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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Balancing Educational Purposes Within Higher Electronic Music Education – A Biestaian Perspective

subject

description

The massive invasion of electronic dance music in the popular music scene in combination with accessible and affordable technology has created a large group of young musicians having acquired their skills and experience via online resources, often in solitude. This, in turn, creates challenges for the teachers regarding what the expected knowledge base is for the students entering the programs, how to maintain a balanced program, and how to relate to ever-evolving technologies, just to mention a few. In an educational system such as the Norwegian system, based on learning objectives and effectivity, some aspects of the broader educational purpose tend to get downsized. Based on the framework of Biesta’s educational purposes, this article proposes that educators in higher electronic music education emphasize subjectification in addition to qualification and socialization, and the objective of this article is to address questions pertinent to how teachers and curriculum-makers in popular electronic music might create balanced programs for their students. It is argued that subjectification might be approached through the emphasis on the students’ unique artistic expression, and that this opportunity is distinct in art education in general and in electronic music education in particular. Further, it is argued that electronic music students might benefit from having a conscious relationship to the technologies they are immersed in, in order to see alternative ways of making (popular) electronic music.