Abstract
Highlighting the application of ethnomusicology beyond the traditional boundaries of the academy, this article investigates the use of music in adult literacy education. In 2005, as part of the Literacy and Equality in Irish Society (LEIS) project, adult literacy tutors working in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom (UK), were invited to enrol in short, professional-development courses that required their participation in a Balinese gamelan ensemble – an orchestra comprised mainly of metallophones, drums and gongs. During each course, tutors were encouraged to reflect upon their learning processes to help them become more empathetic with some of the difficulties faced by adult literacy students. By focusing on the tutors’ experiences of learning gamelan music, this article provides insights into how participants used these development courses as a means to critically reflect upon issues of approach to teaching adult literacy education.
Keywords
Introduction
In his book ‘A commonsense view of all music’: Reflections on Percy Grainger’s contribution to ethnomusicology and music education, Blacking (1987, p. 147) argues that ‘music education should not be cosy or comfortable’ and that ‘it is the business of music educators to induce in all their pupils new artistic experiences, which may or may not generate new social experiences’. Focusing on the application of ethnomusicology beyond the traditional boundaries of the academy, this article investigates the ‘new experiences’ of adult literacy tutors in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom (UK), who participated in two short, professional-development courses that required their involvement in a Balinese gamelan ensemble. Organized as part of the Literacy and Equality in Irish Society (LEIS) project, the two courses were devised to enable and empower literacy tutors to realize the possibilities of using music as a creative methodology in their teaching. Excerpts from learning journals that were kept by two tutors throughout the duration of each course provide insights into the participants’ experiences of learning gamelan music. The learning journals also demonstrate how the experience of participating in the Balinese gamelan ensemble allowed tutors to reflect upon concerns relating to their teaching of adult literacy. However, before discussing the tutors’ experiences of learning gamelan music, it is important to situate the two short courses within the context of applied ethnomusicological research. Such contextualization will also serve to demonstrate the significant role played by the ethnomusicology programme at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) concerning the development of community projects utilizing gamelan music in the context of Northern Ireland.
The application of gamelan music outside of the academy
Outside of Indonesia, gamelan ensembles have primarily been applied to the teaching of ethnomusicology in higher education institutions (e.g., see Goldsworthy, 1997; Harnish, 2004; Harnish, Solís, & Witzleben, 2004; Solís, 2004; Sumarsam, 2004; Vetter, 2004). Few scholars, however, have focused on the applied use of gamelan ensembles in wider community contexts. Although studies pertaining to this specific area of investigation remain in the minority, those that are available offer rich insights into the application of gamelan music in music education and community music contexts. For example, Diamond (1983) shows how the applied use of gamelan music can lead to greater cross-cultural understanding (see also Dunbar-Hall, 2005). Contemporary studies by Watson and Dunbar-Hall (2002) and McIntosh (2009) build on this research by investigating the value individuals attach to the musical identities they construct as a result of their participation in a gamelan ensemble. In a study focusing on disabled individuals in Glasgow, UK, MacDonald and Miell (2002) explore the use of gamelan music as a tool employed in various socio-therapeutic and educational settings. Similarly, Bakan et al. (2008) investigate the health and well-being benefits of incorporating gamelan music into a programme for children with autism. Other important works concerning the use of gamelan music outside of Indonesia include Mendonça’s (2001, 2002) thorough examination of community gamelan ensembles in the UK and Eastburn’s (2003) project report concerning the use of gamelan ensembles in English prisons (see also Mendonça, 2010). Applied ethnomusicological studies by Sanger and Kippen (1987), Ramnarine (2004) and McIntosh (2005) also demonstrate the significant role of gamelan music in various community music projects in Northern Ireland, UK.
