The Politics of Implementing Local Cultures in Music Education in Taiwan

Recent studies of the localization and globalization of Taiwan’s music education cannot explain the complicated interplay between localization and the pursuit of local cultures in national development and policy making in the broader society, and in school education in Taiwan between the late 1980s and 2004. Features of localization in Taiwan’s music education include the highlighting of local artists and musical styles such as Taiwanese opera, puppetry shows, and local folk music in the curriculum. More importantly, music education to support the indigenous core values of peace, the beauty of the homeland, and harmony in society and in everyday life is reflected in the selected song lyrics. This article, however, argues that there is a vacuum as a result of the cultural gap between traditional Chinese music and contemporary Taiwanese local music. Music education in Taiwan is socially and politically constructed, and subject to change by the ruling regime as it seeks to preserve its political power. Owing to the different political ideologies of Taiwan and mainland China, there is difficulty in bridging the cultural gap within the school curriculum