Didactic conception of the process of appreciation of Cuban popular music

Concepción didáctica del proceso de apreciación de la música popular cubana

**Cite as**
Estrada Molina, O., Alvarez Garcia, Y., Hernandez Hernandez, Y. (2024). Didactic conception of the process of appreciation of Cuban popular music. Mendive. Journal of Education, 22(1), e3584. https://mendive.upr.edu.cu/index.php/MendiveUPR/article/view/3584

Musical illiteracy is a global issue that focuses on the appreciation of musical works. Among musical genres, popular music is most preferred by the public, making it a challenge for Arts Education to enhance its appreciation. The objective was to propose a didactic approach for developing the process of appreciating Cuban popular music within the Arts Education program at the University of Pinar del Río. A combination of theoretical methods (historical-logical and modeling) and empirical methods (document analysis, observation, and surveys) were employed. These, along with pedagogical testing, helped assess the state of popular music appreciation among Arts Education students. The main outcome is a Didactic Concept that emphasizes essential principles and introduces three scientific ideas. These ideas offer a fresh perspective on the teaching and learning process in the course "Artistic Expressions I," specifically for appreciating Cuban popular music.

El analfabetismo musical es una problemática a nivel mundial que centra su atención en la apreciación de la obra musical. Dentro de las tipologías musicales, es la música popular la de mayor preferencia por parte del público, de manera que constituye un reto para la Educación Artística contribuir a su apreciación. El objetivo estuvo dirigido a proponer una concepción didáctica para el desarrollo del proceso de apreciación de la música popular cubana en la carrera Educación Artística de la Universidad de Pinar del Río. Se emplearon un grupo de métodos, teóricos como el histórico-lógico y la modelación, así como empíricos como el análisis de documentos la observación y la encuesta, que junto al empleo de la prueba pedagógica posibilitaron determinar el estado en que se encontraba el desarrollo del proceso de apreciación de la música popular en los estudiantes de la carrera Educación Artística. Como principal resultado se presenta una Concepción Didáctica en la que se destacan principios imprescindibles y, en su epicentro, tres ideas científicas, que exhiben una nueva mirada del proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de la asignatura Expresiones Artísticas I, para la apreciación de la música popular cubana.

O analfabetismo musical é um problema global que se concentra na apreciação de obras musicais. Entre os gêneros musicais, a música popular é a mais preferida pelo público, tornando-se um desafio para a Educação Artística aprimorar sua apreciação. O objetivo foi propor uma abordagem didática para desenvolver o processo de apreciação da música popular cubana no programa de Educação Artística da Universidade de Pinar del Río. Foram empregados métodos teóricos (histórico-lógico e modelagem) e métodos empíricos (análise de documentos, observação e pesquisas). Esses métodos, juntamente com testes pedagógicos, ajudaram a avaliar o estado da apreciação da música popular entre os estudantes de Educação Artística. O principal resultado é um Conceito Didático que enfatiza princípios essenciais e introduz três ideias científicas. Essas ideias oferecem uma nova perspectiva sobre o processo de ensino-aprendizagem no curso "Expressões Artísticas I", especificamente para a apreciação da música popular cubana.

The accelerated changes that currently affect human beings in the social, political and cultural spheres are the result of historical development, of processes that have been transforming society since previous centuries. Education plays a fundamental role in the new challenges imposed by the 21st century, so achieving quality education in accordance with the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals presupposes guaranteeing inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting permanent learning opportunities for everyone is a priority of Cuban Higher Education today. In this endeavor, Art Education (EA) contributes to the development of the personality of children, adolescents and young people from the teaching-learning process (PEA).

One of the problems that afflict students in Higher Education institutions in Cuba, particularly in pedagogical faculties and specifically in the Artistic Education career, is the crisis of sensitivity and the increase in what has been called visual and musical illiteracy, so that the development of the process of appreciation of the arts is important to develop from theoretical and practical subjects, which allows EE to be revealed as a necessity to contribute to this particular.

Within the EA, music is revealed as one of the art manifestations most used by students. The best-known types of music are concert, folk and popular music. The latter is conceived as the one with the greatest preference and acceptance by the people in general, which is found in different development contexts, giving it this characteristic, the seal of popular. It is Cuban popular music that possesses all the cultural heritage that has preceded the Cuban nation.

