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Person-Centred Popular Music Education: Negotiating Gender, Community and Industry Expectations

image of Person-Centred Popular Music Education: Negotiating Gender, Community and Industry Expectations
  • By Sini Timonen
  • Source: The Intellect Handbook of Popular Music Methodologies , pp 425-439
  • Publication Date: June 2025
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/9781835951033_27
  • Language: English
  • Accessibility Summary:  EPUB 3 and pdf file included; compatible with devices and software which can read these formats. Adjustable font size, spacing, contrast, text justification, number of columns (ePUB only). Alternative text for images. Tagged with a logical reading order to assist screen readers. Navigation between in-text citations and reference list, and endnotes and endnote markers.

The chapter focuses on person-centred popular music education and provides a case study of an MA programme that uses the approach as its pedagogical underpinning. Deriving from semi-structured interviews with students and lecturers, it highlights the experiences of female, female-identifying and trans students in particular. The case study aims to illustrate the effectiveness of person-centred education and argues that those who have been in the minority in other educational contexts may find it particularly powerful.

Keywords: Belonging ; Carl Rogers ; Educational research ; Higher Education ; Music education ; Postgraduate

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References

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References

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     [Google Scholar]
  2. Armstrong, Victoria (2011), Technology and the Gendering of Music Education, Aldershot: Ashgate.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Bartolome, Sarah J. and Stanford, Melanie E. (2018), ‘Can't I sing with the girls? A transgender music educator's journey’, in B. C. Talbot (ed.), Marginalised Voices in Music Education, New York: Routledge, pp. 114–36.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Bayton, Mavis (1997), ‘Women and the electric guitar’, in S. Whiteley (ed.), Sexing the Groove: Popular Music and Gender, London: Routledge, pp. 37–49.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Bayton, Mavis (1998), Frock Rock: Women Performing Popular Music, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Bennett, Toby (2018), ‘“The whole feminist taking-your-clothes-off thing”: Negotiating the critique of gender inequality in UK music industries’, IASPM@Journal, 8:1, pp. 24–41.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Björck, Cecilia (2021), ‘Music, gender and social change: Contemporary debates, directions and challenges’, in S. V. Onsrud , H. S. Blix and I. L. Vestad (eds), Gender Issues in Scandinavian Music Education: From Stereotypes to Multiple Possibilities, New York: Routledge, pp. 28–50.
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  8. Borgström Källén, Carina and Lindgren, Monica (2018), ‘Doing gender beside or in music: Significance of context and discourse in close relationship in the Swedish music classroom’, British Journal of Music Education, 35:3, pp. 223–35.
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  9. Born, Georgina and Devine, Kyle (2015), ‘Music technology, gender, and class: Digitization, educational and social change in Britain’, Twentieth-Century Music, 12:2, pp. 135–72.
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  10. Bourdage, Monique (2010), ‘“A young girl's dream”: Examining the barriers facing female electric guitarists’, Journal of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, 1:1, pp. 1–16, https://doi.org/10.5429/2079-3871(2010)v1i1.1en.
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  11. Bylica, Kelly and Wright, Ruth (2019), ‘Gender and popular music education in North America: We need to talk’, in S. Raine and C. Strong (eds), Towards Gender Equality in the Music Industry: Education, Practice and Strategies for Change, New York: Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 15–27.
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  12. Campbell, Miranda (2017), ‘Girls rock! Best practices and challenges in collaborative production at rock camp for girls’, in J. Graham and A. Gandini (eds), Collaborative Production in the Creative Industries, London: University of Westminster Press, pp. 177–96.
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  13. Clawson, Mary Ann (1999a), ‘Masculinity and skill acquisition in the adolescent rock band’, Popular Music, 18:1, pp. 99–114.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Clawson, Mary Ann (1999b), ‘When women play the bass: Instrument specialization and gender interpretation in alternative rock music’, Gender and Society, 13:2, pp. 193–210.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Cohen, Louis , Manion, Lawrence and Morrison, Keith (2018), Research Methods in Education, 8th ed., Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Cohen, Sara (2001), ‘Popular music, gender and sexuality’, in S. Frith , W. Straw and J. Street (eds), The Cambridge Companion to Pop and Rock, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 226–42.
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  17. Connellan, Shannon (2017), ‘Sexual abuse in the music industry gets spotlight with #MeNoMore’, Mashable, 11 December, https://mashable.com/2017/12/11/menomore-metoo-music-industry-australia-courtney-barnett/?europe=true#4FV.ik30Vgqw. Accessed 28 May 2022 .
