The importance and challenges of implementing multicultural music education in a music classroom at international schools in Bangkok, Thailand

Abstract

In a globalized culture, the need to embrace and teach multicultural music is of higher importance than ever. International schools are becoming more diverse and are in high demand. In a diverse city like Bangkok, we have to emphasize bringing diversity in music in order to represent the cultures and the same time allow the learners to be educated on the history and the importance of cultures. The purpose of the study was to investigate the experiences and challenges of teachers teaching in international schools in Bangkok, Thailand and to envision ways to deal with these challenges and recommend teaching strategies. A qualitative case study was applied in order to examine the purpose of the study. The results of the research showed that all three participants regarded multicultural music education as extremely important. They also encountered challenges teaching in diverse classrooms, and they had implemented several teaching strategies to deal with their challenges. Several teaching strategies have also been recommended by the researcher. The recommended teaching strategies are maintaining authenticity while teaching music of different cultures by inviting guest speakers or musicians from that particular culture and also creating a cultural experience in the classroom by implementing several cultural activities. This research is intended to help future researchers to understand the importance and the impact of multicultural music education and at the same time provide an understanding of the experiences and challenges of multicultural music educators teaching in similar surroundings or conditions. This research can be used as an aid in developing more teaching strategies and ways to overcome challenges encountered by multicultural music teachers.