A Study on the Path to Cultivating Cultural Identity in Music Education under a Multicultural Background

Abstract

The current state of school music education shows a fragmented “cultural patchwork” pattern, resulting in students’ insufficient understanding of local musical identity and making skill-centered instruction inadequate for cultural identity cultivation. To address this problem, this study constructs a “three-dimensional integrated” immersive pathway consisting of three interconnected strategies: origin-tracing instruction for native musical heritage through field investigation, dual music literacy training that internalizes native music before engaging with heterogeneous cultures through dramatization, and a growth portfolio tracking students’ development in cultural cognition, emotional attitude, and behavioral participation. Experimental results show that the experimental group scores significantly higher than the control group in post-tests of national cultural pride, multicultural inclusiveness, and cultural identity clarity, with scores of 4.18-4.21 versus 3.29-3.32 and gains exceeding 1.17 points. Students receiving dual music literacy training perform best. The findings indicate that the proposed pathway can generate positive changes in students’ self-reported cultural identity within a single-site context, providing a feasible direction for transforming music education from skill transmission toward cultural cultivation.