Proactive change can be made in various aspects of post-secondary education, and curriculum reform is one of the main steps that can be taken. As noted by Manning, Shifaw, & Benedict (Fall 2021), “All students would benefit from a curriculum that shifts from a myopic focus on the Western diaspora to one that makes time for musics from various cultures”.
Diversifying and decolonizing the curriculum will break the cycle of learning from the White perspective that most academia is written through. After viewing many of the strategic plans institutions have posted, there was little written regarding curricular change. In cases where review of curriculum has been suggested, it is unclear what steps are being taken to accomplish such review. Without a clear plan in place, this suggestion of curriculum reform, again, seems performative and reactive.
Through our time sitting on Western University’s Don Wright Faculty of Music’s Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Decolonization curriculum reform has been challenging. There is a sense of procrastination from faculty members which prolongs this process indefinitely until there is a realization of the impact curriculum reform can have on the quality of our education. It is in our classrooms that students' values, ideologies, and preconceived notions can/should be challenged and questioned. Recycling outdated curricula and syllabi only continues to perpetuate harmful social norms that are no longer welcome as our world evolves. As scholars have explained, “There is also significant consensus globally that universities have not decolonized; curriculum is predominantly Eurocentric, “rooted in colonial, apartheid and Western worldviews and epistemological traditions” and therefore “continues to reinforce white and Western dominance and privilege” (Heleta as cited in Gaudry, Lorenz 2018, 223). Students across all disciplines should be analyzing how their education reflects the world we live in, and how it does not.
At the University of British Columbia (UBC) they have outlined a well thought out plan working towards indigenizing curriculum. In UBC’s 2020 Indigenous Strategic Plan their fourth goal is titled “Indigenizing our curriculum”. Under this pillar they outline four actions they will be taking in order to complete this particular curriculum reform. These actions include 1). funding to compensate Indigenous peoples who support the Indigenizing of curriculum and 2). implementing a minimum number of courses that explore Indigenous histories and the intersectionality within faculties major fields of study. In order to ensure review is done and reform is made, institutions need to develop goals that see these plans through. It is crucial for institutions to thoughtfully consider who will lead curricular review and what values and perspectives they bring to the conversation. “...[C]urriculum policy reflects a certain set of values, defining priorities and legitimating what is worth learning. Whose voices and values are reflected within curriculum policy is dependent upon the policy production process in any given jurisdiction” (Pinto, 2018, ix). Keeping this in mind, selecting the process in which curriculum review is completed should not be taken lightly. However an institution decides to go about this work will ultimately be telling of the institution's priorities and values they intend to spread across their faculty.
Suggestions
Curriculum review and curriculum mapping should be done routinely across all faculties of music.
Faculties of music should consider if diverse populations of people are reflected in curricula and syllabi or if the same perspective is continuously being taught, particularly when it does not reflect the diverse world in which we live.
Questions
Who is involved in the curriculum review process?
Are there elements of elitism present in curricula that contribute to upholding systematic racism throughout?
What might the challenges be in implementing a curriculum review when so often there is a push for diversification?
Whose perspectives are included in classrooms, syllabi, and curricula? Whose perspectives are left out?