Music Education Research, 2014

Vol. 16, No. 3, 267289, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2014.910182

Music education curriculum and social change: a study of popular music

in secondary schools in Beijing, China
Wai-Chung Ho*

Department of Music, Hong Kong Baptist University, 224 Waterloo Road, Kowloon, Kowloon
Tong, Hong Kong, China
(Received 29 May 2013; accepted 25 March 2014)

In Chinese society over the last two decades, modernisation and globalisation,
together with the transition to a market economy, have created new imperatives
and challenges for the school music curriculum. As a result, the 2011 reform of
the Curriculum Standards for Primary Education and Junior Secondary Educa-
tion marks the first time that the school music curriculum officially included
popular songs. In response to this change, this empirical study explores Chinese
adolescents (mainly 1217 years of age) popular music preferences in their daily
lives and to what extent and in what ways they prefer learning about popular
music in Beijings schools. Data were drawn from survey questionnaires
completed by 2971 secondary students and from interviews with 14 school leaders
and teachers from 12 secondary schools in 2012. The survey findings of this
research reveal the extent of Chinese students preferences for a variety of popular
music styles in their daily lives and in school and the consequent need for the
teaching profession to improve students learning in this area. This paper argues
that teaching and learning about popular music rely on the interplay between
music found inside and outside the school environment and between formal and
informal school music activities, together with interactions between schools and
students that might be enabled by developments in the school music curriculum.
However, when a new wave of campaigns to assimilate popular music into school
education is launched, what will remain to be seen is the degree of the Chinese
governments zeal as it strives to transform popular music into a tool for its own
purposes, whether it be political ideology, an integration of socialist educational
ideals or a mediation of liberal education.
Keywords: music education; popular music; curriculum change; social change;
Beijing

Introduction
A substantial body of literature concerning social change and education has argued
that social transformation is an impetus for, and is reflected in, educational change.
John Dewey (18591952), mile Durkheim (18581917) and Basil Bernstein (1924
2000), on separate continents and in very different societies, were concerned with
how society is always changing and believed that education was a promising answer
to the problems and challenges in society. In John Deweys essay, Education and
Social Change (2001), one can observe traces of progressivism in his support for the

*Email: tediwch@hkbu.edu.hk
2014 Taylor & Francis
268 W.-C. Ho

notion that society is constantly changing and that education generates, reflects and
guides social change. Thus, Dewey believed that education for society was an
incontestable feature of the school curriculum. Accordingly, Durkheim (1972, 203)
argued that education is a social function involving mechanisms to transmit
knowledge and societys norms and values because it is the means by which a society
prepares, in its young, the essential conditions for its own existence. Similarly,
Bernstein (1975, 1999) proposed that schools act as the primary social classifier in
society to help students develop values and abilities in their everyday lives.
Over the last few decades, following the works of Antonio Gramsci (1971) and
Stuart Hall and Tony Jefferson (1976), many cultural theorists such as Henry Giroux
(1981) have acknowledged the primacy of cultures role as an educational site
wherein identities are continually being transformed. Giroux (1981) described how
the content and form of curricula are ideological in nature because they articulate the
connections between knowledge, power and teaching (also see Apple 1982, 2001).
James Banks (1991, 1993, 2006), a strong advocate of multicultural education, argued
that teachers should be aware of various types of knowledge and that a transform-
ative curriculum is essential to providing students with educational experiences
which can enable them to maintain a commitment to their communities cultures.
School music education has been criticised for being divorced from the musical
world outside school and from society in general (Regelski 2009; Swanwick 1968;
Vulliamy 1977). According to these writers, formal education tends to focus on
serious music, while largely downplaying popular music in the school music
curriculum. Other scholars (e.g. see Green 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008; Walker 2007)
have turned their attention to the study of knowledge legitimation and have focused
on students exposure to cultural transformation in the social construction of musical
knowledge. Many countries, such as Australia (Dunbar-Hall 2005; Dunbar-Hall and
Wemyss 2000; Lebler 2008), Canada (Bosacki, Francis-Murray, Pollon, and Elliott
2006), China (Ho 2011; Ho and Law 2012), Malaysia (Shah 2006), the USA
(Humphreys 2004; Wang and Humphreys 2009; Weisbard 2011; Woody 2007) and
the UK (Gower 2012; Green 1999, 2008), have used diverse music cultures, including
popular music, to initiate or effect education reform in response to, or in preparation
for, social transformation. Such discussions involve implications for the content of
the school music curriculum and challenge traditional musicological procedures for
studying non-classical music in education.
Since opening up to market forces in the 1980s,1 China has experienced
tremendous economic growth and cultural change. Globalisation not only has
brought China closer than ever to the world economic system and market but also
has generated new forms of culture and social interaction (Liu 2004, 187). China
has made rapid progress in moving away from traditional teaching methods and
providing teaching materials that are relevant to social changes (e.g. see Cheung and
Pan 2006; Gold, Guthrie, and Wank 2002; Law 2010, 2011; Luo 2011; Tse 2011).
Although the conflicting values of contemporary popular culture and national
traditions in Chinese school music education have been examined (Law and Ho
2009; Ho and Law 2012), studies of students opinions about the music they
experience both inside and outside school are underresearched and insufficient to
any understanding of the introduction of popular music in Mainland China. With
particular reference to Beijing, this empirical study investigates Chinese students
popular music preferences in their daily lives and to what extent and in what
 Music Education Research 269

ways they prefer learning about popular music in secondary school, as well as the
challenges and dilemmas associated with teaching and learning such music in the
school music curriculum.

