MUSIC EDUCATION RESEARCH IN GENDER
NEWSLETTER v 3 n 1 May 1994
| MEMBERSHIP
Membership is $3.00 (US, UK or Canadian currency acceptable). Make cheques payable to Queen's University. Send cheques, names and addresses (add e-mail &/or phone number, if you wish) to: Dr. Roberta Lamb, School of Music, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6. Name change and statement of purpose were among items discussed at the MENC meeting. A full meeting report is at the end of this newsletter. BALLOTS AND MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY ARE INCLUDED FOR ALL PAID MEMBERS. |
In this Issue:
1.1 Qualitative Methodologies in Music Education Research Conference
1.2 The Philosophy of Music Education: International Symposium II
2.1 MENC Sessions
2.2 CMS Symposium on Music & Gender
2.3 CMS Institute for the Study & Teaching of "Women & Music"
3. Research-In-Progress & Classroom Practices
Karen Pegley, York University
4. Book Reviews
4.1 Canadian Women Making Music, K. Linda Kivi
4.2 Stories of Women Composers for Younger Musicians,
5. GSLG News
[ Top of Page / GRIME Newsletters / GRIME Home ]
1.1 Qualitative Methodologies in Music Education Research Conference, May 19-21, 1994 at the School of Music, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Some GRIME/MERG members will be presenting.
1.2 The Philosophy of Music Education: International Symposium II, June 12-17, 1994 at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto.
Registration $65 ($50 US), students $30 ($25 US). Contact David J. Elliott at 416-978-3750; FAX 416-978-5771. Several GRIME/MERG members will be presenting.
[ Top of Page / GRIME Newsletters / GRIME Home ]
Send in summaries (~ 500 words) of conferences relevant to GRIME members.
2.1 MENC Sessions (April 1994)
Some sessions at MENC focused on gender. Eve Harwood (U of Illinois) presented "The Social Function of Girls' Musical Play" to the Social Science SRIG. She finds that girls' play may be more cooperative than boys', but that among girls some types of play are quite competitive and even aggressive. She provided an extensive bibliography. Some of those items listed include: R. Atkinson, "Songs little girls sing: An orderly invitation to violence," Northwest Folklore, v2, n2, 1967, 2-8; several articles in R. Bauman (ed.), Black girls at play: perspectives on child development, Austin: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 1975; C. Merrill Mirsky, "Eeny meeny pepsadeeny: Ethnicity and gender in children's musical play," PhD diss, U of California, 1988; and two of Eve Harwood's articles, "Girls' handclapping games: A study in oral transmission," Bulletin of the International Kodaly Society, v17, n1, 1992, 19-25 and "Content and context in children's playground songs," Update, v12, n1, 1993, 4-8.
Carolyn Livingston (U of Rhode Island) presented "Women in American Music Education: How Names Mentioned in History Books are Regarded by Contemporary Scholars" to the History SRIG at MENC. These eleven women were cited more frequently than any others: Frances Elliott Clark (1860-1958), Mabelle Glenn (1881-1969), Julia Ettie Crane (1855-1923), Marguerite Hood (1903-1992), Eleanor Smith (1858-1942), Vanett Lawlor (1904-1972), Denise Bacon (b. 1902), Alys E. Bentley (1868-1951), Alice Inskeep (c.1880-1942), Lilla Belle Pitts (1884-1970), Jessie Gaynor (1863-1921). Of these, Clark, Crane, Glenn and Pitts were cited as most important to American music education history.
Susan Wheatley and Lorraine Wilson (Indiana University of Penn.) presented "A New Paradigm for Teacher Education Courses: Balancing Diversity and Creativity" at MENC, with a focus on music composed by women and African-Americans. Three modules were proposed.
I: Campus-wide initiative 'Festival of Women Composers' over a 3-year period. The mission of the festival is to provide gender balance in the curriculum by (1) generating information about women composers; (2) making their works available to performers and scholars, (3) providing opportunities for public performance including school partnerships, and (4) showcasing contemporary women composers' repertoire.
