Democracy and Music Education, Liberalism, Ethics and the Politics of Practice.

Democracy and Music Education, Liberalism, Ethics and the Politics of Practice. Democracy and Music Education, Liberalism, Ethics and the Politicsof Practice, by Paul G. Woodford. Indiana University Press Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is a publishing house at Indiana University that engages in academic publishing, specializing in the humanities and social sciences. It was founded in 1950. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. (601 N.Morton St., Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in south central Indiana. Located about 50 miles southwest of Indianapolis, it is the seat of Monroe County. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, Bloomington had a total population of 69,291, making it the 7th largest city in Indiana. 47404), 2005. 160 pp. $21.95. This book takes an in-depth look at music education philosophy. Thesubject is very relevant but the overly pedantic pe��dan��tic?adj.Characterized by a narrow, often ostentatious concern for book learning and formal rules: a pedantic attention to details. writing style makes itdifficult to make sense of the first-half of the book. Paul Woodfordneeded help from a good editor to make his book more readable read��a��ble?adj.1. Easily read; legible: a readable typeface.2. Pleasurable or interesting to read: a readable story. andaccessible to those who really need this information. Pulling heavily from the writings of John Dewey, an educator whowrote much about education from 1900 to about 1950, Woodford believesmusic teachers today need to become more relevant to society as a whole.He states that by teaching almost exclusively western music fromprevious centuries, with a narrow view of how that music should beperformed, we have created a vast chasm between our classes and whatsociety needs. In short, we come across as "dictators" with noability to value or listen to other music. Further, Woodford thinks music teachers have allowed themselves tobe controlled by "new right" politics, that aims to"return to a more autocratic, ordered and structured societycontrolled by corporate greed." He is concerned that by failing tofight against the move toward using standardized tests A standardized test is a test administered and scored in a standard manner. The tests are designed in such a way that the "questions, conditions for administering, scoring procedures, and interpretations are consistent" [1] exclusively toevaluate students, we have allowed this "new right" theammunition needed to cut our budgets. If our subject isn't measuredin these tests, then we are viewed as being unnecessary. Woodford believes we are missing the opportunity to guide ourstudents to consider all music types and critically evaluate the styleand culture for each type's worth to society. In fact, we could beteaching students to evaluate how music is used to influence behavior,such as in commercials or in politics as Stalin and Hitler did. If wecould do this, Woodford says we would help our students become betterdemocratic citizens, learning to consider all people, ideologies and artforms in the same manner we evaluate music styles. This type of thinkingcould transfer into making students better citizens and better able tointelligently participate in society. If you can stay with the book long enough, I believe there is muchfood for thought and discussion among music educators. Reviewed by LauraSeale, NCTM NCTM National Council of Teachers of MathematicsNCTM Nationally Certified Teacher of MusicNCTM North Carolina Transportation MuseumNCTM National Capital Trolley MuseumNCTM Nationally Certified in Therapeutic Massage , Garland, Texas Garland is a city in Dallas County, Texas, (USA). It is a northeastern suburb of Dallas and is a major part of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 215,768, making it the tenth-most populous city in Texas and the eighty-sixth most .