Interpellation Through Interpolation: Informal Learning and Non-Formal Teaching as Catalysts for Shifts in Ideological Positionings

Primary music education teaching and learning practices are significantly influenced by the ideological positionality of teachers, including what it means to be ‘musical’ and what is valued within the music lesson. Uniquely framed through the concept of Althusser’s interpellation, this paper traces the shifts in ideological perspectives of Irish primary generalist teachers regarding their understandings of musicality, and in particular, the notion of musicality as ‘giftedness’. Using Participatory Case Study Research, this study derives data from generalist primary teachers ( n = 3) and students ( n = 137) in the Republic of Ireland across a range of different schools who utilised Musical Futures approaches over the course of a school term. The findings illustrate how engagement in such informal and non-formal teaching and learning pedagogies vis-à-vis Musical Futures approaches acted as a catalyst for the reappraisal of embedded musical beliefs within the primary music classroom, thereby positioning such approaches as a means to address hegemonic structures within primary music education. As teachers confront these ideological assumptions, the paper’s findings shed light on how these shifts have implications for practice within generalist education in the music classroom.