Music Education

in 19th century
Post- Civil War
1865-1900

Essential Question
How might the knowledge gained from this
information affect or enhance my teaching
and/or general involvement in the music
education profession?

Whats on deck
Post-Civil War Society and Culture
Educational Reformers, Philosophers,
and Psychologist
Music Education from 1865-1900
High Schools, Normal Schools and
Music Teacher Education
Development of a Professional
Community

Whats already in your noggin?

Make a list of people, places,
things, and/or ideas that relate
to this time period
(1865-1900)?
- Be prepared to share at
least one

30 secs

Post-Civil War Society and Culture

Post-Civil War- Reconstruction

13th Amendment- abolishes slavery

Civil War collapsed the Souths economy and educational system

The entire country encountered a 10 year delay in major developments

Turn of the century before they fully recover

Second Industrial Revolution or Technical Revolution helped get things back on track

What was happening

Railways
Immigration
West being settled
Better medicine
Telephone

Typewriter

In short, things were slow going.

Post-Civil War- Culture

Stronger sense of National

Identity (less Euro influence)
Newspapers and magazines
increasing
More business-like - cities
grew
Sports teams
Statue of Liberty being built

What are they thinking?

Evolution
Question religion
Idealism
Pragmatism
William James and Charles
Pierce
Truth is subject to change

Post Civil War- Education

More libraries and museums

More compulsory attendance laws

More Colleges

1852- MA first
Morrill Act of 1862 - A & M colleges

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)- Separate but equal

By 1900 a similar school structure to now

Almost all states had grades 1-8

Ages 5-10- primary
Ages 10-14- grammar
High schools becoming more common

Post Civil War- Music Culture

Phonograph
Player piano
Theodore Thomas

Believed Pop Music was relative to what his audiences were

familiar with- so he made them familiar with orchestra rep.
Conductor of NY Phil and founder of CSO

Bigger Cities = Bigger music scenes

Cultural centers

In a nutshell
Gray skies are gonna
clear up!

Educational Reformers, Philosophers, and

Psychologist

How might the knowledge gained from this information affect or enhance my teaching
and/or general involvement in the music education profession?

Important Philosophers and Educators

Herbert Spencer

Hosea Holt

G. Stanley Hall

John Tufts

Horace Mann

Julia Crane

Henry Barnard

Luther Whiting Mason

Benjamin Jepson

4 Educational Views in the 19th century

~1800-1825

~1825-1850

Sectarian Ideals
Morality and salvation

Cultural Ideals
Scholarly excellence

~1850-1875

~1875-1900

Utilitarian Ideals
Practical pursuits
Effective citizenship

Mental Discipline Ideals

Sharpening of wits
Memory
Judgement and reasoning powers

Herbert SPENCER (1820-1903)

Had a big impact on American

society with his thoughts on
Social Darwinism

the theory that individuals, groups,

and peoples are subject to the same
Darwinian laws of natural selection as
plants and animals. Now largely
discredited, it was used to justify
political conservatism, imperialism,
and racism and to discourage
intervention and reform.

See notes from Kaits slides for his full info

How did this impact the United States?

G. Stanley HALL (1846-1924)

1st Doctorate of Psych from

Harvard
1st Pres. of APA
Teacher of Dewey
Progressive
Body and mind evolve in
parallel fashion
Leader of Child Study
Movement

Scientific ed is key to progress

Advocate of Music in schools

Less formalized education

Child center of ed process
Importance of environment

President of dept. of music ed of the

National Ed Assoc.

Give child natural objects

Schools adapt to natural stages of

childs growth.

Were his thoughts well received by the public?

Swinging to the Child Study Movement

Herbartianism

Preparation
Presentation
Association
Generalization
Application

Faculty Psychology

Mind and body separate

Mind in 3 parts- action, emotion, intellect
Mental discipline
Focus on classics
Cultivation of memory

Child Study Movement

William James, G. Stanley Hall,

and John Dewey
Mind and body together
Mind in continuous flow
Mind a behavioral instrument
Experimental psychology to
study children
Create a scientific pedagogy

Horace MANN (1796-1859)

Based on the
quotes from this
short clip (and from
JJs presentation),
what do you think
Horace Mann
advocated for as a
reformer?

Educational Reformers
Horace MANN (1796-1859)- Father of the
Common School Movement

1st Secretary of Board of Ed in

Massachusetts
Advocate for free public education

Equal regardless of class and gender

Education needed to maintain the progress

of society

Stopped tax money being used for religious

school.
Went into the schools to work on reform
Believed in teacher education

Helped in the formation of 3 normal schools

in MA.

Henry BARNARD (1811-1900)

Education reform in CT and RI

Not as pushy as Mann
Help start the American Association for
the Advancement of Education
1st U.S. Commissioner of Education

Matching Big Ideas with Big People

G. Stanley Hall

Henry Barnard

A.

First Commissioner of Education

B. Free public education for all, regardless

of class or gender

Herbert Spencer
C. Schools adapt to natural stages in
childs growth
Horace Mann
D.

Social Darwinism

Music Education from 1865-1900

How might the knowledge gained from this information affect or enhance my teaching
and/or general involvement in the music education profession?

Predictions?
What do you think will happen in
music education between 1865-1900?

