The Evolution of Music Education Philosophy from Utilitarian to Aesthetic

1982 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael L. Mark
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Common Factor ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Religious Leaders ◽  
Education Philosophy ◽  
Societal Needs ◽  
Evolution Of Music ◽  
The Many ◽  
Education And Society ◽  
The Relationship

Throughout Western history, various philosophies of music education have been articulated by intellectual, political, and religious leaders. A common factor in the various philosophies is the relationship between music education and society. Since the middle of the 20th century, writers on music education philosophy have been mostly music educators, rather than societal leaders. They have, for the most part, abandoned the many historical justifications of the profession in favor of aesthetic philosophy. The utilitarian values of music education that have formed its historical philosophical basis have been rejected during the last 30 years because they have little to do with music. Music is now taught for the sake of music, and the link that has historically connected aesthetics with societal needs has been broken.

Commentary: Music in the Community

2012 ◽  
pp. 98-103
Author(s):  
David J. Elliott
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Community Music ◽  
Music Making ◽  
The People ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Relationship

This article presents an overview of Section 2 of the Oxford Handbook of Music Education, Volume 2. It considers John Dewey's (1927) thoughts on the relationship between the “goods” (values, benefits) of some kind of activity and the nature of “community.” It argues that it is highly unlikely that there will never be a fixed concept or “how-to” of community music. For however and wherever community music is conceived and practiced, this elusive phenomenon continues to evolve and diversify locally and internationally to meet the changing needs of the people it serves today and those it will serve tomorrow. It reinvents itself continuously in relation to the musics and technologies its practitioners and clients desire and appropriate; and, of course, community music matures constantly as community music facilitators deploy their creativity to reframe, adjust, combine, integrate, and overlap existing ways of empowering people to make music for the realization of its many “goods” and the many ways that music making, musical sharing, and musical caring creates “community.”

The rights and wrongs of school music: a brief comment on Malcolm Ross's paper

1997 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Plummeridge
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Insufficient Attention ◽  
The Arts ◽  
School Music ◽  
The Many

In this article consideration is given to some of the issues raised in Malcolm Ross's provocative critique of music education and music educators (TJJME, 1995, 12, 185–201). Ross's claim that there is empirical evidence to support a view of school music as a failing arts subject requires closer examination and critical evaluation. Whilst his contention that the arts subjects cannot really be taught in schools is both interesting and challenging, teachers will question some of Ross's underlying pedagogical and aesthetic arguments. They are also likely to conclude that he pays insufficient attention to the many developments that have taken place in the theory and practice of music education.

Musical Participation from Birth to Three: Toward a Global Perspective

2012 ◽  
pp. 278-295
Author(s):  
Susan Young ◽  
Beatriz Ilari
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Broad Perspective ◽  
Very Young Children ◽  
Meta Level ◽  
Wide Angle Lens ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
The Many

This article looks at children's musical learning from a broad perspective, encompassing the many different kinds of situation and types of musical participation from which children learn. Music educators concerned with the music education of very young children mainly concern themselves at the micro-level with the day-to-day detail of what to teach and how, and rarely take a meta-level view. A wide-angle-lens view reveals this diversity of forms of participation, and raises awareness that musical learning happens not only in conventional educational settings or music classes, and is subject to many different influences. A wide-angled view encourages analysis of the conceptions of young children as musical and what constitutes “good” musical development in terms of social values, and encourages consideration of how these shape practice.

Music Education in France

1985 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-251
Author(s):  
Roy Terry
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Actual Practice ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Musical Ability ◽  
Study Visit ◽  
French Music ◽  
Current Concerns ◽  
The Relationship

The article summarises French Ministry of Education guidelines for music education and describes examples of actual practice. Mention is also made of Ministry of Culture provision for music education. An attempt is made to reflect current concerns among French music educators. Among issues raised are the nature of musical ability; what counts as music; questions of access and democratisation; and the relationship between classroom music and specialist instrumental tuition. The article is based on material gathered during a study visit to schools and colleges in Paris, and correspondence with teachers, advisers, and inspectors throughout France.

Roots and routes in adult musical participation: investigating the impact of home and school on lifelong musical interest and involvement

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Pitts
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Musical Life ◽  
British Music ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Home And School ◽  
The Ideal

This paper analyses a collection of musical life histories, drawn from 71 British respondents who have maintained a lifelong interest in music as regular concert-goers, amateur performers and/or music educators. These respondents reflect on the influences and opportunities which have contributed to their lifelong engagement in music, and in doing so illustrate the impact of changes in British music education and culture over the last 50 years. Particular analytical focus is placed here on the relative influence of home and school, on the ideal characteristics of each environment, and the relationship between them. The value of a long-term perspective on music education is debated, and conclusions drawn about the challenges to teachers and researchers that are evident from this study.

