The sustainability of multicultural music education in Guizhou Province, China

Abstract

Sustainability has been incorporating multiculturalism in music education (MME) for decades, but the dialogs of MME in China has always focused on school education, neglecting community-based music education. The cultural-political context of this study is in Xijiang, southwest China, where is a Miao-dominated community integrating Miao, Han and other ethnic cultures. This study employed a mixed-method approach with a convergent parallel design that combined a survey with qualitative methods including casual conversation, semi-structured interview, and documentary analysis. Findings revealed that despite the promotion and inheritance of Miao’s music are highly valued, and the interest of minority ethnic communities in engaging in music learning and performance remains considerable, the sustainability of multicultural music education in Xijiang is in question. Problems are attributed to inadequate and unequal educational resources, devaluation of state institutes, shortage of teachers, and high illiterate rate. This article contributes to theorizing on sustainability in multicultural music education within a multicultural background in southwest China, by identifying the stakeholders in the education system and drawing on the empirical evidence on the truly needs of communities. The implications of the study include improvements in the development of multicultural music education.