Tasman Connections through Song: Engaging in Classrooms and in Community

Community is an overarching word that encompasses people in formal and informal settings covering a broad range of activities. Engaging through sound “in community” and “as community” provides the opportunity for participants to come together making and sharing music through song. This paper focuses on voice (singing) across the Tasman within formal and informal locations. Author One draws on interview data within an “informal” space with three community choirs in regional Victoria (Australia) from her wider study Spirituality and Wellbeing: Music in the Community. The data shows that choir members use voice to connect with their local community around issues about social justice and the environment. The choir findings are reported under two overarching themes: connections to singing and wellbeing, and connections to community. Author Two uses narrative reflection as she focusses on the value of song with her generalist pre-service teacher’s in a “formal” space within the Bachelor of Education (primary) programme at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. She explores the deeper meaning, and language features such as metaphor and personification that are evident in many songs and argues that songs provide a useful context for cultural and language learning. Her narrative is discussed under two overarching themes: benefits of singing, and social and linguistic connections. Though generalisations about singing across the Tasman cannot be made to other community or educational settings, we assert that singing is a powerful medium that can foster positive growth in education and community settings.