As a music student, music teacher and musician, I have come to see that music is a very traditional realm of education. There is great respect for tradition, and many methods used in music education identify strongly with the culture and educational approaches of 18th Century Europe: disciplined, individual practice, with an emphasis on technical drills (e.g., scales); roles of master and apprentice; assessment through competitive performance; and a preference for content quite separated culturally from the today's students' daily experiences.
Yet music is in itself creative and innovative. And music as students experience it in the 'real world' is constantly changing. Generally, it seems that music education is not keeping up with these changes. How could music education develop in the future? |
Learning Theory and Music Education
In Technology and the Curriculum, I considered how learning theories connect with current models of music education, in a two-part video: |
Changing Music Education
The following paper, Listening to the Crystal Ball, explores the future of instrumental music education. This paper was the culminating task for Curriculum Theory, which I took in the Fall of 2010. Although my understanding of learning theory was still developing, it is interesting to note several themes in this paper which have continued through later courses: the impact of technology on education; the importance of student-centered learning; and the problematic disconnect between music education and how music is created and used in the real world.
This artifact is provided here as a PowerPoint presentation; to see the formal paper, click here.
The following paper, Listening to the Crystal Ball, explores the future of instrumental music education. This paper was the culminating task for Curriculum Theory, which I took in the Fall of 2010. Although my understanding of learning theory was still developing, it is interesting to note several themes in this paper which have continued through later courses: the impact of technology on education; the importance of student-centered learning; and the problematic disconnect between music education and how music is created and used in the real world.
This artifact is provided here as a PowerPoint presentation; to see the formal paper, click here.
A brief survey of recent publications discussing music education and technology showed some common themes:
- Technology has transformed music as it is created, distributed, and experienced by students in the real world
- Music education has not kept up with these changes
- Integrating technology into music education allows more students to access creative musical experiences, and increases motivation
- Music education needs to be more student-centered and technologically relevant
The process of conducting this recent research and reviewing earlier artifacts has been enlightening. There is a consistent thread through publications on music education I have read since beginning the Masters program in 2010: music education is missing out. There is so much that could be done in terms of composing, recording, analyzing and performing music using technology. The Integrating Technology in Music Education page explores several ways technology might be used in music education, with a focus on using technology to teach and learn music composition.