It is necessary, in teacher training, to work on music from a holistic perspective and in relation to other disciplines, that is, from an ecological perspective of the knowledge that is needed in teacher professional development: disciplinary, experiential and practical knowledge. (p.80)

The appreciation of Cuban popular music is of great social importance, as it contributes to the development of the student's sensitivity and aesthetic taste, also favoring the development of a comprehensive general culture. This type of music reflects the traditions, ways of communicating and experiences of the Cuban people, which contributes to the formation of cultural and national identity. On the other hand, it develops active listening, in a manifestation of art that has gained a great presence today, based on technological development and its great ethical-aesthetic value.

Popular music is, at first glance, simple and easy; It greatly captivates the residents of a locality because it presents colors, its own and striking features, which have been consolidated over the years. However, it usually has countless small details, inflections, which together give rise to a special style or flavor that constitute often insurmountable difficulties that are inextricably linked to the dancer. The vast majority of popular music genres are danceable. Therefore, it is a word particularly linked to the body: with the voices and bodies of the artists on stage, in the recording studio or in mediated images, but also with the movements and turns of the dancers, those attending recitals or those who live the bodily experience of solitary listening. And, of course, with their interactions and individual or collective responses, strongly influenced by the emotional-affective.

Particularly Cuban popular music, it presents very particular characteristics that distinguish it, in reference to its great rhythmic diversity and sound richness, from the rest of the Latin American countries. These characteristics have to do with the same process of formation of this music, which begins when musical elements from Spain begin to mix with others from different African cultures that converged on the Island.

With the aim of obtaining greater empirical evidence of the social problem that is recognized, an exploratory study was carried out on the state of the PEA of the subject Artistic Expressions I for the appreciation of Cuban popular music, in students of the EA degree. For this, the analysis of documents, observation of classes of the subject Artistic Expressions I, interviews with teachers and a survey of students of the degree were carried out. The analysis carried out revealed the following weaknesses:

In teaching, limitations are evident from the didactics of the subject Artistic Expressions I:

- The treatment of didactic components intentionally aimed at the appreciation of Cuban popular music is not conceived in a systemic and comprehensive manner.

- In the PEA of the subject Artistic Expressions I, the use of didactic-methodological tools by the teacher that lead to the successful development of the process of appreciation of Cuban popular music is inadequate.

- There are aptitude deficiencies in students that prevent the mastery of technical-musical elements to develop an adequate process of appreciation of popular music.

- The students' critical evaluations of popular musical works do not lead to the reflection that the content of the musical work associated with their experiences provokes.

- Inadequate identification of the elements of the life and work of the most significant musicians in the history of universal, Cuban and local art who venture into popular music.

Taking into consideration the above, the need to train students of the EA degree with the required theoretical-practical tools that allow them to make an adequate appreciation of Cuban popular music is presented as a contradiction. It contrasts with the insufficiencies detected in the PEA of the subject. Artistic Expressions I, which hinders the formation of an individual with a comprehensive general culture.

The treatment of the concept of musical appreciation has been carried out by various international and national researchers, which demonstrates the relevance of the topic. Among them, Huerta (2022), Duran et. to the. (2022) and Torres (2022) and López and Verdecía (2019). The consulted authors assume diverse positions to appreciate art in general and music, in particular, offering diverse methodological proposals.

On the other hand, the term popular music exhibits views from authors such as Sánchez and Morales (2002), Molinero and Vila (2017) and Alaminos (2023). In the case of Sánchez and Morales (2002), referring to popular music, they express in this regard that:

The assessment focuses fundamentally on the fact that this type of music depends on the level of acceptance, the experiential nature and consumption of the people. From the point of view of its function, it stands out that it is designed for recreation with views of the market. In the opinion of the author of this research, an important element to take into account in popular music is that it is transmitted from generation to generation as part of a cultural heritage that is generated in a specific historical context, in which the composer is nourished. of popular codes giving it aesthetic-artistic form in a musical work, which is then returned to the public.

