| dc.description.abstract | My hypothesis is that the intersections of music and politics are not adequately
addressed in professional music education as it is currently conceived and that the tools
of critical theory and critical pedagogy and the goal of developing critical consciousness
address this gap. My objective is to show the necessity to situate ourselves and our work
in relation to political, economic, personal and communal locations.
This thesis is a conceptual study and draws on the literatures of philosophy of
music education (i.e., B. Reimer; D. Elliott, T. Regelski and E. Jorgensen) and critical
theory/critical pedagogy (e.g., Paulo Freire). I argue that critical consciousness enables
us to consider political aspects of materiality, ideology, and power, thus affecting our
understandings of ourselves as musicians, suggesting changes to our practices, and
contributing to our capacity to participate as citizens in a democracy. In conclusion, I
offer a series of recommendations, pointing to extant work that could contribute to a
music program that has developing critical consciousness as a goal. | |