It was John Blacking (1928–90), the late Professor of Social Anthropology who, in 1982, convinced Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) to purchase a Balinese gamelan ensemble for the university’s ethnomusicology programme. 1 In collaboration with Annette Sanger, who would later be employed as a lecturer in ethnomusicology at QUB, Blacking promoted the use of the newly-arrived ensemble as a community musical tool. Encouraged by Dr Michael Swallow, then a neurology consultant at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, Blacking and Sanger used the QUB gamelan ensemble, along with a range of other musical instruments, at the first Share Music Course in 1985. The course took place at the Share Centre, a purpose-built residential activity unit for able-bodied and disabled people in Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The ensemble was considered to be an ideal musical tool for use as part of the Share Music Course because the success of gamelan music depends on group interaction rather than on the competence and skill levels of individual players.
As a result of Blacking’s foresight and enthusiasm, as well as research published by Sanger and Kippen (1987), community arts organizations in Northern Ireland continued to realize the possibilities of appropriating the QUB gamelan ensemble for use in their community work. Open Arts, a Belfast-based charitable organization, is an example of one such company. Founded in 1992 as a pilot project attached to the Centre for Social Research at QUB, Open Arts was established to ensure access for disabled people to arts activities. As part of the voluntary sector, the organization’s key aim is to empower disabled people to take full part in arts activities. In 1995, following the success of several community projects involving the QUB Balinese gamelan ensemble, the company decided to buy its own Javanese gamelan orchestra. Purchased as a touring ensemble, the Open Arts’ gamelan ensemble has travelled extensively throughout Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and has been used to facilitate music workshops and residential projects for able-bodied participants and those with additional support needs (see McIntosh, 2005). As a result of the studies outlined here, gamelan music was deemed suitable for inclusion into the LEIS project.
The Literacy and Equality in Irish Society (LEIS) project
Operating from August 2004 to March 2006, the LEIS project was set up to examine approaches to teaching adult literacy education. Established as a cross-border initiative by University College Dublin (UCD) in the Republic of Ireland and the Equality Studies Centre and the Institute of Lifelong Learning at QUB in Northern Ireland, the LEIS project had two main aims. The first of these was to design and develop creative methodologies, what the project termed ‘text-free’ teaching methods that would complement and expand conventional ‘text-based’ approaches to adult literacy education. By providing access to short, professional-development courses, the second aim of the project was to encourage tutors to incorporate creative methods into their teaching practice. Moreover, through developing new skills and greater levels of cooperation between literacy tutors in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, the project also sought to understand some of the causes and consequences of inequalities in adult literacy education. When the project was established, for instance, significant disparities existed concerning levels of government funding and provision of adult literacy education in the two contexts. Inequalities were also inherent in the employment and professional development of tutors. For example, in order to practice, tutors working in Northern Ireland had to first obtain specific qualifications endorsed by Lifelong Learning (UK). Moreover, once qualified, tutors were often paid to instruct several students at one time. In contrast to their counterparts working in Northern Ireland, tutors in the Republic of Ireland tended to be volunteers who were not required to obtain specific qualifications because they largely worked with students on a one-to-one basis.
To address some of these inequalities, the LEIS project sought to provide professional development to literacy tutors via short, professional-development courses. Each of these courses promoted a specific text-free methodology stemming from the creative and performance arts. Furthermore, instead of being considered a secondary support to conventional text-based approaches, the project strove to promote and legitimize text-free methods within adult literacy education. To achieve this goal, the LEIS project employed community practitioners specializing in the visual arts, drama, storytelling, image theatre and music to develop innovative and creative teaching methods. These methods were then piloted via various short, professional-development courses involving adult literacy tutors and tutor trainers from across Northern Ireland and the border counties of the Republic of Ireland. As part of this project, the community practitioners then worked with tutors and those responsible for training tutors not only to explore issues relating to each creative method but also to interrogate the various ways in which each approach could better inform the teaching of adult literacy.
At the time of the project I was a postgraduate student in ethnomusicology and social anthropology completing my doctoral study on children’s practice and performance of dance, music and song in Bali, Indonesia (see McIntosh, 2006). In 2004, after completing 12 months of fieldwork – during which time I undertook intensive study of traditional Balinese music and dance – and following my return to Belfast, I was contracted as the music consultant for the LEIS project. As part of my employment I was asked to devise and deliver two five-week professional-development courses, each of which was called ‘Literacy and Equality Through Gamelan’. 2 None of the individuals who chose to participate in the aforementioned two courses had played gamelan music before. Thus, by re-situating tutors and tutor trainers as learners, participants were encouraged to reflect upon their experiences of playing gamelan music in an attempt to gain deeper insights into their own learning processes; insights – it was hoped – that would enable tutors to better relate to the difficulties experienced by students when they returned to adult literacy education.
