This paper is an invited response to a one published by David Elliott in The Music Educator in 2012 in which music teachers were enjoined to encourage children to use music's expressive power as a political tool in pursuit of social justice. While in agreement with him that this can be an appropriate use of music, there is a curious avoidance…

In this paper we are offered a reflection on the historical and present marginalization of music education. As Cathy Benedict says, "What of this marginalization and what of its possibilities? I would like to suggest in this paper that this marginalized status partly reflects our own complicity as we have historically allowed others to speak for…

Oivind Varkoy challenges music educators who start their educational work from well-defined learning outcomes and who then test and assess whether students have achieved these predefined ends. He argues that "ends-means-thinking," "assessment-thinking," and "some sort of market-philosophy" all relate to "instrumentalism" in which learners are…

In this response to Gould, the author has two goals: first, to forward another, not necessarily competing, postmodern understanding of feminism and power; and second, to expand Gould's project of examining professional climate. Koza defines feminism as a constellation of dynamic political positions that address and attempt to change the unequal…

In her paper, Louise Pascale encouraged a redefinition of the word "singer" and suggested ways to make it apply to a broader spectrum of people. The problem with the current definition, she believes, is that it is outdated and needs to be changed in order to better embrace the ideals of current society. Maya Hoover, responds by saying that in…

At the onset of the essay by Alerby and Perm, musicality is described as emotional or cognitive phenomena. In this response, Fung questions what role a psychomotor phenomenon plays in musicality. Alerby and Perm describe "motor knowledge" in the context of Merleau-Ponty's "maximum grip." Does this mean that "motor knowledge" or "maximum grip" in…

In this response, Brown finds solid points of agreement with Eva Alerby and Cecilia Perm, starting with their premise that music learning is most effective when taught within a context. While some students prefer learning in a linear, rule-oriented setting, more often than not a musical concept will be comprehended best if it is first experienced…

Bennett Reimer has pointed out the crucial distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic meaning or, in his terminology, between inherent and delineated meaning. He has eloquently described how feeling in music can be both of the inherent type and of the delineated type and has argued that both types of meaning can coexist. There is no point in…

In her response to Mary Reichling's article "Intersections: Form, Feeling, and Isomorphism, Anne Sinclair believes that the exploration of form, feeling, and isomorphism in the writings of Susanne Langer accomplishes its goal to examine and elucidate aspects of these concepts. Sinclair finds several of the ideas presented very engaging. Musical…

David Stevenson's thoughts regarding Reichling's essay are offered in this article, and he begins his response by saying that Mary J. Reichling's essay regarding the three concepts, form, feeling, and isomorphism, is lucid, well structured, and aptly supported by research of other music education philosophers. He points out that Reichling states…