ABSTRACT
Music education is an enterprise that takes many forms and is provided for in a wide variety of settings; discussions relating to its justification focus almost exclusively on the issue of music as a school curriculum subject. In view of the existence of the National Curriculum it might reasonably be concluded that the topic is not especially relevant at the present time. After all, music is a foundation subject and the arguments for its inclusion in the curriculum must surely have been won; it is no longer what the Assistant Masters and Mistresses Association (1984) once described as an ‘endangered subject’. But is this really the case? Individuals and professional bodies regularly issue earnest statements about the educational significance and value of music studies and express concerns over limited staffing and resources. While there appears to be a steady supply of secondary specialists, the Music Education Council (MEC) (2000) is understandably disappointed by the scant attention now being given to music in the education and training of primary school teachers. It may seem to some observers as if musicians and music educationists constantly need to protect their subject against the philistine attitudes of people who still regard the arts as little more than dispensable extras or mere entertainments. Whether or not there are any educational policy-makers who would subscribe to such an extreme view is questionable, but music educationists often appear to be on the defensive. And in an age of transparency and accountability many teachers report that they are often required to explain, to different audiences, why music is of value within the context of a general education.
