Jane Leathem

Professor Dominick Ferrara

ME-311

6 February 2024

Education in modern American society exists to keep its citizens informed and able to

think critically, to foster capable minds into advancing our society further, and to create

competent workers that keep the community functioning. These concepts are all important to a

working society, however there are other motivations behind education that are not only worth

exploring, but that also carry significant value.

An important aspect of keeping citizens informed, is that educators are to set their

students up in a way where they can use their knowledge to make their own decisions and be

critical of what is put in front of them. During the education process, employing critical

pedagogy encourages students to come to their own conclusions and attempt to fix systems that

are broken. The approach of critical pedagogy in the music classroom involves relating music to

the students’ personal lives, and suggests that they are already amateur music critics, who bring

in their own informed opinions that can be used and built upon. Music educator Frank Abrahams

details a process he employs in his classroom that is formative for students in becoming

independent, critical thinkers. By initiating a dialogue between his students about what music

they listen to and enjoy playing outside of class, it breaks down the teacher-student hierarchy and

gives the students a feeling of empowerment as musicians. After this empowerment, the students

then become aware of everything they are capable of doing, which is a transformative experience

labeled by Paulo Freire as “conscientization.” This process is valuable for young musicians as it
allows them to participate in music in a way that sparks joy for them, but it also instills

confidence in a student whether they pursue music in the future or not. On a personal level, it

also allows the teacher to connect with their students and understand more about who they are,

something that should be a goal for every teacher.

The ideas from critical pedagogy that were listed earlier were grounded in ideas from

Paulo Freire, and his work, “Pedagogy of the Oppressed.” Freire was an educator and

philosopher who emphasized the importance of the liberation of students. Overall, education

should be a liberating process in which students can gain a broader perspective on reality, are

able to question and critique what is being put in front of them, and have an improved and more

joyful human experience. Freire suggests that authentic liberation is a process of humanization,

and therefore that it is a necessary part of a person’s growth. Exercising this kind of liberation is

especially important in the arts. Music is all about creative freedom, expression, and sending a

message. As younger students are beginning the “conscientization” process, or are simply

becoming more aware of their feelings and the world around them, expression is extremely

important for their mental health and emotional development. Liberation is a concept that is used

mostly in a political context, but it is also possible to be emotionally or spiritually liberated. In

the music classroom, educators should be introducing music as a tool in which students can

exercise emotional freedom and feel like they have the power to send a message. A large chunk

of teaching music history involves introducing songs born out of oppression and protest, or also

on the opposite end, musicians expressing religious liberation. By showing students what is

possible to explore in music, they feel as though they can enact change in the world. This notion

is especially valuable when teaching to students who are minorities or who have faced prejudice

throughout their lives.

 In the human experience music plays a powerful role, whether it is through listening,

creating, performing, or instilling lifelong values through its specific learning process. It is up to

music educators to create a classroom environment that is safe, welcoming to all students, and

that fosters their unique personal expression. This enriches our community by filling it with

citizens who have the capability to think critically, and desire to collaborate with one another to

create an improved society.

 References

Abrahams, Frank. “Transforming Classroom Music instruction with Ideas from Critical
Pedagogy.” Music Educators Journal, vol. 92, no. 1, Sept. 2005, pp. 62–67. JSTOR,
https://doi.org/10.2307/3400229.

Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed.