The purpose of this paper is to apply Noddings' ethic of care to a qualitative inquiry of select instrumental music educators. In the first section I describe and define an ethic of care, considering specifically who is involved in a caring relationship, how an ethic of care can be taught, and strategies for educational implementation and…

This article addresses the intrapersonal aims of music education with specific emphasis on musical identity. For the author, the question "Who am I?" is ingrained, shaped, and experienced by the contexts, relationships, and activities in which people are most deeply invested. Thus, he believes that music education should have mechanisms…

Several years ago, the author's relocated their work as educators from middle and high school music classrooms to positions in teacher education at two Canadian universities. Recognizing that working in initial teacher education demanded a new level of theorizing their practices of music education, they questioned their professional…

Large ensembles (e.g., choirs-orchestras-bands) have become prominent fixtures in most secondary schools and university schools/faculties of music in Canada and the United States. At the secondary school level, large ensembles have become, in effect, practically synonymous with the words "music education." This article derives from the author's…

This article examines how notions of freedom are linked to popular music practices in previous research literature. The author discusses how two competing discourses depict popular music practices on the one hand as "freedom," and on the other hand as "constraint," and how these ideas relate to gender. She also argues that unproblematized…

This narrative is an attempt to examine the conflicting expectations and mission confusion of one children's choir director. It details the challenges music educators may encounter at the nexus between educational and institutional goals or between ethical and professional challenges. The author has chosen to use narrative not only to tell her own…

In this article, the author aims to make evident how instructional practices could be modified or expanded in order that music education might have a "more clearly tangible and beneficial effect on the present and future lives of music learners, communities, and society at large." First, the author explains briefly how pragmatist philosophy and…

This article focuses on a recently implemented general music curriculum in secondary public schools, whose main goal is to address social issues in Costa Rica. The author describes and discusses its context, rationale, theoretical tenets, and proposed practices with the purpose of advancing theory-practice reflection on music education practices…

At the turn of the century, there was a widespread perception on the part of pupils, teachers, and policy makers that a "problem with school music" existed, particularly at the secondary level. It was hypothesized that one contributory factor was the perceived authenticity of "school music" in relation to "music outside school," not least because…

Music teachers may feel most comfortable teaching the music they know, in the way that they were taught and in the way that they were taught to teach it. Music and the teaching of music is a strong part of their professional musical identity. Adolescents have a passionate attachment to music but insist that this must be on their terms, which may…

In her book "Informal Learning and the School: A new classroom pedagogy" Lucy Green notes: "The issues ... centre around the importance of listening to young people's voices and taking their values and their culture seriously" (Green, 2008, p. 185). It can be argued that for young people, "their culture" is frequently construed as the popular…

"Music and the Racial Imagination" triggered the reminiscences from the author's teens described in the "diary presented in this article." These memories undoubtedly played a role in her decision to enter an undergraduate music education program at the age of 40. These and other memories have been called up in a variety of contexts more recently…

Music plays an important part in the lives of people of all ages. It can have symbolic significance for nation-states and regions, can be a source of deep emotional experience for the individual, or can be an expression of life-style, image and social belonging. Music affects, but is itself affected by forces influenced by different purposes and…

The author teaches music to students from kindergarten through twelfth grade in Eureka, a small mining town in Utah. Over the past decade the author has observed both the positive and negative, short-term and long-term affects of his teaching decisions. He struggles daily with what John Goodlad calls the "burden of judgment," the ongoing moral…