Music Education in Broad Perspective

Title: Music Education in Broad Perspective

Author(s): Estelle R. Jorgensen

Source: Jorgensen, E. R. (1991, Fall). Music education in broad perspective. The Quarterly, 2(3), pp. 14-21. (Reprinted with permission in Visions of Research in Music Education, 16(2), Autumn, 2010). Retrieved from http://www-usr.rider.edu/~vrme

Visions of Research in Music Education is a fully refereed critical journal appearing exclusively on the Internet. Its publication is offered as a public service to the profession by the New Jersey Music Educators Association, the state affiliate of MENC: The National Association for Music Education. The publication of VRME is made possible through the facilities of Westminster Choir College of Rider University Princeton, New Jersey. Frank Abrahams is the senior editor. Jason D. Vodicka is editor of the Quarterly historical reprint series. Chad Keilman is the production coordinator. The Quarterly Journal of Music Teaching and Learning is reprinted with permission of Richard Colwell, who was senior consulting editor of the original series. Music Education in Broad Perspective

By Estelle R.Jorgensen Indiana University

n his recent essay, "What Should One tive process, evident in Israel Scheffler'S writ- Expect from a Philosophy of Music ings and focusing on the role of reason and I Education>,"! Phillip Alperson explains symbolic function in education.> that philosophical thought in music educa- Again, not only do these educational per- tion may employ at least three different aes- spectives overlook the specifically musical thetic strategies: the "aesthetic formalist," aspects of music education, but even if musi- resting on the work of such philosophers as cal and educational perspectives are taken Edward Hanslick and preoccupied with inter- together, music education may still not be nal musical structure and meaning; the "aes- understood sufficiently broadly as an histori- thetic cognitivist" derived from the writings cal, global, and cultural phenomenon. This of Susanne Langer, among others, and high- may suggest that a philosophy of music edu- lighting the interrelationships between mind, cation should be essentially interdisciplinary and especially feeling and music; and the and should incorporate insights from phi- "praxial," drawing on the ideas of such writ- losophy, psychology, sociology, physiology, ers as Francis Sparshott and emphasizing mu- musicology, anthropology, history, archeol- sical artistry and practice.s While the formal- ogy, and popular culture as well as other re- ist and expressive cognitivist aesthetic views lated fields. Such a philosophy would be have been explored by modern philosophers much broader than those based only upon of music education, the implications of the music and education. praxial view have yet to be fully mined. In this essay, three sets of considerations None of these philosophical perspectives, for developing a philosophy of music educa- however, offers a sufficiently broad view of tion in broad perspective are offered-those music education. It is not enough to cast a relating to music, education, and philosophi- philosophy of music education in musical cal method, respectively-along with a terms alone. Music education is a marriage sketch of some implications. Throughout, an of music and education, and as such, one at interdisciplinary perspective maintains. I least would expect to see a philosophy of present these as propositions and emphasize music education grounded in educational as their exploratory and illustrative, rather than well as musical assumptions. Education like- definitive and exhaustive, roles. Indeed, if wise witnesses at least three philosophical the perspective these considerations repre- perspectives: education as apprenticeship, sent is to be named, we might call it an in- illustrated in Edward Myers's study Educa- terdisciplinary view of music education. tion in the Perspectiue of History and empha- On Music sizing oral transmission and imitation; education as experience, exemplified in the work The musical event is socially embedded of John Dewey and highlighting the holistic and contextually understood. Musical mean- nature of education; and education as cogni- ing is not universal, nor is it grasped only by abstract principles. Rather, it is understood within the framework of the particular sets of Estelle Jorgensen is Professor of Music and rules, expectations, beliefs, and practices to Adjunct Professor of Women's Studies at Indi- which composers, performers, listeners, and ana Uniuersity, Bloomington, Indiana. all the actors involved in music-making gen-

