Music Philosophy and school music curriculum should walk hand in hand for a music educator to achieve the aims of a school music program. The curriculum should reflect the philosophical stance taken by the individual or the system, hopefully both. The philosophy should then serve as a map to guide the curriculum.
The past few weeks of this course, the students have been guided through different philosophies of music education and different approaches to best reflect these philosophies. Bennett Reimer’s distinguishes music from other cognitive processes by its non-conceptual, non-discursive qualities.
Moreover, music, accessible as knowledge, is a subjective experience of feeling. That is, in music, “we receive an ‘experience of’ feeling’ rather than ‘information about’ feeling.”
A musical work of art should be experienced first as a unified whole before one delves deeper into the art form. To Reimer, it can be examined with reference to its various elements, e.g., melodic material, harmony, rhythm, texture, tone, form, etc. “While the affective response to the elements of music is indeed ineffable,” says Reimer, “the elements which can arouse the response are not.
They are the teacher’s stock in trade… the basic materials for teaching and learning at every level.” Teacher discussions about the musical work, moreover, should be descriptive and symbolic, not interpretive, so that aesthetic meanings through interaction with the musical work itself can be sought.
A musical work, moreover, is an autonomous entity. It is about nothing other than itself. The musical work is defined by the intrinsic quality of its expressive form, which in turn leads to the cognition or objectification of feeling as symbolic form.
On this basis it can be said that Reimer’s definition of music is both cognitive and autonomous in emphasis.
David Elliott presents a different philosophy of music education. Elliott’s philosophy is one that actively engages students in “musicing.” He refers to this philosophy as a paraxial music education. The term praxis comes from the “verb prasso, meaning (among other things) ‘to do’ or ‘act purposefully.'” The word praxial “emphasizes that music ought to be understood relation to the meanings and values evidenced in actual music making and music listening in specific cultural contexts.”
Music curricula should be reflective music practice. Curricula are both means and ends. Teaching musicianship is the primary concern. Musicianship is taught by inducting students into specific musical practices and cultures through “cognitive apprenticeship” to a teacher who serves as mentor/ coach/ model.
According to Elliott, “an excellent curriculum is an excellent teacher…” The teacher develops musicianship by planning performing, improvising, composing, arranging and conducting experiences. Through provision of such musical challenges and by enabling increasing levels of musicianship to meet those challenges, the teacher makes possible self-growth, self-knowledge and enjoyment. Elliott states:
The praxial music curriculum is deliberately organized to engage learners in musical actions, transactions and interactions with close approximations of real music-cultures. The praxial curriculum immerses students in music making projects that require them to draw upon the standards, traditions, lore, landmark achievements, “languages,” and creative strategies of the musical practices of which their projects are a part.
From this perspective, the music teaching-learning environment is itself, a key element in the music education enterprise. The musical actions of learners are enabled and promoted by interactive, goal directed “swirl” of questions, issues and knowing that develop around students’ efforts as reflective musical practitioners. The praxial curriculum is itself, informative.
The paraxial music curriculum is most like my approach to teaching instrumental music. The goal of our praxial approach is to provide the student with opportunities to garner musical understanding through active participation in an instrumental ensemble. Students perform a varied repertoire of music, listen to music, and compose among other facets of music in our program. It is the goals of our program to help students not only learn about music through performance but also to learn to appreciate and make aesthetic judgments on music based on their experiences.
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