One of the aims of education is to cultivate democratic citizens in the interest of consolidating and expanding a democratic ethos in society, yet the democratic purpose and societal contribution of music education in public schools have not been fully explored. This philosophical research addresses the unique capacity of music education for enhancing democratic values in societies where issues caused by diversity and difference prevail. This work takes note of the fact that although music teachers have recently shown greater awareness and understanding of the diversification and differences of students, they continue to struggle with handling associated issues adequately. This failure to deal with diversity effectively has led to the exclusion and discrimination of certain individuals or groups in music classrooms and resulted in hindering the realization of democratic values of equality. To rectify these problems, I argue that the purpose of music education and its principles must be reframed and reconsidered using a democratic lens. This thesis first undertakes an analysis of the association of music education with democracy by classifying various music education practices according to types of political systems (e.g., monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy) and analyzing music education philosophies that have supported those music education practices. This examination and analysis will lead to identifying the purpose and principles of democratic music education. Second, this work demonstrates how music education might contribute to the democratization of society with a two-layered goal: democratization through the pursuit of psychosocial equilibrium and democratization through the transformation of nondemocratic realities. The final section of this thesis offers examples of democratic music educational practices in music appreciation, performance, and composition education. / Graduate

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is comprised of fifty-six ethnic groups that inherent diverse cultural traditions. The largest of these ethnic groups is the 汉［Han］and the remaining fifty-five ethnic groups are given the name 少数民族, [ethnic minority]. The Communist government describes China as a unified multinational country. On the one hand, Chinese scholars and national policies advocate presentation of cultural diversity in China’s education system; on the other hand, they emphasized that diverse ethnic minorities contribute to a single united Chinese nationality as a whole, which is given the term Chinese nationality--中华民族. The purpose of this study is to examine the K1–9 music textbooks—a series of texts titled simply 音乐 [Music]—designed by the Curricula and Textbooks Designing Centre at the Ministry of Education of the PRC. The study aims to understand how China’s government and scholars frequently represent China’s ethnic musical traditions by these widely used music textbooks in the mainland of the PRC. This central issues are addressed by the research question include: 1. How are ethnic musical traditions introduced to students in the textbooks? 2. How are musical and cultural differences between ethnic minorities and Han-Chinese represented in the textbooks? 3. Whose cultural values and ideologies are signified in the selected ethnic musical materials and subjects of the textbooks? This study applies the methodology of document analysis; research findings are discussed based on relevant theories of liberalism along with authenticity in cultural representation. The study concludes that Communist China is very concerned by ethnic separatism so that Chinese nationality (as a whole) and political unity of the country is enforced in education. The curriculum reflects the core value of socialism and patriotism. The ethnic music materials represented in those nationally used, government-designed textbooks enhance ethnic integration and cultural unity of the Chinese nationality as a whole. As a result, the textbook contents mostly reflect values of moral education emphasized in many national education policies, which address patriotism and national unity rather than authentically present ethnic music and cultures. / 2017-10-02T00:00:00Z