Approaches music education from two premises: The status of music education in any society reflects general philosophical viewpoints about the nature of music, its purpose, and its value. Pg.___ Music education history reveals recurring themes or cycles upon which shrewd guesses about the discipline's future can be based. Pg.___ Explores people, places, events, and ideas in the history of music in American schools and the general or non-musical events influencing its development from the Colonial Period through 1980. Pg.___ Considers music and education philosophies in relation to these events in music education history and presents a working philosophy of American music education. Pg.

___ Discusses philosophical and historical influences upon the content and development of music curricula. Pg.___ Provides a general definition of learning and an explanation of how music learning occurs. Pg.___ Considers the relationships among philosophy, instruction, and learning. Examines teacher responsibilities and their effects upon learning to clarify the philosophical bases of selected teaching methods used by American music educators. Pg.___ Offers an overview of contemporary trends and issues in music education since 1980.

Pg.___ Provides objectives for each chapter. Pg.___ Contains chapter-end questions that focus on content and that stimulate the synthesis and application of that content. Pg.___.