Philosophy Of Music Education Research Articles

“The Whole City Must Never Cease Singing”: Plato and the Community of the Musical Nomos

Abstract: This paper explores the fundamental tenets of Plato’s philosophy of education, particularly his views on a practice of great educational potential: communal musical participation. According to Plato, music can attune the individual and the community to cosmic harmony and this, in turn, is the only way to form and maintain a community. The paper explores how the concepts of ethos and nomos are utilized to explain music’s role in community cohesion. It argues that Plato’s understanding of the power of immediate and pre-reflective participation in music can provide valuable insight for contemporary philosophy of music education. The concept of nomos , in particular, allows music educators to take this frame of thought to better understand the role of music in creating communities.

Memoria, Contuitus, et Expectatio : Revisiting Augustine of Hippo

Abstract: Since the Middle Ages, Augustine and the wealth of his writings have had an enormous impact on Western philosophical thinking. His approach to time and memory, which he sets out in his eleventh book of the Confessions , is one of the most important sources for research about the philosophy of time. Augustine describes time as a permanent movement in which the future passes unceasingly through an unrelated present into the past. Only the very present moment exists, but this present moment is infinitely short. If the past is no more, the future is not yet, and the present is indivisibly brief, memoria becomes the determining factor of human consciousness. Augustine’s theory of memory and time reveals an epistemological connection with the functioning of human consciousness. Since his understanding of time and memory is already of great relevance in many interdisciplinary approaches, it can also become important to the philosophy of music education. Revisiting Augustine’s concept of memoria can give us new impetus on questions about aesthetic education, cancel culture, and utopian thinking.

A Philosophical Inquiry into Practical Music Education in the Digital Age

Abstract Starting from the perspectives of constructivist philosophy and process philosophy, this paper uses descriptive analysis to explore the philosophy concept of practical music education, and concludes that practical music philosophy is the result of the comprehensive effect of many factors in music education. On the basis of the philosophy concept of music education, combining the characteristic parameters and objective function and similarity algorithm to construct a practical music education philosophy resource recommendation model to realize the construction of practical music education philosophy in colleges and universities, and adopting the method of statistical analysis to research and analyze the practical music education philosophy in the digital era. The results show that the score of instrumental performance students (4.0431) is significantly lower than that of students of other majors, and the difference is significant, with higher humanistic literacy in art and sports and a better foundation in cultural courses. The order of correlation between the scores of emotional identity dimension and the factors influencing the work of values cultivation in the philosophy of practical music education is, in descending order, the object of education (0.499), the subject of education (0.451), the mediator of education (0.476), and the ring of education (0.287), which indicates that the object of education (college students) is the most important factor influencing the work of values cultivation in the philosophy of practical music education. The purpose of this study is to examine the meaning and significance of practical music education philosophy, which is a significant source of inspiration for music education in China today.

Soundscape exploring through choral performance and music creation

With a profound concern for the local environment and culture in Taiwan, this project integrated collected soundscape clips and mobile devices to compose and perform a cross-domain audiovisual soundscape choral concert. Drawing inspiration from M. Schafer’s soundscape concept and music education philosophy, as well as the “Three-S Model” of soundscape—sound, setting, and significance, the project aimed to develop university students’ performance and music creation skills and enhance their perception of soundscapes. Employing the concept of choral theater, the concert creatively combined collected soundscape recordings and imagery from various sites, presenting them through a multidisciplinary theatrical framework. This approach led to a reinterpretation of soundscape choral repertoire, shedding light on their historical context and contemporary relevance. Through quantitative and qualitative analysis of feedback from students, it is found that the integration of visual and auditory elements allowed the audience to have a more enriching sensory experience. Moreover, university student performers gained a heightened sense of observation and analysis of their surroundings through their involvement in specialized creations and performances. This experience allowed them to authentically connect with the essence of world music and local folk songs, fostering a deeper connection with the cultural heritage.

