How to Develop Folk Music and Pop Music in Chinese Mainland Classroom

【Abstract】There is an imbalance between the various types of music in Chinese music classes. This phenomenon is not only related to the school’s music textbooks， but also related to educators. China has a wealth of ethnic minorities. However， the proportion of music textbooks is more patriotic songs， as well as typical Western music. There is only a few folk music and pop music is basically impossible to appear in textbooks in primary and secondary schools. Educators play a vital role in the dissemination of diverse cultures. They engage in music activities both inside and outside the classroom according to students’ needs and preferences. Such multi-ethnic music culture education helps students deepen their understanding of other music cultures and improve them national identity. By eliminating prejudice against popular music， the pace of music education and music trends is kept consistent， and students’ enthusiasm for learning music is improved， and a variety of music cultures are developed together.

【Key words】multiple music; folk music; pop music; national identity

【作者簡介】薛夢瑾（1994-），女，漢族，山西平遙人，香港教育大學(xué)，研究生，研究方向：音樂教育。

As a teacher， it is very important to balance the relationship between the culture you represent and other cultures. This article takes Chinese mainland as an example to study how educators bring diverse music culture to students. In China， there are huge ethnic groups， each with its own unique music culture， but I understand that most of the current primary and secondary school music content is the patriotic song of the mainland， as well as the western music culture， only a small amount of minority music culture， pop music will not appear in the music textbooks of primary and secondary schools. Of course， students will have many choices after entering the university. They no longer have to accept a certain kind of cultural education， and now the university will open a lot of music elective course， so this article only studies the music culture education of primary and secondary schools.

Fitzpatrick （2012） believes that schools and teachers own cultures that think their students share the same culture with them and they are not interested in other cultures. However， there are 56 nations in China， it is inappropriate to teach a single music culture simply because of the teacher’s race. Students in the classroom have different cultural backgrounds and races， and they also have their own areas of interest. So， schools and teachers should establish classes suitable for students of all cultural backgrounds according to their cultural identity and interest as much as possible.

In the classroom， cultural identity and fairness in social identity help students to recognize that their cultural identity is effective and respected in the classroom. In the process of receiving education， their recognition of their race， culture and intelligence comes from teachers’ perception， so teachers play a very important role， affecting students’ ability to learn music and their affirmation of their personal identity. For all students， they have the right to understand other music cultures different from their own personal culture. Therefore， how schools and teachers integrate ethnic music and pop music into the classroom is the main goal of this paper.

As the communicator of culture， teachers should first understand their students’ cognition and needs for self-identity， different students represent different cultural groups， and classrooms should be a place to support all kinds of cultures. Due to the different cultural background and development of different students， teachers should reduce the conflicts between family identity and classroom and find cultural consistency. Some students may have doubts and inferiority complex about their identity， because they are different from other cultures. In this case， teachers can find achievements that represent that kind of cultural identity， and then describe the same cultural identity and contribution of the association， which can encourage students to tell their stories and opinions about their cultural and stimulate their personal potential. For example， there are many famous musicians from ethnic minorities in China， such as Cedain Zhoima of the Tibetan nationality. And now， the last winner of many singing programs is ethnic minorities. Teachers can use this positive story to encourage students to boldly speak the music culture of their identity background， let them affirm their own culture and share with others. Each nation has a strong sense of their cultural identity， so based on this， when teachers show their own music and cultural content， the corresponding national cultural background of the students are proud to share their culture. This is an intuitive way for students to participate in multiple musical cultures and to re-establish their understanding of multiculturalism. Teachers can also show different music cultures to students through video， stories and so on， arousing students’ curiosity and enthusiasm for learning. They will be curious whose story it is， which culture is represented. In this way， students become passive and active， eliminating their strangeness to folk music culture.

The role of a teacher is to guide and support students in learning multiculturalism， but not all students have the same needs with teachers， and students have their own ideas. One kind of culture should not be allowed to be the yardstick of the whole classroom. Teachers could choose different ways to understand the national culture according to the needs of different children in the classroom. For example， a framework and background can be proposed for a certain culture to help students understand further， and then provide students with a space for exploration. They can present their own opinions and explore and communicate with classmates and teachers. During the discussion， students not only can enrich their own cultural background， but also can create a sense of identity with other cultures and forms a cultural sharing. Their parents can also be invited to participate in the classroom， because parents also play an important role in educating their children， so letting parents understand the diversity of the music culture helps to raise their children’s awareness of the culture of diversity. Music as a world language， can achieve interracial communication. （Bakagiannis & Tarrant， 2006）. Because of the limited funding and time， it is impossible for teachers to cover the music culture of all nationalities in the classroom. So， teachers can also collect students’ interests， understand the field of folk music and culture they are interested in， and then， according to their feedback， provide them with some national instruments to try to make ethnic education full of vitality. The cooperation of music of different nationalities can bring together different cultures. Therefore， I believe that the school can carry out some such activities on a regular basis， helping students understand the music culture of nations through the ensemble and establish the connection of cultural differences. From passive listening to active participation， students’ cognition of national music culture is improved. Changing the cramming style of teaching allows students to deepen their cultural memory in such a way that they can experience it.