II: Awareness of diversity issues is fostered through music education courses which synthesize learnings in music and in diversity. Wheatley described a course entitled 'Women Who Compose: Past and Present Contexts,' geared to promoting an understanding of the sociological framework surrounding musical contributions of women, emphasizing common challenges and shared successes among women in other arts disciplines.
III: Music education courses must make practical resources and materials for diversity in teaching/learning available to music teachers and music education students. This final step is only meaningful after students have been introduced to the importance of diversity through campus-wide programs. Some songs suitable for children's courses include: "Aria of the Shepherd" by Francesca Caccini, "Schwanenlied" by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, "Welcoming Spring by "Josephine Lang, and excerpt from the opera "The Wreckers" by Ethel Smyth, "White Moon" by Ruth Crawford, and "Bee, I'm Expecting You" by Emma Lou Diemer. This session included a video of Mary Lou Williams, slides of women composers, and a recording of chorus selections.
2.2 CMS Symposium on Music & Gender (Oct 14, 1993)
Did anyone attend? We would like a conference report.
2.3 CMS Institute for the Study & Teaching of "Women & Music" (27 June - 3 July 1993) by Catherine M. Schmidt (U of W-Madison).
Held at Mount Vernon College, Washington, DC, this was a week filled with informative lectures, stimulating discussions and wonderful music. Participants came from colleges across the US and Canada and from as far away as Holland and South Africa. Teachers and students from departments of musicology, theory, performance, and composition, and one representative from music education all gathered to study ways to integrate the music contributions of women into their respective programs.
The week was well-coordinated with a variety of concerts filled with music by women and presentations on topics ranging from "African-American Women Composers of Art Music," "Professional Women Musicians in 18th-Century Weimar" and "Women in American Popular Music" to "Another Kind of Performance: Women's Contributions to Performance Art" and "Addressing Sexual Violence and Manipulation in Mozart's Operas." A highlight of the week was a concert of works by Jean Eichelberger Ivey, Juliana Hall, and Judith Weir, by the Contemporary Music Forum followed by a panel discussion on the performance of women's music by Jean Eichelberger Ivey and the performing musicians.
Each day's activities were based on a theme and facilitated by one of the institute's main faculty. Jane Bowers presented a day filled with information and discussion on "Women in Western Music," which included an examination of ways to 'mainstream' women into the music curriculum. Ruth Solie provided a background for discussing theory and theoretical issues for music and gender encompassing a very broad definition of theory as well as addressing the issue of the music theory classroom specifically. A day that provided the opportunity to examine music of a variety of cultures to see what could be learned by 'stepping outside the canon' was facilitated by Ellen Koskoff. In addition, one day was set aside for special presentations on women in American music and a tour of the National Museum for Women in the Arts. Friday was spent looking at teaching strategies and workshops on 'syllabus redesign' to provide the participants with practical suggestions for implementing and integrating the large amount of material provided by the institute.
This week of study was stimulating, informative and enjoyable. Barbara Maris, coordinator, did an exceptional job of handling the many details that contributed to the overall success of the institute. Barbara and the rest of the faculty should be commended for the breadth of material, organization and exceptional quality of presentations and music. Commendation should also be given to the College Music Society for sponsoring this important event. Let's hope that more institutes of this nature are offered in the future.
Watch for reports on the Canadian Women Composers Conference (Windsor), AERA Conference, Qualitative Methodologies in Music Education Research Conference (Illinois), ISME (Florida), Philosophy of Music Education Symposium (Toronto).
[ Top of Page / GRIME Newsletters / GRIME Home ]
3. Research-In-Progress & Classroom Practices
[Share summaries of your current work, in the classroom or as a researcher!]
This report is by Karen Pegley (York U)
Computer use in schools is firmly established, but what do we know of adolescent girls' and boys' responses to these technologies related to the fine arts? This complex relationship between creativity and technology has been studied in two Ontario schools. The first school, located outside metro-Toronto, was designated an Apple Centre for Innovation in 1988 and the Technology in Music Programme was implemented in two grade 7 and 8 classes. It was subsequently assessed (Clarkson and Pegley, 1991). The second study, conducted in a technology-driven suburban school, assessed grade 7 students in multimedia with a focus on creative writing, math and art (Clarkson, Durlak, and Pegley, 1993).
