Creating safer, empowering musical cultures through yourself
Music education experiences take place on a continuum from abusive to empowering, with many experiences likely to fall somewhere in between these two extremes. Some harmful behaviours that occur in music education are clearly at the abusive end of the continuum, and these may be easily recognisable as discriminatory or illegal. Other behaviours may be situated near the middle, for example experiences that are harmful in subtle ways that students struggle to label.
Towards the opposite end of the continuum, many music education experiences are already positive but there may be ways in which they can become even more empowering. A helpful framework for thinking about this continuum of music education experiences is ‘youth voice’. Sound Connections, a music education support organisation specialising in youth voice, define youth voice as ‘consulting young people, listening to what they have to say and acting on it together’. The UK has signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that children have the right to be heard, and to have their perspectives taken into account in decisions that affect them.
Youth voice is not only important for creating positive, empowering experiences in music education, but it is also an important principle in safeguarding. It ensures that young people are listened to in designing safer, more empowering music education spaces, as well as helping create a culture where they are able to speak up about any concerns they have – and listened to when they do so.
We can break down ‘youth voice’ in music education into two separate aspects:
learner voice and musical voice.
Learner voice
‘Learner voice’ refers the extent to which learners have a say in their own teaching and learning. It could involve learners having a say in:
• Whether and how they want the teacher to touch them to demonstrate how to play guitar
• Whether and how they want their teacher to correct any mistakes they make
• What repertoire they want to play
• Whether they want to participate in performances/competitions/ensemble opportunities
• Whether they prefer one-to-one or group lessons
Musical voice
‘Musical voice’ refers to young people’s creative voice, as expressed musically. This could include:
• Deciding what sounds good
• Making musical interpretive choices
• Deciding how and whether they want to follow musical conventions
Approaching ‘learner voice’ and ‘musical voice’ may look different depending on the age, stage, aims and experience of the learner, as well as the context for musical learning that they are in. Both concepts are included here to offer food for thought for teachers in their own practice, and we encourage teachers in all contexts to consider the impact of ‘learner voice’ and ‘musical voice’ on their learners’ experiences.
