Ijexá and Music Education: The Study of African-based Music as a Pathway to Valorize Minority Groups’ Collective Identities

Abstract

In the last decades, the music field has been going through significant changes due to discussions related to colonialism, ownership and representativeness. By questioning traditional music-related values and incorporating debates from diverse social and human sciences, researchers with different backgrounds have become attentive to the function of music education in promoting social justice. Focusing on the Ijexá rhythm, the following article has as its main aim to investigate, analyze and discuss implications of the application of approaches to music education that were developed based on minority groups’ traditional knowledge. Strongly influenced by the critical paradigm’s perspective, this paper presents four specific aims: 1) to present the main sociological, ethnomusicological and religious features of Ijexá; 2) to examine the intentions and effects of traditional Eurocentric approaches to music education; 3) to reflect on the connections between music, music education and collective identities; and 4) to analyze the possible social and educational impacts of the application of decolonization-oriented approaches to music education. Sustained by the aforementioned goals, this research employs the qualitative documental analysis as its methodological approach to examine different sources of written and audiovisual materials, to gather the data, to acquire the information and to develop the knowledge that supports and guides the presented discussions. Its critically oriented reflections intend to contribute to the ongoing scientific debate by investigating the application of an educational approach’s strand that is supported by African-based music and African-based traditions.