Abstract
Bowman, Elliott, and Silverman's concept of artistic citizenship helps characterize how music education accomplishes social change. However, while Elliott et al. regard artistic citizenship as a means of exercising music in political ways, further investigation of how musical activities prepare students to consider effecting social change might more comprehensively describe artistic citizenship as a socio-musical endeavor. In light of the goals of social justice-oriented programming, the relationship between citizenship and artistic practice, one might think not only of music in the service of exercising citizenship in the greater community but also as a means of developing citizenship skills in the first place. In this paper, I examine artistic citizenship for its limits and the potential for citizenship in and through music education: music education for the exercise of citizenship and its development. I suggest an extension of artistic citizenship to account for philosophical arguments that musical engagement can educate empathetic emotions and empirical indicators that group music participation might help develop empathetic skills. Finally, drawing from these ideas, I describe how music education might provide pedagogy of empathy to inform the acts of artistic citizenship for which Elliott et al. advocate.
Recommended Citation
Ellerbe, Amanda
(2021)
"Empathy in and through Music Education: Extending Artistic Citizenship,"
Visions of Research in Music Education: Vol. 38, Article 3.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/vrme/vol38/iss1/3