Mariachi Music in the Public Schools: A Coping Strategy for Acculturating Students

Eric J. López, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
New Mexico State University
Special Education/Communication Disorders Department
E-mail: Leric@nmsu.edu

Andres Barona (Personal Communication, April, 2004) noted that of all the English language learners in the United States' schools today, eighty-percent are Spanish-speaking with sixty-percent of these Spanish speaking students of Mexican descent. These children and adolescents are confronted with common daily stressors that impact all youth. However, Spanish speaking children have addition stressors, including struggling with maintaining Spanish and Mexican culture, and learning a new language and new cultural norms. This phenomena is known as acculturative stress (Padilla, 1986) and has been found to lead to many students failing or dropping out of school (i.e., López, Ehly, & Garcia-Vázquez, 2002; Vázquez, 1990).

Experiencing acculturative stress can often be a confusing time for adults, let alone children and adolescents. What cultural trait should one maintain from the native culture? What new cultural trait should one adopt? Add to this a new language, and it can be a very confusing time.

One means of functionally dealing with the above acculturative stressors is through participation in culturally latent activities, which validate both cultural norms (i.e., López, 2003). Many students believe they need to be either American or Mexican, but what students and their teachers should realize is that encouraging students to function in both worlds is most beneficial in this economic society. This can be seen through recent economic developments such as NAFTA. Even the media is attempting to reach the "Hispanic" population with bilingual television shows about Mexican American families and commercials with Latin themes. One way to assist students to better perform in this multicultural society is through music.

Stereotypically, a folk style ensemble characterized and portrayed in movies and art work as drunken musicians in the corner of a saloon, with un-tuned instruments and intermittent yells during songs, the Mariachi group has had many negative descriptions and is often not given the respect it truly deserves. Another stereotype of the Mariachi is that the music is solely produced by "ear." The current Mariachi programs in the public schools, however, are based on classical music theory and professionalism, blending with the beauty of a different cultural context. It is the true merging of two cultures, that of the traditional Mexican "cultura" and that of the western world of classical music. The student learns the western view of music by learning to read music and adhere to the classical/symphonic means of playing their instruments and through operatic/choral vocal training.

What many people are unaware of is the fact that students in the Mariachi programs are also required to participate in orchestra and/or symphony in addition to the Mariachi ensemble, which indicates twice the amount of time, effort and work for the student and many times their parents, to participate in such programs. At the same time, the student is learning to sing and play in a traditional style of Mexican song, which is unique to the Mariachi style. Furthermore, the members of the public school Mariachi are trained on showmanship, as their performances are in front of live audiences and unlike the "classical" perspective of concentrating on one aspect of music, either playing an instrument or singing, the Mariachi member must play, sing solo or in chorus, and maintain stage presence throughout a presentation.

Furthermore, just as there are band camps/conferences for students to further develop their skills there are national and international Mariachi conferences established to enhance individual and group instrumental, vocal and ensemble skills (i.e., Las Cruces International Mariachi Conference). The musical directors and instructors for these conferences are members of professional Mariachi groups (i.e., Mariachi Cobre) who not only teach but mentor the participants on both the musical, cultural and historical significance of Mariachi music and the importance and benefits of its continual growth.

In a society that implies that one needs to be acculturated to the dominant culture to succeed, it is in these new Mariachi programs in the public schools where there can be an embracing of two distinct cultures and essentially two different world views. It is the opportunity for music instructors to model for students that individuals can function between two disparate worlds. It provides the opportunity for all students, whether they are Spanish speaking or not to embrace a positive aspect of the Mexican culture. It may also serve as the means through which intergenerational gaps between students who do not speak Spanish and relatives who are monolingual Spanish speaking to have a connection and thus reducing some of the acculturative stress experienced by students and their families.

One means of assisting with this acculturative stress is by providing a functional outlet within the school setting. Mariachi music programs are a means of providing a positive channel for all students. It is taking pride in an ethnic activity that is not limited to Spanish speaking students/musicians.

References

Barona, A. (2004, April).

Personal communication. National Association of School Psychologists National Conference. Dallas, TX: National Association of School Psychologists.

 

López, E.J. (2003).

Assessing the multicultural student. Las Cruces, NM: Eric J. Lopez.

 

López, E.J., Ehly, S., & Garcia-Vázquez, E. (2002).

Acculturation, social support and academic achievement of Mexican-American students. Psychology in the Schools, 39(2), 245-258.

 

Padilla, A.M. (1986).

Acculturation and stress among immigrants and later generation individuals. In The Quality of Urban Life (pp. 101-120). Berlin, NY: Walter de Gruyter & Co.

 

Vázquez, L.A. (1990).

"Acculturation, acculturative stress, and coping responses of Mexican American university students: Effects on academic stress." Unpublished doctoral dissertation. The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.

Academic Exchange Extra invites reader responses to any writings in this issue--especially articles advancing the scholarly debate of issues raised.

Copyright © Academic Exchange - EXTRA
- Web Editor

------------------------------  Page Citation Reference: AE-Extra. Available Online. [URL: < >. Created: 28 October 2004. Updated: --. Accessed: ]