Notable similarities were evidenced between girls' and boys' responses to technology within and outside the music classroom. Both studies found girls' general attitudes to computers were less positive than boys'. 76% of the boys liked computers a lot, compared to 36% of the girls; while 12% of the boys did not like computers at all, compared to 31% of the girls. Girls sought a balance of computer-generated sounds with group singing; boys preferred solo instrumental works or competitive rap songs.
When asked to evaluate technology in the multimedia study, 55% of the students felt there was an appropriate amount of technology being used in school, 20% (all boys) felt there was not enough technology used, and 20% (mostly girls) felt there was too much technology already. Reasons for the girls' dissatisfaction included loss of imagination, a perception that their work was marked lower if not completed on the computer, and the restriction of handwriting/drawing. The girls emphasized that it was as important to express their ideas by hand directly onto paper as it was to have it mediated by word processing and graphics programs. This interest in balancing on- and off-computer activities was reflected by the preferences of girls in the music room as well. Contrary to the findings of B. A. Collins ("Reflections on Inequities in Computer Education" Education & Computing, 1: 179-86) which suggested girls shy away from technology for fear of doing poorly, all the girls who disapproved of the computer 'saturation' were highly proficient on them. It could be argued that girls from both studies spoke from competence, recognizing the need for the synthesis (and validation) of both digital and analogue modalities.
It was suggested in both reports that future technology-based curricula encourage plurality of learning styles and strategies in order to create an environment where students can explore music and movement as individuals and within co-operative groups. Music and multimedia efforts should engage students to understand further the complementarities between tasks on and off-computer, ones which involve both mind and body.
The full reports may be obtained by contacting the Centre at: York University, 4700 Keele ST., North York, ON M3J 1P3 Canada.
Clarkson, A. & K. Pegley. An Assessment of a Technology in Music Programme. Technical Report 91-2. North York: York University Centre for the Study of Computers in Education, 1991.
Clarkson, A., J. Durlak & K. Pegley. Creative Applications for Multi-sensory Interactive Media. Technical Report 93-1. North York: York University Centre for the Study of Computers in Education, 1993.
[ Top of Page / GRIME Newsletters / GRIME Home ]
4.1 Canadian Women Making Music. K. Linda Kivi. Toronto: Green Dragon Press (#902-135 George St.S., Toronto, ON M5A 4E8), 1992. Reviewed by Janice Engs (Waterloo County Board of Education, ON).
When most people try to think of well known Canadian musicians who are women the following names usually spring to mind: Anne Murray, Joni Mitchell, Carol Pope, Liona Boyd, and Maureen Forrester. This book succeeds in getting beyond the mindset of the most familiar women in the Canadian musical landscape and delves into the little known history of women in the music making field. Beginning in the mid-1800s this chronology recounts the experiences of individual women from the records which were just beginning to be written at this time. Ms. Kivi was initially inspired to write this book after attending the first Canadian Women's Music and Culture Festival in Winnipeg in 1984. Unable to find much material on Canadian women in music before the 1960s, Ms. Kivi's research is an overview, a brief history/chronology accompanied by a collection of interview summaries compiled from seventy interviews. Twelve women are profiled in more detail which offer glimpses into the lives of women who have pioneered in a musical field in some way. Some of these women are classically trained; others are self taught.
From these interviews a number of issues emerged. The "majority felt that their womanhood had been a significant factor in their musical lives and some. . .saw the discrimination they had faced in a feminist light." (p.6) Some of these issues were: difficulty in establishing career; lack of self-confidence, role models, encouragement and/or finances; traditional male attitudes about women's roles; balancing personal commitments and musical lives; shortage of women in brass and percussion sections; striving to create against all odds.
