Social Justice Notes McPherson, Gary, and Graham Welch. The Oxford Handbook of Music Education Volume II.

New York: Oxford UP, 2012. Print. Social Justice in General: Love: There can be no SJ without love, and no love without justice. Terms are interdependent Love acts a liberator to the oppressed Not to be confused with strictly romantic love Activist bell hooks conceives love as an action, rather than pure emotion Social justice serves to uncover injustices, unbalance, and untruths in order to promote and support a more equitable social order Is context, disciple and historically dependent. SJ is has no universally agreed upon meaning 1 overlooked concept in music education is LOVE

Love-as-action If we love those around us we will take more responsibility in the injustices of the world This takes root in the early processes of learning; if kids are subject to abuse and humiliation at home and in school, they will grow up not knowing community love, and ignore or accept social injustice Community and love is important- extended family, friends, peers; if one limits love to the home then that is where love will stay, and society will become a more love-less place, ripe for injustices

Community Music and Love: CM programs exist with love in mind- to help/empower those suffering from injustice CM programs often encourage people to observe their social obligations CM programs motivates active engagement with the world

Music Therapy Use music to care for people with physical, psychological, emotional, behavioral and social needs Eg) Thirtieth Street Mens Shelter at New York City uses music and other art forms to help homeless men find permanent residence. o Many of these men lack English fluency. As such, music of a diverse variety is used to help integrate them into society and promote multi culturalism o Promotes communication between the members, helping with possible social insecurities that could lead them to homelessness

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An open space such as this, that encourages critical thinking and reflection emulates well aspects of society In the actual playing of music, it is mostly improvised. People have to make eye contact

CM and Music Education Because school boards and government policies are so concerned with measuring the day to day action of teachers and students (see the syllabus), music educators can come to see their job as unrewarding and non-meaningful. In contrast, the coordinators of programs like Thirtieth Street Mens Shelter at New York City are highly rewarded because they see their participants grow and learn (though the use of lovein-action). If teacher implement more love into their teaching style or curriculum, it is possible they will see more meaning in what they do

Norlin, Miranda. ""Social Justice through Music"" YouTube. YouTube, 22 Sept. 2010. Web. 06 Oct. 2013. YouTube Video

Elliot D. J. (2007), Socializing Music Education, Action, Criticism and Theory for Music Education, 6(4), 60-95, http://act.maydaygroup.org/articles/Elliott6_4.pdf To narrowly define social justice would be to limit its context to a specific area, as it is present in many different facets of life (Music, medicine, political science, sociology). Social means of a community or group. Justice is a much more ambiguous term. Justice is subjective, differs from person to person. For example, there are those who act within the borders of legal justice, but potentially not within the confines of an individuals personal sense of justice. For the purposes of this presentation, we will be looking at situations that are widely considered to be unjust. Eg) People born into poverty People with illness, either physical or emotional Concept of discrimination (racism, sexism)

Bowman, Wayne (2007), Who's Asking? (Who's Answering?): Theorizing Social Justice in Music Education, Action, Criticism and Theory for Music Education, http://act.maydaygroup.org/articles/BowmanEditorial6_4.pdf

No concrete definition of social justice because the terms are so ambiguous. For now, the definition of: The act of treating all people fairly and equitably will do, though as soon as you stop generalizing and start narrowing your inquiry, problems arise, such as Whos justice is the right justice?.

Pawelski, Carrie. Music Education for Social Justice: A Case Study of the North Park Middle School Band. Diss. Arizona State University, 2013. N.p.: ProQuest LLC, 2013. Print. Two paths to music education and social justice: The first path identifies ways in which the teaching methods and access to music education can be socially just. o o o Multiculturalism in music education Equal access to high quality music education to all members of society Eliminating gender bias in choice of instruments/role of participant in ensemble

The second path of social justice in music education encompasses the notion that music education can lead students and audiences to create social change and social justice in our communities.

Bradley, D. (2007). The Sounds of silence: Talking race in music education. Action Criticism and Theory for Music Education, 6(4), 132-162. http://act.maydaygroup.org/articles/Bradley6_4.pdf Many different races in NA but mostly white enroll in music, mostly from wealthy families

Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. [New York]: Herder and Herder, 1970. Print.