Pop music education has become a new field in music education. Considering this, the short history of pop music in China makes it difficult to construct a comprehensive education system for this genre of music. Though creativity has become one of the most important elements discussed by music educators, there are insufficient references to creativity in pop music education. Therefore, this research explores teachers' and students' perspectives on the development of student creativity in pop music education at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music (SCM), a professional institution that established the first pop music department in China. Employing a qualitative approach, data from in-depth interviews with both teachers and students were analyzed. Findings demonstrated two main issues: a lack of professional faculty and insufficient academic events. This chapter proposes the improvement of academic conditions, including professional development opportunities and teaching modes to address issues of creativity in Chinese pop music education.
TopIntroduction
This chapter engages with pop music education and creativity in China. First, the author introduces the development of music and pop music education in this setting. Consideration will be given to current issues in pop music education in China, which will be examined in more depth. These issues will be explored from four different aspects, namely, the cognition of pop music, a lack of fundamental pop music education, insufficient professional teachers, and unsuitable teaching modes. Creativity in music education will also be addressed in this chapter by focusing on two important questions: Will music education hinder or enhance creativity? Is creativity an innate ability or acquired skill? This research focuses on the Sichuan Conservatory of Music (SCM) as the context of the study. The SCM is a pioneer institution that holds a top position in pop music education in China (SCCM, 2010). It is the first higher education institution to establish a formal pop music education college that includes the most comprehensive pop music courses in China. Although pop music education in China has developed significantly, it is still a relatively new form of art education that was established less than 20 years ago (Law, 2015).
Music education has a long history in China since the Confucian period (around 551 to 478 BC). There was a similar situation in the Western world with music being a topic of interest by philosophers such as Plato (Brindley, 2006; Reimer, 1989) Since 1949 when the People’s Republic of China was established, the function of music has changed considerably. Music was used as a tool for transferring social values during that period. In the contemporary age, music was widely considered one of the most artistic subjects by people (Reimer, 1989). In 1978, the central government established a sustainable reforming policy (Reform and Opening) to help China open its doors to the rest of the world (Lu et al., 2019). Because of this, the economy developed rapidly and this increased people’s quality of life. More people began to focus on spiritual satisfaction and an increased interest in the arts also developed (Xiaoming, 2006). Therefore, art became another crucial part of daily life (McMahon & Zou, 2011; Perris, 1983; Perry, 1998). As such, music was a typical representation of the art field during the Reform and Opening periods.
Moreover, art education and music education were written into the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Compulsory Education and were required to be given more attention (Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, 2009). At the same time, a lot of Western culture flooded into China, bringing with it huge influence in many respects, including in the field of music education. Most early music education systems in China were set up on the basic premise of Western countries’ music education, especially Germany and Russia (Brahmstedt & Brahmstedt, 1997; Brindley, 2006; W. Ho & Law, 2004; Reimer, 1989; Rogers, 1989). However, in recent years, music education changed significantly in some Chinese conservatories of music because of the rapid development of different industries in the country (W. Ho, 2011). These not only taught using the conventional system but also attempted some new styles with Chinese characteristics in music education (W. Ho, 2011).