Justifying music as a creative method in adult literacy education
Prior to the first LEIS gamelan course I was placed in a situation which enabled me to better empathize with the difficulties faced by adult literacy tutors who wish to include creative methods in their teaching. This situation occurred early in 2005 during a meeting with the academic evaluator for the LEIS project. The meeting lasted for approximately 30 minutes, during which time the evaluator continuously questioned me as to ‘why’ music? What benefit could music possibly have for adult literacy education? More importantly, how could I justify the costs of spending money from the project on a music-based initiative? In my answers to these questions, I explained that gamelan music – as a participatory musical activity – would encourage group learning and cohesion, as well as promote issues relating to individual and group perceptions of musical ability and creativity. Moreover, with reference to several studies, I indicated how music could benefit the development of literacy skills (see Hallam, 2010, pp. 273–274). Two days later I received a telephone call from the evaluator informing me that – despite some lingering reservations – the two LEIS gamelan courses could proceed. My experiences of having to validate the inclusion of music in the LEIS project gave me insights into the problems tutors sometimes face when trying to convince sceptical tutor trainers or managers of the benefits creative methods can bring to adult literacy education.
Learning through gamelan music
The QUB Balinese gamelan ensemble was considered to be an ideal musical tool for use in a LEIS short, professional-development course because of the project’s aim to encourage adult literacy tutors to experience, and potentially employ, creative methods in their teaching. Originating primarily from the Indonesian islands of Java and Bali, 3 gamelan ensembles feature a variety of instruments, including metallophones (glockenspiel-like instruments), gongs and drums. In Java and Bali ensemble music making is highly valued, with the structure of the music reflecting the organization of people in society (see Becker & Becker, 1981; Keeler, 1975). Moreover, in gamelan music all players are traditionally considered to be equal despite the fact that some instruments require individuals to demonstrate higher levels of technical proficiency. Emphasizing the importance of the group over the individual, however, serves to neutralize any potential issues that may arise from this arrangement. When compared with Western art music, where participation of individuals is heavily dependent on specific assumptions pertaining to notions of talent and virtuosity, it was hoped that gamelan music – with its focus on collective learning – would enable LEIS participants to overcome fears and perceptions that otherwise might have prevented them from participating in a music ensemble.
Predominantly an oral tradition, 4 knowledge of gamelan music is usually transferred from teacher to student by means of imitation and rote learning, and teachers tend not to use verbal explanations to correct students. Instead, to assist students during rehearsals, teachers often sing the musical material being studied and employ other non-verbal forms of communication, such as eye movements and hand movements. Given that musical material is almost always taught in a group situation, such teaching methods also serve to promote a sense of collaborative learning among gamelan musicians. This means that individuals must work together if the ensemble is to be effective. Of course, the learning of any music requires individuals to foster skills that are applicable to non-musical contexts. For example, individuals develop listening and comprehension skills. Within the context of a gamelan ensemble, this means that players must not only learn their own part but they must be able to listen to others and play their part at the correct moment in the music. Moreover, playing in a music ensemble encourages individuals to develop problem solving and teamwork skills through a different means of communication. Based upon the democratic ethos outlined earlier, participating in a gamelan ensemble allowed adult literacy tutors to develop new skills, learn with and from others, and explore the potential for employing music as a creative method in their teaching.
