
COURSE PURPOSE:
The purposes of this course are to introduce ideas, people, and events that
inform the history and philosophy of music education, and to
acquaint students with tools of philosophical and historical inquiry
appropriate for their ongoing engagement with music education as reflective practitioners.
TEXTS:
Required:
Arnold, J.H. History: A Very Short Introduction. London: Oxford
University Press, 2000.
Brundage. A. Going to the Sources: A Guide to Historical Research.
New York: Harlan Davidson, 1997.
Cook, Nicholas. Music: A Very Short Introduction. London: Oxford
University Press, 1998.
Elliott, David J. Music Matters: A New Philosophy of Music Education.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Engel, S.M. With Good Reason: An Introduction to Informal Fallacies.
New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989.
Jorgensen, Estelle R. In Search of Music Education. Chicago: University
of Illinois Press, 1997.
Mark, Michael L., and Charles L. Gary. A History of American Music
Education (Second edition). Reston, VA: MENC, 1999.
Small, Christopher. Musicking: The Meanings of Performing and
Listening. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1998.
Other readings as assigned from library reserve or the course website.
Students will need internet access for this course.
Recommended:
Barzun, Jacques, and Henry Graff. The Modern Researcher. 5th ed.
Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1992.
Madsen, Clifford K., Ed. Vision 2020: The Housewright Symposium on
the Future of Music Education. Reston, VA: MENC- The National Association for Music Education, 2000.
Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and
Dissertations. 6th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996.
HEADS UP:
This graduate course requires considerable reading, along with discriminating reflection, writing,
and discussion. In addition, it has a strong online component. Students who know themselves to be
averse to such work should not enroll.
NOTE:
Any student in this course with a disability that prevents the fullest expression of his or her
abilities is urged to contact the instructor as soon as possible to discuss the appropriate
accommodations necessary to complete requirements of this course.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
1. Article or Book Review
Master's level students will select, read, analyze/review, and do a 15 minute class presentation on
one article from either The Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, The Philosophy of Music
Education Review, The Journal of Aesthetic Education, or Philosophy of Education; or a philosophical
or historical study from the Journal of Research in Music Education or the Bulletin of the Council of
Research in Music Education. Permission of the instructor is needed to use an article from any
journal not here mentioned.
The topic of your article should be one that complements the structure of the course by
introducing material or aspects of material not fully covered in the texts of the course, or
by enlarging upon the materials of the course. The wise student will select an article that
can also be used to some extent in the historical or philosophical projects of the course,
and/or the contribution to the History and Philosophy of Music Education web site.
Your in-class presentation will follow this format: Presentation of information (5-7
minutes); An analysis of methodology (How well did this author do history or do
philosophy?) (4-5 minutes); Discussion of the overall context and meaning of this
material in the history and/or philosophy of music education (3-5 minutes). You should
provide hand-outs for the class. Be sure to include author, title, publication data. You
may wish to employ audio, visual, and/or technological aids.
Doctoral students will select, analyze/critically review, and do a 25 minute class
presentation on one of the suggested books related to philosophy/history of music education.
Articles and books should be selected as soon as possible, but not later than the third
class meeting. First come, first served. Turning in to the instructor the title, author, and
publication data (journal, publisher, year, etc.) of the article or book you wish to present reserves
that work for you. Presentation times will be assigned, as much as possible, to relate the
subject matter of your article/book to the topics of particular class meetings.
2. Weekly Internet Assignments
(1) REFLECTIONS: Via internet, all students will post weekly one observation, question, or
pertinent comment related to EACH of the assigned readings for that week. These postings must be
made prior to 5 P.M. each Wednesday.
(2) FORUM: Via internet, all students will contribute weekly to a non-synchronous class discussion.
Normally, this will entail responding to a thought provoking question or situation. Occasionally,
it will take the form of a debate. Sometimes, it will include reviewing or searching out web
materials. The first assignment is simply to post a personal introduction.
3. Completion of Three Projects
Project number one (due Wednesday, March 28) is a small-scale historical project.
Project number two (due April 18) is a contribution to the History and Philosophy of Music Education
web site. Criteria and possibilities for this project will be discussed in class. Project number
three (due Wednesday, May 2) is a personal philosophical stance, logically argued. Project reports
should be seven to ten pages long (historical) and six to seven pages long (philosophical).
Full details of projects one and three are discussed in the appendix to this syllabus.
4. Competency Quiz
All students will pass a competency quiz on identification and chronology of major
events, people, and key concepts relative to the development of music education in the United States.
This quiz will be drawn primarily, though not exclusively, from the "Key Terms" identified for each
reading assignment from the Mark & Gary text.
5. Final Exam or Term Paper
Doctoral students will write a term paper of approximately 15-20 pages, reflecting
historical and/or philosophical research. If it best meets the studentıs goals, this paper,
with permission of the instructor, may take the form of an historiographic essay or review of
literature.
