Should there be a universal philosophy of music education?

1997 ◽  
Vol os-29 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bennett Reimer
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
International Community ◽  
Coherent System ◽  
Philosophy Of Music ◽  
Do So

The four themes of the Conference focus on the universal dimension of music, claiming that music speaks universally to all generations, times, cultures, and nations. if that is the case, it should also be the case that a universal philosophy of music education – a coherent system of beliefs about the nature and value of music and its role in education and in life, applicable to all generations, times, cultures, and nations – should exist or can exist or does exist. However, no such universal philosophy has been articulated and has been recognized by the world's music educators to be universally acceptable. In fact, many would claim that a universally persuasive philosophy is unlikely if not undesirable. Lacking such a philosophy, claims for the universality of music have no firm foundation. Yet the intuition that there is, indeed, a universal dimension of music and of music education remains persuasive or at least attractive. Is it possible to identify universally accepted values of music and the teaching and learning of music? Would it be useful for the international community of music educators if attempts were made to do so? This paper will argue that it would be extremely useful to make such an attempt, and will suggest some of the strategies by which the attempt might prove fruitful.

Could There Be Deleuzian Assessment in Music Education?

2019 ◽  
pp. 121-136
Author(s):  
Lauren Kapalka Richerme
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
Continuous Assessment ◽  
Education Policies ◽  
Philosophical Inquiry ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Musical Practices ◽  
Contemporary Education

Authors of contemporary education and arts education policies tend to emphasize the adoption of formal, summative assessment practices. Poststructuralist philosopher Gilles Deleuze’s emphasis on ongoing differing and imaginative possibilities may at first glance appear incompatible with these overarching, codified assessments. While Deleuze criticizes the increasing use of ongoing assessments as a form of control, he posits a more nuanced explanation of measurement. This philosophical inquiry examines four measurement-related themes from Deleuze’s writings and explores how they might inform concepts and practices of assessment in various music teaching and learning contexts. The first theme suggests that each group of connective relations, what Deleuze terms a “plane of immanence,” demands its own forms of measurement. Second, Deleuze emphasizes varieties of measurement. Third, those with power, what Deleuze terms the “majority,” always set the standard for measurement. Fourth, Deleuze derides continuous assessment. His writings suggest that music educators might consider that assessments created for one musical practice or style should not transcend their own “plane of immanence,” that a variety of nonstandardized assessments is desirable, that the effect of measurement on “minoritarian” musical practices must be examined carefully, and that it is essential to ponder the potentials of unmeasured music making.

A toe-tapping good time: Informal musicking through critical pedagogy in inclusive settings

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 497-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Verne Hélène Lorway
Keyword(s):  
Critical Pedagogy ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Western Society ◽  
Good Time ◽  
Student Voices ◽  
Inclusive Settings ◽  
Music Class

This article draws upon the experiences of the author as a music educator creating inclusive music programmes over the past 24 years. She describes how informal learning gleaned from the approaches of popular musicians, combined with musicking as a means of building powerful relationships and critical pedagogy to infuse student voices into the teaching and learning process is a potent recipe for building an inclusive music class. Such a method needs to be guided by music educators throughout the learning process. Examining inclusive music education leads to further questions regarding what constitutes musicality and non-musicality in western society. When persons of all ages are involved in musicking in school and community contexts, music educators need to be involved in the challenges surrounding notions of musicality and non-musicality to steer processes that can create spaces for learning and growth.

The Kodály Concept in the United States: Early American Adaptations to Recent Evolutions

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-72
Author(s):  
Megan M. Sheridan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Music Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Philosophy Of Music ◽  
Zoltan Kodaly ◽  
Early American ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Kodaly Concept

Zoltán Kodály, a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, and music educator, is widely known for his philosophical and pedagogical contributions to music education. The purpose of this article was to trace the development of the Kodály movement in the United States from its implementation in the 1960s to present day. Questions that guided the research were (1) Who was Zoltán Kodály and what was his philosophy of music education? (2) Who were some of the American music educators who initially implemented the Kodály concept in the United States and what role did they play in the spread of the concept? and (3) How has the Kodály concept evolved in the United States? Following an overview of Kodály and his philosophy, the contributions of Mary Helen Richards, Denise Bacon, Lois Choksy, and Sr. Lorna Zemke during the early years of the Kodály movement are discussed. The evolution of the Kodály concept is discussed in relation to the work of Lois Choksy, Ann Eisen and Lamar Robertson, John Feierabend, Susan Brumfield, and Mícheál Houlahan and Philip Tacka. A conclusion includes suggestions for the advancement of the Kodály concept, including the need for research on the methods of the approach.

