CATHERINE LUDWIG
it ’ s not just about which music is being taught , but whose music is taught . Relying purely on western classical composers means only a very limited scope of music is being examined . Other subjects , like history , also have huge blind spots that must be addressed . It ’ s also obvious that if a student of history only learns about one nation ’ s past , they cannot adequately understand history ; worse still , if they learn only one version of that past , they cannot begin to even understand that nation ’ s history . In many cases , the curriculum for the study of music may be not only out of date , but also incomplete ; consequently , it will not speak to the needs of an increasingly multicultural society , and likely didn ’ t do so very well in the first place .
When what is taught doesn ’ t reflect the multicultural makeup of a given class ( let alone Canada as a whole ), that “ creates a domino effect ,” Hamilton says – a cycle of exclusion that ’ s passed down from a teacher to a student , who in turn ( whether they become a teacher or not ) passes that on , thus reinforcing and further entrenching the problem .
Generally speaking , music is often lumped into two categories : ours and theirs , or western and ethnic music , which only reinforces the perception that , for example ,
MARK REID
ð CANADIAN MUSICIAN 55