freedom – Music Intervention

The purpose of this blog series, “A Bird’s Eye View,” is to give a periphery overlook into my classes at Teachers College, Columbia University. The majority of topics will derive from class assignments, specifically this semester from the course Creativity and Problem Solving in Music Education. Besides sharing experiences in learning in exposing a process of learning, I hope that beneficial insight from the classroom will seep into these posts for you- the reader.

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Earlier this week, I began my graduate school studies at Teachers College, Columbia University pursuing a MA in International Educational Development with a focus on peace education. A say what? Yes, a MA in International Educational Development with a focus on peace education. Don’t worry, many others already pointed out that the title is long and semi-baffling. Before you ask the next question, let me take a step back and then elaborate further.

Comparative education is described by comparative education academic I.L. Kandel (1933) as the study of “general education, elementary and secondary, in the light of the forces- political, social, and cultural-which determine the character of national systems of education” (qtd. in Bajaj, 118). Now place comparative education into an international context where all of the above is researched at a global level, with the added intent of producing international content and programs that reflect research and theories that also foster intercultural understanding by bringing “together students, teachers, and scholars from different nations to learn about and from each other” (Epstein, 918). This, my friends, is international education development. Both comparative education and international education intersect with peace education. All three of these terms are connected to relatively new, expanding fields reacting to current events and meeting the needs of our current globalizing world.

The study of international educational development can entail many focuses. Mine will center on how the creative process of music is used as a tool for social activism to empower youth and transform conflict.

Our first class discussion in Creativity and Problem Solving in Music Education revolved around the usual topics of “what is music?” and “who is a musician,” yet in a much more fascinating way ushered by inspiration of John Cage amidst his centennial. John Cage, best well known for his piece 4’33”, was a controversial modern composer and innovator who pushed the ideas of music and sound, performance, and purpose.

Of course we in class were given the chance to experiment in the making of all sorts of creative music/sound/noise with whatever we found in the classroom. Not going to lie, it was actually empowering at times and fun! I started with my Starbucks coffee cup, and then moved to a drum stick and blinds. That’s right, I was playing the blinds.

The reflective portion of the assignment was to divulge into what is considered beautiful music/sound and, when we perceive music/sound as ugly, why is that so? Two great readings, which are included (Greene – I still wonder at how unaware I was (2000) & Sheehy – Children Sound) for your curiosity as well, were utilized to supplement our writing. Many of my peers spoke about the sounds they heard in New York City or the performing we did in class. For whatever reason my reflective piece took on a whole different edge. I’m sure if John Cage read it, he would understand. “It is not irritating to be where one is. It is only irritating to think one would like to be somewhere else. Here we are now.” (Artificeofeternity, 2009)

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“It’s obvious this page not for any of you, and its more obvious we don’t want to deal with any one of you at any level. stop telling us your stories you are not the case owners, we are the case owner . so stop telling us your stories to gain our sympathize. And how you asking for equality, I will come to your place and steal your house and then when we rise the case at the court I will ask them to divide your house for two halves between you and me, is this equal for you?” –Commentator A from Facebook, retrieved from online article in 972 Magazine

Here it is again tonight. I can see and hear the “angry barking,” though the only thing in front of me is text from an online magazine on my laptop screen. From there, I take a big, deep sigh. The feeling of my pulse as the palms of my hands rest on my temples is pronounced enough at this point, that I as well hear the thumping. All of a sudden what is gray, separates to black and white. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is screaming at me once again.

Don’t get me wrong, I love dogs and this is nothing against them! I use the word “barking” and in fact, “angry barking,” because that is what commentary becomes on the Internet when discussing controversial topics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (or perhaps, it’s the oh-so-regular topics discussed by controversial people). Amazingly, the “angry barking” is about whether or not a group of Israelis should be allowed to join their Palestinian counterparts in attending a concert this week in Amman, Jordan of a well-known music ensemble from Beirut, Lebanon, in light of historical events/historical stories/historical hearsay. This sentiment, the rejection of developing “normal” relations with Israelis and recognizing the establishment of the State of Israel, is known as anti-normalization. Though I do not personally know the people involved in the “angry barking,” I hear in my mind the escalation of their oscillating timbres as they duke it out virtually with one another. This reality, coupled with the sound effects, is the mind-game we enter when involved, connected, or a part of this conflict. It is not beautiful. And yet this very experience, of only small stature of many that affect Israelis, Palestinians, Jews, Muslims, Christians, concerned peoples, etc., leads to the question: how do we overcome from here and find what is beautiful in the not beautiful?

A month ago, I participated in an Expressive Arts Educators Course at the Seeds of Peace International Camp in Portland, Maine. Seeds of Peace, to simply cut and paste from their website, “inspires and equips new generations of leaders from regions of conflict with the relationships, understanding, and skills needed to advance lasting peace.” (Seeds of Peace) Though Seeds of Peace programming is usually for youth, their various educators’ courses are for leaders and educators who are involved with reconciliation activities at the grassroots level, producing curriculum for these programs, or administrators in the school systems. At the Expressive Arts Educators Course, 35 artists (from visual art and theatre to music and spoken word) and/or educators represented of eight countries came together for two weeks to undergo a deeper understanding of the power of the arts to transform conflict and empower youth. Besides instructional class time, we all were placed in “home-groups” to discuss topics and reflect within a smaller, intimate setting, underwent group physical activities, and prepared a performance for the end of the course that encompassed what was discovered in deepening our understanding of each others’ narratives through our various art forms.

