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Musicking in Groningen

This study focuses on the uses and functions of music in the life of individuals in the province of Groningen at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The study is an ethnomusicological study representing the sub-discipline of ethnomusicology-at-home. It uses Andreas Reckwitz’ formulation of practice theory as a theoretical starting point and introduces methodological principles from the field of qualitative sociology. Central in the study is the individual. 30 theoretically sampled individuals recounted their musical biographies in narrative-biographical interviews, which were analyzed in detail and eventually led to a sufficiently suggested grounded theory of the uses and functions of music in Groningen AD 2010. The theory consists o three interrelated compartments. The first compartment contains a description o the uses o music a expressed b the interviewees. ‘Use’ refers t the ‘customary exercise o music’ i concrete musical social situations. The result o this study i of this study. The study describes how three cultural codes seem to be shared amongst many (though not all) of the interviewees: the codes of playing an instrument, craftsmanship, and musicality, together forming the supercode of the music specialist. These three more general codes are combined with two further codes to form the highly specific and culturally hegemonic musical subject culture of art music, expressing that music is a specialism; it is the craft of playing an instrument by talented individuals; that this craftsmanship must be combined with expressivity; and that through this form of specialized expression musical objects come into being which represent the ideal realm of the artistic. By discussing this attempt at a grounded theory of the uses and functions of music in Groningen AD 2010, a picture is delivered of how individuals become musical individuals. Through their musicking in the context of concrete musical social situations they use music for the functions of affirmation, connection and regulation of the self; and they do this in the context of a web of cultural codes labeling shared and disputed – and sometimes hegemonic – ways of doing and talking. An evaluation of the theory and methodology used in this study shows that both assist in further developing the field of ethnomusicology(-at-home); an evaluation of the results in the light of existing research shows that they contribute to further insights into the uses and functions of music. Four areas for further research are mentioned: typologizing the uses and functions of music, musical discourses, musical subject cultures, and the place of the musical subject order of art music in contemporary society. The study ends with a description of the possible implications for conservatoires. Conservatoires are recommended to encourage students to think of their future audiences in the broadest possible terms, taking into account the wide variety of uses and functions of music figuring in the daily lives of musicking individuals. They are encouraged to make students look upon themselves (also) as service providers, and as such to be open and non-judgmental in their relationships towards the musical other. Conservatoires are recommended to translate this into their curricula by devising transformative projects in which students meet ‘musical others’, and by encouraging their students to take their possible audiences into account consciously in any musical social situation they devise or find themselves in.

Profession or craft? A reflection on the moral identity of Social Work

Wat is de beroepsidentiteit van sociaal werk, wat behoort zij te zijn? Sociaal werk wordt wel omschreven als een professie maar ook als een ambacht, vaak zonder duidelijk onderscheid tussen en wellicht zelfs door impliciete gelijkstelling van deze kwalificaties. Met behulp van de ideaaltypische benadering kan echter worden aangetoond dat deze twee typen beroepen niet alleen veel overeenkomsten delen maar ook op enkele punten fundamenteel van elkaar verschillen. Op basis van het werk van Freidson (2001) en Sennett (2008) kan worden aangetoond dat het ideaaltypische doel van professies het realiseren van een abstracte waarde (zoals rechtvaardigheid) is, terwijl ambachten gericht zijn op het manipuleren van concrete materialen (bijvoorbeeld steen). Bijgevolg zijn (enkel) professies beroepen met een morele identiteit. In alle zelfdefinities van sociaal werk is deze morele identiteit, deze humanitaire kern aanwezig (zie bv. IFSW, NVMW). Daarom moet sociaal werk worden beschouwd als een professie en niet als een ambacht. Dit is niet louter een academische discussie maar beïnvloedt bijvoorbeeld de positie van dit beroep in de samenleving, zoals aan de hand van de ministeriële richtlijnen betreffende Welzijn Nieuwe Stijl kan worden geïllustreerd.

The 'workshop' of social work

Building on Richard Sennett's recent work this books tries to clarify the ethical significance of craftsmanship. According to Sennett, 'learning to work well' is a deep source of personal meaning and of fruitful cooperation. Moreover provides the foundation of citizenship. Learning to master a craft is learning to be curious and patient, to focus on relationships and learn the skills of anticipation and revision, in a continual dialogue with material that resists 'quick fixes' and turns the craftsman 'outward'. In the contemporary search for practically relevant perspectives that point beyond the moral poverty of a market driven society, 'the ethics of craftsmanship' thus offers an intriguing and fruitful perspective, worth of in depth exploration.

Vakmensen over flexwerk

From Institutionalized Musicality to Idiosyncratic Musickership

The EAS conference theme “Craftsmanship & Artistry” confers the image that general music education in 21st western century society moves from a work-based (cf. Small 1998: 2) towards a performance-based definition of music. An example is the work of the MayDay-Group, which formulates many of its seven ideals for general music education in terms of music making (Regelski e.a. 2009: xxxii).This centrality of musicianship is not straightforward. Music is not one but a set of activities (Clarke 2005: 204), and for many music is meaningful in daily life without performance being central. Based on my own research of a varied selection of individuals narrating the importance of music in their lives, this article argues that craftsmanship and artistry are only two of many more ways of describing what music essentially “is”.We must take Cavicchi’s (2009) thesis on the bifurcation of everyday and institutionalized musicality and the resulting “irrelevance of music education” seriously. Musicianship can’t be positioned a-priori at the core of music education; its core must be located on the basis of research into what music means in the actual lives of actual people. This leads towards a more learner-centered approach to general music education in which each learner’s idio-syncratic “musicker-ship” is the starting point.

Hartelijk welkom : Hostmanship als kernwaarde voor de bedrijfsvoering

Hostmanship verscheen oorspronkelijk in 2002 en groeide uit tot een fenomeen dat de wereld aan het veroveren is. De ervaringen die zijn opgedaan sinds het verschijnen van het boek Hostmanship - the art of making people feel welcome zijn gebundeld in de herziene versie die begin aprilten doop werd gehouden.