Approximately 30 participants – of whom only one was male – attended the two LEIS gamelan courses. The first course took place in May–June 2005; the second in November–December of the same year. For practical reasons, and due to the location of the QUB Balinese gamelan during the academic teaching semester, the courses were held in the Ethnomusicology Performance Room in the School of History and Anthropology. The primary aims of each course were to: (1) ensure that tutors became proficient in basic gamelan music playing techniques; (2) use the tutors’ experience of playing in the gamelan ensemble to enable them to reflect on teaching and learning issues; and (3) to encourage tutors to contemplate the possibility of using music as a creative method in their teaching or, if not, to encourage them to think of how they could best apply their experiences of participating in the gamelan ensemble when instructing adult literacy learners.
Each course consisted of five two-hour sessions. The first hour of each session was dedicated to gamelan music, with tutors learning two or three eight-beat Balinese music compositions over the duration of each course. These works included an elementary composition entitled Tabuh Gilak, as well as the melodies drawn from other pieces, such as Seliser and Baris. Usually performed at a fast tempo, the latter composition accompanies a solo male warrior dance. For the purpose of each LEIS course, however, the piece was played at a slow tempo.
In order to experience the numerous musical lines that together form the polyphonic soundscapes characteristic of Balinese gamelan compositions, the tutors were also encouraged to learn the distinct parts for the various instruments in the gamelan ensemble. Such an approach not only allowed individuals to gain different perspectives from within the ensemble but it also facilitated the tutors to better understand, and discuss with each other, the processes involved in teaching and learning gamelan music. During the second hour of each weekly session the tutors were encouraged to discuss their gamelan learning experiences with each other. Following this, guest community practitioners specializing in the visual arts – drama, storytelling and image theatre – were invited to share with tutors the ways in which they use creative methodologies in their work.
At the end of each course the tutors took part in a short, public concert for friends and family in which they performed the gamelan compositions they had learned. Additionally, on 2 December 2005, tutors involved in the second gamelan course performed for delegates from Europe and North American who attended the LEIS conference that took place at QUB. Although some participants were initially apprehensive about this aspect of each course, such a component was considered to be essential if tutors were to truly embrace their positions as learners. Moreover, to help them develop a greater sense of empathy towards their students, the end-of-course performance was also an attempt to simulate something akin to the pressurized situations that might be faced by their students. As a result, the performance was likened to a test or exam: circumstances many adult learners experience shortly after returning to literacy education. When encouraged to approach the performance in this way, tutors looked forward to the task as a means to demonstrate the gamelan music skills they had learned. In order to highlight how participating in the gamelan ensemble enabled the tutors to reflect upon their teaching approaches, the article will now focus on the learning experiences of two participants.
Maura
An experienced adult literacy tutor in her mid 50s, Maura was not exactly sure why she decided to enrol in the LEIS gamelan course. Nevertheless, in her learning journal, she writes how ‘the prospect of using music to engage learners [adult literacy students], and to have another tool in [her] tool kit, was appealing’ (p. 2). Excited to be ‘involved in something so different from anything [she] had undertaken before’ (p. 2), Maura was also one of the few tutors – attending either of the two courses – who had studied Western art music as a child. Reflecting upon the first workshop session of the course, during which time participants were introduced to the various instruments in the ensemble, Maura writes that the experience was ‘truly amazing’ and that ‘the interaction of the various instruments and the dependency and importance of each participant in the whole group was a powerful demonstration for the learning scenario’ (p. 2). She also notes how the first session was ‘awash with difference’ due to the contributions and expectations of individual participants. This last comment also indicates Maura’s ability, as a result of her participation in the gamelan ensemble, to reflect on diversity issues in relation to her teaching practice.