The social transformation of contemporary culture and education in Beijings school

music curriculum
Beijing2 (called Peking in old China), a northern metropolis and the state capital of
China, has the second largest urban population3 after Shanghai. The first KFC,
Pizza Hut and Starbucks outlets were launched in Beijing in 1987, 1990 and 1999,
respectively. Multinational brands such as Armani, Chanel, Christian Dior, Coach,
Gucci and Louis Vuitton now line the major shopping centres of the city. Since the
second half of the 1990s, popular music in China has featured increasing commer-
cialisation and diversification, whilst its home-grown popular artists have become
recognised and have connected with the necessary technological developments to
transform its popular music scene (Latham 2007, 350351). Furthermore, the emer-
gence of rock in Beijing in the 1990s has been associated with the rapid economic
reform of state-supported urban consumerism (Kloet 2010).
The effects of globalisation on Chinese education are many and far-reaching, due
to the scale and nature of Chinas national politics and national culture. For a long
time, popular culture was banned in Chinas school music curriculum for fear of
spiritual pollution by Western culture and Western-inspired liberal ideas, against
which Mainland China introduced a strong revolutionary orientation (see Ho 2006;
Ho and Law 2004; Law and Ho 2009). Popular pastimes, ranging from drinking and
spectator sports to popular music and computer games, were regarded as harmful to
society during different times of Chinas development (see Donnelly 1988; van der
Poel 2006). Chinas economy has since grown swiftly, and as a result, popular
culture and leisure activities have become more diverse and have found more support
from Chinese authorities. In February 1996, for example, the Propaganda Bureau of
the Beijing Municipal Commission issued its latest version of A Civilization
Contract with Residents, which promoted museum visits, going to films, learning
English, using computers, sightseeing, sports and other leisure activities as ways to
create a new socialist civilisation (Wang 2001, 30; also see Rolandsen 2011, 144).
In an attempt to achieve its developmental goals, Beijing has exploited strategic
resources like science, technology and education, thereby accelerating the moder-
nisation and internationalisation of the capital. In 2001, the Chinese Government
released the Outlines of Basic Education Curriculum Reform to encourage teachers
to become engaged in more innovative teaching methods and to balance students
interests, needs and social development under the new curriculum reform (Cui, cited
in Yang 2011, 121; also see Huang 2004; Tse 2011). This reformed content has
spawned much debate on revisions to textbooks that include martial arts fiction, sex
and popular culture. In 2005, a reading book that was widely used by Chinese high
school students included two excerpts from kung-fu fiction The Semi-Gods and The
Semi-Devils (Tian Long Ba Bu in Chinese) by Hong Kong novelist Jin Yong (1924).
As reported by the Beijing Daily Messenger, about 16,000 people (i.e. about 82% of
the Internet users surveyed by one of Chinas largest Internet portals, Sina.com; Sina
English, March 4, 2005) maintained that martial arts fiction should be included in
high school textbooks. This represented a new direction in traditional Chinese
270 W.-C. Ho

language and literature (Yu Wen), which was described as daring and unpreceden-
ted in its replacement of some old Chinese classics (Beijing Review, September 14,
2007). Many foreign literary works, including British novelist J. K. Rowlings Harry
Potter series, Norwegian author Josetein Gaarders best seller Sophies World and
the complete works of William Shakespeare are now among the 900 selected titles
of popular literature (China Daily, 3 April 2013). For example, the districts
education commission stipulated that every elementary school library in the
Chaoyang district, which is the largest in downtown north-eastern Beijing, must
have copies of these 900 books in its collection. Through a UNESCO-supported
project, three pilot universities Beijing Normal University, Henan Normal
University and Yunnan Normal University offered elective sex education courses
of 28 to 36 class hours, worth two to three credits, to provide pre-service teachers
with the correct attitudes, knowledge and skills to underline the importance of sexual
and reproductive health education for young students (Li 2012).
Globalisation, as it relates to the school curriculum, is now perceived as part of
the process of transformation in Chinas political culture, from collective Commun-
ism to openness towards popular culture. In 2009, in response to the popularity of
Western musicals, a 32-theatre Broadway complex was constructed in Huairou, an
outer district of Beijing, as well as a home for schools and for universities. A
successful step was made in developing Chinas own music industry by introducing
classic Western musicals and re-interpreting them using local actors and languages.
In late 2009, students from Beijings Central Academy of Drama presented the first
Mandarin version of Fame, a Broadway musical about the life of young art school
students. Moreover, the inclusion of music identified with sports in textbook
materials echoed the educational mission of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. For
the first time, official music standards for students in Grades 3 through 6
promulgated a revised content for primary and junior-secondary school music
education, which now includes popular songs (Ministry of Education 2011).
All of these recent textbook revisions, newly published materials and recommen-
dations for introducing popular music in the school curriculum have been designed
to make school education truly meaningful to Chinese youths. However, in response
to Chinas changing society, one area that has been underresearched is the dilemma
many students in Beijing face, like their counterparts in developed countries, between
learning about popular music in school and in the wider society.

The study
Aims and research questions
With specific reference to Beijing, this study explores students preferences for
popular music inside and outside school. In addition, it addresses the following three
specific research questions:
(1) To what extent do Chinese secondary students enjoy popular music in their
daily lives?
(2) What are their preferences for learning about popular music in school music
lessons?
(3) What are the challenges and constraints to the promotion of popular music
in schools?
 Music Education Research 271

Survey
This study used two major research methods to collect data: a survey questionnaire
and semi-structured interviews. The questionnaire was written in simplified Chinese,
which was the students native language. It comprised three major sections. The first
section collected basic information about the students gender, age, grade level,
major sources of musical knowledge and instrumental training. The second section
asked students to what extent and why they liked popular music from different
societies, who their popular music idols were and what their popular music listening,
watching and singing habits were. The third section explored the students
preferences for what and how popular music should be taught and promoted in
school. In particular, it asked how often they learned about and how interested they
were in learning about popular music from different societies in school music lessons;
whether their school should promote popular music and how their school could help
them to learn about popular music. Most questions adopted a 4-point Likert scale to
allow respondents to express degrees of agreement, frequency, or importance; for
example, 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = agree, and 4 = strongly agree.
In addition to the questionnaires, this study employed semi-structured interviews
of schoolteachers and school leaders that allowed them to converse freely and openly
with the interviewers in-depth probing and requests for clarification (Cohen,
Manion, and Marrison 2007; Kvale 1996). Teachers and school leaders were asked
four broad questions in their interviews: (1) what are the values of school music
education; (2) should they incorporate popular music into their school music
curriculum; (3) what challenges or difficulties did they face in promoting popular
music in their school and (4) would teaching popular music challenge the status of
classical music in the school music curriculum.

