Furthering his research into the educational practices of experimental music scenes, LSRI member Peter Woods recently had two new papers published that examine this informal learning context through a critical lens.
In The Pedagogy of Gear Touchers, Woods argues that aspiring musicians in do-it-yourself (DIY) music venues use the lack of an audience/artist barrier to talk about music technology with performers. However, these conversations amplify the overtly masculine framing of technology in society at large and further marginalize women, trans, and non-binary participants in these scenes. Woods therefore raises questions about the kinds of informal pedagogies that surround technology outside of schools (i.e., the constructionist approach to learning found in maker spaces). You can find the paper here: https://doi.org/10.1177/01614681231190498
And in Conceptualizing Anti-Racist Pedagogies Within Experimental Music’s Community of Practice, Woods presents new findings drawn from an experimental music venue’s recent DEI initiative focused on addressing issues of white supremacy within their organization. In exploring how the board of this venue conceptualized their efforts, Woods argues that community organizers in all contexts can look to research into anti-racist pedagogies to inform their work and proactively create communities that include people of colour rather than retroactively trying to invite marginalized populations into white spaces. You can find the paper here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/07417136231198218