Internationalization, Hegemony, and Diversity: In Search of a New Vision for the Global Music Education Community

In higher education, internationalization is often seen as an exclusively positive development, even though there has been increased critique. This critique concerns a superficial understanding of internationalization as copying what globally successful universities do, thus ignoring local or national needs. But it is also related to the danger of confusing internationalization with Anglo-Americanization, in general and in various fields such as music education. Therefore, an investigation of what internationalization is with regard to music education and how it could look differently is much needed. This chapter critically analyzes internationalization in music education. At the core is the question of how internationalizing music education can be shaped in a way that overcomes hidden structures of hegemony. This chapter envisions a culturally sensitive internationalization of music education which acknowledges various teaching and research cultures. A framework, suggesting conceptual categories such as educational transfer or global knowledge production, can facilitate the formation of a united, yet diverse, global music education community. Additionally, selected concepts of community are presented that can be models for what a culturally sensitive international music education community could look like.