Urbanormativity in Rural School Music

This chapter addresses the phenomenon of urbanormativity in music education, drawing from critical rural theory and historical studies in American school music. Age-old tensions between rural and urban places are naturally reflected in music teaching and learning, but in modern America, rural populations have arguably become an oppressed minority. The dominant social norm is to be urbane —suave, well-mannered, highly cultivated, poised, and so forth. Patterns of domination related to this norm can be oppressive to students—urban as well as rural—who fail to meet dispositional expectations. Well-meaning efforts by music educators to “elevate” the musical preferences and personal habits of young rural people can have the cumulative effect of further diminishing them. As with other forms of marginalization and oppression, the antidote is to fully embrace the benefits and advantages of rural life and reframe unique aspects of rural music education as assets rather than as challenges or deficits. This also includes recognizing that some aspects of rurality, such as care for the land and reliance upon tight-knit local communities, can be beneficial to all people no matter where they live.