This article presents the author's critique on Paul G. Woodford's positions with regard to music education and the notion of liberal democracy. The author seeks to broaden the contextual/historical scholarship around John Dewey and makes it clear that liberalism is a contested concept, as is democracy. He calls for contemporary responses to…

This article presents the author's response to the contributions and discussion initiated by his book "Democracy and Music Education" (2005). The book raises a number of important concerns pertaining to the field of music education, concerns that will continue to be critically important to many music teachers as they grapple with the musical,…

Music education research today continues in well-worn paths. While it may be productive in quantity, it is not clear the degree to which it informs current music teacher education or has produced advances in teaching practice. Indeed, as some critics of university-based teacher education research have argued (e.g., Boyer 1990; Schwandt 2005), such…

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…

Music educators must prepare students to survive and thrive in the global world of today (and in the anticipated future) through their best scholarly efforts. The magnitude of change caused by globalization requires a complete reexamination of school music offerings grounded in the realities of the global geo-sociopolitical environment--not…

In this article, the author shares his transformative experiences of teaching in Puerto Rico. Specifically, he reflects on why and how his transactions with his first class caused him to adopt themes and strategies from the relatively new field of "critical performative pedagogy." He begins by explaining three concepts that ground critical…

In this paper, the authors discuss the influence of democracy and law on music education in Sweden and Finland, and the potential for music education as training in democracy. The latter consideration can be instructive regardless of the nation, or its laws and paradigms of music education. The theoretical background is based on Jurgen Habermas'…

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…

In this article, the author argues that the Rhoda Bernard (2005) paper "Making Music, Making Selves" is seriously flawed in research design, literature review and, more importantly, in its conclusions. Bernard's hammering of the idea of self as having multiple identities is well taken, but today it is more than accepted as a given. The problem is…

In an earlier issue of "ACT" (Number 2, 2005), Dr. Rhoda Bernard has presented a call for reframing music teacher education. Based on his experience as a leader of a Swedish longitudinal project about music teacher socialization since the late 1980s, the author discusses some problems with her call. In this article, he elucidates Bernard's use of…

The author reads with great interest Rhoda Bernard's (2005) article "Making Music, Making Selves." Bernard's concerns about the multiple identities that she holds, and people's tendency to compartmentalize their various identities according to audience and role are issues for the author as she designs and teaches within music teacher education…

This article is a response to Rhoda Bernard's (2005) article, "Making Music, Making Selves". The author first met Dr. Bernard several years ago in the UK, at an international music education research conference at the University of Exeter. Without realising he was in the audience, Dr. Bernard cited his 1995 article "Artist or Teacher?" as an early…

The author's article, "Making Music, Making Selves," was written as "an effort to broaden the academic conversation about music educators and identity, to make room for a wider range of perspectives on identity, and to help everyone in the field to think deeply about what it means to be a music educator and what it means to become a music…

Knowledge about discrepancies between institutional demands and pedagogical choices creates conflicts that are familiar to most experienced teacher educators. The reasons behind such discrepancies and their philosophical underpinnings have been addressed systematically in several disciplines. With a few notable exceptions, scholarship in music…

With its focus on reason and science, the 18th century began a history of increased specialization. As a result, professional degrees and certificates eventually came to define and control practices that had once been the domains of amateurs. By the end of the 19th century, many practices of lay enthusiasts had been pushed aside; where they were…