Procedure
Twelve Beijing secondary schools (seven junior-secondary schools and five senior-
secondary schools) participated in this study in 2012. The schools were all located in
urban areas of the city. As elsewhere in China, it is difficult for outsiders to gain
access to schools for research purposes, consequently, these schools were accessed
mainly through local academics. The principals of the 12 subject schools were asked
for permission to collect data from their students. These principals arranged to have
their teachers distribute the survey questionnaires to their students for completion in
class. The average time for completing the questionnaire was between 15 and 20
minutes. The study administered an anonymous questionnaire to solicit the views of
a large sample of students in the most efficient and practical manner. This study used
the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software to analyse the question-
naire data, identify patterns in the students responses and explore interrelationships.
Each questionnaire represented an individual record, and each question in the
questionnaire was regarded as a variable. According to the survey requirements,
quantitative analyses (e.g. mean, standard deviation, percentage, cross-tabulation
description and the Pearsons correlation coefficient) were conducted using SPSS
functions.
The drafts of the interview questions were sent to the interviewees before the
interviews, which ranged from 14 to 45 minutes and were conducted on a one-on-one
basis. All of the interviews were conducted in Putonghua (a major dialect in
272 W.-C. Ho

Mainland China) on the schools campus, audio-taped with the subjects permission
and then transcribed. The study has some limitations, including the small number of
interviewees compared with the size of their constituencies. Consequently, this study
makes no attempt to generalise its findings to other teachers, school principals and
people promoting school music education.

Participants demographic information

A total of 2971 completed copies of the survey questionnaire were returned. Of the
returned questionnaires, 48.30% (1435) were from males and 51.70% (1536) were
from females. Most student respondents in this study were between the ages of 12
and 174 and attended Grade 7 through Grade 10 (see Table 1).
Regarding the distribution of grades, fewer students were from Grades 10 and 11
than from other grades, and there were none from Grade 12. The subject schools
were less willing to have senior grade students participate, as these students had to
prepare for public examinations at the time of the questionnaire. Of the respondents,
975 (32.82%) students were instrumental learners, whilst 1996 (67.18%) had no
experience in instrumental training. Among the instrumental learners, 119 (37.42%)
had been learning their major musical instruments for less than one year, 134
(42.14%) between one and three years, 47 (14.78%) between four and six years and
18 (5.66%) for seven or more years.
The surveyed students background information showed that school music
teachers and friends, rather than parents, were the most important sources for their
musical knowledge. From the valid responses, the top five most important means of
musical knowledge were school music teachers (M = 3.06, SD = 0.83), friends (M =
3.02, SD = 0.81), the mass media (M = 2.98, SD = 0.87), classmates (M = 2.95,
SD = 0.78) and popular music idols (M = 2.90, SD = 0.99) (from 1 = highly
unimportant to 4 = highly important). The cross-tabulation calculations showed
that, besides their classmates and compared with students in other grades, Grade 7
students achieved the highest responding means of all sources, whilst the major
source of musical knowledge from classmates had a comparatively higher responding
rate among Grade 8 students than among those in other grades.
In total, 14 interviewees were involved in the semi-structured interviews at these
12 schools. The interviewees included six teachers who were responsible for teaching
music and organising music activities, three deputy principals, one deputy director of
school subjects, one director of student affairs who established school policy and

Table 1. Distribution of students by age and grade.

Age 11 or Age Age Age Age Age Age Age Age 19 or

below 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 above Total

Grade 7 7 196 651 224 21 5 0 1 0 1105

Grade 8 1 8 202 516 217 31 6 1 1 985
Grade 9 2 2 5 162 233 58 7 1 0 470
Grade 10 0 0 0 1 56 259 78 7 2 403
Grade 11 0 0 1 0 0 3 1 0 3 8
 Music Education Research 273

allocated resources for music education and three non-music teachers who were
involved in planning school activities. Three school leaders had been employed in
their posts for more than 10 years and one school leader for five years, whilst the
other interviewees had one to four years experience in teaching. Thirteen
interviewees mainly taught junior-secondary forms, whilst only one was responsible
for teaching senior-secondary forms.

Findings
Patterns of students consumption of popular music in their daily lives
The first pattern of students preferences was related to the diversity of popular
music in Chinese students daily lives. The survey questionnaire showed that a
majority of the 2971 Chinese students liked popular songs, their favourite being in
Putonghua the first language of their homeland in Mainland China (89.30%). The
questionnaire also revealed that the students mostly liked popular music from other
Western and Asian countries. A high proportion preferred popular songs from the
UK and the USA (76.33%), whereas just over half of the respondents expressed a
preference for Chinese popular songs from Taiwan (53.79%), from other Asian
countries (52.65%), and from other Western countries (52.65%), followed by Asian
popular songs from South Korea (48.45%) and Japan (41.45%), and popular songs
from Hong Kong (35.53%). Popular songs from Mainland China were rated at a
means of 3.28 (SD = 0.75), which was followed by a means of 2.98 (SD = 0.89) for
popular songs from the UK and the USA. The 1191 Beijing students (40.32%) who
had visited karaoke clubs in the preceding 12 months also expressed the same pattern
of diverse popular music preferences (see Figure 1).

All students Students who visited karaoke

Other Western countries 1529 (52.7%)

561 (47.3%)

UK and USA 2229 (76.3%)

878 (73.8%)

Other Asian societies 1050 (32.3%)

356 (30.1%)

South Korea 1409 (48.5%)

475 (40.1%)

Japan 1204 (41.5%)

348 (29.4%)

Hong Kong (Cantonese) 1032 (35.5%)

388 (32.7%)

Taiwan (Mandarin) 1566 (79.0%)

657 (55.4%)

Mainland China (Putonghua) 2619 (89.3%)

1112 (93.3%)

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000

Student number

Figure 1. Popular music from various countries that students liked or strongly liked in their
daily lives (N = 2933) and students karaoke habits (N = 1192).
274 W.-C. Ho

