What does it mean to be critical of music education?

Today I visited Facebook to contact a friend about having made an appointment with my eye doctor, something she would have been interested to know, because neither of us sees as well as we would like. At the top of my profile, under a post from a fellow teacher about trying to do an in-service entirely in Spanish, was a memory from 2016 reflecting on 2014:

It blew my mind when I realized the significance of the nomenclature of the fictional place. The old man was happy (or thought he was happy) until he went out, learned, and discovered that things aren’t what he thought they were. His paradise fell. In the music community we elevate Michael Giacchino for that movie, but kudos to Pete Docter and Bob Peterson for some very thoughtful writing.

A major theme in common between James Baldwin’s “A Talk to Teachers” and W.E.B. DuBois’ “On the Coming of John” from The Souls of Black Folk is the phenomenon that Baldwin describes well: “that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated,” (Baldwin, 1963) leading to Jennie’s question if “it make[s] everyone unhappy when they study and learn lots of things.” (DuBois, p. 78) Her brother thought about it and concluded that it probably does. Baldwin might have answered that not only does he become unhappy, but “he must never make his peace with” this feeling, that “the obligation of anyone who thinks of himself as responsible is to examine society and try to change it and to fight it – at no matter what risk.” (Baldwin, 1963)

I would argue that to be critical of music education is to welcome that dissonance. As educators, we ought to embody the spirit of education, which Baldwin says is to “create in a person the ability to look at the world for himself, to make his own decisions,” (Baldwin, 1963) to learn all we can. But that will inevitably lead to what Baldwin refers to as an identity crisis. Rather than hopelessly cling to the myths we have told ourselves about our history, we must be willing to be as unhappy as John, to realize that we need to make changes. Only then can we give our students what they are owed: an empowerment to look at the world for themselves, make their own decisions, and continue the process in our stead.

Baldwin, J. (1963, October 16). A Talk to Teachers. Speech. In The Price of the Ticket.

(1985). New York, NY: St. Martin's Press.

Du Bois, W. (2019). Chapter XIII: Of the Coming of John. In W. Du Bois (Author), The Souls

of Black Folk (pp. 74-80). Overland Park, KS: Digireads.com Publishing.