Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T23:15:45.516Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Justifying music in the national curriculum: The habit concept and the question of social justice and academic rigour

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2018

Elizabeth Bate
Elizabeth Bate*
Affiliation:
Selwyn College, University of Cambridge, CB3 9DQ
*
Corresponding author. Email: elizabeth.h.bate@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In June 2015, the British government presented ‘the social justice case for an academic curriculum’ as the justification for recent radical changes to educational policy. However, this justification failed to account for both the key changes in the newly-revised National Curriculum for Music and the place of music in the National Curriculum as a whole.

Through a critical evaluation of the National Curriculum for Music, this study will propose how the place of music could successfully be justified within an education system wholly committed to ‘social justice’. Using the ‘habit concept’ of classical philosophical pragmatism, it will assess how and why music's educational value should be understood not through its ‘academic rigour’ but through its distinctive, inherently destabilising nature.

Type
Articles
Information
British Journal of Music Education , Volume 37 , Issue 1 , March 2020 , pp. 3 - 15
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2018

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

ABRAHAMS, F. (2005) Transforming classroom music instruction with ideas from critical pedagogy. Music Educators Journal, 92 (1), 62–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BAMBERGER, J. (2005) How the conventions of music notation shape musical perception and performance. In Hargreaves, D. J., MacDonald, R., & Miell, D. (eds.), Musical Communication (pp. 143–170). New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BENEDICT, C. & SCHMIDT, P. (2012) The National Curriculum as manifest destiny. In Philpott, C. & Spruce, G. (eds.), Debates in Music Teaching (pp. 102–117). Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
BOORMAN, S. (2001) The musical text. In Cook, N. & Everist, M. (eds.), Rethinking Music (pp. 403–423). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
BOWMAN, W. (2005a) The rationality of action: Pragmatism's habit concept. Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education, 4 (1).Google Scholar
BOWMAN, W. (2005b) To what question(s) is music advocacy the answer? International Journal of Music Education, 23 (2), 125–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BOWMAN, W. (2012) Music's place in education. In McPherson, G. E. & Welch, G. F. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Music Education Volume 1 (pp. 21–39). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
BOWMAN, W. (2014) The ethical significance of music-making. Music Mark Magazine, 3. Available at: https://jfin107.wordpress.com/scholarly-paper-the-ethical-significance-of-music-making-by-wayne-bowman/ (last accessed 10th July 2015).Google Scholar
CITRON, M. J. (1990) Gender, professionalism, and the musical canon. Journal of Musicology, 8 (1).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
COLE, J. & MCKAY, I. (2015) Organized lightning: the liberal arts against neoliberalism. Our Schools/Our Selves, Winter 2015, 123–137.Google Scholar
COMTE, M. (2012) Music education: Giving children a voice. In Moore, M. C. (ed.), Critical Essays in Music Education (pp. 13–30). Surrey: Ashgate.Google Scholar
DAVIS, S. G. (2012) Instrumental ensemble learning and performance in primary and elementary schools. In McPherson, G. E. & Welch, G. F. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Music Education Volume 1 (pp. 417–434). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
DEVANEY, J. (2013) The National Curriculum for Music 1999 and 2014 Comparison. Available at: http://www.musicmark.org.uk/sites/default/files/content-assets/pages/files/comparison.pdf (last accessed 21st January 2015).Google Scholar
DfE (GREAT BRITAIN, DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION) (2013) Music Programmes of Study: Key Stages 1 and 2. National Curriculum in England. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/239037/PRIMARY_national_curriculum_-_Music.pdf (last accessed 4th September 2014).Google Scholar
DfE (GREAT BRITAIN, DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION) (2014a) Primary National Curriculum until 2014. Available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20131202172639/http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/curriculum/primary/b00199150/music (last accessed 1st January 2015).Google Scholar
DfE (GREAT BRITAIN, DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION) (2014b) The National Curriculum in England: Framework Document. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/381344/Master_final_national_curriculum_28_Nov.pdf (last accessed 16th September 2015).Google Scholar
DfE & DCMS (GREAT BRITAIN, DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION & DEPARTMENT FOR CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT) (2011) Importance of Music: A National Plan for Music Education. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/180973/DFE-00086-2011.pdf (last accessed 4th September 2014).Google Scholar
ELLIOTT, D. J. (1995) Music Matters. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
EVERIST, M. (2001) Reception theories, canonic discourses, and musical value. In Cook, N. & Everist, M. (eds.), Rethinking Music (pp. 378–402). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
FISKE, H. (2016) Engaging student ownership of musical ideas. In Bowman, W. D. & Frega, A. L. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy in Music Education (pp. 307–327). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
GOBLE, J. S. (2005) On musical and educational habit-taking: Pragmatism, sociology, and music education. Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education, 4 (1).Google Scholar
GOEHR, L. (2007) The Imaginary Museum of Musical Works. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
GIBB, N.(GREAT BRITAIN, DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION) (2015a) Nick Gibb Speaks at the Music Education Expo. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/nick-gibb-speaks-at-the-music-education-expo (last accessed 8th October 2015).Google Scholar
