ABSTRACT
This chapter sets out a typology of conceptions of the creative process that have emerged in the theory and practice of music and arts education since the publication of Sound and Silence. A critical analysis is undertaken of four identified ideal types: the subjective creative process, the conservationist process, the cognitive process and the virtuosic process. As a result of this analysis, and by way of identifying a more socially just conception, a fifth type is proposed: the critical agentic creative process.
It is argued that this conception of the creative process offers (a) the potential for understanding the ideology of musical practices in which we find ourselves; and (b) the potential for creating alternatives to those musical practices through critical agency. The guiding aim is for a socially just music education for all.
