Philosophy of Music Education

“Music education exists to nature people’s potential to gain deeper, broader, more significant

meanings from musical involvements, by helping them know within and how, assisted by

knowing about and why.”

David Elliot (Elliot, Silverman, 2015, p. 165)

Music connects people to themselves, to others, and to the world. Unlike any other

medium, music can help construct self-identity, foster understanding, and elicit significant

emotional experiences. Music education is essential education for every child.

The human-music connection is mysterious process. Throughout history humans have

explored and embraced music; flute-like instruments made of animal bones date back 43,000

years. (Parry, 2012, p. 665) The musical experience has been a part of every known culture and

remains a significant part of current American culture. Fully understanding the correlation,

however, is challenging. “Attempts to explain exactly why and how music is experienced as

emotional have never yielded a definitive solution, so complex are the issues.” (Reimer, 2003, p.

53)

Music is transcendent; it can take us to other places. Yet unlike many other disciplines it

can foster interpersonal connections. Making music together, for example, connects individuals

to larger, fulfilling experiences. (Pendergast, 2018, p. 304) Scientific studies now show that

music listening creates changes in the brain’s networks-specifically the amygdala, cerebellum,

and cingulate gyrus-that are associated with emotions. (Zentner, 2010)

The aesthetic qualities provided by music are significant enough to teach music for

music’s sake. The ability to think creatively, to make connections to the listener and to their

world , and to develop an aesthetic awareness (Manning, 2015, p.17) speak to the power of
music to help students “know within and how, assisted by knowing about and why.” (Elliott,

2015)

Music can also help students engage with their community by teaching civic

responsibility, aiding individual development, and providing a venue for self-expression.

(Manning, 2015, p.17)

The need for such fulfilling connective experiences are needed today more than ever,

particularly by young people seeking emotional connections. “Today, two of the most influential

phenomena of life in the United States and the world are the societal and technological forces at

work in our human existence.” (Madsen, 2000, p.1). As people attempt to replace personal

interaction with online and social media interaction, the need for true connection grows. Studies

reveal a correlation between loneliness and online communication. (Bonetti, 2010) Music

education is an essential component-the social praxis-to bridge that gap. “Music of all kinds is

an absolutely central feature of contemporary life. Given the rapid growth of various music

media, it is going to continue to be central to the life well lived.” ( Regelski, 2016, p.7)

Connection and emotion are the building blocks of human interaction, yet they are not easily

understood or appropriately expressed by developing children and teenagers. Music is critical

pathway that allows us to “share subjective experiences available in no other way; each

individual will likely experience music in a manner that is particular to them: their personality,

their present mood, their experiences. (Reimer, p. 74) It is the function of music education to

create such transformation musical experiences for students. Music isn’t alone in its emotional

powers; all arts have such power. Music and its unique sonority, however, does not simply

replicate other art forms.

Music, in its capacity to achieve a sense of deep significance by going

 beyond the meanings made available by words to meanings only sounds can

bring into being, has always been a major source of, or an important

accompaniment to, the quest for profound experience. (Reimer, 1995, p. 53)

Music education can “heighten students’ emotional lives by helping students become

engaged in the emotional dimension of music.” (Reimer, 1996 in Manning) Authentic

assessments should be relevant, allow for direct measurement, and allow students to

demonstrate learning. A variety of assessments are available to music educators, and

the purposes are often valid: understanding prior knowledge, reporting on student

progress to parents and students to name a few. An over-reliance on assessments as a

means of data reporting or school accountability, however, can be detrimental to

student engagement and student progress. In light of such school requirements, music

educators can seek to invigorate student engagement through emotional connection by fostering

those abilities that lead to pleasurable emotions associated with music listening: musical

expressions of the work, the interpretation of the music, the composer strategies that represent

life, and feelings associated with the students’ identity, (Elliot, 2015). Music education,

therefore, is an essential component of education for every child.

Social-emotional learning is fostered when students are directed to identify and express

how emotions are affected by music, and the musical experience may help students create

societal and cultural connections. (Mastran, 2014) The growing cultural diversity within the

United States provides a rich source for music educators to increase student understanding of

themselves, of others, and of other cultures. The National Standards for Arts Education states

that the arts, “provide a variety of lenses for examining the cultures and artistic contributions of

our nation and others around the world.” (Madsen, 2020, p. 1) The standards also call for
students to understand music in relation to history and culture in order to reflect our range of

cultural diversity. Music literature should reflect a variety of authentic cultural and ethnic genres.

Literature choice can, “...promote community, integrate people with society largely through

cultural and social means, reduce isolation, and promote an advanced tolerance for diversity.”

(Lehman, 197, p. 19) Symbolic representation of music as represented in the text and sounds can

also help students establish cultural connections. The standards also suggest using community

resources-such as local musicians-to connect students to the geographical and cultural

community. Within a narrower social group, musical works are “crucial to establishing, defining,

delineating, and preserving a sense of community and self-identity” of that social group. (Elliot,

2015) Families, cultural communities, neighborhoods, and even the music classroom itself can

become a social group providing a sense of community. Self-identity-sought and eluded online-

can be found in music and in the music classroom.

Expanding the students’ range of study to encompass a variety of cultural music and

musical traditions can set the stage for future music connections and contributions in a

meaningful way (Lehman, 1987, p. 9), and can meet larger goals of compulsory education: to

reduce isolation and promote diversity. (Lehman, 1987, p. 19) Consequently, all students should

have access to the opportunities a musical education provides. Music educators are awash in both

responsibility and opportunity. The responsibility for understanding community and cultural

music, however, extends beyond the classroom teacher. Involvement of parents, private music

instructors, local guilds, and professional music organizations can provide crucial support for

social-musical changes. (Schwadron, 1967).

Aristotle determined that music education could promote good citizenship (Mark p. 46):

“Music has the power of producing a certain effect on the moral character of the soul, and if it
has the power to do this, it is clear that the young must be directed to music and must be

educated in it.” (Lehman, 1987, p. 19) If societies are strengthened by diversity of citizens and

cultures, then the music classroom can be a venue for strengthening our society.

Music classrooms can be a model for collaborative learning environments. A vast array

of communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills are critical for the success of music

ensembles as students learn to listen, interact, adjust, and respond to the other musicians.

Constructivist theorists such as Dewey, Bruner, and Piaget recognized the value of the

interactive learning process. Piaget believed that we extend the knowledge we acquire through

perception and external environments by relating new experiences to previous understanding,

and Vygotsky expanding this idea by saying that knowledge is produced culturally by

collaborations with other people (Phillips 1995; Scott 2011). Learning centers, they suggest,

should be incubators where students become active participants as the focus shifts from teacher

to students. Collaborative experiences are an essential part of that learning. John Dewey

recognized that social interaction is required in order to develop a mind of one’s own yet

conceded that, all too often, instead of encouraging community, schools keep students trapped

behind desks. (Phillips and Soltis, 2009) Student centered music classrooms-where students are

actively involved, making musical decisions, analyzing results, and asking questions-allow for

such social interaction. (Scott 2110) Such classroom structures can help remove the isolation so

many young people experience as a result of changing human interaction and increased use of

social media.

Greek philosophers understood the unique human-emotional connection of music. Plato

and Aristotle asserted that such a connection promoted spiritual harmony. (Whitfield, 2010)

Humans yearn to be heard, to be understood, and to connect to others through emotional

experiences. Today’s students, now more than ever, desperately need music bridge the gap from

isolation to connection. Music creates those essential connections. Music educators have the

enormous responsibility, obligation, and opportunity to build that bridge.

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