In reading the final chapter of Jorgensen’s Pictures of Music Education, I was most drawn to the metaphor of the garden. Especially the part where Jorgensen explained how the cultivating of the garden is accomplished. “It accomplishes these aims through emphasizing aesthetic and artistic values and transforming musical traditions by fostering new and divergent musical expressions.” My final paper, which will center around a reaction against Randall Allsup’s book Remixing the Classroom and his paper The Problems of Band, will attempt to explore the ways that large ensembles (in my case the wind band) is uniquely positioned to provide opportunities for artistic values while being a strong vessel for new music.
Like Jorgensen suggested in the first chapter, it is perhaps better to avoid “one all-encompassing grand narrative” and instead “see the work of music education in ways that defy reduction to a single universal principle or set of principles.” Throughout this semester I haves often times found myself struggling to understand the main arguments that writers such as Elliot or Reimer make it their philosophies of music education. What I’m starting to wonder now is if my struggle to understand is linked to these authors attempting to see music education through a single lens.
It could also be because my own ideas behind why we should be teaching music are too dependent on a single principle. That mixed with a personal philosophy that isn’t entirely fleshed out or understood, results in myself feeling more lost as to why we’re teaching than before I started this course.
I know I enjoy music making, both the process of rehearsal and the public performance that allows for the sharing of the art; and I know that an emphasis on great music is important to me. But beyond that, when considering other aspects of music education – such as Jorgenson’s village, factory, or web – I haven’t yet been able to make a personal connection or establish a specific philosophy.
Perhaps the question I need to answer consider is, does the why of music education matter more for the teacher or the student. If the student comes in with their own why, does the teacher need to consider it? We already arrived at the same art form, why not just spend our time creating art instead of trying to rationalize our choice for doing it?
Obviously, I am posing more questions that I’m answering. Hopefully with time (and the looming deadline of a philosophical paper) I’ll be able to arrive at some conclusions.