Musicking in the liminal Space between Community Music and Music Education

Abstract

The study explored musicking, social capital, and social justice as connection points in the liminal space between community music (CM) and music education (MusEd). Musicking encapsulates active human involvement in music-making opportunities (Odendaal, Kankkunen, Nikkanen & Vakeva, 2014:165-168). Therefore, musicking has a distinct communal focus in which social capital is gained. Social capital develops as a result of resourceful, relational networks being built among community musicians, music educators, and music-making communities (Jones & Langston, 2012:126). Musicians are encouraged to uphold social justice principles such as lifelong and inclusive learning in music-making. Music educators (primarily formally trained) lament the diminutive status of MusEd and are concerned about the challenges music educators face. These are a lack of resources (Jansen van Vuuren & Van Niekerk, 2015:15; Van Vreden, 2016:2), and a reluctance to teach music because of overcrowded and dense curricula (Dixon, Janks, Botha, Earle, Poo, Oldacre, Pather & Schneider, 2018:18; Murray & Lamont, 2012:244). Community musicians (primarily informally trained), on the other hand, have practical skills and general knowledge, which makes a rich contribution to the MusEd landscape. Schippers and Bartleet (2013:457) acknowledge that “there is a growing awareness and recognition of the connections between community musicians, music-making, and music education”. This study aims to determine how synergetic partnerships that result from a coalescence between CM and MusEd may benefit community musicians, music educators, and the wider community. Underpinning this qualitative, interpretative study are: • Elliot’s (1995) praxial theory that proposes music as a verb rather than a noun; • Freire’s (2000) critical theory that describes the transformative power of dialogue; and • Ebersöhn’s (2012) flocking theory that explains the process of generative, relational support leading to communal resourcefulness and resilience. Using narrative inquiry as a method, the musicking stories of 18 community musicians were collected and supported with observations, document analysis, and semi-structured follow-up interviews. Data was deductively analysed using ATLAS.ti software. The synthesised findings demonstrate the organic coalescence in the liminal space and depict the desirability of partnerships as proposed in the musicking umbrella.