Construction of Music Learning

This chapter summarizes writings in music education that are inspired by a complicated set of interconnected beliefs about learning, and are often labeled as constructivist or constructionist. It outlines some major elements from philosophy and social science that form the background of constructivist perspectives, and emphasizes the importance of social constructivism in education. It reviews the role of conceptual writing in music education about constructivist thinking and its role in music teaching and learning. It highlights an analysis of the many writings that privilege constructivist views as a force in how music teachers are prepared. It also enumerates themes that seem to emerge from empirical evidence about the application and effectiveness of the constructivist view in music teaching and learning.