For Maura, learning to play gamelan music really was ‘a different kind of learning’ (p. 3) and, in her journal, she asks herself several times how she can best apply her experiences to help learners achieve more in her literacy classes. Reflecting on this point, Maura expresses her dissatisfaction with ‘traditional’ literacy teaching methods: why must such approaches continue to rely on ‘paper, pen, worksheets and handouts’? Although she does not interrogate this issue any further, Maura does provide insight into how the process of learning gamelan music led her to reflect further upon her approach to teaching adult literacy. For example, in her journal Maura focuses on the different methods used to teach gamelan music throughout the course. In particular, she highlights how the use of hand signals and the lack of verbal explanations actually accelerated her learning experience. Experiencing cross-cultural teaching methods also prompted Maura (p. 3) to contemplate whether if, in her teaching, she ‘gives clear and correct information to learners in order to assist the experiences of students?’. As a result of the difficulties experienced in trying to learn and remember something completely new, Maura (p. 3s) also reminds herself of the need to be ‘patient and sympathetic with [her] learners [when they too] experience difficulties’. Finally, for Maura, each workshop seemed to be over too quickly and, on several occasions, she writes that she does ‘not know where the time has gone’. In response to this fact, Maura (p. 3) attempts to elicit from herself the reason why she finds the course so enjoyable, for ‘what is it about this course that [makes] it so stimulating? Is it the tutor? Is it the location and setting? Is it the other participants? Is it the variety of experience[s]?’.
Nessa
Like Maura, Nessa is also an experienced adult literacy tutor in her mid 50s. However, when compared with Maura, Nessa’s experience of participating in the gamelan ensemble was rather different. Having enrolled in the course ‘just for fun’ (p. 1), on first impressions Nessa was rather disappointed. Before attending the course, Nessa thought that a gamelan ensemble would be a ‘collection of drums’. It then followed that, by attending the workshops, she thought that she was ‘just going to a drum banging session’ (p. 3). Unable to attend the first workshop of the course, Nessa admits that she attended the second workshop with a slight air of trepidation. In her journal, she also tells of how she felt ‘anxious about joining the class on her own’ because ‘the others would be ahead’ of her. Despite these misgivings, Nessa decided to still attend to the second workshop session. Reflecting upon entering the gamelan room for the first time, she writes (p. 2):
We [Nessa and her daughter] arrived a few minutes late and found everyone seated at their instruments. We were greeted by the teacher who invited me to sit down on the floor in front of what appeared to be a form of xylophone. There were spaces in the front, middle and back rows. I plopped myself down on the ground in front of a glockenspiel-like instrument with my daughter beside. Where were the drums? What about a set of bongos at least!!! This is not what I had expected, it suddenly dawned on me that my idea of gamelan bore no resemblance to the reality of the situation.
After getting over her initial disappointment, Nessa then goes on to explain how she learned to play an eight-beat melodic sequence on her instrument. She states that ‘[t]he sequence was simple enough; just eight notes to hit in the correct order and keep repeating it until everyone stopped’ (p. 3). However, despite the perceived simplicity of this task, Nessa soon became confused and frustrated with the demands placed on her in this new learning situation. In particular, she disliked having to ‘fit in with the group’ who had already learned the same musical material the previous week (p. 3).
Nessa’s impressions of her first gamelan workshop were so negative that she even considered withdrawing from the course. There were also a number of other reasons or, in her words, ‘excuses’ that she could have used not to return: she was busy at work; it was a long journey by car for her to travel to Belfast to attend the course; and she was already ‘out’ two nights a week partaking in other work-related activities (p. 3). Despite these misgivings, Nessa returned to the third week of the course. In her learning journal, although she was uncertain about this decision, Nessa states that ‘[w]hatever it was that motivated me to return, I was glad I did so’ (p. 4). Describing how playing gamelan music in the third week was much easier, Nessa realises that she ‘was not so self-absorbed [that] week with [her] own performance’. For this reason, Nessa was able to enjoy the workshop. Indeed, the transformation in her attitude towards participating in the gamelan ensemble also prompted Nessa to critically reflect upon the way in which she approaches instructing adult literacy learners. In her journal, she writes that the LEIS gamelan course was ‘a timely experience because it provided [her] with the chance to reflect on the correlation between [her] experience as a new learner and that of adults who return to literacy classes’ (p. 6). Moreover, in expressing similar sentiments towards the end of her learning journal, Nessa (pp. 6–8) concludes that:
. . . [g]oing into the class as a beginner let me see how anxious learners can feel. Such was my anxiety that I had taken my daughter along for moral support. Where do new [adult literacy] learners get their support for coming to class? As a tutor, I hold a position of power to make students feel welcome and comfortable about stepping back into learning . . . my misconceptions about gamelan music made me aware that adults coming back to [literacy education] do not always realize what they are signing up for. Playing in the gamelan ensemble let me reflect on the fact that all learners are individuals who can be at different stages of learning . . . seeing the bigger picture – that’s what some learners need to do in order to make sense of [new] things.
