Music education for a nation: Teaching patriotic ideas and ideals in global societies

Abstract

Music often features as a tool for the communication and creation of national identity, and has often been included in music education curricula as a means to enculturate students into a unified citizenry. This instrumental multiple case study explores patriotic sentiments as they appear in the music education policies and practices of two countries: Finland and Cambodia. Although very different in many respects, both nations have unique cultural histories that are celebrated within a dynamic of globalized society. Through the thematic analysis of macro level policy decision making seen in educational curricula and policy documents, and micro level policy implementation through semi-structured interview data with teachers, this article explores tensions that exist between the construction of a cohesive national identity and preparing students for participation in a global world. Through this, it may be seen that music educators cannot afford to approach policy nor practice on wholly local, nor global terms. Patriotic sentiments cannot be uncritically imposed upon diverse student populations, but neither should they be regarded as redundant or irrelevant. Rather, through a perspective of cultural cosmopolitanism we may reconsider patriotism in music education in a way that supports both national and global citizenship.