Abstract:
The creative sector boasts a number of highly
-
skilled yet versatile players with
relatively low levels of academic preparation. Despite the latter, their products find
recognition in diverse spaces of human existence, meeting human and socio
-
economic
needs
at various levels. As a music educator, the question ‘What job will my child do
after studying music?’ is one I have heard too often for comfort. The fact that education
should not be focused on securing jobs is lost on many supporters of learners in high
er
education institutions. The creative disciplines are a fine example of an area of
education that must not be confined to learners ‘being employed’, but on developing
capacity for productivity. The question of credibility and sustainability, in terms of
being a legitimate employment of one’s time and a source of sustenance, is
recognized
as being behind the question above. It calls for an understanding of how creatives
provide support structures not only for technical development, but also towards self
-
ac
tuali
z
ation
and social wellbeing. As a music educator, I look at both creative and co
-
operative concepts and structures to decipher how the (young) creatives can come
together in democratic ways towards developing themselves and the industry. The
findings
should inform a model for co
-
operative education for the creative disciplines.
