Historical Perspective of Music Education Philosophy – Part I

In the US, during the nineteenth century, the practice of singing from rote was used for musical expression of worship in church settings. The practice of teaching of music in singing schools was then replaced by music schools. With basic rote teaching methods in place, it can be understood that the philosophical thought during this time was merely that music held value in society and that it should be included in one’s education. Common school curriculum included music and the need for specialized music educators began to grow in size and scope. Music educators were encouraged to develop more teaching methods resembling that of Pestalozzi and Froebel thus utilizing more of a psychological approach to music education teaching.
As American society moved into the twentieth century, music continued to hold integral value in education programming and additional features, such as instrumental music performance and fundamental music teaching, began to take shape. Replaced by foci of general music education and patriotism, worship became a minor focus for musical training. The increase of music education societies and associations, such as Music Teachers National Association and Music Supervisors National Conference, began to assist music educators across broad geographical areas providing avenues for expressing methods, organizational development and musical thoughts related to music education on a larger scale. Larger scale organization permitted vast exchange of thoughts and ideas throughout the music education community as the growth of professional music supervisors grew. Readily accessible radio and phonograph technologies birthed new avenues for music appreciation and listening, thus heightening the popularity of bands and subsequently increasing the need for more full-time music educators with formal training, music publications and related music materials. A growing music education philosophy began to form as a community of music educators began to share ideas and pedagogies of progressive education as exemplified in the establishment of the Music Supervisors National Conference of 1907, which would later become the Music Educators National Conference.
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1. Bennett Reimer, A Philosophy of Music Education: Advancing the Vision, 3rd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2003), 245.

Developing a Music Education Philosophy – Part II

To many educators, developing a music education philosophy can be a daunting task, however, with a little self-reflection and motivation, one can set-out on the life-long path of discovery. By developing a music education philosophy an educator can begin to understand the central core of what musical experience means at a personal level, and then be able to explore the pedagogical implications. Intentional or not, the beliefs held within an individual, specifically teaching beliefs, will, in some way be manifested in the classroom setting. Knowing, or beginning to know, one’s music education philosophy will assist the educator in awareness of strengths and weaknesses that may be present due to beliefs therein.
When exploring the deep waters of music education philosophy, there are premises that need to be established before getting into further philosophical inquiry; the primary premise being that a music educator assumes music has value. Without music being given a place of value within the educator, a music education philosophy cannot be adequately established since all relevant core issues of music education will contradict future action-making experiences.
Secondly, it is assumed that a music educator also assigns value to the actions of teaching and learning such as personal growth and regular curriculum development. Since it is within oneself to give or deny value, personal reflection is needed to determine such distinctive qualifiers. Personal reflection leads to personal reaction. From such reactions, or lack thereof, all of our outward methods and concepts for teaching and pedagogy are displayed. It is such reactions that will determine and prioritize music curriculum, activity and daily routine within the classroom. Therefore, with music, and teaching and learning as established value premises, one can begin the process of discovering a personal philosophy of a music educator.
There are many examples throughout the history of music education that mirror how music education philosophy, and at times a lack of philosophical understanding, has affected teacher preparation and student learning. As one develops a music education philosophy that will be an active part of one’s teaching and learning, it would behoove oneself to understand the historical backdrop so that further critical thinking and ideas can be acknowledged, aptly understood, and either discarded or absorbed.

Developing a Music Education Philosophy – Part I

For music educators, many parts of the day includes musical sound; sound that signals us to wake up, sound that signals a start of school, sound of the students warming up in a band room, and the sound of silence as the day is done. Our days are marked by sound. It is a reminder of who we are and why we press on: music educators with a passion for teaching sound, or music, to the next generation of music students.
Like other educators, music educators not only need reminders of why they continue to teach day in and day out, they need to actively live out their underlying beliefs about music teaching and learning. Such action-based belief is what many call music education philosophy. It is a set of beliefs displayed in daily classroom routines and activities. When truly anchored as belief within an individual, philosophy takes on an active, visible form in one’s outward life. It is through an individual philosophy that one is able to map one’s assumptions to understand what direction needs to be taken or which direction to follow. With an applied music education philosophy, educators invoke their individual philosophy and map it so that they are better able explore, probe and process musical thought and inquiry exemplified in the music classroom. Thus, a well-formed music education philosophy enables a music educator to present a strong foundation of formulated critical understanding to better equip music students for their future learning and musical experiences. It is through the application of an active philosophical discovery that this paper will promote how a music educator can strengthen one’s music education philosophy, develop purposeful curricula and thereby present a well-rounded music program and experience capable of providing opportunity to engage today’s music student for a lifetime of learning.

Balanced Teaching in the Music Classroom

The art of balanced teaching in education should be a desire of all teachers. Sadly, most students graduate with a perspective only as wide as their teachers. As we look specifically at the music classroom, I believe that if we are honest about our past musical teaching, each of us, at some point in time, have taught music from our own understanding and perhaps avoided teaching on material that we either do not have formal training in, or that we do not find of personal interest.

That being said, as music teachers, it is our job to educate our students about music. This broad subject category called music covers the world over – both large and small cultural groups. Building on our knowledge as pedagogues, we can see that the music classroom crosses into many other subjects such as mathematics, geography, art, history, and social studies. By coordinating other subject disciplines with the music classroom, the burden of teaching students such a vast amount of knowledge can be lightened – and even making it easier for the different learner-types to understand. Using the resources of cross-classroom teaching will permit the music classroom to engage students in learning about the more specific music aspects of a music genre while still permitting the student to gain adequate knowledge about his or her instrument.

By cultivating and incorporating a balanced ethnomusicologist understanding in the music classroom, we will be leading our students, by example, of how we are each responsible to respect individuals, and cultures, outside of the classroom walls. The next generation of a country’s leadership is formed by the values and ethics that are taught, or neglected, in the education classroom.