Philosophy

Why Music Education?

The need for formal education is evident, but why should music in particular be part of the curriculum? Music teachers, school administrators, and philosophers have been working to answer this question for years. Some have offered answers that involve the effects of music on an individual or other disciplines. Others have found that music is valuable in itself. Some have found far differing rationales for teaching music in the classroom. Perhaps for all of these reasons music should be a part of the learning curriculum.

Aristotle offers perhaps what is the first philosophy of music education in book eight of The Politics.  He writes that the model citizen should be able to appreciate art‐making as an aspect of responsibility to the state and other citizens. Everyone can sing, and it doesn't matter how well. Heinrich Pestalozzi continued this tradition with sensory and developmental learning.  Mason Lowell implemented these ideas into the first public music education classes.

Teachers of music should be those that have a passion for music. As a music teacher relates to his or her students in a way that differs from the formal classroom. Teaching music can bring the shyest student to the front of the class and make him/her feel like he/she truly belongs. Teachers should be passionate not only about music, but about teaching the students.

Music sung or played should, and can be anything. Songs of culture, religion, politics, and more have shaped nations. Why not celebrate the diversity of music by studying, learning and performing that diversity? Especially as a nation build on that diversity.

Performance in music is what keeps it real. Being able to show you what you have learned through an artistic medium in front of people is important. It is quite an accomplishment to stand in front of a crowd and sing or play. Tests in the classroom are an evaluation and a presentation of what a student has learned. The same is true in a performance. A student's parents and peers can evaluate the presentation of a student's knowledge and growth during a performance.