14 The Quarterlyjournal of Music Teaching and Learning erally conform. These expectation-sets shape takes on a life of its own that is intimately re- the plethora of circumstances in which music lated to the people, things, and events that takes place-the times and places in which it surround it and of which it is a part. occurs, repertoire and performance practice, Musical works are not only born and live; the interaction of all of the participants-and they also die. They may become irrelevant to give meaning to the musical events. the life of the society. The societies of which That is, music is not disembodied from all they are a part may also become obsolete or the circumstances in which it is performed. dysfunctional. Throughout the life-cycles of It is ultimately expressed in the context of civilizations, music may become increasingly making or taking music, an active process of formalized and sometimes fossilized as great "musicing" (or its variant spell- traditions grow increasingly ing "musicking"). Moreover, out of step with the societies the cultural context in which they once represented. Such music appears is integral rather Pandering" to stu- fossilization occurs especially than ancillary to an under- dent and public when the canon comes to be standing of musical meaning. regarded as a static rather To describe the internal struc- opinion and turn- than dynamic phenomenon, ture of a particular piece of ing education into as fixed rather than in pro- music without also taking ac- cess of becoming, where count of the particular context a forrn of enter- works are regarded as estab- in which that structure appears tainment are mis- lished for all time instead of is to miss its main point. re-evaluated and reconsid- While music is grounded in educative in the ered in the light of changing praxis, and its touchstone is the Deweyan sense. circumstances. community of those who The making of the canon is comprehend its Significance and If not monitored ultimately a political and so- participate in its making and closely, the edu- cial as well as musical pro- undergoing, in whatever par- cess. Some works, musicians, ticular roles they fulfill, it is also cational industry and groups in society are un- understood formally or theo- can contribute to der represented, margin- retically, spiritually, and philo- alized, and even oppressed sophically as encompassing mis-educative ex- by it. Recognizing this, the significant beliefs and ideas, Of periences and music educator's task is one all the arts, music exemplifies a of musical and social recon- particularly close affinity to possibly become struction as well as transmis- spirituality and morality. It also the tail that vvags sion. Teachers not only involves practical skills and transmit the canon-they theoretical understandings and the dog. help make and revise it, as encompasses a broad range of they do society. In so doing, diverse musical experiences they playa central role in the such as composition, perfor- " dynamic process of musical mance, and listening. To expe- and societal development. rience music is to grasp its artistic and aes- The variety of value systems underlying thetic aspects-to participate in both its do- music making and undergoing internationally ing and its undergoing. This breadth and requires music education to take a global diversity of musical experience finds its par- view of musical tradition that eschews gen- allel in the process whereby people come to der, ethnic, age, and other biases that sepa- know music. rate people one from one another. Conse- Music is dynamic, in process of continually quently, rather than view the Western classi- becoming. It is not static. It is not freeze- cal tradition as the epitome and rationaliza- dried as the eternal, immutable canon of mas- tion of all musical development, music edu- terworks preserved for all time. Rather, music cators value it as one of a plethora of musical

