Intercultural Music

Context:

These sessions are based on contemporary Buddhist and Islamic music, and Hinduism: the western jazz tradition and Indian classical music. For further details see the appendix.

They take place in the context of non-confessional education (elective subject Religion and Ethics) focusing on religions and intercultural education in public elementary schools in Slovenia . It is possible to use the same approach on the level of compulsory subject Civic Education concerning the topic Religions and beliefs. They were introductory topics to the themes Islam and Buddhism, and Hinduism according to the syllabus. This way of introducing the themes through the diversity of music is a “soft approach”, using diversity not as a problem but as enrichment.

The basic learning about/from Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism in this introductory session includes elementary information on:

• - Classification of the religion/belief systems: Hinduism as an example of polytheistic religion, Islam as a monotheistic religion and Buddhism as an example of religion which is more ethics than religion.
• When was the religion was founded,
• Who is the founder,
• What are the basic beliefs of each religion?,
• The Holy Scriptures? Etc.

Objectives:

• Promoting the intercultural and inter-religious understanding and dialogue through music.
• Improving knowledge and understanding of different religion and culture.
• To develop empathic ability and tolerance with respect to the diverse religious practice which is found in Europe and around the world.
• Familiarisation with other sources of knowledge.
• Generation curiosity about and empathy with the culture and religion of others
• Respecting human dignity and human rights to help learn to live together.

Teaching strategies:

Interactive learning with listening, discussion, explanation, looking at pictures and texts and reflection.

Partnership:

Themes addressed:

• Music as a mirror of multicultural reality.
• Differences and similarities between music from different cultural and religious backgrounds.
• Dialogue and friendship between/among people through music.

Target group/size of group:

A whole class of about 30 pupils (or smaller groups) who may be aged about 13 – 14.

Persons involved:

The teacher of music, the teacher of ICT, the pupils,

Description of activity

The education we talk about here is not a catechesis. It is rather the learning about what the others believe, and why, speaking in terms the concept of learninig about/from religions.

In the beginning of the activity, the students were rather reserved. However until the end of the activity they became open and relaxed. The Internet was used as an access to the relevant websites. The downloaded material was used as a supplementary teaching and learning resource. The imported material from the internet with a music addition was an attractive teaching material for the students. The teaching method was a narrative account or “telling a story” in combination with new technologies. Such approach provides an overview of religious diversity. Whole class teaching included a teacher exposition, but it also encompassed some audiovisual aids and activities in the school’s computer room.

Time needed for preparation and implementation:

Eight hours preparation by the teacher to create the presentation of sound and pictures; Two hours for implementation

Instructions (unfolding of the activity):

This activity takes place in the ICT classroom

The first part is a general introduction to the themes, followed by the visual presentation of the material and the listening to the music with explanations.

Teaching/pedagogical materials and equipment used:

ICT technology – computer, LCD projector, multimedia speakers, the PowerPoint presentation and the CDs (see appendix)

Appraisal

The students reacted enthusiastically. At first the music seemed to be a cultural shock, especially the Buddhist chants and the unusual sounds of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. But after this initial reaction, the students became interested in and did not want to stop listening. After the first hearing of the Qawwali music they started to dance, therefore they were given a task to prepare a choreography for a class presentation following the wise saying of an old man ‘Without experience no knowledge’.

And how did the students prepare their presentation?

One group of the students decided to prepare a shorter play. At the end of all lessons where they were given more information about mentioned religions, they were able to prepare their performance by themselves. They prepared the performance during one afternoon and evening in the house of one of the students.

The students prepared all by themselves: they prepared two short plays about Islam and Buddhism (each was about 15 minutes), the scenario with the full text and introduction, a division of the roles, the text from different books borrowed from the school library, their examples of the music in the background and their own choreography, they even prepared an improvisation of the “mis-en-scène”. The most effective was the scene where the students tried to perform the cave with a spider-web where Mohamed and Abhu Bakhr found the refuge against their pursuers: the story was read by the narrator, two students representing Mohamed and his friend were under the class table (representing the cave). Covered with a plaid (cob-web), they expressing their thankfulness to the Allah, the other two students were the pursuers, …

The performance contained the standards of knowledge for topics given to the students in the beginning of the school year. Because of that, this performance was also the alternative way of an assessment for this group of students. The teacher provided students with feedback, discussing the experience of the students. They all agreed that their play was a small contribution to the promotion of the respect in the relation among people based on human rights and sharing spiritual riches. The head master, who recorded the video said that it was also a very clear co-relation with the other subjects and school activities such as Art, Dance, Music, etc.

Report and appraisal/suggestions for transfer:

The lesson may be replicated using the music and pictorial sources available to other teachers in their own context.

According to the specific goals related to the dialogue in schools, through the activity process the students learned the basic communication skills of listening and talking, they also learned that the quality of the dialogue depends on the ability to look at issues from different perspectives. The dialogue among students and between students and the teacher on the matter of how to learn from others was open and positive.

Contact details:

Goranka Kreacic, OS Preserje, Preserje 60, 1352 Preserje, Slovenia.
goranka.kreacic@guest.arnes.si
APPENDIX

Buddhist Chants

The basis of traditional Buddhist music is the ritual incantation and instrumentation of the temple. Typically in the case of the Chinese form (this example) the meditative sounds themselves reflect man’s proximity to nature: flute evoking the wind through trees, wooden drums sound out nature’s thunder, hand bells mimicking the flow of water. Chanting helps to concentrate the mind for the participant, but also serves to provide a beautiful almost primal allure for the listener.

The recording on this CD (Buddhist Change and Peace Music) represents the more modern form of the genre presently popular in China and Taiwan, with female and male chorus who chant and repeat mantras.

(from CD label written by Damien Ffrench: Buddhist chants and Peace music: music for reflection and relaxation from the far East.

Islam Qawwali: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is today acknowledged as the greatest living master of ‘Qawwali’ – the devotional music of the Sufis. The Asian younger generation never used to bother with Qawwali, it bored them as was too slow. They wanted faster beats. So Nusrat updated Qawwali with the time. On this CD (Mustt Mustt) we have a good example of intercultural collaboration: musicians from different cultures – Canadian, Pakistani, West Indian; the instruments from different continents: the big Brasilian drum, the surdu, the Senegalese djembe, Indian tabla plus harmonium, bass, infinite guitar and key boards.

(From CD label Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: Mustt Mustt)

Hinduism, Western Jazz Tradition and Indian Classical Music: In Sanskrit, Shakti literally means energy, or rather, the feminine version of divine energy. The CD (Remember Shakti) represents the meeting of two traditions: the profane jazz tradition and sacred Indian classical music. The British guitarist John McLaughlin opened jazz to new horizons before the so-called ‘world music’ era. Zakir Hussain is an Indian tabla player, ‘the fakir of tablas’. In the centre of their paths is their mutual, refined sense of improvisation. This music celebrates the fusion of styles – Hindustani and jazz, but also music from Karnataka, the southern province of Indian embodied by the instrument ghatam.

(From CD label written by Jacques Denis: Remember Shakti: Saturday Night in Bombay.)