An explicit concept since the late 1950s, aesthetic education first developed to provide a strong philosophical foundation for music education and continues to evolve as a solid theoretical orientation for current effective practices. Bennett Reimer has contributed much to the discussion and development of the value of aesthetic education for the teaching and learning of music. Others in music education also support and promote these ideals and focus on developing an improved understanding for music educators. Some scholars oppose the principles of an aesthetic education, recently demonstrated by David Elliott who favors a praxial philosophy of music education centered on musical performance. The work of Reimer shows an influence of these thinkers and illustrates the essential benefits of a professional emphasis on aesthetics, the branch of philosophy especially devoted to studying the value of the arts.
With guidance from aesthetics, music educators better understand the value of music and its fundamental role within the school curriculum. With its introduction, aesthetic education provided an understanding of authentic fundamental characteristics of music not previously discussed and encouraged an articulation of those ideas into relevant objectives for teaching and learning. The appearance of Basic Concepts in Music Education (ed. Nelson B. Henry, 1958) and the college text Foundations and Principles of Music Education (Charles Leonard and Robert W. House, 1959) promoted the acceptance of an aesthetic-based philosophy as a guiding theoretical foundation. These significant resources encouraged individuals to put their previous intuitions into effective practice using a shared, progressive concept of musical experience and learning. Many music educators embraced aesthetic education (and continue to do so) because it reinforced the validity of music study in the school curriculum for reasons intrinsic to the art itself.
Reimer emphasizes that we (as music educators) need not establish discipleship to one particular person or point of view of aesthetic education. The ideal of “Music Education as Aesthetic Education” (MEAE) does not exist as a particular collection of fixed certainties; it supports the attitude that philosophical truths develop and transform as we advance and verify new ideas. Many sources (books, journals, articles, etc.) provide the insig...
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...le, J. Scott and Marie McCarthy. “Music Education Philosophy: Changing Times,” Music Educators Journal, 89:1 (September 2002): 19-26.
Reimer, Bennett. “Putting Aesthetic Education to Work,” Music Educators Journal, 59 (September 1972): 29-33.
Reimer, Bennett. “Music Education as Aesthetic Education: Past and Present,” Music Educators Journal, 75 (February 1989): 22-8.
Reimer, Bennett. “Music Education as Aesthetic Education: Toward the Future,” Music Educators Journal, 75 (March 1989): 26-32.
Reimer, Bennett. “Essential and Nonessential Characteristics of Aesthetic Education,” Journal of Aesthetic Education, 25:3 (Fall 1991): 193-214.
Reimer, Bennett. “David Elliott’s “New” Philosophy of Music Education: Music for Performers Only,” Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 128 (Spring 1996): 59-89.
Reimer, Bennett. A Philosophy of Music Education, 3rd edition, (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003).
Schwadron, Abraham. “Some Thoughts on Aesthetic Education,” Music Educators Journal, 56:2 (October 1969): 35-6, 79, 81-5.
Schwadron, Abraham. “Are We Ready for Aesthetic Education,” Music Educators Journal, 60:2 (October 1973): 37-9, 87-9.
Sheftel, B. (2002). Music Education Curriculum in Public Schools. PageWise, Inc, Retrieved August 6, 2003
Holcomb, Sabrina. "Arts Education." Rss. National Education Association, 17 Jan. 2007. Web. 10 May 2016.
Putman, D. (1990). THE AESTHETIC RELATION OF MUSICAL PERFORMER AND AUDIENCE. British Journal of Aesthetics. 30 (4), 1-2.
According to Merriam-Webster, the meaning of responsibility is “something that you [people] should do because it is morally right, and legally required, etc.” In the United States, today’s society is composed of people from several cultures, ethnicities, and backgrounds. Everyone has the legal responsibility to act as lawful citizens. Because they are lawful residents, it is their legal responsibility that they should obey the law. For example, everyone in America, citizens and legal residents, pays sales taxes regardless whenever they buy something. In the article “What Is an American?,” Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur describes elements of the American spirit make people American, even those that are coming from different countries. The author also mentions that people immigrated to the United States and they started their lives with American ways and found new identities for themselves. De Crèvecoeur introduces the idea of who is an American and how people changed over the time. The author
Lebuta, Joseph A. & Smith, Deborah A. Music Education: Historical Contexts and Perspectives. (1997) Upper Saddle River, NJ. Prentice Hall.