Volume II, Number 3 15 traditions that comprise the rich heritage of In whatever tradition-folk, popular, or world musics. In the world of the "global classical-the ambiguity of musical text and village," they recognize music's contribution tone invokes imagination as a primary way to international understanding and coopera- whereby people understand music. Music's tion, and the importance of understanding meanings are multilayered and multidimen- this heritage as part of the music educational sional, understood literally and figuratively, process. They also incorporate popular and with reference both to the music itself and to mediated musics, folk musics and "little" tra- the other things, persons, and events to ditions, as well as classical musics and which it refers. Whether worked out in rea- "great" traditions as important aspects of the son, or grasped intuitively, musical ideas and music curriculum. skills are imaginatively employed in making, Music is understood. It is not only felt. It is taking, or reflecting about music. Even in known not only as sense-data but through an such oral musical traditions as that of the act of mind. It constitutes an articulated sym- Hindustanis in North India, where teachers bol system, a language of its own unique sort demand that their students copy them in cer- that is understood musically. As such, it draws tain respects and where there might seem to on the understandings, skills, freedoms, and be little room for imagination, music teachers constraints that comprise what we might think seek to ensure that their students exemplify of as the "discipline" of music. It is grasped imaginative musical thinking in their improvi- perceptively, imaginatively, rationally, and in- satory techniques and development of the tuitively, among other ways. It is expressive rag, or musical melody or mode. of, and even arouses emotion. And it calls On Education on and may evoke bodily response. Musical experience is holistic rather than Education is a complex process. It is not atomistic. Rather than constitute a variety of just schooling, or what happens in schools, distinct elements working more or less inde- particularly public schools. Nor is it only pendently-construed in terms of prevailing training, or the development of skills. educational-psychological notions of the cog- Eduction, relying on the metaphor of nitive, affective, and psychomotor domains- growth, does not incorporate the range of musical experience incorporates emotion and other metaphors that education evokes. Nor cognition, divergent and convergent thought, does socialization, or the ways in which a thinking and feeling, intuition and reason, group or institution ensures that its members body and mind in a unity where all the ele- adhere to certain corporate expectations ments become fused into one. We may about beliefs and actions, take sufficient ac- therefore speak of cognitive emotions, emo- count of the sometimes conflicting expecta- tive cognitions, imaginative reason, rational tions of these groups and institutions in a imagination, and of people as individual modern, multicultural, and complex society. members of communities, thereby bringing Even enculturation, whether conceived an- together a complex array of elements that are thropologically (in the sense that its subject in tension one with another and that para- matter constitutes a significant part of what it doxically belong both together and apart. is to be a human being-the sum of one's Moreover, the study of this experience calls history, artistic traditions, politics, and reli- on scientific and nonscientific ways of know- gion, among other things) or idealistically (in ing, on an array of interdisciplinary ap- similar vein to the Greek paideia expressing proaches that accommodate the complexity an ideal to which people aspire-that of the of the musical experience. Psychological un- superior human being characterized by such derstandings are insufficient. Philosophical, virtues as justice, love, truth, or the like), religious, anthropological, physiological, and may not fully encapsulate the concept of sociological ways of knowing, among other education. Rather, when taken together, ways, are necessarily involved in understand- these notions capture something of the com- ing the nature of the musical experience and plexity that is education.' how it can or should be developed. This complexity is dialectical and even