From the studies carried out, gaps in the theory were obtained that have not yet been specified from the perspectives consulted. The existing theory has not been able to conceive the PEA of Musical Education for the appreciation of Cuban popular music from a didactic point of view. The role that the social context represents in the creation of popular music is not distinguished from the elements that characterize it and that reflect the concerns of its creators. A procedure for appreciating popular Cuban musical works in Higher Education has not yet been specified from a didactic point of view, taking into account the specificities of this type of music and its reach in society. In this sense, the objective of this article is proposed: To propose a didactic conception for the appreciation of Cuban music in the Artistic Education program at the University of Pinar del Río.

To carry out the diagnostic study, a total of 24 students from the Artistic Education major at the University of Pinar del Río were selected, in addition to 7 teachers specializing in Musical Education. Based on the materialist dialectic, methods from the theoretical level, specifically the historical-logical one, were used to delve deeper into the evolution of musical appreciation and particularly popular music. The modeling allowed the development of the didactic conception as a solution to the deficiencies detected in the teaching-learning process of the subject Artistic Expressions I, for the appreciation of Cuban popular music, as well as the structuring of its components.

The empirical methods used were fundamentally the documentary review that allowed for an in-depth review of documents such as the study plan, the Artistic Expressions discipline program and the Artistic Expressions I subject program. On the other hand, observation was applied to verify the development of the appreciation of Cuban popular music, from the teaching-learning process of the subject Artistic Expressions I in the stages studied. The survey was applied to students of the Artistic Education program to collect information about the state of opinion on the development of the process of appreciation of Cuban popular music in their learning context, as well as to determine levels of satisfaction, preference and need. for this type of music. Of vital importance was the use of the pedagogical test to determine the state of the development of the process of appreciation of Cuban popular music in the students of the Artistic Education major.

The dimensions and indicators conceived from the research by the authors were taken into account, which were measured using the aforementioned instruments, which made it possible to issue evaluations related to the process of appreciation of Cuban popular music.

The program of the subject Artistic Expressions I, as one of the documents of interest in the research, was analyzed with the objective of verifying the possibilities it offers for the appreciation of popular music, in correspondence with the objectives and other aspects of the document. In this sense, it was obtained that:

- Within the objectives of the subject, the need to contribute to auditory improvement, psychomotor development, memory and the capacity for artistic expression, as well as aesthetic taste, arises.

- Responding to the contents of the program, particularly themes three and four were directed, respectively, to the interpretation and assembly of diverse vocal works, whether from the classical Cuban repertoire or the contemporary one. The fact that Cuban popular music is part of this repertoire remained at the level of inferences.

- The methodological guidelines focused on the analysis of the elements of the musical language without taking into account the methodological aspects that would allow the selected Cuban musical work to be appreciated.

- Among the main skills to be developed, appreciation was not declared, constituting the central axis for choral assembly. Only some actions were evident within other skills that responded to the assessment.

- The methods and procedures were limited to the fact of being able to appreciate music in general and Cuban popular works in particular, leaving this determination in the hands of the teacher in correspondence with the objectives and contents.

- The proposed teaching aids were due to the use of musical instruments that facilitate the training of the harmonic ear, ignoring other important aspects from the appreciation of a work of Cuban music.

- Regarding the evaluation, it did not allow an assessment of the level of achievements achieved, according to the proposed objectives; It included the different components of the content that were specified in concepts, skills, behavioral norms and attitudes.

- The form of teaching organization proposed by the program responded to the traditional types of higher-level classes, in this case, the practical class.

In general sense, the analysis of documents applied to the Artistic Expressions I program reflects that the objectives and contents are raised without clearly reflecting core aspects that respond to appreciation, as a guiding process in this career, or to the musical appreciation of works. popular Cubans. These components did not contribute to the development of educational and developmental demands in the appreciation of Cuban popular music. Methodological guidelines, methods, procedures and means were not required for the development of appreciation of Cuban popular music, as a condition for developing choral singing of the selected works. For its part, the evaluation was insufficient in measuring the achievements achieved according to the proposed objectives.

