When School and Music Travel. Music in Education and practices of social inclusion in contexts of reception or refuge

Abstract

This article presents an exploratory study on the Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM), whose objective was to understand the processes of reception and social inclusion through Music Teaching and musical practices. The information was collected through news published in Portugal between 2021 and 2023 by the media (newspapers and magazines), websites of foundations and other institutions, and digital platforms. The data was subjected to a thematic analysis and shows not only the complexity of the process, but also the conditions of mobility and refuge faced by teachers and students in the host contexts. It is argued that the experiences of travel and refuge, combined with music teaching practices with intercultural artistic programs, generate a cultural ‘portability’ that enriches both the refugees and the host schools. In the future, this process will be extended to broader research, with the aim of collaboratively building a “curriculum with a taste of home”, an alternative model that values cultural diversity and facilitates exchanges between musical traditions, underlining the transformative role of Music Teaching as a promoter of social inclusion.