16 The Quarterly Journal of Music Teaching and Learning "Educators both know and do not know -what they are doing." paradoxical. Among other things, education ties, and, applying the skills and techniques conveys knowledge about particular subjects they have honed in practice, direct their efforts and inculcates an entire way of life. It devel- toward achieving those ends. ops individuals as well as members of soci- Education encompasses various ways of ety. It instructs in formal as well as informal knowing-artistic, scientific, philosophical, and ways. It is process- as well as product-ori- religious, among others. It is not only about ented. It constitutes doing as well as under- gaining utilitarian skills, however important- going. It is situated within an array of soci- reading, writing, computing, dancing, and ar- etal institutions besides public schools, such chery are among the subjects that have been as the church, family, musical profession, judged essential in the past-but about acquir- and business. It takes place throughout a ing wisdom, the compendium of beliefs, val- lifetime as well as especially during youth. ues, and practices that are believed either to It reconciles future potential and present re- be indispensable to one's successful participa- ality. Education is holistic and atomistic, syn- tion in a particular social and cultural context, thetic and analytic, subjective and objective. or to contribute to one's humanity and enjoy- It focuses on the development of the person ment of life. While education may be com- as well as the particular skills and under- prised of various facets that are conceptually standings encompassed within given subject distinct, to acquire wisdom is to grasp the matter. It invokes intuition and reason, mind unity of this knowledge, to know in one way and body, emotion and cognition. It fires rather then in many ways, in which the one imagination and engenders dogged determi- comprises the many. It is to know one's self nation. It is creative and repetitive, rhapsodi- as well as the subject matter. cal and structured, play and work. It is car- Each of these ways of knowing is approached ing and dispassionate, student-centered and within a framework that is consistent with it- teacher-directed. self. Scientific ways of knowing are not those Education is a dynamic enterprise. It is not of the arts, philosophy, and religion, any more a static entity. Like the society of which it is than artistic, philosophical, and religious un- a part, it is in process of becoming, some- derstandings are essential to gaining scientific times oriented more to the future, at other knowledge. Yet despite these disparate and times toward the past. As a predominantly distinctive approaches and the sorts of knowl- social and corporate activity, it both reflects edge they engender, the end of education is and reconstructs society. Like music, educa- the attainment of wisdom-a grasp of the prin- tion may become formalized, even fossilized ciples that reconcile and bring together in a as a civilization develops, especially if its in- whole the different ways of knowing self, structional methods, curricula, and adminis- world, and God. It is not enough to gain ro- tration come to be set in stone, regarded as mantic and intuitive perspectives on the sub- ends rather than means to other ends, and it ject matter or to master its various instrumental ceases to be relevant to the life of the sur- skills and techniques. One must also eventu- rounding society. ally generalize these understandings within As an art rather than a craft or even a sci- incorporative principles and relate them to the ence (in the classical sense of the natural sci- phenomenal world. ences), education draws on theory and prac- To omit some of these ways of knowing is tice to forge solutions that face a plethora of to ignore vital aspects of cultural heritage. situations in which some measure of control is To view all of them monolithically, as if they possible. Its effects are evident and hidden, constituted only one way of knowing is to real and imagined, predicted and unexpected. overlook the diversity of ways of knowing Educators both know and do not know what how as well as knowing that. It is also to fail they are doing. Like artists, they imagine to recognize the richness of knowledge in- given outcomes and foresee certain possibili- herent in ritual and enactment besides clidac-

Volume II, Number 3 17 tic instruction, and the many layers of figura- apposition with extant or potential others. tive meaning in metaphor and analogy be- When we compare it to these other perspec- sides literal understandings. tives, its weaknesses and flaws may be dis- On Philosophical Method covered. Our perspective affects the kinds of questions that can and will be addressed; Music education properly exemplifies syn- these may both expand and limit our vision. thetic or constructive as well as analytic ap- Hence the need to examine critically and proaches to doing philosophy and employs carefully its assumptions and propositions deductive, analogical, and inductive strategies; before declaring our allegiance to it, no mat- it takes phenomenological as well as positivis- ter how current and popular the idea may tic stances. Each approach contributes a be. Like other views, this interdisciplinary unique philosophical perspective that contrasts view of music education seems to offer a and balances others. While philosophers may great deal to our current situation. But is it disagree with each other about which perspec- also problematic? I answer "Yes" because of tives are the best and express preferences for difficulties inherent in the propositions them- some over others, the larger historical and selves and their possible interpretation by philosophical picture reveals that a diversity of music educators. ideas results from this variety of philosophical The praxial aesthetic viewpoint that em- approaches and perspectives. phasizes musical context as opposed to con- Also, a broader view of philosophy as con- tent and is grounded in musical practice tent as well as method replaces a preoccupa- rather than its spiritual, philosophical, or tion with methodological issues; philosophy theoretical underpinnings, reflects the current is not described only in terms of how it is scientific bent toward that which is seen done but also with respect to what it is rather than unseen. As such, it may perpetu- about. To know philosophy is not just to ate the historical division between musica understand a method-be it analytic, phe- practica and musica tbeoretica and fail to do nomenological, or otherwise-but also to justice to the unseen elements of musical ex- grasp some of the principal questions and perience. Just as the formalist aesthetic per- ideas that have preoccupied philosophers spective may be faulted for overlooking con- through the ages and that constitute the stuff textual aspects of music, so the praxial may of philosophy. In other words, professional overlook music's formal elements in a quest philosophers not only do philosophy, they for contextual perspective. While the formal- also know its literature. ist might be faulted for an idealistic perspec- Accordingly, philosophers and theorists of tive on the undergoing of music, the music education are trained as professional praxialist can be criticized for an excessively philosophers and theorists as well as musi- realistic focus on the doing of music. While cian-teachers. Throughout their careers, they the formalist might focus on questions having continue to discuss ideas not only with music to do with musical aesthetic, the praxialist educators but with other professional phi- may become preoccupied with problems of losophers and theorists outside music educa- musical artistry. While the formalist might be tion. One finds them talking, in particular, taken to task for an excessively rationalistic, with philosophers of music, the arts, and parochial, and culturally chauvinistic view of education, as well as with social science world musics, the praxialist may be criticized theorists. And the same principle applies to for an extremely relativistic and universalistic those engaged in other research specialities. musical view that is not discriminating of Implications one's own musical heritage. Because the interdisciplinary view of music Every point of view constitutes in some education melds contrasting, even conflicting sense a response or reaction to perceived assumptions about the nature of music--ex- weaknesses or flaws in foregoing or other emplified in the differing formalist and points of view. While it may have derived praxialist positions-it raises significant prob- from the working out of logical principles, it lems for music education policy makers. De- stands as a theoretical entity in contrast to or