Music Matters: A Philosophy of Music Education by David Elliott and Marissa Silverman (review)

Music Matters: A Philosophy of Music Education by David Elliott and Marissa Silverman (review)

“Om”: Singing Vedic Philosophy for Music Education

Abstract: Extending a nascent line of Asian philosophical research in music education, we mine Indian philosophies of music and education. Three key questions guide our project: What are Vedic philosophies of music? What are Vedic philosophies of education? Taken together, what insights can we draw for contemporary music education writ large? To address our questions, we analyze key passages from the Upanishads and synthesize ideas from these texts. A quartet of inter-related ideas emerge from our analysis: the guru , the shishya, vidya , and moksha . In brief, the guru (teacher) is revered as one would god, for it is the teacher who leads the shishya (student) toward vidya (knowledge) and through that toward moksha (liberation of the soul), which can also be attained via making music, such as the singing of Om (the absolute sound). In addition to proffering insights for contemporary music education, particularly in terms of how the ancient Vedic guru-shishya parampara adds nuance to contemporary discussions on the master-apprentice model of music education, we imagine how music education philosophy might look like if it were to be sung.

Application of the Orff Music Education Philosophy in Dance Teaching

Application of the Orff Music Education Philosophy in Dance Teaching

EDITORIAL

Editorial Estelle R. Jorgensen In June 2019, panelists Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, Joseph Abramo, Randall Allsup, and Cathy Benedict drew attention to “Music Education in Times of Darkness” in their presentation to the International Symposium XII for the Philosophy of Music Education held at Western University, London, Canada. They could not have known the full extent of the disasters that would befall the world in the years following, including a Covid 19 pandemic, the continued spread of authoritarian and anti-democratic regimes, wars, famines, corruption, pervasive misinformation and disinformation, natural calamities, a Russian invasion of Ukraine on the European continent, racial and civic unrest, and an attempted political coup in the United States that heretofore viewed itself as a beacon of equality, democracy, and freedom. Collectively, they examined the importance of resistance against the rising tide of neoliberalism and autocracy and challenged musician educators to find a way through these “dark times” towards more humane approaches to music education. Their intersecting articles now appear in the symposium that leads off this issue. This symposium constitutes a self-contained discussion introduced by the authors. It comprises a quartet of articles dealing with matters of obligation to resist cooption by the political right, the question of whether creativity suffices to ensure criticality, resistance to neoliberal subjectivities among friendship groups in popular music, and subversive versus subsumptive creativity as a form of resistance. Kim Boeskov reflects on the problematic of the ambiguity of musical practice for the social analysis of music educational practice. In thinking of music education’s ambiguous relationship to matters of social justice, Boeskov forwards three principles of musical ambiguity that are of potential value in reflecting on social analyses of music education. These are music’s “bidirectionality,” “multiplicity of social meanings,” and “in-betweenness.” In unpacking these ideas, Boeskov [End Page 109] complicates social interpretations of musical and music educational practices and resists what might otherwise constitute oversimplified social readings of events. Ketil Thorgesen and Thomas von Wachenfeldt reflect on the musical learning and socialization of young Black Metal musicians through German and Nordic interpretations of the notion of Bildung. They show the similarities between the ideals and means of Bildung and the informal learning and socialization of these musicians. Thorgesen and Wachenfeldt suggest that juxtaposing Black Metal music and notions of Bildung provide conceptual tools for critiquing “hegemonic discourses” in music education. Rounding out this issue are two book reviews: Nasim Niknafs’ review of Lauren Richerme’s Complicating, Considering, and Connecting Music Education (Indiana University Press, 2020) and Martin Berger’s review of Juliet Hess’s Music Education for Social Change—Constructing an Activist Music Education (Routledge, 2019). [End Page 110] Estelle R. Jorgensen Yarmouth Port, MA Copyright © 2022 The Trustees of Indiana University

