The Aesthetic Philosophy Of Music Education Paradigm And Practice Paradigm

Both of the aesthetic and praxial paradigms in music education philosophy were born and developed in the United States. The aesthetic philosophy of music education was built to unite the practice and thoughts of music education in the fifties and sixties of 20th century. Its occurrence has very close relationship with the social, economic, cultural and educational background at that time. Bennett Reimer's work, A Philosophy of Music Education (1970, 1989, 2003), can be regarded as its three developing phases, and Reimer's idea of "Music Education as Aesthetic Education" becomes the guiding idea of American music education during 1970s-1990s.Based on the pure aesthetics of 18th century, the aesthetic philosophy of music education emphasizes music as a unique, transcendent art; At the same time, it is the aesthetic object. Thus music education should prepare students in developing the sensitivities to aesthetic qualities within music work, and hence achieving aesthetic experience. Thus it gives extraordinary emphasis of using musical listening in music education practice. It was strongly criticized in the late eighties and early nineties and eventually resulted in the birth of praxial music education philosophy.Praxial music education philosophy is based on Aristotle's theory of praxis, claiming that music is a diverse human practice, thus its theoretical basis is not only based on aesthetics, but also on other disciplines, especially ethnomusicology. It sees that the main commission of music education is to enrich student's musical experience, whose content is much broader than aesthetic experience and it is connected with students' daily experience and daily life. Performance is the best way to teach. With the occurrence of praxial music education philosophy, the history of the aesthetic philosophy of music education as the dominant philosophy comes to an end, at the same time, the spaces and perspectives of music and music education research has been extended as well. It provides multi-interpretation of the nature of music and music education, and it also highly emphasizes the importance and essentiality of multicultural music education. David Elliott's work, Music Matters: A New Philosophy of Musk Education, is the landmark of the occurrence of praxial music education philosophy.The key difference of the two paradigms is in the different understanding about the nature of music and music education. With the ongoing debates and development between the two paradigms, the research of northern American music education philosophy has owned characteristics of being a separate discipline, given that each paradigm has its own research group and journals. Now, the two paradigms are both facing great challenges both coming from the inside and the outside of their system. Hence, further theoretical research and practicing exploration is needed. At the same time, the research of music education philosophy is presenting an international picture, and this will lead to an open and culture-based future.