Page 134 - Glasbenopedagoški zbornik Akademije za glasbo v Ljubljani / The Journal of Music Education of the Academy of Music in Ljubljana: Mostovi med formalnim in neformalnim glasbenim izobraževanjem, leto 15, zvezek 31 / Year 15, Issue 31, 2019
P. 134
SBENOPEDAGOŠKI ZBORNIK, 31. zvezek
Summary
The article discusses and encourages the use of music as a means of connecting, and
achieving of social interaction and inclusion into the wider society, as it puts in the
foreground the man and his relation to music, and not music as a product. It also
advocates the role of combining formal, non-formal and informal education. It is marked
by two examples that influenced other music projects and activities, or served as musical
and social communication tools based on their findings. The common features of these
examples include the conscious use of music, selected on the basis of previous research,
the integration of field, research and pedagogical work, as well as the active participation
of the author as an ethnomusicologist and music educator.
The first example is a children’s song Chang, Chang, Chang, discovered by the author in
Thailand. After researching the origin and circumstances of its occurrence, he adapted and
translated it into Slovenian, used it for educational purposes and presented it at various
music events at the national level. It served as part of the musical and intercultural
communication between the children’s choir Èrièki from Me ica Elementary School
(Slovenia) and the Thai group Chulalongkorn University Thai Music Ensemble (which
toured in Slovenia in May 2007), and at the beginning of 2009, in Thailand, it played a role
in the cultural exchange of students of some Ljubljana faculties, with the aim of
connecting two universities – the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Chulalongkorn
University (Bangkok, Thailand).
The second example demonstrates the importance of the project Let’s give them a song
(2008) in the research conducted for the author’s doctoral dissertation Musical Life of
Pensioners in the Slovenian Carinthia (2016). Based on years of fieldwork with
Carinthian pensioners, the latter addresses the musical life of the said population in
Slovenia and is considered to be the first extensive and in-depth ethnomusicological study
of the sort in the Slovenian scientific realm. The project was defined based on the
extensive following and documenting of musical activities of Carinthian pensioners, both
those who live »at home« and those who live »in the home« (for the elderly), from
in-depth interviews to the follow-up of their various musical practices (including a
participatory observation strategy and occasional musical interactions between the author
and the subjects of his research). It was mainly intended for the residents of Carinthian
homes for the elderly, where it was also implemented in 2008. Its goals were the
intergenerational interaction of residents and performers, the elimination of stereotypes
about life in these homes, and above all, to show the power of the folk songs (which in this
case also reflected the potential for dementia inhibition). With the role of awareness and
education, its findings also influenced the international project of training in the field of
social inclusion, Inclusion Cocktail, step II (2014). The research findings of the doctoral
dissertation and the project Let’s give them a song also inspired the author to make a film
titled Be Different, for which Slovenj Gradec Third Elementary School (Slovenia) won the
Video S-factor international competition (2017) under his mentorship. In it, the author
combined his professional and research fields: music education (of people with special
needs) and the musical life of the third age population.
132
Summary
The article discusses and encourages the use of music as a means of connecting, and
achieving of social interaction and inclusion into the wider society, as it puts in the
foreground the man and his relation to music, and not music as a product. It also
advocates the role of combining formal, non-formal and informal education. It is marked
by two examples that influenced other music projects and activities, or served as musical
and social communication tools based on their findings. The common features of these
examples include the conscious use of music, selected on the basis of previous research,
the integration of field, research and pedagogical work, as well as the active participation
of the author as an ethnomusicologist and music educator.
The first example is a children’s song Chang, Chang, Chang, discovered by the author in
Thailand. After researching the origin and circumstances of its occurrence, he adapted and
translated it into Slovenian, used it for educational purposes and presented it at various
music events at the national level. It served as part of the musical and intercultural
communication between the children’s choir Èrièki from Me ica Elementary School
(Slovenia) and the Thai group Chulalongkorn University Thai Music Ensemble (which
toured in Slovenia in May 2007), and at the beginning of 2009, in Thailand, it played a role
in the cultural exchange of students of some Ljubljana faculties, with the aim of
connecting two universities – the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Chulalongkorn
University (Bangkok, Thailand).
The second example demonstrates the importance of the project Let’s give them a song
(2008) in the research conducted for the author’s doctoral dissertation Musical Life of
Pensioners in the Slovenian Carinthia (2016). Based on years of fieldwork with
Carinthian pensioners, the latter addresses the musical life of the said population in
Slovenia and is considered to be the first extensive and in-depth ethnomusicological study
of the sort in the Slovenian scientific realm. The project was defined based on the
extensive following and documenting of musical activities of Carinthian pensioners, both
those who live »at home« and those who live »in the home« (for the elderly), from
in-depth interviews to the follow-up of their various musical practices (including a
participatory observation strategy and occasional musical interactions between the author
and the subjects of his research). It was mainly intended for the residents of Carinthian
homes for the elderly, where it was also implemented in 2008. Its goals were the
intergenerational interaction of residents and performers, the elimination of stereotypes
about life in these homes, and above all, to show the power of the folk songs (which in this
case also reflected the potential for dementia inhibition). With the role of awareness and
education, its findings also influenced the international project of training in the field of
social inclusion, Inclusion Cocktail, step II (2014). The research findings of the doctoral
dissertation and the project Let’s give them a song also inspired the author to make a film
titled Be Different, for which Slovenj Gradec Third Elementary School (Slovenia) won the
Video S-factor international competition (2017) under his mentorship. In it, the author
combined his professional and research fields: music education (of people with special
needs) and the musical life of the third age population.
132
