Labuta, J.A., & Smith, D.A. (1997). Music Education: Historical contexts and perspectives. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Pages 40-43, 46-52.

SUMMARIZE:
Philosophy tends to change with new experiences, which prompt new questions. Music education is a special case – it has to be musical and reflect the present state of music while simultaneously being a part of a school and its general education goals. Formal instruction is intended to sustain society; however, differences within a given society have caused difficulties in creating and sustaining educational systems. Traditional philosophies (which are also known as conservative or orthodox philosophies) hold the view that the success and achievement of the individual comes before and, in fact, causes the success of the group or society. Nontraditional philosophies (which are also known as liberal or unorthodox philosophies), hold the view that the collective advancement of the society is more important than that of the individual. Traditionalists believe that absolute truth exists and that understanding that truth is the key to wisdom, while nontraditionalists believe that truth is relative and that wisdom is merely the desire to obtain knowledge.

Music education, as seen from a utilitarian perspective, is important because it helps create other important life-skills such as self-discipline, cooperation, self-expression, and better reading skills. The aesthetic perspective says that music education helps increase student’s sensitivities, bettering their lives even after they may leave music. Both ideas have been implicated in American schools; Lowell Mason was helped by the utilitarian viewpoint when he introduced music to school educational programs. The only problem with these viewpoints is that, though they can be useful for convincing those who make decisions concerning the future of music education, they ignore the inherent worth of music. American philosopher John Dewey introduced, in the 1930s, his “an experience,” which basically is today’s aesthetic experience.

According to Dewey, humans gain knowledge about the world around them through experience. Special experiences are interactions between people and their environment, but they are more balanced than ordinary experiences. Although all experiences move in stages, special ones are longer-lasting; they also are pursued more actively and are more likely to be followed through as they are self-propelled. An experience is usually life-changing, even if only in subtle ways.

The previously mentioned philosophies can be synthesized nicely to create one’s own philosophy as long as one realizes that human life is both subjective and objective. Facts of life and simple cause-and-effect situations, for example, help make up the objective parts of life; the feelings that these can generate, however, help make up the subjective parts of life. These feelings can then, in turn, affect the perception, and thus enjoyment of, or gain from, the objective experiences. Music follows this template nicely. By fulfilling a basic need to know or understand music, a person hears and/or experiences music and, usually, enjoys it, increasing the likelihood that, given the opportunity, they will study music again. They may even look for or create opportunities to hear or study music.

DISCUSS:
This reading selection is very crucial to my future teaching career. As a teacher, I will have to come up with philosophies on many ideas, such as how I will teach my class/ensemble, what discipline approach(es) to take with students, how best to make my students share my love for music, and, as discussed in the reading, why music education is important and what role it has in schools. Some of these philosophies will be used daily in the classroom; but the all-encompassing philosophy of the importance, both literal and perceived, of music education is absolutely critical to my success as an educator. I first must understand these philosophies and develop my own versions before I ever begin creating any other ideas or encountering students. Also, as mentioned in the reading, I might need to use some philosophies, or some parts of a philosophy to convince higher-ups of the importance of music education in order to retain funding for my program.

[ home ]  [ philosophy ]  [ mused courses ]  [ pgp ]  [ intasc standards ]  [ links ]