Working on the dark side of the moon: overcoming music education inequities in the Chilean school system

Abstract

In OECD country members, education policies tend to cut back funding and instructional time for music education at schools, even when supranational agencies advocate for universal access to music involvement and learning. The current study aims to explore music education inequities from the Chilean school system. The method is centered on multiple-case study design, focusing on three boundaries: the time, space, and place. The sample, which was chosen by criteria linked to maximum variation sampling, included participation from 30 music teachers. Results suggest that discrepancies in equitable opportunities are caused not only by the economic situation of schools, but are also provoked by Chile’s centralized educational model. In conclusion, some educators live on a darker side than others, but all music teachers are able to see the sun daily because they overcome inequities. Some implications are proposed.

Keywords:

• Centralization
• educational resources
• equal opportunities
• working conditions
• school system

Acknowledgment

We express our gratitude to all music teachers who participated in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.