Knowledge and social justice in English school music education: reflections on the report ‘Questioning the gap in music literacy’ (McQueen 2020)

ABSTRACT

This article explores some of the intersections and relationships between ‘knowledge' and ‘social justice' particularly as manifest in the context of English school music education. It takes as its starting point the tensions resulting from different understandings of these terms as revealed in the Society for Music Analysis's (SMA) report ‘Questioning the gap in music literacy’ (McQueen 2020). Drawing on neo-traditionalist, social realist and constructivist perspectives, different conceptions of musical knowledge and its relationship to social justice are briefly examined. Drawing on the work of John Rawls and Nancy Fraser, the argument is made that socially just approaches to music education are enhanced by going beyond distributive and redistributive paradigms to embrace issues around respect, recognition, and participatory parity. Inter alia, the article examines the challenges resulting from an identity politics approach to social justice, particularly its tendency towards reifying cultural identity and knowledge. The article concludes by suggesting that the tensions around musical knowledge and social justice revealed in the SMA Report might be ameliorated through dialogical approaches to pedagogy that recognise the centrality---but not exclusivity---of the learner's world in endowing meaning on musical knowledge and understanding.

KEYWORDS:

• Social justice
• music education
• music literacy

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gary Spruce

Gary Spruce was a secondary school music teacher and head of department for sixteen years before joining The Open University as subject leader to develop their new Music PGCE course. He was also subject leader for Birmingham City University’s PGCE music course from 2019 to 2021. From 2007 to 2012 he was co-editor of the British Journal of Music Education. He has written and published widely on music education, particularly around the areas of secondary music education, teacher professional development and the relationship between music education and social justice. He has presented papers at national and international conferences. He is a co-editor of the recently published book Creative Projects in Classroom Music Education: Fifty Years of Sound and Silence and the forthcoming Instrumental Music Teaching: Perspectives and Challenges, published by Trinity College London Press. He is a practising musician with a particular interest in music theatre.