Music education freed from colonialism: A new praxis

Abstract

This paper argues against a conflation of the culturally specific (i.e. the western) and the universal in theoretical discourse about music and music education. The charge is made that music education practices generally have lost touch with the contemporary practices of musicians, thus isolating music education from other educational practices. Set in a context of ISME's commitment to a world view of music and music education, such problems are serious. It is argued that the use of western terminology is inimical to ISME's goals. Terms like ‘music’ and ‘aesthetic’ are specifically western. Epistemological links exist between an aesthetic theory and the associated musical practices, but these are not universal.