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.

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