18 The Quarterly Journal of Music Teaching and Learning "To krio'w philosophy is not just to understand a method-be it analytic, phenomenological, or othe~ise-but also to grasp some of the principal questions and ideas that have preoccupied philosophers through the ages and that constitute the stuff of philosophy."

spite this melding, they may still be tempted necessitates developing criteria whereby to uncritically adopt a praxialist posture be- these potential pitfalls can be avoided. cause it is newer and somewhat in vogue, Emphasizing the intellectual nature of mu- and to reject formalist and cognitivist in- sical meaning-making redresses the some- Sights. Thus, the contributions of what narrower stress on its emotional dimen- aestheticians in the past may unfortunately sions in earlier expressivist formulations. be forgotten as policy makers embrace cur- However, even when musical intellection is rent, popular philosophical ideas. taken to encompass the cognitive and emo- There is no one "high road" in music edu- tive elements of musical experience, the pos- cation despite the fact that music educators sibility exists that an holistic view of mind often seek it. Rather, there are many pos- and body may be overlooked. Researchers' sible ways. Finding ways that reconcile the interests in articulating Western classical mu- host of competing, even conflicting assump- sic may lead them to focus on its formal tions about music, that work in particular rather than functional properties and thus contexts, and that match the value systems of account for its intellectual rather than physi- policy makers and the society in question, cal appeal. In particular, music's rational and constitutes a challenge that is not easily met. literal meanings, rather than its intuitive and We shall need people who are equipped to figurative meanings, may be emphasized be- make such philosophical and practical cause these are more amenable to the sorts choices. The interdisciplinary view multi- of techniques that science and analytic phi- plies our options without also providing a losophy typically employ. fleshed-out theory of musical values that can It is possible that the differences among be used universally to determine the right musical traditions and experiences will not choices among them. be sufficiently explicated and that such ex- While it offers the possibility of rethinking plaining as is done will constitute too narrow the corpus of music to be taught and including a view. Tradition dies hard. Dualistic no- those who have been disenfranchised, the in- tions of mind and body, positivistic ap- terdisciplinary view of music education may proaches to research, ethnocentric musical be interpreted to warrant an excessive attitudes, and formalistic and idealistic theo- politicization of the musical canon and preoc- ries of music are firmly entrenched in the cupation with music's dynamic becoming in musical establishment. Historically, few re- the future rather than on its more static quali- searchers have demonstrated the indepen- ties of being in the past and present. Overem- dence of mind to follow unpopular paths. phasizing musical reconstruction to the detri- The interdisciplinary view of music education ment of transmission may also present the challenges the research community to create danger of losing one's past heritage. an environment in which interdisciplinary Pitfalls of irrelevance, even fossilization of research is fostered; genuine openness, di- musical ideas and practices abound, but versity, and scholarly criticism are valued; those of pandering to current, popular, and monolithic views of musical experience are sometimes fickle public opinion are also of challenged; and nonscientific as well as sci- obvious concern to music policy makers- entific studies of music are encouraged. especially given the influence of mass media The complexity of education suggests a in shaping the public's musical tastes. Again, revision of the practice and preparation of the interdisciplinary view of music education teachers and educational policy-makers that

