What is the music educator’s role when students engage with participatory culture?

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The article stresses a few key components of a music educator’s role. Firstly, it expresses the importance of student oriented reflection. When designing projects for students, which involve an interpretation of an original work, it is important to ask students questions such as: “What aspects of the original are you changing?” or “What is the reasoning behind your reinterpretations?”. The article also highlights the importance of engagement opportunities. This means constructing projects that give students opportunities to engage with music rather than passively listen or play it. Such projects would benefit from the incorporation of technology into the program, which allows students to interact with music in new and different ways. Finally, an important part of the music educator’s role is balancing legal rights and any copyright issues with providing students the opportunity to engage with current and varying music. The article illustrates that educators must be cautious and thoughtful in selecting what music for their students to manipulate, reinterpret, and present their finished products so that it still follows fair use laws.

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How might we balance a creator’s intent and music with students’ creative interpretations and remediations?

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The key to balancing the intent of the composer with student’s interpretations is having students reflect on the original work before they begin to reinterpret it. The article stresses the importance of project-oriented teaching – providing opportunities for students to engage with music and reincorporate it in interesting ways. One could construct an assignment where students must research the intent behind the composer’s original work. This way, they would understand the meanings behind the songs and work to reincorporate those messages into their final products, allowing the students to be creative while maintaining the original intent. As well, this will give students a larger perspective and appreciation on the meaning behind the works they are remediating. The students will not neglect the creator’s intent, but acknowledge it throughout the project.
This also extends to asking questions, another point the article makes. By asking students questions such as “What do you think the composer intended with this passage?” students can reflect on the reasoning behind their own creative decisions.