An Ideal -Typical Approach to Methodology in Comparative Music Education
The growing involvement of music educators with musics of the world's cultures prompts an increased need for a methodology by which to conduct fruitful research in comparative music education. Rather than relying on simple description of observed practices, a context needs to be established within which these observations can be compared and conclusions drawn. The ideal-typical normative model developed by Brian Holmes for the general field of comparative education may be adapted for the needs of comparative music education. The influences on Holmes in the construction of this model were John Dewey (in the areas of reflective thinking), Karl Popper (in the areas of social change and normative and sociological laws) and Thomas Kuhn (in the area of paradigmatic change). In addition, the thoughts of Max Weber are considered regarding the nature of ideal-types. The ideal-typical model, as developed by Holmes, considers the natures of man, society, and knowledge against a background of normative patterns (educational, economic, legal, religious, and so forth) inherent in the nation under consideration. This model is adapted for the needs of music education by considering the three large areas of the nature of music, the social foundations of music, and the nature of music education; a parallel to Holmes' normative patterns is found through the use of Burton's areas of musical commonalities: musical concepts, musical processes, musical media, musical functions, and performance considerations. After a general model for comparative music education is constructed, a problem is formulated for investigation: namely, the search for philosophical orientations assumed by the authors of two series of elementary school music textbooks, from England and the United States, published during the late 1950s and early 1960s. To this end, nation-specific models for England and the United States are constructed, and a content analysis of the textbooks is carried out within the context of Burton's scheme of commonalities and the adapted ideal-typical normative models. Upon completion of the analysis, conclusions regarding philosophical orientations in the books are considered, and recommendations for further research are offered.
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign