"How is a person to live a balanced, productive, and joyous life as a scholar of music education?" I address four values that are at the heart of scholarship in music education: scholarly publication, scholarly teaching, scholarly service, and scholarly change. Although these values represent what Donald Kennedy (1997) thinks of more…

This history traces the roots and development of the International Society for the Philosophy of Music Education (1985-2015). Taking a cross-disciplinary approach to historiography based on autobiographical reflection grounded in documentary evidence, it focuses on the people, events, and contributions of the society and the symposia out of which…

In this essay, a quintet of values in doing philosophy of music education are examined: the need for a broad view, a personal perspective, a constructive vision, a relevant plan, and the courage to speak about important issues in music education. The following questions frame the analysis of each, in turn: What do these values mean? What…

The purpose of this study was to examine evidence of a hypothesized shift in the operative research paradigms in music education during the first quarter century of the publication of the "Journal of Research in Music Education," during the period 1953 to 1978. This shift was from humanities-oriented historical and philosophical studies…

This essay examines Alfred North Whitehead's claim that education should be construed as religious, and by extension, that music education should be religious. The analysis of questions relating to Whitehead's understanding of the notion of "religious," the defensibility of his claim, and its implications for notions of spirituality and…

In probing the interrelationship of myth, meaning, and education, the author offers a case in point, notably, Peter Jackson's film adaptations and Howard Shore's musical scores for J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings trilogy"--"The Fellowship of the Ring," "The Two Towers," and "The Return of the King." Intersecting literature, film, and…

In this paper, four interrelated questions are addressed: What counts as research? What are some present challenges to music education research? What should be the relationship between theory and empirical data? What ought to be the distinctive features of music education research? The purpose is to elucidate how philosophical inquiry can be…

Thinking hopefully about the problems and possibilities of school music education, particularly in the United States, the author suggests a number of ways in which music educators might think and act more broadly, inclusively, humanely, and musically toward transforming their thought and practice. Rather than espousing change for change's sake, or…

In addressing the question-set "What questions do music education researchers need to address?", an illustrative list of juxtaposed descriptive and normative questions is sketched as follows: What are and should be the dimensions of music education? What are and should be the institutional agencies of music education? What are and should be the…

In this article I explore how myth and song intersect in J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy--"The Fellowship of the Ring," "The Two Towers," and "The Return of the King"--and Donald Swann's song cycle setting of Tolkien texts, "The Road Goes Ever On." In so doing I am drawn back to Tolkien's "The Hobbit," the novel from which "The…

The author states that among the various approaches to music education, her dialectical and epistemological view offers a way of thinking about music and education and deciding how to go forward in teaching and learning music. In this article, she shows how this particular philosophical perspective can play out in teaching for the development of…

In this paper, I explore matters concerning justice and music education. I briefly sketch responses to five interrelated questions: Why should music educators be interested in justice? What is meant by the term social justice and how is it distinguished from justice of other kinds? How do liberal views of humanity, particularly the preciousness of…

This philosophical essay maps conceptually five logically defensible aims for music education around the world. These are: to develop musical communities; to transform musical traditions; to enrich culture; to benefit society; to ennoble people. Clarifying these aims opens an array of questions for subsequent examination. It also provides…

This article presents the case for the systematic study of music instruction using economic analysis. A taxonomy of four instructional types based on teacher and student choice is derived and hypothetical examples from music instruction are presented. The implications of the analysis for future research are discussed. (Author)

In this article, the author talks about the International Society for Philosophy of Music Education (ISPME). The ISPME is creating and institutionalizing a forum that can nurture and critique ideas and practices and sustain the work of philosophical reflection in music education over the longer term. It has begun to build an international team of…