Deborah Bradley’s Decolonizing Music Education Philosophy

The effect of colonialism within education has been the marginalization of students of color and the dismissal of ‘indigenous’ forms of knowledge and knowledge production. Bradley argues that colonial thinking has influenced music education philosophies. To ‘decolonize’ these philosophies, binary constructs must be challenged or dismissed. Examples of binary constructs include the colonizer vs. the colonized, and the “West and the rest” mentalities. Further, Bradley suggests, to decolonize philosophies there must be “critical insight into the underlying assumptions, motivations, and values that inform epistemological practices, and by interrogating “the age old dilemmas about authenticity, originality, indigently, and autonomy of cultural, scientific, literary values and aesthetic creations” (p. 411) In more broad terms, the role of music education philosophy is to act as critical examination of a belief, rather than a ‘conceptualized product’.

 What does it mean to be educated?

While education and schooling are often thought of as being the same, education is a concept that can occur without schooling. Bradley points to Dewey’s primary goal of education to argue that schooling is merely a superficial term and that education occurs naturally within a ‘social group’. In regards to colonialism, schooling has disallowed or negated culturally learned knowledge or ‘indigenous’ knowledge by seeking to create one common form for acquiring knowledge, also know as ‘schooling’.

Similarly, to be musically educated in the western sense means to have been formally trained in a school or institution. However there are other processes such as ‘enculturation’ that occur outside of a formal institution, that is not recognized as being musically educated. Within the institutional setting, other traditions are often given “little currency”. Culturally relevant pedagogy is taken over by the traditional ensembles in K – 12 education and the students relationships with the music is often put aside for technical mastery. This results in missed connections and the exclusion of the ‘less talented’.

Bradley quotes Alpersons description of philosophy as a critical examination that is ongoing and acts as a reflection. Music education philosophy should be a reflective process that is not just used/discussed within the “ivory tower”.

Philosophy as a colonizing system of reasoning

Academic knowledge is traditionally grounded in philosophy developed during colonial expansion. At its core, the “construction of knowledge” in Western culture reflects the “geographical and economic absorption” of non-western cultures. Bradley points to Ikuenobe and Smith to suggest the “western concepts of rational thought have had deleterious effects of knowledge production for all people” (pg. 416) and that western cultures benefit from the ideas and thoughts from around the world. Colonizing philosophy oppresses other thoughts by rejecting folk and universal ideas.

Music Education Philosophies as colonizing

Music education philosophy contributes to the colonization of education by creating hierarchies within music. As Bradley writes, colonization occurs when “perceived hierarchy operates as fixed realities through restrictive accounts of “good music”” (pg. 417). In other words, when music education philosophers attempt to classify music and its role in the classroom they are creating binary constructs which form hierarchies of music.

Bradley addresses the colonization issues within the ‘aesthetic’ music education philosophy. Using Reimer’s philosophy of aesthetic education, Bradley points to the issue of “a symbol of morally good” in regards of Kant’s Critique of Judgment. Further, Bradley suggests that Reimer’s ‘A Philosophy’ “reads as the only valid way to view music and music education – a “truth” to be accepted rather than a starting point for discussion or reflection” (pg.19). Reimer’s Aesthetic Philosophy does not resemble a discussion or reflection; rather it suggests aesthetic philosophy as ‘fact’. Bradley also criticizes Reimer’s call for “centering Euro-American music in the curriculum” (p. 419) and asserting culturally diverse music as a threat to this. In a broader perspective, the concern with Reimer’s philosophical approach is the lack of critical inflection, rather, Reimer tends towards to side of ‘static resolution’.

In regards to praxial philosophies, Bradley cites Elliot’s Music Matter’s and praises the philosophy of “disposing dominant ideology” which reflects an effort to decolonize music education philosophy. However, there are still reflections of colonialism by means of “philosophy as product rather than process” (pg. 421). Elliot suggests that music education should be ‘reflexive music process’ which puts more ‘power’ in the hands of the teacher with the assumptions they know that the student needs to learn. Bradley criticizes that students aren’t given the opportunity to contribute to knowledge production and tends to favor teacher directed ensemble settings. On the other hand, Bradley praises the values put on diversity of human musical practices” (pg.422)

Bradley discusses the role of critical theory and its ability to decolonize music education philosophy. Critical theory and critical pedagogy is designed to ‘bring consciousness to the oppressed’. Within critical pedagogy, there are ‘active agents’ in learning, and power is reevaluated by the teacher and student. Critical pedagogy may also perpetuate colonialism through assumptions made and the inherent suggestion of the word ‘critical’ reflects ‘relations of domination’.

In regards to the inclusion of multicultural education Bradley suggests that multicultural practices are “profoundly reductive” which results in multiculturalism represented by repertoire. Bradley suggests, “this often leads in turn to musical exoticism that leaves the European canon centered in the curriculum” (pg. 425). Further, the aesthetic nature of multiculturalism often ignores the cross-cultural understanding that is to be gained.

Where do we go from here? Decolonizing Music Education Philosophy

Bradley uses the end of the chapter to suggest that music education philosophy is not as ‘bleak’ as she may have suggested. As she summarizes “Music education colonizes when it promotes unequal power relations in the classroom; when it operates from presumptions that students are empty vessels to be filled; when it proceeds as if only some students are deserving or truly capable or learning music; or when it implies however inadvertently, that only some musical genres have educative value.” (p. 428). In order to decolonize music education philosophy, there needs to be more of a reflective process when approaching ideas along with a “relentless curiosity about all forms of knowledge”(pg. 430).