POLICY STATEMENT OF THE COMMUNITY MUSIC COMMISSION OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR MUSIC EDUCATION:

"PRESENT AND FUTURE IDEALS"

Community Music is a vital and dynamic force that provides opportunities

for participation and education in a wide range of musics and musical

experiences.

Community Music activities are based on the premise that everyone has

the right and ability to make and create musics. Accordingly, such programs

can act as a counterbalance and/or complement to formal music institutions

and commercial music concerns.

In addition to involving participants in the enjoyment of active

music-making and creativity, Community Music provides opportunities to

construct personal and communal expressions of artistic, social, political,

and cultural concerns. Also Community Music encourages and empower

participants to become agents for extending and developing music in the

community

In the pursuit of musical excellence and innovation, Community Music

activities also contribute to the development of economic regeneration,

create job opportunities in the cultural sectors, and enhance the

quality of life for communities. In all these ways Community Music activities

can complement, interface with, and extend formal music education

structures.

The Nature of Community Music

At the heart of excellent Community Music activities are the following

characteristics:

- emphasis on a variety and diversity of musics that reflect and enrich

the cultural life of the community and of the participants

- active participation in music-making of all kinds (performing,

improvising and creating)

- the development of active musical knowing ( including verbal musical

knowledge where appropriate)

- multiple learner/teacher relationships and processes

- a commitment to life-long musical learning and access for all members

of the community

- an awareness of the need to include disenfranchised and disadvantaged

individuals or groups

- a recognition that participants' social and personal growth are as

important as their musical growth

- a belief in the value and use of music to foster inter-cultural

acceptance and understanding

- respect for the cultural property of a given community and

acknowledgement of both individual and group ownership of musics

- an on-going commitment to accountability through regular and diverse

assessment and evaluation procedures

- fosters a personal delight and confidence in individual creativity

- flexible teaching, learning and facilitation modes (oral, notational,

holistic, experiential, analytic)

- excellence/quality in both the processes and products of music-making

relative to individual goals of participants

- the honouring of origins and intents of specific musical practices

Calls for Action

Cultural Diversity in Community Music

Musics of the world are relevant for musical practice and music

education because of increased accessibility (through media and travel) and

increased mobility (migration) and also because of the growing cultural

diversity of many of our communities. This diversity creates the possibility for

openness and innovation through many practical models for teaching and

learning music at all levels.

Community Music programs and activities should encompass an appropriate

range of musical practices, processes, materials, and philosophies from

different cultures.

We recommend the following initiatives:

Regarding Formal Music Education

- fundamentally re-structure school and community music education

- encourage collaboration and cross-over between music educators in

school systems and community musicians

- establish music practice-oriented pilot projects both outside and

within structures of music education

- develop resources and make them widely available

- approach music education and music in education from a 'world'

perspective (including music history)

- encourage teacher education programs to value and incorprate the value

of CM cultural diversity in music education

Cultural Context and Recontextualisation:

- recognition that musics/arts removed from one setting and replanted in

another will change their nature

- honour cultures and culture bearers but acknowledge that music and

arts continue to grow and change

- empower students and families as sources of musical/artistic

expressions and negotiate ways of infusing their cultures into community

and educational settings

- utilise pedagogical materials that are developed in collaborations

with culture bearers

Cultural Diversity

- honour intricacies of different interactive transmission processes

- encourage educators to participate in diverse cultural communities

that surround them

Calls for Action

Collaborations and Alliances with Community Music Programs

The present and future of Community Music depends significantly on

improving Community Music collaborations, alliances and exchanges across

local, regional, institutional, national, cultural and stylistic boundaries

To facilitate and enhance collaborations we recommend the creation of a

Community Music web site and electronic journal for the international

exchange of Community Music case studies and narratives, resources,

strategies, and experiences by January 2001!. Such use of the WWW

would:

- facilitate alliances and exchanges between Community Music theorists

and practitioners

- articulate the roles of Community Music in the maintenance,

development and renewal of school music programs (especially general

classroom programs)

- inform curriculum writers world-wide about the nature of Community

Music and the ways Community Music ideas and practitioners can serve

the goals and practices of music education at all institutional levels

- clarifying the contribution that CM makes to broader social objectives

such as social inclusion and community regeneration, by providing links

with agencies and practitioners working in this field

Calls for Action

Preparation and Development for Community Music Practitioners

The present and future of Community Music requires the development of

excellent training programs (informal and formal) for Community Music

professionals. As well as fostering the musical, educational and

finance-related competencies of these professionals, training programs

should provide leadership in creating partnerships among Community Music

programs, professional and amateur music-makers, and formal educational

institutions. We recommend the following initiatives:

- develop international centers for Community Music training

- preparing Community Music facilitators

- generate a database of existing Community Music training programs

- formulate varied approaches to the recruitment of Community Music

workers

- reconceptualisation of Community Music in relation to current research

Calls for Action

Strategies for Community Music Programs

The present and future of Community Music depends on the effectiveness

of practitioners in this field. This requires that a number of strategies be

developed and implemented.

This commission advises community music workers to consider the

following:

- investigate the values and needs of regional and national CM

organizations and initiatives for CM workers

- capitalise on the growing goodwill of formal institutions (e.g., universities)

- work with existing (as well as with emerging) systems of training

education, employment, health and so forth

- reflect within, with and outside your own community

- negotiate on the basis of mutual benefits

- advocate and market Community Music initiatives to the entire web of

potential supporters

- develop visibility and public relationship programs

- document and disseminate successful Community Music processes and

program results for evaluation, collaborative and grant-writing purposes

Calls for Action

New Music Technology

Existing and evolving music technology (e.g. synthesisers, samplers,

MIDI-controllers, software) has enormous potential in the field of

Community Music in the 21st century. Technology permits and encourages

access to all forms of music-making for new groups of creators - with or

without traditionally taught musical knowledge - to become a reality,

enabling the production of music of quality. Communication technology

allows musical interaction to happen on any level (local or global).

In addition, new technology allows Community Music programs to function

as fulcrums for the development of new musical languages and styles, the

expansion of present understandings of the nature of music, and the

facilitation of performances and publications.

In all these ways, music technology can open windows to music and

music-making for disenfranchised sections of the population. We

recognise

that technology is not equally available in all countries and

communities.

We recommend the following initiatives:

- utilise existing and evolving networks of all kinds, from the

grass-roots level to formal institutions local and world-wide

- foster collaborations that finance and share technological resources

- demystify technology by emphasising and creating user-friendly

strategies

- expand access to existing technology centres and resources

- work toward making technology to all communities in all countries

- reflect critically upon the limitations of technology (including

issues of cost, ownership, accessibility, institutionalisation, and

forward-looking vs. backward-looking adaptations)

Calls for Action

Funding

We recommend a forum for on-going dialogues on funding in CM, including

a different kind of [North-South, first world/ third world] dialogue on

international funding. We need to articulate and examine assumptions and

expectations of cultural exchange and funding. These forums might take a

variety of form or forms such as: a new commission, a focus group, a

conference, a dialogue on email

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Link to ISME: http://www.isme.org