Volume II, Number 3 19 will enable them to cope successfully with innovative strategies, and the like, they may the tensions and paradoxes with which they overlook such traditional approaches as the are confronted. Historically, the emphasis in apprenticeship method with its roots in an- teacher preparation programs has been on tiquity; imitation by the pupil of the teacher; training in selected methods for given cur- constant practice of tasks (including repeti- ricula. To challenge the status quo involves tive drill); and learning by doing in a revision that goes far beyond the structures contextualized situa tions. of educational institutions and formal cur- Without vigilance on the part of educa- ricula to face the preparation of educators tional policy makers, the educational "indus- themselves. This much more radical position try" (including curriculum designers, text- requires developing beliefs, values, and skills book publishers, television program produc- that enable educators to make judgments ers, producers of computer hardware and about those aspects of the educational pro- software for educational use, and the like) cess with which they are concerned. may emphasize the entertainment value of How does one implement these ideals? education. Educators may forget that the pri- Will merely altering the curriculum be mary motive of business enterprise-regard- enough, or is a change in the aspirations and less of its pleadings otherwise-is profit, and approaches of those who teach the curricu- that business enterprise thrives on innova- lum also required? How shall educational tion. Under advertising and social pressure, policy makers, reluctant to change their atti- educators may forget that for millennia, tudes and bureaucratic structures, be per- much of what happened in education was suaded to change their minds? These and demanding of students. Educators were con- other questions constitute an enormous chal- cerned with the serious educational task of lenge to implementing radical changes in the transmitting wisdom-beliefs, values, and preparation and practice of educational skills-from one generation to the next policy makers. rather than with entertaining their students. In this regard, the interdisciplinary view of For most of this time, commercial influence music education leaves us with a multiplic- was at a minimum if present at all. I do not ity of problems but no easy solutions. It mean to suggest that educators should ignore suggests a plethora of ideals but offers little the interests of their students or that com- about how to accomplish them. Histori- merce cannot be an effective educational cally, the "demonstration effect"-seeing agent. Rather, pandering to student and models that are not only innovative but ef- public opinion and turning education into a fective-has been a powerful force for form of entertainment are mis-educative in change in educational ideas and practice. the Deweyan sense. If not monitored Some might suggest that implementing closely, the educational industry can contrib- change may necessitate developing model ute to mis-educative experiences and possi- programs. But negotiating the economic, bly become the tail that wags the dog. political, and organizational realities of de- The difficulties inherent in the interdiscipli- veloping such models is no longer as simple nary nature of music education ought not be a matter as it once might have been. Cer- underestimated. As in other interdisciplinary tainly, modern education is not the areas, music educators are faced with keep- uncomplicated enterprise a Rousseau, ing up with developments in one or more Pestalozzi, or Montessori could once con- foundational fields while also constructing sider it to be) and critically reflecting on ideas and para- In emphasizing the dynamic, processual digms that are more-or-less uniquely music nature of the educational enterprise and educational. This renders researchers par- avoiding excessive formalization and fossil- ticularly vulnerable to ignoring or misunder- ization of instructional objectives and ap- standing ongoing work in other relevant proaches, educators may forget their history fields and unwittingly perpetuating philo- and the traditional ways in which they car- sophical and scientific myths and fictions that ried on their work. Focusing on technology, have been discredited elsewhere.

