| Testing the accuracy of a model outlined by Sam Reese (1976), this study used Q methodology to explore the attitudes towards music education in the schools held by groups of individuals engaged in various educational roles. Reese's description of four philosophical approaches to music education (music for fun, referentialism, absolute expressionism and formalism) were used to structure a forty-eight item instrument into a 12 x 4 design. School board members, music consultants, principals, high school music teachers and elementary school teachers (a total of forty-eight subjects) arranged the items twice, creating two Q sorts each: Sort P representing current practice and Sort I reflecting the ideal situation.;The analysis of variance of the data suggests that neither educational role nor musical background significantly affected subjects' attitudes towards music education, a finding which, although not generalizable to a different population, is surprising and worth further study. Factor analysis of Sort P data produced four Types (groups of subjects who share a similar point of view): hedonic, referentialist, absolute expressionist, and also a previously unidentified Type labelled subjectivist because its proponents believe music is more than just fun but consider that knowledge about music might reduce their enjoyment. Sort I data produced four Types also, but not an exact match with Sort P Types: hedonic, subjectivist, absolute expressionist and formalist. In Sort I, extrinsic valuation of music is eliminated in favour of a more intellectual approach: thirty-five subjects were absolute expressionists and three, formalists. A three-dimensional model of attitudes to philosophies of music education emerges from an examination of the factor arrays and factor loadings for both sorts: a dichotomous extrinsic/intrinsic valuation and within the latter, a continuum of belief ranging from emotional/subjective to intellectual/objective.;Q methodology allowed subjects to express their own reality, thus contributing to a refinement of the Reese model. The altered viewpoint in Sort I provided an opportunity for subjects to compare actual and ideal situations and to indicate a considerable gap between the perceived and the ideal music classroom. The preferred ideal approach for most subjects including administrators is absolute expressionism. Unresolved, is why it is apparently so difficult to implement this approach in the classroom. |