Of course， teachers can’t become experts in a certain kind of folk music culture immediately， so they also need to help students understand folk music in other ways. In addition to specific music courses， schools can offer elective courses and invite experts from all kinds of music cultures to help students regularly understand the multicultural music （Erwin， Edwards， Kerchner， & Knight， 2003）. These artists can provide professional insights into their art field， so they are one of the most effective and authentic resources to teach multiculturalism. However， in the classroom， students may not have the opportunity to fully understand the culture they are interested in， but curiosity drives them to constantly explore strange cultures. Based on students’ curiosity， their understanding of the areas of interest to them will become more meaningful （Chen-Hafteck， 2007）. Perhaps elective courses are not guaranteed to satisfy every student’s interest （Reimer， 1993）. So， teachers should also encourage students to participate in informal learning outside school such as community music. In the process of participation， students could share experiences with others and learn things that are not taught in traditional schools. When they take part in this study， they find that the psychology of cultural singularity used to be narrow. When they re-establish contact with other cultures， they can combine their music culture to develop their own music （Nethsinghe， 2012）.

In fact， different cultures are similar. Choose a theme in the classroom， such as the theme of the festival， and through different music cultures to understand and discuss this topic， improve student participation. Students will find that the music of every national festival is based on a happy atmosphere， such as the torch festival of the Yi nationality， they will dress up in costumes and then dance with their music instruments， such as Sanxian. Compared with the typical Chinese New Year festival， the lion dance is a traditional Chinese New Year event. The performers dress up as lions and perform happy performances under the music of the drums. Through such learning， students can deeply understand the different and similar places of different national cultures， find the musical qualities shared by the cultures of various countries， and intuitively understand their national traditions and costumes. Treating all kinds of music culture fairly， instead of emphasizing a single culture， is conducive to the unity of all nations （Goodkin， 1994）.

Schools and teachers should respect and understand each kind of music culture and focus on what students need. This may be difficult to achieve in China， because since ancient times， students have been listening to the teacher in the classroom. The content of the book is routine. They have no chance to express their own suggestions and express their true knowledge. Therefore， It is almost impossible to have pop music in Chinese students’ music textbooks. Educators believe that pop music is not suitable for the development of students. At the same time， because of the Chinese tradition for many years， they think that pop music belongs to the “three vulgar” category， and they have deep-rooted discrimination against pop music. But now， students’ interest in pop music is obviously increasing， they like to listen to pop music， and pop music can ease their learning pressure. Curbing their ideas will often be counterproductive. The school should help the students to set up the correct values of dealing with pop music. Therefore， schools need to change their views on pop music. Music is diversified. Each culture has its own way of constructing. It cannot exclude any kind of music culture. The solution is not to eliminate this type of music， but to include it and add it into the education system. Teachers and schools can play a guiding role in this aspect， introducing pop music into teaching to meet the needs of students for popular music. The first thing to do for the inclusion of pop music into classroom education is to enrich the knowledge of books and add some excellent pop music tracks in the textbooks， such as Tengger’s “Paradise”， which is a song with the Inner Mongolian minority. At the same time， pop music can also feel the charm of national music and stimulate students’ hobbies. At the same time， the teacher should let the students appreciate the pop music critically. After listening to a pop music， students are encouraged to freely and boldly propose the places they think can make the music better. Practice is one of the effective ways to help students understand the music culture. Students can participate in the culture of popular music by taking the stage of performances. Teachers give them the most space to freely play and meet their needs， which can improve students’ enthusiasm and music literacy.

In summary， it is important to enrich the cultural diversity on campus. Through diverse music culture education， understanding the background and beliefs of different cultures will help to enhance the national cultural identity. We need to respect and protect the diversity of the culture. Music can eliminate the obstacles that cannot be communicated because of language barriers. It serves as a bridge to give us an opportunity to learn about different music cultures， re-establish knowledge and connections to multiculturalism. In the process of learning， students will gradually eliminate their perceptions and discrimination against other music cultures and treat each culture with tolerance. In today’s society， music is increasingly developing in a diversified direction. Schools should enrich the teaching content and treat each music culture with a fair attitude. Most importantly， the school itself must understand the importance of multiculturalism and not allow a certain type of culture to fully penetrate the classroom. We can’t ask the school’s music teachers to become experts in multi-music culture， but schools still need to train them basic. In addition to understanding the diverse music culture， teachers need to pay attention to their own course content and students’ needs and avoid unconsciously carrying out a single cultural communication as much as possible.

In the process of continuous change and development of society， through multicultural education， we hope to deepen our understanding of other cultures， improve our sense of national identity and respect differences and diversity. Combining our own culture with other cultures， broadening students’ music knowledge and keeping pace with the development of music trend. Any kind of music culture is indispensable. We hope that through students， we can inherit a variety of music cultures from generation to generation.

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