Canadian content in elementary and secondary school music curricula

Date

1999

Journal Title

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Volume Title

Publisher

Canadian Music Educators Assocaition

Abstract

Description

The research team provides a summary of their long-term national research project which examines the Canadian content of school music curricula. A preliminary study in 1997-8 surveyed 13 Ontario school music teachers and found that 34.6% of music used in these classrooms was Canadian. Music materials were categorized by type (e.g., pieces, music books, films, recordings, kits, etc.) and pieces of music were categorized by length, language (where applicable), and use of folk material. While the priority given to Canadian music by these teachers is clear, the small number of teachers surveyed made the findings inconclusive. In 1998-9, the project will be expanded to survey teachers across Canada, and will also widen in scope, focusing on curriculum documents, policy statements, and in-service teacher education programs. Such an in-service program (run by choral conductor Doreen Rao in North York, Ontario) is described in this article, as are several composer collaborations. The article concludes by posing questions regarding the future role of the Canadian Music Educators’ Association (CMEA) and local MEAs in advocating for Canadian music in schools.

Keywords

Canadian music in education, Canadian music curriculum documents, Canadian classroom music materials, school music curricula, North York choral project, Doreen Rao, in-service teacher education, University of Toronto Canadian Music Education Research Centre, John Adaskin Project, Canadian Music Educators’ Association

Citation

Shand, Patricia, Lee Bartel, and Lori-Anne Dolloff. “Canadian Content in Elementary and Secondary School Music Curricula.” Leadership, Advocacy, Communication: A Vision for Arts Education in Canada. Selected papers from the National Symposium on Arts Education, Victoria, 1998) ed. Betty Hanley. Victoria, B.C.: The Canadian Music Educators Association, 1999, pp.81-92. Reproduced with the permission of CMEA/Acme.

DOI

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Creative Commons

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada

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