Music Education, Ecopolitical Professionalism, and Public Pedagogy: Towards Systems Transformation (SpringerBriefs in Education)

This book challenges the dominant expertise professionalism rationale for music education by responding to the call to develop ‘ecological awareness’ at a time when all professions have a moral obligation to place sustainable and interdependent life at the center. The book aims to expand music education’s professional horizons to acknowledge the responsibility of the music field to contribute to the demands of complex questions of sustainability and identify the ways in which sustainable music education may be strengthened through an activist relational ecological stance. It suggests a radical moral turn by asking: What if music education is recognised as part of the problem of sustaining unsustainability? and What if music teacher education was developed in and through dialogue with a futures perspective? These questions are interrogated through a critical analysis of the historical positioning of music in education and an interdisciplinary application of theories of ecology and professionalism. Acknowledgements Contents About the Authors Abbreviations List of Figures 1 Introduction Professional Responsibility as an Imaginative Possibility A Shift from the Ego-Logical to the Eco-Logical The Potential of Public Pedagogy A Note on the Research Approach References 2 The Emerging Ecological Shift Working “Across Scales” Ecological Thinking Beyond Sustainability Towards Eco-Logical Thinking in Music and Music Education Concluding Remarks References 3 Rethinking Professionalism in Music Education Developing Ecopolitical Music Education Professionalism Within—Beyond Technical Rationality Music Educators as Transformative Systems Practitioners Expanding Moral Ecologies of Music Education Through Public Pedagogy Concluding Remarks References 4 Using Moral Imagination Musical Beginnings Music as a “Lifestyle” Stepping off the Path Studying Music Education Recognising One’s Strengths Learning to Trust Relationality Generating Systems Transformation A Call to Research A Researcher in Her Own Terms: An Academic Entrepreneur Living Relational Values Taking Advantage of Serendipitous Moments Working Across Boundaries Changing Perceptions, Beliefs, and Key Goals Showing not Telling Hiking the Horizontal References 5 Ecopolitical Systems Reflexivity in Practice Professional Life of a Musician in a Land of Festivals Music Learning in Diverse Musical Ecosystems Professional Learning Through Teaching Realising One’s Place in Society Musician for Musician Project: Combining Humanitarian Work with Cultural Sustainability Becoming a Music Education Researcher in Social Change Initiating Echoes in the Valley: A Festival for Systems Transformation Demonstrating Multiple Possibilities Through Public Pedagogy Festival Practices and Values: Collaboration and Cooperation for Ecological Sustainability Strategies Towards Sustainable Futures for the Festival Envisioning Amidst Crises Looking Around and Looking Forward A Vision for the Future of Nepali Music Epilogue Using the Public Nature of Music-Making for Social Transformation References 6 Boundary Spanning Ecopolitics Re-Envisaging Music Education for Ecopolitical Engagements Beginnings: Listening, Playing, Questioning An Early Obsession Career Decisions: Conflicts and Compromise Being and Becoming an Environmentalist Becoming a Professional Musician Shaping a Music Identity Fusion Musical Identity: Breaking Cultural Barriers A Moral-Ecological Turn A Huge Shift: Going Independent Becoming an Environmental Advocate Being and Becoming an Advocate Working With and for Children Engaging in Public Pedagogy: Affordances and Constraints Everything is Connected: Systems Transformation for Environmentally Sustainable Futures Future Challenges Boundary Spanning in Ecopolitical Professionalism References 7 Undertaking Systems Transformation Through Ecopolitical Professionalism and Public Pedagogy Ecopolitical Systems Thinking in Action Moving Beyond Path-Dependency for Transformative Music Education Organisations Lessons in Public Pedagogy for Ecopolitical Professionalism in Music Education Concluding Remarks References