A discussion on the aesthetics and philosophy of music in popular music

Since childhood, children have been drawn to the aesthetics of music. In the current exploratory study, we investigate the relationship between age, gender, and music education in terms of the perception of music preferences and musical emotions, which are two fundamental aspects of the aesthetic experience of music, using the children of teachers. I utilized the sectional design. We have established an experimental method for addressing particular children's musical interests and tendencies to do this. Melodic emotions and style are highly regarded. The melody consisted of three brief piano pieces: a significant piece, a minor piece, and a freetone piece. This article describes the "Reasoning of Music Education" or "Philosophy of Music Education" field (MEP). Method of music instruction is a relatively young field, and many music educators are unaware of its existence, as well as its inclination and value. In North America and most other nations, specialized MEP courses are not currently common in undergraduate and graduate curricula. The most surprising aspect of music is the variety of human advancements and individuals that create, utilize, evaluate, teach, learn, and invent "music" items, cycles, encounters, etc. Similarly, billions of people have invested a great deal of time, effort, thought, emotion, money, and in some cases, their lives creating specific sounds and related activities. I also acknowledge that it has been completed. Although music is an important and visible component of human civilisation, certain types of "music" sounds are created and listened to fulfill basic survival demands. Infrequent (if not entirely bizarre) compared to the enormous effort we exert. As many have noted, music does not appear biologically essential, yet it permeates all cultures.

Elusive Kodály Part I: Searching for Hungarian Influences in US Preschool Music Education

This paper is the first part of two articles exploring whether and how Hungarian music pedagogues have influenced early childhood music education in the United States. Using less-known publications and archived materials, this study moves beyond the well-documented history of the Hungarian pedagogue, Zoltán Kodály’s influence upon American general music education to focus on Kodály’s early childhood concepts, which form the backbone of the Hungarian philosophy of music education. Through the lives and work of the Hungarian and American music educators, Katinka Dániel, Katalin Forrai, Sister Lorna Zemke and Betsy Moll, I delineate a pedigree of distinguished female Kodály protégés professing a passion for Hungarian early childhood music pedagogy that did not mainstream into US preschools. In words spoken by and about these scholar-educators, my research locates the systemic and cultural factors contributing to the challenge of implementing Hungarian musical ideas in US preschools. To round out a description of the elusive Kodály influence on US early childhood music, this analysis also draws upon my own Los Angeles experience in searching for a quality Kodály education for my young toddlers.

Editorial

Editorial Estelle R. Jorgensen It is sometimes surprising when miscellaneous articles on a variety of specific subjects and assigned to an issue in order of their acceptance turn out to have a compelling and common theme. As editors, we sometimes have the sense of a zeitgeist, of a collective unconscious that bubbles up in the topics that compel our authors to write. As this issue goes to press, we are in a global pandemic that we hope will soon abate. We face an array of political, social, racial, ethnic, and economic conflicts and challenges that contribute to unsettlement and even despair for our collective well-being and the welfare of our planet. We are surrounded by a mediated environment in which expertise and truth are too often denigrated, ignorance and foolishness seem to fester and even prosper in public spaces, and frustration, anger, and violence are all too evident. Given this context, it is no wonder that our writers are also troubled by and skeptical of ideas and practices that have been promoted uncritically in music education and that seem not to meet this moment. Even better when they offer us constructive and creative criticism that also suggests alternative ways forward. This is as it is with the articles in this issue. Guilia Ripani critiques notions of “flourishing” proffered by advocates of music education that she views as individualistic and elitist. Instead, she advances the archaic Greek notion of metron or “right measure” that connotes dynamic balance and self-regulation as a more modest and “medium term” music educational objective. She hopes that students will be able to imagine their future flourishing and gain knowledge of themselves and their social agency through musical experiences and “critical reflections” on them. Our readers may notice the consonance of the idea of metron coming from the ancient West with ideas from the ancient East such as yin and yang forwarded by such writers as Victor [End Page 1] Fung and Leonard Tan—that are enjoying renewed interest in music education philosophy. Elizabeth MacGregor is concerned about the supposed benefits of music education for wellbeing touted by advocates of music education. Instead, she observes that students’ experiences of music education run the gamut of emotional responses to these experiences; they are not always conducive to wellbeing as too often assumed. Drawing on Judith Butler’s notion of “linguistic vulnerability,” she forwards a theory of “musical vulnerability” that she argues needs to be considered by music teachers. Her critique addresses the problem of simplistic understandings of the relationship between music and wellbeing and suggests instead the need for more nuanced understandings of the ways in which teachers and students open themselves to music. Wilfried Gruhn critiques what he sees as a “digital turn” in music education ongoing for some time but forwarded more recently by music teachers’ responses to COVID. He contrasts this embrace of technology as a means of music education that emphasizes virtual and cognitive musical experience with recent advances in cognitive science, learning, and related fields that suggest the importance of the intersection of mind and body in holistic musical learning in the phenomenal world. While technologies open opportunities for music learning, he suggests that they are also limited and even detrimental. This reality leads him to believe that this digital turn should be revoked, and music teachers should continue to emphasize physical experiences of music making in the phenomenal world. Antía González Ben worries about the epistemic suppositions that underlie music educational curricula. As a case in point, she digs beneath the International Baccalaureate High School music curriculum, widely used around the world, and examines the assumptions evident in this curriculum. Among other things, she critiques the notion of “musical culture” employed in this curriculum, its Euro-Americentrism, its musical formalism, its view of musical cultures as fixed and distinct and the roots of this idea in nineteenth century thought. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s notion of “power-as-effects,” she suggests an alternative transformative approach to music curriculum that would take account of “systems of dominance and oppression” that are operative in the musics of the world. Albi Odendaal and Heidi Westerlund fault music education for taking too...

