Name
SONIC SCAFFOLDING: A PRAXIS-BASED MODEL FOR MUSIC EDUCATION IN CONTEXTS OF CRISIS AND SOCIAL (RE)CONSTRUCTION
Date & Time
Tuesday, July 28, 2026, 3:20 PM - 3:50 PM
Description
Music education in the Republic of Türkiye has long been a critical site for national identity construction, oscillating between a "residual Eurocentric-universalist structure of feeling" and a "now dominant localist-traditionalist structure of feeling" (Parkinson & Muslu Gardner, 2020, p. 17). This paper, drawing from a decade of work in both formal higher education and informal community settings in Türkiye, argues that these entrenched ideological binaries have created a system ill-equipped for fostering genuine social cohesion, particularly in times of profound societal crisis. Reflecting on practices within music schools and conservatoires and the MIRAS Creative Music Workshops supported by SEMPRE, this paper identifies the limitations of a bifurcated system that separates "Turkish" and "Western" musics and often relies on prescriptive, notation-based pedagogies. The catastrophic 2023 earthquakes in Hatay serve as a critical juncture, exposing the need for a new approach. This paper analyzes an emergent, community-based practice I implemented in post-disaster Hatay, which prioritized psychosocial support, cultural preservation, and agency in music-making over ideological curation. I term this approach "The Resilient Musicking Model." My analysis is framed by two key theoretical constructs: 1- Structures of Feeling and the Hegemonic Landscape. The research identifies a "residual Eurocentric-universalist structure of feeling," a "dominant localist-traditionalist structure of feeling, and an emergent, pluralistic structure of feeling that acknowledges but outsteps both" (Williams, 1979, p. 159; Parkinson & Muslu Gardner, 2020). 2- Tradition as Process vs. Thing: I align with John Dewey's distinction between tradition as a fixed doctrine ("thing") and tradition as a living "process" of transmission (Dewey, 1974; Parkinson & Muslu Gardner, 2021, p. 7). The formal system’s reliance on standardized notation has often rendered Turkish musical traditions as a static "thing," inhibiting the dynamism inherent in oral pedagogical systems like meşk (Karahasanoğlu, 2014). The model I propose seeks to re-engage tradition as a living process for contemporary needs.Using a critical ethnographic methodology, this paper documents how this model functions as a form of "sonic scaffolding," providing temporary structures for social and emotional recovery and documents that emergent practice, analyzing it as a new model for music education that is responsive to social need rather than perpetuating ideological prescription. This context-responsive, participatory model offers a viable blueprint for reconceptualizing music education for social change in Türkiye and beyond, moving beyond protectionist debates towards a truly pluralistic and humane practice.
Location Name
513E
Full Address
Palais des Congres - Montréal Convention Centre
1001, Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle
Montreal QC H2Z 1H2
Canada
Session Type
Paper Presentation
Presenting Author(s)
Olcay Muslu