Ethnomusicology in the Classroom: a Study of the Music Education Curriculum and Its Inclusion of World Music

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ETHNOMUSICOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM: A STUDY OF THE MUSIC EDUCATION CURRICULUM AND ITS INCLUSION OF WORLD MUSIC

A thesis submitted to the College of the Arts of Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts

Elizabeth R. Recob

December 2019

Thesis written by

Elizabeth R. Recob

B. A., Kent State University, 2013

M.A. Kent State University, 2019

Approved by

______Jennifer Johnstone, Ph.D., Advisor

______Kent McWilliams, Ph.D., Director, School of Music

______John R. Crawford-Spinelli, Ed.D., Dean, College of the Arts

ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF TABLES

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………...….1 Opening and Background……………………………………………………………..…..2 Survey of Literature…………………………………………………………………….....4 Purpose of Study……………………………………………………………………..…..12 Methodology………………………………………………………………………….….13

II. WORLD MUSIC IN THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM………………………………….….15 Music as a World Phenomenon offered as a Kent Core Class………………………..…16 The Music as a World Phenomenon Class…………………………………………..…..21 Students’ Perceptions of Music as a World Phenomenon…………………………….…33 III. THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM FOR MUSIC EDUCATION AT KENT STATE UNIVERSITY………………………………………………………………………………...….37 Kent State University Admission Requirements……………………………………..….38 Non-Music Requirements………………………………………………………………..39 Education Requirements…………………………………………………………………42 Music Requirements………………………………………………………………….….43 Conclusion and Summary of the Music Education Curricula………………………...…46

IV. MUSIC EDUCATORS’ LESSON PLANNING……………………………………….……51 National Standards…………………………………………………………………...…..51 Creating…………………………………………………………………………..52 Performing……………………………………………………………………….53 Responding…………………………………………………………...………….55 Ohio Standards……………………………………………………………………..…….56 Current Lesson Plan Topics of Music Educators…………………………………...……59 The College Music Society Manifesto……………………………………………..…….61 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….63

V. THE EDUCATION OF THE MUSIC EDUCATOR………………………….……………..67 What Do Teachers Know about World Music?...... 67 How are Teachers Teaching World Music?...... 82 What Do Teachers Want to Learn about World Music?...... 85 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….…86

BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………..…………………………………90

iii LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

1. Dr. Priwan Nanongkham’s Music as a World Phenomenon class using Western instruments to play non-Western music…………………………………………………………………..……3

2. World Music: A Global Journey, by Terry E. Miller and Andrew Shahriari, Fourth Edition...23

3. “An Inside Look” from World Music: A Global Journey by Terry E. Miller and Andrew Shahriari, Fourth Edition, p. 128……………………………………………………………..….24

4. “Questions to Consider,” in World Music: A Global Journey by Terry E. Miller and Andrew Shahriari, Fourth Edition, p. 53…………………………………………………………...……..25

5. “Listening Guide,” in World Music: A Global Journey by Terry E. Miller and Andrew Shahriari, Fourth Edition, p. 287……………………………………………….………………..25

6. Ke Li, a visiting scholar from China, demonstrating how to play the guqin, an instrument from China, to KSU students…………………………………………………………………….27

7. Joe Culley, a local from Kent, Ohio, playing the table, an instrument from India, for KSU students……………………………………………………………………………………..……27

8. Nattapol Wisuttipat, Chamni Sripraram, and Priwan Nanongkham playing in a Piphat ensemble, music from Thailand, at a wai khru ritual at UCLA. The players in this ensemble are from Kent State University, UCLA, and Chicago…………………………………….……..28

9. Brian McCoy, demonstrating a hurdy gurdy, an instrument from Hungary, at a workshop at KSU Stark Campus……………………………………………………...……………………….28

10. Yuan Ni playing the erhu, a Chinese fiddle, at a KSU Asian Music Concert………….……29

11. Nattapol Wisuttipat playing the ranat ek, an instrument from Thailand, for the author’s Music as a World Phenomenon class…………………………………………………………….31

12. Soundscapes: Exploring Music in a Changing World, by Kay Kaufman Shelemay, Third Edition……………………………………………………………………………………………32

13. The Table of Contents in Soundscapes: Exploring Music in a Changing World, by Kay Kaufman Shelemay, Third Edition………………………………………………………………33

14. Graduation Requirements for Kent State University’s Music Education- B.M………..……39

15. University Requirements for Kent State University Music Education-B.M…………….…..41

iv 16. Additional Requirements for Kent State University Music Education-B.M…..……….……43

17. Major Requirements Kent State University Music Education-B.M…………………………45

18. The National Association for Music Education Standards……………………………..……52

19. Survey from students who are currently taking Music as a World Phenomenon at KSU…...68

20. Survey from students who were previously in Music as a World Phenomenon at KSU. The survey was conducted with 5 participants…………………………………………………….…69

21. Survey from students who were previously in Music as a World Phenomenon at KSU….....70

22. Survey from current students in Music as a World Phenomenon at KSU………………...…70

23. Survey results from current Music as a World Phenomenon students at KSU…...…………76

24. Survey results from previous students in Music as a World Phenomenon at KSU…….……77

25. Survey results from current Music as a World Phenomenon students at KSU………...……79

26. Survey results from previous Music as a World Phenomenon students at KSU………….…80

27. Survey result from the College Music Society national meeting, November 5, 2015. Participants in the survey, used with permission from Jennifer Johnstone………………..…….83

28. Survey result from the College Music Society national meeting, November 5, 2015. Participants in the survey, used with permission from Jennifer Johnstone………………...……84

v LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

I. Survey results from current Music as a World Phenomenon students at KSU. Correct answers are highlighted…………………………………………………………………….…….72 II. Survey results from former Music as a World Phenomenon students at KSU. Correct answers are highlighted…………………………………………………………………………..74

vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To my committee, thank you for challenging and pushing me. Dr. Johnstone, you have been such a wonderful advisor. You have always had faith in me and have been a comfort during this whole process. Dr. Shahriari, you have completely opened my eyes to the world. I will never forget our trip to Thailand, and all of the memories made. Dr. Venesile, you’ve been a support since undergrad. Thank you for being a part of my education.

To my parents, I am who I am because of you. Mom, you have been the friend I’ve needed in life. You’ve never doubted me, and you have always shown your support. Thank you for letting me vent, cry, and talk to you. When no one would listen, you would. I love you so much, mom. Dad, I know I can count on you. Even as an adult, I still will always need dad. I always will. I love you. Mom, dad, I hope I’ve made your proud.

To Josh, I’m so thankful we found each other again. Thank you for showing me tough love during this thesis, and giving me the boost I needed to finish. I’m so grateful that we get to share this life together, and am looking forward to our next steps as parents.

Lastly, to my sweet daughter, Stella Rosalia. You are the reason mommy worked so hard at finishing this thesis. Even though you are not born yet, I want you to know that you can accomplish anything your heart desires. May you grow up in a world where kindness is most important, and love is shown to everyone. Thank you for giving me a purpose. I love you, sweetheart.

vii Elizabeth Recob Department of Ethnomusicology Kent State University

ETHNOMUSICOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM: A STUDY OF THE MUSIC EDUCATION CURRICULUM AND ITS INCLUSION OF WORLD MUSIC

Abstract

The requirements for a degree in music education often have one semester of world music1 instruction but have multiple of classes of instruction based on Western classical music.

Most music educators will teach only what they have learned in their education at the collegiate level. The minimal attention to world music instruction, as well as other areas of music study, e.g., American folk/pop/rock music, in college curricula limits the subjects such educators will likely teach to their own students in the future. Certainly, there are many factors influencing what a music educator will teach their students. Some of these include their own personal knowledge, education, school’s standards, national and state standards, and the planning of other music educators within their school district. While the age level of a teacher’s students and national and state standards will affect their instructional content, there is some flexibility for the music educator to incorporate what they wish to teach in their curriculum, which can include world music. This research reviews the current music education curriculum in a higher education program in Northeast Ohio at Kent State University, and suggest changes that could encourage a more global view of music for future music education students.

1 In this thesis, the reference to world music implies non-Western music.

Opening and Background

I began my university studies by pursuing a degree in Music Education. My intent was to teach elementary school students. I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music

Education with a focus on choral and general music. After teaching for three years, I decided to continue onward with my studies, because I wanted to teach collegiate students. As I researched programs that best suited my interests in music history and world music, I discovered the ethnomusicology program and applied for the Master of Arts at Kent State University.

During my graduate studies, I began to wonder why world music is only required for one semester for an undergraduate taking music education courses. There are numerous semesters of coursework spent on Western music, but only fifteen weeks is provided to fulfill the education requirement in world music. At present, the Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education at many universities often only require one semester of non-western music study. While taking the course Music of Non-Western Cultures, now known as Music as a World Phenomenon, as part of my undergraduate studies, I realized it was the same material used to teach the elective course offered to undergraduate students who are not music majors. If students who are majoring in music are getting the same education as students who are not studying music, this is a limited understanding of world music for a future music educator. I have researched whether music educators are getting the same instruction of world music as non-music majors and why it is broadly accepted.

Dr. Priwan Nanongkham often teaches the Music as a World Phenomenon course that is set up for music majors. When asked if he if his teaching style changed compared to teaching

2 non-music majors, he replied, “Yes, I approach them differently. For music majors I emphasize on music elements more than cultural aspects. I create activities in class that they could discuss musical elements or even perform them (with Western instruments, certainly.)”2

Figure 1. Dr. Priwan Nanongkham’s Music as a World Phenomenon class using Western instruments to play non- Western music. Used with permission.

The author strongly believes that the study of world music should have a larger role in the music education curriculum so that students in the public schools understand that there is more than only Western music. The author researched what other music faculty, students, and advisors understand about the world music program and what the perception is of world music education at institutions of higher learning.

2 Priwan Nanongkham, interview by author, November 7, 2019.

During previous studies for an undergraduate degree, the author was unaware that Kent

State had an ethnomusicology program, even though many of the classes were taught in the classrooms next to the ethnomusicology offices. This could be because the ethnomusicology program is offered as a graduate degree. The author attended Kent State in 2012, when the ethnomusicology program was redesigned, and yet was not informed about the “new” program, only the online Master’s degree in Music Education. Are current undergraduate music educators aware of the ethnomusicology degree offered at the collegiate level? The author will formally research how the ethnomusicology program is being advertised to other students at Kent State

University, both music and non-music majors.

SURVEY OF LITERATURE

Despite the increase of highly diverse classrooms, the National Standards of Music

Education continue to focus predominantly on American musical art forms, such as folk traditions, pop, jazz, and rock music. There is also an emphasis on Western classical notation.

While it is important for upcoming musicians to learn music theory, history and performance of the Western canon, it also seems valuable to understand music of other cultures, especially when more students in the classroom are coming from other areas of the world. David G. Klocko, a

Professor of Musicology who taught at the University of Michigan before his passing in 2009, suggested that the university curriculum of music education does not adequately supply the necessary classes that a music educator needs in order to fulfill the needs of a diverse classroom.

