Chances and Choices: Exploring the Impact of Music Education

ISBN-13: 9780199838752 / Angielski / Twarda / 2012 / 240 str.

Stephanie Pitts

Opis

In Chances and Choices, Stephanie Pitts surveys the aims and impact of formative musical experiences, evaluating the extent to which music education of various kinds provides a foundation for lifelong involvement and interest in music. Pitts draws upon rich qualitative data from her own extensive original study of over 100 adults with an active interest in music in the UK and Italy to address several key themes in the study of music education. Intertwined with discussion of topics such as music education policy and the role that music teachers and other role models play in nurturing musicians are first person 'interludes' that showcase the stories and voices of the research participants as they reflect upon the influences and opportunities that shaped their musical life histories. Pitts' analysis adds valuable context to these stories, illuminating the historical and contemporary debates about music education and proposing ways in which school music might better prepare young people for continued participation in music throughout their lives. A companion website contains Pitts' data sets and analytical frameworks; the website also features an interactive database through which readers can share their own musical life histories and search others that have been contributed there. Shedding new light on the long-term effects of music education, Chances and Choices is an important resource to understand how we can encourage lasting engagement with music and other cultural activities in every individual.

Recenzje

With this insightful and original contribution to a new and developing area of music-education studies, Stephanie Pitts has once again cast light on neglected issues. This book will engage and challenge all music educators who are concerned about not only their present practices, but the long-term impact of their work.

O autorze

Stephanie Pitts is Senior Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Studies at the Music Department of the University of Sheffield, and author of Valuing Musical Participation: Case Studies of Music Identity and Belonging (Ashgate Ltd., 2005) and, with Eric Clarke and Nicola Dibben, Music and Mind in Everyday Life (OUP, 2009).