Philosophy of Music Education 1
Philosophy of Music Education 1
Philosophy of Music Education 1
12/17/2017
Philosophy
Music education isn’t only useful for teaching and appreciating music, but to explore the
importance and relevance of music in the contexts of the communities and histories it came from
and to which it is being taught. While I believe that music in itself has inherent value, I also
believe that it has the power to unlock a deeper critical consciousness about the world. If music
education can be used to empower students to engage in their communities with a level of
understanding that enables them to enact changes to the injustices they face, then it should be the
This philosophy of music education comes from a blending of Critical Pedagogy and
Place-Based Education Theory. Place-Based Education Theory is a term coined in the 1990’s by
Laurie Lane-Zucker and Dr. John Elder, although the concept has been in practice for much
longer. The main idea behind Place-Based Education is that education is most effective and
meaningful when it uses the experiences and problems that students face in their communities to
learn new concepts and solutions. This is accomplished by using mostly project-based learning
and interacting with the community surrounding the school to invite students to apply their
Lane-Zucker describes place-based education as, “the reintegration of the individual into
her homeground and the restoration of the essential links between a person and her place” (pg.
3). This theory depends on the interpersonal relations of students with other members of their
communities, including their parents, extended family, and community leaders. Students are
forced to engage with these people to learn about the history of where they came from, and how
the past has set precedents and traditions that are affecting the present. With the knowledge of
these influential forces, students “become part of the community, rather than a passive observer
Discussion
standpoint. The guiding idea of both practices is the idea that education needs to be relatable and
applicable to the students’ lives. In a way, both ideologies are extensions of one another. A key
difference, however, is the kind of change that each ideology seeks to enact. Place-based
education seeks to enrich learning by giving students the opportunity to do moral good in their
communities. Critical pedagogy seeks to use the students’ education to develop a critical
consciousness about their society and resolve the imbalances of power that they find.
One way that Place-based education falls short is that there are many more facets to our
students’ identities than just the place and culture that they are growing up in. Educators need to
take into account the students’ gender and sexuality, social and racial backgrounds, and tastes
when creating a student-centered curriculum. While it might be difficult to find ways to engage
all students in all of these aspects, especially when students have unique experiences in all of
these categories, the problem diminishes when using a project-based learning model like in
place-based education, or as Gutstein outlines in his book, Reading & Writing the World With
Mathematics (2016). Project-based learning can still be used to teach curriculum and specific
skills, while also allowing students to choose the things they want to apply those skills to. Giving
students the option to choose people and issues that they can relate to gives them the freedom to
Student will already have a certain level of agency in the areas that are a part of their
identity. Agency can be defined as the ability to express the thoughts and ideas one has on a
subject appropriately in a given context. The life experiences they gained from their interactions
with their family, peers, and mentors will have developed knowledge and an informal agency in
areas that are easily applicable to other contexts. In a study about inclusion of LGBTQ in the
classroom, a teacher, Ms. Lanza, found that her students were more engaged and performed at
higher levels when she included and discussed books that were written by people who faced
similar social oppression as the students (Page, 2017). This is an example of how student
engagement in the learning environment is easily accessed by relating new subjects to the areas
Music is an especially powerful tool in giving students relatable options because of the
ways that it is ingrained into every culture imaginable. Folk and popular music from around the
world can be used to present students with an opportunity to learn about their ancestry and
heritage. Students can learn about other artists that come from similar socio-economic
backgrounds in any era of music, and study how their background affected the music that they
wrote. Even in pre-segregation America, there were entire genres of music referred to as “race
music.” LGBTQ students will not have any shortage of LGBTQ composers and artists to choose
from to find a relatable experience. Even niche cultures, such as gamers, have their own styles of
music that can be analyzed and discussed in ways that will help us understand their culture
better. The fact that music can be used to learn about the histories and cultures of almost every
empower students to use it in their own communities. In order to do this, music needs to be a
cross-curricular experience that pairs with history. Students need to have background knowledge
in the areas where the music grew out of. By pairing what students learn in their history classes
with musical selections in their music courses, students get a richer understanding of the cultural
and social movements and events during those time periods. As students learn about the ever-
shifting rule of the Monarchs of England in their world history classes, music teachers can
introduce the music of William Byrd and the ways that he had to hide his Catholicism. This can
easily translate into a discussion about religious persecution and how that helped shape the
importance of the freedom to choose religion American society. While learning about slavery
and the Civil War, students can be introduced to African American Spirituals and gain an
understanding of the secret messages that the songs often had about hope and freedom.
These historical concepts can be used to understand the backgrounds and beginnings of
the music from their own cultures, and vice versa. Students can relate the trials of William Byrd
having to hide his religion to the struggles of LGBTQ people in coming out to their other
communities. Students can also look at the calls for change in the hip-hop and rap music that
they listen to and use it to find the hidden calls to action within African American Spirituals.
Music’s inherent ability to make a political or social point should be used to enhance the
students’ ability to understand the structures in place around them, and is not talked about often
enough. By understanding the powers and oppression that created music, students will be able to
use music as a tool to incite tangible change in the communities that they are a part of.
Conclusion
I believe that music has an innate goodness and value that needs to be used to promote
positive change in the world. Music education has largely focused on musical agency and
literacy, but I think that is only the starting point. Musical literacy opens up the doors for many
meaningful musical experiences, but it is not necessary to create all of them. The main focus of
music education needs to shift away from just focusing on music and turn towards all that music
has done, and can still do in society. We often skirt away from acknowledging the political and
social power that music has on our histories. However, if we embrace the inherent nature of
music to provoke thought and change, we empower our students to use music to provoke thought
and change in the cultures and contexts that they live in.
References:
Gutstein, Eric. Reading and Writing the World with Mathematics: toward a Pedagogy for