Music in the Lives of Immigrant Children: A Review of Literature

Abstract

As a growing number of immigrant children enter formal music education, research is crucial to understand their experiences and to promote culturally relevant and socially just music education pedagogies. Whereas, researchers have traditionally focused on immigrant adolescents and music, I chose to synthesize studies on musical childhood in immigration contexts. In addition, this review draws on the acculturation literature to interpret music research findings. Researchers have documented meanings and forms of immigrant children’s musical engagement in formal and informal learning contexts. Research findings have indicated that immigrant children mix different musical traditions while using music to navigate their bicultural identities. Several studies have also addressed the perspectives of immigrant parents and the challenges of music teachers in diverse classrooms. Although this body of literature has provided descriptive accounts of musical childhood in immigration contexts, studies have offered valuable suggestions for more effective musical activities in multicultural learning environments.