DELITOS CONTRA LAS RELACIONES FAMILIARES CAPITULO I

The ‘Resolution on music education’, adopted in May 1985 by the Standing Conference of European Ministers of Education and Recommendation 929 (1981) on music for all by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe should be considered alongside the ‘Resolution’ of the Council and Ministers of Education of 24 May 1988. The objective of the latter is, ‘to improve the knowledge (of young people) of the Community and its Member States in their historical, cultural, economic and social aspects and bring home to them the significance of the co-operation of the Member States of the EC with other countries of Europe and the world’. DES Circular 24/89 (1989) 6.4 directs institutions of teacher training to ‘have regard to relevant European Community Resolutions and particularly those concerning the European Dimension in Education’.

The action which should be taken to achieve these objectives includes the following, which is to take effect in school programmes and teaching ‘II.3 To include the European dimension explicitly in school curricula in all appropriate disciplines, for example literature, languages, history, geography and the arts’ Council and Ministers of Education 88/C177/02 (1988). Since music is one of the arts, we must assume that it is intended that a European dimension will be explicitly included in all music teaching and learning, throughout the European community. Yet the evidence is that it receives less visible support than some more vocationally-orientated subjects.

‘In the past, we have tended to try to give a European dimension to a few so- called “key-subjects”, for example, history, geography, economics and modern languages. Has this led us to neglect the contribution which other subjects could make, for example, performing arts? Have these subjects in fact a special contribution to make?’ (Peacock, 1982). Music is viewed as complementary to more vocationally-orientated curriculum areas, providing enrichment and often deep cultural understanding. Care must be taken to include and involve the arts in policy decisions at a European level and not to wait for their inclusion until other notionally important curriculum areas have evolved strategies for a European dimension. Depending upon the educational models and practices in different countries of Europe, the ways in which a European dimension might be viewed will vary. This need not be a problem, since diversity is at the heart of

many of EC dicta. It is important that the European dimension is seen as a positive catalyst for co-operation and a means of ending the sometimes negative competitive view of music education. An example of the former might be the European Community Youth Orchestra, where students from all EC countries work together under one conductor.

It must not be allowed to become a vehicle for competitive nationalism—‘my music is better than your music’. For instance, some countries of the EC have much greater provision for tuition in some musical specialisms. It would be easy for students from (say) Denmark to believe that baroque fiddle playing, which scarcely exists in that country is not worthwhile. The European Community Baroque Orchestra attempts to overcome some of these problems but it can result in hostility or difficult decisions for some members. Taking a pupil-centred approach to learning, we may find it difficult to include an explicit European dimension, unless we can actively involve pupils/students in Europe and its music as part of their musical entitlement. This might take the form of making time for groups of pupils, students, teachers and musicians to get together to make music. This already happens to some extent, when twinned towns of schools share and exchange their musical groups. However, it is the exception rather than normal practice, and few children expect to have this as part of their school music education. It is clear that a policy which seems to promote one particular kind of culture—the European (if we can define it)—may inadvertently disadvantage others. Should not the European dimension in music education become a first stage towards an international dimension? With increased global communications and intercultural connections music doesn’t fit easily into a ‘European bag’. There are European elements in our musical heritage but as European music is subjected to influences from other musics it becomes harder to define what we mean by European music. Is it music made in the continent of Europe? Is it music composed by persons of European origin? Does it include folk, popular and classical music in their broadest sense? Music is not easily confined to the Europe of the member countries of the EC. (Having arranged for a group of London schoolchildren, steel band performers, to play at the UNESCO building in Paris, I am familiar with some of the cultural variations which may occur.) Music does not know national boundaries. The recently published European Awareness Pilot Project, striving towards a definition of the European dimension, suggests that it was concerned with the ‘whole of Europe in its world context’. It suggests that this is in no way inconsistent with the 1988 ‘Resolution’ nor with local authority policies on anti-racism and multicultural education. The importance of the European Community should not appear to ignore assertions of national identity or the needs of minorities’ (Slater, 1990).

HOW MIGHT A EUROPEAN DIMENSION BE