20 The Quarterlyjournal of Music Teaching and Learning One approach to coping with these diffi- challenges. It is up to future researchers to culties would be that rather than attempting further amplify, modify, and critique them, to become experts in a variety of research and to decide what the interdisciplinary methods, music education researchers might view's particular role in guiding music educa- focus on gaining a working knowledge of at tion practice should be. least one foundational field such as philoso- Notes phy, history, psychology, sociology, or an- 1. Journal of Aesthetic Education 25 (4) thropology, and a solid background in its lit- (1991) In press. Paper presented to The Phi- erature and methods. They would then be in losopher/Teacher in Music: The Indiana Sym- a position to engage in collaborative endeav- posium on Research and Teaching in the Phi- ors with others, each of whom has an under- losophyof Music Education, Bloomington, IN, standing not only of a grounding discipline July 1990. 2. See for example Edward Hanslick, On the but also an interest and awareness of the Musically Beautiful (1891) trans., Geoffrey particular problems relating to music educa- Payzant (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1986); tion. This would also suggest the use of a Susanne K. Langer, Philosophy in a New Key: wide range of scientific and nonscientific re- A Study in the Symbolism of Reason, Rite, and A11. 3rd. ed. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Uni- search methods in the study of music educa- versity Press, 1957), Feeling and Form. A tional problems and a community of music The01Y of Art Deueloped from Philosophy in a education researchers inclusive and support- New Key (London and Henley: Routledge and ive of a variety of perspectives reflecting mu- Kegan Paul, 1953); Francis Sparshott, "Aes- sic education's essentially interdisciplinary thetics of Music: Limits and Grounds," In What is Music? An Introduction to the Philoso- character. Such an approach, of course, im- phy of Music, Ed., Phillip Alperson (New York: plies potential and significant changes in the Haven, 1986), 33-98. preparation of music education researchers. 3. See Edward D. Myers, Education in the It presents challenges similar to those alluded Perspective of History (New York: Harper and Bros., 1960); John Dewey, Democracy and to above in respect to the preparation of Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy educational policy makers. of Education (New York: Macmillan, 1915), That the analytic philosophy movement Experience and Education (New York: largely bypassed music education suggests Macmillan, 1938); Israel Scheffler, Reason and that in an effort to redress a past bias toward Teaching (London: Rout/edge and Kegan Paul, 1973), Of Human Potential: An Essay in the synthetic approaches, philosophers may now Philosophy of Education (Boston, London, concentrate their efforts on analytic ap- Melbourne and Henley: Rout/edge and Kegan proaches. This would be an unfortunate de- Paul, 1985), Inquiries. Philosophical Studies of velopment if it were not also complemented Language, Science and Learning (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1986). by constructive, or a meld of analytic and 4. See Estelle R. Jorgensen, "In Search of Mu- synthetic, approaches. sic Education," unpublished essay available Music education is presently in a relatively from the author, School of Music, Indiana Uni- embryonic conceptual state. This is not in versity, Bloomington, IN 47405. 5. Paulo Freire, The Politics of Education: any way to disparage the work of previous Culture, Power, and Liberation, intro., Henry philosophers of music education. James A. Giroux, trans., Donaldo Macedo (South Mursell, Leonard Meyer, Bennett Reimer, and Hadley, MA: Bergin and Garvey Publishers, Keith Swanwick, among others, have contrib- 1985), pp. 170, 171, addresses the limitations uted in important ways to music education of educational reform and the necessity for societal transformation if education is to be thought and advocacy.v In embracing the radically reconstructed. need for close analytic philosophical study, 6. See James Mursell, Human Values in Music however, it is important to remember that Education (New York: Silver Burdett, 1934); there is still much to be done in conceptual- Leonard Meyer, Emotion and Meaning in Mu- sic (Chicago and London: University of Chi- izing music education, and synthetic contri- cago Press, 1956); Bennett Reimer, A Philoso- butions have yet to be fully explored. phy ofMusic Education, 2nd. ed. (Englewood As we have seen, the interdisciplinary view Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1989); Keith of music education presents us with numer- Swanwick, Music, Mind, and Education (Lon- ous theoretical and practical possibilities and don and New York: Routledge, 1988). iQ

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