He writes: Despite all this educational review, current university curricula still do not reflect the realities of today’s world and the needs of music teachers; they lack global perspective. I am convinced not only that every undergraduate music major should be required to take a comprehensive music history course but that the

study of music literature should include folk, popular, and classical musics of Europe and North America as well as those of other cultures.3 Undergraduate music majors have multiple courses needed to fulfill the requirements of their specific university. The roadmap to a music degree is filled with music coursework, but also classes that do not necessarily involve the subject of music. While each music class is valuable, there is often more emphasis on a specific area, genre, or even sometimes an era.

Studying music in North America means that there is a strong focus on Western classical music.

Therefore, music educators are being offered an ethnocentric perspective of music, suggesting that Western music is most important and the music that should be taught to students.4 Any additional study of world music is now dependent upon further study sought independently by the music educator. Klocko says, “Music teachers, however, should not have to study all

American and world music styles on their own.”5 Without guidance by a qualified instructor, students are forced to pursue self-study in order to become more globally aware of music. This can lead to many misinformed, misguided, and culturally insensitive understandings of world music and culture that educators unintentionally pass on to their students.

For example, they may teach a song using staff notation that is normally taught through oral transmission, missing out on some key pedagogical and culturally-appropriate insight, as well as suggesting that staff notation is required to legitimize any music. They also may avoid providing background information about the song, such as ritual context, which may be important in understanding the song itself. Some teachers in elementary and secondary

3 David G. Klocko, “Multicultural Music in the College Curriculum.” Music Educators Journal 75, no. 5 (January 1989): 39.

4 Ethnocentrism is the evaluation of other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one’s own culture.

5 David G. Klocko, 39.

5 education settings may avoid exploring new material, because they fear teaching it incorrectly.

For a music educator to have a variety of music to teach, they should be taught a variety of music. As Patricia Shehan Campbell notes:

These future teachers will teach what they have been taught. If they are taught a global approach, they will convey this approach to their students… With a comprehensive curriculum, students would be introduced to and have the opportunity to know much more than they now study in most schools. Some might argue that Western classical music study would suffer if we introduced a comprehensive curriculum. On the contrary, it would take on even more meaning. Students would be more, not less, aware of classical music styles by comparing them with other styles. In addition, studying non-Western genres makes us more aware of the structural bases of Western music- bases that we might mistakenly assume to be common to all musics.6

The importance of having a better understanding of world music not only benefits the teacher, but current and future students, both music and non-music.

Kent State alumni Patricia Shehan Campbell, 2013-2014 College Music Society

President, examined university music study. “It was her and others’ belief that the world into which our students will graduate is vastly different from the one around which the field has typically been conceived.”7 She charged the Task Force on the Undergraduate Music Major with critical examination of the music curriculum. “The time has come for academic music study to take its next evolutionary strides and, in so doing, to produce new generations of artists- visionaries who will contribute their transformative worldview to the whole of twenty-first

6 Patricia Shehan Campbell, David Myers, Ed Sarath, Juan Chattah, Lee Higgins, Victoria Lindsay Levine, David Rudge, and Timothy Rice. Transforming Music Study from its Foundations: A Manifesto for Progressive Change in the Undergraduate Preparation of Music Majors. Report of the Task Force on the Undergraduate Music Major. 2014. 10.

7 Ibid.

6 century life.”8 The Task Force gathered together to examine the music education topics of that time. While topics had remained focused on Western music, Campbell and the task force considered the requirements of an educated musician in the twenty-first century. These topics within the curriculum were examined in order to prepare the future music educator with a wider knowledge of music outside the Western canon.

Keith Swanwick, Emeritus Professor at the Institute of Education, University College

London, UK, is the editor of Music Education (Routledge 2012), a collection of significant works in the field. He focuses on how music education is taught in different international settings. His 1992 article within the British Journal of Ethnomusicology, considers music education and how it was to change if there was a focus on music in international contexts, rather than a specific Western location.

He writes: When we engage with and respond to music we are extending our ways of making and taking the world through symbolic discourse drawing on deep psychological wells of a universal play impulse. Music shares these fundamental processes of mind with other arts and indeed with other symbolic forms, including science and philosophy. The unique qualities of music lie in its intensity of sensorial impression, its expressive vividness and imagery and the coherence and concentration of its structure. Music expands our universe of thought and feeling; it takes us “out of ourselves.” No cohesive community gets by without music.9 In order to be a better-prepared music educator, world music needs to be a fundamental requirement for more than a semester in a music educator’s coursework. Additional coursework would allow a music educator to gain a broader knowledge. Swanwick says, “Education is about

8 Patricia Shehan Campbell, David Myers, Ed Sarath, Juan Chattah, Lee Higgins, Victoria Lindsay Levine, David Rudge, and Timothy Rice, 10.

9 Keith Swanwick. “Music Education and Ethnomusicology.” British Journal of Ethnomusicology 1, (1992): 138. 7 preparing the young for a changing world and is an attempt to bring about change in people.”10

In order to prepare a music student for the changing world, they need to be taught other areas of music study, so they can convey and teach those methods to their future students.

Estelle R. Jorgensen, Professor of Music at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, focuses on the foundations of music education and is a contributor to leading music education journals internationally. In her article “The Curriculum Design Process in Music” from a 1988 issue of the College Music Symposium, she mentions how the design of a curriculum moves from philosophical to practical. Every university may have differences on what comprises their music education curriculum, but the majority have the same focus or requirements.

Jorgensen states the following: Each music curriculum, then, might reasonably be expected to be unique, reflecting the individual who develops it. Even in the case of a curriculum designed for wide use as a music syllabus, professional teachers must be free to develop curricula that are distinctive. To deny this freedom is to deprive them of opportunities to develop imaginative curricular solutions appropriate for the particular circumstances in which they find themselves.11

If the curriculum is based on certain objectives and program agendas, such as creating, performing, and responding, then further research will be needed to understand if the curriculum is based nationally or state-wide depending on the university. If we are basing the curriculum on what is required in the state itself, we may be limiting the music educator only to what will be taught in the state they are studying in. It may cause future problems for educators who live in a

10Keith Swanwich, 137.

11 Estelle R. Jorgensen. “The Curriculum Design Process in Music.” College Music Symposium 28, (1998): 100.

8 different state because state standards may be different. The university curriculum may be more universal if it were based on national standards of music education.

A part of having a thorough curriculum is having the opportunity to further study what is of interest, and what is a necessity to each individual student. Limiting a music education student’s courses to that of a Western background is poorly preparing them for a musically diverse classroom. As considered by Michael L. Mark, an Emeritus Professor of Music at

Towson University, in a 1998 essay in The Bulletin of Historical Research in Music Education,

The exposure to unfamiliar musics is enriching for their students and for the schools in general. Looking at the other side, though, many music educators, perhaps the majority, are still uncomfortable with non-Western musics and simply ignore them in their classrooms. Those American music educators who do incorporate other musics do not try to make ethnomusicologists of their students, but they give them the greatest possible exposure to the music of other peoples.12

As a music educator, the best way to avoid this problem is to teach students other music beyond the Western European canon. To make more than one semester a requirement of their higher education would greatly affect the teaching styles in the classrooms today. “College students preparing to be music teachers are fortunate if their university has a separate department of ethnomusicology.”13 While it is fortunate for a college to have an ethnomusicology program in general, not having one does not take away from the importance of music educators learning the subject matter.

Michael L. Mark states:

American music educators have turned to ethnomusicologists for knowledge and training in learning the musics of the people of many cultures because the school music curriculum requires multicultural experiences for children. Since the

12 Michael L. Mark. “Multicultural Music Education in the United States.” The Bulletin of Historical Research in Music Education 19, no. 3 (May 1998): 185-186.

13 Michael L. Mark, 184.

middle of the 1960s, American music educators have been engaged in teaching the musics of many cultures in public school music programs.14

If a school requires multicultural experiences for children, then a teacher must be prepared to teach music from different areas. If there is no ethnomusicologist at hand to help aide the teacher, then the responsibility falls on the teacher to come up with a plan that involves foreign music.

Mark suggests that in his experience, the discipline of ethnomusicology is a help to the discipline of music education. A challenge to teaching world music and cultures is making sure that the teacher is, in fact, teaching the correct information to the students, and not guessing on aspects of the lesson. An example of this would be teaching the Japanese song, Sakura. It is a common folk song that it taught at the elementary level because of the simplicity of notes and rhythms. However, some teachers may not teach the meaning behind the song or specific details relating to it because of the lack of knowledge. For the music teacher to be competent, they should have thorough training in the subject area they are teaching, or have the resources to find the information themselves. “There is little uniformity throughout the country, except that all university students preparing to be teachers must receive some multicultural education.”15 If universities are not sharing curricula as far as what should be taught to a music educator, then the knowledge of each individual could greatly differ due to their university. This can cause bigger problems down the road when music educators are instructing on different topics and straying away from a common curriculum as listed in the National and State Standards.

Michael Mark states:

14 Ibid., 177. 15 Ibid., 184.

There is also little uniformity among universities in teaching the relationship between music and culture. Many music teachers have become somewhat technically proficient in performing other musics without going very deeply into the culture of the music.16

When students do not receive the background information of a specific cultural context, they are losing vital material on understanding the music meaning and its role within a culture.

Marja Heimonen, Ph.D. in Music Education at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki,

Finland, focuses her career on the relationship between music education and Law. Her article,

“Nurturing Towards Wisdom: Justifying Music in the Curriculum” in the 2008 issue of the

Philosophy of Music Education Review focuses on the music curriculum from a philosophical point of view. She believes that more focus may be needed on how the curriculum is being prepared, taught, and absorbed.

Heimonen states:

The word curriculum has also been said to refer to a set of planned activities. These activities are designed to implement an educational aim (or a set of aims) in terms of the content of what is taught and the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that should be fostered. In this the curriculum differs from the syllabus, which refers to the content and the structure of the subjects included in it. It is also distinguished from the concept of lessons, which refers to the portion of time in which the content of the syllabus is implemented. However, any definition of the word curriculum should go far beyond merely stating the content of the knowledge delivered or the list of subjects that are taught to pupils.17

Teachers should have the knowledge to teach younger children what they will need to know for the music world that they will live in. Only allowing them to learn knowledge of the Western

16 Michael L. Mark, 184.

17 Marja Heimonen. “Nurturing Towards Wisdom: Justifying Music in the Curriculum.” Philosophy of Music Education Review 16, no. 1 (Spring 2008): 63. 11 world can create the assumption that Western music is the most important, or the only music of value. As discussed above, this leads to ethnocentric views of music.

