music teachers who are well schooled in classical music. This process creates a systemic cycle in music education (Koza, 2008) that manifests in the general music class, for example, through privileging those piano students. It is, however, a cycle we can break, as we consider how we educate our students in a way that encourages broader participation.
So how do we do social justice work in our classrooms?
A common question I hear from teachers committed to social justice issues focuses on how we might bring social justice work into our classrooms. I think the question of bringing social justice into the music class is somewhat of a misnomer. Rather, issues of equity and inequity are always present. The key is being able to recognize these issues in our classrooms. As educators, there are several ways that we can center issues of equity in music class.
Most importantly, it is crucial to recognize that the stu- dents in our classrooms have differential degrees of privilege and access to resources (Collins, 2000). Practi- cally for the music classroom, these issues are often con- nected to socioeconomics, which are connected in other ways to race and disability. In a diverse classroom, it is our responsibility as teachers to understand that some of the students have access to private lessons while others do not. Some students have access to instruments. For other students, that is not a possibility. Other students are counting on that free or reduced lunch in ways that some of their classmates will never comprehend. Issues in the world that some students perceive as distant and discon- nected to their lives are deeply personal issues for other students in their class. When considering issues of race and recent events of police brutality, for example, it is important to recognize that these events are not distant to many of our students. Rather, they are lived realities to students who walk home without their hoods in the cold because they’re scared that the violence continually enacted on people who look like they do is waiting around the next corner. All of these students come to our classes. Recognizing that equal treatment of all students (treating everyone the same) is actually not fair or just treatment is a crucial first step. Modeling that recognition actually promotes the work of social justice for the students in our classrooms.
Secondly, we need to recognize that all music is situated in a sociohistorical and sociopolitical context. Rather than thinking about how to bring social justice into music class, we can simply recognize that social justice is al- ready present. Centering context for discussion in music
class brings issues of global consciousness right into the classroom. In teaching Ghanaian music to my general music classes, for example, colonialism and enslavement was part of the discussion. Talking about colonialism and enslavement with second grade students, however, sound- ed very different than discussing the same issue with fifth grade students. For young students, we discussed colonial- ism in terms of ideas they understood—taking what is not yours, being forced to work to produce for someone else. In second grade, it was simply a justice issue. Children have an uncanny sense of justice and fairness. Appealing to their sense of justice allows for “courageous conversa- tions” (Singleton & Linton, 2006) to take place.
In thinking about contextualizing the different musics we teach, however, we must further complicate the issue. It is not just about context; it is also about hierarchy. As music teachers, we must recognize that the hierarchy of musics reflects the so-called hierarchy of civilizations. Some musics (e.g. Western classical music) are privileged above others and that relates directly to which populations are considered important. However, that doesn’t mean to avoid classical music with students. It does mean that when you focus on classical music, you can take the op- portunity to explore with the students why that music has come to be the dominant music in music education.
Are some topics “inappropriate” for the students?
We might also wonder, as educators, what topics may be appropriate or inappropriate for our students. How do we decide what is relevant to our students’ lives and also “school appropriate?” In this case, I would argue that it’s more a function of operating within a critical framework than thinking about particular topics. In discussing differ- ent topics in our classes, we might urge our students to be critical and to call on their sense of justice and fairness. Rather than encouraging students to accept what the world presents them as given, we can encourage them to think critically about each issue they encounter. Issues of justice are present in every music. Within the context of the mu- sic, it is possible to have discussions with young children about colonialism, about enslavement, about oppression, marginalization, and beyond, as many musics have those issues embedded in them. My conversation with second grade students about colonialism is an example of the use of child-friendly language and concepts to talk about com- plicated justice issues. There are inclusions and exclusions in any music and looking at musics, particularly for exclu- sions, can be a very valuable exercise. Who is left out of this particular music? Who does not participate? Why do students believe that may be the case?
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