Doctoral students who may wish to use the term paper as the basis of a doctoral
competency project are advised that requirements for the term paper and the competency project differ.
It is possible, for instance, to write a fine term paper that satisfies the requirements of this
course, yet is not quite up to par for a publishable doctoral project. While the term paper can
indeed be used as a draft of the doctoral project, typically the competency project requires further
consultation, work, and revision beyond this course. At the same time, however, doctoral students
should note that with careful selection of topic and planning, the term paper for this course can
advance them considerably toward completion of the doctoral project.
Paper proposals are due by February 21. A general outline and working bibliography are due by
March 14. The paper itself is due by May 9. Students writing the term paper are invited to consult
periodically with the instructor on their progress. If it can be accomplished in timely fashion,
i.e. sufficient turn-around time, the instructor is willing to read and offer suggestions on the
first draft.
Master's students may elect to do the term paper in lieu of the final exam.
The final exam is an opportunity to synthesize and reflect broadly on the
work of the course. It consists of four discussion questions, two of which will be completed
"open book" and "open notes" prior to the exam day. The other two questions will be takenfrom a
longer list of questions provided to students during the final weeks of the course.
ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION:
Final course grades will be determined by:
Class Participation (Attendance, Contributions to class discussion/activities)
-----Master's: .10, Doctoral .05
Historical Project
-----Master's: .20; Doctoral .20
Philosophical Project
-----Master's: .20; Doctoral .20
Web site Project:
-----Master's: .10; Doctoral .10
Competency Quiz:
-----Master's: pass; Doctoral: pass
Article Review/Presentation:
-----Master's: .05
Book Review/Presentation:
-----Doctoral: .10
Weekly Internet Assignments:
-----Master's: .20; Doctoral: .15
Term Paper:
-----Master's: may do in lieu of final exam; Doctoral: .20
Final Exam:
-----Master's: .15
*Master's students may elect to do a term paper instead
of the final exam (the paper will be worth 20 points); Doctoral students
must do the term paper.
GRADING SCALE:
A = 93-100 points; B = 85-92 points; C = 77-84 points; D = 69-76 points; F = 68 points
or below.
For course calendar and assignments, click Here.
APPENDIX
PROJECT NUMBER ONE (due Wednesday, March 28)
This is a small-scale historical project. Students may choose one of three options:
(1) For a given year, identify the main socio-cultural events, the main musical events, and the
main music education events. Ascertain what relationships, if any, exist among these various
factors. Be sure to distinguish between coincidental relationships, which require only evidence,
and causal relationships, which require both evidence and argument.
A sample outline for option one might look like this:
I. Introduction (partial page)
II. Sociocultural events (two or three pages)
III.Musical events (two or three pages)
IV. Music Education Events (two or three pages)
V. Summary and conclusions (two pages)
(2) For a given two year period, examine all issues of one music journal or periodical (e.g.,
Music Educators Journal, 1940-1941). You may do an overall, genus content analysis (e.g.,
identifying/classifying types of articles) or a specific content analysis of a continuing aspect of
the journal (e.g., advertisements, letters to the editor, a continuing column/columnist, etc.).
Briefly place your findings in the context of major socio-cultural and/or musical events of the
same timeframe (e.g., professional concerns of American music educators on the eve of U.S.
entry into World War II as reflected by articles in the Music Educators Journal, 1940-1941).
A sample outline for option two might look like this:
I. Introduction (one to three pages)
II. Content Analysis (four or five pages)
III. Summary and Conclusions (one to three pages)
*Placing your content analysis briefly in the context of major sociocultural and
musical events may occur either in the Introduction or the Summary.
(3) Interview a music educator or administrator or a person who participated as a student in a
particular music organization or event. On the basis of the interview/oral history, focus your
writing on a particular facet or event, or set of facets/events, of interest to music education. Your
project should also contain a brief biography of the person and an effort to place the focus of
your project succinctly in the context of musical and sociocultural events of the time. E.g.,
Interview George Heller, Rudolf Radocy, or David Bushouse about their tour behind the Iron
Curtain with the University of Michigan band under Revelli.
A sample outline for option three might look like this:
I. Introduction, including the historical context of the event or organization and a
brief biography of the person interviewed (two to three pages)
II. Report of the interview (four or five pages)
III.Summary and conclusions (one to two pages)
The written report should be eight to ten pages long (not counting footnotes, references,
appendices, and the like). It must be typewritten and double-spaced throughout. In general,
the style should follow Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers,Theses, and
Dissertations, 6th ed., revised by John Grossman and Alice Bennett (Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press, 1996), and use footnotes rather than parenthetical references.
Students with defined research goals may negotiate a different focus, e.g., a historiographic essay,
for this project if desired. Consult with the instructor as soon as possible.