After the analysis of each of the instruments applied and considering the indicators of each dimension, the methodological triangulation technique was used, with the purpose of discovering possible coincidences and discrepancies that facilitate arriving at more complete conclusions of the PEA of the subject Artistic Expressions I for the appreciation of Cuban popular music in the students of the EA Career of the University of Pinar del Río in its initial state.

- The stages of greatest difficulty in the appreciation of Cuban popular music are: contextualization and technical-musical analysis of the work.

- Teachers specializing in music present difficulties with the work method to appreciate a work of Cuban popular music, which results in students having difficulties in the execution of this endeavor.

- The indicators with the greatest difficulties in the appreciation of Cuban popular music are: contextualization of the Cuban popular musical work, technical-musical analysis, critical evaluation, and the manifestation of affective experiences in the appreciation of Cuban popular music.

- The most affected dimensions are: the cognitive-procedural and the affective-motivational.

- In the analysis carried out of the instruments applied as part of the initial diagnosis, no discrepancies were found. The systematization of the results obtained allows the following limitations and strengths to be identified.

- In the subject Artistic Expressions I, the appreciation of Cuban popular music is not recognized as a fundamental step prior to the assembly of the choral work.

- Didactic deficiencies in the PEA of the subject Artistic Expressions I for the appreciation of Cuban popular music given by the lack of systematicity of the appreciation from the first year of the degree.

- The students show a lack of emotional involvement with the genre of Cuban popular music.

- Theoretical and methodological deficiencies on the part of the teachers in the PEA of the subject Artistic Expressions I, which negatively affects the appreciation of Cuban popular music.

- Limitations on the part of the teachers of a theoretical and practical order by not conceiving in the PEA of the subject Artistic Expressions I for the appreciation of Cuban popular music, the stages: contextualization, technical-musical analysis and critical evaluation of the musical work.

- From the Professional Model of Art Education, the knowledge of the different artistic manifestations by the arts educator is holistically reflected.

- The students and teachers who are part of the sample express from their evaluations the importance of appreciating Cuban popular music, to contribute to their future personal and professional performance, as well as the teachers' willingness to promote the PEA of the subject Artistic Expressions I, for the appreciation of Cuban popular music.

Didactic conception is proposed by the authors of the article. According to Valle's view (2012), he establishes that a conception is:

The set of objectives, essential concepts or starting categories, principles that support it, as well as a characterization of the object of research, placing emphasis and making explicit those transcendent elements that undergo changes, when assuming a point of view to analyze the object or phenomenon in study. (p.127).

As a structure of the didactic conception, once different authors have been consulted, it is possible to identify common elements: title, objective, foundation, scientific ideas and their basic premises, graphic representation and objectification.

To determine the principles that govern the didactic conception, it is considered pertinent to contextualize the principles of didactics addressed by Labarrere and Valdivia (2000). The system of principles on which the proposed didactic conception is based is shown below:

Due to the characteristics of the object being investigated, two essential principles raised by Sánchez and Morales (2002) are taken into account, which also support the didactic conception. They are cited below:

This principle must be latent in the entire teaching-learning process of the subject Artistic Expressions I: from its conception, execution, control and evaluation of knowledge to the completion of independent work. To do this, the time dedicated to practice must be taken into account, considering the exercise of the ear within any form of teaching organization that is adopted.

Scientific idea 1: In the PEA of the subject Artistic Expressions I for the appreciation of Cuban popular music, for EA students the selection of didactic components with an interdisciplinary approach and their articulation with the methodological work strategy of the 3rd academic year is essential. .

This scientific idea, as the guiding principle of the others, is fundamental as it governs the theoretical elements of the didactic conception. In it, coordination relationships are established between the didactic components of the PEA of the subject Artistic Expressions I for the appreciation of Cuban popular music.

Note: The figure shows the selection of didactic components for the popular music appreciation process. Source: Estrada (2023)

Scientific idea 2: The PEA of the subject Artistic Expressions I for the appreciation of Cuban popular music, in students of the EA degree, occurs through the following stages: listening, contextualization, technical-musical analysis and critical evaluation of the musical work, from active listening.

In the PEA of the subject Artistic Expressions I for the appreciation of Cuban popular music and the stages, dependency relationships are established, since they constitute contents to be addressed from the subject Artistic Expressions I.