Furthermore, a Pearsons correlation was conducted to determine the relation-

ship between the sources for musical knowledge among students and their preferred
popular music. There was a very strong positive correlation between the influence of
mass media and the students preference for UK and USA popular songs (r = 0.96,
p < .001).
The second pattern was concerned with the students behaviours when consum-
ing popular music. The most named popular artists among the students surveyed
included singers Xu Song, Zhang Jie, Xu Lian and Wang Su-long from Mainland
China; Zhou Jie-lun from Taiwan; Justin Bieber and Avril Lavigne from Canada
and Michael Jackson from the USA. Generally speaking, students cared more about
the overall quality of the music than the popularity of the performing artists: 94.44%
liked popular music primarily because of its melody; 83.28% liked it for its lyrics and
81.47% liked it for its power to arouse sympathetic responses, compared to only
61.62% who liked it because the quality of the artists singing was more important to
them than their promotion and packaging. Although 1993 (67.65%) of the students
surveyed had their own popular music idols, their ratings suggest that their approval
was based on the artists melodies and lyrics (96.56%), performance styles and skills
(85.16%) and achievements in performance (65.57%), rather than on their physical
appearance (60.23%), fashionable dress (46.40%), media attention (48.38%) or the
recommendations of their friends or classmates (40.52%). The cross-tabulation
calculations showed that 712 (65.08%) Grade 7, 657 (67.25%) Grade 8, 321 (68.88%)
Grade 9, 298 (75.05%) Grade 10 and 4 (50%) Grade 11 students had popular music
idols.
The third pattern showed that a majority of the students surveyed listened to or
watched popular music mainly outside their study time. The findings also showed
that students spent, on average, between a few hours and more than 21 hours per
week listening to popular music, either after completing their homework (89.55%),
during recess (82.89%) and/or on their way to or from school (71.75%), during lunch
break (63.35%) and whilst doing homework (60.62%). Students preferred listening to
or watching popular music on their iPods or MP3 players (84.36%), rather than on
the Internet (83.32%), whilst fewer students listened to popular music on television
(58.41%), mobile phones (55.53%), CD players (43.13%) or the radio (41.44%).

Students perceptions of learning about popular music in school

The survey questionnaire listed 22 musical styles and asked students how often these
styles were taught in school music lessons (from 1 = never, to 4 = always) and their
preference for what they wanted to learn in the music classroom, each on a 4-point
scale (from 1 = highly dislike, to 4 = highly like). Overall, students thought that their
school music curriculum favoured traditional Chinese music over traditional
Western music and traditional music over contemporary music. They thought that
Chinese folk songs and traditional Chinese orchestral music were most often taught
in school music lessons, with an average means of 2.51 (SD = 0.95) and 2.33 (SD =
0.85), respectively (see Table 2).
Of the respondents, 1494 (51.21%) students said that their school music
curriculum emphasised Chinese folk songs; 1120 (38.42%) traditional Chinese
orchestral music; 1010 (34.61%) popular songs from Mainland China and 997
 Music Education Research 275

Table 2. Students perceptions of the different musical styles taught in school music lessons.

Musical styles Rank Ma SD N

Chinese folk songs 1 2.51 0.95 2917

Traditional Chinese orchestral music 2 2.33 0.85 2915
Traditional Western orchestral music 3 2.21 0.88 2918
Popular songs from Mainland China 4 2.14 1.03 2918
Western musicals 5 2.04 0.89 2917
Traditional Western opera 5 2.04 0.86 2912
Other world music 7 1.92 1.02 2690
Beijing opera 8 1.91 0.81 2915
Popular songs from the UK and the USA 9 1.80 0.93 2014
Western rock music 10 1.73 0.86 2913
Western blues and jazz 11 1.69 0.84 2913
Popular songs from Taiwan 12 1.65 0.87 2907
Shanghai folk songs 12 1.65 0.80 2908
Western pop and hip hop songs 14 1.57 0.85 2915
Western punk 15 1.52 0.81 2910
Popular songs from Hong Kong 15 1.52 0.81 2907
Cantonese opera 17 1.51 0.77 2912
Popular songs from South Korea 18 1.49 0.82 2907
Kun opera 19 1.48 0.73 2912
Popular songs from Japan 20 1.46 0.81 2909
Chinese childrens songs (Putonghua) 20 1.46 0.81 2909
Shanghai opera 22 1.45 0.73 2912
a
1 = never, 2 = occasionally, 3 = usually, 4 = always.

(34.16%) traditional Western orchestral music; moreover, 730 (27.14%) preferred

other world music styles.
Overall, the three most preferred musical styles that students wanted to learn were
popular songs from Mainland China, popular songs from the UK and the USA, and
Western rock, with respective average means of 2.97 (SD = 1.21), 2.82 (SD = 0.98),
and 2.53 (SD = 1.22) (from 1 = highly dislike to 4 = highly like) (see Table 3).
However, when the students were asked which of the 22 musical styles they
would most prefer to learn about in school music lessons, only 40.83% chose Chinese
folk songs, while just 41.36% felt that traditional Chinese orchestral music should be
emphasised. The majority of students wanted to increase the importance of other
musical styles from diverse societies, particularly popular songs from Mainland
China (70.90%), the UK and the USA (67.83%), Taiwan (46.87%), South Korea
(45.66%) and Japan (39.85%). This pattern was similar to the students day-to-day
popular music preferences. In addition, most students supported other Western
musical genres, including rock (53.61%), blues and jazz (51.67%), rap and hip hop
(51.43%) and punk (38.67%). Finally, the students also wanted, though to a lesser
extent, more traditional music in local dialects to be included in their music lessons,
including Beijing opera (26.33%), Cantonese opera (16.43%), Shanghai opera
(13.15%) and Kun opera (13.94%).
In response to questions concerning their schools non-music subjects, the
students surveyed expressed a preference for popular music to be taught in culture
276 W.-C. Ho

Table 3. Students views of the different musical styles that they would prefer to learn in school
music lessons.

Musical styles Rank Ma SD N

Popular songs from Mainland China 1 2.97 1.21 2915

Popular songs from the UK and the USA 2 2.82 0.98 2912
Western rock music 3 2.53 1.22 2908
Western blues and jazz music 4 2.50 1.23 2913
Western rap and hip hop songs 4 2.50 0.98 2913
Popular songs from Taiwan 6 2.43 0.97 2908
Popular songs from South Korea 7 2.37 1.00 2913
Western musicals 8 2.33 0.95 2911
Traditional Western orchestral music 9 2.31 0.95 2916
Western punk 10 2.30 0.95 2905
Chinese folk songs 11 2.26 0.91 2914
Traditional Chinese orchestral music 11 2.26 0.88 2916
Traditional Western opera 11 2.26 1.08 2908
Popular songs from Japan 14 2.25 1.01 2913
Other world music 15 2.24 1.06 2615
Popular songs from Hong Kong 16 2.23 0.92 2909
Chinese childrens songs (Putonghua) 17 2.09 0.92 2902
Shanghai folk songs 18 2.03 0.83 2911
Beijing opera 19 2.00 0.92 2916
Cantonese opera 20 1.85 0.78 2910
Kun opera 21 1.80 0.74 2912
Shanghai opera 22 1.79 0.76 2914
a
1 = highly dislike, 2 = dislike, 3 = like, 4 = highly like.

and art (58.29%), English language (54.87%), social studies and political subjects
(42.27%), Chinese language (40.94%) and maths/science (30.11%).

