Rebetika songs is a musical genre that is underutilized or underestimated in school music education and in university music studies programs due to picturing the margins of society (Stamatis, 2016). This research describes the development and implementation of the educational project entitled “A journey to rebetiko”, which was implemented by university music students in five high schools in their area, during the academic year 2023-24. The two-hour program included a musical theater performance by the university students, an open discussion of all students, and collaborative musical activities. The purpose of this research was to investigate how teenage students and young students related to rebetiko through their participation in this educational project and how they discussed issues of social justice, poverty, and emigration, which are reflected in rebetiko songs and are familiar with in their everyday life. 

The project followed a qualitative methodology. The framework of critical pedagogy contributed both to the shaping of the issues discussed (solidarity, democracy, social class, social change, active citizenship) (Giroux, 1997· English & Davidson, 2023· Silverman, 2022) and the type of discussion and collaborative activities that followed (Abramo, 2015· Hess, 2017· Schmidt, 2005). The collected research data were based on the reflective diaries of the students, the diaries of the researcher, and the lyrics that the participating students and pupils created together, following the spirit of rebetiko songs heard. The diaries of the students, the researcher, and the newly-composed lyrics were collected and analyzed thematically by the researcher. 

The results of the project focus on: a) how students related to social justice issues that emerged through rebetiko, b) the power of narrative discourse, c) songwriting as a collective musical expression, and d) what rebetiko can offer to young people today? Specifically, it was shown that songs that address social issues can function as a means of empowerment, inspiration, and social reflection for young people today, and that collaborative musical activities can offer strong and powerful musical experiences to students of all ages. The research contributes to a wider discussion on whether rebetiko can offer a transformative musical experience to young people today and how issues of critical pedagogy can be approached in music education.

• Music education for social justice and equality

Zoe Dionyssiou is Professor of Music Education at the Department of Music Studies, Ionian University, Greece. She directs the MA Program “Music Education in school and the community” and coordinates a series of community music education programs. She is co-editor of the journal Musical Pedagogics, author of the book "Teaching Music: Views, approaches, perspectives" (2025), co-author of three other books, editor of many volumes and co-ordinator for two music education repositories: “Euterpe - Digital Music Anthology” and “Singing Greek with Mariza Koch’s songs". She serves as a Commissioner in the Early Childhood Music Education Commission (ECME) of ISME (2022-2028) and vice-head of the National Committee of Greece at the International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance (ICTMD).