Values and Philosophizing about Music Education

Abstract

In this essay, a quintet of values in doing philosophy of music education are examined: the need for a broad view, a personal perspective, a constructive vision, a relevant plan, and the courage to speak about important issues in music education. The following questions frame the analysis of each, in turn: What do these values mean? What importance do they hold today? How can they be expressed practically in the life and work of philosophers and those interested in the philosophy of music education? I speak of a quintet of values that goes to the heart of doing philosophy of music education, namely, the need for a broad view, a personal perspective, a constructive vision, a relevant plan, and the courage to speak about issues of importance to music education. I aspire to these values as ideals, and I suppose that philosophers of music education already share them in one fashion or another. As there is nothing particularly new here, why speak of them again? My sense is that given the particular academic pressures and expectations today, and in the way of philosophy, it is useful to revisit them for our time, and to ask: What do these values mean? What