Schoolteachers and school leaders perspectives on the introduction of popular music

in the school music curriculum
All 14 interviewees thought that music education should be compulsory in school.
Among the answers given to support their choices, most believed that music
education complemented and helped students learn other subjects, thereby nurturing
the whole person development programme. They also believed that the aims of
school music education helped students understand both classical and folk music,
and appreciate Western opera and Western musicals in their daily lives, while it
moulded their characters and developed intelligence, motivated nationalistic
feelings through learning ethnic and folk music, and strived to develop students
imagination.
Although music education in Mainland China has traditionally emphasised
classical and folk music, many interviewees in this study agreed that the incorpora-
tion of diverse musical cultures was important. Many interviewees noted that
students should learn all musical styles, from Western to Chinese and from classical
to contemporary. Ten out of 14 interviewees agreed that popular music could be
introduced in the school music curriculum. Only three interviewees said that they
 Music Education Research 277

never taught and did not support teaching, popular music. Among these three
interviewees, one teacher said that she would only support the introduction of
popular Chinese Red Songs5 to encourage students to be patriotic and to cultivate
their character development. Among those who recommended teaching popular
music, two interviewees noted that popular music should be introduced as early as
primary school, whilst others stated that Grade 7 or Grade 8 would be the best year
to introduce popular music.

Students reasons for wanting more popular music taught in school

The students surveyed stated their reasons for wanting more popular music taught in
school. The mean scores, from high to low, of the top five rated reasons among the
students were I can sing my favourite popular songs (M = 3.16; SD = 0.82), To
learn more musical knowledge and musical elements through popular music (M =
3.11, SD = 0.80), To have more knowledge about popular music (M = 3.10, SD =
0.79), To practise my singing skills (M = 3.07, SD = 0.91) and To know more
about my favourite singers songs (M = 3.05, SD = 1.16) (from 1 = highly dislike to
4 = highly like) (see Table 4). The mean scores, from low to high, of the bottom five
rated reasons among these students were I do not like classical/traditional music
(M = 2.41, SD = 1.05), I hope to develop my career in popular music (M = 2.56,
SD = 0.96), I am encouraged by my instrumental teachers (M = 2.79, SD = 0.88),
I am encouraged by my parents (M = 2.89, SD = 0.88) and I am encouraged by
my school music teachers (M = 2.89, SD = 0.88).
The survey questionnaire findings showed that the students reasons were mostly
related to the intellectual and musical developments of popular music. They wanted
to know more general knowledge about popular music (85.54%), to sing their
favourite popular songs (84.44%) and to develop more musical knowledge about
popular music (83.85%). Despite not being highly ranked by the students, entering

Table 4. Students reasons for learning about popular music at school.

Reasons Rank Ma SD N

I can sing my favourite popular songs 1 3.16 0.82 2897

To learn more musical knowledge and musical elements through 2 3.11 0.80 2897
popular songs
To have more knowledge about popular music 3 3.10 0.79 2898
To practice my singing skills 4 3.07 0.91 2894
To know more about my favourite singers songs 5 3.05 1.16 2895
To sing as well as my popular song idols 6 2.98 0.91 2895
I have the ability to learn popular music well 7 2.93 0.87 2893
Popular music is closely related to my daily life 8 2.92 0.91 2892
I am influenced by my classmates and friends 9 2.91 0.87 2893
I am encouraged by my school music teachers 10 2.89 0.88 2895
I am encouraged by my parents 10 2.89 0.88 2895
I am encouraged by my instrumental teachers 12 2.79 0.88 2895
I hope to develop my career in popular music 13 2.56 0.96 2896
I do not like classical/traditional music 14 2.14 1.05 2894
a
1 = highly dislike, 2 = dislike, 3 = like, 4 = highly like.
278 W.-C. Ho

the popular music industry as a career was still attractive to over half of all students
surveyed (51.73%), who were influenced by their classmates or friends (73.11%), and
by gaining the encouragement of their school music teachers (72.36%), their
instrumental teachers (66.51%) or their parents (68.45%). Some students (46.65%)
noted that they wanted their school to promote popular music because they disliked
classical and traditional music.
When asked the reasons for including popular music in the school music
curriculum, most teachers and school leaders stated that their support was based
on the following:

Popular music is important to many adolescents lives because they listen to such music
frequently. So our school should provide a listening guide for students.
Popular music surrounds the daily life of students, so when we teach popular music in
school, we attempt to get closer to them.
I teach popular music mainly due to my students tastes.
I choose popular music to arouse the interest of students and to hold their attention in
the classroom.
I attempt to create a living atmosphere in my music classes, thus I have to introduce
popular music to please my students.

However, one interviewee said that she never taught popular music, as it polluted
her students ears. Another teacher said that her introduction of popular music was
closely related to whether the school supported teaching popular music as part of the
curriculum.

Students preferred learning areas and activities when learning about popular music in
school
The students surveyed wanted to have more opportunities and ways to learn more
about popular music in both the formal music curriculum and in extracurricular
activities. Most students (82.28%) thought they would be more motivated to learn
about music if popular styles were introduced in their music lessons. These students
hoped that their school music education would add more popular music elements to
its curriculum (81%) in order to help them understand musical elements and
structures (81.09%) and to learn about popular songs (75.65%). More specifically,
they indicated that learning popular music could be injected into various music
learning activities, including music appreciation (90.10%), singing (85.21%), aural
training (72.38%), performing (70.24%), songwriting (69.80%), composing (63.92%),
learning to play musical instruments such as the recorder (62.99%), and reading
scores (61.55%). They also indicated an interest in learning about the history of
Chinese popular music (75.94%), Western countries popular music (67.87%) and
other Asian countries popular music (66.15%; see Figure 2).
Moreover, the students surveyed indicated that their schools could increase their
out-of-class exposure to popular music through extra-curricular activities. These
activities included inviting songwriters and popular singers to share their musical
worlds with students in school (81.70%), broadcasting popular music during lunch
breaks (81.13%), providing more information about popular music (81.13%),
 Music Education Research 279

