THE NATURE OF PARADIGMS AND PARADIGM SHIFTS IN MUSIC EDUCATION

Abstract

The advent of the praxial philosophy of music education in the mid-1990s and its systematic development in David Elliott's Music Matters: A New Philosophy of Music Education1 created an unprecedented situation in music education in North America. Having brought to an end the monopoly of one theoretical approach, that of music education as aesthetic education (MEAE), it challenged the music education community with a choice. While Elliott tried to convince music educators of the falsity of MEAE and of the advantages of his own conception, Bennett Reimer and his proponents defended their position. The polemic between aestheticians and praxialists, represented by the exchange between Reimer and Elliott in the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education,2 brought to light a methodological deficiency in music education theory, namely, its inability to provide tenacious theoretical footing which could help settle the dispute. How do changes in the theory and practice of music education occur? What are the rational standards by which to judge theories? What is the nature and logic of a dynamic development in music education theory and prac-

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