A Study of the Differences in Philosophy of Music Education between Remo and Elliott

The development of western music education in the second half of the 20th century can be summarized as "point" and "face". "Point" refers to the philosophical perspective on music education represented by Remer's claim of "aesthetic education as the center, while "face" denotes the "multi-cultural basis" represented by Elliot. To put it in another way, the philosophy of music education is composed of many "points" so as to form "face". This paper compares and develops the two views of music education from three aspects: background of time, case analysis and philosophical basis, in order to contribute to the study of music education.

On "Teaching" and "Learning" of Music Education in Senior High School

With the improvement of people's life quality in China, people pay more and more attention to the quality of education. The relevant departments have carried out the new curriculum reform and applied modern technology to the development of the education industry, thus improving the teaching efficiency of the education industry in China. The significance of music classroom teaching in senior high school lies in showing a broader development space for students and teachers, respecting the law of physical and mental development of senior high school students, and choosing teaching contents and methods suitable for each student to meet the music learning needs of different students, so as to stimulate their interest and creation in music learning, lay a foundation for the lifelong development of each senior high school student's cultural accomplishment, and then promote the all-round and harmonious development of students' personality. This topic is based on the theory of music education philosophy, post-modern music pedagogy, music education psychology, music aesthetic psychology and other knowledge, analyzes the problems existing in the current music education and teaching in Chinese schools, expounds the feasibility and necessity of implementing the diversified application of pop songs in high school music classes, and discusses the ways and methods of implementing the diversified application of pop songs. This paper discusses the educational function of applying pop songs to music classroom teaching and the basic requirements for teachers.

Strategies for the Development of Music Education Philosophy for Preservice Music Teachers: A Literature Review

The purpose of this literature review was to analyze and synthesize pedagogical approaches related to developing music education philosophy for preservice music teachers. The literature that I identified covered procedures and strategies that preservice music teachers could apply to their teaching practice. On my analysis of the existing literature, I categorized the development of a philosophy into a four-stage process of (1) discovery, (2) articulation, (3) application, and (4) reflection and revision. Results found in the literature included clear expectations and practical tools for each stage, such as dialogues, reading, writing, and constructive feedback, providing a critical view of music education philosophy and guidelines for effective teaching. Understanding the four-stage process may help preservice music teachers and music teacher educators to establish a concrete plan for the development of music education philosophy, allowing preservice music teachers to acquire more confidence in their transition to inservice teaching.

