Music History Pedagogy and Kaupapa Māori: Developing “Historical Literacy” in Aotearoa/New Zealand

  • Nancy Rachel November The University of Auckland

Abstract

The topic of historical literacy is much discussed. Yet its definition, and applicability outside the discipline of history remains unclear. Moreover, few educators in history-based disciplines have attempted to describe what it actually means for students to progress towards historical literacy. This article proposes a model of historical literacy based on key concepts that are applicable across the historical disciplines, including music history. A student-driven method is then proposed for gauging progression in historical literacy. This method builds on Davison et al.’s (2014), model for charting ‘historical empathy’. The model is extended here in terms of level, topic, and subject area. Finally, the fundamental topic of pedagogy is considered: there had been much emphasis on the ‘what’ of historical literacy and disproportionately less study of ‘how’ one best teaches and learns it. Again, the model proposed is student-centered, focusing on group knowledge construction. Music history is considered as a case study, but the methods proposed are potentially applicable across all historical disciplines.

Author Biography

Nancy Rachel November, The University of Auckland

Nancy November is a senior lecturer in musicology at the University of Auckland. Her research and teaching interests centre on the music of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries:  aesthetics, analysis, and performance history and practices.  She has edited and published several volumes of chamber music by Beethoven’s contemporaries, for example Wranitzky, Six Sextets (A-R Editions, Recent Researches in Music of the Classical Era, 2012). She recently completed a monograph entitled Beethoven’s Theatrical Quartets:  Opp. 59, 74, and 95 (Cambridge University Press, 2013).

Published
2018-05-10
Issue
Vol 8 No 2 (2018)
Section
Special Section: Information Literacy and the Music History Classroom

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