Articles

Review of Wayne D. Bowman and Ana Lucía Frega, eds. 2012. The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy in Music Education. London and New York: Oxford University Press.

Abramo, Joseph

All musicians, regardless of their chosen area of study, take on the role of an
educator at some point in their career. As Luis Alfonso Estrada Rodriguez
writes, “[m]any musicians devote time in their lives in one way or another
to teaching. This is, however, an activity that in many cases was not taken
into account in their studies” (240). In particular, music theorists and
musicologists often serve as instructors in higher education and, therefore,
devote many hours to the pedagogy of music. The Oxford Handbook of
Philosophy in Music Education, edited by Wayne Bowman and Ana Lucía
Frega—a collection of writings from leading, contemporary music education
philosophers—provides a useful resource for those academics of music
that find themselves in this common position. In this review, first I briefly
provide the historical progression of music education philosophy over the
last forty years in order to situate the ideas and themes for readers outside
the field of music education. Second, I highlight some important themes
within the book, focusing on connections among the chapters rather than
addressing them separately. Third, I suggest how academics outside of the
field of education may apply it to higher education. Finally, I remark on the
connection between theory and practice in this text and music education
scholarship and look to the future.

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Title
Current Musicology
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7916/cm.v0i94.5239

More About This Work

Academic Units
Music
Publisher
Columbia University
Published Here
October 1, 2014