Decentering Musical Creativity: Towards Situated Musical Practices in Asian Classrooms

Globalization has led to the widespread adoption of dominant Western understandings of creativity in music education curricula and educational policies worldwide. These Western understandings often emphasize particular markers of musical creativity, taking for granted the need for exploration, improvisation, creation, originality, and individual expression. However, a growing body of research in certain East and Southeast Asian educational settings reveals persistent mismatches between these imported understandings and local classroom realities. In this conceptual paper, we claim that musical creativity, as conceptualized by Western scholars, should not necessarily be the core of music teaching and learning practices in Asian classrooms. To make this case, we synthesize findings from empirical studies conducted in these Asian contexts, focusing on teachers’ practices, stakeholders’ beliefs, and scholarly discourses on musical creativity. We argue that music educators in Asia should not evaluate their practices against imported Western understandings of musical creativity. Instead, we advocate for a reorientation toward developing culturally meaningful and contextually appropriate musical practices. We propose that the concept of musical creativity does not need to be abandoned, but if used, it should be decentered and locally defined. In conclusion, we call for a glocalized approach to musical creativity that is globally aware of dominant Western ideas, but prioritizes locally situated musical practices.