45 sec- 1 min

Luther Whiting MASON (1818-1896)

Established teacher training programs

Created a 9 year curriculum for oston Public Schools
VP of Music Teachers National Association- presented at 1st
meeting
Used public performances for good publicity

Was hired by the Japanese government to implement a western

based music program

School committee liked this too

Influence is still there today and can be seen in the Suzuki method

Developed teaching materials used internationally.

charts and visuals

Text books

National Music Course- L.W. Mason

1st graded series of music textbooks in USA

Sound before sight - more focus on rote

Extremely popular
Taught by patterns and imitation
Able to sing more repertoire
Focus on expression

Exercises and songs cultivate the ear and the voice

Competed against Jepsons Elementary Music Reader
Some Pestalozzian influence
Tonic Sol-Fa (did not catch on in USA)
Number based notation
Criticisms?

Benjamin JEPSON- Elementary Music Reader

Published in 1871 - later called Standard Music Reader

One of the first successful music text - Competed with Masons
Exercises and songs
Sight reading in 2nd and 3rd books
Dictation- examples relatively advanced

Normal Music Course- response to National Music Course

Hosea HOLT (1836-1898)

Co-authored National Music Course with

Mason.
Stressed musicality in teaching
Knowledge was gained by thinking not
memorizing

John W. TUFTS (1824-1908)

Known for his music ed reform through

Normal Music Course

1880s- concern music ed was

becoming more entertainment
than educational
Lack of reading skills
A need for music to be more
scientific

Provided mental, physical, and

moral benefits

Normal Music Course

Published by what is now Silver, Burdett and Company

Focused on reading skills

Rote, they argued, became more about entertainment than education

Sight singing was how they determined if student understood music

Exercises and contrapuntal songs
Music by well-known composers
Influenced many future texts

1 min

Rote vs. Note

In the context of 1865-1900, what are
the pros and cons of each method?
Why was there a shift?

High Schools,
Normal Schools, and Music Teacher
Education
How might the knowledge gained from this information affect or enhance my teaching
and/or general involvement in the music education profession?

High Schools- Academies

Academies filled void of secondary education before public high schools

For middle class- not too expensive
Diverse Curriculum
Music teachers paid per student

Music lessons and course were popular

Music program was status symbol to compete with other academies

Some offered teacher training courses

Development of Public High Schools

1821- first public high school in

oston

1827- every district in MA

Developed from the need of skilled workers in business,

industry, and agriculture
Resistance because it required tax money- farmers had no
use for it at the time, so they didnt want to pay.
1874- Kalamazoo case- decided that states had the right to
levy taxes to pay for high school as part of a public
education

Development of High Schools

2 views of the purpose of high schools

Prepare for college

Prepare for life

NEA suggested a curriculum that would balance these two views

1885- Accreditation associations
By 1900- focus on subject content rather than utilitarian values
Music curriculum struggled to manage the wide range of knowledge and
skills students brought to high school.

Who had a large part in the creation of Normal

Schools?
Horace MANN

Normal Schools

Intended to create teaching standards or

Norms- later called teacher colleges
1823-1st Public Normal School in
Concord, VT
1839- Mann starts a Normal School
system of 3 colleges throughout MA.

Influenced many other state systems

Progression of Music Teacher Education

Meetings and Conventions

3 week workshops
3 month institutes

Widespread by 1870s
Peer teaching
Lowell Mason was involved until he was 78 years old
Some sponsored by publishers and music text books (National and Normal Courses)

Normal schools, Colleges, and Universities

1 year program, then 2, 3, and finally 4 (or more for some of us)
By 1921- B.Mus and B.Mus Ed degrees

1 min

Youre in Charge!
In the context of 1865-1900, what would
be in your music teacher education
courses and why?

Julia Ettie CRANE (1855-1923)

Potsdam Musical Institute

Crane school of music- 1st music ed program
Teachers needed to be musicians
Teachers needed experience in model classrooms
Teachers Manual 1887 and 1915

Blended rote and note!

Students must hear, then sing, then read
Music ed stages of development

Development of a Professional Community

How might the knowledge gained from this information affect or enhance my
teaching and/or general involvement in the music education profession?

Music Ed Publications
School Music and School Music Monthly- merged into School Music

Discuss issues
Education practices
Highlight important people
Opportunity for people to submit writings
Performance Programs
New Music
Conventions

Department of Music Education

1884- NEA approves creation of Dept. of Music Ed

Create consistency across the country

Was initially going to be called Dept. of Vocal Music

Very little instrumental music education at this time
Uniformity in terminology
Uniformity in patriotic songs

Annual meetings

Feeling of professionalism
Conference Spirit

1889 Dept. of Music Ed Survey and Publication

Survey led by U.S. Bureau of Education- John Eaton

Music still valued for intellectual, moral, and physical reasons
Schools without music

Examined Music ed in Europe

2 major recommendations

Lack of money
Lack of time
Lack of skilled teachers
Public indifference

Replace recreational music with systematic education

Music teachers should train to be teacher (not just musicians)

Publication not widely read

Articles in Publication

Articles from a Medical doctor

Philosophy - Why music?
Encourage music with positive lyrics
Advocacy - Response to focus on the 3
Rs
Rote vs. Note

Music is vulnerable because it is

optional
Why music should not be taught by
general classroom teachers
Music teachers needing to be better
teachers (there were too many bad
ones)
Eaton ended the publication with an
advocacy article to get the profession
fired-up!

Music Ed from 1865-1900

What taught?
Who was taught?
What methods were used?
What were the rationales?

Discussion points

What issues from this period still exist or have reappeared in todays
society?
What are your predictions for the future of music ed?

Does the information from this time period help inform your predictions

How might the knowledge gained from this information affect or enhance
my teaching and/or general involvement in the music education
profession?