Listening to the musical work is incorporated as a stage in the appreciation of Cuban popular music.

Note: The figure shows the stages for the popular music appreciation process. Source: Estrada (2023)

Scientific idea 3: The PEA of the subject Artistic Expressions I for the appreciation of Cuban popular music in students of the EA degree is based on the harmonious relationship between the curricular and the extracurricular context.

The teaching-learning process for the appreciation of popular music in Art Education students necessarily requires the links between the curriculum and the extracurricular context. In it, coordination relationships are established because from the university space, in which the curricular part of the EA degree runs, it was agreed with the cultural institutions of the community, actions that allow the link with the artistic avant-garde (musicians) of the town, as well as live music performed by these artists, in different instrumental formats.

Note: The figure shows the PEA for the appreciation of popular music is developed in interdisciplinarity and the extracurricular context in close connection with the cultural institutions of the territory. Source: Estrada (2023)

Appreciating Cuban popular music from the teaching-learning process of the subject Artistic Expressions I constitutes a challenge that teachers and students must assume. To achieve this, active listening acquires a fundamental role, as well as cooperative work to ensure that students take ownership of the messages that appear contained in works of Cuban popular music. In this sense, what was stated by Alaminos-Fernández (2023) regarding the essential role that it plays is corroborated.

On the other hand, Sánchez Ortega (2017) postulates that the training of music professionals in their performances as performers, choir or orchestra directors, researchers, musicologists, sound engineers, among others, who require specialized training, all which is in line with what is described in the ideas of the didactic, directed conception, which places emphasis on popular music.

In this direction, we agree with Fenollosa (2021), which alludes to the combination of vocal and instrumental practice, active listening and sound exploration with cooperative learning, to ensure that students understand popular music and its language. and, consequently, with Huerta (2022), when taking into account the necessary teacher training.

In this line of thought, the novel aspects that stand out are that in order to achieve an effective appreciation of Cuban popular music, the development of stages in the execution of this process is proposed, such as: listening to the Cuban musical work from active listening, its contextualization, technical-musical analysis and critical and affective evaluation; which constitutes an essential foundation from the point of view of music teaching and contributes to the formation of the student's personality, as well as the development of identity values, all of the above is in line with what is described by Zubeldia (2017). about the diversity of musical educational institutions and the characteristics of teaching, in this regard the author assures that music schools are oriented towards musical education for amateurs and amateurs, without professional aspirations.

Making contributions from the Educational Sciences based on a pedagogical scientific result calls for the need to interpret, in an innovative way, the teaching-learning process for the appreciation of Cuban popular music. In this sense, the proposed didactic conception exhibits a new point of view to the aforementioned process that coincides with the postulates of Valle (2012) by recognizing it as:

In the previous definitions and others studied, it is possible to determine common elements: system, set of ideas or points of view about a certain aspect of objective reality, act or action of conceiving, explanation or analysis of phenomena or objects of reality. Currently, educational systems include musical education (Roa Venegas and Ruiz Fernández, 2020), an issue that corroborates the relevance of research, especially in Cuba (Hernández Oliva, 2021), and, above all, in university students studying careers. in the students of the EA Career.

The authors consider the conception as the theoretical representation of a given problem, in accordance with the vision of each subject in this regard, which assumes a specific character, depending on the prism with which the content is approached, and will involve carrying out transformative practical actions. of reality, from the points of view, scientific ideas, or premises of the researcher when analyzing the object.

On the other hand, it is necessary to specify that Didactics, a science that studies the school teaching-learning process, provides a special particularity for the purposes of research. In this sense, the didactic conception of the teaching-learning process of the subject Artistic Expressions I, for the appreciation of Cuban popular music, in students of the Artistic Education career, is characterized by having: title, objective, foundation (principles that support it), scientific ideas and graphic representation, explaining the relationships established between its components.

By way of conclusion, it can be stated that the didactic concept proposed in this article is of great value and responds to the current need to improve the teaching-learning process for the appreciation of Cuban popular music and overcome the current conception. modify the personal and personalized components of the modeled process, considering active listening in musical appreciation as a novel element.

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The authors participated in the design and writing of the work, and analysis of the documents.