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Music education and human flourishing: a meditation on democratic origins

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2012

Randall Everett Allsup
Randall Everett Allsup*
Affiliation:
The Program in Music and Music Education, Teachers College Columbia University, 525 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USAAllsup@tc.columbia.edu
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Abstract

This philosophical essay is a meditation on the multiple and contested meanings of the concept of democracy with the aim of redirecting dominant discourses in music education practices and building new capacities for democracy's practical use in music classrooms. Inspired by philosopher John Dewey's travels to China, and his influence on major Chinese thinkers like Hu Shih and Tao Xingzhi, the author plays with the etymological origins of the term ‘democracy’, finding limited value in its Greek origins, but inspiration in the many ways of referring to democracy in Chinese [Minzhu: 民 主 / Pingmin: 平 民 / Shumin: 庶 民 / Minben: 民 本] each of which has the potential to direct and enlarge contemporary instructional practices in formal music education settings.

Type
Research Article
Information
British Journal of Music Education , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , July 2012 , pp. 171 - 179
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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