Anthony Carrella October 17, 2013

Dr. Frank Abrahams Article Critique

Musicking in the City: Reconceptualizing Urban Music Education as a Cultural Practice

A Critique by Anthony Carrella We all know that understanding and creating musical concepts is a primary goal in the music classroom. Being teachers, we are given the unique opportunity to guide students on a journey through these fundamental experiences, but, is every child being honored in the process? The article Musicking in the City:Reconceptualizing Urban Music Education as a Cultural Practice raises some interesting points about urban life, and the education that one can achieve while living there. The issues that are presented in the article are ones that are deeply rooted in stereotype and profiling, and they are problems that need to be understood on the community level in order to be applied in education. Urban living should not be thought of as a city center...teeming with Black, Brown and Yellow bodies, which are poor, dirty... and dangerous. (Fernndez, 20). Because of this inaccurate portrayal, perfectly functioning schools are not being funded, and therefore the teaching bodies disregard the affluent and vibrant communities right outside of their door. As a result of this, students of music are not being inspired, because teachers are not honoring their everyday lives. Instead of allowing low-level learning to occur, we need to instill strategies in todays teachers to combat this issue. Teachers of music can do this by approaching the urban music classroom in a multicultural and critical way. In this critique I aim to show that it is very possible for educators to make learning relevant and enriching for the urban student through the lens of a critical pedagogue. Teachers make incorrect assumptions about their students all too often. It is important to acknowledge that some urban areas are not a particularly nice place to live. However, in many urban settings, students come from completely different lifestyles. Urban schools attempt to cater to the extremely poor, and Black, White, Hispanic and Asian communities without stellar results. Some students have two fathers, or mothers, or no parents at all, and yet teachers continue to lecture to the ideal student (Fernandez, 27). Some would say that it is one of the most difficult places to teach. A teacher may ask How is my material going to be relevant to all of these kids?. I would argue that teaching in the urban setting is one of the most rewarding experiences for a teacher. Urban settings have qualities and opportunities for teachers and students to learn from each other. The urban music classroom could be the ultimate bounty for a Critical Pedagogue. Our primary goals as teachers are to be honorable of the student, and to empower them to learn for the rest of their lives. If we offer them irrelevant and meaningless material, they will not have a drive to learn anything. The urban setting is a melting pot of culture, and teachers should use that as an advantage, not as a hinderance to learning. A solution is being multicultural. Teachers should recognize that all students have rich cultural lives regardless of their economic condition and that these cultural lives can be an important source of... funds of knowledge . (Fernandez, 30). Without the acknowledgment of culture, there is minimal chance

that a teacher can begin to instill core concepts. One form of this culture is urban music. The children in these areas are a part of the hip hop generation... [it] is the moniker of an entire segment of urban youth presumed to be adept at breaking, popping, and locking, able to recite [music such as] JayZ, LilKim, 2Pac, Foxy Brown, PDiddy, 50Cent, or Queen Latifah. (Fernandez, 36). Students simply need lessons and instruction to start with personal meaning [and become] intrigued (McCarthy, 147). A great starting point for teachers is to use the raw musical material students bring them- the music kids experience on a day-to-day basis. A great question a teacher could ask is What is on their iPod? Whats on their playlists? (Abrahams). Teachers in the urban setting may need to make this connection, not only to understand their learners, but to establish trust and understanding between one another. If teachers and students cannot do this, learning will never be done [by the pupil] himself. The initiative lies with the learner. Although the teacher is a guide and director [who] steer[s] the boat... the energy must come from those who are learning (Dewey, 8:140). Dewey talks about how energy is propelled from the student, and a key role in fostering that is the honoring of multicultural, contemporary and everyday music. Musicking in the City is an opportunity for learners to grow in an environment that is diverse and vast, and for teachers to bridge gaps and expand knowledge through critical facets. Teachers can do this through a multicultural approach, that highlights current music as its guiding light.