Listening to music in schools

A leading specialist in the mediation of classical and contemporary works, Isabelle Mili analyzes listening didactics practices in this book, mainly through the work of three teachers. Music mediation and orchestra and opera pedagogical programs are also examined, including the content and quality of the pedagogical dossiers they offer. What methodology to adopt, how to organize the teaching of musical listening, what roles and effects do social practices or the cultural context have, what are the expectations, how to share musical culture through listening?

Isabelle Mili offers a range of answers to these and many other questions, in an exploration that analyzes the teacher's actions in presenting a musical composition that is often foreign to the students' cultural world, the students' progress, their aesthetic reception and their gradual knowledge of the work. The book challenges received wisdom: no, students from privileged backgrounds are not better equipped to listen to classical music; spontaneous experience is not enough without a specific approach; teaching listening skills is not all that difficult for a generalist teacher.

The author also discusses a number of political visions of music education (from the contempt shown by former French minister Claude Allègre to the far more cheerful attitude of Estonia, where music is systematically taught in schools and is therefore accessible to all social categories). This book will be of interest to teachers and educationalists, as well as cultural mediators and curriculum developers.

Isabelle Mili, L'œuvre musicale, entre orchestre et école. Une approche didactique de pratiques d'écoute musicale, (= Exploration. Recherches en sciences d'éducation, Vol. 162), 228 p., Fr. 58.00, Peter Lang, Bern et al.2014, ISBN 978-3-0343-1482-4