These early records show that women played a vital and influential role in the evolution of our Canadian musical heritage, especially in the area of vocal music. An interesting tidbit is that it was only in 1886 that women were allowed to attain a music degree (U of Toronto). Most of these first graduates became teachers of voice, piano or organ, since performing careers "were thought to be tainted by the vices of drinking, vanity, unseemly behaviour and sexual promiscuity and prostitution." (p.19)
This book goes beyond gender and discusses recognition of Canadian musicians (within our own country), the future and/or viability of professional performing ensembles, and music as business. In the twelve interviews transcribed, each musician is presented in a unique and thoughtful manner. Salome Bey, Pauline Julien, Marie-Lynn Hammond, Connie Kaldar, Eileen Page, Margaret McPhee and Ann Southam are among those profiled. This book would be a valuable resource in your music library.
This review is reprinted from "Notes," Music Dept., Waterloo County Board of Ed., v17, n1, Nov 1992 by permission of the author. [Ed. Note: For additional reviews of the same book see those by Roberta Lamb (Herizons, v7, n3, 1993) and Charlene Morton (next issue of RFR/drf (Resources for Feminist Research). Linda Kivi tells me bulk, wholesale copies of the book are available directly from the publisher @$21 each for situations where the book will be used as a class text. ]
4.2 Stories of Women Composers for Younger Musicians. Catherine Wolf Kendall. Edwardsville, IL: Toadwood Pub., 1993. 205 pp. Reviewed by Mary Cousens (Banting Memorial High School, Alliston, ON).
Music lessons in the classroom or studio could be enhanced with Kendall's Stories of Women Composers. Kendall explains that since many people cannot name three female composers (most name Fanny Mendelssohn or Clara Schumann) but can easily name three males, she thought it necessary to make information regarding past and present women composers available to all, but especially to young girls, who lack such resources.
Kendall includes biographies of 31 women composers in a large print, easy-to-read book suitable for junior level students to read on their own. Portraits of each composer and an historical timeline placing each composer are included, also.
Each story begins with an anecdote from the composer's childhood. This is the introduction to French composer Nadia Boulanger: "Through the open window Nadia heard the ringing of bells from the church steeple down the street. She rushed to the piano and tried to play the same notes that the bells sounded." (p.83) Kendall then explores the life and musical influences of the composer via dialogues between the composer and people in her life. She concludes her stories with the overall contributions the composer made to society and music history.
The appendix is most valuable to educators. It includes lists of recordings of these women's compositions (130 with recording company name and reference number). Most of the repertoire is 19th- and 20th-century.
As a woman musician and high school music educator, I am glad to have this book as an additional resource for my classroom and to enhance my music history lessons with anecdotes of women composers. I feel this book is aimed especially to the younger musician, perhaps a young girl who wonders about a career in music, particularly as a composer. I hope you, too, find this book useful.
[ Top of Page / GRIME Newsletters / GRIME Home ]
The Gay and Lesbian Study Group of the American Musicological Society (GSLG) welcomes membership from those interested in studying music from gay and lesbian perspectives. GSLG meets at the AMS conference and publishes a twice-yearly newsletter. Membership is $5 US (or $7 US overseas). For additional information or to join, contact: Paul W. Borg, 15 Hawthorne Dr., Normal IL 61761.
[ Top of Page / GRIME Newsletters / GRIME Home ]
About 24 people attended our meeting, which was very difficult to schedule due to MENC office bureaucracy; however, MENC Pres. Dorothy Straub was most helpful and personally intervened on our behalf, enabling us to have a meeting room. This difficulty in working with MENC was discussed. It appears that if we were a recognised SRIG there would be no problem with MENC scheduling. Becoming a SRIG is a bureaucratic process (it took 4 years before the Philosophy SRIG was official) which would require all officers of the organisation to be MENC members. There were mixed feelings about this requirement, due to the international quality of our membership. Roberta is collecting information on this procedure, so if you have any ideas or documents from other SRIGs, please send her a copy. In addition, she will begin making inquiries directly to MENC regarding SRIG status. SRIG status will be reported on in future newsletters and discussed at future meetings. Our next meeting will be held at the Feminist Theory and Music III at University of California - Riverside in June 1995.
Several new members joined at MENC, so we now have over 100 interested and about 50 paid members. Our financial situation is good-- (as of 2 May 94) we've received ~ $150 and expended ~ $50 (before this newsletter), leaving a balance of ~$100. Some members present volunteered to write articles for the newsletter; some are in this issue, some will be in the next.
