This roundtable presents perspectives from the multiple roles involved in creating a first-of-its-kind online music education resource designed to address a long-expressed need by educators—providing meaningful cultural context in K-12 music classrooms, so teachers can feel comfortable teaching beyond the Western European music canon. Many existing resources focus on virtuosity defined by Western European norms, or introduce “diverse” repertoire with little or no context for a piece’s importance or corresponding aesthetic value. Furthermore, they are often not created by members of that music community. In contrast, this resource is written collaboratively by artists, educators, and cultural knowledge keepers from cultures more representative of the diverse North American classroom.

The six participants in this roundtable will reflect on the impact and challenges of the co-creation process across sonic, professional, and geopolitical borders. We will hear from a museum educator with a Ph.D. in curriculum development and 22 years of experience in the music classroom, who will talk about the format of the online resource; a Professor of Ethnomusicology who will talk about the decolonial approach of research-creation with artists; a Music Education scholar who will discuss approaches to decolonizing education; an Indigenous musician-educator, who will speak to creating lessons grounded in Indigenous ontological perspectives; a Professor of Indigenous language, who will address music’s role in language revitalization; and a Ukrainian musician, who will reflect on music and remembrance. Each participant will offer a seven-minute introduction to their involvement, followed by 45 minutes for facilitated dialogue between participants and the audience.