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     [Google Scholar]
  20. Davies, Helen Elizabeth (2019a), ‘Gender issues in the music industry and popular music higher education: Exploring the experiences of young musicians’, Miscellanea Anthropologica et Sociologica, 20:2, pp. 211–27.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Davies, Helen Elizabeth (2019b), ‘Preparing for the “real world”? Exploring gender issues in the music industry and the role of vocational popular music higher education’, in S. Raine and C. Strong (eds), Towards Gender Equality in the Music Industry: Education, Practice and Strategies for Change, New York: Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 29–43.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. De Boise, Sam (2017), ‘Gender inequalities and higher music education: Comparing the UK and Sweden’, British Journal of Music Education, 35:1, pp. 23–41.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Ferm Almqvist, Cecilia (2019), ‘Towards offering equal learning opportunities for female students in popular music ensemble education: Relate, respond, and re-do’, Music Education Research, 21:4, pp. 371–86.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Frith, Simon and McRobbie, Angela ([1978] 1990), ‘Rock and sexuality’, reprinted in S. Frith and A. Goodwin (eds), On Record: Pop, Rock and the Written Word, London: Routledge, pp. 371–89.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Garrett, Michael L. and Palkki, Joshua (2021), Honoring Trans and Gender-Expansive Students in Music Education, New York: Oxford University Press.
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  26. Green, Lucy (1997), Music, Gender, Education, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Green, Lucy (2002), How Popular Musicians Learn: A Way Ahead for Music Education, Aldershot: Ashgate.439
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  28. Gross, Sally Anne and Musgrave, George (2017), Can Music Make You Sick? A Study Into The Incidence of Musicians’ Mental Health. Part 2: Qualitative Study and Recommendations, https://westminsterresearch.westminster.ac.uk/download/fbc3b0a7fd80bcb648344f9d298414ece784f56ff9018d267fd77a7fce70a980/519636/Gross%20%26%20Musgrave%20%282017%29%20Can%20Muic%20Make%20You%20Sick%20Pt2.pdf. Harrow: MusicTank Publishing. Accessed 28 May 2022 .
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     [Google Scholar]
  30. Hopkins, Emma and Berkers, Pauwke (2019), ‘Engineering a place for women: Gendered experiences of the music technology classroom’, in S. Raine and C. Strong (eds), Towards Gender Equality in the Music Industry: Education, Practice and Strategies for Change, New York: Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 45–57.
     [Google Scholar]
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     [Google Scholar]
  32. Ingham, Tim (2017), ‘Swedish music industry rocked by sexual assault scandal as 1,993 women sign open letter’, Music Business Worldwide, 19 November, https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/swedish-music-industry-rocked-by-sexual-assault-scandal/. Accessed 28 May 2022 .
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     [Google Scholar]
  34. Leonard, Marion (2007), Gender in the Music Industry: Rock, Discourse and Girl Power, Aldershot: Ashgate.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Mackenzie, Jean (2017), ‘Rape and abuse: The music industry's dark side exposed’, BBC News, 18 December, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-42368544. Accessed 28 May 2022 .
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Powell, Bryan (2019), ‘Breaking down barriers to participation: Perspectives of female musicians in popular music ensembles’, in Z. Moir , B. Powell and G. D. Smith (eds), The Bloomsbury Handbook of Popular Music Education: Perspectives and Practices, London: Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 228–35.
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Rogers, Carl (1983), Freedom to Learn for the 80's, Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Company.
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Sandvik, Berit Margrethe and McCormack, Brendan (2018), ‘Being person-centred in qualitative interviews: Reflections on a process’, International Practice Development Journal, 8:2, pp. 1–8.
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Smith, Gareth Dylan (2015), ‘Masculine domination and intersecting fields in private-sector popular music performance education in England’, in B. Burnard , Y. Hofvander Trulsson and J. Söderman (eds), Bourdieu and the Sociology of Music Education, Farnham: Ashgate, pp. 61–78.
     [Google Scholar]
  40. UK Music (2020), UK Music Diversity Report 2020, https://www.ukmusic.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/UK_Music_Diversity_Report_2020.pdf. London: UK Music. Accessed 28 May 2022 .
  41. Werner, Ann , Gadir, Tami and De Boise, Sam (2020), ‘Broadening research in gender and music practice’, Popular Music, 39:3&4, pp. 636–51.
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Whiteley, Sheila (2000), Women and Popular Music: Sexuality, Identity and Subjectivity, London: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]

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