Percentages of surveyed
students
100% 90.1% 85.2%
90%
75.9%
80% 72.4% 70.2% 69.8%
67.9% 66.2% 63.9%
70% 63.0% 61.6%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

Figure 2. Views of students surveyed on the integration of popular music into the musical
activities learned in school music lessons.

developing their knowledge of popular music skills in extra-curricular activities such

as students bands (80.87%), tutorials conducted by experienced tutors of popular
music performance skills (80.60%) and inviting popular music songwriters to conduct
workshops or seminars on popular music composition (80.12%). The students also
hoped that their schools would provide workshops on learning about electronic
popular music (78.53%) and organising activities involving writing lyrics (77.07%)
and hold competitions on composing popular songs (76.65%) and invite popular
music artists to perform at their school (76.20%; see Figure 3).

Views on learning traditional, classical and popular music

The survey questionnaire findings showed that, despite their strong preference for
learning about popular music, most students recognised the importance of striking a
balance between learning about Western popular music and Western classical music
(75.66%), and between learning about Chinese popular music and Chinese
traditional music (79.46%). Using cross-tabulation calculations, 742 (72.88%) Grade
7, 693 (74.51%) Grade 8, 335 (78.28%) Grade 9, 312 (82.54%) Grade 10 and 8
(100%) Grade 11 students said they supported a balance between learning about
Western popular music and Western classical music. Meanwhile, 771 (75.81%)
Grade 7, 744 (80.08%) Grade 8, 355 (82.56%) Grade 9, 317 (83.87%) Grade 10 and 8
(100%) Grade 11 students agreed with the need to balance learning about Chinese
popular music and Chinese traditional music. It is notable that these figures showed
that there was no significant relationship between grade level and the students
perceptions of learning about popular and classical music.
When asked whether there was a threat to the status of classical music if popular
music was introduced in the school music curriculum, 4 out of 11 interviewees said that
there would be some impact on learning about classical music. Other interviewees noted
280 W.-C. Ho

Inviting popular artists to perform in school 76.2%

Competition of composing popular songs 76.7%

Activities on lyrical writing 77.1%

Providing workshops on learning electronic

78.5%
popular music

Providing workshops or seminars on

80.1%
composing popular music

Tutorials on the skills of performing popular

80.6%
music

Organising students popular music bands 80.9%

Providing more information about popular

81.1%
music

Broadcasting popular music during lunch

81.1%
breaks

Inviting songwriters and popular singers to

81.7%
share their musical world

70% 72% 74% 76% 78% 80% 82% 84%

Percentages of surveyed students

Figure 3. Views of students surveyed on ways to increase their exposure to popular music
outside the classroom.

that classical music could never be replaced by popular music, as the former had been
emphasised in the school music curriculum for years. Some of them even emphasised
that teachers should respond to the variety of cultural values and musical expressions in
order to help students develop their own cultural understanding.

Challenges to or difficulties in the promotion of popular music in schools

Popular music pervades the lives of Chinese students. Its inclusion in music
education curricula requires suitable approaches to collaborative formal and
informal learning procedures and teacher education. Some school leaders and
teachers pointed out that their educational and musical backgrounds hindered their
teaching of popular music, and these hindrances were mainly due to both the
teachers themselves and the national education policy:
 Music Education Research 281

Teachers have no proficiency in teaching popular music.

Teachers musical background and training is a major problem.
I dont think teachers in China have the capacity to teach popular music in class.
The major problem is how teachers decide what popular music to teach given its huge
diversity. Are there any consistent views on what popular music should be taught?
We need to consider the policy set up by the Chinese government. We have no idea of
whether we would be able to choose popular music materials.
I think our school does not support the teaching of popular music. We fear having a
negative impact on our students cultures. We are required to follow only the official
music syllabus and prescribed music textbooks

A few teachers and school leaders noted that their schools did not have the facilities
and resources required to teach popular music and that there were difficulties in
selecting which popular music would be best to teach.
Eleven out of 14 interviewees pointed out that the present professional
mechanisms did not guide teachers on how to include popular music in class, and
they maintained that the Ministry of Education, higher music education institutions
and the community should provide more training for teachers to promote popular
music. Despite these challenges and difficulties, there was a consensus about how
best to teach popular music in both formal and informal music curricula, including
musical knowledge, music theory and performing skills, as well as the appreciation
of music. Many interviewees agreed that introducing popular music could be
extended outside the music classroom. Some of them even thought that schools could
broadcast good popular music during the lunch hours and recesses. According to
these teachers, the classification of good popular music was considered in terms of
whether music elements, such as melody, notation, harmony and tonality, rhythm
and instrumentation, and healthy lyrics for social and moral development could be
taught. Another teacher said that their school had already used popular music as the
ring tone for recesses.

Discussion
Curriculum reform, which has played a central role in contemporary Chinas
educational changes, is expected to emphasise the importance of bridging the
distance between schools and society and to transform Chinese schooling from
political-ideological purposes to student-centred learning (see Law 2010, 2011; Tse
2011; Yang 2011). The new curriculum reforms are expected to transform teaching
practices and classroom environments, to foster new capabilities in students and to
enhance student engagement. The Beijing students surveyed in this study would
prefer to have a more open and culturally diversified music curriculum that includes
more popular music and music from other cultures than the extant curriculum. The
data from most of these students suggest that introducing popular music in the school
music curriculum could help transcend social forces and underline the importance of
music in general life.
The three research questions of this study that refer to the students and teachers
views of popular music and diverse musical cultures as they relate to Mainland
282 W.-C. Ho