Music Education Philosophy

2012 ◽  
pp. 62-86
Author(s):  
David J. Elliott
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Community Music ◽  
International Literature ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Philosophy Of Music ◽  
Education Philosophy ◽  
School And Community

This article introduces the field called “the philosophy of music education,” or music education philosophy (MEP). The philosophy of music education is a relatively young field, with many music educators unaware of its existence, not to mention its nature and values. Indeed, specialized courses in MEP are still infrequent in undergraduate and graduate music education curricula in North America and most other nations. Nevertheless, there is a fairly sizeable and rapidly expanding international literature intended to (1) analyze, synthesize, debate, or “problematize” and “worry” all theoretical and practical aspects of music education and, thereby, to (2) inform teachers, university music education students, and scholars about fundamental concepts, conceptions, controversies, principles, and practices in school and community music education.

The Oxford Handbook of Music Education, Volume 1

2012 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Shopping Mall ◽  
Music Learning ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
The Many ◽  
Do So

Music education takes place in many contexts, both formal and informal. Be it in a school or music studio, while making music with friends or family, or even while travelling in a car, walking through a shopping mall or watching television, our myriad sonic experiences accumulate from the earliest months of life to foster our facility for making sense of the sound worlds in which we live. The Oxford Handbook of Music Education, which comprises of two volumes, offers an overview of the many facets of musical experience, behavior, and development in relation to this diverse variety of contexts. In this first volume, articles discuss a range of key issues and concepts associated with music learning and teaching. The volume then focuses on these processes as they take place during childhood, from infancy through adolescence and primarily in the school-age years. Exploring how children across the globe learn and make music, and the skills and attributes gained when they do so, these articles examine the means through which music educators can best meet young people's musical needs. The second volume of the set brings the exploration beyond the classroom and into later life. Whether they are used individually or in tandem, the two volumes of this text update and redefine the discipline, and show how individuals across the world learn, enjoy, and share the power and uniqueness of music.

Musics of ‘The Other’: Creating musical identities and overcoming cultural boundaries in Australian music education

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Cain
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
The Other ◽  
Binary Opposition ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Multicultural Policy ◽  
Cultural Boundaries ◽  
The Many ◽  
Musical Understanding

The binary opposition between ‘own music’ and ‘other's music’ is the ‘result of deep conditioning’ (Drummond, 2010, p. 118) and is almost impossible to overcome.By exploring the underlying constructs that influence students’ and teachers’ perceptions of minority cultures and their musics, this paper explores the notion of ‘the other’ in Australian music education. In particular, how the many factors which play a role in cultural identity serve to both promote and prevent musical understanding and appreciation. An examination of Australian multicultural policy and music curriculum documents in the state of Queensland provides a foundation for the discussion of data obtained from interviews with teachers from state and private primary schools in the capital Brisbane. The results reveal that while music educators are generally inquisitive about incorporating musics of ‘other’ cultures into their lessons, they are less comfortable with crossing cultural boundaries, and do not wish to threaten the position of Australia's own musical culture – ultimately highlighting a disconnect between policy, rhetoric and practice in the area of culturally diverse music education in classrooms today.

“Working in Concert”: Examining Music’s Role in Cross-Curricular Education

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Browne
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Progressive Pedagogy ◽  
Subject Areas ◽  
The Cross ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Relationship

The purpose of this presentation is to investigate the power of the cross-curricular teaching and learning practice while exploring the relationship between music and other subject areas in an educational environment. In recent years, the curriculum of countries such as Sweden, Australia, and the United Kingdom, has placed greater emphasis on utilizing the cross-curricular learning and teaching practice. This progressive pedagogy strives to engage students by connecting different curricular areas within an activity or lesson. Students have the opportunity to engage in a deeper form of learning, applying their knowledge and transferring their skills as they discover similarities between distinct subject areas. Additionally, the cross-curricular practice can attract pupils to disciplines that otherwise might not have held their attention. As everyday life is filled with tasks that draw on multiple subject areas, this teaching approach ultimately enables the educational system to better prepare pupils for their future. However, the cross-curricular practice can pose a challenge to teachers who lack confidence in their knowledge of content across the many curricular areas. This is particularly relevant to music education, as many teachers who do not possess a solid knowledge base of skills and techniques shy away from incorporating music into their teaching practice. Nevertheless, cross-curricular learning seems to be a valuable learning process, therefore, I will discuss method of incorporating music into cross-curricular lessons in order to provide  

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