Intercultural music education in pre-service teacher education: crossing times and tides

Though multiculturalism is not a new phenomenon, it is an important and necessary component of quality education. It celebrates difference, strengthens intercultural awareness and encourages critical thinking in education. As tertiary music educators, we prepare our students to plan, practice and present music lessons for multicultural classrooms as we respond to the curriculum and to global trends such as migration. We argue that music education is an effective vehicle to explore cultural expressions, enabling positive attitudes towards cultural diversity, particularly in educational settings. This paper focuses on our ongoing project “See, Listen and Share: Exploring intercultural music education in a transnational experience” across three universities (RMIT, Deakin University and Universitat Jaume I of Castelló, Spain), delivered online via Skype. The aim of the project was to explore the perceptions of multicultural music teaching and learning in different geographical and cultural contexts for both researcher and student. While generalisations to other institutions cannot be made from this small sample there are likely to be aspects that stakeholders can apply and compare to their own situations and contexts. Using our narrative, and Google Forms (student data), we report on the teaching and learning across the three institutions focusing on ‘what was taught’ and ‘how it was taught’. We highlight some key highs in relation to: enjoyment, and learning from culture bearers and some lows in relation to: language, lyrics and accompaniment. Though coordinating the episodes were challenging alongside technological glitches, we each learnt from the experience. We encourage students and colleagues to explore the notion of ‘crossing times and tides’ in relation to multicultural music where intercultural understandings can be fostered for both students and staff.