Value-based orientations as a normative-regulatory mechanism for the formation of professional worldview of future music teachers

The transition period of modern society can be observed in various aspects, particularly in the value-normative one. The study of the Genesis of the formation of personality’s value-based orientations in the current conditions of reforming educational sector in Ukraine and its integration into the European Higher Education Area are becoming prioritized. The research methodology is complex, combining theoretical and empirical methods. Theoretical study of the problem of values in philosophical-historical and psychological-pedagogical discourses creates a methodological basis for expanding the subject field of interdisciplinary branches of scientific knowledge: pedagogical axiology and philosophy of music education. The interdisciplinary context of the conceptual range of these disciplines makes it possible to modernize the value-based orientation in the content of art education. The problem of spiritual and value-based formation of the personality by means of music is actualized, which creates the prerequisites for the formation of a phenomenon of holistic professional worldview of future music teachers. The analysis of structural components of the outlined phenomenon shows that the normative and regulatory basis of professional worldview is a system of value-based orientations of the individual.

Academy of Music and Arts for Special Education (AMASE): An Ethnography of an Individual Music Instruction Program for Students With Disabilities

This 3-year ethnography explored the culture of the Academy of Music and Arts for Special Education (AMASE), a university undergraduate volunteer organization offering music instruction for individuals with disabilities. We examined the organization and its impact on students, parents, and volunteers through the lens of the social relational model of disability. Findings clustered around three pillars of organizational values: ability, community, and service. The organization’s philosophy of ability cultivated a community that acknowledged the impairments of the students while actively seeking ways to break down the socially imposed barriers to musical learning that were disabling to them. The program filled a need where access to music education had previously been limited or denied. Undergraduate volunteers’ experiences raised their awareness of inequity for people with disabilities and motivated them to consider ways to serve this community in their future careers. Findings illustrate the potential impact of a social relational model on music education philosophy and practice, suggesting a need for music educators to challenge implicit beliefs about students’ capabilities and actively inquire into the ways in which music education contexts may be inherently disabling.

The Oxford Handbook of Philosophical and Qualitative Assessment in Music Education ed. by David J. Elliott, Marissa Silverman, and Gary E. McPherson