It is not only the music education of children but also music instruction in higher education that serves a function other than training in the skills of future professionals in music. Music teaching should affect the whole personality, although a high degree of specialty is required for the professional musician. The need for diverse experiences- perhaps in art forms other than music- is stressed since if the training is too systematic (especially when it begins very early in childhood), it may restrict the proper development of the personality.18

It is important to research what other skills and knowledge benefit children from the instruction of music education. If studying music can lead to skills such as communication, discipline, and mathematics, then these skills can also be used to discover what should be taught at the university, what needs to change in the curriculum, and why there needs to be global awareness in music education.

PURPOSE OF STUDY

This thesis focuses on what role world music has in a college curriculum in Northeast

Ohio. World music is taught to many undergraduate students at Kent State regardless of whether or not they are studying music as a major. It is common for an ethnomusicology course to be taught as an elective in most universities. While it is understandable that non-music majors can take the course as an elective, it is not clear why other non-ethnomusicology music majors such as music educators and performance majors are only taking one semester of world music. There is less of an importance of study to those who are pursuing music as a career. The purpose of

18 Marja Heimonen, 69.

12 this thesis is to assess what music education majors are learning about world music and how it is might affect their future careers.

METHODOLOGY

Kent State University School of Music was used as a case study for this research. The author reviewed the Music Education curriculum, and interviewed Kent State faculty, students, and advisors who have advised music and non-music undergraduates to take world music courses as part of their electives. Nearby universities, such as the University of Akron and

Youngstown State University were observed, but the data are limited. Information was obtained from readings, student questionnaires, and in-person interviews. Discussions with both current and future music educators allowed for a deeper understanding as to what they believe is important in the music education curriculum This study is limited in its focus on Kent State

University. However, given the strong ethnomusicology presence there (including a Master’s degree and several world music ensembles), it does provide evidence that music education students benefit from one course in world music, and yearn for more training in how to apply this knowledge to their teaching careers.

CHAPTER II

WORLD MUSIC IN THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM

At Kent State University (KSU), the course, Music as a World Phenomenon, is considered a fine arts core credit. It also can be counted towards a diversity requirement. KSU’s

2018-2019 University Catalog states,

The Kent Core is the foundation of the university’s mission to prepare students to live in today’s complex, global society. It broadens intellectual perspectives, fosters ethical and humanitarian values and prepares students for responsible citizenship and productive careers. Through this learning experience, students develop the intellectual flexibility they need to adapt to an ever-changing world.19 This chapter covers some of the world music coursework that is offered in this course. There are discussions of why KSU’s Music as a World Phenomenon class pulls so many non-music undergraduates into the classroom, and why advisors are encouraging the class as an elective.

Included as well are interviews with current and former students who have taken the course. It is important to acknowledge that many of the interviews are from students and staff at KSU who have had the opportunity to partake in the class, for not all universities offer world music.

19 “University Catalog 2018-2019.” Human Resource Management- B.B.A. Accessed July 16, 2018. http://catalog.kent.edu/undergraduate-university-requirements/kent-core/.

Music as a World Phenomenon offered as a Kent Core Class

At KSU, the minimum total credit hours of elective classes for undergraduate students range from 36-37. These are divided into categories such as composition, mathematics and critical reasoning, humanities and fine arts, social sciences, and basic sciences. In the section for humanities and fine arts, nine credit hours are required. All classes under this section are three credit hours, so the student must choose three classes. A minimum of one class needs to be from the humanities section and one class from the fine arts section. The third class is the choice of the student. Under the fine arts section, the following are the Kent core classes currently offered:

Understanding of Architecture, Global Architectural History I, Global Architectural History II,

Art as a World Phenomenon, Art History: Ancient and Medieval Art, Art History: Renaissance to Modern Art, Art of Africa, Oceania and the Americas, Dance as an Art Form, The

Understanding of Music, Music as a World Phenomenon, and The Art of Theatre. Under the explanation of the Music as a World Phenomenon course the catalog states, “An introduction to music as a world phenomenon. Study of selected art, folk and popular musics from world cultures through live performances, tapes, films, video tapes and readings.”20 It is described as a lecture class and does not require any prerequisites. Any undergraduate student can register for this class without previous musical training.

Most Music as a World Phenomenon classes at KSU allow from 50 to 90 students to register. From the author’s experience teaching the course, many classes are full prior to the semester beginning. KSU’s fall 2018 schedule has 16 sections of the course; nine are on ground and seven are taken online. After reviewing the numbers of students who register each semester,

20 “University Catalog 2018-2019.”

16 most of the classes are at the max or close to being full. KSU has approximately 39,000+ students, 33,000+ being undergraduates. During an interview with KSU advisor, Jenna Bice, she stated that many students have taken the course. When asked if students choose the course, or if advisors recommend it, Bice answered: “In my opinion, it is 50/50. Some students decide to take it and other advisors may encourage it to satisfy a Kent Fine Arts requirement. It also satisfies a

Global Diversity requirement.”21 When asked how this course compares to others, Bice stated,

I previously advised Theatre, Dance, and Music students. When I was an advisor and encouraged the course to non-music majors, it would be because it is in the same building as their other courses and could be used to learn more about music around the world. I would also explain that it was a Kent Core- Fine Arts and satisfied a global diversity [requirement]. For theatre and dance students, time is of the essence, so having a class in the same building as their other coursework was a great option.22

The only course that had the same number of sections as the Music as a World Phenomenon class in Fall 2018 was The Art of Theatre with 16 sections. The core classes ranged from one to eleven, with most having fewer than nine. With these results, it is easy to assume that students enjoy music, advisors are highly recommending it, or there is such a large number of sections that it is easy for students to sign up or find time in their schedules to take it. From the author’s experience, most students have mentioned all three reasons. Gavin Oranski recalls taking Music as a World Phenomenon because:

I’ve always had a deep appreciation for music and it's been an extraordinarily large part of my life, mixed with my love of culture and learning about different people living their very different lives, I felt that this class would be a great fit for me and my interests. I had a friend who took the class the semester before I did. Listening to her talk about the discussion topics and helping her study for the class really brought my attention to how much I felt I’d enjoy it. Soon after, I

21 Jenna Bice, interview by author, September 10, 2018.

22 Jenna Bice, interview by author, September 10, 2018.

went to my advisor and told her I was going to take Music as a World Phenomenon.23

Former KSU graduate student of ethnomusicology Nattapol Wisuttipat taught the course and stated, “There were two types of reasons why my students enrolled for Music as a World

Phenomenon. One is that they wanted to learn more about music from different cultures while others, mostly music major students, said that they were required to take it.”24

The author has asked her own classes about why they chose to take the course. There is a common trend that students see the term “music” and sign up. In the article “Music in the

Schools” by Karl D. Ernst, he writes, “Music is basically an art of expression and communication. Mankind throughout all ages has made music and has used it to express himself when words would not suffice. Music is one of man’s common denominators. It unites human beings and brings beauty to life.”25

Under the music category of elective courses, there are two classes offered: The

Understanding of Music and Music as a World Phenomenon. The latter has more sections available, but there is also a vast difference in the two courses. The Understanding of Music course focuses on Western music while the Music as a World Phenomenon course focuses on non-Western music. Graduate student, Charlie Occhipinti, who, when asked how to compare learning music from a different culture to learning Western music, stated that,

Going into non-Western music with an open mind makes it a lot less stressful. I think the stress in world music comes from all of the aspects that are distinctly not

23 Gavin Oranski, interview by author, July 20, 2018.

24 Nattapol Wisuttipat, interview by author, July 20, 2018.

25 Karl D. Ernst. “Music in the Schools.” Music Educators Journal 48, no. 3 (January 1962): 46-48+50.

Western. Understanding the customs and having it explained where you can appreciate the rules, and understand that there is often a spiritual aspect. It adds a different dimension of understanding. It’s like learning a different language, you have to forget what you already know. I don’t look at it like Western music, I look at it like a different music, which is ultimately what we are supposed to be doing.26

Western music is a major focus of the National and State standards. The Ohio Department of

Education’s Music Standards contains three categories: Creating, Producing/Performing, and

Responding/Reflecting. Under each of these categories is a list of items that the student should be able to do before the end of each year. The list gradually gets more challenging as the student gets older.

After reviewing the lists among all age groups, the creating column has the most objectives that can be related to non-Western music. Some of them include listening and identifying music of various cultures, exploring musical instruments of world cultures, and discussing how current developments in music reflect society in reference to the local communities and larger world. With all the requirements of the standards involving non-

Western music, the author can attest that many of them get overlooked. Often there is more importance placed on an upcoming concert or district and state contests. During the fifth-grade year when bands and choirs are beginning, there is even more effort put towards learning notes, rhythms, and instruments that often there is a shift from the creating column to the producing and performing column.

As there is minimal coverage of non-Western music in the public schools, students who take the Music as a World Phenomenon course at Kent State University are relatively new to the

26 Charlie Occhipinti, interview by author, June 13, 2018. 19 subject, assuming they are from the United States. In considering why students should learn world music, Graysen Schaney, a music education student, stated, “All music is important.

Other styles of world music can influence American music. I think that it is important that they

(students) get a background of everything.”27 Presently, Western music is dominating the public schools, and the reasoning may be offered in one of Patricia Shehan Campbell’s books, Musician

& Teacher.

Music is widely seen as the expression of socially conditioned factors that cannot be generalizable across cultures, which thus argues against a biological basis for musicality. Through this cultural lens, children are viewed as growing into their musical values, skills, and understanding through enculturation, in which shared experiences are provided by the culture of their elders, including their parents, grandparents, siblings, and various members of their community.28

Many American students are in taught Western music for much of their childhood. As Campbell mentioned, they are often surrounded by the music of their parents which may not give them exposure to non-Western music. Perhaps this is why the Music as a World Phenomenon course is pulling in so many students. They are eager to explore new territories that are seldom covered in early and secondary years of school.

27 Graysen Schaney, interview by author, June 11, 2018.

28 Patricia Shehan Campbell. Musician & Teacher: An Orientation to Music Education. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2008, 106.

The Music as a World Phenomenon Class

Ethnomusicology faculty and graduate students teach the Music as a World Phenomenon classes at Kent State University. This class is assigned to music majors as a required course, while non-music majors may choose it as an elective. Some courses are on ground at the campus while a few are offered as an online course. Under the learning objectives as standard for the university, the following are included:

Introduce various world music traditions and related extra-musical activities. By the end of the course, students should be able to:

1. Aurally recognize and discuss musical elements of world music traditions studied.

2. Visually recognize and discuss musical instruments and ensembles of world music traditions

studied.

3. Discuss cultural activities associated with world music traditions studied.

4. Locate geographically the origin and prominent locales of the world music traditions studied.

Aside from music, including instruments, ensembles, songs, style, and scales, many other aspects of culture are studied, including religion, language, rituals, customs, and geography. With a semester lasting 15 weeks, it is common for topics to be taught quickly or completely removed as the instructor chooses. Some instructors have more information on a subject and are likely to focus on a specific area.