Some sources for main sociocultural events:
Boorstin, Daniel J. The Americans: The Colonial Experience. New York: Random House,
1958.
________. The Americans: The National Experience. New York: Random House, 1965.
________. The Americans: The Democratic Experience. New York: Random House, 1973.
Cremin, Lawrence. American Education: The Colonial Experience, 1607-1783.
New York: Harper & Row, 1970.
________. American Education: The Metropolitan Experience, 1876-1980.
New York: Harper & Row, 1988.
Grun, Bernard. The Timetables of History. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1982.
Norton, Mary Beth, David M. Katzman, Paul D. Escott, Howard P. Chudacoff, Thomas G.
Patterson, and William M. Tuttle, Jr. A People and A Nation: A History of the
United States. 3rd ed. 2 vols Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1990.
Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr., ed. The Almanac of American History. New York: Bison Books,
1983.
Some sources for main musical events:
Bowers, Jane and Judith Tick. Women Making Music: The Western Art Tradition, 1150-1950. Chicago:
University of Illinois Press, 1986.
Chase, Gilbert. America's Music" From the Pilgrims to the Present, i3rd ed. Urbana, IL:
University of Illinois Press, 1987.
The Etude (1896-1957)
Grout, Donald Jay, and Claude V. Paslica, "Chronology," in A History of Western Music,
3rd ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1980, 800-824.
Hamm, Charles. Music in the New World. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1983.
Hitchcock, H. Wiley. Music in the United States: A Historical Introduction, 3rd ed. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1988.
Kingman, Daniel. American Music: A Panorama, 2nd ed. New York: Schirmer Books, 1990.
Mattfield, Julius. Variety Music Cavalcade, 1620-1961, 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice Hall, Inc., 1962.
Metronome (1885-1961)
The Musical Quarterly (1915-present)
The Musician (1896-1948)
The New Grove Dictionary of American Music, 1986 ed. S.v., "Periodicals," by Imogen
Fellinger and John Shepard.
Stolba, K. Maire. The Development of Western Music: A History. Dubuque, IA: Wm. C.
Brown Publishers, 1990.
Southern, Eileen. The Music of Black Americans: A History, 3rd ed. New York:
W. W. Norton and Company, 1997.
Whitburn, Joel. The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: 1955 to Present. New York: Billboard
Publications, 1983.
Some sources for main music education events:
Birge, Edward Bailey. Historyof Public School Music in the United States, 2nd ed. Boston:
Oliver Ditson, 1937; new and augmented edition, Reston, VA: Music Educators National Conference,
1966.
Keene, James A. A History of Music Education in the United States. Hanover, NH: University
Press of New England, 1982.
Music Educators Journal (1934-present)
MENC Proceedings (1935-52)
Music Supervisors Journal (1914-34)
MSNC Proceedings (1910-24)
MTNA Proceedings (1876-1950)
NEA Proceedings (Music Education Department) (1884-present)
The New Grove Dictionary of American Music, 1986 ed. S.v., "Education," by Richard J.
Colwell.
School Music (1900-36)
PROJECT NUMBER THREE (due Wednesday, May 2)
This is a short philosophical paper (about 7 pages). It should be a sound and valid argument
about the theory and practice of music education. This paper may not be a simple statement of
opinion or belief; it is not a "point of view." Rather, it must evidence engagement with the
philosophic process, particularly critical inquiry and defensible logic.
The paper should not be heavily footnoted. If you consult sources, please document
appropriately; however, this paper should represent primarily your own philosophizing and
critical reflection on both the materials of this course and your experiences as a music educator.
A sample outline might look like this:
I. Address the nature and practice of music education: Argue which is genus and which is
species (music or education), or argue logically for a dialectical or synergistic relationship
between the two. Your overall line of reasoning will want to include as well arguments related to
the nature and identity of "music" and the nature and practice of "education."
A. Diagram or outline your argument(s): (One page or as many pages as needed)
Proposition(s): Premise(s)/Assertion(s)
Inference(s)
Proposition(s): Conclusion(s)
(Be careful to avoid logical fallacies).
B. Write your argument(s) in prose, fleshing out and including examples as
appropriate. Write using elegant, but "lean" and precise language. (Three pages)
II. Application of the perspective(s) argued above to your current or future teaching context.
You will likely want to follow the form "if p then q" for this section. At some point, this section
of your paper should address the question "So what?" (One page)
III. Critically evaluate the stance you have articulated. What are its logical/defensible
strengths? What are its weaknesses (e.g., where might others most easily take issue with it)?
What elements will call for further reflection to develop more fully? (One or two pages)
This paper should be six to seven pages long (not counting footnotes, if any). It must be
typewritten and double-spaced throughout. In general, the style should follow Kate L. Turabian,
A Manual for Writers of Term Papers,Theses, and Dissertations, 6th ed., revised by John
Grossman and Alice Bennett (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1996).