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Bands and/as Music Education: Antinomies and the Struggle for Legitimacy
- Philosophy of Music Education Review
- Indiana University Press
- Volume 20, Number 1, Spring 2012
- pp. 63-81
- 10.2979/philmusieducrevi.20.1.63
- Article
- Additional Information
This article serves to extend a critique initiated by Allsup and Benedict in their 2008 PMER article, "The Problems of Band." Using the work of Michael Foucault as a theoretical and methodological basis, I consider ways in which today's large ensemble paradigm, particularly that of the wind band, has resulted in an ongoing antinomy in school music between those who view bands as a medium of music education and those who view bands as a medium for music education. I argue that the emergence of the pedagogical band world in the United States and Canada altered the nature of wind band practices, and that the resultant bands-as-music-education paradigm can be understood in terms of issues of power and legitimacy. I strive to demonstrate how future directions in music education might benefit from a reflexive engagement with the discourses of our profession.