The book currently used for most of KSU’s Music as a World Phenomenon classes is

World Music: A Global Journey, fourth edition by Terry E. Miller and Andrew Shahriari. It also includes three CDs that allow the students to listen to the music examples taught in class. The

21 book is divided into chapters by country or location. The following are the chapters for World

Music: A Global Journey:

1. Before the Trip Begins: Fundamental Issues

2. Aural Analysis: Listening to the World’s Music

3. Cultural Considerations: Beyond the Sounds Themselves

4. Oceania: Australia, Papua New Guinea, Hawai’i, Kiribati

5. South Asia: India, Pakistan

6. Southeast Asia: Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Northeast Thailand, Indonesia (Java and

Bail)

7. East Asia: China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, Tibet

8. The Middle East: Islam and the Arab World, Iran, Egypt, Sufism, Judaism

9. Europe: Greece, Spain, Russia, Scotland, Ireland, Hungary, Bulgaria

10. Sub-Saharan Africa: Ghana, Nigeria, Central Africa, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Senegal,

The Republic of South Africa

11. The Caribbean: Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Rico, Cuba, The

Dominican Republic

12. South America and Mexico: The Amazon Rainforest, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico

13. Canada and the United States29

Figure 2. World Music: A Global Journey, by Terry E. Miller and Andrew Shahriari, Fourth Edition.

Each chapter includes “An Inside look” essay, which features an expert on the specific area, and

“sites” of each location with different music examples featuring both instrumental and vocal repertoire, including listening guides, site maps, and finishes with “Questions to consider.”

Author Andrew Shahriari states his reason for writing the book,

In 1992, I sat in on a Music as a World Phenomenon class that Terry Miller was teaching. At that time, it wasn’t a big class and didn’t have 16 sections like there are now. The first semester I taught, I tried to use Bruno Nettl’s Excursions in World Music book, and none of the students read it. I was having a tough time using it in regard to organization as a classroom textbook. At the same time, I was teaching The Understanding of Music, and we used a book that was organized with listening examples. I thought, why don’t we have a book like that

29 Miller, Terry E., and Andrew Shahriari. World Music: A Global Journey. New York: Routledge, 2017, v-x.

in world music? He and I started working on putting a better book together. We wrote it specifically for the class here at Kent State. It was made for that music survey course. That’s why we wrote it because the books at the time we were unsatisfied with.30

Figure 3. “An Inside Look” from World Music: A Global Journey by Terry E. Miller and Andrew Shahriari, Fourth Edition, p. 128.

30 Andrew Shahriari, interview by author, August 29, 2018.

Figure 4 “Questions to Consider,” in World Music: A Global Journey by Terry E. Miller and Andrew Shahriari, Fourth Edition, p. 53.

Figure 5. “Listening Guide,” in World Music: A Global Journey by Terry E. Miller and Andrew Shahriari, Fourth Edition, p. 287.

The Preface of World Music: A Global Journey by Terry E. Miller and Andrew Shahriari reads,

This textbook is inspired by a class we taught (and Andrew continues to teach) at Kent State University for many years, “Music as a World Phenomenon.” In the mid-1990s, when the university established a requirement for cultural diversity classes, the course was a natural fit and enrollment exploded overnight. Fifty students a semester turned into over 500 within a few years. Dissatisfied with the introductory world music textbooks available at the time, we set out to write one that would serve this greater number of students, few of whom had formal music training. Its success has encouraged the class to grow to nearly 1500 students per semester and is one of the most popular courses on campus. Other universities have experienced similar growth in their world music surveys. The online version of the class at Kent State, which accommodates nearly 500 students, remains full, and the textbook with its accompanying interactive website has proven an invaluable resource, especially for those students. We hope this fourth edition of World Music: A Global Journey will encourage the same enthusiasm in both instructors and students for teaching and learning about the world and its music, as it has for us at Kent State.31

The book covers a wide variety of countries and areas, but it can be challenging to cover each one within a 15-week span. With each instructor in charge of their own syllabus, they have the authority to choose which chapters they would like to teach. The author’s syllabus features all chapters except chapter 4, Oceania. Even with the other chapters covered, not all sub-sections are featured in the class. Decisions on what to teach is often based on current knowledge, experiences, and what is most comfortable to teach. Previous research, fieldwork, or practice in a specific area, is important to be shared with the class along with showing photographs, videos, and demonstrations of personal experiences.

31 Terry E. Miller and Andrew Shahriari. World Music: A Global Journey. New York: Routledge, 2017, xi.

Figure 6. Ke Li, a visiting scholar from China, demonstrating how to play the guqin, an instrument from China, to KSU students.

Figure 7. Joe Culley, a local from Kent, Ohio, playing the tabla, an instrument from India, for KSU students.

Figure 8. Nattapol Wisuttipat, Chamni Sripraram, and Priwan Nanongkham playing in a Piphat ensemble, music from Thailand, at a wai khru ritual at UCLA. The players in this ensemble are from Kent State University, UCLA, and Chicago.

Figure 9. Brian McCoy, demonstrating a hurdy gurdy, an instrument from Hungary, at a workshop at KSU Stark Campus.

Figure 10. Yuan Ni playing the erhu, a Chinese fiddle, at a KSU Asian Music concert. The authors of the textbook believe that their own photographs and videos allow the students to see what is available to them at KSU. Many students have mentioned that they are unaware of world music opportunites. Some of the videos shown in class are of previous world music concerts, demonstrations by professionals of a particular area, and popular YouTube videos that allow the students to visually see the instruments in action. The author also likes to base their syllabus on what the students will pressumed to be interested in and what will benefit them the most. For example, it the author has a student from another country, she will try and incorporate that country into the syllabus.

Other professors and graduate students base their syllabi on similar aspects as the author and different ways. When interviewing Nattapol Wisuttipat on how he chooses what to teach, he states,

“I try to cover everything in the book, so I include all chapters. Then I go over each chapter to find sites that may be interesting to the students, like strange instruments or associated cultural aspect, or something that they should know like hinduism, polyrhythms, apartheid, and voodoo.”32

During another interview, Nattapol Wisuttipat was asked if he spent more time lecturing on

Thailand because that is where he is from. Nattapol replied, “Yes, I spend an entire class teaching only Thai music alone because it’s my music, but I try not to go too deep and bore my students.”33 The author believes that it is important to use the resources available to the instructor while teaching a Music as a World Phenomenon class. If there is someone on campus who specializes in a particular area, she often has them come in to guest lecture. Often students appreciate learning from a professional or a native musician. This is also a way for students to be able to see different instruments up close, though this may not be available to all instructors.

32 Nattapol Wisuttipat, interview by author, July 26, 2018.

33 Nattapol Wisuttipat, interview by author, August 6, 2018. 30

Figure 11. Nattapol Wisuttipat playing the ranat ek, an instrument from Thailand, for the author’s Music as a World Phenomenon class. Nearby Youngstown State University also has one world music course, and the book they use is Kay Kaufman Shelemay’s Soundscapes: Exploring Music in a Changing World.

Figure 12. Soundscapes: Exploring Music in a Changing World, by Kay Kaufman Shelemay, Third Edition.

While reading through the chapters, it seems that the book is more divided by issues rather than location. There are three parts: Listening to Music, Transmitting Music, and Understanding

Music. Each part has a few chapters under that are divided into further topics.

Figure 13. The Table of Contents in Soundscapes: Exploring Music in a Changing World, by Kay Kaufman Shelemay, Third Edition. In the author’s opinion, this book would be more suitable for music majors because they may understand the issues more because they already have a background in music. Another difference is that there are no CDs that come with the book, but listening examples are available online. Miller and Shahriari’s book is set up in a way that no previous music knowledge is needed or required.

Students’ Perceptions of Music as a World Phenomenon

The author has had two successful semesters of teaching the Music as a World

Phenomenon course. After asking her students, most thoroughly enjoyed the class, and seemed to be excited to learn music that was new for them. When interviewing sophomore

33 undergraduate Ben Thompson, the author asked how he felt about the class after he had taken it.

His response was,

“I loved it, it was such a blast. I really liked it because Dr. Khio taught us music from his culture (Thailand). One of the first days of class he brought in a khaen34, and it was awesome. I looked towards my friend in class, and we both were very excited. It was such a cool instrument to see and hear played. I had so much fun learning about non-Western music that I made a playlist and started adding songs to it that were outside of the ones from the book. I have other world music ensembles that I’ve downloaded because of that class. I have a few albums that are Javanese gamelan. Just learning the different instruments, the different styles, and the cultural influences on it. I really liked learning about African culture and how their language is musical. I like how the talking drums mimick their voice. I’ve always liked music history and I’ve always been interested in cultures and anthropology and ethnomusicology is a mix of all of them. That sounds good to me!” 35

Other students found difficulties within the class. A sophomore undergraduate was asked if he enjoyed learning about non-Western music. His response was, “Yes and no. I had problems with the class on how the professor took care of the midterm. When the midterm was scheduled, we did not go over everything that was on the exam.”36

A common complaint about the course is that there is not enough time to go through all of the music. Many students feel that often chapters can be rushed, while others are more elaborated on. Even though there are 13 chapters in the book and 15 weeks to a semester, it does not include the midterm and final exams, plus any homework assignments or tests on the syllabus. This is why the author believes that specific areas are covered greater than others depending on the professor. If a professor has more experience on African culture, then more

34 Khaen. A free reed mouth organ predominantly found in Northeast Thailand and Laos.

35 Ben Thompson, interview by author, June 13, 2018.

36 Tristan Acker, interview by author, June 11, 2018. 34 time is likely to be spent covering that chapter. In the author’s personal experience, it is the drive and passion that influences the students. In an interview with freshman undergraduate

Justin Messner, the author asked if he would recommend the course to another student. His response was,

I would recommend the class to another student. I had a good experience in it, but I would not recommend someone that I don’t think would add to the class or participate. I would not recommend it to someone who is looking for an easy “A” if it were up to me, because that’s not how you should approach an education. I am not paying for this, but I worked very hard to be able to come to college. It’s always been my goal. I am here because I want to get something out of it, not because to say I have a degree. I’m here for an experience and to be able to participate and learn. So I would not do that to a teacher, especially being someone who at one time wanted to be a teacher. But if I did have a friend that was interested in music and would add to the class and participate and is looking to advance their knowledge in music, I would 100 percent recommend the course.37

As expected, those students who are the most successful in the course are the students who participate the most. These students get involved with the music as well as get reassurance of their answers. Previous students have mentioned searching for other music from the areas covered in the class.

37 Justin Messner, interview by author, July 23, 2018.

CHAPTER III

THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM FOR MUSIC EDUCATION AT KENT STATE

UNIVERSITY

Kent State University’s website states: The Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education prepares students for Ohio licensure to teach music in grades K-12 in choral general and instrumental music. The program includes studies in jazz, folk, musical theatre, world music and music technology, while providing a strong grounding in Western art music history, theory and performance.38

The roadmap to a degree in Music Education at Kent State University (KSU) is complex.