Curriculum and Assessment for Students with Special Needs

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice M. Hammel ◽  
Ryan M. Hourigan
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Special Needs ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
National Standards ◽  
Learning Differences ◽  
Students With Special Needs ◽  
Philosophy Of Music ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Music Classroom ◽  
The Individual

Every successful music educator has a curriculum that contains a scope (overarching goals) and sequence (how we will achieve our goals and in what order) that are critical to reaching meaningful educational goals within the music classroom. Walker and Soltis (2004) state: “Working with the curriculum is an integral part of all teachers’ daily lives”. When specific curricula are not mandated (by the state, or federal government), most music educators use a set of standards or guidelines to devise a scope and sequence for classroom teaching (i.e., the National Standards). It is important as music educators to consider their curriculum when preparing to teach all students, not just students with learning challenges. This is what separates an educator from a therapist or a service provider. The questions that we will address in this chapter include: How do music educators maintain a focus on their own curricular goals while adapting that same curriculum to the individual needs of students? And how do we assess and reflect on these goals to make adjustments in our curriculum? These are difficult questions to answer. In fact, this has been a challenge for teachers since the inclusion of students with special needs began following the passage of P.L. 94–142 more than 35 years ago. Walker and Soltis explain, “While many teachers supported the goal, many were offended that rigid regulations were imposed on them without their consent”. All these issues require a thoughtful and sequential approach when preparing, presenting, and assessing instruction in the music classroom. However, the stronger the underlying curricular focus is, the easier it will be to adapt and modify your existing curriculum to individualize instruction for students who have learning differences. Your specific curriculum, if not mandated by your state or school system, will be a result of your philosophy of music education. Even when utilizing prescribed curricula, your choices in scope and sequence will reflect your values in the classroom. These same values will be reflected in the choices you make in modifying your curricula for students with special needs.

Naming Moral-Political Discourses in Music Education: A Philosophical Investigation

2021 ◽  
pp. 002242942110199
Author(s):  
Lauren Kapalka Richerme
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Music Teacher ◽  
Music Teacher Education ◽  
Political Discourses ◽  
Political Beliefs ◽  
Balanced Approach ◽  
Nurturant Parent ◽  
Main Ideas

Given the contemporary polarized political landscape and the elective nature of much music teaching and learning, it is important that music educators understand how they reinforce or undermine stakeholders’ political beliefs. The purpose of this inquiry is to investigate alignment between Lakoff’s moral-political metaphors and Allsup’s main ideas and to consider the value of certain moral-political discourses for music education. I demonstrate that Allsup favors concepts that align with Lakoff’s liberal nurturant-parent metaphor, while his ideas work in tension with the conservative strict-parent metaphor. When conservative moral discourse goes unacknowledged, discussions about what kind of ethics should inform music education get misrecognized as arguments about whether ethical concerns should inform music education. I also examine the potential implications of practices aligning with music educators’ individual moral-political beliefs, a community’s moral-political preferences, or a balanced approach to the two metaphors. Yet, nurturant-parent values and associated practices often remain unarticulated and peripheral in music teacher education. I propose that music educators might name the role that conservative ethics play within the profession, provide increased attention to practices aligning with the nurturant-parent moral-political metaphor, and experiment with discourse and actions not directly invoking either moral-political metaphor.

scholarly journals Music as a Tool for Shaping the Growing Individual: A Review

2021 ◽  
pp. 24-32
Author(s):  
Ernest Francis Amparbin
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
General Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Philosophy Of Music ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Music Interpretation ◽  
The Individual

The paper is directed at contributing to the awareness of the need to emphasize the need for music education in schools. Music has largely been touted as a tool for training, however, it is practically being employed as a source of entertainment and a means of engaging learners in the classroom, thereby paying less attention to its evolving effect on the individual. Consequently, a number of literature emphasizing the importance of music as an instrument for the total development of the learner, has been thoroughly reviewed in this paper. This is to expose stakeholders of education particularly educators, policymakers, parents and heads of educational institutions to the inseparable benefits of music in the general education of the learner. It is therefore crucial for teachers and heads of schools to liaise with Parent-teacher associations, non-governmental organizations, School management boards and the Ministry of Education to help furnish schools with appropriate musical instruments and facilities such as sound laboratories, secluded rooms for audio-visuals to aid teachers and learners in the teaching and learning endeavour. Keywords: Music education, Philosophy of music, Interpretation of music education

