Greek Art Music in Greece’s Schools: A Socio-Cultural Research Based on Content Analysis and Educators’ Interviews

Music, as a subject of primary and secondary formal education, is described in the Curriculum and is consisting of educational material and teaching practices. Inclusion of all three distinct music categories –art, traditional and popular–both domestic and western is a current bibliographical matter with cultural and social correlations. Focusing on Greek Schools of Primary and Secondary Education as a case study, research of mixed methods was conducted, to depict both material and practices, regarding their inclusion to music categories. In the first part of the research, the educational material was indexed quantitatively (content analysis) and triangulated qualitatively (critical content analysis). The results of the first part identified the questions of the second part: a qualitative interview survey –including quantitative triangulation– on teaching practices for music teachers. The results of the first and the second part of the research correspond to a considerable extent, proving that the educational material identifies the content and the practice of the educational process. The three distinct music categories –art, traditional and popular– are contained in different quotas in the educational material and the teaching practices. The works of Greek art music constitute the minority of quotations, while the place of art music is occupied by Western art music. In fact, Greek music is approached through traditional and popular songs, with the latter often being confused with art creation. Further interpretation of the research results through Bourdieu’s theory highlights cultural extensions which reproduce the structure of the Greek society.