KSU’s requirements have students complete 120 credit hours. Some students often complete more than the required credits. If a student were to register for the minimum of a full-time student status and only register for the 120 credits offered, it would take five full years before completion. It is rare for a student to receive their bachelor’s degree with a four-year plan.

Among these credits are outside requirements including auditions, Praxis tests in reading, writing, and mathematics, a sophomore threshold, a Pearson test in music, as well as a senior recital and student teaching. This chapter investigates the requirements of the Music Education curriculum at KSU. It also covers the classes of the program, both choral and general and instrumental. There are interviews with previous and current music education students and faculty, as well as an inside look into non-music courses that the student must complete. This chapter shows coursework that is required to obtain the Music Education degree.

38 “Music Education- B.M.” Accessed August 16, 2018. http://catalog.kent.edu/colleges/ca/mus/music-education-bm/music-education-bm.pdf.

Kent State University Admission Requirements

Admission to Kent State University consists of a $50 non-refundable free, as well as a high school transcript and an ACT or SAT score. Prior to be accepted into the Music Education program at KSU, a student must first audition. This audition can be either vocal or instrumental depending on the student’s area of interest. Dr. Christopher Venesile stated, “There is an audition with the voice/wind/string faculty (two/three contrasting pieces in art-style), a piano entrance exam, and an interview with the music education faculty.”39 The author remembers taking a theory placement examination and singing a short song in a foreign language. She had previously taken a music theory course in high school, and it helped tremendously on the theory placement test. The author does not remember having an interview with the Music Education faculty, but that could be because she started at a regional campus of Kent State University.

There was no world music requirement needed for admission. There is also an English

Language Proficiency Requirement for International Students. They must score a minimum of

525 on the TOEFL exam.

The music education roadmap has three separate paths that a student must complete before graduation: Kent core/elective classes, education classes, and music classes. Below are the graduation requirements for Kent State University’s Music Education program.

39 Christopher Venesile, interview by author, March 26, 2019.

Figure 14. Graduation Requirements for Kent State University’s Music Education-B.M.

Non-Music Requirements

As stated in chapter 2, music education students at Kent State University are required to take approximately 36-37 credit hours of Kent core classes. These classes are often not related to their major but are a requirement by the university, and allow students to get education on topics that are outside of their major. Some courses can be chosen by the student, and others are part of a required plan for graduation. For example, the first class an undergraduate student signs up for is Destination Kent State: First Year Experience. This course is an introduction course for college students. It typically involves extra-curricular activities, including sporting events, art

39 exhibits, and music programs. It is an easy way for instructors to show students the activities a student can participate in outside of their declared major.

Students are also required to take a writing intensive course. This course is designed for the student to become an effective writer in their specific field of interest. Students must at least pass an upper division writing course with the minimum grade of a C. Music education students need to take Music History II, which is considered an upper division writing course.

Figure 15. University Requirements for Kent State University Music Education-B.M.

Education Requirements

Education courses are an important part of the music education curriculum because they are classes most educators are ordered to take to gain licensure. These courses help the music educator understand the development of students, approach students who may have a learning disability, and how to use teaching methods in the classroom that may not be taught in their music education courses.

Figure 16. Additional Requirements for Kent State University Music Education-B.M.

Music Requirements

For the music requirements for Kent State University’s music education program, there are a variety of courses. These not only involve music history and theory, but ensembles and conducting as well. Each instrumental major must take a choral class and vice versa. Once further into the program, music students begin taking classes specified for their intended

43 direction: instrumental or choral/general. These classes tend to be the focus of the upper division courses.

There is always the possibility that a student may not be familiar with music theory or other audition requirements when entering the program. In this case, they take supplemental courses. Laurel Seeds stated that “Students audition before they begin any course work as a music major or minor. Depending on their theory test score, they are placed into Fundamentals,

Rudiments, or Theory I. They would also be placed into the corresponding piano course.”40

There are music rudiment classes that the student can take if they are not familiar with music theory concepts. However, this will push the student back a semester or two before beginning the regular Theory I coursework. These rudiment courses typically consist of note reading, key signatures, time signatures, rhythms, and introductory piano skills. It is not until the Theory I class that theoretical concepts begin developing. The student is then required to take four semesters of Theory classes, each progressing to advanced coursework.

40 Laurel Seeds, interview by author, January 24, 2019.

Figure 17. Major Requirements Kent State University Music Education- B.M.

Conclusion and Summary of the Music Education Curricula

The Music Education curriculum at Kent State University has a framework guideline to graduation available online. It combines core classes, education requirements, and music-based coursework. The following table shows the coursework for a Music Education student studying at KSU.

Kent State University

132 credit hours

$50 application fee

Core Requirements

10 courses (36-37 credits)

Education Requirements

7 courses (19 credits)

Music Requirements

29 courses (76 credits)

Other Requirements

Theory Placement Test

Attend 84 recitals

Student Teaching

Although the curricula are somewhat similar at local universities, there are many differences between them. Kent State University and Youngstown State University have the most comparable curricula averaging around the same number of courses for core requirements,

46 education requirements, and music requirements. Both universities also share around the same number of credit hours in order to complete the Music Education degree.

The University of Akron seemed to be the most different from Kent State University and

Youngstown State University. Their curriculum seems to have the main focus on music courses.

Although it seems a good concept, their curriculum is limiting the education courses. These courses help frame an educator. The purpose of education requirements is to learn how to handle students with different needs, and how to be inclusive to all students. Without the proper education classes, the Music Education student becomes a music teacher rather than a music educator. This means that the undergraduate will be trained in music, but not how to handle non- music related situations. With average public school music classes containing anywhere from 20 to 50+ students, this can be a foreseeable problem for the future music educator.

Youngstown State University’s curriculum includes one world music course titled,

“Music History I.” The title of the course does not articulate a non-Western introduction. The author reached out to Dr. Chisholm at YSU to find out what the course objectives and topics were. According to Dr. Chisholm’s syllabus, the following is the course description and learning outcomes:

The Course:

MUHL 3771 is an exploration of the ways in which music and culture intersect throughout the world. This course is designed to acquaint the student with various musical concepts and contexts, and how these are valued by the people who compose, perform, experience, and interpret them.

Learning Outcomes:

*Study musical works and styles, as well as the social contexts in which they developed

*Be able to discuss the connections between musical styles and the contexts in which

they are valued

*Acquire specific terminology for describing various musical concepts

*Develop critical thinking skills about music through discussion and individual written

work

*Develop an understanding of how music history is a function of cultural values and

choices.41

Throughout the syllabus, there is a lot of relation to Western styles and formats. Many of the weeks go back and forth between cultural locations. When reading through the syllabus, consecutive days consisted of Scotland, China, Vietnam, and Africa. The topics did not move by location. The course is only a few years old at YSU, and all music majors are required to take this course. The course is currently in the process of becoming an elective to non-music majors.

This course is also not available online to students.

Notably, unlike Youngstown State and Kent State, Akron has no course dedicated to non-

Western music. Youngstown State has one course that has limited coverage of non-Western music that includes Western music as well, and Kent State University is the only university out of the three examined to offer a course dedicated to music outside of the Western Arts to music education students. Kent also has three world music ensembles which further exposes music

41 Jessica Chisholm, interview by author, June 7, 2019.

48 students to world music. The next chapter of this thesis will focus on the current lesson plans of a few music educators and if world music is included, and how.

CHAPTER IV

MUSIC EDUCATORS’ LESSON PLANNING

The Music Education curriculum at Kent State University intends to provide the future music educator with the proper tools for creating sustainable music lesson plans. These lesson plans are an outline of what the music educator plans to teach to their music classes. Some public schools require lesson plans to be sent to the principal each week. Depending on the school district, lesson plans may be constructed for each day or for the week. Music educators may have multiple lesson plans as they often have multiple grades to teach. Weekly lesson plans seem to be easier for the music educator because they often are applicable to multiple classes.

There are National Standards and State Standards that are required to be met by each grade level.

From the author’s experience, elementary level classes are more capable of reaching set standards, whereas middle and high school levels tend to focus more on performance. This chapter will focus on The National Association for Music Education Standards, The Ohio

Department of Education Music Standards, how a music educator constructs their lesson plans, and if the current lesson plans of music educators include world music, and how.

National Standards

The National Association for Music Education Standards were last updated in 2014.

According to Professor Craig Resta at Kent State University, the 2014 standards update was the major revision from the 1994 standards. These standards are divided into three categories:

Creating, Performing, and Responding. Each grade level has their own set of standards that are

51 encouraged to be met by the end of each school year. The National Association for Music

Education Standards are for grades PK-8. High school grade levels are not currently present on the standards for general music, but can be applied to theory/composition standards and ensemble standards.

Figure 18. The National Association for Music Education Standards

Creating

The concept behind creating is to generate musical ideas among different contexts. These concepts are encouraged by the music educator that allows the student to generate creative musical ideas. Each grade level has a set of goals to learn to create. As the grades continue, the student will use these creative tools to progress to the next level. The advantage of music goals will carry through the student’s education and not end at a specific grade level. There are four

52 steps in the creating category: Imagine, Plan and Make, Evaluate and Refine, and Present. 42

Again, it is often difficult to reach every standard because classes can be time limited. It is up to the school district and the music educators of the school to determine what standards are to be met.

Within the creating category, there are several areas where world music can be applied.

There is no direct connection with world music, but it can be included into specific standards.

For example, in Pre K, it is encouraged to explore and experience a variety of music. This is the first year of school for children. Many of the students will not have experienced any music instruction at all, so incorporating world music into their first year would be an excellent idea. In this case, incorporating world music would be an opportunity for children to get to know their peers who may not be from their country. In fourth grade, the music educator is encouraged to explain connection to the students regarding social, cultural, and historical concepts. There is a possibility that fourth grade may be a young age in order to understand these connections; however, these are two areas through Pre-K and 4th grade where the music teacher can incorporate world music in the Pre K-12 curriculum. The following pages show the National

Association for Music Education Standards for the Creative category: Imagine, Plan and Make,

Evaluate and Refine, and Present.43

Performing

The concept behind performing is to have students use the musical knowledge that they have gained in class to perform specific musical works. This suggests that there are

42 Curriculum details in this chapter are from 2014 National Music Standards. 43 The National Association for Music Education Standards for grades Pre K-8 can be found at https://nafme.org/my-classroom/standards/core-music-standards/

53 opportunities in Pre-K through 4th grade to add world music. The performing category is divided into subcategories: select, analyze, interpret, and rehearse, evaluate, and refine, and present.

Within the performance category, there seems to be one area where it is encouraged for the music educator to incorporate world music. In second grade, the students are encouraged to demonstrate knowledge of musical concepts in a variety of cultures selected for performance.