The Oxford Handbook of Philosophical and Qualitative Assessment in Music Education

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Qualitative Assessment ◽  
Community Music ◽  
Music Teaching ◽  
Education Assessment ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The World

The Oxford Handbook of Philosophical and Qualitative Assessment in Music Education offers global, comprehensive, and critical perspectives on a wide range of conceptual and practical issues in music education assessment, evaluation, and feedback as these apply to various forms of music education within schools and communities. The central aims of this Handbook focus on broadening and deepening readers’ understandings of and critical thinking about the problems, opportunities, “spaces and places,” concepts, and practical strategies that music educators and community music facilitators employ, develop, and deploy to improve various aspects of music teaching and learning around the world.

International Perspectives

2012 ◽  
pp. 39-62
Author(s):  
Marie McCarthy
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Cultural Transformation ◽  
First Century ◽  
Instructional Programs ◽  
International Perspectives ◽  
Common Purpose ◽  
New Generation

Music educators are united by a common purpose: To engage children and youth in music and to develop their artistic life and their humanity. To achieve that purpose, they advocate the values of music, develop instructional programs that are comprehensive and dynamic, and expand what is known about music teaching and learning through reflective practice and participation in research and inquiry. In these and other ways, music educators serve to build on past traditions and open the way to cultural transformation through the imaginative and creative contributions of a new generation of music-makers. The process of music education is manifest uniquely in each national context, based on political, social, and cultural histories; geographical location; and economic circumstances. This article provides a historical perspective on how music education has developed into a global community during the twentieth century. It examines trends and challenges that confront music educators at the beginning of the twenty-first century and makes projections about the future course of music education.

Looking Back to Move Forward: Charles Fowler and His Reconstructionist Philosophy of Music Education

2020 ◽  
pp. 153660062093797
Author(s):  
Craig Resta
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Music Teaching ◽  
Sociological Perspective ◽  
Philosophy Of Music ◽  
Philosophical Beliefs ◽  
The Past ◽  
Teacher Researcher ◽  
History Of ◽  
Modern Context

Charles Fowler (1931–1995) was an important thinker whose reconstructionist philosophy of music education represents an untold view worthy of examination in the modern context. Fowler described the philosophy in his dissertation completed in 1964, based on the reconstructionist theory of Theodore Brameld. He outlined seven major objectives stating how music education can impact students, schools, and communities, and can serve as an agent of social change. This perspective was the basis for Fowler’s pragmatic and progressive outlook throughout his 45-year career as teacher, researcher, writer, and arts advocate. His philosophy is presented here as another critical viewpoint of music teaching and learning, and for its impact on those who experience it. Following an introduction to Fowler and his connections to reconstructionism, his seven objectives for music education are presented, along with samples of writing showing his consistent philosophical beliefs over time, concluding with a review of his thinking while considering the future through a lens of the past. While prevailing viewpoints center on aesthetic, praxial, and pedagogical views, Fowler’s reconstructionist philosophy is worthy of inclusion in the history of music education as he argued for a sociological perspective that predates most viewpoints commonly read in the field today.

A Comparative Content Analysis of Music Educators Journal and Philosophy of Music Education Review (1993–2012)

2016 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 238-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura A. Stambaugh ◽  
Brian E. Dyson
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Topic Area ◽  
Philosophy Of Music ◽  
Creativity Research ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Chi Square Analysis ◽  
Comparative Content ◽  
Education Review

Two journals reflecting the interests and concerns of music educators are Music Educators Journal ( MEJ) and Philosophy of Music Education Review ( PMER). The purpose of this study was to explore the interests of P–12 music teachers and university faculty as represented by the topics of articles in MEJ and PMER from 1993 to 2012. After identifying the primary topic of articles at least two pages in length ( N = 889), we determined the number of articles and pages published in each topic area within each journal. A chi-square analysis indicated topics within journals did not occur with equal probability ( p < .001). The most frequently occurring topics in MEJ were curriculum (21.15%), performance (15.86%), and fieldwork (9.02%). The most frequently occurring topics in PMER were interview (15.45%), philosophy to school (11.79%), and performance (10.57%). Performance was the only topic common to both journals for their five most frequently occurring topics. Topics also were examined in 5-year increments, showing topic frequency was more consistent across time for MEJ than for PMER. In MEJ, the topics creativity and technology appeared less frequently over time, while performance and social justice increased. In PMER, marginalization articles decreased, while creativity, research/critical inquiry, and performance increased.

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