Due to starting late (the room was not easy to find), we didn't get to the discussion of strategies in our workplaces. The "Statement of Purpose" took most of our energy with a discussion that ranged from our status vis-a-vis MENC and Feminist Theory and Music conferences to which term 'gender' or 'feminist' was more inclusive. We did agree on a proposal to put before all the membership, so be sure to vote on these proposals.
Julia Koza reported that the GRIME project to collate a collectively gathered GRIME bibliography of materials that pertain to gender and music education proceeds slowly. Please submit your suggestions or ask your colleagues to submit their suggestions. We include the guidelines, format, and address again to encourage your assistance! This bibliography will have two parts: 1) an annotated list of sex-equitable teaching materials, including sources that help reinscribe women into music history. We are looking for materials that are suitable for use in preschool, elementary or secondary school curriculum. 2) an annotated list of published and unpublished research on gender and music education.
If you have materials you would like to share, please send Julia the following information for each source: 1) A bibliographic entry for the source (Chicago style if possible, but don't let concerns about doing things the 'proper' way deter you); 2) A sentence or two telling what the source contains, including whether curricular or research, and why it is useful; 3) The age level for which it is designed (P=preschool, M=middle school, H=high school, U=university); 4) your name and affiliation.
Example of a book entry in Chicago style:
Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge, 1990.
Example of an article entry in Chicago style: Palmquist, Jayne E. and Barbara Payne. "The Instrumental Library: Works by Women." Music Educators Journal 78 (March 1992): 52-55.
Send your ideas to: Dr. Julia Eklund Koza, Dept. of Curriculum & Instruction, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 225 N. Mills St., Madison, WI 53706, USA
[ Top of Page / GRIME Newsletters / GRIME Home ]
7. GRIME Newsletter, R. Lamb, Editor
Happy is the newsletter editor who has so many enthusiastic contributors! Thank you! Please continue to submit letters, conference summaries, book reviews, etc. to the newsletter (~ 500 word limit). Submissions may be edited for length. Goal for publication of Vol. 3, No. 2 is October; send your newsletter contributions by mid-September, 1994.
PLEASE! DON'T FORGET TO SEND IN YOUR $3 GRIME/MERG MEMBERSHIP!!!
[ Top of Page / GRIME Newsletters / GRIME Home ]
MEMBERS BALLOT (See last page of directory) These changes were proposed to the "Statement of Purpose" at the MENC meeting. While the majority of those present were in favour of the changes, it was agreed that the membership should be polled by mail ballot so that all members could vote. Please return your ballot (located on last page of Members Directory) to Roberta Lamb, School of Music, Queen's University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, postmark June 30. Results will be published in the October newsletter, as well as by e-mail. The differences between selections are underlined. No changes were suggested for points 3 and 4 of the statement of purpose. The accepted text will be printed in the October 1994 newsletter.
BALLOT ___
VOTE FOR ONE
____ I.1A. The name of this organisation . . .
____ I.1B. The name of this international organisation . . .
VOTE FOR ONE
____ I.2A. The name of this [international] organisation shall be Gender Research in Music Education (GRIME).
____ I.2B. The name of this [international] organisation shall be Music Education Research in Gender (MERG).
VOTE FOR ONE
____ 2. The purpose of [GRIME or MERG] shall be: to provide a forum for promoting scholarship that addresses gender issues in music education; to share research and classroom materials that focus on gender issues in music education; and, to work towards establishing a climate within the music education discipline that is welcoming not only to feminist issues, concerns and scholarship, but also to other marginalised issues. [GRIME or MERG] provides an opportunity for networking among those people concerned with these issues.
____ 2. The purpose of [GRIME or MERG] shall be: to provide a forum for promoting scholarship that addresses gender issues in music education; to share research and classroom materials that focus on gender issues in music education; and, to work towards establishing a climate within the music education discipline that addresses issues, concerns and scholarship pertinent in any way to gender. [GRIME or MERG] provides an opportunity for networking among those people concerned with these issues.
[ Top of Page / GRIME Newsletters / GRIME Home ]