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- Volume 13, Issue 2, 2020
International Journal of Community Music - Volume 13, Issue 2, 2020
Volume 13, Issue 2, 2020
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Showing the way, or getting in the way? Discussing power, influence and intervention in contemporary musical-social practices
Authors: Gary Ansdell, Brit Ågot Brøske, Pauline Black and Sara LeeAbstractThis article presents a broad discussion of power and influence within contemporary participatory music practices in relation to practices of intervention. The discussion is presented through the respective experience and professional perspectives of music therapy, music education and community music – each illustrated by current practice examples and their accompanying dilemmas; and covering both local and international projects. In a shared closing discussion, the four authors review the key question: whether professional influence and power in participatory music practices ‘shows the way’ or ‘gets in the way’. They conclude that intervention takes place on a continuum, in different ways, and to different degrees and levels. What is vital is to retain practical and ethical reflexivity on the dimensions of intervention as a practice that can offer both creative opportunities, but which can also be part of subtly oppressive power relationships.
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Capturing the magic: A three-way dialogue on the impact of music on people and society
Authors: Dave Camlin, Laura Caulfield and Rosie PerkinsAbstractThis article sets out a dialogue on the impact of music on people and society. The perspectives of three researchers, from different experiential and methodological backgrounds, are presented. The article explores: how we define concepts of impact; how we seek to measure the impact of engaging with music, providing examples from our own recent work; and tensions in attempting to capture or measure the ‘magic’ of music, including how to meet the needs of different audiences and how to develop new ways to capture impact. The authors reflect on the political climate in which music interventions operate, including the need to ask different questions at different times for different audiences, concluding that it is vital to measure both whether there is any impact, how this impact was achieved, and people’s experiences of engaging with music. We found consensus about the need to move evidence forwards through both the use of arts-based creative methods that focus on the music-making process itself as well as through collaborations that bring together varied perspectives, experiences, disciplines and research methods. We also argue that – as there is considerable evidence about the impact of music, on different people, in different ways and in different settings – researchers should now aim to take stock of the evidence base. Finally, we posit that there is merit in engaging with a reflective dialogue like the one presented here, as a tool to help challenge, disrupt and influence our own thinking.
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Environment, intention and intergenerational music making: Facilitating participatory music making in diverse contexts of community music
Authors: Kirstin Anderson and Lee WillinghamAbstractCurrent conversations and debates amongst community music and music educational practitioners have engendered the need to identify and describe qualities and leadership strategies that could be expected essential for those in teaching, facilitating and/or working in diverse settings, including carceral environments. Common areas are first explored: where are we working (context)?, with whom are we working (people/community)? and given an understanding of the first two questions, how do we do it (strategies)? These framing questions assist in locating common characteristics of making music in various settings, but also point to the distinctive features of each of the three contexts. By establishing conditions for authentic experience, safety in exploring and risk-taking as well as defining key strategies for successful engagement, instructional approaches are identified and applied. Pedagogical practices that include instructional strategies such as guided discovery, collaborative learning and narrative dialogue are identified. Facilitation processes such as, for example, demonstrating/modelling, coaching, Socratic direction and facilitating/enabling are models of musical intervention that create space for acquiring and using lifelong skills in participatory contexts. Whether in schools, communities or prisons, the positive experience of music making thrives where the flexibility of the teacher/facilitator, the reflexivity of the innovator, the foundational knowledge that research and practice provide and the ultimate enhancement of the community are fully in place.
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Community music as intervention: Three doctoral researchers consider intervention from their different contexts
Authors: Ruth Currie, Jo Gibson and Chi Ying LamAbstractThere is a rising critique of the process and position of decision-making across music interventions, which has been evidenced through the MUSOC research network debates that we, as doctoral students, have participated in. In this article, we specifically discuss ‘intervention’ as ‘deliberate strategies that seek to enable people to find self-expression through musical means’ (Bartleet and Higgins 2018: 3). We offer three perspectives from three different intervention contexts: community music in schools, organizational settings and music-making workshops. Through this article, we share and reflect on our experience with intervention and decision making within our practice. We give specific focus to: how intentions and motivations underpinning interventionist practice manifest in different contexts; how this is currently informed by the decision-making structures through which community music is practised in each context; and, the extent to which dominant modes of practice have potential to disempower participants, including how they are reinforced and re-enacted through this process. Finally, we suggest that how we talk about intervention across peers, and how we enact it through our practice as practitioners and researchers is possibly misaligned. This warrants further consideration if explorations of the term ‘intervention’ are to feed into discussion and action for responsible practice.
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Redefining excellence and inclusion
Authors: Jennie Henley and Lee HigginsAbstractIn this article, we present an overview and summary of the work undertaken by the Music and Social Intervention Network. Exploring the themes of ‘excellence’ and ‘inclusion’, we begin with a consideration of the four articles presented within this special issue and then proceed onto a reflection surrounding wider discussions prevalent at the public events held as part of the project. Following this, we outline five key discourses that emerged through the research process: value, context, measurement, process/product and pedagogy. These fields were then used to identify three underlying issues that affect the way the concepts of excellence and inclusion manifest. After proposing a common understanding of the terms under scrutiny, we suggest that the research points towards a reformation that reads: excellence is the process within community music and inclusion is the product of that process. Reflective questions pertaining to this idea are left open for further discussion.
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