This paper explores the effects and problems of one highly influential default setting of the "normal style template" of music education and proposes some alternatives. These do not require abandoning all traditional templates for school music. But re-setting the default settings does depend on reconsidering the promised function of…

On June 20, 2012, Professor John Kratus welcomed the MayDay Group to Michigan State University for "Colloquium 24: The Aims of Music Education". On behalf of all members of the Mayday Group, the author wishes to extend his deepest gratitude to Professor Kratus and his colleagues at Michigan State for their extremely gracious and…

In his book, "What's So Important about Music Education?" (2010), Goble J. Scott argues from a foundation of C. S. Peirce's pragmatist philosophy that school music education that enables students to understand and engage with the musical practices (or "praxes") of different cultural communities in terms of their…

In recent years, several corporate leaders have lobbied for schools to promote studies in science, mathematics, and technology to better prepare students for the kinds of jobs these business leaders anticipate will exist in the future. This spring, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, called for "higher standards and accountability in schools…

The author of this article comments on the book, "Body Consciousness," by Richard Shusterman. She states that this book speaks to her as a musician-teacher, music scholar crossing multiple disciplines (education, musicology, ethnomusicology, women's studies, gender studies), lesbian-feminist, social activist, Buddhist. While she is not a…

In this essay, the author commends Paul Woodford for bringing music education into the political area and sees his contribution as important for the field's maturity and ongoing health. This essay seeks to expand Woodford's notion of democracy beyond the ideals of public intelligence or abstract reason so as to to highlight and engage with…

In his book "Democracy and Music Education: Liberalism, Ethics, and the Politics of Practice," Paul Woodford issues an invitation for shared dialogue and debate regarding the state of music education in developed countries. Through an appropriation of John Dewey's thoughts regarding a democratic society, Woodford sees great hope for the position…

This article offers a clarification and application of aspects of John Dewey's philosophy of art and music that have often been misunderstood, even by philosophers (such as Susanne Langer) and, in particular, by philosophers of music education who quote Dewey in support of neo-Kantian aesthetic conceptions that Dewey was in fact at pains to…

The philosophy of music education has grown remarkably during the last decades, and now has all the characteristics of an academic discipline, including a growing scientific community and several forums for public discussions--the MayDay-Group and its e-journal "Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education" are one proof of that, and the…

The authors have chosen to move together in examining the issue of social justice because they both struggle with the pedagogical implications of what it means to be in this world. As the authors seek to embody the dialectic process of creating new understandings in their lives, and thus in their classrooms, they seek also to create this through…

While educators in other fields have made significant strides in incorporating issues of social justice in their foundations and curricula, and while a few music education theorists have labored to move everyone in this direction, music education lags behind. Hence the author's plan for this paper. First, the author reflects on the concept of…

In recent years, music educators have become interested in linking music education practices, programs and projects to issues of social justice. However, theoretical approaches to conceptualizing the problem or to developing strategic interventions have yet to occur within the field. In this paper, the author argues that to address social justice…

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…

Over the many years the author has been involved with music education, he has had the opportunity to work along side many fine scholars and teachers who remind him what a precious commodity school music is, or at least can be. He also notes that after so many years of school music flourishing in the schools that, as a school subject it remains…

Musicality is a loosely used term with many meanings. It can be applied to a small child who chants a nursery rhyme, or to a harmonica player who plays by ear, or to a conductor like Toscanini. Some educators and philosophers believe that musicality is manifested in the technical achievements of musicians. Others believe that technique is…