The Content of Music Education History? It's a Philosophical Question, Really

Abstract

During a recent convention of the Music Educators National Conference (MENC), Estelle Jorgensen asked me rhetorically: What should the content of music education history be? She went on to say, It's a philosophical question, really. Jorgensen was right, of course. It should be evident that historians' choices about what to study should be directed by what they, and perhaps others, believe to be important. To raise consciousness about what is important, philosophical thinking about historical questions are in order. If it is the job of philosophy to provide concepts that lead to further insights and discoveries,1 philosophical discourse on music education history and historiography would broaden and deepen the scope and sharpen the focus of historical inquiry. A few years ago, Bennett Reimer asked: Where are the ongoing, probing discussions about how the history of music education might be accomplished in ways reflecting recent scholarship about history as an endeavor?2 Unfortunately, that discourse has not occurred in music education despite probing discussions on the nature of historiography in the general historical community for several decades. It is time for the music education research com-

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