ABSTRACT
A sociology of practical value for music teachers should begin with each teacher as an individual, how she has become who she is; how he interacts with others around him-whether in personal face-to face interactions or interactions through the Internet. Such self-knowledge becomes relevant when trying to understand why our students do not necessarily think like we do or why they act in ways foreign to our own thinking. Being aware of the origins of our own thinking about music and education also can clarify why others around us, school administrators, our students’ parents, and the school community, often attach different values to music and the arts in society than we, the music teachers, do.
