| dc.description.abstract | The term "constructivism" has become increasingly prominent in the field of education. The purpose of this· investigation was to examine some fundamental concepts associated with constructivism in order to determine how constructivist pedagogy might inform the theory and practice of elementary school music education, with particular focus on the ideas of John Dewey . . To that end, this investigation first explored a brief history of the concepts associated with constructivism. Thereafter, it considered distinct branches of constructivism as well as current applications in contemporary education, including descriptions of four studies that linked music in some manner to constructivism. This study then examined John Dewey's concept of"art as experience" as a theoretical perspective by which music educators might employ a constructivist approach in the elementary music classroom. The author suggested how Dewey's perspective might inform specific learning experiences in elementary music education, and discussed current approaches to music education in a constructivist framework in terms of some specific benefits and challenges. This analysis concluded that Dewey's concept of experience could both nurture and criticize contemporary constructivist thought as it may relate to music education. Specifically, the author suggested that certain premises of music education as aesthetic education, particularly to the extent that they are centered in a philosophy of music per se and tend to negate the interconnectedness of environment and organism, may be fundamentally incompatible with a constructivist pedagogy informed by Dewey's ideas | en_US |