The issue with this standard raises a few questions. It is not providing the music educator with what cultures to explore, and it only seems to apply to cultures selected for performance. This standard is not applied if the teacher does not select a piece to perform from a different culture.

Another issue with demonstrating knowledge of musical concepts in a variety of cultures is that it requires the teacher to teach more than one other culture aside from Western music.

This also requires that the teacher provide background knowledge on the subject matter. Music educator Jessica Grossman states,

I do not have a lot of background in world music. The most I have is the world music class we had at Kent and anything that my music books have. We have the old school music textbooks that we use for songs. Many times I would like to use more, but I am not completely sure how to say the words and so I go with what I know. We use Music K-8 and Music Express for a good portion of our concert music. The world music in those is pretty limited. They try many, but it’s not always the best.44

A concern is that this standard applies to the second grade. Maintaining the attention of a second grader may be a challenge to the educator. Lastly, the student is required to demonstrate or perform this knowledge. This may be tricky for a young child to demonstrate multiple areas and their music. The following pages will show the National Association for Music Education

44 Jessica Grossman, interview by author, March 27, 2019.

Standards for the Performing category containing: Select, Analyze, Interpret, Rehearse Evaluate

Refine, and Present.

Responding

The concept behind responding is to discover what the student’s musical interests are.

Music choices of students are often influenced by their personal interests, their own experiences, and their understanding of musical concepts. The standards for responding are divided among selecting, analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating. This matter on the National Association for

Music Education seems to be the biggest area where a music educator can incorporate world music into their lesson plans. Responding and reflecting allows the students to share their own personal interests rather than being influenced and taught by the teacher. Students enjoy topics that relate directly to them. For example, students are more interested in the music of specific country if they or someone they know previously visited a location. By incorporating their interests within a specific lesson plan, the teacher is more likely to keep the attention of the student.

During most grade levels within the responding category, there is a standard that can allow the music educator to use world music knowledge. More importantly, the responding category allows the students to show the music teacher what they know. This can be valuable to other students with different backgrounds. Under the subcategory, select, grades 2-8 should be encouraged to explain and demonstrate how their personal interests and experiences influence their own musical selection choices. It is also encouraged that the students be able to demonstrate how their musical choices are connected to their experiences and interests. It is also

55 suggested that the music teacher discover what and why is the student’s purpose for choosing their musical choices. Under the subcategory, analyze, grades 4-8 encourage students to demonstrate their responses to music. This can be used by explaining how their music responses are influenced by their cultural responses both social and cultural.

Lastly, in the subcategory, evaluate, grades Pre K-2 allow the students to expand on their previous knowledge. This category has the music educator encourage the students to speak about their personal and expressive preferences in music. This category also suggests that the teacher only provide limited guidance, which allows the students to share their knowledge with the rest of their classmates. This is an important step to including the students, especially those with different cultural backgrounds. Perhaps the students may teach the music teacher something new. By allowing the students to demonstrate their knowledge prior to the help of the teacher, they can obtain a sense of value to the course. It also may be able to allow the student of a different culture to feel welcomed and respected. The following pages show the National

Association for Music Education Standards for the Responding category containing: Select,

Analyze, Interpret, and Evaluate.

Ohio Standards

The Ohio Department of Education Music Standards are set up in a similar way to the

National Association of Music Education Standards. There are three categories: creating, performing, and responding. The way the Ohio standards are set up seem to be much easier for the music educator to apply to their lessons. This is because each grade level’s category is side by side with the others. This allows to the music educator to visually see how they can construct a lesson plan and include all three categories. The Ohio standards are also more detailed,

56 allowing the music educator to have numerous and different options on what to teach, and how to teach it.

The standards for Ohio are numbered within each category. The creative category labeled “CE”, the performing category is labeled “PR”, and the responding category is labeled

“RE.” This is easy for the music educator to apply key standards within their lesson plans. For example, if a teacher has standard K-2CE on the lesson plan, they can refer to Ohio’s standards and see that K-2CE is the second kindergarten standard for the creating category and the instructions are to explore steady beat and rhythm. The following are examples of where the author suggests that the music educator incorporate world music.

K-7RE: Offer opinions about their own musical experiences and responses to music. The

teacher can use this as a discussion topic for class. Students can express what they

currently know or what they have previously encountered.

1-1RE: Recognize how music is used for a variety of occasions. The students can

demonstrate where they have heard music used outside of the classroom.

1-5RE: Form and express personal opinions about a musical performance and show

respect for the opinions of others. The students can form opinions to share with the class

on different types of music played by the teacher.

2-5CE: Explore selected musical instruments visually and aurally. The teacher can show

and play different instruments and have the students understand the differences.

6-1CE: Describe distinguishing characteristics of music forms from various cultures and

historical periods. The teacher can have the students compare characteristics from

different cultures to what they previously know from Western music.

6-2CE: Identify instruments used in Western and world music ensembles. The teacher can have the student demonstrate their knowledge by knowing the difference between

Western instruments and Non-Western instruments.

6-6CE: Describe roles and skills musicians assume in various cultures and settings. The teacher can demonstrate the value of musicians in different cultures.

7-1PR: Independently or collaboratively, perform a varied repertoire of music, representing diverse genres and cultures and showing expression and technical accuracy at a level that includes modest ranges and changes of tempo, key and meter. The teacher can include different styles and forms of music into their repertoire.

8-2CE: Discuss how current developments in music reflect society in reference to the local community and larger world. The teacher can discuss the importance of incorporating world music into the classroom.

HSI-1PR: Perform a varied repertoire of music representing diverse genres and cultures alone and in ensembles. Once the students have a basic understanding of Western music, they can begin to explore other repertoire that can be used in an ensemble.

HSI-3RE: Examine how people from different backgrounds and cultures use and respond to music. The teacher can have the students reflect on how the music from one culture differs from another culture. This could lead into a discussion topic of how people respond to music differently.

HSII-3RE: Discuss how the purpose, meaning and value of music changes because of the impact of life experiences. The teacher or student can express personal experiences where their life changed because of a world music cultural encounter.

HSIV-2CE: Identify and trace the development of the elements of music across musical

styles and world cultures. The teacher can have students compare and contrast music

elements of Western and Non-Western music.45

Current Lesson Plan Topics of Music Educators

Ultimately, the music educator has an advantage of choosing how to present knowledge to young learners. Through different approaches and methods, the teacher can construct a lesson that will work best with the students. Depending on the grade level, class size, and level of musicianship, the music educator can choose which methods will promote the best music education. There are three main methods that music educators are likely to use: Dalcroze, Orff, and Kodály. The Dalcroze method uses movement, the Orff method uses instrumentation, and the Kodály method uses vocalizations to teach music methods to children. Some teachers are educated in a specific method more than others, but ultimately it depends on which music class you are teaching, and what you would like your students to know. Many music educators incorporate all three within their music lesson plans.

When writing lesson plans, instead of having individual weekly goals, some school districts have goals for each year. For example, a goal for third graders was to learn about the orchestra, and a goal for fourth graders was to play recorders. The challenges of weekly goals is that the music teacher may have anywhere from three to five classes of third graders during the week. Some classes may progress more than others leaving the music teacher unable to keep the

45 Ohio Department of Education Music Standards. Accessed March 29, 2019. https://education.ohio.gov/getattachment/Topics/Learning-in-Ohio/Fine-Arts/Fine-Arts-Standards/Ohio-Music- Standards-Final-2.pdf.aspx?lang=en-US.

59 classes on the same lesson plan. Yearly goals seem to have an advantage for classes that may need more time in learning the material. Music Educator Jessica Grossman states:

I do not write lesson plans in the traditional sense. I have an outline at the beginning of the year. It’s a course outline that is part of our curriculum. I write the goals up on the board. That is what keeps me and the students on task. Usually it’s a list of songs and what we are doing with the song (ex. instruments, counting, reading notes). I also use google slides to keep my lessons in order and laid out. I am in multiple rooms, so the slides give the students the notes, background accompaniment, videos and lyrics. I do not have to submit anything to our principals but I have to be able to tell them and show them at any time what we are doing and why.46

The author interviewed another music educator, Amy Sullivan, who stated:

I write lesson plans weekly and they consist of materials/literature used, methods of differentiation/instruction, and type of assessment. I have different lesson plans for band vs. general music. We submit our lesson plans to our principals. I incorporate world music into my seventh grade general music classes consistently. I try to incorporate it in my middle school bands depending on the type of literature that is used. My knowledge of world music is somewhat limited. We use a music basal series of books but it’s fairly outdated. I also use Music Alive magazine. I think all universities should require a world music course! If I could take a world music course now, I would want it to be a pretty broad overview of several different cultures and their music.47

It seems that seventh grade would be a more appropriate age to teach world music because students should already have a deeper understanding of Western music, therefore could expand their knowledge of music more by incorporating world music. They are also at more mature age where new music could be used as an aid to their other education courses, such as history. From the author’s experience in teaching Music as a World Phenomenon at Kent State University, students retain new information if they can relate it to something they previously knew. For

46 Jessica Grossman, interview by author, March 27, 2019. 47 Amy Sullivan, interview by author, March 28, 2019. 60 example, when the author teaches about Ghanaian polyrhythmic ensembles and how often small repetitive patterns are used so that anyone can participate, she will explain why often African drums are used at the elementary level so that all children can participate.

As Amy Sullivan previously stated, she does incorporate world music where she can.

She also mentioned that if she could take another world music course, she would want a broad overview of knowledge. Music as a World Phenomenon provides a broad overview of world music, but ultimately, it does not teach the music educator how to teach world music to their students, or how to incorporate it with the National or State Standards.

The College Music Society Manifesto

According to the College Music Society Manifesto: In 2013, Patricia Shehan Campbell, President of the College Music Society appointed a national task force to consider what it means to be an educated musician in the twenty-first century and, in turn, what recommendations may follow for progressive change in the undergraduate music-major curriculum.48 This manifesto incorporates the challenges music educators face that are a result of the current music education curricula at the university. The Task Force on the Undergraduate Music Major

(TFUMM) composed a document that would allow necessary changes to be addressed within music education studies. Within this document, world music is heavily addressed as a concern.

The task force has taken notice that there is a rare amount of ethnomusicology courses available to the music educator. Therefore, music educators are not able to successfully teach music from

48 Shehan Campbell, Patricia, David Myers, Ed Sarath, Juan Chattah, Lee Higgins, Victoria Lindsay Levine, David Rudge, and Timothy Rice. Transforming Music Study from its Foundations: A Manifesto for Progressive Change in the Undergraduate Preparation of Music Majors. Report of the Task Force on the Undergraduate Music Major. 2014, 1.

