Adela and transformative learning: A Freirean perspective on a community music education project in Melbourne, Australia

Abstract

In what ways can a community music education project based on historical re-enactment be a vehicle for transformational learning, empowerment and reconnection with community? In 2018, Serenading Adela was performed to celebrate and remember the 100th anniversary of a moment in history when women sang under the prison cell window of Adela Pankhurst, an anti-conscriptionist. The operatic work, which recruited 100 adult participants, was conceived and developed over almost 2 years and rehearsed for 5 months. The researchers were interested in participants’ motivations and their experiences of engagement with a story of historical injustice. Data were collected by holding interviews and focus gr..