MUSIC EDUCATION, BY THE SPECIALIST
OR THE GENERAL TEACHER?
bY
Andr6 HENRY, Professor, Teacher’s Training College, Mons, BelgiumThe subject I have been asked to develop is a delicate one which re-
quires a great deal of tact on my part, because of my position as a
teacher-training specialist. Thus, on the question of whether children
should be introduced to the practice of music by a professional musi-
cian or by an ordinary primary teacher, I am forced to accuse myself,
whatever position I adopt. By drawing attention to the primary
teacher’s shortcomings, I attack the teacher-training profession to
which I belong; by pointing out certain dangers inseparable from
the employment of specialists in primary schools, I condemn myself
and, what is much more serious, condemn all my colleagues at the
same time.
But it is an ill wind that blows nobody good, and this painful
dilemma at least has the advantage of allowing me to make some
comments which, though possibly severe, cannot be described as
prejudiced.
I often observe that, when committees meet, they involuntarily but
definitely falsify the data of the problems at issue by basing themselves
on non-normal standards or on arguments drawn from individual
cases, and by neglecting to make the thorough, impartial investigation
which alone can provide a correct picture of the situation.
The first question that arises is whether singing is taught in Belgian
primary schools. The answer is in the negative; for, in the interests of
that objectivity which I have just mentioned, a distinction must be
drawn between the privileged schools in Belgium and the ordinary,
the great majority of its primary schools or classes.
The privileged schools are of three types: (a) those subject to in-
spection by intermediate and teacher-training specialists (classes in the
preparatory divisions of the middle schools and classes in demonstra-
tion schools attached to teacher-training establishments) ; (b) Those
possessing special teachers (notably in Brussels and Litge); (c) Those
where the posts are held by particularly gifted teachers.