Chinas changing society aimed to answer the following: (1) the extent to which
Chinese secondary students enjoy popular music in their daily lives; (2) their
preferences for learning about popular music in school music lessons and (3) the
challenges to and constraints on the promotion of popular music in schools. This
paper argues that, to different extents, the principal aims and values of education
relate not only to classical music but also to the cultivation of students musical
experiences in terms of learning about popular music in school, whether through
formal or informal music education or through the interplay between students and
teachers in the music classroom. This raises the question of what roles music teachers
and schools play in promoting a type of popular music education that connects the
in-school and the out-of-school environments. At the same time, the outcome of the
contests over the values of teaching popular music remains to be seen in Chinas
music education, as it will certainly depend on the decisions of the Chinese
authorities.
In response to the research questions proposed in this study, first, it was found
that students are generally engaged in popular music that is personally and
epistemologically meaningful to them. Karaoke6 and sing-along songs are common
forms of modern entertainment in both rural and urban areas, from mountainous
villages to the Temple of Heaven7 in Beijing (Rupke and Blank 2009). The majority
of the Chinese students surveyed expressed their liking of popular songs from
Mainland China, the UK and the USA (see Figure 1). Language proficiency might
be a key to such understanding and interpretation in so far as songs in their mother
tongue are likely to affect the students choices of popular music from different
societies in their daily listening and singing. Current Chinese education requires
students to study English from primary school to college, and it is a compulsory
subject even in graduate school entrance examinations. English songs are regarded as
an important teaching tool to motivate Chinese students interest and involvement in
English as a foreign language (EFL) (Shen 2009; Wang 2008). Comparatively few of
the students surveyed liked popular songs from Japan and South Korea, probably
because many of them would not have been able to understand their lyrics.
Popular music, which plays a central role in the mass media, permeates the
everyday lives of Beijings adolescents and has now become a meaningful part of the
daily life of Chinese youths. The data from this study have shown that there is a
strong correlation between the influence of the mass media and the students
preference for popular songs from the UK and the USA (r = 0.96, p < .001). Since
the 1990s, the mass media has become more diversified as it extends its reach
through a multiplicity of transmission systems, including satellite, wireless and wired
systems (see Latham 2007; Wang 2001). Popular music has been diversified,
enhanced and transformed with the spread of broadband Internet use and the
advance of digital recording technologies, both of which have given greater access to
online music and music videos across a range of technological platforms in China
(Latham 2007). Despite illegal downloading, ring tone downloads for mobile phones
are now one of the most important means of ensuring the success of a popular music
track. In 1998, an official survey conducted by the China Internet Network
Information Center (CNNIC) found that 79.20% of Internet users were between
the ages of 20 and 25, more than 25% of whom lived in Beijing (Latham 2007, 199).
In the summer of 2004, Motorola launched MotoMusic in Beijing, which provided
an online music service for the Chinese market (Motorola, cited in Wang 2005).
 Music Education Research 283

According to the CNNIC (2013, 13, 26), 77.30% of Chinese Internet users have
access to online music, amongst which, during the year 2012, high school and
elementary school students maintained the largest group.
Second, the patterns of students preferences for popular music in their daily lives
and in school suggest that music and music education help to produce and construct
cultural worlds at personal, national and global levels. Despite launching economic
reforms since the late 1970s, China has a relatively high degree of collectivism in its
national curricular contents; in addition, the current Chinese Government has
reinforced the ideals of collectivism and socialism as the only correct values for its
school textbooks. Collectivism and Chinese communism have traditionally strongly
focused on singing in schools. Only revolutionary songs, such as The East Is Red,
March of the Revolutionary Youth, We Are Chairman Maos Red Guards,
Long Life to Chairman Mao, Without the Communist Party There Would Be No
New China, Socialism Is Good, and Generations Could Never Forget the
Kindness of Mao, have survived the political suffocation of their time, particularly
during the Cultural Revolution (196676). In the past decade, popular culture has
been recognised by some educators and textbook writers as a significant part of
school music. In this study, many of the Beijing students surveyed preferred to have
a more open and culturally diversified music curriculum that included more popular
music and music from other cultures. In other words, they wanted the school music
curriculum to reflect more closely the students day-to-day musical preferences, over
which they have control, unlike in class. At the same time, most of the Beijing
teachers and school leaders who were interviewed maintained that schools should
play an important role in implementing multicultural music education. They also
underlined the need for music education to form a social consciousness in which
music exists as a lived expression of the students culture and society. The survey
questionnaire findings of this study echo Girouxs idea (1994a, 1994b) that children
learn from the media and popular culture, which they use to formulate their
personal and cultural identity. Similarly, Apple (1982, 2003) has shown how cultural
practices in the curriculum are played out within the complex politics and economics
of official knowledge.
There have been long-standing problems with the coexistence of popular music
and classical music within the same culture, and, more particularly, there is still a
cultural dividing line between school music and the world of music beyond the
classroom, namely, popular music. As shown in this study, the students surveyed
preferred learning about popular music to learning about classical music in school
for a variety of reasons, regardless of whether it was Chinese or Western in origin.
This does not mean, however, that they totally rejected learning classical music in
school, for in their questionnaire survey most students recognised the importance of
striking a balance between learning about Western popular music and classical
music, as well as between learning about Chinese popular music and classical music.
More particularly, there was no significant relationship between grade level and the
students perceptions of learning about popular and classical music. Although many
student respondents supported learning more popular music in school, they,
nonetheless, wanted classical music to remain as part of the school music curriculum.
These data may imply that a dynamic knowledge embracing traditional classical
music and contemporary popular music can complement rich educational thinking
that recognises the centrality of society and culture in the school curriculum. At the
284 W.-C. Ho

