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An overview of music education research in the United States, divided into historical, philosophical, and empirical research modes and topics. Included are discussions of the major topic areas investigated, publication venues, and the relative size of each enterprise. Research efforts are limited to some extent by lack of agreed-upon goals for music education, and there has been relatively few attempts to develop sociological research in music education. Also needed are more cross-cultural, international efforts in music education, starting with sharing results.
An overview of music education research in the United States, divided into historical, philosophical, and empirical research modes and topics. Included are discussions of the major topic areas investigated, publication venues, and the relative size of each enterprise. Research efforts are limited to some extent by lack of agreed-upon goals for music education, and there has been relatively few attempts to develop sociological research in music education. Also needed are more cross-cultural, international efforts in music education, starting with sharing results.
An investigation of musical aptitude and attitudes toward teaching among pre-service music teachers in Turkey (n = 42) and the United States (n = 35). Multivariate analysis revealed statistically significant differences by nationality in favor of the Turkish subjects on the tonal, rhythm, and total tests on the Advanced Measures of Music Audiation (AMMA) by Edwin Gordon. There were no significant differences by sex or for the interaction of nationality and sex. There were negative correlations between AMMA scores and scores on the Minnesota Teacher Attitude Inventory, which means that subjects with high music aptitude scores tended to hold attitudes that do not predict effective teaching behaviors. There were also significant differences by nationality on a questionnaire about attitudes toward various music instructional activities in schools.
A response to a book by David J. Elliott entitled Music Matters: A New Philosophy of Music Education (Oxford, 1995) presented at the University of Maryland, College Park in 1997. The response focuses on aspects of creativity as it relates to music teaching and learning, including the importance of task type and difficulty, as well as of cultural context. The response ends with a story about Ruby, the artistic painting elephant who resided at the Phoenix Zoo and was, at the time, "the biggest artist in the Southwest."
The first part of this paper provides an overview of some important historic theories of education and their influences on music education. The second part deals with two specific theories related to music education, both from the late twentieth century. The paper presents some insights into the effects of these theories on the practice of music education (praxis). The important historic theories of education with implications for education and music education discussed in this paper are:
1. Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, published in 1759.
2. Jean Jacques Rousseau's concepts of childhood, published in 1762.
3. Henrich Pestalozzi's theory on the sequencing of instruction, published (variously) in 1810.
4. G. Stanley Hall's theories of child development stages, especially his construct of adolescence (1880s).
5. Education theories of John Dewey and other leaders of the progressive education movement.
6. Jean Piaget's theories of childhood development stages.
The influences of these theories on music education praxis are discussed largely as a group. The two theories of music education discussed in this paper are:
1. Edwin Gordon's Music Learning Theory.
2. Albert LeBlanc's theory of music preference.
Both these theories are illustrated and their influences on music education praxis are discussed separately.
This is the published Greek language translation of the original English language speech as it was presented at the first conference of the Greek Society for Music Education, held in Thessaloniki, Greece on June 26-28, 1998. It was one of a pair of papers presented as the Honor Guest Lecturer Addresses (the other being "Music Education Research in the U.S.A.: An Overview").