Music, Leisure, Education: Historical and Philosophical Perspectives

This book explores historical and philosophical connections between music, leisure, and education. Specifically, it considers how music learning, teaching, and participation can be reconceptualized in terms of leisure. Taking as its starting point "the art of living" and the ethical question of how one should live, the book engages a wide range of scholarship to problematize the place of non-professional music-making in historical and contemporary (Western) conceptions of the good life and the common good.

Part I provides a general background on music education, school music, the work ethic, leisure studies, recreation, play, and conduct. Part II focuses on two significant currents of thought and activity during the Progressive Era in the United States, the settlement movement and the recreation movement. The examination demonstrates how societal concerns over conduct (the "threat of leisure") and differing views on the purpose of music learning and teaching led to a fracturing between those espousing generalist and specialist positions. The four chapters of Part III take readers through
considerations of happiness (eudaimonia) and the good life, issues of work-life balance and the play spirit, leisure satisfaction in relation to consumerism, individualism, and the common good, and finally, parenting logics in relation to extracurriculars, music learning, and serious leisure.

Contents

• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• PART I
• Chapter 1: Music, Leisure, and Education
• Chapter 2: Leisure and Living
• PART II
• Chapter 3: Progressive Times: Settlements, Rational Recreation, and Music
• Chapter 4: Progressive Times: Play, Music, and Education
• Chapter 5: The Fears and Promises of the 1920s and 1930s
• PART III
• Chapter 6: How Should One Live?: Leisure and Happiness (Well-being)
• Chapter 7: How One Should Live: Leisure and Work
• Chapter 8: Leisure, Music, and the Common Good
• Chapter 9: Music Education as Leisure Education
• Notes
• References
• Index

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