61 non-western cultures because they are lacking the instruction themselves. “TFUMM takes the position that, in a global society, students must experience, through study and direct participation, music of diverse cultures, generations, and social contexts, and that the primary locus for cultivation of a genuine, cross-cultural musical and social awareness is the infusion of diverse influences in the creative artistic voice.”49

The authors of the manifesto said of Campbell, “It was her and others’ belief that the world into which our students will graduate is vastly different from the one around which the field has typically been conceived.”50 It is more understandable why these changes need to be made in the curricula with changing classrooms. Within the manifesto are a few strategies that could change the curricula. One strategy is to have new conversations. The following are a few conversation starters from the manifesto that could raise awareness in a future change:

• How in a global age and society can a program in the arts in general, and music in

particular; be justified that is not permeated by global practices and inquiry?

• How can programs that operate within contexts rich with impassioned pronouncements of

diversity and social justice operate without efforts to substantively embrace the diversity

of the broader musical world, including diverse music communities that live locally?

• What might a new worldview for music study look like?

• What would an organizational structure of a music school or department look like that

was constructed around comprehensive creative, diverse, and integrated values (including

interpretive performance) as opposed to the current organizational scheme in which

49 Ibid., 3. 50 Shehan Campbell, Patricia, David Myers, Ed Sarath, Juan Chattah, Lee Higgins, Victoria Lindsay Levine, David Rudge, and Timothy Rice. Transforming Music Study from its Foundations: A Manifesto for Progressive Change in the Undergraduate Preparation of Music Majors. Report of the Task Force on the Undergraduate Music Major. 2014, 10.

interpretive performance and analysis and sociocultural understanding of interpretive

performance are central?51

These conversation starters would allow for open discussions on what the next steps would be in order to see a change happen in the music education curricula.

Conclusion

The National Association for Music Education and the Ohio Department of Education

Music Standards are focused on Western music. This adds to the understanding of why Western music is often the focus of music education programs at universities. However, there is a strong minimization of world music, which causes teachers to skip over the significance of world music. “Music concepts must be clearly understood in terms of their critical perceptual qualities so activities can be chosen to highlight those qualities.”52 Without the proper instruction and teaching within the music education curriculum, there is going to be minimal, if any, world music instruction in the classrooms.

While interviewing a few music educators, many stated that they would prefer more instruction in world music. Teachers will teach what they understand. Ultimately, teachers need to be educated on music outside of the Western realm. Steven N. Kelly states:

Effective teachers understand that classroom diversity demands multiple teaching approaches due to the variety of learning styles. Because of student variety there are no absolute answers and no universal rules as to what teaching approach works best for all teachers or situations. Schools in the United States are required to manage an increasingly changing and diverse student population reflective of

51 Ibid., 27-28. 52 Patricia Shehan Campbell. Music in Childhood: From Preschool through the Elementary Grades. Boston: Schirmer Cengage Learning, 2010, 38.

population trends across America in general. An implication of classroom diversity is that for many students, schools will be their only exposure to cultures different from their own. This multicultural experience helps to break down stereotypes and foster acceptance of different lifestyles. Music education should contribute to this experience by providing opportunities for students to interact and learn from each other, not just from a single perspective.53

Learning new music from students is an excellent way of building inclusiveness to other cultures. The students who are not from the United States should have the opportunity to share their own knowledge of music from their native country. The music educator can benefit from this as well. “Multicultural music study can be approached through various performance experiences in singing, playing instruments, and moving to music. Through performance, students become actively involved in experientially discovering how musics of various cultures are constructed.”54

Chapter five focuses on the education of the music educator. The purpose of this thesis is to show the importance and necessity of world music in the music education curriculum. Music teachers must have background knowledge in world music in order to accommodate their students, especially students that are not from America. Kelly writes, “Having knowledge of other cultures outside their own can help music teachers understand the diversity of human behavior and assist in devising strategies that addresses student needs and maximize instructional effectiveness.”55 Chapter five will incorporate any world music knowledge that current music

53 Steven N. Kelly. Teaching Music in American Society: A Social and Cultural Understanding of Music Education. New York: Routledge, 2009, 14.

54 William M. Anderson and Patricia Shehan Campbell, eds., Multicultural Perspectives in Music Education. Vol. 3. Plymouth: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2010, 4.

55 Steven N. Kelly. Teaching Music in American Society: A Social and Cultural Understanding of Music Education. New York: Routledge, 2009, 15.

64 educators have obtained at Kent State University. There will also be discussions about future world music courses, and what the educator would want to learn.

CHAPTER V

THE EDUCATION OF THE MUSIC EDUCATOR

In order to teach in the public schools, the music educator must have their bachelor’s degree in Music Education. A potential issue about this is that most universities have different curricula that vary. Therefore, just because a music educator has their degree, does not mean that they have taken the same classes as their colleagues. This can cause a future problem when music educators are not educated on the same material. While most Music Education programs revolve around Western music, not all programs have a course or emphasis on Non-Western music. This final chapter will focus on what music educators know, what they want to know, how are they teaching world music, and what would need to happen for a Non-Western course to be a part of a degree. This chapter includes survey data from thirty students at Kent State

University who have taken or will take the Music as a World Phenomenon course to show the need for more world music courses in the Music Education curricula.

What Do Teachers Know about World Music?

Because not every university provides some type of world music course, every music educator may have a different education on world music. The university researched in this thesis, Kent State University, has an official world music course in their curriculum. Further research would need to be done to see if other universities in Ohio provide a world music course, and if other states provide it as well.

The survey conducted at Kent State consisted of asking students about their experience in

Music as a World Phenomenon, asking what they remembered, having areas where they had to

67 listen to a short clip and determine what location the music came from, placing an ensemble with the correlating continent, and placing certain instruments from the continent in which they are located. The author made sure that the ensembles and instruments were ones that were covered in the Music as a World Phenomenon course and were more popular in discussion, for example, the Steel Band. The steel band is an ensemble offered at Kent State. Many music students are given the opportunity to attend their performance as part of their Music as a World Phenomenon grade.

Upon surveying music education students at Kent State University, it seems that without consistent education on Non-Western music, students were forgetting some of the lessons. Most students that were surveyed stated that they think there should be more than one class that covers world music. Twenty-nine students were asked if they felt that one world music course was enough to teach world music in their future teaching careers.

Figure 19. Survey from students who are currently taking Music as a World Phenomenon at KSU.

Figure 20. Survey from students who were previously in Music as a World Phenomenon at KSU. The survey was conducted with 5 participants. The survey also asked the question, “What do you wish you knew more about in regard to the class?” One anonymous student answered with “Ways and reasons to incorporate this into the grade school music classroom.” As stated in Chapter 2, this is an area that is absent from the

Music Education curricula at Kent State University. The same students were asked the question,

“After taking Music as a World Phenomenon, do you feel that you are prepared to teach world music to your students?” After reviewing the answers, most students answered that they could briefly discuss it, and none answered that they were confident.

Figure 21. Survey from students who were previously in Music as a World Phenomenon at KSU.

While surveying the Music as a World Phenomenon class, the author asked what area the students were most interested in. As you can see from the results, North America and Europe were not in the lead. In fact, there was more interest shown towards Asia and Africa.

Figure 22. Survey from current students in Music as a World Phenomenon at KSU.

The author also gave five listening examples as part of the survey. The students were simply asked to list where the piece was from. The listening examples, in order, were Steel Pan from

Trinidad and Tobago, Piphat ensemble from Thailand, Silk and Bamboo ensemble from China,

Flamenco from Spain, and a Balalaika ensemble from Russia. The author chose these five examples because they covered different areas, but also because Kent State University has Steel

Pan and Piphat ensembles on campus. Music as a World Phenomenon students, especially students who are not currently in the class, have more than likely heard or seen the world music ensembles at the school.

Track Current Music as a World Phenomenon Students

#1 Mexico Caribbean Jamaica Africa Hawaii Asia Thailand Trinidad and (1) (12) (7) (1) (1) (4) (1) Tobago Steel Pan #2 Thailand Asia Africa India South North Thailand America America Piphat (5) (16) (2) (2) (1) (1)

#3 Asia Japan Egypt Thailand China India South China America Silk and (13) (2) (1) (1) (6) (2) (1) Bamboo #4 China Middle Spain Europe Africa Mexico Asia Spain East Flamenco (1) (1) (8) (6) (2) (7) (3)

#5 Japan Middle Ireland Greece Africa Europe South Russia East America Balalaika (2) (2) (2) (1) (1) (10) (4)

Table I. Survey results from current Music as a World Phenomenon students at KSU. Correct answers are highlighted. The table above organizes the survey results. The task for the student was to listen to a clip of world music and to type what country they think the music was from. Some students did not type a country but a continent. Within the table, you will see some of the answers as well as a possible number by the specific country.56 This number is the number of how many students answered with the same answer. The first figure is the results for Music Education students who are currently in Music as a World Phenomenon. The second figure is the results for Music

Education students who previously were in the Music as a World Phenomenon class. The majority of these students have not been in the course for a couple years.

56 Some students did not answer each question; therefore, some examples have more answers than others.

As the survey results show, only a small portion of the answers were correct. This survey was given to the students the third week of class. Many students did answer with the correct continent. An area that caused the author some concern is that 15 out of 27 freshman students could not identify the steel pan ensemble from Trinidad and Tobago, despite Kent State

University having their own steel pan ensemble on campus. Only 12 out of the 27 students surveyed answered that the music was from the Caribbean. Another area is that 12 out of 22 students could not place traditional music from Russia into the correct country or continent.

The next section includes results from students who were previously in the Music as a

World Phenomenon course. These students are current juniors and seniors in the Music

Education program at Kent State University. They were given the same five listening examples.

The following table shows if the students remembered and retained the information from the course. Also note that fewer students were able to take the survey.

Track Past Music as a World Phenomenon students

#1 Trinidad Jamaica Caribbean Trinidad and (3) (1) (1) Tobago Steel Pan #2 Bangladesh Asia Argentina Thailand Thailand Piphat (1) (2) (1) (1)

#3 China Middle China East Silk and (4) (1) Bamboo #4 Spain India Spain Flamenco (4) (1)

#5 Hungary Ireland New Europe Russia Orleans Balalaika (1) (1) (1) (1)

Table II. Survey results from former Music as a World Phenomenon students at KSU. Correct answers are highlighted.

The results suggest that the majority of the students were able to answer the question correctly, which was by typing the name of the country, not continent. The students who had taken a world music course were able to identify the correct location, which suggests even one world music course was helpful. They performed better than the freshman currently enrolled in and just beginning the course. However, although there were few participants, these data show some shortcomings in basic knowledge of non-Western music. For example, only 1 out of 5 recognized Thailand, specifically, and no one knew that the balalaika is from Russia. Kent State also has a visible Thai ensemble that allows many students to hear or see the music.

The next survey question asked the students to match the ensemble to the continent. The author wanted to use continents rather than countries to broaden the proximity for the students’

74 answers. There was a list of ensembles and a list of continents. The task was for the student to move the ensemble under the correct continent. The author also used a variety of ensembles that would allow the students to focus on all areas. The ensembles the author used are Mariachi,

Piphat, Gagaku, Balalaika, Silk & Bamboo, Bluegrass, Akadinda, and Pygmy music. Notice that a few of the ensembles are from previous listening examples.

