As teacher-librarian at Britannia Secondary in east Vancouver, I collaborate with classroom teachers to develop learning activities that call for students to use a range of learning resources to achieve prescribed outcomes. I often use the arts, particularly music, as an entry point to examine world cultures and global issues affecting them. By employing music as a socio-political tool, a range of global issues can be researched, discussed and used as a catalyst for creativity.
In 1994, several teachers worked with South African musician Themba Tana to explore racist apartheid policies in his homeland. In social studies, students listened to songs that had been banned as subversive by the Africaaner government, learned about gumboot dance competitions started by migrant workers in the gold and diamond mines and researched the story of Stephen Biko. In English they read Cry, the Beloved Country and asked Themba about his own experiences growing up under apartheid. In addition to building drums in woodwork and cooking South African dishes in foods classes, they wrote poems and composed songs that expressed their outrage at the apartheid regime. After getting to know Themba, a student who said she had previously been afraid of black people came to care about their treatment in South Africa and another expressed a realization that “every culture has its beauty.”
Based on this experience, we regularly invite local musicians who are willing to share their culture to undertake artist in residence programs at Britannia. A current project involves students in an alternative program who are learning about AIDS in Southern Africa and preparing a multimedia presentation in response.
To be effective, an artist in residence program is reliant on the classroom teacher's ability to provide an educational context for the artist's visit. Students need a rationale for the artist's visit and an understanding of the goals and expected learning outcomes. The classroom teacher remains actively involved as a co-presenter and participates in activities for the duration of the program.
At Britannia, world music bridges the school and the community through classes and projects with musicians who are authentic voices of their culture. Youth learn musical traditions and share their cultural understanding through performance. In addition to Zimbabwean and Afro Cuban music, future classes in steelpan drums and Flamenco guitar promise a wide cultural range.
For other examples of specific programs and locally developed resources that can be downloaded, please visit the BCTF Global Education web page, Music without Borders, and the cultural literacy project Jabulani - Multi-Literacies in Action, found at www.rothmultimedia.com/jabulani.wmv.
Finally, seriously consider inviting world musicians as resource people in your classroom. As performing artists, they know how to command a student audience, actively involve them and leave them wanting more. What more can you ask for?
