Music education in the twenty-first century
A cross-cultural comparison of German and American music education towards a new concept of international dialogue
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23182406 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alexandra Kertz-Welzel (Hochschule für Musik Saar, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 439-449 |
| Publication date | 2008-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Music Education Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1461-3808 • E-ISSN: 1469-9893 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/14613800802547672 |
| OpenAlex | W2103492421 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 7 |
Comparative Music Education is often considered to be an unnecessary subject because there seem to be more important issues for research than studying music education in various countries. Comparative music education is not a luxury, but rather a necessity in the twenty-first century. Scholars and music teachers in many countries are struggling with similar problems such as teacher training, performance-based or general music education, classroom management or standards in music education. It would be useful to improve the exchange between various traditions of music education both in terms of developing more effective methods in comparative music education and concerning teacher education programmes emphasising music education as an international endeavour. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the opportunities of comparative music education by comparing German and American music education, particularly investigating the fields of general, performance-based and multicultural music education. Keywords: comparative music educationGermanyUnited States Notes 1. William C. Woodbrige, who was in Europe between 1827 and 1829, realised, inspired by Pestalozzi's and Pfeiffer and Nägeli's concepts, that every child is able to learn to sing and that it is only a matter of the right method. Lowell Mason was fascinated by Woodbrige's findings and put them into practice in Boston, initiating singing as a subject in the Boston public schools in 1838. This was the beginning of music education in public schools in the US. 2. The American Luther Whiting Mason observed music education in Germany and studied German songbooks. He had a great impact on music education in the US and Japan. 3. John Hullah and John Spencer Curven went to Germany in order to find new and more effective singing methods. Although they were disappointed about the state of music education in Germany, their ideas on German music education were influential because the German musicologist Hermann Kretzschmar translated and published their report. For Kretzschmar, Hullah's and Curwen's critique was a starting point for a transformation of music education in Germany. 4. Concerning the relationship between German and American music education, Gieseler's book Musikerziehung in den USA (Citation1969) presented such a holistic approach. 5. Above all, German music education referred to Schiller's Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man (Citation1967), originally published in 1795. Schiller indented a transformation of the society by creative and mature human beings who develop their creative and emotional potentials through art. 6. Similar problems of translation exist concerning philosophy of music education and Didaktik of music (Kertz-Welzel Citation2006, 54–77). 7. The Kestenberg-Reform in the 1920s emphasised general music education in German schools by introducing a new curriculum and establishing new music teacher education programmes (Kruse Citation2005, 125–126). Particularly after the Second World War, Kestenberg's ideas have been implemented successfully into German schools, changing music education's focus from singing to a variety of musical activities. 8. This was also the result of the misuse of music education and music making during the Third Reich (Kertz-Welzel 2005b). 9. Only occasionally, general music classes are offered in American high schools, often being music appreciation classes or focused on a very specific topic such as singing in various cultures. It is not a systematic approach as in Germany, including various kinds of musical activities. 10. Their concepts are similar to the German approach, but not very popular in the US. 11. One important point is also the old prejudice that general music education is similar to music appreciation and music listening. 12. The German musicologist Stroh (Citation2004) introduced in his Eine-Welt-Musiklehre (One-World-Music-Theory) in the 1990s, comparing basic musical elements in various cultures, e.g. pitch, time, structure or instruments. His concept is so far not widely accepted. 13. 'The implication of Burton's paper is that after the variables of music evident in a variety of cultures have been standardised, appropriate techniques can be determined to assist cultural transfer'. (Kemp and Lepherd 1992, 782). 14. In 2005, a class on standards in international music education, taught at the University of Music in Saarbruecken, Germany, led exactly to this result in terms of students consulting information about music education in various countries, also investigating teaching materials and becoming members in international online groups on music teaching.
Art · Comparative education · German · Higher education · Management · Music education · Music Geography · Music history · Musicology · Pedagogy · Political science · Popular music · Singing · Sociology · Visual arts · Diverse Music Education Insights · Historical Education Studies Worldwide · History · Kantian Philosophy and Modern Interpretations · Law · Music
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.3 |
| Citation span | 2016 - 2025 (10) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |