The document discusses the concept of "outsiders" and "place" in music education, using grunge music as an example. It argues that grunge musicians are often viewed as outsiders in traditional music classrooms due to the European classical focus of the curriculum. The document questions whether this perpetuates a deficit view of students and their musical cultures. It suggests creating a place for grunge and other student-centered musics through place-based curriculum in order to better serve student populations and engage them through personally meaningful music-making.

1. Ignite
Grunge

2. Self and Other
“Outsider is a commonly used term to
describe people to a new place or people
who do not know the ways of a place.”
Benedict
Grunge musicians are often viewed as
outsiders in our music classrooms. They
do not know the ways of our “place.”

3. Self and Other
• “Outsiders are often despised and
suspected of being trouble makers.”
Music educators often see students who
aren’t familiar with the European tradition
as “other” and “outsiders.”
Therefore Grunge music is often despised
by music educators and has no “place” in
our classrooms

4. Self and Other
• Grunge participants are outsiders in the fact that
they do not know how to act or understand the
culture of the Western European based music
classroom.

5. Self and Other

6. Self and Other
• Perceived lack of skills and understanding?
• Do we as music educators perceive ourselves
with a lack of skills and understandings to see
ourselves as the others?
• Or do we see our students with a lack of skills
and understanding necessary to conform to
our Western European culturally based
classroom?

7. Self and Other
• Do our beliefs and our assumptions somehow
perpetuate this viewed “lack of skills and
understanding?”
• Are we constantly trying to conform students
into a nice little music box that is a direct
replica of our experiences?

8. Self and Other
• What exactly are the “appropriate skills”
necessary to succeed in our classrooms?
• Who decides what skills are necessary?

9. Self and Other
• Benedict states that a “particular model of
cultural transmission and method serves
to punish students instead of celebrating
diversity and negates the cultures that
students bring into our classroom.”

10. Deficit Model
Blaming students for our perceived “lack of
skills and understanding?”

11. Deficit model
• “Deficit based approached often miss the
expertise that exist in our communities and
families, viewing instead outside experts
the only ones capable of fixing our
problems.”

12. Color Blind Pedagogy
Not necessarily racial discord, but there is
often a distinction between the social
classes that perform Western European
and Grunge music.

13. Color Blind Pedagogy
“…the music studied should reflect the multi-
musical diversity of America’s pluralistic
culture. It should include a broad range of
genres, styles, and periods, including
music from outside art music traditions….”

14. Place
• “Value and meaning are not inherent in
any space or place—indeed they must be
created, reproduced, and defended from
heresy.”
• Value and meaning don’t automatically
happen. Just because a student comes to
our class does not imply that our
curriculum will automatically hold meaning
and importance to them

15. Place
• “Places become places through and in the
lived experiences and interpretations of
those who experience them.” Dr. Stauffer
• Does grunge music have any place in our
music curriculum? Is there space for
experiencing grunge in our classrooms?

16. Place
• “Place-conscious learning is grounded in
the real and proximate, not in abstract and
remote
• What is real and proximate to Grunge
musicians?
What is real and proximate to music
educators?

17. Place
• “A population not being served.” Mariachi
is example of place-based curriculum.
• A Grunge ensemble is an example of
place-based curriculum.

18. Place
• Difficulties exist in reconciling Grunge and
places in our music classrooms
Do we have capacity and resources?

19. Place
• Place-based curriculum allows for reason
of being. It enables students to engage in
music and to acquire musical skills in
knowledge

20. Place
• It also allows students to relate human
understandings and personal growth that
emanate from engagement in music making.
• Asks who, what and how