Dr.

Deb Bradley Guest Notes

In Dr. Deb Bradley's talk, she began by explaining the difference between being non-racist vs being anti-
racist. Being non-racist means not personally discriminating and making assumptions of people. Being
anti-racist means opposing racism and taking action to promote racial tolerance. Bradley emphasized
that it is not enough for us to be non-racist since this will not stop the many racial injustices being
committed in the world. An example of racial injustice in Canada that continues to this day is the unfair
treatment towards Aboriginal peoples. It is essential for us to take action and not only be non-racist, but
anti-racist as well.

Bradley's central point that she wanted to convey to us is the importance of advocating for anti-racism
in music education. Essentially, music is used as a medium to connect people together (multiculturalism)
without making assumptions or pre-judgments of people. An example of using music to connect people
can be found in Bradley's article, “Music education, multiculturalism, and anti-racism: ‘Can we talk?”

In 2003, "the Mississauga Festival Youth Choir performed for Prison Fellowship International’s (PFI)
quadrennial convocation in Toronto" (15). The audience was over 900 people from more than 180
countries. As the choir began to sing Haleluya! Pelo Tsa Rona, "the members of the South African
delegation spontaneously jumped to their feet, dancing and singing along" (15). This was an amazing
moment because it showed the deep significance of this song to the South Africans delegates, namely
the anti-apartheid movement. For the members of the choir, this moment made real the discussions
about apartheid they had and the importance of freedom songs.

Bradley believes that as music educators and future music educators, it is our duty to use music to
connect people and promote racial tolerance. By taking action, we can decrease and eventually
eliminate racial injustice.
 Dr. Sandie Stauffer Guest Reflection
In Dr. Sandie Stauffer's workshop, she talked about listening and creating music. Listening and creating
music interweave, can be nurtured and practiced, and there are multiple ways to do so.
Dr. Stauffer's personal principles are: all people are musical, all people are creative, and her role as a
teacher is to sustain, nurture, and support people's musical and creative selves. These principles were
clarified by the point that musical creativity does NOT equal notation. Dr. Strauffer wanted us to take
away five tips for getting children to become more musical:
1. People get better at creating by creating repeatedly.
2. Allow students to decide what to create.
3. Ask students what they want to create rather than tell them what to do.
4. Model creative thinking.
5. Make creative work public.
To illustrate her points, Dr. Strauffer had us engage in several listening and creating activities. The
activities were: Ram sam sam, Kangaroos, Ye toop doram, Throw catch, On the trail, and Peace round.
In the Ram sam sam activity, we had to identify the three-word sets and invent a movement for each
word set. Then we performed the arrangement. In the Kangaroos activity, we listened to the song
"Kangaroos", from Carnival of the Animals. We moved with the music and created our own songs using
lines and dots. In the Ye toop doram game, we passed a ball to the beat of the song. In the Throw catch
activity, we danced and made movements to the words of the song. In the On the trail activity, we
listened to the song "On the Trail", from Grand Canyon Suite. We performed three rhythms for the
horse, donkey, and riding-a sounds from the song. In the Peace round activity, we moved to the song.
We also had to attach a movement to a famous quotation we chose from.
All six of these activities were very engaging and they illustrate Dr. Stauffer's points that anyone can
listen and create music. These activities were effective because we were given the freedom to create
what we wanted and repeatedly created music again and again.