GIBB, N.(GREAT BRITAIN, DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION) (2015b) Nick Gibb: The Social Justice Case for an Academic Curriculum. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/nick-gibb-the-social-justice-case-for-an-academic-curriculum (last accessed 8th October 2015).Google Scholar
GREEN, L. (2008a) Music on Deaf Ears: Musical Meaning, Ideology and Education (2nd edn). Suffolk: Arima.Google Scholar
GREEN, L. (2008b) Music, Informal Learning and the School: A New Classroom Pedagogy. Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar
HARGREAVES, D. (1996) The development of artistic and musical competence. In Deliège, I. & Sloboda, J. (eds.), Musical Beginnings: Origins and Development of Musical Competence (pp. 145–170). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
HARGREAVES, D. J., MacDONALD, R. & MIELL, D. (2012) Musical identities mediate musical development. In McPherson, G. E. & Welch, G. F. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Music Education Volume 1 (pp. 125–142). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
HOOKWAY, C. (2015) Pragmatism. In Zalta, E. N. (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Available at: http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2015/entries/pragmatism/ (last accessed 17th October 2015).Google Scholar
LAMB, R. (2010) Music as sociocultural phenomenon: interaction with music education. In Abeles, H. F. & Custodero, L. A. (eds.), Critical Issues in Music Education: Contemporary Theory and Practice (pp. 28–38). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
LEONHARD, C. (2012) Philosophy of music education. In Moore, M. C. (ed.), Critical Essays in Music Education (pp. 81–85). Surrey: Ashgate.Google Scholar
MARK, M. L. (2012) The evolution of music education philosophy from utilitarian to aesthetic. In Moore, M. C. (ed.), Critical Essays in Music Education (pp. 87–93). Surrey: Ashgate.Google Scholar
McPHERSON, G. & HALLAM, S. (2012) Musical potential. In Hallam, S., Cross, I., & Thaut, M., (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Music Psychology, Oxford Handbooks Online. Available at: http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199298457.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199298457-e-024 (last accessed 11th November 2015).Google Scholar
MORGAN, N.(GREAT BRITAIN, DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION) (2015) Nicky Morgan: Why Knowledge Matters. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/nicky-morgan-why-knowledge-matters (last accessed 8th October 2015).Google Scholar
ONG, W. J. (2012) Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word, 30th anniversary edition. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
PHILPOTT, C. (2012) The justification for music in the curriculum. In Philpott, C. & Spruce, G. (eds.), Debates in Music Teaching (pp. 48–63). Abingdon: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
RANDEL, D. M. (1992) The canons in the musicological toolbox. In Bergeron, K. & Bohlman, P. V. (eds.), Disciplining Music: Musicology and its Canons (pp. 10–22). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
SALDAÑA, J. (2009) The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. London: SAGE Publications.Google Scholar
SCHMIDT, P. (2009) Reinventing from within: Thinking spherically as a policy imperative in music education. Arts Education Policy Review, 110 (4), 39–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SCRIPP, L., ULIBARRI, D. & FLAX, R. (2013) Thinking beyond the myths and misconceptions of talent: creating music education policy that advances music's essential contribution to twenty-first-century teaching and learning. Arts Education Policy Review, 114 (2), 54–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SCRUTON, R. (2007) Culture Counts: Faith and Feeling in a World Besieged. New York: Encounter Books.Google Scholar
SLOBODA, J. (2005) Exploring the Musical Mind. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
SPRUCE, G. (2012) Musical knowledge, critical consciousness and critical thinking. In Philpott, C. & Spruce, G. (eds.), Debates in Music Teaching (pp. 185–196). Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
SPRUCE, G. (2013a) Participation, inclusion, diversity and the policy of English music education. In Harrison, C. & Mullen, P. (eds.), Reaching Out: Music Education with ‘Hard to Reach’ Children and Young People (pp. 23–31). London: Music Mark.Google Scholar
SPRUCE, G. (2013b) ‘The National Music Plan’ and the taming of English music education. Arts Education Policy Review, 114 (3), 112–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SPRUCE, G. & MATTHEWS, F. (2012) Musical ideologies, practices and pedagogies: Addressing pupil alienation through a praxial approach to the music curriculum. In Philpott, C. & Spruce, G. (eds.), Debates in Music Teaching (pp. 118–134). Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
STAMOU, L. (2002) Plato and Aristotle on music and music education: lessons from Ancient Greece. International Journal of Music Education, 39 (1), 3–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TREITLER, L. (2001) The historiography of music: issues of past and present. In Cook, N. & Everist, M. (eds.), Rethinking Music (pp. 356–377). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
USHER, R. & EDWARDS, R. (1994) Postmodernism and Education. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
WEAVER-HIGHTOWER, M. B. (2008) An ecology metaphor for educational policy analysis: a call to complexity. Educational Researcher, 37 (3), 153–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WEBER, W. (2001) The history of the musical canon. In Cook, N. & Everist, M. (eds.), Rethinking Music (pp. 336–355). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
WOODFORD, P. (2012) Music education and social justice: towards a radical political history and vision. In Philpott, C. & Spruce, G. (eds.), Debates in Music Teaching (pp. 85–101). Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
WOODY, R. H. (2012) Playing by ear: foundation or frill? Music Educators Journal, 99 (2), 82–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar