Abstract

Diversity and multicultural music education have been frequent themes at conferences in recent years. Each generation brings unique perspectives to a dynamic society. The Internet has resulted in a globalization and transformation of our teaching environment. As part of this, world music is immediately accessible through a variety of media and can be embraced as an aide to music educators in the classroom. In response to these changing needs and opportunities, the classroom has become a glorious mosaic, one in which the emphasis begins to shift from ‘diversity’ to ‘universality’. The purpose of this paper is 1) to discuss the local classroom as a vehicle of globalization, pushing beyond its physical walls; 2) to make the teaching environment porous through a process of creating transparency in the attainment of knowledge; and 3) to create a process of musical osmosis nourished by the equalization of cultures. It is time for this potential to be explored.