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Praxial Philosophy

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What is the praxial philosophy of music education? Very briefly, the praxial philosophy offers an explanation of the nature and values of music. Based on this foundation, I go on to explain the nature and values of music education.

I suggest that "multidimensional" captures the essence of this philosophy. In Music Matters I argue for a multidimensional concept of music and musical works, a multidimensional concept of musical understanding, a multidimensional concept of music's values in human life and a multiple approach to achieving these values. How? In short, by developing the musicianship of all music students ('general' music students and others) through the critically reflective and codependent actions of: performing-and-listening, improvising-and-listening, composing-and-listening, arranging-and-listening and conducting-and-listening. For the reasons I explain in Music Matters I suggest that music making (of all kinds) - and, of course, the rich kind of music listening required to make music well - should be at the center of the music curriculum.

Recorded music and "talk" about music have an important place in music teaching and learning (but not the central place). Recordings and information about music should be included in music teaching situations in such a way that they weave continuously in and out of a teacher's ongoing efforts to teach students how to listen intelligently and make music well (to perform and improvise music and, whenever possible, to compose, arrange and conduct music).

I propose, also, that developing our students' musical creativity (in all forms of music making) overlaps and extends the process of developing our students' musicianship.

In summary, the praxial philosophy urges a comprehensive and reflective approach to music teaching and learning. It is based on detailed arguments for the view that: (a) musical works involve many kinds of meanings; (b) "musical understanding" involves many closely related kinds of thinking and knowing; and (c) that the significance of music in human life can be explained in terms of many important "life values."

Accordingly, the aims of music education include the development of critically reflective listeners and musical amateurs who possess the understanding and motivation to give music an important place in their lives and the lives of others in their communities.

This philosophy recommends, further, that to achieve the values of music, music teachers ought to emphasize the interpretive nature of music as a performing and improvising art and that composing, arranging and conducting (all of which demand keen listening) should be taught frequently (and in direct relation) to a reasonable diversity of Musics (genres, or musical practices) during the course of our students' musical education.

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What is the praxial philosophy of music education? Very briefly, the praxial philosophy offers an explanation of the nature and values of music. Based on this foundation, I go on to explain the nature and values of music education. I suggest that "multidimensional" captures the essence of this philosophy.

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David Elliott On Issues in Music Education Today

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Goal of music should be Aesthetic Education

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Bennett Reimer

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Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy dealing with such notions as the beautiful, the ugly, the sublime, the comic. The root of the word aesthetic is the Greek aisthetike, which means perception through the senses.

Aesthetic Education is a way of regaining touch with the process of learning something new, of being introduced to a medium never known in a particular way before. It is the incorporation of the arts across the curriculum in a way that fosters a heightened awareness of and appreciation for all that touches our lives.

Since aesthetic quality is an aspect of all activity, perception, and intelligent thought, aesthetic education helps students discover new ways of looking at, listening to, moving in and speaking of their everyday experiences. And since aesthetic quality is concentrated in the arts, the study of music, dance, drama and the visual arts most directly develops aesthetic awareness. Aesthetic education opens up areas of learning too seldom experienced in school:

the power of a work of art to transform children and teachers

the partnership of student and teacher sharing insights

the challenge of taking risks to ask open-ended questions

the excitement of learning to express oneself in new ways

the self-esteem gained from experiences that teach self-respect and mutual respect

the exploration of a broad range of human relationships

the opportunity to combine mind and emotion, cognition and sensory experience, analysis and intuition toward understanding something as a whole

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Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy dealing with such notions as the beautiful, the ugly, the sublime, the comic. The root of the word aesthetic is the Greek aisthetike, which means perception through the senses. Aesthetic Education is a way of regaining touch with the process of learning something new, of being introduced to a medium never known in a particular way before.

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Experiences shape us and how we learn

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John Dewey's Theories on Education and Learning: An Introduction to His Life and Work, a preview

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Understanding music through Listening, performance, and Composition

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by John Dewey

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The Quest for Certainty: A Study of the Relation of Knowledge and Action

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John Dewey Quotes (Author of Art as Experience)

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176 quotes from John Dewey: ‘We do not learn from experience... we learn from reflecting on experience.’, ‘Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.‘, and ‘Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes.’

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Focus on the five processes (family, religion, politics, profession, and commerce)

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31 dissertations and doctoral documents advised at Indiana University with one awarded the Outstanding Dissertation of the Year in Music Education by the Council for Research in Music Education...