Indigenous Music Education with Anita Prest

Faculty of Education

Dr. Anita Prest teaches Music Education at UVic. Inspired by her time working as a music educator in Keremeos, BC, Prest is very interested in mixing rural music education and Indigenous education. Prest works on furthering the relationship between music teachers and Indigenous culture-bearers, knowledge keepers, and cultural workers to introduce Indigenous music and their cultures in schools. “We have a responsibility as music educators and as people who are teaching future music educators to do this work,” she says. To the question “how do we do this without appropriation?”, she emphasizes the importance of respect and building strong relationships with the community members and the culture.