Reviewed by: The Oxford Handbook of Philosophical and Qualitative Assessment in Music Education ed. by David J. Elliott, Marissa Silverman, and Gary E. McPherson Michael Gale The Oxford Handbook of Philosophical and Qualitative Assessment in Music Education. Edited By David J. Elliott, Marissa Silverman, and Gary E. McPherson. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019. [xx, 550 p. ISBN 978-0-190-26518-2. £110] Of all the issues faced by music educators today, the question of assessment is perhaps the thorniest. Few topics provoke as much impassioned polemic, and this collection of twenty-seven essays by contributors from across the globe certainly makes no apology for that. This book is unashamedly ideological in tone, espousing the 'praxial philosophy' outlined by David J. Elliott in his influential Music Matters: A New Philosophy of Music Education (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995). For Elliott, music education should be a fundamentally experiential (rather than theoretically grounded) world, and the meanings and values attached to musical activity are inescapably contextually and socially defined. This vision is incompatible with the standards-based assessment protocols that, according to Elliott and his co-editors here, have been imposed upon modern-day educators through an increasingly dominant state-led neoliberal agenda. As a result, the testing of students now frequently eclipses all other considerations, not least the nurturing of creativity and self-exploration. This substantial volume is divided into four sections: the first ('Foundational Considerations') presents the editors' introduction and six further essays, followed by three sets of case studies gathered under rather loose headings ('Methodological Practices', 'Creativity', and 'International Perspectives') to form a set of lively and (mostly) engaging writings. Together, they offer a remarkably unified philosophical credo, providing contrasting snapshots of educational practice from areas as diverse as Australia, Iran, Nepal, Scandinavia, South Africa, and the U.S. A broad range of professional specialisms is explored, including classroom-based teaching, whole-class instrumental instruction, music therapy, special needs education, and beyond. In their introductory essay, the editors immediately nail their ideological colours to the mast, revealing the three key premises that underpinned their conception of this volume: 1). 'musics are made by and for people', and all musical activities are 'social endeavors and encounters' (p. 15)—ideas which are both central to Elliott's praxial philosophy. 2). music is part of everyday human experience, so music education should emphasise the processes and activities of musicmaking rather than treating musical works themselves as objects for veneration (p. 16). 3). music encompasses a wide range of diverse values which are 'invariably grounded in social experience'; music is contextually defined, and these values are 'functions of its service to various human needs and interests' (p. 17). [End Page 185] Following this, the remaining essays in Part 1 spell out a firm consensus, using a variety of philosophical and theoretical tools to echo and amplify the editors' distaste for prevailing models of testing and assessment. In Chapter 2, 'Institutional Music Education and Ranking as a Form of Subjectification: The Merits of Resistance and Resilience', Lise C. Vaugeois makes a powerful case for viewing ranking and grading as mechanisms for social division and control, while Kathryn Jourdan and John Finney (Chapter 3) fruitfully bring the philosophical ideas of Emmanuel Levinas to bear upon their rather exasperated observations on standard assessment practices in U.K. classrooms. Jourdan and Finney rightly challenge the narrowness of a mode of learning shaped primarily by exam board-defined questioning—but, like many of the chapters in this book, they stop short of offering far-reaching practical solutions to this pervasive problem. In Chapter 4, 'The Primacy of Experience: Phenomenology, Embodiment, and Assessments in Music Education', Andrea Schiavio is also guilty of this same sleight of hand. After sharing a provocative vision of musical learning that embraces embodied knowledge (as well as cognitive), and intersubjective interactions of various kinds (pp. 74–75), Schiavio eventually retreats, stating simply that 'the development of such new music assessment approaches goes beyond the limitations of this chapter' (p. 76). Drawing this opening group of essays to a close, Lauren Kapalka Richerme's invocation of poststructuralist philosopher Gilles Deleuze (Chapter 7), also squirms uncomfortably in this hinterland between theory and practice, outlining...

On the Usefulness of Nothingness: A Daoist-Inspired Philosophy of Music Education

:In 1952, John Cage wrote 4′33″ which famously asked the performer not to play a single note: tacet. This provocative work raises a number of questions. In music—and by extension, music education—what does it mean to not do something? What does it mean to make no sound? More fundamentally, what is the nature of non-action, non-sound, and even nothingness in and of itself? Since Cage was influenced by Eastern philosophy, we journey to Asia in search of insights into nothingness and associated notions of absence and negation. In particular, we draw on the writings of Daoist philosophers, principally Laozi, to examine a quartet of philosophical terms, namely, wu (nothing/ness), wuwei (non-action), wusheng (non-sound), and wuaile (neither sorrow nor joy). Using these ideas, we propose a Daoist-inspired philosophy of music education, one that emphasizes the usefulness (yong) of nothingness (wu).

A Literature Review on the Construction of a Teacher-Made Assessment Tool in Music Listening Response Competency for Junior High School K to 12 Music Curriculum

This study reports findings from a literature review study that aimed to describe the principles and processes of constructing a teacher-made assessment tool for Music listening response as one of the needed concepts and skills of Music teachers to address and assess the learning competencies in the junior high school K to 12 Music curriculum for music listening learning competency. Based on the literature review, the researcher identified six themes that are further discussed in this paper: the philosophy and objectives of Music education, the development of Music tests and assessment tools, objective type of tests for listening, forms of Music listening response, assessment tool and test construction, and initiatives and methods on the assessment of Music listening responses. The quality of test construction depends largely on the part of the classroom teacher. The problems of measuring and evaluating students’ achievements are not always solved by using standardized tests. The different techniques in constructing teacher-made assessment tools may be a guide to fulfill satisfactorily the measurement that a teacher needs. The objectives, processes, forms, steps, initiatives, and methods in constructing teacher-made tests serve as a guide by the classroom teacher to construct tests scientifically.

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

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.