centre of this debate are questions about how musical knowledge and official
knowledge are constructed, such as who will control curricular contents, how best to
produce an approach to a curriculum based on a dynamic view of knowledge and
what kind of knowledge, in all of its traditional and emergent forms, is involved, not
only between students musical experiences within and outside the school environ-
ment but also within the dynamic interaction between formal and informal
curriculums (Apple 1982, 2001; Banks 1991; Bernstein 1975; Dewey 1938; Fullan
2001; Gower 2012; Green 1999, 2008).
Third, at the turn of the new millennium, the Chinese Government initiated a
new round of national curriculum reforms for music education. Despite the positive
attitude of most interviewees in this study, who were supportive of multicultural and
popular music education, the main reasons for its limited inclusion in the classroom
are teachers insufficient content knowledge and inadequate teaching materials.
During an earlier period, music teachers taught only Chinese traditional classical
music (Ho 2011; Ho and Law 2012), but now their focus in both higher education
and teacher education is on European and Chinese classical music; consequently,
popular styles and other world music do not receive much attention. School music
teachers have had to adjust to these developments with a broader repertory and
music vocabulary to be able to encompass popular genres and other types of
progressive music; emphasise ensemble playing; include composition and improvisa-
tion; explore alternative notational systems; develop computer and creative skills and
help students to understand popular music through diverse musical activities (see
Figures 2 and 3). The outcome of such changes in approach depends on to what
extent music teachers are able and willing to develop an appropriate curriculum for
students while taking into consideration their learning interests and how well they can
motivate and widen their students musical horizons by incorporating popular music
and other diverse musical cultures in their music lessons (see Green 2001, 2002, 2008).
With the implementation of the new music curriculum, conflicts between Chinese
political or propaganda songs and other popular songs are bound to arise. A few
teachers in this study expressed that they felt hesitant teaching popular songs, as they
could not judge whether these popular songs would be accepted by the school
authorities or the Chinese authorities. The music selected for the curriculum, such as
revolutionary songs, continues to encourage a commitment to the Chinese author-
ities and to promote the utopian official ideology (Ho and Law 2004; Law and Ho
2009). From a macro perspective, national curricular policies, which are represent-
ative of the interests of the Chinese authorities, still play a decisive role in
determining the degree to which international trends are reflected, and who or
what will take the leading role in Mainland China remains to be seen. In the
meantime, a concerted effort should be put forth to raise teachers awareness about
developing professional dialogue. More worthwhile to improving the practice and
outcomes of popular music education, however, would appear to be an open and
liberal Chinese society. The possible future curriculum changes or the precondition
of curriculum reform in Mainland China might be favourable social and political
conditions with which to encourage diverse sources of popular songs not limited to a
politically correct orientation.
 Music Education Research 285

Conclusion
This study has explored in what ways and to what extent Chinese students prefer
popular music in their daily lives and at school, as well as their preferred activities
when learning popular music. It has also addressed the changing contexts of school
music education, teacher education and the self-consciousness of teachers by
showing how they maintain relationships with their students and the teaching
profession. Although most of the students surveyed enjoyed popular music inside
and outside school, this empirical study found a significant divide in Beijing between
the students learning in these two social realms, as has also been found in many
similar studies in developed countries (e.g. Bosacki et al. 2006; Dunbar-Hall and
Wemyss 2000; Humphreys 2004; Green 2006; Regelski 2009). This study should
encourage an open discussion about the promotion of both classical and popular
music, as well as other world music, in Chinas music education policy.
Unlike during the Mao era, when curriculum contents were wholly administrated
by the central government, Chinas education policy has continued to evolve
alongside a compelling tendency towards decentralised and diversified education in
accordance with the general shift towards a market economy. Consequently, options
should be offered to refashion students and teachers understandings of cultural
borders and their positions and relations within different musical cultures. Such
options should take into account Chinese students increasing exposure to musical
styles from different cultures both inside and outside their school environment, their
preferences for learning about popular music, the cultural dilemmas and dynamics
between classical and popular music and between Chinese and Western music and the
challenging constraints on the provision of popular music education in school. It is
also important to rethink how teacher education in China could help school music
teachers and the school music curriculum to be open to a more humanistic and
student-centred approach to exploring the social foundation of current music
education practices. Similarly, to what extent a quest for cultural empowerment
and a genuine break with soft-authoritarianism can lead to the curricular discourse of
future Chinese authorities introduction of liberal individualism to temper communist
social harmony through teaching popular songs in school remains to be seen.

Acknowledgements
The author would like to express her gratitude to the Faculty Research Grants of the Hong
Kong Baptist University (grant number FRG2/11-12/023 30-11-223) for providing financial
support for this music education project. I would also like to thank the head teachers and
music teachers who spent time to take part in this study. Lastly, I would also like to thank Ms
Qiao Fan for coordinating the schools that were involved.

Notes
1. In December 1978, Deng Xiaoping (19041997) launched market-oriented economic
reforms and the opening up to the outside world that have been described as Socialism
with Chinese Characteristics. As a result of these economic reforms, Chinas economy has
been transformed and is aimed at raising the rates of foreign investment and growth.
2. The traditional Chinese phrase of Four Great Ancient Capitals of China refers to Beijing,
Luoyang, Xian and Nanjing. Beijing is a city with more than 3000 years of history and is
noted for its rich heritage of oriental history and culture. From A.D. 900 onward, Beijing
has served as the secondary capital of the Liao Dynasty (9161125) and as the capital of the
Jin (11151234), Yuan (12711368), Ming (13681644) and Qing (16441919) Dynasties.
286 W.-C. Ho

The city was declared the capital of the Peoples Republic of China when it was founded on
1 October 1949. Since then, it has become the centre of the nations politics, education,
culture and international exchange. Beijing is home to the headquarters of most of Chinas
largest state-owned companies and is a major hub of the national highway, railway,
expressway and high-speed rail networks.
3. According to the data released by the Beijing Municipal Statistic Bureau and the National
Bureau of Statistics Beijing Branch, the population of the capital city reached almost 20.7
million by the end of 2012. Meanwhile, non-Beijing residents living more than half a year in
the city has hit eight million, which is to say 37% of the total population (China Network
Television, 20 January 2013).
4. The nine-year compulsory education policy, which was launched in China in 1986, offers
students over six-years-old a free education at both primary and secondary schools.
However, some students start late in their schooling, particularly amongst rural migrant
children living in cities. With reference to Table 1, there was one 13-year-old student who
attended Grade 11, which is a rare case in normal schooling. That student might have been
gifted and allowed to jump grades.
5. Revolutionary songs have a long history. The term Red Song refers to a combination of
seeing, listening and singing for the purpose of endorsing the Communist Party and
encouraging Chinese nationalism. There is no other song that is characterised by colours in
China.
6. Karaoke TV (KTV) is very popular among Chinese youths in Beijing. Most of the KTV
places are open around the clock. The rates the karaoke chambers charge are based on their
opening time and the size of their rooms. Besides Chinese popular songs, they also have
English songs for customers to sing. Some of these KTV places even offer a buffet for its
customers.
7. The Temple of Heaven, founded in the first half of the fifteenth century, is the largest and
most representative masterpiece of all of Chinas ancient sacrificial altars. Once a year, at
winter solstice, the emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties came here to worship Heaven
and to solemnly pray for a good harvest.

Notes on contributor
Wai-Chung Ho is a Professor of the Department of Music of the Hong Kong Baptist
University. Her main research areas are the sociology of music, the music education
curriculum and the comparative study of music education.

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