Reply To: Global music education in the 21st century

[nafmeadmin]

It seems that most of us feel under-prepared for teaching world music. A very do-able approach to teaching world music is the thematic approach, which is outlined by Huib Schippers in his book Facing the Music: Shaping Music from a Global Perspective.
The thematic approach is accessible for students from all different backgrounds from elementary school students through college. Music from anywhere in the world, and any period, style and genre is explored through themes such as music and fusion, music and technology, music and travel, music and love, music and place, music and dissent, and so on. The point is that we and our students focus on music as it connects to themes/ideas in our lives. Small groups could choose a theme to explore and present accessing audio and video resources, family/community musicians, etc. If anyone else has done this, I would love to hear how it went. I’ll be having a go at it with university students this spring.