Even social work as a profession has a history of not so long ago, more than 130 years ago, so there are still gaps between social work theories and their practical application in the workplace. Meanwhile, music is a universal human phenomenon with different meanings and functions, because its main meaning lies not in things (for example, a piece of music), but in actions, that is, what people do. To study music is to explore the multiplicity of meaning-making in musical practice. Thus, in the search for ways to work with seniors so that they could live an active social life, a unifying cultural tradition was found in the three Baltic countries – the experience of singing and playing music in families, which was passed down from generation to generation, transformed and almost lost in different periods.
Project idea
In order to provide adult educators with knowledge about social inclusion, to research and find various ways to actively involve seniors in social and cultural activities, to create an international network of adult education organizations, the project “Traditional arts as a tool to strengthen social inclusion competencies of adult educators” (Nordplus Adult) is being implemented mobility, No. NPAD-2023/1034). It connects three organizations of the Baltic countries – the Alytus Music School (Lithuania), the Ethnic Music Association (Latvia) and the Saardė Education Foundation (Estonia). The target group of the project is folk musicians or “home” musicians who have learned to play an instrument themselves or sing folk music in small family or community groups, but are not professional musicians. The aim of the project is to develop new socially inclusive competences of adult educators, which would help adult learners to improve artistic interpersonal communication through musical activities; expand the organization’s programs with new methods of inclusive music/art creation; to enrich adult education with intercultural content based on traditional arts.
The life experiences of Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian seniors over 60 years old are very similar, because their childhood and youth were spent under the conditions of Soviet occupation, and this had an impact on both the preservation of family traditions and their overlapping with the influence of Soviet ideology. In order to involve seniors in society through artistic and musical activities, it is necessary to know their creative expression, skills and need to express themselves. For example, for a folk musician, contact with the public and other musicians is the main motivation to be active.
In order to initiate an interview with a senior, the educator or researcher must be familiar with the cultural environment in which the senior was active. When speaking with musicians, you need to know the main components of the music-making tradition: the musical instrument, the skills to play it, and the musical situations. In order to integrate seniors into society, the most important skills of the educator are the ability to communicate freely in the seniors’ native language or another language that the senior knows, to listen carefully and with interest, to play music together, to persuade and encourage.
During the project, meetings were organized with older singers and folk musicians from the three Baltic countries, who shared their life and musical experiences with adult educators. Adult educators participated in trainings in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, where they interacted with older folk musicians from local communities, listened to lectures and discussed how to work with the older generation, talked about what they observed, learned how music helps seniors to participate in society , what personal and professional qualities should an adult educator working with seniors possess. The organizations participating in the project have different experiences of working with older musicians and their participation in community activities.
Organizational work experience
Ethnic Music Association (Latvia) has more than 20 years of experience working with folk musicians of various ages, research and organizing events. The Folk Music Festival is an event specifically for folk musicians or “house” musicians. About 30 individual young and older musicians take part in the event every year.
The organization of events with the help of folk music is the vitality of the society, providing opportunities for people to communicate that do not exist in everyday life, thus creating special conditions for seniors to want to go out into society and actively participate in its events.
Alytus Music School (Lithuania) is a non-formal educational institution for children and adults, the first in Lithuania to include children and adults with impaired development in its curriculum in 1997. The school offers music art and music therapy classes. The psychological and pedagogical experience of music teachers is summarized in various textbooks or methodical books, for example “Art exercises as a didactic tool in adult education”. While implementing the project, the Alytus Music School began to look for folk musicians, organize research and events for seniors, where they can show their instrument playing skills, tell their life stories and thus participate more actively in the social life of the local community.
Saarde Educational Foundation (Estonia) is an educational foundation whose purpose is to develop the educational processes of people of different generations in the local community. The foundation actively cooperates with educators, parents and senior citizens’ organizations.
Folk music as a family heritage
An educator or researcher can obtain information about folk musicians and music-making in a local community in two ways: from the musicians themselves or from other members of the local community. These are testimonies or stories of musicians themselves and other people’s stories about musicians. In the local community, a musician is always known in the same way as a teacher, doctor or pastor. In the case of the transformation of the musical tradition in the Baltic countries, which occurred after the change of state systems after the Second World War, the position of a musician in the rural cultural environment was no longer prestigious, and this is especially true for musicians who, until the 6th-7th century, actively participated in local community events.
Today, at the beginning of the 21st century, the older musicians are the generation born in the 1940s and 1950s. Most of them learned to play music by heart or by ear. The musicians of this generation did not have many opportunities to perform on stage in a cultural center, school or other institution, so these “home” musicians underestimate their musicality and importance in the cultural life of the local community. The project provided an opportunity to recognize these people and bring them back to active social life and music making through folk music. From the stories of life and experience, it can be concluded that in the cultural environment of the village until the 7th century, two traditions of singing and music were distinguished. The tradition of singing (both domestic and religious) and its functioning in the local community was mainly ensured by women, while the tradition of music was ensured by men. Children start learning to play a musical instrument around the age of 6-10. Folk musicians consider it relatively late to start playing an instrument if one learns to play after the age of 14.
Project results
The results of the project are materials received by educators about folk musicians, folk masters, dancers and their traditions in families, as well as created models for adult educators working with different age groups. During the project, three activity models were developed, allowing adult educators to carry out inclusive work with seniors over 60 years old, based on traditional culture, including folk music.
The first condition is to respect each learner, the second is creativity, the third is cooperation and motivation.
The project ensured intercultural cooperation, improved the foreign language skills of seniors and educators, as well as learning new social inclusion skills through traditional music (music playing and family singing), scientific research and the organization of various activities for seniors, and the Baltic project organizers have already submitted a new application for the development of these discoveries .
Mg. philol. Iveta Dukaļska, Ethnic Music Association, Latvia
