Inkludering – av hva og av hvem? En problematisering av musikkpedagogisk praksis i det flerkulturelle samfunnet

Abstract

ABSTRACT. - Inclusion – of what and of whom? A problematization of music education practice in multicultural society. - At the same time as Nordic countries are becoming more multicultural there is an increasing demand in curricula that diversity, in all its forms, should be maintained, included and made visible within the frames of school. The present article represents an attempt to discuss and problematize various aspects of such inclusion – and the complexity which it brings about and entails – within a school music frame and through empirical data gathered as part of a Nordic ethnographic study of music education in multicultural classrooms and school contexts. The research was conducted in three lower secondary schools in Oslo, Stockholm and Helsinki, and the data comprises field notes from observation of 24 music lessons, six individual interviews with the three participating music teachers and 19 individual and group interviews with a total of 30 students. The matter of inclusion is approached from three different angles, namely through the challenges of including and acknowledging 1) the identities of the students; 2) the students’ knowledge and competence; and 3) a variety of musical styles and genres in the music classroom. The findings show that music teachers working in multicultural contexts face demands of inclusion that are potentially conflicting and contradictory. Furthermore, it is suggested that attempts to handle such demands must be grounded in a profound knowledge of the contextually created conditions as well as in each teacher’s understanding of his or her own professional ethics. Keywords: cultural recognition; inclusion; multicultural music education; music and identity; music education ethnography