The value of music in liberal arts education and integrating musicing into a music appreciation course

A liberal arts education for Christians is about finding God’s truth; therefore, Christian students need to be educated in a broad range of subjects, including music. While a music appreciation course is thought to be about gaining knowledge of music, some music scholars have pointed out that a music curriculum should involve students in experiencing the essence of music through doing. This article discusses God’s invitation for us to music and the value of music in a liberal arts education. In addition, it looks at the integration of a praxial approach (referred to here as musicing) in a music appreciation course.

‘When I say “modern”, you say “band”’: A critical narrative of modern band and Little Kids Rock as music education curriculum

This article is based on the lived experiences of the authors engaging with modern band and the organization Little Kids Rock (LKR). We approach this research as critical storytelling to highlight the importance of critique of music curriculum and pedagogy. We identify moments of cognitive dissonance we experienced with LKR and modern band and unpack them through theory. Data included review of LKR materials, journals, text messages, reflective writing and discussion around participation in LKR-sponsored events. We share our critical story through text messages and narration, through which we note issues such as neo-liberalism and indoctrination; language (mis)use through educational buzzwords; identity reformation and the manner in which teachers feel a need to cling to methodolatry or act as change agents. We illustrate the central role critique plays in music teaching discourses and practices to guide music teachers to accept vigilance of curricular resources and pedagogical approaches presented to them.

Teaching Freedom Song as Antiracist Praxis

In the teaching of history, oversimplification is, perhaps, unavoidable. In certain cases, however, that oversimplification can be deadly. There are some lessons that are too complex, some stories that are too nuanced, to be reduced in such a way. By their contours and particularities, they resist easy digestion. In the spirit of this particularity, my contribution to the colloquy is specific, but hopefully applicable to contexts beyond its specificity: I argue that the US Black Freedom Movement (or civil rights movement) and its music is a story that must be taught in all its complexity, for oversimplifying it does concrete harm to the ongoing struggle against white supremacy in the present. Teaching the US Black Freedom Movement and its music is also vital if we hope to enable our students to be forces of understanding, healing, and justice in the world, and should be an integral component of any undergraduate music curriculum that hopes to be antiracist.

Music Teachers’ Perception of Music Teaching at the Stage of Early Adolescence

Based on the descriptive method of qualitative educational research, the present study explores music teaching at the stage of early adolescence in terms of general-school music teachers’ viewpoints on factors defining the planning and implementation of music teaching. The study was based on qualitative analysis of data gathered in interviews with 18 teachers from nine countries (Slovenia, Argentina, Australia, USA, Turkey, Poland, Russia, Italy and Germany). The research found that music teaching based on authentic musical communication through the activities of playing, creating and listening to music was favoured by the interviewees. Among the factors affecting the presentation of music teaching at the stage of early adolescence, the quality of curricular bases and the professional competence of music teachers were emphasised. In this context, the research findings showed that music curricula in the international context do not provide a suitable curricular base for the implementation of music teaching. The problem becomes especially salient when the competences of music teachers are insufficient for the transference of the curricular platform to musical praxis through authentic ways of musical teaching. The research findings provide an insight into the complexity of the factors involved, including authentic music teaching, the music curriculum and teachers’ competences, which determine the planning and implementation of music teaching at the stage of early adolescence. In addition, the findings provide a basis for further research in a broader context and for the development of guidelines for curricular updates and the modernisation of music education in general schools.

Traditional Philosophical Foundations of Curriculum

Chapter Two outlines the three major traditional philosophies: Idealism (Plato), Realism (Aristotle), and Neo-Scholasticism (ancient and medieval precedents and origins of schooling). Each is briefly sketched, then critiqued for its ill-effects when serving as a contemporary basis of music curriculum as aesthetic education (MEAE). While perhaps suited to the schools of the past, those of nobles and aristocrats before the rise of “public” (or “common”) schools for all children, the strong legacy of each is often ill-suited to contemporary life, students, and music. These three traditional philosophies share a usually abstract, “merely academic,” and detached approach to schooling. For all three, questions about reality, truth, and beauty are not questions at all! They are eternal and unchanging claims that exist independently of and, therefore, logically prior to the experiences, needs, and musical interests of particular students.

Contemporary Perspectives for Curriculum Theory

This chapter thoroughly examines practice theory and its more recent cousin, praxis theory. Practice theory has three aspects: theoria, technē, and praxis. It is not to be confused with the commonplace use of the word “practice.” Thus, some details are needed to correct frequent misunderstanding of the term and theory by many authors. Extensive application to musicing and music curriculum helps understand these key ideas and their importance for music teachers. In addition, action learning is stressed for its relationship to community musicing, and post-modernism is explored both for its circularity and for its critical usefulness in exposing the metanarratives of traditional schooling.