Editorial

Editorial Amongthe events standingout inboldrelief againstthebackground ofordinary life, the events of September 11, 2001 remain deeply etched in the memories of those who lived through them. For those ofus who looked on via the medium of our television screens, and for whom these events were perceived vicariously, even as they also felt immediate and shocking, the tragedy of these awful moments andtheiraftermathwerestrangely surreal. That people would kill indiscriminately and without thought for their own survival, willing martyrs for a cause in which they believed passionately, yet one so monstrous and evil, brought home the depth of hatred of American culture and western civilization in some parts of the world. In retrospect, 9/11 (as it has come to be called) symbolizes the many instances ofterror in our time. As some ofour writers in this issue put it, ours is one ofthe "times ofterror." How deeply run the divisions among the people of planet Earth, and how thin the veneer of civilization seems to be. Passions expressed in fear, hatred, or talk ofretribution can so easily assert themselves overthoughtful reflectionanddeliberative action. Along with other times and places where people have believed themselves vulnerable to terror, 9/11 has come to signify, for human civilizations broadly, the wider dangers to which humanity is subject, the capriciousness ofnatural and human elements, and the fragility of life itself. Rather than a defining event that began a reign ofterror, 9/1 1 can now be read as one more instance of inhumanity and terror against which societies have struggled from time immemorial. And after 9/11, those who may have believed themselves invulnerable to terrorjoin the rest ofhumanity. As musicians and educators, our work is at the center ofculture and civility. From antiquity, music teachers have sought to nurture culture, to help direct ittowardsthe good, howevervariously conceived. Many musicians have tried to cultivate intheir students such qualities as refinement, nobility, excellence, exquisite workmanship, intellectual powers of discernment, imaginative expression, technical prowess, andanunderstanding ofthe contexts appropriate to musical performance . In the West as in the East, in the North as in the South, music teachers around the world have assumed that musical instruction can enhance personal and social well-being, contribute importantly to society and its respective institutions , not onlyregardingtheart ofmusic (as to the other arts and religions), but creating and sustaining a humane and civil society. And to hear music teachers talk about their work is to hear of a desire to do good to and for their students and to advance an understanding ofmusic. Still, the backdrop ofrecent events affords an opportunity to inquire whether music teachers individually and collectively are contributing sufficiently towards the creation of humane and civil societies. Thetaskofmusic teachers, at least as outlined in the various national standards throughoutthewesternworld andbeyond, ismore often than not focused on the music to be taught. Less attention is paid to the responsibilities of music teachers as agents ofpeaceand tranquillity, towards understanding and respecting different others and at leasttolerating them, and to theneed for courage and skills to work towards creating a more humane and civil world. At a timeinwhichunbridled capitalism and economic globalization characterizes the West, violence is a commonplace on the media, fundamentalism and conservatism seem pervasive in societal institutions, andopposingvoicesareoften silenced by dogmatism, it is difficult for music teachers to stand up against the general tide. Within music, the constant replaying ofthe latest hit tunes and popular music leaves little time to hear musics of other times and places. In such©Philosophy ofMusic Education Review 10, No. 2 (Fall 2002): 69-71. 70 Philosophy of Music Education Review circumstances, musicteachersmaybeforgivenfor coming to believe that the western classical tradition, among others, is outdated and of little use in today's world or of limited interest to today's students, or in thinking insufficiently about how theymight transformthemusics ofour time. Over the past thirty years, few writers in music education have advocated the value of studying musics that are less accessible to the masses. Instead, much has been done to advance the cause of those interested only in popular culture. Music (both classical and popular) is often a purveyor ofviolence towards women and minorities in that it either teaches the young to be violent...