Music education, the field that we have set out to become contributing members in, has been far

from a unified profession. We find that this is because we dont have a unified and correct definition of our key words. In Dr. Jorgensens book In Search of Music Education we find that to define music education, we have to define music and education separately from each other. We must do this because each has its own unique issues, and when we combined them we have that many more problems (J, 2-3). The text used for this question is not designed for a practical application of music education, but instead to make educators think about the issues, and maybe unify with each other in the quest for answers. I will organize this paper in a similar manner to Dr. Jorgensens book, around Education, Music, and Musical Dialectics. I will present these three distinct chapters of the authors through the guise of my own words and experiences. Within this I will also spend the most amount of time on the validity of musical spheres because it is my particular bias, education of music. Many music educators have never thought about the issues of education, and are waiting for the answers before any philosophical exercise (J, xii). We begin our quest through five differing educational forms with schooling (J, xiii, 4). School being defined as the social institution charged with presenting information viewed appropriate in a formal setting (J, 4-5). Schools have long been thought of as the only place for education, which has led to many problems and misguided assumptions being placed upon this institution (J, 7-8). Training is the method in which one learns a series of skills leading to complete mastery of their objective (J, 8). Training is the most significant form of education for music, as most learning for a new instrumentalist is achieved through small tasks set by the teacher in order to move the student towards mastery through practice (J, 9-11). Eduction is the school of thought that assumes all students have potential that must simply be drawn out by the teacher (J, 13). Shinichi Suzuki is a

music educator that based his entire philosophy on eduction, from mother tongue to talent education (J, 14-15). The last two Dr. Jorgensen talks about, though I will combine, are Socialization and Enculturation (J, 18, 23). This is because although they are distinct more than the others these two are somewhat dependent on each other. The social forces the individual to conform to what the group finds as norms, the latter is the lifelong odyssey to personal and social identity (J, 20, 25). Defining music has been problematic for ethnomusicologists, musicologists and musicians alike since its inception. Ideal types, social perspective, and interrelation to society are assumptions we must make in order to further our understanding of what music is (J, 34-5). In order to talk about spheres of musical validity we must first see the strong social role of music and what that relationship is (J, 36). Spheres of musical validity are socially congruent in terms of the emotional, philosophical, and cognitive and are presented symbolically and formally within the music (J, 37). Like a venn diagram, all musics of the world are not a part of the same sphere, but rather share a commonality as they are all spheres within themselves (J, 39-41). Spheres do not just statistically exist, but are continually shifting, springing from specific categories. These do not evolve in a Darwinian fashion though; traditionally this is what was thought (J, 43, 45). The musical spheres rely on five social constructs in order to progress, all five providing different but important characteristics (J, 45). Familial relations have a great effect on the music produced within; family meaning more than just a household, but can also include the whole tribe of collective customs (J, 45-6). This is similar to religion, with people separated by space, but connected by beliefs and musical experience (J, 48-9). Lutherans for example, separated from Catholics partially due to a different musical belief, that belief grew and become very

distinct and yet collective among Lutherans (J, 49). Both religion and family educate in a similar manner, mostly informally through shared rituals and experiences, in a lifelong process (J, 50-1). Politics, shared through common state, is often represented with its music, both because of its rhetorical and subversive properties (J, 54-5). Dialectics within music education are numerous and are both historically contextual and unifying (J, 71). The dialectics are not comprehensive but a diverse representation of the many with which we as educators have to deal with (J, 72). Some of the dialects include Continuity and Interaction. Within a lesson plan, how much of the material will lead into the next, and when are they actively juxtaposed and used congruently (J, 81)? Making and Receiving when related to musical experience, we can either be making the product or actively receiving (J, 83-4). Within just these two dichotomies we have a whole host of issues very influential for the musical classroom. If we want the students to experience music, we must allow for both making and receiving opportunities. But, do we have our lesson move from making into receiving? Or, do we have them interact and participate with both? Even within just these two dialects and their relationship we find a whole host of problems. If we do one, we cannot do the other. In this paper I have shown what music education is. It is a combination of two distinct and difficult fields. In order to unpack the question, we had to unpack the words and their uses, and the specific problems that come as baggage with both as we search to find a succinct answer. In our reading, we find that as we look for these answers we are left with more questions, and are less sure about our combination of these fields. I have provided a brief look at Jorgensens insights into this idea by following her path through the question, but representing my own take on the material within the book. I have spent the most time on our discourse on music, because this is my particular focus.