“Recent studies show that being involved in music classes makes it easier to learn other subjects and improve skills in other classrooms” (Brown, “The Benefits of Music Education”). A lot of people tend to overlook how much music education has an impact on the success of a student. Because of this, schools should be required to offer fine arts and music classes as electives for the students. Not only will this improve the students test scores, but it will also give the students a broader imagination and more creativity in and out of the classroom. In a lot of schools, fine arts and musical classes are the first to go when there are budget cuts. “Seventy-one percent of the nation’s fifteen thousand school districts have cut instructional hours spent on music and other subjects” (“State of the arts: should music and art classes be brushed aside”). Not only is it affecting the teachers who have specialized in the study of fine arts, it is affecting all of the students and parents who are actively involved in these programs. “Johnson, professor of music education and music therapy and associate dean of the School of Fine Arts at KU, found jumps of twenty-two percent in English test scores and twenty percent in math scores at elementary schools with superior music education” (Lynch “Music Boosts Test Scores”). With that being said, schools should be required to offer music and fine arts classes as an elective for their students.
Zorn, J (1989, Nov.). The changing role of instrumental music. Music Educators Journal. 76(3), 21-24.
The position that is being argued is that music should stay in schools. This author is making the claim that music makes children excel in their education. This author uses many different sources. The author relies mainly on studies to back up his argument. The article is recent.
Smith, Jane Stuart and Betty Carlson. “The Gift of Music: Great Composures and Their Influence.” Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books Publishing. 1987. Print.
In “A Rose for Emily”, by William Faulkner, Emily Geierson is a woman that faces many difficulties throughout her lifetime. Emily Geierson was once a cheerful and bright lady who turned mysterious and dark through a serious of tragic events. The lost of the two men, whom she loved, left Emily devastated and in denial. Faulkner used these difficulties to define Emily’s fascinating character that is revealed throughout the short story. William Faulkner uses characterization in “A Rose for Emily”, to illustrate Miss Emily as a stubborn, overly attached, and introverted woman.
Steven, Kelly, N. (2002). A Sociological Basis For Music Education. International Journal of Music Education. 43. Pp. 40-49
“Every student in the nation should have an education in the arts.” This is the opening statement of “The Value and Quality of Arts Education: A Statement of Principles,” a document from the nation’s ten most important educational organizations. The basic message is that music and art programs in the schools help our kids and communities in real and substantial ways. There is an abundant amount of facts and information that supports this statement. The benefits of arts education can be narrowed down into 4 basic categories: success in developing intelligence, success in ...
Music education plays an enormous role in student’s overall well being, outweighing the costs of it. In 1994, Congress passed the Improving America’s Schools Act, concluding that “...the arts are forms of understanding and ways of knowing that are fundamentally important to education” (Ford, AdamMcMahon, Maureen). Congress recognized the importance of music education. Now the effort must be made to make a difference. If people really do want the best for the future, music education is key. Ramon Cortines, former chancellor of the New York City public schools stated, “We engage in the arts, we ought to teach the arts, because this is part of what it means to be human” (“Arts Education”). When people eventually realize this, the benefits will be vast.
Music is a basic part of everyday life. What makes music unique is its ability to create an emotional response in a person. A music education program should develop the aesthetic experience of every student to its highest potential. Aesthetics is the study of the relationship of art to the human senses. Intelligence exists in several areas, which includes music. The concept of aesthetics allows us to see into ourselves, which in turn helps the development of the intelligences. Not only are these intelligences brought up greatly in music education, but they can be transferred to other areas as well, allowing students to grow more through their other subjects.
Even when children learn music they able to listen, sing, dance, create movement. Listening to music draw out emotions, and playing music can be just like communicating emotions. Some people find this a very powerful experience. “ Music enriches the lives of students and should be considered a necessary part of education.”