Figure 23. Survey results from current Music as a World Phenomenon students at KSU.

Figure 24. Survey results from previous students in Music as a World Phenomenon at KSU.

The results for the survey question given to previous Music as a World Phenomenon students had more correct answers. Many results for current students were split between two, three, and four continents.

The last survey question given was regarding instruments. The author tried to use instruments that were popular in their specific country, or ones that are listed in the listening examples within the book. The instruments used for the survey were ranat ek, balalaika, bagpipes, erhu, akadinda, sitar, shakuhachi, guitar, didjeridu, tabla, khawng wong yai, pipa, hurdy gurdy, mbira, berimbau, and Native American flute. The author wanted to use a variety of instruments from different locations. The students were instructed to match the instrument to the continent from which it came. The author also tried to evenly disperse the instruments to help the students with answering. The results for current Music as a World

Phenomenon show that many of the students answered correctly regarding the specific continent.

Further research would show if students would be able to match the instrument with the correct country.

Figure 25. Survey results from current Music as a World Phenomenon students at KSU.

Figure 26. Survey results from previous Music as a World Phenomenon students at KSU.

The results from the students who were previously in Music as a World Phenomenon show that many of them were correct about the continent. Bagpipes, khawng wong yai, hurdy gurdy, and mbira were all correct.

The results show that music education students would benefit from a world music course, and that universities should be promoting this class. Students who have taken the course gave more precise and correct answers. After taking one world music course, students feel as if they could briefly discuss the topic but were not confident about it. If a teacher is not confident on a subject, they will more than likely skip the topic or completely omit it out of the lesson.

The end of the survey consisted of having the students explain if any of the questions were difficult, and why. The following are some of the anonymous answered the author received for this question, “Please explain if the previous questions were difficult, and why.

• It was difficult to remember because I haven’t taken the class in a long time.

• It was a while ago that I took the class. Since we’d focus on one continent at a time, we

never had to distinguish them from one another when they are all together.

• Yes, they were difficult. I took this course 8 semesters ago and it was brief. The class

focused more on the culture surrounding the instruments than the geography from where

they came. The only thing I remember from this class is about Trinidad and Tobago. I

was bored in class and generally don’t remember much of the information because of

that.

• The listening examples were easy if I was able to pick out the instrument. The ensembles

were a little more difficult because I wasn’t as familiar with the ensembles given. Some

of the instruments were very easy, but others I was entirely unfamiliar with.

The answers suggest that music educators are not retaining the information learned in the Music as a World Phenomenon class in order to teach it to future students.

How are Teachers Teaching World Music?

From the author’s research results, not all music educators are incorporating world music.

Some are completely omitting it from their lesson plans due to little education in the subject matter. However, some teachers are trying to push their students to learn more than the typical

Western music that they do in public schools. The author interviewed Music Educator Michele

Monigold, who is the Director of Bands at the middle school in Jackson Local Schools. She chooses music in which she can incorporate world music.

I want my students to explore places and people. I tie in different tuning systems as well as background history. Our school provides Chromebooks to all students. It’s an easy way for them to do their own research at home outside of school. I often have them come to class the next day and tell me a few things that they’ve researched on their own. It seems to be more fun for middle schoolers because the music is not typical for them.57 This is one way that the music educator can incorporate world music into their lesson plans with little knowledge on the subject matter. By having the students research areas themselves lets them discover new information on their own and allows them to present to the rest of the class. More areas would be covered in little time as well. A good idea would be to have a different student research a different area, that way information is not being repeated.

This idea would also be a great group project and could be used at any grade level.

The following data in this section are from a 2015 survey from the panel Curriculum Reform for

Undergraduate Music Major: On the Implementation of CMS Task Force Recommendations,

College Music Society national meeting, November 5, 2015.

57 Michele Monigold, interview by author, June 20, 2019.

Over 600 faculty participated in a survey regarding the Manifesto:

Figure 27. Survey result from the College Music Society national meeting, November 5, 2015. Participants in the survey, used with permission from Jennifer Johnstone.

Below are the results from all participants having rated subjects/skills from most (1) to least (8) important.

Figure 28. Survey result from the College Music Society national meeting, November 5, 2015. Participants in the survey, used with permission from Jennifer Johnstone.

As seen in the chart above, world music is not rated as most important. It seems that most educators believe that performance, music theory, and music history are the most important.

World music can incorporate performance, theory, history, and all other categories as well, yet it is ranked as one of the least important subjects. This suggests that the college curricula do not stress importance on world music.

What Do Teachers Want to Learn about World Music?

Teachers should always be striving to learn more and be able to provide additional education to their students. It has been clear throughout the author’s research that students and teachers want to know more about world music. The author surveyed 30 music education students and 10 music educators in Ohio regarding what they wish they could study more. The following are some answers given to the author of what teachers would like to learn more about:

• More about the specific instruments of the world.

• Ways and reasons to incorporate this into the grade school music classroom.

• I would like to know more about how Western theory analysis relates to world music. Most of

these are passed down in an oral tradition, so there is no notation. I would like to see the music

and theory in Western notation.

• More knowledge on how people are taught music.

• Knowing how to accurately teach different cultures to future students.

• How other countries make their music and the process of it.

• I want to be able to give general areas of where music is from and why.

• The different writing styles and instrumentations.

• Enough information to teach it someday if it is required in the curriculum.

• Originations of certain aspects and values in music and in instruments.

• I would like to be able to state where different music is from after listening to it and be able to

explain to students why it matters.

Most music educators are not getting the material on how to teach world music to their classes, therefore, it is often left out of their lesson plans. Tristan Acker, Kent State University Music

Performance student stated that, “Yes, Music as a World Phenomenon was enough to receive knowledge of the subject, but there needs to be more background information in order to have an

85 educational view and be able to share it.”58 Another Music Education student at KSU, John

Martin, was asked if he felt that Music as a World Phenomenon was a beneficial class for the music educator. He replied, “The idea is a good idea; however, it is impossible trying to squeeze all the information into one semester.”59

Recent Kent State University Graduate student Maya Brown had a different take on what should be the most important concepts that a music educator should learn. “There is such a strong Western music theory influence on the music educator, however, you cannot use Western theory to explain world music and cultures. They are different and educators need to be taught the differences.”60

Conclusion

Steven N. Kelly writes:

Due to cultural differences, universal rules frequently fail. Students learn in multiple ways, at varying times, and have assorted expectations, behaviors, attitudes, and values resulting in potentials unique to each individual. Students from diverse populations come from a variety of home environments with different views of what they define as education and success. Hence, schools often find it difficult to effectively manage the multitude of ideas considered part of a normal education. Consequently, schools frequently have difficulty in overcoming cultural backgrounds such as family influences, religious beliefs, political views, and gender stereotypes. For example, diversity issues relating to genres of religious music performed during holidays are a challenge in music education.61

58 Tristan Acker, interview by author, June 11, 2018. 59 John Martin, interview by author, June 11, 2018. 60 Maya Brown, interview by author, June 13, 2018. 61 Steven N. Kelly. Teaching Music in American Society: A Social and Cultural Understanding of Music Education. New York: Routledge, 2009, 13.

As stated earlier in this thesis, teachers will teach what they know. The lack of education in the world music department allows the teacher to completely or mostly avoid any discussion or teaching of the subject. The surveys included in this chapter suggest that Music Education curricula needs to have at least one course on the subject of world music, and furthermore, only one class may not be enough for a future educator to actually be able to incorporate this knowledge in their teaching. The previous Music as a World Phenomenon students have shown with their answers that at least one course can help the educator determine specific music and were it is from. Some students were able to tell where an example of world music was from, but it does not mean that they could or will teach it to their future students. There is a strong need for another course that shows the future teacher how to teach and integrate world music into the entire curriculum so that relationships between various traditions can be examined more consistently.

The missing piece of the curricula is that students are not being instructed on how to apply world music to their lessons. They are receiving education on geography, ensembles, instruments, and other factors such as language, religion, and background. However, they are not being instructed on how to apply world music. The author believes that the biggest challenge is that music educators are unaware of where to add world music. There does not need to be a full lesson on a specific area but adding a little information and influence on certain lesson plans allows the students to gain another perspective to a different culture other than their own.

Public school music programs are designed to suggest that Western music is superior.

Therefore, many students are being taught as if Western music is the only form of music in the world. School classrooms are becoming more diverse every year. The author believes it is

87 valuable to include the music of all areas so that students who are not familiar with Western music are able to feel included. It also teaches students about their classmates. It is important that the music educator understand why world music should be discussed in the classroom.

Music classes are an easy way to bring in information about the diversity that is found within the schools. The lesson plans do not have to be challenging either. They could include playing a specific African rhythm, listening to a European ensemble that is not the orchestra, or playing a short clip of Beijing Opera. The world music lesson plans do not have to take up the entire class but should be implemented where appropriate and where possible. Jennifer Sterling

Snodgrass writes, “Some general suggestions for approaches, courses, and degree programs are included, but the specifics of their deployment are left up to the individual institutions.”62 The author believes that as public schools and institutions are diversifying, the curriculum needs to adapt to the demographics of the school.

The author plans further research on how to incorporate world music into the classroom by specific continents and locations and by giving teachers easy ways to add world music into their lesson plans. The author believes if music educators had instructions on what to teach and how to teach it, then teachers would be more inclined to add world music into their yearly goals.

As stated earlier in this chapter, teachers will not teach what they are not comfortable with. If teachers are given easy ways to add world music, they will. For further research, the author would like to visit other Northeast Ohio universities and local schools to see if they are incorporating world music, especially at the elementary and middle school level where it is more

62 Jennifer Sterling Snodgrass. “Integration, Diversity, and Creativity: Reflections on the “Manifesto” from the College Music Society.” Music Theory Online 22, no. 1 (March 2016).

88 fitting. Upon the limited information found, the author knows that Youngstown State University currently teaches a world music course under the name “Music History I,” which uses the Kay

Kaufman Shelemay’s “Soundscapes” book. All music majors are required to take it, and it is currently in the process of becoming and elective for non-music majors. The University of

Akron does not list a world music course in their Music Education curriculum.

Several attempts at contacting local music educators were made for this thesis. However, only a few responses were given. Given that universities do not offer much, if any world music instruction, and faculty do not prioritize it, no wonder music educators feel that this is a shortcoming in their knowledge. The author believes that there should be an additional course in the curriculum that teaches music educators how to incorporate world music into their lessons and into their classrooms. Even though these surveys and interviews only included thirty participants, it shows that nearly five years after the College Music Society manifesto, the curricula are slow to change if there is any change at all. Music educators continue to be limited on what they can teach to their students. As classroom demographics change in Northeast Ohio, music is a way that teachers can accommodate everyone.

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