By being prepared to step back and see ‘the bigger picture’ Nessa’s participation in the gamelan ensemble enabled her to gain new insights into her learning process and to reflect upon issues pertinent to her teaching of adult literacy. Her willingness to return to the course, following her initial disappointment with gamelan music, also ultimately meant that Nessa could better identify with, and relate to, similar pressurized situations faced by adult literacy learners.
Conclusion
Towards the end of 2005 the LEIS project evaluator invited me to attend a second meeting, this time to review the two LEIS music courses. In this second meeting I communicated to the evaluator what I perceived to be the significant benefits that music, as a creative and ‘text-free’ methodology, had brought to the LEIS project. First, the LEIS gamelan courses afforded tutors the opportunity to come together and explore the potential for using music in their teaching. Participating in the Balinese gamelan ensemble had been crucial to this process because it enabled tutors to gain deeper insights into their own learning processes, as well as the learning processes of their peers. Second, by reflecting upon their experiences of learning gamelan music, tutors were better able to relate to the sometimes pressurized situations that challenge students when they return to adult literacy education. As a result of discussing their learning experiences with each other, in addition to keeping a reflective journal, almost all of the tutors who partook in either of the two LEIS gamelan courses reached this conclusion. Finally, by creating a safe and comfortable learning environment in which participants felt at ease to try something new, each course also encouraged tutors to explore the potential of music as a creative method in their teaching or, if not, how to best apply their experiences to the context of adult literacy education. Of course, instead of participating in a five-week music course, the tutors could have learned a foreign language, such as Mandarin or Indonesian. Such a practice would also have re-situated the tutors as learners. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that the learning of another language – especially in a short timeframe – would have afforded tutors with the same level of success they experienced as a result of learning and, more importantly, performing gamelan music.
Although the circumstances surrounding the use of gamelan music in the LEIS project were perhaps serendipitous, the act of re-situating tutors as learners is highly applicable to the discipline of music education. Facilitating access for music educators to ‘new artistic experiences, which may or may not generate new social experiences’ (Blacking, 1987, p. 47) through participation in world music ensembles, for example, could serve as a useful form of professional development in music education. Not only would such an approach provide new opportunities for established musicians and music educators, as well as future specialists but, if adopted, such a practice would also do much to re-contextualize the teaching of music at the tertiary level. For, according to Leppert and McClary (1987, p. xviii), only recently have university music departments and conservatoires developed practices that enable them to seek out opportunities to positively impact on the communities of which these tertiary institutions are an integral part (after Keil, 1993). By working outside of the perceived boundaries of the university context, music educators are potentially well placed to assist individuals and groups to reflect upon their own music practices while, at the same time, learning about the musics of others in surrounding communities (see, e.g., Hallam & MacDonald, 2009).
Moreover, such a development would serve to advance broader (ethno)musicological perspectives and assist educators who, more often than not, are expected to teach an ever-increasing number of music genres to students. In relation to this point, Bakan (1994), Campbell (1991, 2004) and Lunquist and Szego (1998) have already suggested how music educators may incorporate world music practices into the classroom. Ethnomusicologists and music educators, therefore, should work collaboratively to facilitate access to the experiential learning of world musics for musicians and music educators, and those who aspire to join these professions. In this way, ethnomusicologists and music educators can together promote ‘new global approaches to school music instruction’ (Campbell, 2004, p. 28), as well as a more considered understanding of the role of music in the wider community. However, to expedite such a process, academia needs to reassess the ways in which music and music education students are trained for situations ‘outside’ of the music classroom. Only by ensuring that music students develop a broad palette of skills – one that enables them to instruct children, teenagers and adults in a variety of settings – will future musicians and music educators be better placed to practice in a range of contexts, formal and informal, educational and recreational.