school, the students were waiting to perform for us. As we sat in a beautiful auditorium, the school’s principal greeted us with the help of our interpreter, and presented her students for us to hear. We again were hearing an amazing middle school piano student and a violin and piano duet, the traditions on which some of the delegates trained. When the performance shifted to the Chinese traditional instruments, you could feel the excitement in the actions of the delegates. This was what we had traveled so far to experience. Yet, as I listened to what was an exciting presentation of instruments I knew and some I had not heard before, I began to think about what musical future these students were being educated to fulfill. The pianists and violinist had cho- sen pathways that could take them across China and around the world. But what
April 2010
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