Constructivism: Implications for Postsecondary Music Education and Beyond

Abstract

The manner in which music should be taught is a source of continual-and often heated-debate.Scholars have suggested that the practices that dominate current teaching may not represent the most desirable method of instruction, particularly when addressing subjects such as music, which involve the "affective domain" of learning (Abeles, Hoffer, & Klotman, 1994). If music educators are to update their methods, then the challenge is to develop a viable alternative to current practices, which may in turn require implementation of a fundamentally new philosophy of music education. Some of the current trends in music education stem from the aesthetic philosophy, which gained popularity in scholarly discourse in the 1970s and 1980s, most notably through the writings of Bennett Reimer. Reimer (1989) suggested that the primary goal of music education was to develop emotional "responsiveness to the power of the art of music," and that any nonartistic functions of music were secondary and only to be addressed when helpful. A significant response to the aesthetic philosophy occurred with the introduction of the praxial philosophy of music education in the 1990s. Championed by David Elliott (1996)(1997), the praxial philosophy stressed that the importance of music is in doing rather than responding, and that the "full range of attributes, meanings, expressions, references, and cultural-ideological aspects" (p. 25) must be considered at all times.While these developments served to update the practices of music educators through the reexamination of what music is, and by extension, how it should be taught, the philosophy of constructivism has concurrently developed into a possible source of fresh practices in music education through the exploration of what learning is. Much of the music teacher training in America occurs within highly structured postsecondary educational bodies (i.e., universities and colleges); therefore, it may be within these institutions that the implementation of a new teaching philosophy is most needed. This essay will discuss some fundamental aspects of the constructivist theory and explore the implications of constructivism for educational design to illuminate existing and proposed applications in postsecondary music instruction.Constructivism exists in multiple manifestations in education; however, some general themes exist for constructivist educators (Broomhead, 2005). Jackie Wiggins (2004), a leading practitioner and

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