The radical outside claimed by Gloria T. Hull, Patricia Bell Scott, and Barbara Smith nearly 30 years ago was comprised of black feminism and feminist race theory in the context of black lesbian studies, which had no academic precedent. What today makes their actions, words, and meaning-making brave is material realization of their subjectivities.…

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…

In this article the author explores two aspects of his identity as an educator: (1) his identity as a classroom music teacher back teaching at Somerset Primary school; and (2) his identity as a music teacher educator upon his return to full-time university employment following six months of substitute teaching, including the block of teaching at…

This article examines the process by which the author came to accept music education as something that she does, enjoys, and respects. The primary data used for this inquiry were brief autobiographical narratives outlining two time periods of the author's life. The first described her musical experiences in public school and as a performance major…

For many individuals, engagement with the arts and music in later life plays a significant role in identity formation. Research indicates that music engagement facilitates successful aging. While participants may or may not establish identities as musicians, musical activities provide interactions and opportunities that facilitate their…

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 the author's years working as a music specialist in English primary schools she encountered confident, experienced, professional teachers who expressed anxiety about teaching music in the National Curriculum. A number of generalist teachers seemed to believe that they were not competent to teach music to their classes, since they perceived…

Philosopher Richard Shusterman's book "Body Consciousness" is the most recent and most extensive addition to Shusterman's project of "somaesthetics," an area of philosophy dealing with experiences of embodiment. Shusterman distinguishes three aspects of somaesthetics. Analytic somaesthetics is a "descriptive and theoretical enterprise"; pragmatic…

The role of the body in music experience is extremely complex and multifaceted, and this is exactly what makes it interesting to discuss the implications such notions as "body consciousness" and "somaesthetics" may have for music experience. Richard Shusterman generally argues that human beings can achieve enhanced life quality through increased…

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…

Richard Shusterman's "Body Consciousness" aims at formulating a theory of somaesthetics and somatic experience. There has indeed been a growing interest in the role of the body in experience. Shusterman examines the arguments of six important writers who have been influential in this discussion. The emphasis on the body is natural for a…

The author begins his essay by stating that Richard Shusterman advises us that the 20th century scholarly community has not just ignored the value that can come to one's life as a function of paying close attention to the body and its immediate sensual qualities, it has trained us to eschew its character-enhancing sensual natures in favor of more…

In this essay, the author first addresses the theme of disciplined somatic training and its relationship to self-awareness and transformation. Her attention is focused specifically on the chapter on Ludwig Wittgenstein, in which Richard Shusterman presents and then elaborates upon the philosopher's connections between conscious bodily feelings and…

The author of this article responds to the seven papers in this journal that commented on his book titled "Body Consciousness: A Philosophy of Mindfulness and Somaesthetics." Shusterman responds to comments and criticisms made on the subjects of (1) embodiment and gender; (2) Asian cultural dimensions; (3) the somaesthetics of music; (4)…

In this article the author reviews needs theory as a field of research and scholarship, examines seven needs theories (including Nussbaum's capabilities approach), and synthesizes elements of all of these into a list he used tentatively and speculatively to analyze two common instructional practices in music education. The author's intent is to…