ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the value to professional teachers of being able to relate teaching to pedagogical thinking as well as to broader social and philosophical perspectives. The text focuses on some of the challenges that are faced by music education in schools. Those who are about to face these challenges have been trained within the music teacher education system, so that these issues are also directly relevant to music teacher education. The challenges vary from country to country, according to their different educational systems and conditions. However, there are generic and basic music educational challenges that are common to most countries.
