Music listening and matters of equality in music education

Abstract

Peoples’ interpretations and understanding of music are imprinted by associations that reoccur in media, through conversations at work or in social media. Our understanding is coloured by time and place, which also means that we load music with meanings based on aspects such as gender, class or ethnicity. Music education is a part of the students’ music and culture socialisation and the repertoire in the classroom is therefore important for challenging as well as preserving various societal constructs. In order to achieve a democratic music education that strives for inclusion and equality, a substantial realisation is needed in regards to musical conventions and connotations. In this article we address these questions, but also how teachers can consciously work with them. We give some examples based on music listening. Until now, these critical perspectives based on music listening and its potentials for equality in music education have been lacking within the international research community.