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.