Benjamin C. Helton

Enculturated Pedagogy: A Dialectic Approach to Music Teaching and Learning

  • Music
  • Education
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Abstract Culture permeates every aspect of music learning and teaching. The complex interactions between teachers, students, and the pedagogies associated with music being taught offer an expansive setting for musical interactions as well as practical considerations for teachers planning culturally responsive lessons. The theory of enculturated pedagogy calls attention to and defines these interactions by accounting for the triangular relationships among the cultures of teachers, students, and the music being learned. Through a dialectic examination of the complementary epistemologies of cognitive neuroscience and sociology, this article develops three theoretical tenets for music teachers to apply to their own practice. The first tenet encourages the preservation of Indigenous pedagogies and considers how the pedagogical experiences of teachers and students inform instructional planning. The second supposes that teachers and students have culturally based, preferred ways of teaching and learning and, similar to multilingualism, are capable of learning multiple ways to teach and learn. The final tenet considers cultural differences between teachers, students, and the music itself as pedagogical assets, creating fertile ground for the creation of new musical collaborations and genre fusions.

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