While reading the two articles for class after the “angry barking” episode, I began to reflect further on my time at Seeds of Peace. An incredible amount of the lessons in both of these articles are exactly what the organizers of the course were trying to construct for us through creatively exploring, learning, and sharing our narratives within and through our art forms. All of the participants at the camp were adults of varying ages. Don’t let that trick you into thinking we all acted maturely and intelligently no matter the situation. There were tough times, including several verbal explosions between members of different ethnicities (Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Cyprus, the U.S., India, and Pakistan were all represented). Even one member left mid-camp in tears; the rest of the group in shock of loosing what they had thought was a safe space. What did our facilitators use to rebuild the safe space that was shattered and assist us all in finding the ways in which we were able to express ourselves again? They had us reconnect, deeper through art, opening the space wider for our “inner-kiddo,” similarly as to what Sheehy describes, to feel safe enough to appear and interact with “the other.” Also, the final performance served as a team-building activity where we took artistic risks together and possessed a responsibility to each other to succeed.

In essence, we had discovered a freedom of some sort. With our imaginations vivaciously leading the way to our creativity unrestricted, we became more than just our labels, not just to the joyous audience present, but perhaps most importantly to ourselves. It was beautiful! If anything, the line Maxine Greene quotes of Sartre “”at the heart of the aesthetic imperative we discern the moral imperative” because “the work of art, from whichever side you approach it” (1949, pp. 62-63) is an act of confidence in the freedom of human begins. We feel that freedom here—to interpret, to reflect, and (now and then) change our lives”” resonates with the successful outcome, artistically and communally, of the final performance (Greene & qtd. in Greene, 198). We had surpassed our “angry barking” episode leading to the possibility of a shared future. Like the quote of Emily Dickinson in Greene’s essay: “The Possible’s slow fuse is lit/ By the Imagination.” (Greene & qtd. in Greene, 198).

Within the thread of my camp reflection, I call to mind the various texts I’ve read as of late in preparation for the awesome event of graduate school. The writings of Paulo Freire jumped off the page for me, as well various others like John Paul Lederach’s The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace. Now that I am here, I’ve read for another class several chapters of the Encyclopedia of Peace Education, which deconstructs all of the various terms and meanings in peace education, such as human rights education, global citizen education, structural violence, etc., and Galtung’s article on cultural violence.

Here is where I find myself at a current crossroad.

For as much as we may feel the essence of freedom through the exploration of art in all of its imagination and expressiveness, what about the structural violence on the outside which continues to keep the system afresh of top-dog in power marginalizing the underdog through lack of services and opportunities, fragmenting a population further beyond its repression of identity and culture? How do we encounter or counter this structural violence, which can be or lead to direct violence, through the arts and even more specifically, through music education? We at camp did surpass an ugly point through music and the arts in America, but what will happen now as we’ve returned to our respective countries with the “angry barking” of the media and the extremists? Can it last? Will we be able to expand upon what we learned from skills to our relationships with each other?

I leave you with these questions, which also I ask myself while searching for how to confront these issues, prepare curriculum and programming for the Israeli and Palestinian youth music non-profit Heartbeat, and keep updated on the events and issues in Israel/Palestine: What does it mean to sing about freedom and experience freedom through music, when beholden to structural violence and societal pressures like anti-normalization? What role can music education play in confronting structural violence? What do you think?

*Here’s a link to the music of Mashrou’ Leila, the music group performing in Amman, if you want to take a listen! (http://mashrou3leila.com/?album=el-hal-romancy)

I attempt to cite all of the sources used in my writings and research as correctly as possible, so please adopt the same policy toward the works presented here and as well my own writings by citing this blog’s findings correctly. This blog is meant for sharing, not plagiarism. Thank you for your respect.

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References

1. Al-Bream, Ruba (2012, September 9). Jordanians for the Cultural Boycott of the Zionist Entity. [Msg 20]. Message posted to Facebook Page

2. Artificeofeternity. (2009, August 1). John Cage: “Mushroom Haiku” and “At the Middle” [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNzVQ8wRCB0

3. Bajaj, Monisha (Eds.). (2008). Encyclopedia of Peace Education. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc.

4. Epstein, E. H. (1994). Comparative and International Education: Overview and Historical Development.In T. Husén & T. N. Postlethwaite (Eds.), The International Encyclopedia of Education (2nded. pp. 918-923). New York: Pergamon.

5. joelyhberg. (2010, December 15). John Cage’s 4’33” [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTEFKFiXSx4

6. Seeds of Peace (www.seedsofpeace.org)

7. spncr525. (2009, May 11). John Cage- Water Walk [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63HoYXUeUTA

Bibliography

1. Bajaj, Monisha (Eds.). (2008). Encyclopedia of Peace Education. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc.

2. Galtung, Johan. (1990). Cultural Violence. Journal of Peace Research, 27 (3), 291-305. http://jpr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/27/3/291

3. Greene, M. (1978) Toward Wide-Awakeness: An Argument for the Arts and Humanities in Education, from Landscapes of Learning. New York: Teachers College Press., pp. 161-167

5. Sheehy, E. (1952) “Children and Sound” from There’s Music in Children. New York: Holt Publishing. 1-13