Music Education National Debate Frank Heneghan Version: MEND09d.doc Date: 16/04/02 11:40 The MEND Logo The MEND Logo was designed by Raquel Keogh, College of Art and Design (Dublin Institute of Technology), Mountjoy Square, Dublin 1. The symbolism in the logo is as follows: The colour scheme is that of DIT, the main sponsor of MEND The central motif synthesizes a ‘Y’ for Youth and the form of a harp, the emblem of Ireland and a symbol for Music The radiating concentric circles represent communication and transmission in the educational process 2 The author wishes to thank the MEND Sponsors: Dublin Institute of Technology Siemens Ireland Bank of Ireland Institute of Education SIPTU Superquinn Marks and Spencer Thanks also to the following who agreed to be interviewed by the author in relation to the subject matter of the MEND Report: Darius Brubeck (Freelance Musician met at ‘Arts on the Edge’ Conference, Perth, Western Australia, April 1998) Dr Geoffrey Gibb (Director, Western Australia Academy of the Performing Arts, Edith Cowan University, Western Australia) Mr Robert Houlihan (Irish Freelance Conductor) Mr Oliver Hynes (Senior Inspector [Music] Dept of Education) Mr Noel Kelly (Mary Immaculate College of Education, Limerick) Professor Marie McCarthy (University of Maryland at College Park) Dr Gary McPherson (University of New South Wales, Australia) Professor Caroline van Niekerk (Dept of Music Education, University of Pretoria , South Africa) Professor William Chapman Nyaho (University of Louisiana at Lafayette) Mr Aidan O’Carroll (Artistic Director, Kerry School of Music) Professor Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin (Irish World Music Centre, University of Limerick) Professor Patricia Shehan Campbell (University of Washington, Seattle) Dr Eric Sweeney (Waterford Institute of Technology) Abbreviations in use: AMS American National Standards APA The (National) Academy for the Performing Arts DIT Dublin Institute of Technology ISME International Society for Music Education ITM Irish Traditional Music JC Junior Certificate LC Leaving Certificate MC Multiculturalism MEAE Music Education as Aesthetic Education MENC The Music Educators’ National Conference (US) MEND The Music Education National Debate MM Music Matters: A New Philosophy of Music Education (D Elliott) NCCA National Council for Curriculum and Assessment OTL Opportunity to Learn (A US publication on Music Education) PIANO Provision and Institutional Arrangements Now for Orchestras and Ensembles RIAM Royal Irish Academy of Music TCD Trinity College Dublin UL The University of Limerick VEC Vocational Education Committee WAM Western Art Music IWMC The Irish World Music Centre (UL) 3 A Review of Music Education in Ireland, Incorporating the Final Report of the Music Education National Debate (MEND - Phase III). By Frank Heneghan* Dublin, Ireland. 17 September 2001 * Enquiries and for further information: [email protected] 4 MEND Phase III Presidential Patronage It should be noted that the MEND initiative engaged the interest of the President of Ireland, Mrs Mary Robinson, who not only graced the gala concert of Phase I with her presence but accepted an invitation to be sole patron of the culminating phase of the project. President Mary Robinson 5 1 Table of Contents 1 Table of Contents .....................................................................................................................6 2 Foreword ................................................................................................................................10 3 Summary ................................................................................................................................13 3.1 Scope.................................................................................................................................13 3.2 General Considerations .....................................................................................................13 3.3 Problems of Music Education ...........................................................................................15 3.4 Deaf Ears? Report ............................................................................................................16 3.5 MEND as Response to Deaf Ears?...................................................................................16 3.6 MEND Agenda .................................................................................................................17 3.6.1 Philosophical................................................................................................................17 3.6.2 The Current State of Music Education in Ireland ........................................................18 3.6.3 Continuum....................................................................................................................19 3.6.4 Performance .................................................................................................................19 3.6.5 Assessment...................................................................................................................20 3.6.6 National Culture and Multiculturalism ........................................................................20 3.6.7 Third-Level Music Education ......................................................................................22 3.6.8 A Forum for Music Education .....................................................................................23 3.7 MEND Findings................................................................................................................24 3.8 MEND Recommendations ................................................................................................24 4 Overview................................................................................................................................25 4.1 Music and Music Education –an Inseparable Pair ............................................................25 4.2 The Commanding Concerns in Irish Music Education .....................................................27 4.2.1 Taste in Music..............................................................................................................27 4.2.2 Which Music? Which Educational Strategy? .............................................................27 4.2.3 Music Education as Regenerative Cycle......................................................................28 4.2.4 Performance and the Dimension of Skill in Music-Making ........................................28 4.2.5 Other Values as Drain on Musical Competence ..........................................................29 4.2.6 A Contextual Philosophy of Music Education.............................................................29 5 Music in Irish Education - A Summary..................................................................................34 5.1 Recent Provision ...............................................................................................................34 6 The Stimulus of the Deaf Ears? Report .................................................................................36 6.1 European Year of Music 1985 ..........................................................................................36 7 The Music Education National Debate (MEND) as natural sequel to Deaf Ears? ................38 7.1 Response to Deaf Ears?....................................................................................................38 7.2 Presidential Patronage for MEND ....................................................................................39 7.3 The Dublin Institute of Technology..................................................................................40 8 Pre-MEND Perceptions..........................................................................................................42 8.1 Towards an Agenda...........................................................................................................42 9 Basic Premises of MEND ......................................................................................................43 10 Methodology of MEND .........................................................................................................44 10.1 General..............................................................................................................................44 10.2 Towards an Agenda for MEND ........................................................................................44 10.3 Towards a Time-Frame for MEND...................................................................................45 10.3.1 General Considerations................................................................................................45 10.3.2 MEND Heralding Debate – October 1994...................................................................46 10.3.3 MEND Phase I – April 1995........................................................................................46 10.3.4 MEND National Music Seminar – May 1995..............................................................46 10.3.5 MEND Phase II – November 1995..............................................................................46 10.3.6 The Establishment of the Music Education National Forum - November 1996........47 10.3.7 MEND Phase III- November 1996 ..............................................................................47 10.3.8 Attendance ...................................................................................................................47